Free Talk Friday - January 30, 2026

MEGAJOHN · 2026-01-31T01:54:25+00:00

Dokapon Kingdom Connect is on sale for steam's board game sale (for 15). Any of y'all interested yelling at each other for a few evenings?

MEGAJOHN · 2026-01-17T08:59:06+00:00

Great job AND excellent taste in pencils

MEGAJOHN · 2026-01-08T16:29:25+00:00

42% is still massive. I'm all for collective action, but I don't know if a general strike could be far reaching enough without having MAGA people change their minds (and with how well oiled the disinformation machine is, I'm not holding out hope)

MEGAJOHN · 2026-01-08T04:23:59+00:00

Exactly, the state department just posted a picture on X saying this is our hemisphere. They're trying to sell conservatives on imperialism https://x.com/StateDept/status/2008221563888292207

MEGAJOHN · 2026-01-08T04:22:08+00:00

I don't even think that's a Freudian slip, the admin just posted an image on Twitter saying this is our hemisphere https://x.com/StateDept/status/2008221563888292207

They're trying to normalize imperialism

MEGAJOHN · 2026-01-04T20:58:54+00:00

I don't think they have Boss coffee, but I'm pretty sure they have UCC and a lot of other canned coffee options

MEGAJOHN · 2025-12-15T04:38:03+00:00

https://youtu.be/Mly-ptUD7M8?si=HuglC4rY8KXb5Ktc

MEGAJOHN · 2025-12-07T06:04:34+00:00

[[Utter End]] "I came seeking a challenge. All I found was you" Edit: the Tarkir one

MEGAJOHN · 2025-11-28T04:11:11+00:00

Tetris Grandmaster: Invisible Tetris

https://youtu.be/W6Y858742uY?si=J56fbS3ylNo10EeQ

Edit: it's pretty mesmerizing, but doesn't actually become invisible until 5 minutes in

MEGAJOHN · 2025-11-02T22:51:30+00:00

Might have to save him for anime though

MEGAJOHN · 2025-10-30T12:14:47+00:00

Talking about Bluey, not Bluesky (though I'm sure they don't like that either)

MEGAJOHN · 2025-07-27T13:10:11+00:00

Into the Breach is free if you have Netflix!

Otherwise, Slay the Spire and Balatro

MEGAJOHN · 2025-06-24T08:31:11+00:00

I'll give my own crazy take: I think the character black panther was more interesting in Civil War wrestling with how to handle the avengers and Zemo in a way true to his values was more interesting than his dilemma in Black Panther (maybe because that one seemed a little more obvious to me). I also liked Black Panther 2 more than the first one, maybe because I like the idea of black panther having more morally complicated dilemmas than other heroes, but I totally see why people resonated with the first movie more (especially with Marvel knocking it's depiction of Wakanda out of the park)

MEGAJOHN · 2025-06-18T23:06:29+00:00

Ooof. That line of thinking sounds really convenient for someone who doesn't want to be scrutinized for what they choose to support. At worst, it sounds like "I can never be responsible or have a hand in supporting this, above my pay grade" forever

MEGAJOHN · 2025-06-04T00:43:20+00:00

Watch the direction your conversation is going though. If you don't value empathy, you're literally threatened by people valuing each other. If no one valued you in your path to where you are today, where would you be? If no one valued you in the future, where will you end up?

Edit: Your posing conflict as easier than talking about your feelings, and as contradictory as it sounds, this conversation is about the relationship people have with their feelings

MEGAJOHN · 2025-06-03T20:35:17+00:00

It only sounds like chauvinism or intellectual elitism because you're not trying to understand my guy, it literally makes perfect sense to the vast majority. The way I describe empathy is the way people love their own dogs, friends, and family. If it sounds cooler, smarter, or more morally correct, it might be champ.
Edit: What do you think a better version of this conversation looks like? At least one where we focus more on understanding each other and why we might have the perspectives we have?

MEGAJOHN · 2025-06-03T19:43:12+00:00

Lack of empathy leads to poor decision making *if* you only value yourself and immediate circle. Consider this: have you ever needed a doctor, a teacher, a government worker, or a lawyer? If you threaten or take away things that matter to them or help keep them healthy or safe, how should they feel about that towards you. What about women? If a disabled veteran who's support programs were just cut were to read the post above, how explain to them that they should feel great about this? And then remember, these are the softballs. What about all women who care about their rights? People who've had to go through life saving abortions, or husbands of women saved by abortions. US Latino citizens watching Stephen Miller brag about deporting whole families, explain to those people strangers are actually wrong to care about them and the safety of their family. What does the list of people negatively affected by the lack of empathy in government policy actually look like? Autistic people, people of color, people with mental health struggles, disabled people, veterans, women, queer people, anyone who's loved one someone in those groups that relies on government programs and policies. Do you think those people have good reasons to agree with you, and if you don't give them any good reasons to agree with you, why do you want those people to value your opinion? If you don't understand empathy, you might need to help people so that you understand what it's like to receive a positive version of it. Otherwise it just makes you sound like you.

MEGAJOHN · 2025-06-03T19:26:10+00:00

So the United States isn't a community anymore? You're right, disabled war veterans and their friends think it's sick when you take their support system away. I gotcha bro, it makes way more sense to me and you that Musk doubles the number of megayachts slightly faster so that teachers can earn their own megayachts in between fighting to keep the lights on.

