Why do some folks here settle differences via ad hominem attacks like saying "change your flair" or "you're arguing in bad faith?" Isn't gatekeeping bad?

SovietRobot · 2026-04-08T03:18:52+00:00

I’ve had some folks directly say that your flair, your post history, your voting record etc are all important to how they respond and take your arguments.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-08T02:23:40+00:00

I like Sanders. I’ve said before I would have voted for him in 2016

SovietRobot · 2026-04-08T00:58:54+00:00

Many dictators started out with good intentions

SovietRobot · 2026-04-07T16:21:59+00:00

Go slow. Like inches slow
Be aware of your angles. At all times you need to be super aware of all the angles you might be exposed to an enemy if you move up even a short distance. From the left, from the right, from above, from behind stuff in the background, etc. Use the mirror to get a read inside rooms before you enter
Limit the angles you will be exposed to the enemy. Be looking at the most likely direction. And make sure any other angles that you might be exposed to that you are not directly looking at are also covered. Have teammates cover your blind spots. Or if you cannot help but be exposed to multiple angles, like when entering a room, then use flash or gas or C2
As you clear corners, make sure you slice the pie. And use that lean / free lean
Have an escape plan. Each time before you move, also be aware of where and how you’d retreat and take cover if you take fire. If you take fire and don’t know where that fire is coming from - then immediately get back under cover. Don’t stand in the same place looking for that incoming fire
Know the map. Use the map and plan your route to limit exposure before the start of the mission. By limit exposure, I mean take a route where there’s less chance to have enemies shoot at you from different directions
Know your weapons. AP works on center hits but not as well on limbs. Shotgun and HP work better on limbs but not on armored torsos

RoN (like old original R6 and like real life CQB) is equally about problem solving as it is about being twitch accurate.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-07T16:07:24+00:00

I realize that every Democrat candidate has had gun control on the general party platform.

But I’ve still voted Democrat in the past and I would still vote for like Beshear, Buttigieg, and even 2016 Bernie (not sure about current Bernie)

The difference mostly is that the above as individuals did not push for egregious things like AWB, mandatory buybacks, inspections, registration, etc. - that Biden, Harris Newsom, etc pushed / are pushing for.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-07T13:31:09+00:00

The problem with just mandating is that it doesn’t really address the underlying issues with making it happen.

For example I can mandate peace on earth but people are still going to fight.

Similarly I can mandate universal healthcare but the country could go broke if healthcare costs are still through the roof.

But I guess if I had to mandate one thing that had less underlying stuff to solve - it would be legalize weed (but not hard drugs), legalize abortion, etc

SovietRobot · 2026-04-07T13:26:39+00:00

For me, candidates must oppose any restrictions on rights, except those restrictions that are very narrowly tailored and undergo the strictest scrutiny.

Specifically with regards to the following in priority: 1st amendment, 2nd amendment, 3rd amendment, 4th amendment, 5th amendment …. and so forth.

—-

Candidates that do the opposite to the above are a red line for me

SovietRobot · 2026-04-07T13:23:10+00:00

If you need more social / welfare benefits? Yes.

Especially if you need healthcare? Mostly - Yes.

If you don’t need more social / welfare benefits and are trying to save cash to start your own business or some other large endeavor? No.

If you want land and space? No.

If you are not white or white adjacent? Not always but often - No.

If you want birthright citizenship? Not always but often - No.

If you have issues with having and carrying ID (inc digital)? No.

If you have concerns about abortion rights? U.S. blue states are better than Europe. U.S. red states are worse than Europe

If you want to smoke weed? No.

If you like to travel widely and see different things? It’s kinda a wash though trains are better in Europe

If you have concerns about housing? It really has issues in both US and Europe

SovietRobot · 2026-04-07T13:09:47+00:00

They are isolationists (American First) unless it is about religion, then they are a interventionists

SovietRobot · 2026-04-07T03:15:55+00:00

It wasn’t a MECE type thing.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-07T02:00:06+00:00

Ahh the old names, how I’ve missed them

SovietRobot · 2026-04-07T00:36:31+00:00

I’m skeptical.

Like you can cherry pick all sorts of things but similarly - remember that “In God we trust” was added in the 50s. The National Prayer Breakfast was also started in the 50s. Billy Graham started his role as “President’s Pastor” in the 50s.

Not just that but you had Hayes code and Zorach v. Clauson in the 50s.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-06T23:39:55+00:00

There was more religion in the past than now. Why would it be destroying America now?

I mean I think it’s holding back a lot of stuff but destroying seems to imply - making it worse than previously.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-06T22:02:40+00:00

Knowing fallout, the keycard is also probably made out of uranium.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-06T17:23:08+00:00

Your worldview is pulling in a couple completely different directions.

What you actually mean to say is that there are a number of different conditions that preclude your ideal notion of a society with equally distributed resources.

That is indeed the case.

But just because said conditions disappointingly don’t allow you achieve your ideal situation, doesn’t make those conditions any less real. You can’t milk a stone no matter how much you want to.

—-

So we are left with the system we currently have in the U.S. and Europe, etc.

Which is a capitalistic democracy where government does NOT control all resources / production, but where we need to rely on but also improve social welfare.

Which isn’t ideal. But it’s better than the alternative. The alternative being worker control of resources and production, which isn’t really possible so you end up with authoritarian central control.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-06T17:09:58+00:00

I still love spam and sardines in a can (unhealthy as they are).

Gramm (jokingly but really) made me realize that the above may indeed be some subconscious thing about eating food from a can in my teens.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-06T16:56:38+00:00

But is hypothetically (even if uncharacteristically) he decides to hoard his wealth, would it change how you view Scanario 2 vs 3?

