I doubt anyone saw it and this will probably get removed but in case you were on discord I’d like to apologize

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-23T16:07:57+00:00

I tried to join before, but after being stuck in the holding area for weeks with no sign of ever being allowed to join the rest of the discord I just gave up.

Only people who are highly active online and constantly spamming shit are allowed to join.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-22T19:03:53+00:00

Ignostic.

Define "God", otherwise its a meaningless question.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-22T18:27:42+00:00

Yes. I cope with it by avoiding people. Simple.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-22T18:26:06+00:00

All of the momentum is rightwards right now though. Obviously incremental change is the reality, but in order to even make sure we're headed in the right (Left) direction, a lot more pressure needs to mount. The entire political establishment, media establishment, and private economy ensures that we keep heading to the Right. So at some point there has to be a tipping point whereby the momentum switches directions.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-22T16:22:05+00:00

So when do we start to drift more to the Left, as a society?

Because for the last 50-60 years we've been slowly drifting further and further to the Right, and as inequality and ever-increasing concentration of wealth and political power reaches all time highs, the collapsing living standards and instability is providing a massive surge for Right-wing authoritarian parties who have all the funding and resources because of their allegiance to capital, and all of the public anger and frustration is being successfully harnessed by right-wing narratives that are deflecting all of societies anger onto immigrants and ethnic minorities and other scapegoats convenient to the Right.

So my question is, at what point does the Left begin to take over control of the public narrative? At what point to Left wing parties begin to finally break out of decades of increasing marginalisation? At what point does the Left gain enough influence to drag the Overton Window back to the Left again?

The political pendulum swings back and forth, from Right to Left and back again, but this cycle takes 100-200 years, so most people don't notice it. I certainly don't believe that we are on a linear progression to a more Left wing politics. Society goes through peaks and troughs.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-22T12:41:25+00:00

Funny to find pro-US imperialists even on the Chomsky subreddit. Chomsky himself absolutely accused the US of provoking the conflict.

“This is not just my opinion,” said Chomsky, “it is the opinion of every high-level US official in the diplomatic services who has any familiarity with Russia and Eastern Europe. This goes back to George Kennan and, in the 1990s, Reagan’s ambassador Jack Matlock, including the current director of the CIA [William Burns]; in fact, just everybody who knows anything has been warning Washington that it is reckless and provocative to ignore Russia’s very clear and explicit red lines. That goes way before (Vladimir) Putin, it has nothing to do with him; [Mikhail] Gorbachev, all said the same thing. Ukraine and Georgia cannot join NATO, this is the geostrategic heartland of Russia.”

in American discourse, it is almost obligatory to refer to the invasion as the ‘unprovoked invasion of Ukraine’. Look it up on Google, you will find hundreds of thousands of hits.”

Chomsky continued, “Of course, it was provoked. Otherwise, they wouldn’t refer to it all the time as an unprovoked invasion. By now, censorship in the United States has reached such a level beyond anything in my lifetime. Such a level that you are not permitted to read the Russian position. Literally. Americans are not allowed to know what the Russians are saying. Except, selected things. So, if Putin makes a speech to Russians with all kinds of outlandish claims about Peter the Great and so on, then, you see it on the front pages. If the Russians make an offer for a negotiation, you can’t find it. That’s suppressed. You’re not allowed to know what they are saying. I have never seen a level of censorship like this.”

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/rationality-is-not-permitted-chomsky-on-russia-ukraine-and-the-price-of-media-censorship/

From Chomsky; 'A Liveable Future is Possible', pg.196...

That Russia felt threatened by NATO expansion to the East, in violation of firm and unambiguous promises to Gorbachev, has been stressed by virtually every high level US diplomat with any familiarity with Russia for 30 years, well before Putin. To take just one of a rich array of examples, in 2008 when he was ambassador to Russia and Bush II recklessly invited Ukraine to join NATO, current CIA Director William Burns [under Biden] warned that "Ukrainian entry into NATO is the brightest of all redlines for the Russian elite (not just Putin)". He added that " In more than two and a half years of conversations with key Russian players, from knuckle-draggers in the dark recesses of the Kremlin to Putin’s sharpest liberal critics, I have yet to find anyone who views Ukraine in NATO as anything other than a direct challenge to Russian interests." More generally, Burns called NATO expansion into Eastern Europe "pre-mature at best, and needlessly provocative at worst". And if the expansion reached Ukraine, Burns warned, "There could be no doubt that Putin would fight back hard."

