Current Events > I think I'm a libertarian socialist.

(+) Yeah! (+)

@Parappa09

Here, I'll relate you you as a Brit in one of the only ways I know how - my personal sense of humor. I love Monty Python. I grew up on Cleese and the gang making fun of the world around them through a sort of absurdist perspective. This scene is one of my absolute favorites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2c-X8HiBng" data-time="

If I had to pick a character to describe myself, I'd be one of the peasants. I don't like digging in the dirt much (although I do have a fondness for gardening that I picked up through years of "repression" living under my mom as a kid ), but think about it - what better way to run a civilized society?

treewojima posted...

I love Monty Python. I grew up on Cleese and the gang making fun of the world around them through a sort of absurdist perspective.

Allow me to retort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLkhx0eqK5w" data-time="

Questionmarktarius posted...

treewojima posted...

If that sounds like a good way to live your life, then you and I are probably a lot alike politically.

Maybe?

I believe in exactly two natural laws:
Do not harm anyone else.
Do not harm anyone else's stuff.

I always like what you post, even when I don't agree with it. If anything, if I don't understand what you're talking about, I'll read up on it if I have time. Sounds like you have an inner anarchist waiting to come out. Smash the state, live together in harmony, etc. Or live alone - maybe life in the woods isn't so bad after all if you like that sort of thing. Join society every once in a while for supplies.

I don't like collecting large amounts of money just for the sake of having it, but it makes sense if we're living in a capitalist society and you want lots of stuff. I only ask that you not spend it to remove the rights of others.

treewojima posted...

Sounds like you have an inner anarchist waiting to come out.

pfft. "inner"

Reagan's "Rugged Individualism" is where I want to be, regardless of being terrible at it.

Questionmarktarius posted...

treewojima posted...

Sounds like you have an inner anarchist waiting to come out.

pfft. "inner"

Reagan's "Rugged Individualism" is where I want to be, regardless of being terrible at it.

Ronald Reagan?

Also, I should point out that I'm not British, except maybe on my dad's side. I live in a wealthy suburb outside of DC - one of the richest counties in the US according to median income.

I was talking to Parappa. I'm phoneposting right now and don't feel like using the quote feature for my soapbox spiel lol

treewojima posted...

Rugged Individualism

Yes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugged_individualism

Apart from escalating the 'war on drugs', Reagan was pretty great.

Also, I should point out that I'm not British, except maybe on my dad's side. I live in a wealthy suburb outside of DC - one of the richest counties in the US according to median income.

I live in "meh" in the middle of "meh".
Grew up in nowhere Missouri, currently live in the irrelevant part of Kansas City.

edit:doublepost

Questionmarktarius posted...

treewojima posted...

Rugged Individualism

Yes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugged_individualism

Apart from escalating the 'war on drugs', Reagan was pretty great.

What about Iran-Contra? He made a mess of international affairs.

Let's not talk about the CIA either, although I'd have to read up on my US history to link the timelines and direct relation to Reagan. I only bring it up because my grandfather on my mom's side served overseas during the Cold War as an operative slash communications expert. I wish more than anything I could sit down and pick his brain, but he died well before I was born.

treewojima posted...

What about Iran-Contra? He made a mess of international affairs.

America fucking around in central america for no good reason has been around since the 1850s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Circle_(proposed_country)

America fucking around in the mideast has been around since the 1950s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

Questionmarktarius posted...

treewojima posted...

What about Iran-Contra? He made a mess of international affairs.

America fucking around in central america for no good reason has been around since the 1850s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Circle_(proposed_country)

America fucking around in the mideast has been around since the 1950s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

Yeah, I knew about the Shah, but that first one sounds gross. Will read, thanks.

treewojima posted...

Yeah, I knew about the Shah, but that first one sounds gross. Will read, thanks.

I have no enemies on CE, even if you think I am.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Grew up in nowhere Missouri, currently live in the irrelevant part of Kansas City.

Kansas City is awesome. My brother relocated there and I went to visit him a few weekends ago. Nice city.
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FLUFFYGERM posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

Grew up in nowhere Missouri, currently live in the irrelevant part of Kansas City.

Kansas City is awesome. My brother relocated there and I went to visit him a few weekends ago. Nice city.

I bought my house for 50k, twelve miles from the airport.

Questionmarktarius posted...

FLUFFYGERM posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

Grew up in nowhere Missouri, currently live in the irrelevant part of Kansas City.

Kansas City is awesome. My brother relocated there and I went to visit him a few weekends ago. Nice city.

I bought my house for 50k, twelve miles from the airport.

Hold on to that shit and maybe acquire another house or two. Garmin's heavy investments into the area are going to increase property prices over the next decade. I've been strongly considering buying a property or two there.
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FLUFFYGERM posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

FLUFFYGERM posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

Grew up in nowhere Missouri, currently live in the irrelevant part of Kansas City.

