Talcosis

Well, someone has to fight the globalist agenda

I prefer using the beat of Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust

Yeah, they’re the heart version of “have you tried turning it off and back on again?”

The Master and Margarita

Probably won’t get as much out of it as someone who lived in the Soviet union, but it’s an interesting dissection of the absurdity of authority.

No, there was. And there is. That’s the worst part.

We produce more food than we need. We produce more goods than we need. Starvation and poverty are both choices made by those in power to ensure their own power.

Sometimes. Especially if you run into tankies.

Does stock market count?

I guess there is a gender aspect as well. One of my dude friends casually mentioned they were poly when talking about relationships. Nothing out of the ordinary, really. Just “oh, cool”.

This girl I knew who I was a bit on the fence about invited me on a date and showed up with two other guys. I don’t have a problem with one night stands, but I have literally no interest in sharing. Then she got real mad when I didn’t try to hook up with her then and there. I didn’t even realize it was a poly thing until later that night, I thought she intended a platonic hang and I was the crazy one that thought it was a date.

Yup.

And then in my experience, I go. “Oh. Dang”

Scams work for a reason. More often than not, it’s a right place right time thing. I consider myself a pretty smart guy too, but I remember a few years back I gave my ssn to someone running the “you’re about to be arrested” scam. Realized it before I gave them money, and ssns are all leaked by now already (freeze your credit)…but that was a bit of a wakeup call (heh).

I was tired after a long day, I was annoyed, and I’d had a few beers at that point. I was in a susceptible mindset when the phone rang. It happens. Scams are designed to short circuit your thinking, and with some scams being “smart” makes you more susceptible. It’s a question of experience.

I know that 23 yr old cosplay models that love videogames and want me to rate their new bikini for some design aren’t adding me on discord…but if it was my first day on discord, I might think that’s normal.

Edit: actually I think this might be the approach you should take–make it very clear that you don’t think any less of him, because this happens to everyone. Falling for a scam doesn’t make you dumb, it’s a learning experience. Many people that fall for scams keep giving up cash because they feel stupid and ashamed, don’t make him feel stupid and ashamed.

But this particular method might get him to realize “she” wouldn’t spend a dime on him, and that might raise some doubts…

Nobody deserves shit. I made the choices I made and got to where I am. A number of kids I grew up with made different choices, and left that village for the first time to go die in Ukraine.

C’est la vie.

The oligarchs will escape. The people up against the wall will be those that are not wealthy enough to escape, but not poor enough to be desperate.

There’s a reason that Orwell was banned in the US for being pro-communist and banned in the USSR for being pro-capitalist. That reason is because Orwell was anti-authoritarian.

I was born in a small village ~200km SE of St Peter back in the soviet days. We got electricity when I was six years old, because my neighbor figured out how to tap into some nearby high voltage lines. After the collapse of the soviet union, I collected enough scholarships and got a visa sponsorship to get a chemical engineering degree in the US. Then I went on to grad school. Then I got the rest of my family out of there. Now I am somewhere in the top 10% of the US.

The only advantage I was born with is above average intelligence and the ability to put it to work. And a bit of luck for everything else to work out.

That is the cost of my comfort. And yes, I am sure that whether leftists or fascists take over, I will be persecuted. Fascists will persecute me because I am not a fascist. Leftists will persecute me because I have done reasonably well for myself, but not well enough to hop on a private jet when the shit hits the fan. That is also the cost of my comfort.

Yeah, everyone except the people that end up against the wall.

More often than not, those people aren’t the ones causing the structural problems in society. The really rich people with the power all escape before that point.

If you can’t tell the difference between someone who doesn’t think the world is 100% bad and trump, then your ideological purity tests are too black and white for us to ever be anything other than enemies. I won’t ever be able to 100% agree with every thought you have. Nor will anyone else.

Yeah, no shit. I do things to improve my life. If you don’t, then you’re either lying or an actual example of capitalist caricatures of leftism, just looking for a handout.

Edit: And if you’re not acting to improve your life and the lives around you, what’s the purpose of revolution? Action for the sake of Action? That’s point #3 on Umberto Eco’s list of the 14 common features of fascism.

What an astute observation! I wouldn’t even describe it as a boil, maybe a light simmer if anything. Because you know what? My life is pretty nice.

So now that we have established that fact, perhaps it would be prudent to consider how you reach the majority of the population that is in my boat (not literally, I mean, when I’m on my boat I’m generally reading a book on my own). But I mean the ones that think like this and don’t read books by Kropotkin.

When I become Jesus Christ, savior, and responsible for the collective sins of humanity.

Until then, I’m responsible for myself, and will act accordingly.

I am glad that you were able to build a community of your friends and neighbors.

I do not have the time or resources to do so.

So you labeled that as me being a consumer brained idiot on par with Alzheimer’s. Now you’re surprised that my general demeanor towards you is negative?