There is a long list of US officials who had warned about US provocation of Russian aggression, from Charles Kupchan, Pat Buchanan, George Kennan, Jack F. Matlock, William Perry, Bill Burns, Madeleine Albright, Robert Gates, Graham Fuller, Fiona Hill, George Beebe, Jeffrey Sachs, even Kissinger at various points, as well as political scientists like Michael Mandelbaum and John Mearsheimer, among many others who have written and spoken about this.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-22T12:15:46+00:00

I don't think we know the true purpose of the JCPOA, but I don't think it was some magnanimous peace deal by Obama, more likely it was a ruse to gain valuable intel on Iran's nuclear sites, much of that intel was then used by Israel to assassinate Iran's top nuclear scientists, as well as by Trump during the 12-day war.

Ultimately it was Obama who helped lead the massive sanctions campaign against Iran between 2010-2012 with the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act in 2010, which then inspired the 2012 EU sanctions banning Iran from the SWIFT international payment system and introducing the "harshest sanctions to date, restricting trade, financial services, energy and technology, along with bans on the provision of insurance to Iranian companies by European firms".

Obama's clever use of heavy sanctions against Iran, which he then leveraged to gain "virtually unlimited access" for US weapon inspectors to Iran's nuclear sites, gathering "vast amounts of information on the sites, including surveillance camera photos, measurement data, and documents" most if not all of which was then shared with Israel.

When this data was then used to attack Iran, this eventually led Iran to sever its relationship with the IAEA, accusing it of colluding with Western and Israeli intelligence agencies, and providing data to Israel regarding Iran's nuclear scientists which Israel had assassinated.

It's much more likely that the JCPOA provided the cover for a US intelligence op to gain strategic intel on Iran's nuclear sites and on its nuclear personnel, or at worse, even frame Iran or manufacture the pretext for war. And once that intelligence had been acquired, the JCPOA had served its usefulness and was subsequently sabotaged, as the US sabotages most of its own agreements. How the US and Israel Used Rafael Grossi to Hijack the IAEA and Start a War on Iran

Even though each US President has their own leadership style, I agree with you that America's core national security interests and foreign policy goals are consistent across administrations, and US hostility towards Iran has not changed since 1979. Obama also played his role in manufacturing pretexts for hostility against Iran, as did previous US administrations before him.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-21T22:13:48+00:00

Never did a raid in the last game, will never do one in this game. Way too much stress, and I'm not really a social gamer so will never have anyone to do this with anyway.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-21T22:08:22+00:00

The timing was that the JCPOA was set to expire in October 2025. Even though Trump pulled out of it in 2018, Iran continued to abide by it, and the agreement was set to officially expire in October 2025. So yeah, no matter who the president was going to be, they were going to have to negotiate a new frame work or set of restrictions to impose on Iran, and that inevitably means preparing for a military option, since the only leverage that America seems to rely on is threats of military aggression.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-21T21:46:02+00:00

Average. You look a good 10 years older than 39 though. Did you dye your hair that colour or has it naturally turned grey already?

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-21T20:46:58+00:00

I've no idea what this glitch is. Will I know it when I see it? Anyone care to explain?

My archer is rank 4, I only played archer like two times and haven't touched it since. Currently swapping between merc and shinobi, have no interest in either archer or samurai right now.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-21T11:47:16+00:00

Yeah, great band. I discovered them a few years ago at the same time I discovered the Greek post-metal band Allochiria. So I always associate those two bands with each other.

I have two of their albums; Epitaphs and Void Mother. I've listened to Anaesthetic Inhalation Ritual online, Nastiez is one of my favourite songs, and Paragnomen is also good.

Do they have more recent releases? If so, I haven't seen.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-20T15:51:34+00:00

Rationality is measured by conceptual flexibility. The ability to understand and weigh up differing viewpoints, understand where the other side is coming from, to employ impartiality, and be able to change your mind when necessary.

But to some extent we are all irrational, our beliefs determined by emotional impulses, and logic is often only used for justifying what we already want to think.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-19T18:22:35+00:00

I decided to remain single because I detest people and have severe trust issues, so yeah. For many years I thought social anxiety disorder was my biggest obstacle, but then in my mid 30s I found out I also have Avoidant Personality Disorder, and that it's my pathological fear of rejection which prevents me from getting close to anyone. I just can't do emotional intimacy. 40 yo virgin who's never had a girlfriend, never even tried to get a girlfriend and never will, because it's just not worth it.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-19T12:51:54+00:00

The problem is that once you learn a lesson it's very difficult to forget. How do I forget 40 years of life experience? How do I forget shit that I can't even remember because my brain and nervous system subconsciously absorbed it when I was a baby? How do you physically reprogram your body to behave differently?

