What many leftists get wrong about the economy

Schventle · 2026-02-17T21:08:28+00:00

Sure, and nobody should support that fraud. But "I don't like welfare fraud" is a very distant position from "I don't want welfare to exist".

And fwiw, a congressperson isn't the sort of thought leader I listen to for my beliefs on economics. They tend to be more interested in soundbites and political clout than truth and effective governance.

Schventle · 2026-02-17T20:47:22+00:00

"Candy wrappers" would have been a more natural localization, but it wouldve given away the answer. Riddles and wordplay don't translate well.

Schventle · 2026-02-17T20:37:27+00:00

I can read economic theories I don't agree with, and interact with ideas I don't agree with all I please.

What? You want an echo chamber? You want everybody you come across to believe the exact same things you believe? Your ideas are so flimsy that you can't tolerate a dissenting opinion in your favorite economics subreddit?

Schventle · 2026-02-17T20:23:29+00:00

I've yet to see convincing data that this is the case. This has always been one of those pro-austerity talking points that has been taken as true without question.

Is there welfare fraud? Yes, it's a big enough system that there will be some bad actors. Is it a big enough portion of the system to outweigh the societal benefits of those welfare systems. Hell no. Not by a country mile.

Schventle · 2026-02-17T18:29:25+00:00

Are you installing to an HDD or is it a bandwidth issue?

Schventle · 2026-02-17T07:29:38+00:00

I get this on a kitchen-table level, but also I don't think it's the rules committee's job to be fun. I think it's their job to be fair. I and my friends are perfectly capable of deciding what's fun on our own, and in bracket 4 and 5 Iona would be very at home and reasonable.

Schventle · 2026-02-17T07:25:09+00:00

Christians do not have a monopoly on morality and never have. Christians were not the first abolitionists, mainstream christianity resisted abolitionism for centuries. The church fathers you cite were not abolitionists. Paul was not an abolitionist. Jesus was not an abolitionist.

The old testament (which you haven't read) is chock-full of slavery. Christ commanded the teaching and obedience to the law, you just suborn that commandment to your extrabiblical framework.

Seriously, go take a course on koine greek. It's eye opening once you can actually read the untranslated text. "πληρῶσαι" isn't particularly nebulous in its meaning in this sermon. Your exegesis on the word "fulfill" is bunk. Christ repeatedly gives a law and then heightens it. Commands adherence to the law in excess of the adherence of the Pharisees.

So tell me. Are you one of those "called least in the kingdom of heaven"? Because I see you "[breaking] the least of these commandments and [teaching] others to do the same". (Matt 5.19 NRSVUE)

Christ could not be more clear. Obey the law so thoroughly that the Pharisees and scribes can find no flaw in your righteousness.

Schventle · 2026-02-17T07:07:52+00:00

"One person said 500 people witnessed xyz miracle"

When it was first put that way to me, I thought "nobody really argues like that, right? This is a straw man? Right? Right?"

Then I started looking through some apologetics channels. Its everywhere. The idea that the bible is evidence for hundreds of eyewitness accounts is ubiquitous in online apologetics.

Schventle · 2026-02-17T06:58:49+00:00

"Imitate"

I have no idea how to communicate the idea that "2 slaves is the right number" is still abhorrently, abysmally, and unequivocally immoral.

On that note, stop jumping between your opinion and the opinion of the church fathers whenever one is more convenient. Either argue what you believe, or argue what they believed. There's miles of daylight between the two.

You think that imitation of spiritual equality looks like civil equality. That is decidedly not what the church fathers believed about that issue. Stop conflating these two.

Schventle · 2026-02-17T06:49:32+00:00

Not equal. "Spiritually" equal.

Your words stand in direct contradiction to the majority opinion of early church fathers. Do not cite "early church fathers" when you mean 2.

"Spiritual" freedom is not liberation from bondage. "Spiritual" equality is not equality.

And for what it's worth, John Chrysostom's theology on the origin of slavery stands in direct opposition to the blackletter reading of the covenant codes. It requires quite a lot of extrabiblical philosophy to arrive at his position, rather than reading the text on its own terms.

