• 33 Posts
  • 207 Comments
Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: March 23rd, 2022

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  • “Mr Xi, the most powerful Chinese leader in decades, calls his one-party model efficient, equitable and dignified. In case foreigners miss his coded message—that competent government, equality and order matter more than freedoms—officials boast of ‘two major miracles’ that shaped China’s rise, namely ‘fast economic development and long-term social stability.’”

    “Here in the liberal West we may not have such frivolities as ‘competent government, equality and order,’ but you can bet your last dollar you’ll have Freedom™ coming out of your nose. You’ll fucking drown in it!”

    Thanks. What freedoms, again?




  • Holding a referendum on this is pure cowardice. Zelenskkky insists on being the President of Ukraine to the point that opposition parties are banned and no presidential elections are being held. But now, since there is an unsavory choice to make which puts him at risk of running afoul of either the Russians, his own citizens, or his western handlers, he decides to have the Ukrainian public make the decision for him through a majority vote. Now, he can just wash his hands of everything. Here I was thinking it was the job of the head of state to make tough calls, but it seems the comedy president isn’t up for the task. Who would have thought?



  • They probably are aware how awful the system is, but the insidious thing about the party dichotomy is that “a slightly better alternative” is all it needs to work. It frames politics as something to act upon by voting correctly. This is, fundamentally, buying into the assumptions of liberal democracy. Your friends may understand that problems exist, but they likely don’t have much of an idea about what to do beyond engaging in this dance.

    I also wouldn’t be so doom-and-gloom about your prospects with your “former” friends. I’m sure things are fine after one political disagreement. Gay people especially can be a little dramatic. Take it with a grain of salt.

    If you find yourself in these discussions in the future, be keenly aware of yourself and the implications of what you say. It’s very easy to antagonize someone unintentionally when we butt heads like that. I would try asking questions that expose weaknesses in their worldview. But be subtle when you draw attention to those vulnerabilities. Let them think they noticed it themselves.


  • “These politicians are fucking liars. I can’t tell how many people there are on either track. Or even if there are different tracks.”

    Seems to me like you have an excellent grasp of what’s happening. I made a similar text post a few months back where I highlighted a related phenomenon. “Sure, Joe Biden is bad, but wouldn’t Donald Trump be even worse?” It’s never explained how or why Trump would be worse than Biden. It’s just a habitual assumption they make about the two parties. Dem equals good, Rep equals bad, and there’s not really anything more too it. They struggle immensely with the idea of exploring political action outside of electoralism because they have too much misplaced trust in the system, reason being that acknowledging the failure of the system is a lot more stressful than simply voting and praying that Trump doesn’t win another term.

    The immune response of liberalism when challenged in this way is just to insist that everything is fine, that the machine is running smoothly and efficiently, and that all the problems people describe every day are imaginary. Upholding the Democrats as an ideal serves this purpose, as does vilifying Republicans, because any good thing that happens can be attributed to Democrats, and any bad thing to Republicans.

    Don’t stress yourself getting into these arguments either. Not worth it.