ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
No bio...
User ID: 1012
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
17hr ago
I think Greer might be overfitting "TikTok users to "Zoomers." My tech illiterate lifelong Republican MAGA mother regularly sends me boomer-humor tier TikTok clips and she is obsessed with "based Black MAGA conservatives" spouting GOP talking points or praising Trump (sidenote: it is truly bizarre how civil rites fetishism is so prominent in the generation regardless of political leanings). I get similar stuff from my aunts and uncles. I think @Stefferi is right when he calls this as "normies vs fringe," although instead of fringe I'd say "nerds."
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
8d ago
Your political compass link takes me to a picture of a nice hat.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
22d ago
Congrats!
People would probably listen more if the leftists hadn't been crying wolf for the last 8 years. At this point, I assume that any statements like the above are just crybullying in the vein of "I feel unsafe" designed to scare or shame non-leftists into letting down their guard so that leftists can abuse their dominance of the media and deep state to undermine and destroy literally anything my side tries to do. So, too bad. I guess we'll just have to suffer some corruption and incompetence as a country. You kept distracting us and nudging our arm when we tried to use the scalpel, so now we're using the chainsaw, because we've got to do something soon.
ETA: Is this guy just a troll? He made a few other posts recently that boiled down to "things are terrible now" without any effort to convince and keeps deleting posts. This post seems tailor-made to push buttons.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
27d ago
Thanks, I haven't watched it yet so I didn't make the connection.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
28d ago
This reads more like a collection of talking points than a coherent post. What are you trying to discuss here? Whether DOGE is as effective as it claims? Whether Trump will keep his promise to balance the budget? Hypocrisy about the White House dress code? Is there a common theme?
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
28d ago
I dunno, man. I might have agreed 5-10 years ago but I've been sliding inexorably toward Nybblerhood with all the recent blackpills. Western men are mostly domesticated and will not use organized physical or often even political force to fight back against systematic anti-white discrimination, schools transing kids, blatant mass illegal immigration, mass rape of young girls by foreigners, heavy-handed lockdowns, and more. How could conscription cause they state to lose "all legitimacy" when the aforementioned crimes against the people barely dented it? If conscription happens, white men will get sent to die along with a few token foreigners, people will whine on social media, and the few who try to do actually organize to do anything about it will get crushed instantly by the surveillance state panopticon.
ETA: Elsewhere, you said you think a real war would shock that system. I could only see this happening if troops actually landed on the island of Great Britain and real desperation set in. Feeding young men to a far away meat grinder is not going to be enough to break information control.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
28d ago
To abuse the metaphor, it would be like Local ISP was a local business that had been giving you low pricing because your kids went to the same school and to maintain market share in your town. But now, your town has grown into a large city. The company has been bought out by BigTelecom. Jimmy, the owner's nephew whom you used to call when your internet stopped working, has been replaced by "Johnny" located in Bangalore. And there's no chance of you switching to another ISP as you can't afford the fees to break the contract. So now Local ISP ("A BigTelecom corporation!") is raising rates, because while they still provide you with internet service, they no longer see you as a human being, just another KPI on a spreadsheet to fiddle with in the quest to maximize BigTelecom's profits.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
28d ago
China has technical excellence and no taste.
This is a good summation of China today, I'm going to steal this.
Re. your last paragraph, I still think that MAGA has yet to prove that it's a paradigm shift rather than simply a temporary setback in Enlightenment Cthulu's endless leftward journey. Fat stacks of Chinese cash may inducen strategic myopia in weakly aligned nations, but if MAGA turns out to be a half-decade long fad, America and its core values will still offer the more attractive and reassuring bargain.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
28d ago
I'm baffled by perceptions of China and Chinese products in the West. There seem to be two camps:
-
Normie camp. China is the new evil empire. They spy on everyone and steal everything. Everything they make is fake and falls apart (Temu, electronics). Their "technical excellence" is just aping stuff America could do effortlessly a decade or more ago (lunar lander, Nei Zha 2, Black Myth Wukong) or it's kabuki theater (Deepseek is stolen tech and/or is a facade to hide massive investment and manpower to make it look like China is catching up). They cheat their allies on the global stage (crappy infrastructure built in Africa in exchange for minerals).
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Contrarian camp. China is the new techno-cyberpunk future of the human race. Drone swarms shaped like dragons. Everything on your smartphone. Technical excellence matching that of America but at less cost (Nei Zha, BM:W, Deepseek). Futuristic Chinese cities. Transhumanism unfettered by Christian hangups. They offer their allies purely aboveboard transactional deals with no moralizing strings attached.
