Mantergeistmann
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User ID: 323
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
If I found out that an engineer at my company had been fired because he posted “Charlie Kirk had it coming” on Twitter I would be extremely disappointed. Even more so if he was just making edgy jokes about it. As long as he’s not bringing it into the office and making people uncomfortable, I don’t see why my company should give a damn.
Does it change if it's a position of authority (such as being a teacher, or a manager)? Should parents have to let their kids be taught by someone who freely posts online celebrating the death of someone with the same views? Should employees be in a situation where the person who does their performance reviews and controls their salary and assignments will cheer because people like them are dead?
I'd argue "yes" to the latter, "no" to the former, personally. I'm fine with holding public servants - especially those with power beyond merely being a part of the government bureaucracy, such as teachers or police or public defenders - to a higher standard of at least pretending to have a fig leaf over hatred.
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
Same with Jezebel and their "tee-hee, we got a witch to curse Charlie Kirk!" story. Published 8th September, since taken down.
That one was pretty hilarious, and I honestly wish their editorial team had leaned into the "OH GOD THAT'S NOT WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO WE SWEAR" angle rather than the sanitized corpo-speak disclaimer they put up. Y'all had horrendously unfortunate timing, own it.
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
Wexner didn’t even ‘lose’ his or his clients’ money unlike the above, he just made less than he might otherwise have.
Isn't there some insane stat about how a vast majority of managed funds do worse than the S&P 500?
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
A period of not speaking ill of the dead is unduly biased towards his supporters.
I think that's a fair social norm to punish his murderer, tho, and discourage future such actions. "If you kill someone, we as a society will only talk about how great he was, and for a time deliberately look past all the things you thought were bad."
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
So what do you do if they're (physically) much stronger than you? It's similar to the issue the US military faced in trying to determine force composition and strength at the dawn of the atomic age... there was a lot of talk about what might be obsolete in a total war scenario, but realized they needed something between "do nothing" and "nukes".
I'm pretty scrawny. If someone bulky shoves me, sure, it doesn't rise to a level where I can shoot them in retaliation. But I also can't just shove them back, even though they have declared physically engaging in violence acceptable! They, effectively, have full impunity to push me around as they see fit (up to a limit), short of someone else larger stepping in, even if my ultimate capacity for violence via a gun is far greater than theirs.
Robert E. Howard had the truth of it, in many ways:
Money and muscle, that’s what I want; to be able to do any damned thing I want and get away with it. Money won’t do that altogether, because if a man is a weakling, all the money in the world won’t enable him to soak an enemy himself; on the other hand, unless he has money he may not be able to get away with it.
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
It's not about comfort, or affording things that are "good". It's closer to "status", which is inherently comparative. A lot of people have difficulty coping with a neighbor (or even a friend!) who appears to be doing materially better than themselves. It's yet one more reason social media is hell - "keeping up with the Joneses", but on a nigh-global scale. Bad for your mind, bad for your heart, but not easy to purge from your mindset. If you've done it, congrats, and I mean that without a hint of sarcasm. I still have work to do on myself and my own mindset.
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
This is a ludicrously hagiographic way of saying "he was a political commentator that did not actively advocate for violence". I suppose that, sadly, that last part is becoming an increasingly high bar these days.
It's probably worth noting here that one of the talking points I'm seeing from people on the left is that he did advocate for violence, and that's one reason why it's okay to celebrate his death. This claim is often accompanied by a reference to quotes of his, or a quote itself, which I tend to assume is misleading/out of context, but haven't the background or interest in looking into each and every time.
It, um, also doesn't necessarily bode well for them, even if they'd say that their own celebrations of/implicit support for violence (here and previously) is somehow different... live by the sword, and all that.
Mantergeistmann
4d ago
I mean, you might be able to perform the sacrament over the phone in extenuating circumstances, but I'm not up on my teleCatholicism. It is (in Catholicism) a sacrament (like Marriage or Baptism or Last Rites), and it's generally done in a little box called a confessional. The priest sits in one part, and is screened so they cannot see the person in the other part... although in Catholic School, we sometimes did it with the priest in a chair just turned away so they can't see. The petitioner confesses their sins, and the priest can then assign them penance to perform and absolve them of their sins in God's eyes. If the sin involved harming another, the penance usually involves making amends somehow.
