I appreciate the write-up, thank you! I feel like a lot of this is semantic differences. I’ve always thought of socialism as any public funds used specifically to help citizens (e.g. social security, medicare, unemployment, UBI, etc) and Communism to be the public owning and running the means of production, and distributing goods thereof, and the stateless, classless, moneyless society to be the ideal utopia it aspired to (similar to Star Trek). From your comment, I see that what I call Communism, you call Socialism (which explains a lot of confusion from discussions in the past with self-described Communists I’ve known), and the nameless Star Trek post-scarcity system you would call Communism.

Do you think it is possible to slow-roll the transition peacefully, though? If, for example, instead of the government bailing out industries, they bought out industries on the cheap, slowly growing and monopolizing like Google or Amazon have? Or do you think the rich would simply block that from happening?

So I will admit that I am ignorant of a method of attaining Communism that isn’t at the end of a rifle, and thus authoritarian by nature (and fully accept that, to a degree, Capitalism is also at the end of a gun, but typically less overt, or often directed without instead of within). The only nations I’ve seen flying the red flag have appeared highly authoritarian (and I’m not going to get drawn into a “USSR and PRC aren’t/weren’t authoritarian, and DPRK is actually a utopia!” discussion, so if that’s the direction this is going, let me know and I’ll politely see my way out).

I’ve seen in the lower comments that Socialism would be used as a gateway to Communism, but I am unclear about the transition from “everybody’s basic needs are met via taxation and distribution” to “personal property is abolished” (as I understand Communism to mean, please correct me if I’m wrong). Plenty of European countries have had (for the west), strong seemingly socialist systems, but they don’t seem to be deliberately angling toward Communism, for example.

So I’m curious what this peaceful Capitalist to Communist timeline would look like.

Are we still talking about cars or back to bodies?

Like the mechanic handing you a $15 code reader and saying “just clear it whenever it pops up.”

I actually used this to explain a concern of mine to my wife. We had a Subaru Forester that had some minor but expensive issue that kept the check engine light on, so we ignored it. And because of that missed something else that made the engine 'splode (not literally, just turned the SUV to SCRAP). About 8 hours from our house and two hours from the nearest rental car agency (and no trains). With our daughter in the back and me needing to be at work the next morning.

Anyway, I was talking about how everything hurts a bit, and because of that my general pain tolerance is way higher to the point I don’t notice most of the time I’m hurt. Like the check engine light on the Subaru.

I imagine cancer is going to come along and when I find out at stage four, people will wonder how I possibly could have put up with it up to that point without going to the doctor. And I’ll say I didn’t even notice it.

An old buddy of mine commented once on the amount if minor havoc you could wreak with a handful of chain bike locks. Cheap, wrap around some door handles and lock, walk away. Yeah, somebody can bust out a bolt cutter, but for the amount of challenge to remove it, the low cost per use, and the speed of application, it’s pretty impressive for minor mischief.

Relatively harmless, too, as long as you aren’t doing any additional nefarious shit. Might work for some gated community gates.

The origin and story of Dogman is certainly dark.

BONE!

So ultimately, the punishment for not believing is being destroyed? Like, oblivion?

Shit, this sounds like a win. I have no interest in eternal existence, even supposedly “blissful” existence. I feel like anyone who thinks of eternity on more than a surface level would feel nothing but existential dread.

I thought they accidentally got rid of Black Friday with their anti-DEI measures?

1. Don’t carry credit card debt. Save money if you can. Get a handle on basic finances

Credit cards are this weird thing. If you need them, you shouldn’t use them (if you can help it). If you make plenty of money and don’t need them, they are a very useful financial tool. I have paid interest on one of my credit cards once in the past 3 years, and it was only to have extra available funds for buying a house. But I have accrued well over 100k airline miles and several hundred (far more than the interest I paid) in cash back. I use credit cards exclusively for everything but my mortgage, and have them set to automatically pay the statement balance prior to the due date. If you aren’t extremely confident you can do that, you should avoid credit cards.

I definitely ran afoul of credit cards in my youth, so the banks have gotten their pound of flesh from me.

Wow, people are really pulling the last bit out of context and assuming the worst implications. His “stand by you” and “knocking on doors” thing is him acknowledging his white male privilege to feel safe doing things like going door to door in most neighborhoods, and being happy to extend that safety to others by standing beside them while they do it.

I get the concern about having a Nazi tattoo for over a decade, and concern that everything he is doing is performative based on his past. But what he said was pretty unequivically that he will support LGBTQ+ people, including in action. Whether anyone believes him or not is up to them. But what he said was not mealy-mouthed, it was direct.

…okay.

Maybe… don’t draw attention to it. Let this one slide. Give him a win. Let’s not make fun of him for doing a good thing, even if it’s for a silly reason. Hell, if it ends the Russia/Ukraine war with no loss of land for Ukraine (I would argue, best case scenario), and they want to give him a Nobel Peace Prize, let him have it. Remember, Kissinger got one, it’s not like it’s meant anything for a loooooong time.

Take what you can get.

I’m not pleased they’re being deployed, but these guys aren’t choosing to go to these places. They signed up for national defense (and not the kind that blows up schools in a desert on the other side of the world) and often helping with major disasters.

The Texas National Guard absolutely did not sign up for policing cities in Illinois or Oregon, and I’d bet vast majority are not pleased to be there.

So, to your first question (about Antifa), MAGA don’t consider what the current administration (or anything they support) to be fascist. Because they tend to put the conclusion before the question: “I am against fascism. I support these policies. Therefore these policies must not be fascist.”

And because they’ve decided these fascist policies are not fascist, the term “Antifa” to them is similar to “pro-life” for pro-choice people. It’s a term that isn’t exactly accurate but makes the group naming themselves look like the good guys. And in the same way that pro-choice people don’t consider themselves “anti-life” just because pro-life people call themselves that, MAGA people don’t consider themselves “pro-fascist” just because Antifa call themsleves that.

My friend has a zoology degree, spent time as an officer in the military, and runs a successful business building training systems.

She’s super stoked to be fullfilling one of her biggest dreams, going on an Antarctic expedition.

As a janitor.

I would absolutely react more to my child getting killed than literally anyone else on the planet, what are you on about?

Though in fairness, if I had powers, I don’t think it would be a pursuit of justice or launch me on some path of heroism. Somebody would just die badly (assuming the initial killing was either deliberate or through willful neglect).

Should be visor-type sunglasses. Kind of makes the look. You know, one lense going from…

i2i.

I cut my own hair every weekend. I’m in the military, though (and no, I don’t just shave it). I found that I do it more to my liking (and consistently) than the barbers I’ve gone to, it only takes 20 minutes, I don’t have to pay $30, and I can shower immediately after. I use a 6 (3/4 inch) on top, a 3 (3/8 inch) around the curve transitioning to the sides, and then fade down from there, 2 to 1.5 to 1 and finally .5 (1/16 inch) around my ears, side-burns, and most of the back. Keeps everything clean, I always look good, and I spend about $40 every year or two.

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