I even see it on this forum. My info is a bit dated now, but I used to be heavily interested in China and hooked in to Chinese culture and politics. My takeaway from my time over there living with and working alongside Chinese people was that China could never truly be a more attractive partner than America on the world stage because their core civilizational ideas are just not attractive or reassuring to non-Chinese. Most Americans see themselves as part of a universal brotherhood of nations due to America's enlightenment roots, but China see itself as the "middle kingdom" that should rightfully be at the center of Asia, and ideally the world. It is a civilization founded on ethnic chauvinism and an inward orientation. Barbarians ways are not to be understood or mimicked save for instrumentally in order to gain some advantage that furthers the Chinese race. Deals with other nations are entered into not out of any sort of altruism or common ground, but as purely transactional interactions, and deals only need to be honored so far as they continue to benefit China and the Chinese -- as soon as all the juice has been squeezed, the contract can be shredded and discarded, and former partners can simply be gaslit about the prior agreement.
The obvious counterpoint is that America's foreign policy establishment is just as ruthless and amoral, and perhaps even moreso since they distract from their misdeeds with platitudes about universalism and human rights. I think this is a fair point, but I would counter that the American establishment does actually have some true believers and that it is at least somewhat constrained by what the American voting public can stomach. China has no such checks. I would also counter that America's amoral foreign policy is a deviation from its core civilizational values, one from which (hopefully) it is beginning to course correct, while the ethnic chauvinism of China is core to its civilization self-identity and is thus much more deeply ingrained and less likely to change. I think we may see a few countries defect toward China, but I wager after a decade they will learn their lesson and either return to the American fold or take some sort of third-worldist position.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
30d ago
This explanation has always seemed the most reasonable to me. Plenty of nations (in the ~tribal sense) don't control their own sovereign states, and many live subject to much more culturally different nations (Kurds, Uyghurs, etc). This is how Ukranians lived in the past as well, as I understand it. It seems to me better to face the fact that "you can't get what you want" and bide your time than to fight a doomed cause at such great cost that your homeland is destitute, most of your men are killed in war or flee, and your women emigrate are absorbed into foreign nations. One leads to subordination but survival, while the other leads to the destruction of one's nation.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1mo ago
I can't defend the support for Israel or middle eastern shenanigans as I also firmly oppose both. As far as not wanting Europe to be overrun, your post prompted me to write a tangentially related post here. In short, Europe and America have drifted apart, and I don't know if it still makes sense to act as though they share similar cultures and beliefs.
My impression of historical US-Euro relations is that while realpolitik was always an important component, there was a sense of shared ideology (liberal democracy) and cultural history that strengthened the bond relative to, say, US-Egyptian or US-Indonesian relations. We were the "free countries," we were the "Western nations," and until recently, we were "Christian nations." However, mass immigration, multiculturalism and its consequent curtailing of civil liberties, and militant secularism and progressivism seem to have severely weakened those identies in Europe and made room new identities to assert themselves.
I see US-Euro relations decaying to the more transactional relations that the U.S. has with culturally alien countries. European countries making noises about cozying up to China sounds bizarre when operating under the assumption that the old identities hold, but it actually makes sense if Europeans now simply view China and America as two ideologically-alien superpowers who offer different sets of incentives and obligations and who can be played off one another for benefit.
I think a lot of the outrage about "European ingratitude" from the American right is caused by right wingers failing to realize that European 2025 is not the Europe of 1950, or even 1990. Many Europeans seem to already view America as ideologically alien and thus view the relationship as totally transactional. It would be like expressing gratitude to your ISP for providing internet service after you sign a contract and pay your bill. Trump's more transactional approach aligns with this new reality, and so it's probably a good thing -- unless you're an American progressive, in which case, since you hold religious beliefs in common with European progressives, you probably view this development as needless division and infighting amongst enlightened nations that diverts time and energy away from pushing back the ever-encroaching forces of ignorance and oppression. That said, I sense a rift between American and European progressives as well, mostly in complaints from more traditional European socialists who see American "woke" progressivism as an irrelevant distraction from material problems and/or a form of American political and cultural imperialism. So perhaps even the bonds between progressives on either sides of the Atlantic are fraying and will not be strong enough to maintain a US-Euro relationship beyond the merely transactional.
This explanation is certainly too pat, and there's more nuance to be explored, but do you think this is more or less the direction in which things are heading?
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1mo ago
This kind of condescension just raises the temperature and honestly violates the spirit of this forum. Why not assume good faith of your outgroup and try to understand why many Americans are not interested in spending American blood and treasure to support the American empire? If you just want to jerk about how the benighted plebs are voting against their own interests, you can do that on Reddit.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1mo ago
I don't understand how any American of European descent can care
I'm an American of European descent. I don't care which flag flies over the Ukraine, it has nothing to do with me. And I believe that the elite class who run the GAE essentially parasitizes helots like me to give money to the rest of the countries you list, countries that I feel no kinship towards, and in fact dislike.
Ukrainians are not fighting for my interests as a religious red triber. They may be fighting for your interests as a progressive blue triber. But that shouldn't be hard for you to understand.
