I suspect we’re on the same broad page, but our means are vastly different.

I suspect the same and I appreciate you engaging with me civilly.

Your concerns about the situation being a slippery slope are understandable. We’re discussing things that live on the very edges of basic, modern human morality. I recognize that this creates a lot of unease.

I don’t hate the human. I would not kill baby Hitler if I had a time machine, as baby Hitler was not born evil.

My hate lies with what the human has become, the views the human has developed. I will not tolerate them. If that hatred, of those who outwardly espouse this level of murderous intolerance (and only those who do so), makes me no better than Fuentes, then I suppose I will gladly be that villain, if only so that others can continue to live their lives in peace. The violence and genocide inherent to the fascist ideology must never be allowed to take root. It is an existential threat to global peace that must be shut down with any and every means available. Peaceful means should always be prioritized where possible.

Less well known [than other paradoxes] is the paradox of tolerance: Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be most unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade, as criminal.

• Sir Karl Raimund Popper, speaking on The Paradox Of Tolerance.

I’m not the person you’re replying to, but if you aren’t familiar, Nick Fuentes believes (in his own words) the following:

“We need to eradicate Jewish stranglehold over the United States of America. … We will win, because unlike our opposition, we are willing to die for what we believe in … We’re in a holy war and I will tell you this. Because we’re willing to die in the holy war, we will make them die in the holy war. And they will go down.”

This isn’t <a group of people I don’t like> this is <a group of people who support the rape, murder, and genocide of people they don’t like>. Nick Fuentes is a literal crypto-fascist. Fascists are owed zero tolerance, and the use of hyperbole to shock or scare them (or scare others away from falling in with them) is a valid tactic.

Oi Polloi - Bash The Fash

I’ll reserve judgement until the NHTSA. NCAP, and IIHS weigh in. I know the NHTSA and IIHS have declined to test due to the cost of the vehicle/testing vs low market share of the Cybertruck. As far as I understand NCAP has no plans to test since the design by default breaks EU regulations before you even consider crash testing.

I trust Tesla’s internal testing about as much as I trust Boeing’s internal testing.

“We need to eradicate Jewish stranglehold over the United States of America. … We will win, because unlike our opposition, we are willing to die for what we believe in … We’re in a holy war and I will tell you this. Because we’re willing to die in the holy war, we will make them die in the holy war. And they will go down.” - Nick Fuentes

Revisionism. Just last week you assured me that she was going to win, and that the republican party would collapse on itself. Hang on to your ego.

They do! They’re where I leave all of my used motor oil, dead batteries, and bedbug-ridden mattresses.

Come on. Just because you can subvert their policies by dropping stuff there indiscriminately doesn’t mean you should. Most of them say, right on the bin, that they’re for donations of clothing and shoes only.

The trick is to pack up a big box full of stuff and give it to them all at once so they don’t have time to look through it and refuse it.

They absolutely will refuse things they know they’ll have a hard time selling, and trust me they have unique insight into what people want and don’t love the idea of warehousing unsalable merchandise. Many Goodwill location’s FAQs acknowledge that they refuse to take certain things. Salvo has a whole page dedicated to why they refuse certain things.

This is really clever if you’re okay with convincing yourself that you know exactly and completely what other people believe… Otherwise it’s a reductionist hot take filled with logical fallacy.

You’re entitled to your opinion, but I disagree with it.

Refusing to acknowledge the nuance of a situation demonstrates a binary (dualistic) cognitive development level.

To muddle our analysis by insisting that fascism is already here, or that the Democratic party is fascist, or that liberals are fascists or the midwives of fascism, or that Democratic party voters are voting for fascism, is to disarm ourselves against the fascist threat. It is defeatism to shrug our shoulders saying that both parties are fascist, and a disservice to the many antifascist militants in our own country who have been killed, injured, and locked away in prison while struggling against this extremely serious threat. To assume that January 6th was a hyped-up myth, or to belittle its gravity, is a dereliction of our most solemn duty as Communists and workers in the belly of the beast.

https://www.cpusa.org/article/the-united-states-is-not-a-fascist-country/

Why don’t you give us your opinion on why both Jill and Joe surround themselves with fascists?

Just in case you hadn’t seen this follow-up:

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gold-apollo-says-it-did-not-make-pagers-used-lebanon-explosion-2024-09-18/

And some info even suggests that this B.A.C. company was a shell company owned by Israel:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/18/world/middleeast/israel-exploding-pagers-hezbollah.html

By all appearances, B.A.C. Consulting was a Hungary-based company that was under contract to produce the devices on behalf of a Taiwanese company, Gold Apollo. In fact, it was part of an Israeli front, according to three intelligence officers briefed on the operation. They said at least two other shell companies were created as well to mask the real identities of the people creating the pagers: Israeli intelligence officers.

B.A.C. did take on ordinary clients, for which it produced a range of ordinary pagers. But the only client that really mattered was Hezbollah, and its pagers were far from ordinary. Produced separately, they contained batteries laced with the explosive PETN, according to the three intelligence officers.

