Ok, here's the next question. When are you going to find some outlet other than a philosophy forum for such oh-so dramatic little high school statements? How about reddit, facebook, twitter or any one of a thousand other places? Why do you have to do it here? — Hippyhead

Probably because neither fascism and nazism have anything useful to say about the dominant economic system — Benkei

His labour theory of value is a continuation of Adam Smith and Ricardo. — Benkei

Warning: this is a leftist forum and you will be attacked unceasingly if you disagree with them.

Edit: correction, the forum is dominated by leftists. — Brett

Hasn't Trumpism or cult-politics proven to be a failed strategy to maintain power? The Republican Party lost the White House and the majority in both chambers of Congress in only 4 years. — praxis

People like Howley and Cruz may be power-hungry but they're not cult leaders who can spin a web of fantasies and lies that can capture Trump supporter's apparent appetite for faith-based leadership. — praxis

What happened at the Capitol was despicable and horrific. Each and every one of those terrorists need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The election of 2020, like the election of 2016, was hard fought and, in many swing states, narrowly decided. The 2020 election, however, featured unprecedented allegations of voter fraud, violations and lax enforcement of election law, and other voting irregularities.

"Voter fraud has posed a persistent challenge in our elections, although its breadth and scope are disputed. By any measure, the allegations of fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election exceed any in our lifetimes.

In reaction to Trump his denouncement of the violence last Wednesday. :rofl: — Benkei

D.C. officials knew of the planned protests and had requested some assistance to help when the "first amendment demonstrations" were planned for January 5 and 6, McCarthy said. Based on this request, officials called up 340 National Guardsmen to help in the peaceful protests. The guardsmen were assigned mainly to traffic control, Metro crowd control, some logistics support and a 40-member quick reaction force to be based at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

"No other requests were made," the Army secretary said.

Our current popular populist hates women, which is always a nice way to alienate 80% of women. — Benkei

You’re probably right here. It’s possibly similar in Europe. I’m not sure about that. — Brett

. Obviously violence doesn’t work because it frightens people. — Brett

BLM, BLM-supporters, Environment activists, Senate Invaders

Same shite kind of people. Persons that due to too much or too little money in their families focuses energy on other stuff than their daytime 9-5 work. — Ansiktsburk

40 percent of Republicans polled approved of the Capitol mob attack. — frank

Trump has completely f***ed himself now. He will forever be outcaste on account of what he did yesterday. The remainder is only denouement. — Wayfarer

You notice the Trump recovery effort is already beginning. Media from the White House is now beginning to appear, 'condeming' the 'dreadful violence' and 'appealing for peace'. Trump has purportedly acknowledged for the first time he won't be serving a second term, which is the nearest he will ever get to a concession. DON'T BE FOOLED - this is desparate damage control from the bridge of a sinking ship. After yesterday's disgrace, Trump must be held to account, those vandals who stormed the Capitol Building - many of whom can easily be located via social media - tracked down and penalised, and his political enablers expelled from the Republican Party. And Trump should be removed from power immediately. — Wayfarer

No, this was certainly not a terrorist. And quite frankly if people honestly believe the election was stolen, this reaction would be totally understandable. — Benkei

The tragedy of the situation is that so many millions of people have been sucked into his vortex of delusion. That’s the real sickness of American society. — Wayfarer

The man is an incomparable idiot. — Kenosha Kid

Really? When was the last time the US Capitol Building was stormed by armed insurrectionists stopping the certification of Electoral College votes? Perhaps you could jog my memory? — Wayfarer

Oh come now, there's been far worse behavior, but that's not to say that this behavior isn't especially bad. The streets burn every time there is any feeling of unfairness, real or perceived. Everyone always feels justified when they riot. What you're experiencing is how a riot looks when you find the rioters entirely unjustified. — Hanover

Oh, no, that was sarcasm. :wink: — Baden

Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!

Trump's latest plan is to get Pence to just announce that he won instead of Biden tomorrow. Pretend he can't count. That'll work. — Baden

Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday told President Donald Trump that he does not have the authority to block certification of President-elect Joe Biden's win when Congress meets to count electoral votes, sources told CNN.

As former secretaries of defense, we hold a common view of the solemn obligations of the U.S. armed forces and the Defense Department. Each of us swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We did not swear it to an individual or a party.

American elections and the peaceful transfers of power that result are hallmarks of our democracy. With one singular and tragic exception that cost the lives of more Americans than all of our other wars combined, the United States has had an unbroken record of such transitions since 1789, including in times of partisan strife, war, epidemics and economic depression. This year should be no exception.