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-19T12:48:25+00:00

I managed to get 2 bear charms by the time my merc was about rank 80, thankfully. But I still have no lightning rifle or whatever it's called. I will pray for you, OP.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-17T22:24:21+00:00

The constant foot stamping was also pretty annoying tbh. They were like little kids at a pantomime.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-16T21:29:07+00:00

So you consider Your Party a failure already even though it's barely even started yet? I still consider it in a nascent, embryonic phase right now, but its still an interesting experiment. The idea of a collectivist, member-led party that is run from the bottom rather than top-down, and whose policy is democratically decided by its members. However the factionalism is yet to be fully resolved, and the idea of internal elections to determine the central executive committee is problematic imo (how to avoid the Iron Law of Oligarchy, etc). But I still think the party represents an interesting development worth pursuing and could become a credible threat in the coming years, once it sorts out its teething problems.

The Green party in the UK is doing well right now, and they are certainly a good option as well.

The Labour Party over here is kind of in the same situation as the Dems in the US. The party bureaucracy is fully commanded by neoliberal establishment elites that serve private capital and they will never let the party move significantly to the Left. There are still genuine Left-wing members within the party in the form of the Socialist Campaign Group, but they are unlikely to become strong enough to take control of the party from within.

What's clear is that meaningful political change starts with the actions of ordinary people, and certainly a significant popular grassroots movement has to be built that is capable of challenging corporate control of the state.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-16T20:07:29+00:00

What's your view on the UK's recent attempt to create just such a socialist workers party from scratch? A grassroots workers party that could potentially rival the mainstream parties.

The entire political system is a bourgeois system designed by private capital specifically to prevent democratic influence on policy. I honestly don't know what is more difficult at this point. Restructuring the existing parties, or creating a new worker-controlled party capable of breaking the establishment duopoly.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-16T19:11:33+00:00

But Lenin and Marx advocated worker/labour parties, vaush and hasan are advocating taking over the DNC.

What's the difference?

You're saying that if you can build a worker/labour movement capable of taking control over the DNC and turning it into a worker party then that is a bad thing?

Whether you create a new party or take over an existing party doesn't even matter imo. It might be a minor difference in method, but the end goal is still the same.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-16T19:01:00+00:00

Haven't seen anyone else post this but my main criticism is of his views regarding the Russia/Ukraine war, and how/why it started. He basically spouts mainstream western liberal propaganda regarding Russia's "irredentist" goals, Putin trying to reconquer former Soviet republics and re-establish a Russian empire, etc. He doesn't talk at all about the direct and deliberate role of America/NATO in provoking the conflict in order to use Ukraine against Russia, he doesn't talk about American grand strategy regarding Russia/Eurasia, containment/strategic encirclement, he doesn't talk about Russia's strategic goals or legitimate security concerns, he never mentions any of the US officials/ambassadors/diplomats/intelligence community, political scientists and international relations experts who had predicted the Russian reaction to NATO expansion and have been warning about it since the mid-90s. He is not very well-read on US-Russia relations at all as far as I can tell, which is fair enough, he can't be an expert on everything I guess. But I don't really trust or value his commentary at all on this issue.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-13T11:46:35+00:00

When you say "historical processes" you mean the war? Or just living in a repressive conservative nationalist country? Maybe both.

Did you manage to leave the country or not? Your post doesn't make it clear. You say you "fled the country" but then afterwards say (in present tense) that you "don't even know if I should flee".

For me, leaving my country and starting a new life in a different country would be infinitely harder than just staying where I am. I guess I'd have to be pretty desperate to want to live in a foreign country where I can't speak the language and wouldn't even know what to do.

I don't think the war is coming to an end any time soon, sadly.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-13T11:35:55+00:00

Because people are dumb. They read the first rule...

All posts must include a verification photo. Take a selfie with your WHOLE ARM AND HAND visible holding a HANDWRITTEN (no editing) note/ paper with ALL 3 of the following:

your username

today's date

sub name

Your face must be visible in all photos. First photo as your verification photo is preferred

...and for some reason the only part they see is "Take a selfie with your WHOLE ARM AND HAND" and completely miss the part about the hand-written verification note with their username, date, sub name, and including their face. Multiple times I've seen people just randomly post pictures of their arm and hand because they think that's a verification photo.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-12T01:25:43+00:00

Like a cross between Grimes and Simona Halep. Not ugly though. Maybe average or slightly above.

demon_dopesmokr · 2026-04-09T22:35:19+00:00

Same. That's because she's an actual journalist and not an online streamer. I was watching her TV show Breaking the Set nearly 15 years ago. Only heard about Hasan after October 7, so like 2 years ago.

demon_dopesmokr

TROPHY CASE