• Members 3817 posts
    July 14, 2024, 2:16 a.m.

    I take that as meaning you agree your answer to those two questions in my post is "No" ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

  • Members 746 posts
    July 14, 2024, 8:44 a.m.

    When Trump was elected, everyone was screaming "here comes world war 3. Here comes world war 3" But, nothing. I don't think, or can't remember anyway, there was any sort of major-ish skirmish anywhere, during his Presidency. Smoothed things out with Korea and all.
    Two weeks after Biden was elected, they were bombing the sh!t out of some country, can't remember. The war machine can't afford no wars. Too much money to be made.
    Anyway, after today's assassination attempt, someone's obviously worried.

  • Members 26 posts
    July 15, 2024, 12:41 p.m.

    The fundamental problem is, most of the posters in this thread would make a better candidate than the two id10t's we have. Anyone want to step up? Bueller?

  • Members 204 posts
    July 15, 2024, 5:38 p.m.

    What a load BS.

    Trump was openly derided by our NATO allies' leaders, whereas Biden is respected by them. For you the derision we should be concerned about comes from Putin and his allies.

    Trump mistook Pelosi for Haley โ€“ and you give him a pass for that.

    As for a driving a school bus, I wouldn't want either of these guys doing that. OTOH, I would be comfortable with Biden as the principle, but Trump would engage in hateful policies against minorities, handicapped children (we all remember him mocking a handicapped person in 2016), and children who are uncomfortable with their assigned gender. Trump was a bully as a student, and he would be a bully as a principle โ€“ so for me the choice between Trump and Biden for that position (more analogous to being POTUS) is an easy choice for the latter.

    Trump may or may not win this election. I don't think it will be the end of humanity, though it will be a strain on it. The real problem isn't Trump in that regard, it's his sycophantic followers who show the rest of us that hate and the evil it inspires (and vice versa) is still a powerful element of our humanity. For my part, I am not perfect, and I struggle to not let myself be sucked into hating those that hate me.

  • Members 608 posts
    July 15, 2024, 10:51 p.m.

    Trump vs Biden "discussions" follows the exact same pattern as Equivalence "discussions". In fact, it's simply uncanny how similar the two are. However, I think it's probably the same with any number of other "discussions": Creationism vs Evolution, Fake Moon Landing vs Real Moon Landing, Anthropogenic Climate Change, etc., etc., etc..

    Discussing Biden vs Trump is like discussing North vs South in the American Civil War. Both sides committed atrocities (obviously). But the Civil War was over slavery, and the disingenuous argument that it was about "State's Rights" without mentioning that it was specifically the "rights" for states to have slaves, is, well, we know how that goes.

    The only way to have a useful discussion about it is with a moderated fact-checked debate which is not going to happen here on this site, nor would one side (and we all know what side that is) agree to such a moderated debate even if there were a platform that hosted it ("Fact checked?! More like Fake News!"). And it's really unfortunate, 'cause there's a huge amount of critically important points that the pro-Trump and anti-Trump crowds would agree on (for example, Supreme Court "justices", or any member of a court or law enforcement, accepting "gratuities").

    Personally, I'm of the belief that Trump supporters support him because he "hates the right people". They believe that "the right people" will be punished and not themselves. This is exactly how it has played out with the anti-abortion christofascists, and they have been none too happy when they found out that their white privilege card wasn't honored when they needed an abortion. But, what they hey, right? Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette! ๐Ÿ˜

  • Members 2301 posts
    July 16, 2024, 7:34 a.m.
  • Members 204 posts
    July 16, 2024, 5:25 p.m.

    Yes, fascism is a world wide phenomenon. Nothing new about that, or it.

    Trump is a grifter, and in the long tradition of such people he has formed a cult following, which obviously includes you.

    BTW, you're a poor spokesman for his cause. Your syntax and spelling are atrocious, and I think you meant "stimulation" and not "simulation." As for that "stimulation," and the US economy was very strong when Trump became president, when Trump left office the world economy was a shambles because of Covid-19 and Trump's mismanagement of that was catastrophic and also lead directly to over half a million deaths in the US (excess mortality in the last nine months of 2020).

  • Members 608 posts
    July 16, 2024, 5:58 p.m.

    I would argue that a certain (surprisingly high) proportion of the population supports fascism in general, so long as the fascist regime "hurts the right people" and/or imposes their value system on everyone.

    Absolutely a cult following -- I mean, every box is ticked. If anything good has come out of this, it's a newfound understanding of how religions start.

