Trump is not the problem. He is a symtom. A consequence. A result. — creativesoul

I agree. Globalism hasn’t helped the average person to the degree it has benefitted the owner class. It hasn’t helped Joe or Jane Blow at all in the good ol’ USA. The Dems need to have a clear plan of how they will make Joe and Jane’s life better, and show that Trump has pulled off a con job.

My attitude towards justified aggression is similar to Mandela. — creativesoul

And that was?

Actually, it seems we don’t disagree, so what is the gripe exactly?

Ha! Let me ask you this: are you a naturalized citizen or were you born here (assuming you are an American)?

Immigration is necessary and should be made easier, not less restrictive. Care to argue?

Furthermore, the price of a steak and the price of a tomato has nothing to do with who slaughters the cow and who picks the tomato. Our government wrote the laws that say that the factory farm board members determine their compensation AND the compensation for the people who have to do the grunt work. (Jobs that only undocumented workers want to do and are exploited for but that’s another issue altogether.) The laws say the worker doesn’t own anything but his labor which is necessary yet undervalued imho given that Charles Koch probably has more wealth than 50 million Americans combined. Charles Koch was given a huge hand-out in the form of his getting to own so much of the monetary wealth for which he is personally responsible for very little of.

That was my point.

The reality is that some things have higher financial value than others, and we needn't pay a teacher what we pay a surgeon out of a since of fairness, especially in light of what I've said: financial rewards are not a declaration of human worth. If your passion is growing tomatoes, have at it, but you can't expect to sell them for the price of steak. You can't make the world want to buy your produce. — Hanover

I wrote about this in my book. This is a straw man. Of course a teacher shouldn’t make what a surgeon does. But should the Walmart family be worth what their worth while the average worker gets $10/hour? They should have worker board members so they can see how their decisions affect real humans. Then they might not just see them as liabilities on a spreadsheet, and they might get dare I say $17/hour.

A line is made of points with no gaps? Now I don’t know any theory, but what I intuitively grasp from taking calculus is that a point has zero dimensions. A line is not made of points. A point just divides a line into two segments.

Forgive my elementary level knowledge on the subject.

:lol: I feel like that should end with “burn!” or “bazinga!” or “and your mama’s fat, too!”

No. In all seriousness, if I had the energy I had in high school, then I might be tempted to learn about these things. As it stands now, most of my time is spent trying to figure out if everyone around me is lying to me or whether I am really delusional.

IMHO Capitalism only works for everyone when the workers have some say about their work. Like in Germany where the boards of companies must have laborer members on them.

I think you’re full of hot air.

But it is in our nature to want to create things. Maximizing production, no, of course not. That is the company founder’s goal and the goal of the shareholders. To hell with the people who do the grunt work that they don’t even get to own the fruits of.

You should talk to real people in real places a bit more. — creativesoul

How many legal immigrants have you interviewed?

I found your essay illuminating as I don’t have any experience in mathematical theory.

What is the axiom of choice?

Not even white Christians. It’s white male rural Christians that are his strongest supporters. A lot of evangelical white women have turned against Trump because of the children in cages at the border. Mostly from the burbs. But generalizing gets you nowhere. The Dem nominee needs to go to these rural places and let these Trumpites know that he has actually done ZERO to help them. The Dem needs to go on Fox News and show the alternative.

LOL just saw it

I have a pop-up blocker on my browser. Sorry

I must have you confused with someone else. For some reason I thought you were a Trump supporter... I was confused why a Trump supporter would argue for Medicare-for-all LOL

I’m not saying that I don’t agree with Medicare-for-all. I think I do. I’m just saying that the powers that be will frame it anyway they can to keep the status quo.

Sure, but as I point out clarification and framing can shift this approval. — Maw

Yeah, people can be manipulated quite easily by authority figures. If they hear a leader with a strong personality frame something a certain way...

Does that mean you are committing a crime by not giving me money? — khaled

Does that mean I committed a crime because I had children and you don’t agree with it? Should I teach my children not to have children because they might suffer at some points in their lives? Do you not see that antinatalists aren’t just saying that they will not have children. They are saying that no new people should ever be born again. That’s a supposition that hasn’t been supported by your example. You ARE trying to impose your values on others, values that 99.99% of people don’t share.

You don't have to do good, but you have to not risk doing evil is the basic premise. — khaled

So having children is an evil act because they will suffer at points in their lives?

She had no defence. She said things that in my humble opinion were plain stupid. — god must be atheist

Perhaps I read that into what she said. It would have been a halfway decent premise for her to build on.

I’m just pointing out that the actual approval of Medicare-for-all is much lower (a minority of around 30%) when it is actually understood what that entails.

But you’re imposing your values on others when you reduce a life to pleasure and pain. Most people don’t do that, and very few newborns would grow up to be anti-natalists.

In NKBJ’s defense, she might be arguing that people ought to take a stake (and often do) in the community regardless of how the system treats them personally.

As for the 70% agreeing with Medicare-for-all, the approval drops to a minority when followed up with the caveat that they would lose their employer-based insurance.

Wouldn’t anti-natalists’ problems be solved if they all just overdosed on heroin?