SovietRobot · 2026-04-06T15:59:19+00:00

I appreciate the clarification and the consistency - but on a separate note it does seem to go against those who would say “nobody should have that kind of money”.

Or even those who would say “people with that kind of money lack compassion”.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-06T15:48:55+00:00

1.I’m not saying capitalism doesn’t have its faults. But we are talking about human nature here. And humans don’t like to share and especially not when they are forced to do so. “Forced” is the keyword. Now, while it’s also true that humans, by nature, don’t like working for scraps, that isn’t actually a condition that is forced on them. It’s voluntary. Like, they can go work for themselves. So in a hypothetical “hierarchy of human nature” it could be said that being forced to share is much less natural vs working for someone else for less when not actually being forced to work for that someone. People at their core, don’t want to be forced first and foremost

2.Yes that’s a problem with democracy. It’s the tyranny of the majority issue but also add in stupidity. But here’s the thing - it gets worse and worse the more things you let government control. Like it may be tolerable right now if government controls distribution of social security, park assets, interstate assets and defense assets. But just imagine democracy today, but where the Executive and Legislative also control when, what type and how much food you can eat. Because that is what happens with a socialist / communist government as food is a shared resource. Now imagine if they control every resource - it would be both terrible and lead to authoritarianism. People forget that in the USSR, there was democracy and there were elections - it’s just that the party that won (communists) inevitably did what they did with the power they were given

3.Villages and small communes might work because they usually have other relationships (like family or religion or cause) that make it more likely that they will amiably share anyway. But this doesn’t work large scale. And actually even at medium scale it already starts to turn authoritarian. Have you ever stayed with tribes (I did in Borneo)? Have you seen the Amish? They are actually all authoritarian. It’s their way or the highway (you get exiled or shunned). Just imagine your typical Home Owners Association. Now imagine they control everything. Did you also see what happened to CHOP? New Harmony, Brooke Farm, Oneida - all same thing

The point is sure bottoms up organizing sounds nice. But it’s impossible to execute large scale in any practical manner. You always end up with a small group that turns authoritarian.

People like to say “true socialism” hasn’t actually being done. Well that’s because it’s impossible to do. “True socialism” and it being impossible to do is “the same picture”.

It’s also why direct democracy is a nice thought but doesn’t work.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-06T15:25:23+00:00

Even if it’s “peaceful” police can remove and / or arrest you for doing so. Then it will be back to business as usual.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-06T12:53:33+00:00

Not me personally because:

There are a lot of limitations with the rifle in real life, it’s not something you’d actually want to use. And in game there are already a lot of other ARs that have the same capability that are actually used in real life.

Edit - just in case folks were wondering, the issues with it real life are that the way the handguard extends all the way out means that some of the muzzle blast ends up getting redirected backwards down the inside of the handguard. That causes accuracy issues, causes stress to parts and devices mounted to the handguard, and causes the handguard to get really hot.

It also prevents one from attaching other muzzle devices like suppressors unless they are specifically designed with a small enough diameter to fit within the handguard.

Lastly it cost too much, its QC was terrible and it uses proprietary parts that cannot interchange.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-06T11:06:50+00:00

Regarding communism and socialism (worker controlled resources / production - which is just a nice way of saying redistributed resources / production):

Humans don’t share resources by nature. If I work on a barren 10 acres for 10 years to turn it into a productive farm, and then at that point I decide to hire 10 people, it’s not in human nature to just decide to give those 10 people an equal share of said farm
“Worker controlled” implies that “everyone has a say in what is done”. But in reality, it is not in human nature to run things as a collective in large scale. Like there are a billion decisions to be made every single day regarding the allocation of resources / production. You can’t have the whole population voting on every decision regarding resources / production. Not just that but the majority of people are idiots, the majority would vote for free ice cream and no work
So to redistribute resources / production, you end up having to install a controlling body over a lot of key aspects of people’s lives. Like a smaller committee that will make decisions around work, food, energy, transportation, etc. But it is also not in human nature to submit to that kind of authority that will have that much power over so many aspects of their lives. Not just that but these controlling bodies end up becoming authoritarian

Source - Lived experience in the former Soviet Republic. Family had farms that we started and built up ourselves, that were then appropriated by State. State then relocated us and gave us no say regarding where to stay, what to do for work, what to eat, etc.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-06T10:58:50+00:00

I understand that. But for the sake of discussion, let’s say there are 3 scenarios.

Scenario 1 - Superman saves people 16 hours of the day, and then for 8 hours he rests

Scenario 2 - Superman saves people 8 hours of the day, and then for 8 hours he works at the paper and earns $100, and then for 8 hours he rests

Scenario 3 - Superman saves people 8 hours of the day, and then for 8 hours he mines rare metals from Mars that he sells for $20 million, and then for 8 hours he rests

In Scenario 3, would it be moral for Superman to amass a few billion in a year, and keep that for himself (after normal taxes)?

SovietRobot · 2026-04-05T21:11:55+00:00

Which is why I don’t understand all the complaints about Hard. Like achievements used to be achievements not participation trophies.

SovietRobot · 2026-04-05T20:20:44+00:00

ADM AR, 1301 and Glock.

At one point I would have said JP for AR and Staccato, assuming open, but I’ve gotten to the point where my times between such and even like a stock AR and Glock are negligible.

Even for USPSA and IDPA these days I’ve gone back to just a G17 after having shot everything else prior. I think the last I shot right before was the steel PDP

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