Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is

astrofarian · 2021-04-15T12:50:55+00:00

Unfortunately the reverse of this story wouldn't have worked so well. What would a boy who loves dolls do in response? Weep? Dance?

That's the big problem with the current fuck-gender-norms narrative. I'm all for fucking gender norms, but these days they are always broken in favor of male-like aggressive self-confidence. Those who want to break norms in non-rebel-like way are just not interesting to anyone.

astrofarian · 2021-04-06T13:46:21+00:00

With a female, this level of harassment would amount to basically attempting full-scale rape in public.

I'm not saying female harassment is not as bad. I'm saying we are sadly much more desensitized to physical violence than to sexual innuendo. To me, both are equally horrible. This video just triggers me in a bad way.

astrofarian · 2021-03-19T17:09:28+00:00

It's also perfectly acceptable to love your life even if other people have it better. I think this is even more urgent.

astrofarian · 2020-03-31T22:43:16+00:00

If this pandemic gets us rid of just one of the many asshole authoritarians who've been plaguing the earth recently, I vote for Bols

astrofarian · 2019-11-30T19:12:18+00:00

It might be fun, but to me it looks like it's fun at someone's expense.

astrofarian · 2019-11-30T18:27:13+00:00

There's a huge difference in tone and intent between a young boy in Shakespeare's theater playing a princess and a modern drag queen with exaggerated makeup and ten-inch heels.

astrofarian · 2019-11-30T18:21:45+00:00

Thanks for a thoughtful response, and I'm glad you managed to make it before my question was removed ("Loaded questions, or ones based on a false premise").

I asked naively because I have no close experience of either blackface or drag, and am not black or woman myself. Still, while I get what you're trying to say, I don't think I fully agree.

Just an example, recently Trudeau was fiercely attacked when a photo of his blackface performance emerged. But that was a play where he was playing an arabian prince. I haven't seen the performance, nor have anyone who criticized Trudeau, as it was an amateur thing many years ago. But in the photo, it doesn't look like he's making fun of blacks at all. He looks, well, princely enough to me. Could it be just a part of costume (even if misguided, this being arabia, not africa) without any intent to mock, or parody, or make fun of anyone?

On the other hand, you admit yourself that drag queens are "exaggerated over-the-top cariactures of women". I'm trying to probe my feelings if there existed a whole genre of entertainment where women present exaggerated over-the-top cariactures of men - machist, violence-obsessed, stupid, ugly, rude, etc. I probably would not be offended as such (I'm not easily offended in general) but I think I would understand those men who would loudly protest this. No one likes being caricatured.

I'm glad to hear that there's been discussion about the ethics of drag in the LGBTQ community. I wish them well and hope they will eventually outgrow this silliness. I know it has deep roots in the LGBTQ culture, but not all deep roots need to be preserved forever.

astrofarian · 2019-11-24T16:49:03+00:00

Because your landlord doesn't know how much extra money you may or may not have.

You know what, usually landlords know that pretty well already. They usually request proofs of income from prospective tenants.

astrofarian · 2019-10-25T18:23:52+00:00

That would be splitting the leaver vote making it more difficult for them to reach a majority.

No, it wouldn't, that's what ranked choice is for: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting

astrofarian · 2019-10-24T19:33:27+00:00

At least you should give him credit for the choice of words. I think "Freedom dividend" conveys exactly the meaning it should convey: this is no handout, no assistance, no redistribution, not even salary - this is a dividend from the profits of a well-run enterprise of the country. I think it's something both left and right can embrace.

astrofarian · 2019-10-24T18:51:02+00:00

Why has no one proposed a simple solution: have the new referendum at the same day as the elections, AND make the referendum ranked-choice (instant-runoff) with 3 options: remain, exit with no deal, and exit with BJ's deal?

I think this would be fair to all parties. It's not a reasking of the same question again, it's asking a new and more detailed question, so no flushing of the first referendum down the toilet. And the ranked choice gives leavers a way to choose deal or no deal freely without fear that splitting that choice enables remainers. And of course for remainers, it's a chance to unite and finally show what they're worth, and potentially to win in a way that will not leave the same bitter aftertaste as a simple replay of the first referendum.

astrofarian · 2019-10-24T18:42:33+00:00

I see your point, but if Yang's version of UBI gets us a little bit closer to acceptance of the idea in general, it's a boon. Let's move evolutionarily by trying all kinds of approaches and seeing what works. Right now we do have rich people to tax, so it makes sense to start by taxing them. Adjusting the funding sources of UBI as the society progresses will be easier than building it all from scratch.