What do you value about your life, might I ask?

Laziness for a lot of people is depression. Sometimes depression is situational. When it is, such as experiencing a loss, then the depression is actually grief. People can feel grief from more than just a lost loved one. Grief can be due to a loss of a good, abuse-and-trauma-free childhood. Grief can be from the loss of your breasts from breast cancer.

Actually, I think most depression is situational to some degree.

Depression can cause laziness.

Anhedonia can also cause laziness. Anhedonia causes a lack of general desire. I believe anhedonia also stems from grief caused by a sense of loss.

Still other people enjoy being lazy. Being lazy IS the goal. That’s why there are so many people who would jump at the chance to retire early. This is a common desire.

Laziness is generally frowned upon in my opinion because people are envious of the lazy person. The envious people can’t afford to be lazy, so they feel animus toward the lazy person who can do what they themselves would want to do.

There was an article in the NYT a day or so ago that said it was completely possible for Trump to lose the popular vote by 5M and still win the EC and be re-elected. — Maw

Scary

It's because philosophy majors have no ability to turn their craft into making money, but remain certain that they have something valuable (although monetarily of little value) to impart upon society, so they ask those whose labors actually result in financial success to provide for them so that they can enjoy the benefits of society they could otherwise not afford.

Those whose focus is on business and the earning of money (the mundane fields of finance, law, and accounting), don't seem as needful of the social pooling of money for the general welfare. — Hanover

What business people seem to miss is that they GET TO OWN EVERYTHING. That means they get to determine their own pay, and the pay of everyone beneath them. And they will sell you a load of shit that “the markets determine this.” Nope. They control the markets. How did it get this way? I’ll tell you. Government entitlements. I’m not talking about Social Security or Medicare. I’m talking about corporate charters and property rights. The government ensures through its laws that the few get to determine how much the many gets. That’s the biggest hand-out of all.

I’m not prescribing anything different. I’m an investor myself. I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy.

Memo to everyone who feels a bit schitzoidal: Some of us are not good diagnosticians. Please be as blatant as possible. Mention your medications. Tell us your symptoms. DSM references are always helpful. Share your worst hospitalization experiences. were your parents a form of cruel and unusual punishment? Have you been cruelly jilted recently? Any really weird hallucinations? Is God talking to you a lot? All that sort of thing. — Bitter Crank

:lol: I’ve already done all of this on TPF.

Do the Democrats and other anti-Trumpers here feel worried about the national polls regarding matchups between Trump and leading Democrats? I mean, Trump is polling right now exactly where he landed at in November 2016. Clinton won the popular vote by 3 million, but Trump won the states he needed to. He is very popular here in Wisconsin (he is also just as unpopular I suppose). The Russians and Saudis continue to troll for him, and there is so much disinformation on the social media platforms. Not to mention that Mitch McConnell refuses to bring legislation to protect our voting systems to the floor of the Senate.

I really would not be surprised if Trump gets re-elected. And if he does, I’m afraid our country will never be the same again.

personality disorders. intense emotions, unstable sense of self. I have at least one toe dipped in myself. — csalisbury

You and me both

A number of people have been banned whom I like and have enjoyed being on the forum with. I won't argue the need, but we shouldn't gloat. Let it rest. — T Clark

Yeah, I actually will miss him. It was like rubbernecking at a car wreck or something like that. He was an oddity, but I think he added a certain flavor to the forum that wasn’t without value.

A gracious silence or a bit of regret would be more philosophical. — T Clark

But in all seriousness, I really do feel pity for him.

I have some theories as an amateur DSM reader. Something cluster B. I hope he finds a soft place to land. — csalisbury

What is cluster b?

A gracious silence or a bit of regret would be more philosophical. — T Clark

Only a part of my mind is philosophical. Another part wants to gossip. There may be several different personalities instantiated in my single brain, and right now the personality that wants to beat the guy while he’s down (probably because of a personal slight) is at the fore. Don’t ruin our fun!

I would bet Ilya had some deep-seated emotional problems. There was something wrong with him; his head wasn’t screwed on right. If only @Anaxagoras would humor us with a diagnosis, but Anax is too much of a professional to do that.

What would you do if the following circumstances were real in your life: — jorgealarcon

What you describe is almost exactly what I have been going through for years, except in my case I don’t think it’s the FBI. I have called the police and FBI in attempts to get help and relief but to no avail. I’ve come to the realization that I must be the property of the government, and since I cannot and will not move from the country I love, I must learn to live with it.

I have attempted suicide by overdose on my medications five times in the last twenty years, but never again. I shall rise above the oppression like an ubermensch. I shall be the hero in my own story. I shall vanquish mine enemies through pure force of will and come out on top like the Grandmaster Captain General Superman that I am! I laugh at and welcome their scorn! I look at the haters and I guffaw with great pleasure at their scoffs, sneers, and jeers as the God-man that I am. I was beaten down for many years, but like the Mighty Phoenix I shall rise above the ashes of my once defeat and soar over the lowly masses with my arm outstretched and middle finger extended from my mighty fist!

I say, “Fuck you, peasants!”