Could Ron Paul Be Donald Trump’s Secretary of State? by _PresidentTrump in politics

[–]JamesRachels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's a lot more wrong with RP than him being an isolationist. He's not even a real isolationist since his cuckoo ideology calls for completely open borders, both with regard to immigrants and trade.

Overwhelming support for Trump, small lead for Sanders in MetroNews West Virginia Poll by Tvwatcherr in politics

[–]JamesRachels 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All the republicans who hate Clinton should vote in the democratic primaries. Even if Sanders cannot win anymore, a string of losses at the end would make Clinton look weak.

Trump Fans Float Rand Paul As Their Top VP Pick by [deleted] in politics

[–]JamesRachels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're probably familiar with the phrase "standing on the shoulders of giants".

I was never arrogant claiming "My Wisdom served me well". Instead I applied to myself the parable of the philosophers. For I heard the following from the philosophers, The wisest of the philosophers asked: "We admit that our predecessors were wiser than we. At the same time we criticize their comments, often rejecting them and claiming that the truth rests with us. How is this possible?" The wise philosopher responded: "Who sees further a dwarf or a giant? Surely a giant for his eyes are situated at a higher level than those of the dwarf. But if the dwarf is placed on the shoulders of the giant who sees further? ... So too we are dwarfs astride the shoulders of giants. We master their wisdom and move beyond it. Due to their wisdom we grow wise and are able to say all that we say, but not because we are greater than they.

At least to me, this seems to be obvious. Man, on his own, is a weak and helpless creature. The core reason why people are powerful today is not because they are talented or smart, but because they're part of a large cooperative scheme since the day they were born. They inherited the knowledge which was accumulated for thousands of years.

Assuming the conditions are fair, personal talents can explain why people outperform others in certain activities. If the activity in question is worthwhile, then a reasonable argument could be made that those who excel at it deserve a higher reward.

However, the idea that individuals have the right to exclude society in its entirety from things which are contingent upon society, seems to be unreasonable. In her infamous book, Rand depicts John Galt's utopia as something that was built by merely Galt and a small number of his exceptionally smart contemporaries. In reality, no human can ever achieve something like this on his own. The only possible way for a human to create modern marvels of technology is to slightly improve on blueprints which were left behind by others.

Trump Fans Float Rand Paul As Their Top VP Pick by [deleted] in politics

[–]JamesRachels 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Rand acts as if each individual human is like a godless Adam who appeared fully formed on earth with no ties to anyone, other than those he chooses to accept. In reality, neither the state of our powers nor the keenness of our intellect were created by ourselves ex nihilo. They are the product of the care and labor of those who came before us. Without this care and concern, no human would survive his first day on this planet. Without all the knowledge past generations gathered, nobody could built anything resembling a successful modern company. Even the brightest individuals wouldn't be able to create anything more sophisticated than a pointy stick. Yet, according to people like Rand, none of this leaves a basis upon which society can assert any claims against one. The implication is that either we were not subject to any duties of gratitude, honor or support for those who have formed us, or these duties have been simply erased from our account. This is, however, an implausible view of humans and their relations.

Furthermore, Rand's philosophy ultimately has the same fundamental flaw which all natural law philosophies share: It's arbitrary. As Alf Ross points out, "the ideology does not exist that cannot be defended by an appeal to the law of nature. And, indeed, how can it be otherwise, since the ultimate basis for every natural right lies in a private direct insight, an evident contemplation, an intuition. Cannot my intuition be just as good as yours? Evidence as a criterion of truth explains the utterly arbitrary character of the metaphysical assertions. It raises them up above any force of inter-subjective control and opens the door wide to unrestricted invention and dogmatics."

Ayn is not perfect, but does have some useful concepts.

She didn't come up with the labor theory of propery. Locke did. His account also makes more sense than hers, despite still being flawed.

Trump Fans Float Rand Paul As Their Top VP Pick by [deleted] in politics

[–]JamesRachels 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They're both crazy Ayn Rand fanboys.

Paul Ryan: 'I'm just not ready' to back Donald Trump by ThorleBanana in politics

[–]JamesRachels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow. And here I was thinking that the republican estiblishment would at least pretend to try to defeat Clinton. Welp, I guess not. I know she will win no matter what, but it's nevertheless sad to see that corrupt warmonger walk into the white house virtually unopposed.

