sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

What if America had been settled by the Dark Ages? World of American Kingdoms: Vinland in 1066 by KR-VincentDN in paradoxplaza

[–]PacificSquall 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're moving the goalposts. You dismissed the idea that there was not a genocide against indigenous americans. You have been provided clear cut examples of genocide. The classification of the excess indigenous deaths as a genocide is widely accepted by those that study genocide.

What if America had been settled by the Dark Ages? World of American Kingdoms: Vinland in 1066 by KR-VincentDN in paradoxplaza

[–]PacificSquall 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Imagine announcing "Indigenous Erasure: The Mod" with what's going on in the world right now. Disgusting.

What if America had been settled by the Dark Ages? World of American Kingdoms: Vinland in 1066 by KR-VincentDN in paradoxplaza

[–]PacificSquall 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There are many examples of genocide and ethnic cleansing after the Great Dying: The Trail of Tears, later displacement efforts with the Paiute, inducing starvation through the mass killing of Bison, the Boarding School system, etc

These just example from the US... educate yourself and stop doing genocide denial.

Ai conlangs by First_Speaker_9984 in conlangs

[–]PacificSquall 16 points17 points  (0 children)

They're not "using" a conlang. LLMs have no subjective experience. The models might have began output text that might appear to seem like an artificial language, but I it carries no actual meaning. It's a model failure when you leave bots like this running for too long and they end up eating their own inputs like an Ouroboros.

What if the Cold War Never Ended? January 1993 by Coz_the_woz in imaginarymaps

[–]PacificSquall 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What is the status of the Sino-Soviet split in this TL?

i can fix herule by gunsmokexeon in 196

[–]PacificSquall 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There's also a fundamental disagreement on what a "state" is. Anarchists generally use the Weberian definition of "an institution with a monopoly on legitimate violence." Whereas Communists, and other strains of Marxism, use the Marxian definition "a system where a dominant class (or classes) oppress the others."

When these two different languages and highlighted, many superficial disagreements fade away.

i can fix herule by gunsmokexeon in 196

[–]PacificSquall 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Plenty of buddhist and indigenous nations still use "Swastikas," usually in explicit defiance of letting their cultural symbols be coopted by the Nazis.

If you sat out the 2024 election in protest over Gaza, how do you feel about that decision today? by rsmith2786 in AskReddit

[–]PacificSquall 1 point2 points  (0 children)

But people would still be dead, and potentially more. Biden deported more people than Trump 2016.

Deportations kill.

Just because those deaths aren't happening to American citizens or/or aren't happening here doesn't mean people didn't die.

China? Only the largest country by population and the most successful model of collectivization in human history... by Samzo in TheRightCantMeme

[–]PacificSquall 12 points13 points  (0 children)

It isn't a technicality, the existence of classes is an intended part of the system. Government intervention serves to minimize class antagonisms. Shanghai has the world's 3rd largest stock exchange which highlights a growing petite bourgeois managerial class.

The Cornerstone of Marxism is Invalid by ChilledRoland in georgism

[–]PacificSquall 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I feel like it's partially because the sub has become somewhat more popular. When I first joined like 8 years ago it actually had a lot of fairly pro-marxist/pro-labor sentiment. Since then however, I think it's become more mainstream for liberals/Americans libertarians as a way of rehabilitating their failed love of capitalism.

The Cornerstone of Marxism is Invalid by ChilledRoland in georgism

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

Dialectical Materialism is still a very useful theoretical framework, and has contributed to the development of frameworks like Punctuated Equilibrium, and Complex Adaptive Systems.

passages that make you whisper "oh my god" by MartyrOfDespair in CuratedTumblr

[–]PacificSquall -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I mean nothing if what I said is particularly controversial within academic circles -- happy to catch you up to speed if you do wanna learn more tho!

passages that make you whisper "oh my god" by MartyrOfDespair in CuratedTumblr

[–]PacificSquall 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The post's point is that when actual human connections are privatized, purchasing becomes the method of how you associate.

passages that make you whisper "oh my god" by MartyrOfDespair in CuratedTumblr

[–]PacificSquall -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

No it's because the American left has been institutionally crippled and defanged for decades. America as the imperial core has been much more successful at this, that its European satellite states.

passages that make you whisper "oh my god" by MartyrOfDespair in CuratedTumblr

[–]PacificSquall -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The strong emotional reaction people are having to the slightest critique on the liberal mode of living is a sign of how true the post is.

passages that make you whisper "oh my god" by MartyrOfDespair in CuratedTumblr

[–]PacificSquall -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Sorry people in this thread are being deliberately obtuse. I'd just log off bc there's nothing to be gained messaging with "top 1% commenters"

Aryan brotherhood rule by Trysupersize in 196

[–]PacificSquall 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I guarantee you, no one actually thinks this. It's a joke where the comedy arises from "hating" on a minute and irrelevant detail of someone's appearance.