Are you a new poster? Assuming you're not a troll trying to stir up drama, I recommend trying to steelman your outgroup's beliefs and to spend more time considering why they might disagree with your framing of things.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1mo ago
Good point.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1mo ago
As a pretty average American compared to most of this forum, I'd be okay with you or anyone else living here only if you did most of the following: got married (ideally to an American), had kids, learned to hunt or fish, started going to church or at least showed up and participated in public events hosted by churches, took an interest in local politics, and participated in traditional civil religion ceremonies (e.g. 4th of July cookout), got and kept a stable job, and generally deferred to the local culture, social conventions, and moral code (e.g. no loud ethnic music or fireworks at weird times, no opening abortion or gender transition clinics, no complaining about halal/no vegetarian food).
If you don't want to do those things, I honestly don't really want you in my country at all, no offense personally. If you must come, I hope you stay in the rootless cosmopolitan containment zones (blue cities).
I think this is how many (most?) non urbanite Americans actually feel but as @WhiningCoil points out, even the reddest red state hobbits have been successfully trained by state education to crimestop when thinking these thoughts, so they make mouth noises about "illegal immigration."
Also, just curious, but since you are transhumanist (IIRC) atheist, isn't the social and political climate of the UK much more amenable to your beliefs and political goals? America has a large population of recalcitrant believers in the imago dei, including not a few members of the elite, who completely oppose transhumanism.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1mo ago
I can't do your thoughtful comment justice with a reply, but I'll say that your points are well noted and that I can't disagree with the main thrust. I suppose I was subconsciously reacting to both a (perceived by me) recent meta-contrarian pooh-poohing of Japan (although the Place, Japan meme is not completely wrong either) and (IMO astroturfed or trolling) posts fawning over heckin' based glorious cyberpunk AI dragon-shaped drone swarm China!! (sorry for all the parentheses)()()
It's probably time to log off for a while. (なんてね～)
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1mo ago
I don't think this is really mysterious. The average Place, China is a dump. It's filled with ugly buildings, dirty streets and ramshackle infrastructure, and weathered, third world people with rotting teeth wearing tacky clothes. If you see a beautiful photo, it's either a place where nobody lives, a tourist destination kept clean by the government, an enclave for the very rich, or some combination. The "OMG cyberpunk!!" posts of China are mostly new construction covered in LED lights or monitors that, because TIC, will mostly be nonfunctional and/or falling apart in <5 years.
The average Place, Japan is mostly clean and recognizably first world. Its inhabitants dress in a minimal, classic style that is seen as sophisticated and somewhat retro by westerners (well, except the yanki, who dress like gopniks). The temples and shrines are real, living religious institutions. The buildings are small, quaint, but well-maintained, clearly cherished by the inhabitants. Photos of Place, Japan are of course posted selectively, there are ugly places in Japan, but the worst squalor in Japan is not even in the same league as average squalor in China.
As a kid I fell in love with Chinese history and culture. As a young adult, I moved to China only to find that Chinese culture had been killed in 1949 and some bleak, lower form of civilization which aped the worst impulses of the West was wearing "China" as a skinsuit. I found more of what I was looking for in Taiwan and HK (before the takeover), but by then I had made other life plans.
I always wish I could have visited China and seen it at its height. I can't imagine being proud of what the PRC has made of one of the richest, greatest civilizations humanity has produced.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1mo ago
j/q/x and zh/ch/sh are different though. Any of those two pairs sound at least as different as say, "k" and "g" in English, and actually probably moreso.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1mo ago
I watched it for the first time last year and found the second half way too unbelievable. Some wag on 4chan summarized the movie's message as
>be based race realist
>go to jail
>get gang raped by a bunch of dudes
>turn into an effeminate libtard
What did they mean by this?
which, while clearly trolling and uncharitable, is a framing that I just can't unsee. I know that the director was trying to show that racist WNs are evil, violent, manipulative hypocrites and losers and that Norton's character learned his lesson after meeting "real" WNs in prison, but like with Starship Troopers, an alternate, unintended interpretation just seems to fit the movie better IMO.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1mo ago
My wife and I walked to a nearby seafood izakaya and were marveling at how good the food was and what a diamond in the rough the place was. After a few plates, I took out my phone and opened my photos to reminisce about what we did last year, only to discover that we had spent Valentine's Day 2024 at the very same restaurant last year. We had completely forgotten, likely due to our most recent baby arriving only about a month later and bringing the usual flood of joy, exhaustion, and amnesia. So I suppose what I'm saying is -- whatever y'all do this year, take pictures, lol. And congrats on the baby!
First, it's a matter of degree. If I saw a black guy with a MAGA hat on YouTube, I would think "huh, interesting" but I wouldn't instantly subscribe and share his videos to my friends and family. Second, at least in my experience, it's only blacks and, every now and then, a homosexual man. I never get videos about based Asians, or Native Americans, or lesbians, or trans people, or recent immigrants from the third world. And that makes sense to me, because the normie idea of Civil Rights seems to be "MLK did some stuff and we realized we should treat black people nicely, and then a few decades later some... other people did some stuff and we realized we should let gay people get married.". So those two groups are the most salient to normies.
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