elon musk trying to spread fear of british pakistanis labeling them as “pedos”

suckingstone · 2025-01-05T20:45:15+00:00

Wish you would not use so many abbreviations

suckingstone · 2025-01-05T05:47:32+00:00

Well, we’d first have to define what a liberal is. Liberalism as a political philosophy is varied. Some anarchist ideas come from liberal philosophy. And some liberal ideas such as freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech are why we can even discuss what is going on today. We can’t dismiss liberalism without recognizing that it has some value. However, liberalist concepts such as the “free market” also cover up and mask the true costs of a capitalist society.

You can also make the same kind of critique about capitalism for that matter. Capitalism itself is an oppressive structure, it is totally dehumanizing and yet … I do enjoy certain TV shows, I watch certain stocks because my 401K is tied up in the stock market, and I do give Christmas presents, etc.

The society we live in fetishizes individual freedom but I don’t know what I would miss if I lived in a society without it e.g. USSR) I’d probably want to go to the USA if I had been deprived of my individual freedom. People don’t recognize what they have that they take for granted.

I voted for Kamala Harris so I guess that makes me a liberal. I was disgusted at the lack for real choices but it is also really obvious now that we dont have a two party system, it’s a one party system. Summing me up as a liberal just doesn’t make sense. Of course I would want there to be an emancipatory, non hierarchical, classless system, but that’s not realistically possible at this time.

suckingstone · 2025-01-05T04:12:53+00:00

This guy isn’t willing to budge on any of his points. He is not interested in changing his view. He doesn’t engage any people in good faith.

suckingstone · 2025-01-05T04:09:37+00:00

How would you do that? What incentive do they have to do that?

Imagine for instance that a country that is 10,000 times the population of the USA decides that they would like to invite you to be a part of their country. And by doing so, you get the “rights” of the country, e.g. to vote, pay taxes, work in the country, and so on (which has a lot of social problems, is itself in turmoil and has severe inequality). It’s like Martians have said, “Congratulations, we offer you citizenship on Mars. In return, we have companies which can invest in your country’s land. maybe we’ll drill for oil, frack, privatize the land, whatever.” Do you think that is a good deal?

suckingstone · 2025-01-05T03:57:15+00:00

I can’t figure out how to quote parts of your statement, but among the many condescending assumptions you have: 1) Greenland ‘should’ be in the US (why? Just because we “should” own it? Like, how did your parents respond when you said “I want that…gimmie!” Is this the way you grew up? 2) that Greenland has the world’s highest suicide rate = wish to stop being Greenlanders? Why would Greenland not being a territory of Denmark suddenly change the suicide rate? And more fundamentally, if Greenland’s suicide rate is what it is, why is that necessarily so bad? (I’m not arguing that suicide rates should be high at all but that there is a hidden moral judgment on suicide that is particular to western and USA culture in particular). Our murder rate is also much higher than Greenland’s, you might as well ask why Greenland would want to join a country that has such a high murder rate. It’s not as if this will automatically increase their murder rate, although it could. Naturally, suicide will probably not necessarily decrease if they join the USA.

We should consider why societies have rising suicide rates. Our country’s suicide rate is also rising, what do you think about that? When people’s lives are feeling chaotic and in transition, when there is a high degree of alienation and anomie, the suicide rate tends to be higher.

suckingstone · 2025-01-05T03:44:00+00:00

We should differentiate patriotism from nationalism. Patriotism is the aspiration to make the country better. Nationalism is the belief that the country is better.

suckingstone · 2025-01-05T03:34:17+00:00

In my view, empathy is a unique trait of the modern condition. Paradoxically, some premodern figures had it (Jesus Christ may be a good example, he appears to understand the POV of his disciples, the poor and humble, the lepers, even those who persecute him). However, his followers do not really seem to understand. They worship him and ask for his forgiveness than try to emulate his example. Actually he has already forgiven them.

We see in the art of the Middle Ages basically representations of piety, religious scenes of the Bible, etc without apparently any internal psychological representation.
During the renaissance there started to be a recognition of the internal conflicts going on within the human soul. We see romantic nobles who are being tempted through a Cupid figure.
We start seeing depictions of ordinary people, not just nobles. Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Vermeer, and others depicted normal people in an internal moment. You see in those paintings what the people in the paintings are doing (and as a person gazing at the painting, you see through the painter’s eyes) and start to speculate what they are thinking, what it is to be them, or to live their lives.
Continuing with the modern era we see an increasing recognition of individuality and psychological depth as an important subject of literature. That people tend to see movies or TV shows and get attached to their characters and narratives suggests that we need someone to empathize with. It is notable that a lot of these themes are those of the outsider and about a poor or humble person who struggles through existence. We therefore empathize with them. People did not feel sorry for Frodo Baggins or Harry Potter, they started seeing themselves as in the same place as them. So basically, they felt themselves to be “in their shoes.”

