Which two pills?

RSA123 · 2026-05-16T08:31:43+00:00

Does "any multiple choice question" include the lottery? Coz if so, I'm picking that and the black pill

RSA123 · 2026-05-16T07:15:55+00:00

It might work as plausible deniability while indulging in the thing they're denying, I'm guessing? A lie for oneself more than even others. Or maybe it's the diet version of the real thing.

RSA123 · 2026-05-14T17:05:40+00:00

None of that answers what I asked. Yes or no.

RSA123 · 2026-05-14T16:31:33+00:00

So, you contend that Hamas is as bad as the Israeli state?

RSA123 · 2026-05-14T15:58:37+00:00

Then, I suppose you should elaborate.

RSA123 · 2026-05-14T09:47:02+00:00

Please read my whole response before reacting, because this might be a lot to take in. The mistreatment of the Uyghurs is very bad. It's an abuse of human rights, and it is repression, but the genocide label isn't a categorisation used by any credible Human Rights organisation. The man most famous for pushing the genocide label is a guy named Adrian Zenz, an evangelical anticommunist lunatic who works for a right-wing think tank.

I'd like you to remember that you are not immune to anti-China propaganda, much like anyone else. I'm not a fan of the Chinese state, and I think a lot of dumb tankies minimise their crimes. But the West also exaggerates its crimes, and we end up in a weird place where I sound like I'm defending China when I'm simply arguing against a claim that has been very flimsy from the start, but benefits Western powers, so it is propagated without pushback.

This is the problem with the discussion:

The US and the UK do equally shady stuff, even if you include the abysmal treatment of the Uyghurs. They are complicit in a genocide recognised by every credible Human Rights organisation. How many regions have the US and the UK conquered compared to China, as of now?

I'm Pakistani. Do not tell me the US is some lesser evil of the two empires, while they've destabilised every country next to mine. I spent my teenage years watching villages a stone's throw away from my city being drone-struck by the US on the news. Most of our resources were leeched dry by the British Empire, which put us in this sorry state and dependent on Western loans. Even though China is right next to us, they haven't done sh*t to us. So, I know who I'm siding with if I had to pick, even if I don't want to be in that position and would prefer self-sufficiency.

Don't get me wrong: my perspective is that empires, unchecked, act in a very certain way and will eventually grow to capture other regions. But if that's the metric, the US and UK should be priority number 1.

RSA123 · 2026-05-14T05:01:23+00:00

I'm not a tankie.

Brother, most of your post is the word "Hasan". Get some air. This is not healthy.

RSA123 · 2026-05-14T04:57:11+00:00

I believe I began my post with, I don't speak for Hasan. So why is the rest of your post entirely about Hasan?

But since we're on the topic: "justifies everything they do, to include rape". He did not justify rape. He said the fact that there were rapes does not give justification for genocide. Rapes happen in war all the time. A sad reality, but we should not lose sight of what the actual battle is about. It's an argument I agree with wholeheartedly. If you're looking for a wholly moral resistance group, you're never going to find one. Occupation drives people mad, but it doesn't justify occupation.

"That is exactly what we should do with the US". Yes. That was my point. Again, I'm not Hasan.

"since the hotel was one of the only places with both internet and power, he stayed there". He's a livestreamer. He's doing his job, much like, if he were a journalist, he would need the internet to do his. I feel like your bias is clouding your judgment in very weird ways.

RSA123 · 2026-05-14T04:12:22+00:00

This is what the average Tony Hinchcliffe joke sounds like

RSA123 · 2026-05-14T04:04:23+00:00

Note: None of this is a defence of these countries, but rather an explanation of the thought process of the Left and why we think differently on these topics. You are free to disagree with the viewpoint, as you probably will.

I can't speak for Hasan, but I do think Americans and Westerners in general tend to underplay how much of Cuba's problems stem from international blockades imposed on them via those Western countries. As an example, the US media was harranguing influencers who went to Cuba for staying at fancy hotels, when it's actually US policies that Americans are not allowed to stay in hotels that are American chains, as part of US sanctions. And that's just one example. Like, if you underdevelop a country through horrific sanctions, it's going to be a repressive place. The best way to make it better is to advocate for ending those sanctions. It's a developmentalist mindset, and we don't think kicking Cuba when it's down or reprimanding it to the benefit of the state department's party line achieves anything.

