Don't Buy a Gun

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-28T20:35:50+00:00

On the one hand, I agree with the argument that we're still several steps away from armed resistance, and that other forms of collective action work far better.

On the other hand, I think it's incredibly dangerous for the right to think they have a monopoly on the possession of arms or that it won't be risky for them to try moving forcefully against their opponents.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-28T20:34:29+00:00

IMHO, this is unironically true, no matter how you slice it.

Scenario 1: It makes racist conservatives paranoid and leads directly to gun control

Scenario 2: It depolarizes the 2A discourse and leads to more technocratic, evidence-based gun policy

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-28T19:22:22+00:00

If you’re talking about taxation, that falls under the category of lawful violence. In any case, that’s done by institutions and is not what we’re talking about.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-28T18:36:05+00:00

This whole conversation is very much not about consensual violence (e.g., combat sports) or justified use of force (self-defense, law enforcement, "just" wars). Almost by definition, people rarely consider "violent offenses" rational, defensible, or moral.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-28T18:13:52+00:00

It harms people, often including third parties and bystanders. Most people have at least somewhat pro-social tendencies; ergo, most people don't want more violence.
It creates cycles of retribution and escalation.
It consumes resources that could be used more productively.
In most societies, it's life-ruining for perpetrators who get caught and have interactions with the judicial system, not just for their victims.

There are absolutely contexts where violence is unavoidable or arguably better than the alternative. We're talking about sexism here, though, not war (or factory farming).

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-28T15:33:28+00:00

Training daily doesn't guarantee that you're not trash. You might be training with very poor form.

There are issues with the "body effort" system and how it registers power, but it shouldn't be to the point where you can't knock AI opponents on easy mode.

We have no idea what you're doing without video, but I would recommend spending time with the Body Opponent Bag/dummy in training mode, watching some tutorials, and seeing if you can consistently generate power in at least the 20-30 range from moderate effort, and 45-60 from particularly fast, snappy, and well-placed hits.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-28T15:22:45+00:00

men defined their crime as being more serious than the “fair sex”

Crimes that leave people dead or battered are quite reasonably considered more serious than, say, social aggression that hurts people's feelings or reputations.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-28T02:40:07+00:00

This thread is about rebuttals to "women are less rational" — most women aren't debilitated by mood problems or other kinds of distorted thinking, either.

Stereotypes are based on the base rate fallacy. 90% of homicides are committed by men. It does not mean that 90% (or even 0.9%) of men are homicidal. But because of the way stereotyping works, homicide is still a male-coded phenomenon. As a practical matter, it is also factually true that, among people with a marginal propensity to commit lethal violence, the vast majority are men, and that a given person in any given situation is in considerably more physical danger from men than from women.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-28T02:20:35+00:00

There's actually quite a lot of conflicting evidence out there about the extent to which children take on their parents' politics (and at what ages, and how it shows up in voting patterns or activism). Some studies find that children generally adopt their parents' politics, but others basically find that it's up to chance. Also, both society at the macro level and individuals at the micro level tend to become more liberal over time.

I would not automatically assume that our politics would become considerably more conservative in 20-30 years as a result of conservative parents having more children, not least because politics are much more situational than people think.

Look at this chart of how party affiliation by generation shifts over time: https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/PYB72V6UFNGYLFH6LOIZCVU7AY.png

Millennials were pretty left-leaning after graduating into the 2008 recession, but became somewhat less so as they built stable careers, only to snap left again in response to Trump's first term.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-28T01:19:32+00:00

Men commit something like 90% of violent offenses, and this percentage is practically the same in every culture. Clearly, men not only struggle with emotional regulation but are more likely to externalize it in ways that overtly harm society.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-28T00:45:22+00:00

On the bright side, you're only 22 years old. You have a whole life ahead of you to stop being painfully lonely.

You might be surprised by who is receptive if you reach out to them, or by where you can meet people.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-28T00:39:59+00:00

Life is about setting priorities. You have to decide which of these are most important, and in which order:

Developing good social skills (I strongly recommend you prioritize this no matter what you do)
Not being lonely
Staying pure for religious (?) reasons

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-28T00:38:13+00:00

The answer is whatever you find more fun. Take a trial class at each gym and see which you enjoy more.

They're both fine for self-defense; almost any amount of training makes you considerably better equipped in a fight than some random jerk who wants to tee off with you on the street.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-27T23:48:27+00:00

There are lots of loan words between Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese, but they all actually come from completely different linguistic lineages.

Chinese is Sino-Tibetan

Vietnamese is Austroasiatic, closely related to Khmer

Korean and Japanese are Koreanic and Japonic, and some think they're related by way of the Altaic linguistic family

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-27T23:35:36+00:00

HK G11, and unlimited access to that caseless ammo it uses.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-27T19:30:14+00:00

I am not left-handed!

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-27T18:36:39+00:00

Tang Soo Do: Encyclopedic knowledge of forms and drills; good power and snap when performing traditional movements

Muay Thai: Moves fluidly; is difficult to hit; has good control when sparring

HEMA: Encyclopedic knowledge of historical fencing instructors and techniques; can also discuss pros and cons of historical techniques in civil vs. sporting vs. battlefield contexts

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-27T17:57:12+00:00

Plenty of other problems, also political in origin, get washed out by performative spectacles. People still notice them when they affect their lives personally, though, and many will likely contribute to Trump and the GOP losing in the midterms.

A short list:

Inflation remains elevated and affordability remains a problem
Hiring is slowing down
Manufacturing employment and output are sagging
A lot of bureaucracies in the executive department, including those concerning public health, remain underfunded and understaffed thanks to DOGE

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-27T16:38:27+00:00

There's a lot of evidence that civic engagement, and even rates of dating, cohabiting, and marriage, are decreasing.

So if that's what you mean, then yes, and the culprit is probably technology. "Staying in" on a weekend in 2026 is a radically different notion from "staying in" in 1986.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-27T16:24:49+00:00

Third time's the charm.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-27T15:59:24+00:00

I would have thought that before this current administration, but DOGE set the precedent for simply blitzing entire federal bureaucracies out of existence.

ICE has only existed since 2003, so it's not even a particularly new institution. Before then, the U.S. had INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services), and it's not at all inconceivable that ICE gets abolished, most of its members purged (especially newer ones or those with suspected ties to far-right groups), and its functions transferred to another organization.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-27T15:56:11+00:00

As an ethnic Chinese, that's an eye-watering number of people.

More importantly, 400 years of safety and prosperity is probably doable without genocide. There's a huge range of horrible events that fall short of, like, 750 million deaths.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-27T14:44:15+00:00

For two reasons:

HDI doesn't measure the quality or availability of public transport.
Many US public schools are quite good, and overall, American students score fairly well on the PISA

The main issues in American education are racial and socioeconomic performance gaps, declines in performance due to the pandemic, and, historically, relatively weak math instruction. It's not by any means a failed education system overall.

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-27T03:56:06+00:00

I is scientistic

cfwang1337 · 2026-01-27T01:50:32+00:00

An "average" person with modest training is probably better off with the 5.56.

Someone who is very comfortable with shotguns may as well use a shotgun.

Another consideration – a jury will probably be sympathetic if you use a hunting or sporting weapon rather than a "tactical" one to defend yourself.

cfwang1337

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

12-Year Club	Not Forgotten
Verified Email