    The thing is, there will be no honest discussion on that point, so no reason to pursue that angle, aside from "entertainment". Honestly, if we really want the debate to move forward, then let's focus on a single point at a time. For example, we could focus on Trump's 2017 Tax Plan or his support for Project 2025.

    However, even with such a narrow focus, the "discussion" will, of course, likely be nothing more than "entertainment", again, just like Equivalence "discussions". And that's a pity, 'cause an honest discussion of these topics would really help bridge the divide between the pro-Trump and anti-Trump camps. Shoot, even this single point in Project 2025 (from the link given above):

    Education: Project 2025 emphasizes a โ€œschool choiceโ€ policy that directs public funds to be used for students to attend private or religious schools, bars โ€œcritical race theoryโ€ from being taught in federally funded schools and advocates for legislation that would allow parents to sue schools they feel have acted improperlyโ€”such as by teaching controversial subjects or requiring students to disclose information about their religious beliefs.

    Is worth discussing, if the discussion is honest. But, of course...

  • Members 2301 posts
    July 16, 2024, 9:26 p.m.

    we should have a religion called " common sense" and im afraid that "natural law" is gifted to only a select few. most of the population have a low gene refinement caused by confined population growth.

  • Members 2301 posts
    July 16, 2024, 11:33 p.m.

    is or are ๐Ÿ˜

  • Members 608 posts
    July 17, 2024, 2:45 a.m.

    That's one of the main problems of religion (at least, Abrahamic religions) -- they presume that what has been indoctrinated into their followers is "common sense". I prefer Einstein's definition: "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by the age of eighteen." The only point I would argue is that for many the prejudices are acquired before age of eighteen, for others after the age of eighteen, and that which prejudices are "common sense" can change over time.

    Don't know what you mean by that. What I can say is that the legal wranglings of Trump clearly demonstrate "Laws for thee, but not for me".

    Again, don't know what you mean by that. What I can say is that there is both commonality for the individuals of a species (else, they'd not form a species) as well as diversity within a species (indeed, that is central to Evolution).

    In any case, none of this is relevant to the discussion of which of the two main Presidential candidates are best for the country, at least so far as I can tell.

  • Members 3817 posts
    July 17, 2024, 3:19 a.m.

    One flaw in your very broad generalisation is that what is common sense for some is stupidity for others and vikky-verky.

  • Members 2301 posts
    July 17, 2024, 6:01 a.m.

    Natural Law Aristotle

  • Members 204 posts
    July 17, 2024, 4:17 p.m.

    The latter, because there is more than one thing being mentioned.

  • Members 608 posts
    July 17, 2024, 5:45 p.m.

    Again, I don't know what you mean be that. I mean, if I replied "Common Sense Einstein", and that was the totality of my reply, would it make sense? What I was unclear about was when you said:

    im afraid that "natural law" is gifted to only a select few

    What, exactly, does that mean? More specifically, what does it mean with respect to Trump vs Biden, since that was the context of the post you replied to when bringing up natural law?

  • Members 2301 posts
    July 17, 2024, 10:17 p.m.

    i thought you into philosophy GB worth the time to study, opens your mind to a lot of characteristics of people in so called positions of power and how they manipulate the greater masses. its as good as " Functional Stupidity "

  • Members 608 posts
    July 18, 2024, 5:21 a.m.

    Perhaps you know the quote and who said it:

    If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.

    It's just that, as with Creationism vs Evolution, Fake Moon Landing vs Real Moon Landing, Anthropogenic Climate Change, etc., etc., etc., there is a truth, but the side sucking up the lie thinks that they are the ones who know the truth. Now, there are nutters on both sides, but this does not even remotely imply that both sides are equal -- that would be like saying there are murders in the US and Japan, so both countries are equally safe/unsafe.

    So, here you go, as but one example:

    apnews.com/article/fact-check-misinformation-election-debate-trump-biden-577507522762aa10f6ee5be3a0ced2bb

    And if you're going to say that they are lying, how do you know that they are lying? Intuition? Right wing blogs? "Common sense"? This is how the MAGA crowd knows. ๐Ÿ˜‚

  • Members 2301 posts
    July 18, 2024, 8:15 a.m.

    The worlds gone mad period, the "do gooders" have screwed up society. my daughter has been teaching a high school this week after just finishing her degree, and boy is the education system screwed up from the so called intellectual leaders not grading kids into there respective classes because of the whole equality debate. I think my daughter will become a uni lecturer and spread her knowledge to the greater masses away from the badly parented kids. they are not all bad its just they the classes are mixed with good and bad which is not good ๐Ÿคจ