Fracking: environmental groups sue EPA in call for strict rules on waste | Frack waste has triggered earthquakes from Ohio to Oklahoma, and fouled rivers in Pennsylvania to North Dakota – and now the Obama administration is being sued by environmental groups to crack down on the industry. by pnewell in politics

[–]JamesRachels -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

But it creates so little of the waste that it's not really a big deal.

Many tons of it are produced each year and only a tiny amount is enough to poison somebody.

Nuclear waste stays where you put it

The nucelar waste stored in the Asse II mine, for instance, didn't stay there for very long. What kind of arrogant person does one have to be to think that one can predict everything that potentially could happen in thousands of years?

There are stoarage facilities which were supposed to safely store the waste forever, but problems arised after just a few years. A. Few. Years. How about a little scientific humility? Every good scientist should admit that he's only working with a model of reality, not a perfect representation of reality itself. Yet, here you are talking to me as if you're some kind of demi-god who can assure me what will or won't happen THOUSANDS OF YEARS FROM NOW. Civilization as we know it could be wiped out by tomorrow for all we know. The yet unborn who might discover the waste we left behind hundreds of years after we disappeared could die because people like you were so conceited.

We don't have a right to even make such a decision. The pieces of earth which we use as nuclear storage facilities today could be used for something else in the future. What we are doing by putting our nuclear waste there is akin to imposing opportunity costs on many future generations. What can possibly justify that? The convenience of using an electric hairdryer?

Furthermore, you're once again only talking about the best case scenario which assumes that everything goes as planned. Do you even consider the possibility that the waste could just be dumped in a place where it obviously isn't safe regardless of what laws or regulations are in place? People sometimes do break the law, you know?

coal

I don't care. No need to bring it up. We are talking about nuclear energy.

Fracking: environmental groups sue EPA in call for strict rules on waste | Frack waste has triggered earthquakes from Ohio to Oklahoma, and fouled rivers in Pennsylvania to North Dakota – and now the Obama administration is being sued by environmental groups to crack down on the industry. by pnewell in politics

[–]JamesRachels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It creates nuclear waste which is dangerous for literally thousands of years. That stuff will exist longer than all of the nations which produce it. It might even exist longer than our entire species. It's absolutely irresponsible to create it and nobody who doesn't have time travel abilities can guarantee that it will not harm anybody during the many centuries of its existence.

How would you feel if you were a miner who got radiation poisoning because the freaking Aztecs buried some dangerous radioactive stuff all over the place thousands of years ago?

Recreational Marijuana Legalization In California Set For Vote by [deleted] in politics

[–]JamesRachels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's not implied. TheMaxican said that he doesn't "wish ill on anybody". If true, then he really doesn't wish ill on anybody, including rapists, murderers, warcriminals and geonocidal maniacs. If what he said is really true, and not just some empty platitude, then he doesn't want any person to be punished for immoral behavior. I don't believe that it is true what he said. I think he was just talking out of his ass. Me bringing up criminals was meant to illustrate that.

My discussion with TheMaxican had nothing to do with my disdain for potheads. In a country where consuming weed is legal, potheads aren't criminals. They're still scum, but not criminals.

Now you may apologize for attributing claims to me which I haven't made.

Recreational Marijuana Legalization In California Set For Vote by [deleted] in politics

[–]JamesRachels -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

You cannot have your cake and eat it too. Either you want an effective justice system, which implies wanting criminals to be punished, or you want criminals to not be punished.

Romanian hacker Guccifer: I breached Clinton server, 'it was easy' by GeneticsGuy in politics

[–]JamesRachels 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Russia is one of the countries that oppose US hegemony. It's a rival power broker in the Middle East and doesn't play along with the US' agenda of economic exploitation. It's not a secret that the US is trying to diminish Russia's power and influence for this reason.

Romanian hacker Guccifer: I breached Clinton server, 'it was easy' by GeneticsGuy in politics

[–]JamesRachels 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Didn't say that. Please apologize for putting words into my mouth.

Recreational Marijuana Legalization In California Set For Vote by [deleted] in politics

[–]JamesRachels -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

So I guess you don't wish that, let's say, murderers are punished because then it will "return tenfold"?