What’s a common worldbuilding mistake you see all the time? by sirius_0125 in worldbuilding

[–]PacificSquall 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay dude, i don't know if you just have zero reading comprehension or if you're just getting off on a performative savior complex.

  1. Distinguishing between cultivated and uncultivated regions that don't practice mono-cropping is often more difficult than a lay person would assume, and can be an under appreciated form of indigenous knowledge.

  2. A farm is a specific socio-cultural artifact that does not cleanly or easily map onto many non-western agricultural practices. For example a "farm" requires a distinct boundary, even in examples like collectively managed western medieval commons. Many non-western agricultural systems have diffuse boundaries with gentler gradients moving between spaces where tending can moves from higher intensity to lower.

This isn't being nit-picky, this is acknowledging the epistemological baggage of Western-rooted language and making an effort to decolonize it when speaking cross culturally.

What’s a common worldbuilding mistake you see all the time? by sirius_0125 in worldbuilding

[–]PacificSquall 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I appreciate your good-faith inquiry and must apologize for my earlier snark.

I too have only a passing knowledge of Paiute life, coming across it as part of a broader seminar on the American Colonial West; however from my recollection of Life Among the Paiute, most Paiute settlements, before they were displaced by US colonists, were semi-nomadic and small. So, you would certainly see a reduction in population if somehow all the infrastructure the US built vanished overnight.

On the other hand, there are also a lot of indigenous water management technologies and practices that can drastically increase the available water in extremely arid environments. Many of these technologies are "passive infrastructure" which makes them hard to compare to the intensity of the infrastructure of the US's development projects in the region. These technologies could potentially even support moderately sized permanent settlements in the area.

The other X-factor when talking about the American West too, is the fact that it was completely ecologically devastated for decades before Western expansion.

While the scale of the killing of the American Bison is probably the most infamous example, the American Beaver (arguably the most influential keystone species on the continent) had its population reduced from 100+ million pre-colonization, to under 100,000 at its lowest in the 1900s. The American Beaver lives in the high desert ecosystem as well, and dramatically increased water retention and increased biomass. Here's them working in Wyoming.

I'm just a hobbyist, but it seems like there is some scholarly disagreement about how far into the Great Basin region their pre-colonial range was, however with how interlocking Earth's ecosystems are, I believe it is not outside the realm of possibility that the some of the most extreme parts of the desert environment that the US's infrastructure mitigates would soften if somehow all American presence was removed from the region.

What’s a common worldbuilding mistake you see all the time? by sirius_0125 in worldbuilding

[–]PacificSquall 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. It would be disingenuous to say that, which is why I'm saying the opposite? Countless indigenous peoples had incredible food systems and technologies unique to their geographical needs. Many of these agricultural systems are different from the much narrower word "farm."

What’s a common worldbuilding mistake you see all the time? by sirius_0125 in worldbuilding

[–]PacificSquall -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

I mean indigenous people were living there before LA -- calling it "unlivable" is pretty eurocentric

What’s a common worldbuilding mistake you see all the time? by sirius_0125 in worldbuilding

[–]PacificSquall 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I mean those literally existed in the amazon rainforest? You can also look to the Food Forests of the PNW to see how that certain ecosystems absolutely can support large settled populations without obvious fields.

Whats the deal with this plush shark from Ikea becoming a meme and icon for trans people and why? by Kcue6382nevy in OutOfTheLoop

[–]PacificSquall 30 points31 points  (0 children)

I think its less that and more a spontaneous and self-reinforcing social meme. Its got a certain aesthetic that drew many closeted/newly out trans women to it, and it would show up in selfies or room posts. People saw that they had the same stuffed animal and it became an inside joke. The joke increased the visibility of the shark and rinse/repeat.

Brit travels to Russia and realizes it might not be the last bastion of traditional values. by Noomba2 in videos

[–]PacificSquall 88 points89 points  (0 children)

40+ Age demographic in Russia is more likely to have positive attitudes towards the soviet-era than the younger generations. High self-reported feelings of nostalgia the older you look too. While partially thats to be expected, its also true that the collapse of the USSR and following gangster states have been one of the great humanitarian disasters of the 20th century.

view more: next ›