When things get bad enough, people will revolt to build a better system.

An optimist, I see!

Not quite as simple as checkboxes, but the ability is there to some degree!

I think he still is!

Oh wait, I just realized that you probably mean the “Environmental Protection Agency.”

Here I was thinking you meant the “Eager for Punani Association.”

Sorry for my delay in response. I try to limit the amount of time I spend on social media as it can be harmful to my mental health.

As for good game theory resources, it’s going to somewhat depend on your existing math literacy. I’m going to paste a list (below) that I’d found on reddit when I was first exploring game theory about 10 years ago. I haven’t read all of the suggestions.

The following are three foundational works in the development of game theory:

• Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, Oskar Morgenstern and John Von Neumann (THE seminal text)

• A Theory of Justice, John Rawls (an early political application of game theory)

• Convention, David Lewis (a philosophy-heavy investigation of rationality and sociality)

These are four widely-respected contemporary surveys of the subject, listed in descending order of complexity:

• Game Theory and the Social Contract, Ken Binmore (anything by Ken Binmore is worthwhile).

• Behavioral Game Theory: Experiments in Strategic Interaction, Colin Camerer (perhaps the definitive work on behavior economics)

• Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely (introductory)

• Game Theory: A Nontechnical Introduction, Morton Davis (introductory)

I also recommend checking out MIT’s OpenCourseWare game theory polisci course. I found it quite interesting.

Will do. This honestly means the world because I don’t have a lot of players in my court.

I do mean it. I’m not always fast to reply, but I’m around if you ever want to have a chat about anything! The grad student path seems like a worthwhile pursuit and I wish you all the best with it! As for the social aspect, I can relate, certainly. I was pretty unsure that things would work out when I set out to try alternative living systems in my early 20s. Being around like-minded people ended up being extremely valuable for my social skills, in the end.

Maybe when you’re done with your coursework you can investigate the opportunities available. I lived for a while in a co-op house in upstate New York that would have been perfect for a young professional. Private rooms with common spaces and a nightly shared meal. Communal chores to be done, but income was not shared. Members had to have their own incomes.

I didn’t ask for your answer, I asked for your opinion. I already knew that you didn’t have the answer. Nether do I.

I was young, idealistic, autistic, and naive myself, once, long ago. Still autistic, but less young, idealistic, and naive these days. I tripped over my ideals and ethics for a long time before figuring out how to survive in this capitalist hellscape. I’m still not very good at it, and my path needn’t be yours. I won’t shove it down your throat.

I wasn’t sharing that song with the intent to be adversarial. I shared it because Bad Religion has been a very helpful band for me throughout my young-adulthood, and their lyrics continue to help me to this day. No offense intended. My opinion of what this song meant, for example, when I was young, was vastly different to the meaning I take from it now.

I’m very familiar with anarchist theory and the praxis thereof. I read all of the links you provided and I don’t wholly disagree with the bulk of it. Please don’t get me wrong.

BUT. Refusing to vote against fascists because of ideological distaste is indeed moral superiority, whether you want to admit that or not. People can die.

I have no love for Democrats, and I don’t in any way identify as one. I do, however, have a great love for game theory, and game theory tells me that there’s only one correct decision to make where voting in the USA in 2024 is concerned. I will continue to take direct action to further my own personal beliefs and ideologies, but I won’t let that stand in the way of doing things that I find morally distasteful (such as voting for a Democrat) to keep fascists out of power.

I hope this doesn’t come across as condescending. I don’t mean it that way but people often tell me I’m being condescending. I wish you all the best in life. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you in any way, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you want a conversational partner or a sympathetic ear. I’m always open to discussing the world with intelligent people.

If you’re interested in communal living or alternative lifestyles (at it pertains to anarchist communities), I’m happy to help there, as well. I think I still have some friends that know folx at Emma Goldman Finishing School in Seattle. Admittedly, I don’t know if they’re looking for any new members right now, but I’d be happy to put a word in for you.

When fascists take power it’s not unheard of for them to line up commies and anarchists against a wall and shoot them. I’m all for ideological utopianism, I’ve lived on intentional communities in the country and anarchist collectives in the city, but preserving your moral superiority is little comfort when you and your family are staring down the barrel of a fascist’s gun.

The Answer.

Voting in the general election does nothing to brake the train. Not near zero, zero.

I fear that you’re mistaking your own pessimism for absolute truth, but I’m willing to be convinced otherwise.

Voting is orthogonal to what needs to be done.

What, in your view, needs to be done?

Reposting from an earlier comment I made:

---

Best we have right now, far as I can find:

My favorite tinfoil hat theory is that one of the secret service members had a razor palmed, which they then used to slice his ear when they took him to ground. I’m not saying I believe that, of course, but it seems the most plausible to me.

Edit to add: Armchair analysis. Maybe it sorta looks like some of the helix (both tubercle and crus sides) flesh is missing from a graze, here?