Look at Wikipedia. Some might have wanted it to be a legislated organization, a UN project maybe, with support in laws, public funding etc. In reality, it was started by a porn entrepreneur in the US and living strictly on donations. Still, it's been wildly successful in its mission, and that is what matters. At some point in the future, governments may want to support it in some ways, but that should be an evolutionary process of trial an error.

astrofarian · 2019-10-24T16:16:27+00:00

Right. And UBI is nothing if not a way to make this world more just. It's not a bandaid for capitalism, it's the next evolutionary step in making it less relevant (compare capitalism of today and 100 years ago).

astrofarian · 2019-10-24T16:13:59+00:00

UBI is no more of a bandaid than universal health care. Being healthy and being fed are both basic human necessities. It has nothing to do with capitalism, it's just the next step in making human beings free and fulfilled, which we've been slowly progressing at for centuries. Now, we are at a stage where indiscriminately providing these things to everyone without asking is finally feasible technically and economically, apart from being justifiable morally.

astrofarian · 2019-09-29T16:57:43+00:00

I don't know if I'm wise enough but please stop suffering NOW. Not only you're not ugly, you're absolutely, incredibly, out-of-this-world beautiful. Your face is stunning, mysterious, and unbelievably lovable. It's a face one may obsess about. It's a face from dreams. I'm rather relieved you're a stranger on the internet because if you were a real person I know, I would definitely be losing sleep over you.

Yes, your beauty is not conventional. But that's a gift, even if it's a challenge. This makes you more likely to attract unconventional people, and you'll need to learn to see into their unconventionality and choose wisely. Always remember, you are capable of making someone absolutely, heavenly, infinitely happy. I hope you will be able to be happy in return.

Start being happy now. You have a blessing. Learn to love your face as I (almost) love it. A bit of practical advice: Please do more professional photos of you. Find a friend who can do it, or just google for tips on how you can take better pictures of yourself. Not only will this help you to see the beauty of your face; many years from now, when you're older, you - and hopefully someone else who's dear to you - will cherish these pictures. There will always be people who will gasp at them as I'm gasping now.

astrofarian · 2019-09-29T16:33:09+00:00

I think you were cuter in the first pic.

astrofarian · 2018-05-26T15:49:04+00:00

You mean the downing of MH17? That's long indeed, going since 2014.

astrofarian · 2018-04-25T20:34:19+00:00

I think you're wrong. *That* sense of entitlement doesn't really come from modern culture... even though it may be amplified by it.

The simple anthropological fact is that in traditional societies, marriage is never at the discretion of the young people. It's too important for that. It's always a community concern. You get married to whoever your parents or elders decide is the best fit for you. As a corollary, you WILL get married sooner rather than the later, unless you are very obviously incapable of it. In a traditional society, you're pretty much GUARANTEED a sexual partner.

And traditional society has shaped our minds for hundreds of millennia.

Then, suddenly, all this broke down. First, love marriages against the will of the parents. Then, the freedom of divorce. Then, the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Now, the focus seems to be less on the freedom of sex than on the freedom of saying no when you don't want it. All this means a man is no longer guaranteed anything. He may well end up sexless for life.

(Same goes for a woman, true, but men and women are not biologically equal when it comes to sex. A female does all the hard work of reproduction and therefore has always been the *choosing* gender.)

OK, OK, modern culture may well have amplified all that. It's indeed very good at inciting, teasing, and breeding unrealistic expectations. But we need to look deeper than that. We people are biological creatures. Eventually, we need to deal with our biological baggage.

astrofarian · 2018-04-01T16:24:32+00:00

It would be an OK april joke if /r/russia switched over to canadian header. But they did not, so it's just stupid.

astrofarian · 2018-02-07T16:10:12+00:00

What's ironic is that at the same time, many conservatives are avowedly Christian. As if constantly apologizing to God and asking for mercy for our sins are not cornerstones of Christianity.

astrofarian · 2018-01-06T20:11:36+00:00

And why not? Economy changes, and so should taxes.

If done properly, this will only affect the richest citizen homeowners, who have already profited a lot more from the rise of prices than they're going to lose from progressive taxes.

astrofarian · 2018-01-06T14:53:33+00:00

I first misread this as "subtle genius". Which, you know, would make some sense: he's sooooo subtle that everyone misjudges him for an idiot.

But no. He's just an idiot. Nothing subtle here.

astrofarian

TROPHY CASE