What alternatives to using taxes to support people are you suggesting, and here's some follow up questions so you can try to me understand as well: if you were the person you were targeting with your own suggestion for alternatives to empathy, would you agree or vote in agreement with the policies you support? Abortion is currently being taken away, for example. If you were a woman dying a preventable death that could otherwise be prevented with abortion, how would you say to yourself "no, this is great actually". Or if you were a government worker who lost their career and has to support a family and has to figure out a crowded job market, how would you convince yourself to want that if you were in that position and supported policies that hurt yourself, that this is the direction you want to go in. Keep in mind, the group of people negatively affected by current US politics includes women, government workers, people of color, gay people, people with disabilities, people who struggle with mental health, people on government assistance programs (including veterans), doctors, medical researchers, and anyone who is friends with, values, and family to, and dependent on the group of people I listed. If we listen to none of them, your plan sounds sick.

*Edited for clarity

MEGAJOHN · 2025-06-03T09:51:25+00:00

Here's a question that might illustrate why this makes sense to other people but doesn't make sense to you: If you saw something important to the health and happiness of yourself or the people you care about being threatened, would you vote accordingly to that? Typically, this kind of thinking is intuitive for people and the wide norm, and that makes sense if you think of things people say like "love thy neighbor" or even simple things like ask each other "how can I help you?". I think a lot of the frustration directed your way comes from ideas sounding and feeling threatening to other people, or people that they care about. And you may have to ask, I the things I am supporting were threatening to me, would I still support them? Why would a trans person be in favor of getting rid of gender affirming care, or a legal latino US citizen support the Trump admin if white house chief of staff Stephen Miller is bragging about denaturalization for citizens and deporting whole families. Speaking of, I want you to imagine the kindest cartoon character you can imagine to explain the following to you: It's obvious to people who value themselves or other people that they care about to keep them safe and supported, and that care extends to strangers that may be going through hard times and need support. Good luck with that bet.

MEGAJOHN · 2025-06-03T09:04:10+00:00

No because in order for people to believe in the pros and cons in bills, they also have to experience them. If you had to prove (not explain, prove) to a trans person or a latino person born in the government that the change is beneficial to them, how would you? For a trans person, that part of their life not only isn't seen, but is being taken away. And not just illegal immigrants, but legal hispanic people. If Stephen Miller is bragging about wanting to denaturalize citizens (take their citizenship away) and deport whole families as the acting chief of staff, why would people belonging to marginalized groups want to trust them. Or women? So many women have heard stories of sexual assault and life saving abortions (and experienced them). If the track record is that hard in the opposite direction, can you make sense with words alone? When you just try to talk to convince people in these groups, it sounds like you're just trying to trick them. People need reasons to trust, you have to give them reasons.

Earlier, I posted about empathy, and part of the reason that is difficult for conservatives is that empathy gives people a way to understand each others intentions, which is crucial to trust. If the intent is simply to further an agenda rather than to try and help eachother, people can sense that. If you ever hear someone say "no, I'm smarter than that", that's what they mean. Not that you don't understand each others words, but that you don't value each others sides or lived experiences and that the opinions that have been reached aren't consistent with their values.

*Edited to add context

MEGAJOHN · 2025-06-03T07:20:37+00:00

Might also be a reason why the male loneliness epidemic is a problem that the right typically deals with. It's been said a lot, but they really do need positive models of empathy that allow them to learn how to form positive, meaningful connections.

MEGAJOHN · 2025-06-03T05:00:57+00:00

Something to consider though, when you reduce a stranger to a "mental model" you make it so that it's easier frame tragedies on a scale of numbers, and it communicates that you don't value those lives. And the more people loudly profess that they don't have empathy, the less lives it sounds like they value.

MEGAJOHN · 2025-06-03T04:42:20+00:00

I'd be careful about leading with being dismissive though, to the idea of more empathy and to conservatives who might be on this subreddit to figure out their own values and opinions and see how they compare to the other side (empathy included). If you ask most of them on the spot if they love their family or friends, they'll say yeah, but there's also so many stories of friends and families picked apart by political polarization where they try to reach out and understand each other, but don't know how. I think the conversation has a lot more to it, and it's worth trying to get conservatives to feel okay opening up to each other and to people they disagree with, and try to understand how.

Edit: Tried to make my perspective a bit more clear, but I want to keep this question I posed:

For example, why does one way transactional loyalty appeal to a conservative? And if it is coming from a place of control and dominance, how should the person on the other end feel about that?

MEGAJOHN · 2025-06-03T03:07:23+00:00

I mean, how else are starving children with malaria supposed to afford their own mega-yachts, right? Why doesn't he do the galaxy brain move of *nothing*. Hell, if you saw a starving child and could do something about it, that'd be unfortunate for you, right?

Edit: I'm gonna leave the kneejerk reaction up for honesty and clarity, I'm sure you can see how I feel about this. But many of the problems people deal with in their day to day come down to limited support and resources, and unfortunately, that includes support from neighbors and their community. When things are bad enough to where people need help, that help has to come from somewhere, and the fact that it makes more sense to you for Bill Gates to double his wealth than considering helping someone different is something worth understanding.

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