Zompist Bboard Again

It is a truth universally acknowledged that If you look hard enough into the history of any artist whose work you like, you are guranteed to find something to object to. The stronger your ideological commitments, the sooner you will find it. Yes. People are humans , not angels; there is no such thi...

Over the years, I have promised myself that I would finally ditch problematic and right wing media and in particular that I would clean out my music collection. Unfortunately it seems that every time I find a song that resonates with me, its originators are inevitably revealed as reactionaries or ra...

One major problem is that Trump and the broader reactionary movement surrounding him have gained enormous support from the American people over the past decade. When he won his first election in 2016, he lost the popular vote and faced significant protests. This time around he won the popular vote b...

No, 22.6% of USAmericans voted for him. Most Americans voted for nobody at all. Sure but much of the 77.4% that didn't vote for him includes children and other people ineligible to vote. It also includes people who couldn't bother to vote and clearly didn't find the Trump agenda bothersome enough t...

Aside from my grief over the catastrophic future that awaits us, I am deeply furious at the American people for their shameful decision to reëlect possibly the worst candidate in US history. The first time around, I feel inclined to excuse as sheer dumb luck and technicalities, but this time they ga...

Trump won't be around forever, and the MAGA personality cult will evaporate without him. No one really is in a position (even Vance) to secede him at the head of MAGA. And MAGA will probably be trounced when mid-terms come when people realize that they have had no real improvements (prices are no l...

I am very deeply concerned about these things, too, and think the "doomsday clock" of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists now needs a second-hand, but yet, I have hope that things will not come out the worst. If I lived in the United States, I'd probably pack up my things now; but Hitle...

Sorry but I cannot see any reason to expect things to improve. Trump won the popular vote decisively. His associated movement has not only gained complete control of the government but popular legitimacy. It will not surprise me if popular culture swings hard to the right with minority representatio...

Remember, no matter what the talking heads say, capitalism is not actually good. It will keep failing, and when people are finally frustrated, we will be ready to offer the humane alternative. Yet it seems like the reactionaries have perfected propaganda to the point where they can always convince ...

We're living in a period of reaction after the collapse of the Soviet experiment. There was a similar time after the failure of the French Revolution. Back then, all the intellectuals were supporting monarchism. This time, they're supporting capitalism. How do we break out of the period of reaction...

The struggle was much harder in the past. The Soviet Union only collapsed 30 years ago. We can learn lessons from our failures and do better next time. No species changes its essential character in 30 years. It will work if we build up progressive institutions again. Fair enough. What is your theor...

Where are your revolutionary convictions, comrade? Don't you understand yet that pundits are always wrong about everything? They have largely evaporated to be honest. I have come to suspect that humans as a species are simply too tribalistic and cruel for sustained progress. Tyranny and bigotry may...

No. There is still reason to keep living — as Kamala Harris just said, to ‘keep fighting’. There are still things you can do to enjoy life. Talk to someone: call 988 or visit https://988lifeline.org/ Life will never get better for me. That much is obvious. All the bloggers and pundits I follow agre...

Given recent events, I have decided to commit suicide in the near future. Regardless of what everyone says about the subject, nobody has provided a compelling reason to continue living. Anyone who thinks the future looks remotely promising is either delusional or fascist (and probably both). For wha...

Minor complaint in the grand scheme of things but my Internet and cable quit working last night. Usually this issue resolves itself in several hours but nothing has happened so far. The apartment complex handles both of those so I will have to wait until the office opens for any help. [My phone can ...

I've always pronounced it the latter. I feel like the dark /l/ draws the initial vowel back.

Part it really depends on what magic actually means and how it differs from physics. If magic is simply an alternative physics, then it makes sense that people would eventually find ways to systematize and industrialize it. On the other hand, if magic follows fundamentally different principles and l...

It came from some medieval Chinese pillar and I believe it read: "Heaven gives everything to nourish man, man has nothing with which to repay Heaven, kill×7" or something like that.

A few people on Metafilter said the same, and I don't get it. What exactly would fairies refute? They aren't even supernatural beings. Sure but most portrayals of fairies do consider them supernatural. You could posit purely naturalistic organisms that match our conception of the fairy bauplan but ...

Undoubtedly the fairy would surprise me more. Walri are well established as real animals whereas fairies have no evidence for them or even a plausible explanation for how they could exist. The revelation that fairies exist would utterly refute my entire worldview along with that of pretty much every...