Kansas City is awesome. My brother relocated there and I went to visit him a few weekends ago. Nice city.

I bought my house for 50k, twelve miles from the airport.

Hold on to that shit and maybe acquire another house or two. Garmin's heavy investments into the area are going to increase property prices over the next decade. I've been strongly considering buying a property or two there.

It's already worth double what I paid, five years ago.

Questionmarktarius posted...

FLUFFYGERM posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

FLUFFYGERM posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

Grew up in nowhere Missouri, currently live in the irrelevant part of Kansas City.

Kansas City is awesome. My brother relocated there and I went to visit him a few weekends ago. Nice city.

I bought my house for 50k, twelve miles from the airport.

Hold on to that shit and maybe acquire another house or two. Garmin's heavy investments into the area are going to increase property prices over the next decade. I've been strongly considering buying a property or two there.

It's already worth double what I paid, five years ago.

Nice. Will probably go up even more since Kansas City and the surrounding areas are still a steal.
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FLUFFYGERM posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

FLUFFYGERM posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

FLUFFYGERM posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

Grew up in nowhere Missouri, currently live in the irrelevant part of Kansas City.

Kansas City is awesome. My brother relocated there and I went to visit him a few weekends ago. Nice city.

I bought my house for 50k, twelve miles from the airport.

Hold on to that shit and maybe acquire another house or two. Garmin's heavy investments into the area are going to increase property prices over the next decade. I've been strongly considering buying a property or two there.

It's already worth double what I paid, five years ago.

Nice. Will probably go up even more since Kansas City and the surrounding areas are still a steal.

KC, as a whole, is a pretty nice town. Even the shitty (north east) parts aren't so bad.

For the record Proudclad, if you want to pick my brain now's a good time while I'm still sober. I've made fun of you or been hostile to you in the past, usually while under the influence. I don't think you're a bad person - on the contrary. I think you're very smart and curious, like me. Which is why I get so pissed off when I think you're talking out of your ass lol

I think your kneejerk reaction to communism as a word stems from your understanding of it, which is framed through your Romanian heritage. That one communist dictator, Ceau-whatever? He is or was a fucking asshole, depending on whether he's still alive today. Romania suffered immensely under his statist rule, and anyone who says otherwise doesn't give a shit about the people that lived there underneath him. I don't identify as purely communist, and if anytime I've come off like that, I apologize.

If anything, I wish I knew you in real life so we could sit down and argue things out like rational people. Then we could talk about the IMPORTANT things in life, like computers

treewojima posted...

That's a tricky question. I think the left-versus-right spectrum isn't very good if we're talking a single axis, like a number line or color bar. I prefer to analyze my own views based on more of a Cartesian graph, like an X versus Y sort of thing.

X: should the state have more or less power?
Y: should the individual have more or less power?

That's a pretty bad model though, because you're using two variables to map your space, but those two are correlated with each other.
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Anteaterking posted...

treewojima posted...

That's a tricky question. I think the left-versus-right spectrum isn't very good if we're talking a single axis, like a number line or color bar. I prefer to analyze my own views based on more of a Cartesian graph, like an X versus Y sort of thing.

X: should the state have more or less power?
Y: should the individual have more or less power?

That's a pretty bad model though, because you're using two variables to map your space, but those two are correlated with each other.

Fair. Correlation does not imply causation.

I guess the question of "what am I" really boils down to how we analyze ourselves. Do we go off of logic and reason or emotion? Are they linked?

Maybe that's why neuroscience and philosophy are both equally interesting to me. I'd certainly have a different perspective on things as an expert on the human brain versus just making observations on the world around me.

treewojima posted...

For the record Proudclad, if you want to pick my brain now's a good time while I'm still sober. I've made fun of you or been hostile to you in the past, usually while under the influence. I don't think you're a bad person - on the contrary. I think you're very smart and curious, like me. Which is why I get so pissed off when I think you're talking out of your ass lol

I think your kneejerk reaction to communism as a word stems from your understanding of it, which is framed through your Romanian heritage. That one communist dictator, Ceau-whatever? He is or was a fucking asshole, depending on whether he's still alive today. Romania suffered immensely under his statist rule, and anyone who says otherwise doesn't give a shit about the people that lived there underneath him. I don't identify as purely communist, and if anytime I've come off like that, I apologize.

If anything, I wish I knew you in real life so we could sit down and argue things out like rational people. Then we could talk about the IMPORTANT things in life, like computers

You're a really fucking smart dude too. I always remember how you taught yourself how to code (and have respectable skills) as a side hobby even though you work in an entirely different industry. Always thought that was badass.

If you're ever in Chicago, I'd be more than happy to treat you to a great meal and some drinks.
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