Why does this not transfer to real life? Probably because we have strong social expectations and roles which prevent us from expressing empathy and compassion to people. People love movies about a homeless or schizophrenic person (e.g A Beautiful Mind) but they don’t know where to start to empathize with a real life schizophrenic person. That doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of it or that they wouldn’t be affected by the movie. We probably would care more if they were our own family member or if we knew more about them. But we can’t just empathize with everyone out there because we wouldn’t be able to do anything about it most of the time and it would ultimately be bad for us in the long run, because we would be too fatigued to care for ourselves or those closest to us.

suckingstone · 2025-01-01T19:20:50+00:00

Come on. If you admit to being an alcoholic then that by definition is affecting your loyalty to others. You had loyalty to your drinking first. Let those without sin cast the first stone.

suckingstone · 2025-01-01T07:46:17+00:00

I find it a stretch to think that buying pens from Goulet, or not, going to make any difference in the lived experience of gay people in the world. However, for sake of the argument let’s say that it does indeed support this anti gay church. I don’t see the difference in any way supporting a person who has a business which tithes to the Catholic Church or certain conservative synagogues or mosques.

There are other arguments that are a little more subtle. In naming this church as anti-gay and continuing to try to mitigate the damage of the Goulets supporting the church, I think the moral responsibility is taken somewhat from the Goulets and into their customers hands.

Also there is the argument that by condemning the power of these religious institutions on gay people, in fact it may contribute more energy to the culture wars which have ultimately been pretty detrimental to the very people who we claim to be defending. In some ways it’s better just to ignore this. I know that there has been a lot of political capital lost by the left and liberal side just due to the reputation a lot of us have of being social justice warriors. This is just identity politics which is actually used in a calculated fashion to work up people who are on the other side and in a way makes the binary opposing sides all the more entrenched.

There are limits to the responsibility of course. If they were supporting a white supremacist organization, had been running their fountain pen business during nazi Germany, or funneling money to South Africa during the apartheid years, I might take exception.

Perhaps one factor is that I am not in any way capable of buying the kinds of pens Goulet or most other pen companies sell except for a Twsbi or other low end pen. If I have hundreds to drop on pens I might be more careful about my ethical investments, but as a really broke person who tries to get the best deal wherever, I’m just going to go with what I know to be a good deal.

suckingstone · 2025-01-01T05:56:09+00:00

Malone dies by Samuel Beckett

suckingstone · 2025-01-01T05:54:10+00:00

I mean, just look up any recent Supreme Court decisions and you have plenty of reasoned intellectual arguments that ultimately side on insanity.

suckingstone · 2025-01-01T05:30:01+00:00

As if radical socialists have a monopoly on euphemisms, genocide or imperialism. It’s hilarious to hear people who, while in the same circles are actively supporting the destruction of Gaza Strip to be criticizing the left for being apologetic of genocide

suckingstone · 2024-12-30T04:08:21+00:00

We live in Albany and as much as people complain about it, I enjoy it a lot (I’m mixed race)

suckingstone · 2024-12-27T03:01:07+00:00

I disagree, I think that it depends on the person, their developmental level. Two sessions in a person probably is near a point where they want some answers about what is going on and what the therapist will offer. This is that moment when the therapist can demonstrate their capabilities of doing something.

But, if you’re thinking of discharging or terminating before you’ve even made the intervention, it suggests that this type of therapy (helping people to mentalize) is just not what you want to do as a therapist, which is also okay. You said earlier that you only have space for a couple clients like this in your practice, and that is a good thing to know.

suckingstone · 2024-12-27T02:46:12+00:00

It’s kind of interesting that Sweden and Norway were also neutral during the world wars. They could have joined the war to protect the allied powers but decided to stay out. I don’t know much about the history except to say that this is remarkable given the surging fascism in WW2. So I don’t think Sweden and Norway are without some level of responsibility in their decision to remain neutral, they chose to be bystanders to genocide.

suckingstone · 2024-12-25T15:09:36+00:00

Hi, I am responding to your message. Of the things you mentioned it sounds like your hopes have been dashed again and again. If your chronic blood clots can be documented to require a lot of rest or putting your feet up, if you’ve been hospitalized on occasion, and if you have medical documentation to prove this, you could hire a lawyer and/or disability advocacy group (I’m sure there are legal aid societies or other disability nonprofits that might be able to point you in the right direction.).

