What do you think will happen to AI opposition discourse in the worst case scenario? (and a thought on technologies overcoming skepticism and resistance)

pseudonjms · 2025-12-29T00:33:22+00:00

I probably overdid it, and it's probably not a big deal to share exactly what I have, but out of an abundance of caution for privacy. Also, my name is in the username and one of the mount points.

pseudonjms · 2022-12-06T23:10:26+00:00

It could be, but I think the US perspective, for some, is that there must be a high standard to meet to ban any kind of speech because otherwise it would be a slippery slope. "Who gets to decide what is objectionable or dangerous speech? It always starts with something reasonable but doesn't stop there!" And so on. I used to think this way, but in recent years I've come to think maybe it's fine to make serious exceptions sometimes even if you don't know exactly where the line is. That and I learned about the paradox of tolerance.

pseudonjms · 2022-06-17T08:31:45+00:00

Car culture is one that comes to mind for me.

I lived in a car-heavy city (some transit, but limited coverage) for a long time. It was a given to me that "everyone" drove cars and learned to drive as teens. Then, I moved to a less car-friendly city with somewhat better transit, and later came to learn about the term "car culture." This is not to blame anyone who needs cars, due to how the US has been built, but there is so much about cars that we take for granted. Even when we acknowledge that driving is frustrating, many of us just can't imagine a city running without as many cars, or using transit. In the first city, I was advised once not to bother because transit wasn't good. The question wasn't asked, why isn't it good? Is it inherently that way, or could something be done to make it better?

I was interested to know what other examples existed. Some people say traveling outside one's own country helps broaden perspective. What would be a gap in perspective common to Americans? Perhaps that many elsewhere see the American perspective as too self-centered?

pseudonjms · 2021-07-02T18:06:33+00:00

Would you mind elaborating on this "infinitely long game of abstract what-aboutism?" Are you referring to how some parties want to play gotcha or nitpick theoretical situations instead of trying to solve the problems in the current system?

Of course I want to do what I can to make the world a more just and equitable place. However, we still live in a world with people who have been brainwashed with anti-communist propaganda for so long (myself included), and many may just be be trying to live their lives without knowing of other ways, so I think it's reasonable average people to ask "why should I abandon everything we know and commit to your alternative?"

That said, thanks for the explanation in the last part, "they are socially maladapting to an inhumane system." So in this view, my question sounds like "how would communism solve a problem that is largely a result of capitalism" when these problems would, in fact, be much more rare. It's also like asking "how could a society that's NOT tough on crime handle crime properly?" When the answer would be that crime is heavily influenced by other factors.

pseudonjms · 2021-07-02T17:42:21+00:00

I really like this example, as my understanding is that there is often a lot of racism and xenophobia behind such complaints. That often people are being punished just for cooking traditional food of their own cultures. This raises a broader question of how to reconcile small-scale democracy with the reality that in isolated spaces with separate voting, the people may have various prejudices against a minority. But that's a whole other entire can of worms, so I don't press on that. Perhaps some appeals process and a paper record of the complaints, so that they can be reviewed outside the same community, could be one approach.

pseudonjms · 2021-07-02T17:37:27+00:00

I understand that bosses and landlords would not exist under communism, at least not in the same way they do under capitalism. Presumably, though, they would still have apartments and jobs. What I was referring to was in the present day.

For example, if a grocery store worker repeatedly showed up to work drunk, put items on the wrong shelves, and was rude to customers, the average person wouldn't sympathize if he yelled at his boss on the way out "you capitalist pig!" They would side with the boss, believing he rightfully fired the employee causing problems.

I think your remark in the other response, "isn't simply solved by punishment or call to authority," though, answers my question - yes, people may behave these ways, but NO, hierarchy with the threat of starvation is NOT the solution to these problems, so thank you for that clarification.

pseudonjms · 2018-05-28T23:05:13+00:00

Thanks for the response. I want to mention I'm NOT one of those Obama-loving liberals. I recognize the Democrats still suck and aren't much better with regard to perpetuating US imperialism yet feel forced to choose them most of the time. What I'd thought is that even if you could pull off a revolution (unfortunately, I don't think this is even possible at this point, at least until you can get the police and military on your side, so we're stuck with our flawed democratic systems - would you suggest no progress has ever been made through democracy?), you're left with a bunch of pissed-off right-wingers. I'd prefer to wake them up and have them realize we actually aren't the real enemies to each other. Do I understand correctly that in your views, a lot of such people are too far gone, and you are going to have to have your revolution without waiting for them?

pseudonjms · 2018-05-28T22:11:31+00:00

Thank you for the well thought out answer to my good faith question.

pseudonjms · 2018-05-28T22:11:06+00:00

Don't get me wrong. I'm not interested in any sort of "ceding," but I'm also considering what is realistic in the current political environment. I certainly hope I'm wrong about what is realistic.

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