Our elections have occurred. Recounts and audits have been conducted. Appropriate challenges have been addressed by the courts. Governors have certified the results. And the electoral college has voted. The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived.

As senior Defense Department leaders have noted, “there’s no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of a U.S. election.” Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory. Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.

Transitions, which all of us have experienced, are a crucial part of the successful transfer of power. They often occur at times of international uncertainty about U.S. national security policy and posture. They can be a moment when the nation is vulnerable to actions by adversaries seeking to take advantage of the situation.

Given these factors, particularly at a time when U.S. forces are engaged in active operations around the world, it is all the more imperative that the transition at the Defense Department be carried out fully, cooperatively and transparently. Acting defense secretary Christopher C. Miller and his subordinates — political appointees, officers and civil servants — are each bound by oath, law and precedent to facilitate the entry into office of the incoming administration, and to do so wholeheartedly. They must also refrain from any political actions that undermine the results of the election or hinder the success of the new team.

We call upon them, in the strongest terms, to do as so many generations of Americans have done before them. This final action is in keeping with the highest traditions and professionalism of the U.S. armed forces, and the history of democratic transition in our great country.

So, can we blame these losses on Trump? — Benkei

Bitcoin's gone up a good bit since this thread was last active, mostly because of institutional hoovering-up of what's available on exchanges. But on a macroscale that might be a bad sign. — csalisbury

Excess deaths are the difference between the total number of deaths registered and the average over the previous years for the same period. Official figures say 55,827 people have died with Covid-19 in Russia. The deputy prime minister said excess deaths would take that to 186,000. Countries use different methods when reporting deaths related to the virus, which makes international comparisons difficult.

Russia has been criticised for calculating its official deaths from Covid-19 based on the number of post-mortem examinations that list coronavirus as the main cause of death. However, this means that other deaths linked to Covid-19, which did not list it as the main cause of death, will not have been included.

The new numbers mean Russia's coronavirus death toll could be the world's third-highest, after the US with 335,000 deaths and Brazil, which has had 192,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

When people say Western culture is decaying, they're talking about youths diverging from the incumbent culture, abandoning the things that were thought of as important by the older generation. They're absolutely not talking about an existential crisis like ww3 or a disease which wipes them out. They're talking about reality television or sexual liberation and the like. — Judaka

Many likely aren't implying that our culture would end up for archaeologists to dig up and with nobody speaking English, but likely that we lose some crucial parts of our culture. If we don't hold up values that once were important, many will see it as cultural decay. — ssu

The "collapse of the Roman Empire" was a slow-motion event requiring centuries to be complete. — Bitter Crank

Trump was probably not involved in the painstaking negotiations — NOS4A2

You talked about cultural decay but you give examples of people just totally converting to a new culture or genocide. — Judaka

I think that language is at the heart of your understanding regardless of what anyone else says. — Judaka

To avoid a cultural collapse in Australia we've got to

1. Call ourselves Australians
2. Speak English
3. Be mostly white? If we become 90% ethnically Asian does that still count?
4. Not let Australia be destroyed or something — Judaka

Trump listened to Americans instead of his party and administration, and raised a stink about it. — NOS4A2

The real villain here is McConnell, not Trump. The Democratic house quickly agreed to Trump’s demands to increase the stimulus check, but of course the Republican senate wouldn’t agree to that. — Pfhorrest

By your definition, a culture "declines" by being annihilated, pretty much and really only that. — Judaka

the fall of a complex human society characterized by the loss of cultural identity and of socioeconomic complexity, the downfall of government, and the rise of violence.

Not sure about the figures re shifting assets though. — Tim3003

There are periods of decline and then periods reform and renaissance. — frank

Financial services firms operating in the U.K. have shifted about 7,500 employees and more than 1.2 trillion pounds ($1.6 trillion) of assets to the European Union ahead of Brexit -- with more likely to follow in coming weeks, according to EY.

About 400 relocations were announced in the past month alone, the consulting firm said in a report on Thursday that tracks 222 of the largest financial firms with significant operations in the U.K. Since Britain voted to leave the bloc in 2016, the finance industry has added 2,850 positions in the EU, with Dublin, Luxembourg and Frankfurt seeing the biggest gains.

Can the Scots legally control their own borders? (I recognize my question may have built-in ignorance.) — tim wood

. It seems likely that people gradually drifted into settled agriculture because there were some advantages to that kind of lifestyle, compared to exclusive hunting and gathering. — Bitter Crank