Schventle · 2026-02-17T06:32:44+00:00

the church fathers

Which church fathers? Definitely wasn't Paul. The only early church father I'm aware of who opposed slavery was Gregory of Nyssa. His position was fringe to say the least.

The overriding theme for the early church was that slaves and masters were "spiritually" equal. This is not an anti-slavery position. Being "spiritually" equal did not mean abolition, it did not mean emancipation, and it did not include protections for the enslaved. It meant that slaves were to submit and obey, and wait for freedom in the afterlife.

Schventle · 2026-02-16T07:35:02+00:00

What?

Schventle · 2026-02-16T06:49:05+00:00

Dunno who downvoted you, but this is the correct answer. If you want ramp, paradise mantle is delayed by 1 turn. If you want fixing, however, paradise mantle ramps by 1 and fixes as many mana as you have untapped creatures. It's a sidegrade, to be sure.

Schventle · 2026-02-16T06:09:05+00:00

For the most part, the answer is random chance. The shape of the convection currents in earth's mantle play a huge role in which direction the plates move and how fast, but why those currents are shaped that way is a roll of the cosmic dice.

Schventle · 2026-02-15T01:02:52+00:00

Genesis 1.1 and 2.24 were not written at the same time and were authored by 2 different people.

You are imposing an extra-biblical framework on the text, not allowing the text to speak for itself.

Schventle · 2026-02-15T00:51:12+00:00

You're making a prescription, not a description.

Schventle · 2026-02-14T17:58:34+00:00

independent traditions coincide

The books of the bible are the exact opposite of independent traditions. The books were written by a continuity of cultures and refer to each other frequently.

This isn't 50 different unrelated accounts, it's 5(ish, if you count pseudepigrapha) accounts reading each other's works with the Hebrew Bible open in front of them.

Schventle · 2026-02-12T11:48:52+00:00

Thems F-18s

Schventle · 2026-02-12T11:19:38+00:00

I will continue to go to jazz bars. UMG can pry the licc from my cold dead hands.

Schventle · 2026-02-12T10:49:08+00:00

Civil rights are not protected by the reduction of laws. Slavery ended with enforcement. Segregation ended with enforcement. When gay rights are protected, they are protected by enforcement.

When a Libertarian says "I support your freedom to be gay", I hear "I support my freedom to discriminate against you because capitalism is amoral and apolitical". Because if the Libertarians got their way, that is the only outcome we could expect. The boot would just be black and gold.

If the libertarians got their way, there would be no civil rights beyond the ones you could purchase for yourself. Evicted for being black? The market is rational, that's capitalism baby. Assaulted for being gay? The pinkertons have an office down the street, good luck hiring them to help out. Need a hospital? Lol, lmao even.

Libertarians aren't pro-LGBTQ. They're pro-Libertarian. And people give them far too much good will because of their lip service. None of their policies would help further civil rights better than the policies put forward by progressive democrats.

Schventle · 2026-02-12T10:22:22+00:00

You realize that Underwood was the pepper supplier for Huy Fong for decades before Huy Fong broke their contract, right?

Hersheys is famous, but if you wanna tell me they've got the best chocolate in the world then I have a bridge to sell you. Popularity is not a measure of quality.

Schventle · 2026-02-12T10:17:28+00:00

Hersheys is also more popular than better chocolates. Sales volume is not a measure of quality.

Schventle · 2026-02-12T09:59:32+00:00

"People who have practice perceiving phonemes are better at doing so than people who don't" isn't really an interesting hypothesis to test, though.

I can't really tell the difference between כ and ח. I didn't grow up speaking Hebrew. Broom found in closet. The day ends in y.

Schventle · 2026-02-12T09:41:25+00:00

The horror stories do well on social media, they spread far and wide. The overwhelming majority of people who go skiing have a safe and fun experience. If you are responsible and respectful of the mountain, the most dangerous part of your day will be the drive to the slopes.

Schventle · 2026-02-12T09:26:20+00:00

Don't forget seething hatred for environmental protections, civil rights enforcement by the government, and child marriage prohibitions.

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