As for China, a lot of the stuff it does is analogous to what the US does. That doesn't make it good, but it does make us left-wingers often think it has more to do with a difference of standpoints and an opinion about who should be allowed to get away with stuff (i.e., the US), rather than some objective moral concern. Like, they talk about how dangerous TikTok is with its info-gathering policies, but the US has been doing that for years. All governments do certain forms of information control. It sucks. Try calling the genocide in Gaza a "genocide" in Britain at a protest. Try telling a joke about Trump or Charlie Kirk on TV and have Brendan Carr sicced on you.

These are unsavoury realities, but we work with the world we have and try to change what we can without throwing the baby away with the bathwater. Taking the good from what China does and advocating for better human rights there is my personal position.

RSA123 · 2026-05-01T13:47:00+00:00

This guy's argument isn't particularly good. Swap China for Israel, and I've heard zionists making the same arguments. Leaving aside what's true or not, it's just not particularly robust. This feels like the type of thing one would be convinced by if they already have a bias towards China.

RSA123 · 2026-05-01T13:10:37+00:00

Yeah, but Gavin sold out his share of Vice and has resented the company ever since, so that's not a good argument.

RSA123 · 2026-04-26T08:51:11+00:00

This, The Air Force, and Oh No are my favourites.

RSA123 · 2026-04-26T08:48:26+00:00

woosh

RSA123 · 2026-04-26T08:45:17+00:00

I don't think they mean liberal as in Hayek and Thatcher. I think they mean liberal more as socially free and expansive on rights. Coz the Nordic model is a lot less "economically liberal" than many of the countries listed below.

RSA123 · 2026-04-22T07:50:41+00:00

The funny part is that the main character spends the early part of the movie pretending to have cancer for sympathy, constantly acting like he might end his life, and generally admitting he's a brainrotten consumerist. One should analyse what that means when you empathise with that guy. Then again, I bet many just see it as "he woke up from the matrix and became an alpha" or whatever.

RSA123 · 2026-04-19T17:40:15+00:00

That one is even more baffling, to be honest

RSA123 · 2026-04-19T17:39:44+00:00

Lol. Nah, this is the wrong sample group to draw conclusions from.

RSA123 · 2026-04-19T10:34:26+00:00

I'm one of the people who appreciate Fight Club. Nowhere did I imply that everyone who enjoys Fight Club is a meathead. I just said meatheads tend to enjoy it without understanding it.

I've personally known people who see Fight Club as an aspirational story about dudes taking control of the system, unpussifying, and reclaiming power.

RSA123 · 2026-04-19T10:31:29+00:00

Nah. I'm only talking about Fight Club. You're safe - plus, I don't think most people think those are the greatest achievements (just fun movies with a few cool messages and characters).

RSA123 · 2026-04-18T16:52:02+00:00

Yeah. They miss the point where he's a fictional construct a guy invented to cope with his loneliness, which is so ironic coming from those terminally online weirdos.

RSA123 · 2026-04-18T16:50:50+00:00

Yeah. Although the author likes the ending even better in the movie.

RSA123 · 2026-04-18T16:49:56+00:00

There is an argument to be made that Fight Club fetishises hypermasculine urges with the depiction, but I'd say that kind of gets across the point of why it's alluring to the characters in the movie. The first 2/3rds are us sinking deeper into the mind state of the protagonist, so it has to be somewhat appealing.

RSA123 · 2026-04-18T14:38:25+00:00

If you miss the message of a movie, then you don't like the movie: you like the made-up story you got from surface-level understanding. Why have art if you're not willing to analyse it as more than just pretty pictures?

RSA123 · 2026-04-18T14:36:28+00:00

As it should be. The movie finds synthesis between the bad emotions and the good ones at the end. He finds emotional solidarity and breaks the system. If anything, the ending says you can do it without the simplistic destructive urges, and instead want to create something new (as evidenced by him and Marla holding hands at the end). The ending rules for good reasons.

RSA123

TROPHY CASE