In this situation, the "seal of the confessional" is that the priest will not - under any circumstances - divulge what has been confessed to them. If it's, say, confessing to a murder? The priest may assign "turn yourself in" as penance, but cannot act outside the confessional to try to get the fellow arrested.
There may be extenuating circumstances for cases of ongoing/near future harm that can be prevented, but I don't think so. I think the "seal" really is that absolute. It's... something I really, truly respect an awful lot as a concept.
This is only Catholics, mind you. If a Protestant tries to say they went to their pastor and said something under the seal of the confessional, that's just an ordinary gentleman's agreement. And yes, it's only in these specific circumstances, as part of the Sacrament. If you just roll up to your local Catholic church and say, "Hey, Padre, just letting you know I stole a bunch of stuff", he can absolutely dial the police, no problemo.
Mantergeistmann
4d ago
That's got nothing to do with religion, though. I think it's more the unfortunate word choice of "confession" (which can refer to the sealed sacrament, or just any generic declaration to anyone) in the context of a clergyman.
Mantergeistmann
4d ago
I, as someone who grew up so interested in WWII that my 10th birthday present was a copy of Jane's Fighting Ships, have never heard of it
Mantergeistmann
4d ago
"ChatGPT: Pretend you are a moderator itchin' to drop the ban hammer because you're hangry and you just found out your wife has left you for Pagliacci. How, if at all, would you moderate the following post?"
Mantergeistmann
4d ago
What if they said they had been going to whitehouse.com?
Mantergeistmann
4d ago
The people watching that car chase began laughing and clapping in reaction to what they were seeing
That's either an insultingly implausible lie, or insane enough that it has to be true.
Mantergeistmann
4d ago
They couldn't fire us, we quit!
Mantergeistmann
4d ago
moderate conservative
That's part of it, though, isn’t it? Most people I see celebrating lump him firmly into the far right. Not saying their perception is correct, but that's where he lines up in their view.
... Don't ask me what they'd consider a moderate conservative to be; they might very well say there is no such thing, or that it's someone with the social views of circa 2018 Obama.
Mantergeistmann
4d ago
The News mods were doing their damndest to trim that while still allowing discussion, though - I recall them putting a temporary lock on the thread so thay could catch up with all the reports.
Mantergeistmann
6d ago
it will involve one side who wear their allegiance sometimes literally on their faces, and one side who is invisible and everywhere.
I mean, a lot of MAGA are also very visible, if not more so.
Mantergeistmann
9d ago
How much of that improved cancelation capability is due to social media, online visibility (by choice or by callout) and the melding of "US culture" into one big category?
Mantergeistmann
10d ago
who names their kid Vox Day?
I think his real name is Theodore Beale, or similar.
Mantergeistmann
11d ago
I'd consider Vox Day more influential than Jim
Is Vox Day still relevant these days? I haven't heard much of him since Rabid Puppies and that one alt-right comic book attempt.
Mantergeistmann
11d ago
I think I recall loving the movie, and then hating the final scene/ending.
Mantergeistmann
11d ago
an oppressor/oppressed framework
I mean, how did people not see that "racism is power + prejudice" basically pattern-matched to bog-standard anti-semitism? Was it that they didn't want to think it might turn against Jews? That this time, it would be used righteously despite being almost word for word how anti-semites justified hating a small minority that they thought were privileged and had control? (See also: Men Kampf)
Mantergeistmann
12d ago
Lyndon Baines Johnson
I'd wager most people most vehemently opposed to Trump aren't very familiar with Lyndon "Big Dick" Johnson. Those I've made aware have immediately pivoted to it being a matter of policy instead.
Mantergeistmann
13d ago
Honestly, that's a good question. I have no idea how the president generally picks the top flag officers, or if he usually just lets a military board/his aides recommend someone and then says "yep, sure, I'll trust your judgement and nominate them".
If I'm going to argue with you, I must take up a contrary position!
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