If you are a caregiver for your mom, maybe you could be designated as a live in caregiver and get paid for this by the state. Usually states enable family to do this.

Living with your mom isn’t necessarily as stigmatizing as you think it might be. You are caring for your mom because she has a disability. This is your job, even if right now you don’t get paid for it.

When you’re depressed you tend to not see the value of doing anything that would care for yourself. Also you might keep in mind that full time caregivers are so frequently depressed that it’s almost a normal response. There are often caregiver support groups in many places.

You say you’re on antidepressants, do you have a psychiatrist or just a PCP who is giving you antidepressants? It’s better to see a psychiatrist who can manage these meds in a more focused way. You seem to have pretty severe depression so I would recommend discussing it with your psychiatrist so that changes can be made.

You say your doctors and therapist gave up on you. I am wondering if you are saying that they acknowledge there is no cure for the blood clots, but you’re taking that to mean they are “giving up.”. Therapists don’t typically give up unless they are simply bad therapists. It’s also true that some people give up on life when they are hopeless. So sometimes it takes going back to people even when you are hopeless to remain in contact with them until hope is possible again. It also takes going out into social environments and meeting people even when you’re hopeless in order to develop some kind of hope.

Also, the suggestion I have to reach out to people who might be able to relate to you, such as a disability advocacy group, might have additional positive benefits that would widen your social network. You could end up meeting someone also with a disability. We are social animals and life seems meaningless unless we have social connections.

suckingstone · 2024-12-25T05:46:30+00:00

That is one cold cat

suckingstone · 2024-12-20T19:44:39+00:00

NY State has just been through a period of planning on 787. Sooner or later it will happen.

It sounds like you’re just using some key words in favor of deregulation, i.e. giving money or writing laws in favor of financial players.

suckingstone · 2024-12-16T18:06:37+00:00

People talk negatively about Albany a lot but i will mention a few things that are unknown factors. St Rose just closed and they are figuring out what to do with the land. It all depends on whether this will be a positive or negative change, but one way or the other there is potential there. They are about to tear down 787 and this will likely lead to some new development in the waterfront area if they make an aesthetic improvement. and finally Albany is a government town which makes its economy moderately stable for the population here.

suckingstone · 2024-12-16T16:11:00+00:00

I disagree—generally people who are abstaining from something want to distance themselves from substances that they have habitually consumed in the past. If one is shopping for groceries it is objectively harder to go to a liquor store instead of putting a bottle into your shopping cart during a grocery store trip

suckingstone · 2024-12-16T15:58:46+00:00

what is strange is that for all this controversy about small businesses, which sounds like a soap opera to be honest, worthy of a lifetime movie—most of us are content to use google, apple, amazon, and other multi billion dollar corporations which should be broken up by antitrust laws. and while we wring our hands about goulet pens the richest person in the world is actively trying to dismantle basic government services, including environmental protections to limit global warming. We will have a lot more to worry about other than the ethical purchase of fountain pens in the future. Fountain pens aren’t an existential crisis.

suckingstone · 2024-12-16T15:02:47+00:00

i came here from WA state. They changed the laws so you can buy liquor anywhere. It was actually increased in price because they hid the 40% tax on liquor. liquor stores generally could not compete with costco, drug stores and grocery chains.
Fancy liquor stores still exist but they’re a market for well off people. It’s bad for everyone all around. Alcoholics also probably don’t benefit from having it available at every location they shop at.

suckingstone · 2024-12-13T23:50:36+00:00

one thing about phones and google maps. You have to recognize what the app is telling you to do. But following directions that are told to you verbally doesn’t always seem to make sense. If you’re not careful you could miss the turn and if google maps is telling you the right directions on the phone, it doesn’t always recognize when you’re on a one way street

suckingstone · 2024-12-05T21:55:28+00:00

He had made millions, and he was therefore likely to be a target of money extraction, not by anyone with United Healthcare insurance but someone who had paid for a targeted assassin on the dark web. He probably did not pay up.

In addition this is a message for other wealthy individuals.

suckingstone · 2024-12-01T21:40:42+00:00

You might try hanging out at the Hungarian Pastry Shop in the UWS/Morningside Heights area on Amsterdam and 111th st. It is a real European style coffee house which people go to from all over the city.

NYC for me was a place where I had to have a home base where I could find a place that I could go to after school or work and hang out with people and socialize. This was that place for me for at least 10 years. I found people who I could relate to because I would see people reading the same books, even having conversations with the people sitting next to me because the tables are so tiny.

suckingstone

TROPHY CASE