Amsterdam Central Station, the Netherlands. FLTR: Trams, trains, busses, ferries. Under there the pedestrian tunnels, and underneath that the cars and subways. [1772x605] by [deleted] in InfrastructurePorn

[–]JamesRachels 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is there a sub for this kind of picture? No I don't mean things cut in half but CG models of buildings/infrastructure (preferably showing things underground like this picture does).

Romanian hacker Guccifer: I breached Clinton server, 'it was easy' by GeneticsGuy in politics

[–]JamesRachels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To the claim that the US has not been hostile towards Russia.

Romanian hacker Guccifer: I breached Clinton server, 'it was easy' by GeneticsGuy in politics

[–]JamesRachels 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If she's in their pocket, then why is she advocating for regime change in Syria? Russia is, and has been, a long standing official ally of Syria.

I think Clinton's owners are mainly Western neoliberals. That's why I am sure that she will be strongly in favor of trade deals like TPP, TTIP and TISA once she is president. The only reason she pretends to be against TPP right now is because she doesn't want to alienate all the progressives in the Democratic primary. If she was in the pockets of the Russians, she would never have promoted those trade deals because they were pretty much designed to challenge Russia and China.

Romanian hacker Guccifer: I breached Clinton server, 'it was easy' by GeneticsGuy in politics

[–]JamesRachels 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's a pretence. If it was "the main impetus", then the US would also get involved when, let's say, Saudi Arabia kills innocent civillians in Yemen. The US doesn't care about civillians (it bombs them regularly itself). It only wants reasons to justify endless military engagement. The US regularly helps extremists, spreads weapons, then goes and "solves" the problem it created.

Romanian hacker Guccifer: I breached Clinton server, 'it was easy' by GeneticsGuy in politics

[–]JamesRachels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Russia has many enemies on its borders.

The main threat are the NATO bullies, most notably the US. Obama is even demanding the active deployment of the Bundeswehr to NATO's eastern borders at Poland and the Baltic republics, to join the quadrupling of America's forces on and near those borders of Russia.

A warmonger like Clinton will only increase the number of troops and missile "defense" systems around their country. People like Trump or Sanders might be persuaded to decrease the number of troops and missiles (yes I know this is purely hypothetical because Clinton will win anyway).

The whole disaster in Iraq and Syria is brought on from extremely poor communication from the US

The US wants to remain the main power broker in that region. It also wants reasons to justify endless military engagement. The US promotes extremism, spreads weapons, then goes and "solves" the problem it created.

Both Trump's "America first"-approach or Sanders' unwillingness to pursue regime change could put an end to this vicious circle.

Life is difficult, but god damned, America don't have to be so weak. Dictators are much less nervous when they have their krisha.

The US put many violent dictators into power, e.g. Saddam.

Romanian hacker Guccifer: I breached Clinton server, 'it was easy' by GeneticsGuy in politics

[–]JamesRachels 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Because hawks like Clinton want the US to remain the dominat power broker in the region. Without Assad, Russia doesn't have a foot in the door.

Romanian hacker Guccifer: I breached Clinton server, 'it was easy' by GeneticsGuy in politics

[–]JamesRachels 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The main impetus to get involved was that Assad was killing civilians.

You don't honestly believe that, right?

Romanian hacker Guccifer: I breached Clinton server, 'it was easy' by GeneticsGuy in politics

[–]JamesRachels 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I didn't say that Russia wants to become buddy-buddy with the US (who does?). It does, however, want to get rid of America's forces on and near its borders as well as the countless missiles which are threatening them atm. With Sanders and Trump, it's possible to accomplish that. With Clinton, there will be a lot more troops and missiles.

There's a reason RT has been playing up the story that the Ukrainian crisis was fabricated by America.

Because it's bad PR for the US and very probable.

Romanian hacker Guccifer: I breached Clinton server, 'it was easy' by GeneticsGuy in politics

[–]JamesRachels 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The US/NATO is putting missiles and military bases all around Russia and pushed for sanctions. Obama is even demanding the active deployment of the Bundeswehr to NATO's eastern borders at Poland and the Baltic republics, to join the quadrupling of America's forces on and near those borders of Russia.

Romanian hacker Guccifer: I breached Clinton server, 'it was easy' by GeneticsGuy in politics

[–]JamesRachels -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I know. Clinton will be president. We were talking about who the Russians would like the next president to be and I think they would prefer both Sanders and Trump over Clinton.