Stingray3906
5mo ago
I've always understood that the objective with these kinds of high value settlements, is that while you can't get water out of a stone, you can take a portion of what it drinks for yourself.
Alex Jones is going to be on some kind of a payment plan to the plaintiffs for the rest of his life, and in that way, it brings closure to the matter.
Stingray3906
5mo ago
No, I'm not against wokeness. I'm aware that my positions align with those of the DNC, but I'm not interested in supporting partisanship. I'm more interested in getting shit done, and I don't think that either party is willing to act with any sense of urgency towards the issues I mentioned. My perception is that they're far more concerned with keeping themselves in office by any means -- courting lobbyists, the wealthy, the influential, the elite, and then using demeaning and insulting rhetoric against their opponents.
Well, what do you care about in politics, more generally? What policies would you want? What should the country be doing?
In general, I care about
-Ensuring that the wealthy in this country pay their fair share in taxes -Ending our nation's contributions to the military industrial complex (I am a strict pacifist) -Immigration reform -Enshrining abortion rights in federal law -Universal healthcare -Gun control reform -Improving access to social services -Adding more options for public transportation -Promoting transparency in government -Increasing the supply of affordable housing -Implenting ranked choice voting for every level of public office
Is there any level of office where your vote would matter (like maybe local government)?
I used to think that it mattered up to at least my state government, but with how much politics have generally devolved into bickering about polar opposite positions on issues, and to ad-homs and name-calling, I've lost interest even there.
Let me put it this way; it would take a very large change in our political system and in our politicians' characters for me to be motivated to vote. And I know that people will tell me, "If you don't vote, the bad guys will win." Yes, probably, but if all of my choices are bought by the wealthy and special interest groups, or have such horrible values or ideologies, I am going to choose every time not to participate. Further, if the system at-large is only designed to be self-serving, why would I participate in it?
Stingray3906
5mo ago
Well, that's it. It's not correct, but I'm so strongly convicted in not voting that neither candidate appeals to me.
Stingray3906
5mo ago
Well, I didn't vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020, and the candidates I did vote for didn't receive any electoral votes, so I can't say that my vote contributed to said consequence.
Stingray3906
5mo ago
I'm considering casting a completely blank ballot on Election Day. I'm fed up with it all.
Stingray3906
5mo ago
This is an odd perspective I get a lot from boomers. They seem to care an awful lot about the decorum of politicians and their being harmonious and "statesmanlike". To me, the lack of heated argument between candidates suggests there's no significant difference between the two. That would make voting even more pointless.
Why do you think that it's odd? The way I see it, the character of a candidate is equally, if not more, important than their positions. If a candidate uses dehumanizing language to explain their positions, I'm most likely not voting for them even if I agree with their positons. I'm not suggesting that candidates need to agree, but I am most certainly of the opinion that they ought to respect one another's basic humanity.
If voting in this election is worthless, voting in every election in your life has been worthless. This time there is at least a black swan chance of a constitutional crisis or illegal political purge.
You're right, I agree. The first election I was able to vote in was 2012, when I didn't find our country's politics nearly as polarizing. 12 years later, I want nothing to do with politics.
Stingray3906
5mo ago
Why in the world, with the two major parties bickering back and forth at each other like immature children, would I want to vote in this upcoming election? I have to be honest, I'm completely dissolutioned from voting now with the way politicians talk to each other and disrespect each other and their opposing constituents. I just can't support a political system that caters to extreme ends of platforms, where civil discourse is completely thrown out the window, where activists and politicians alike no longer listen to understand but to respond, and that really only caters to corporate interests. I live in a solidly blue state in every level of office, so I feel like my vote (and my voice) don't matter.
Like, for the presidential election, who in their right mind would want to choose between two 80-something year old white men with the only difference being one is a convicted felon? And I know that's a huge generalization, but I can't be the only one who feels that way.
Stingray3906
5mo ago
I recently discovered that I am what many would call a "disheartened idealist". I am very much upset about the lack of kindness and charity in American politics, and I wish very much that I had the power to change it for the better, but I also know that no one would pay attention to my activism or would dismiss my attempts as distractions.
What would you all suggest that I do with these feelings, as an idealist or otherwise?
Stingray3906
5mo ago
I think that's totally fine, but the problem I have is that youve got politicians writing these laws with little to no outside consultation with experts on AI, so they end up being vague and applying to things that aren't AI.
Stingray3906
5mo ago
Thanks. Will do.
Stingray3906
5mo ago
If you watch from 3:18 to 17:00 she shows several videos as examples.
Stingray3906
5mo ago
I feel like if you quoted Jesus to some of the demonstrators or to an influencer, they would denounce you or call you a distractor. That is, oddly enough, how the Pharisees perceived Jesus.
If the 'quiet' part is that opposition to Israeli conduct is just a hysteria and a performance, therefore illegitimate, then this assumes a consensus that does not exist.
My view is that while it is performative, their emotions are very real, and the are trying to convey them as loudly as possible, and as such they are incapable of actively listening or being civil.
And to that end, why would anyone participate in a political system that is hostile to people with nuanced opinions?
Stingray3906
5mo ago
The woman talks about the absurdity of modern politics - people pretend to care about something because they like the attention or because they want to 'virtue signal', not because they actually care about the thing.
I'd also add that it can be because they have been conditioned to believe in an ideology.
Stingray3906
5mo ago
Sure. I'll go over her main points. Her position is that:
-College students and folks on social platforms are advocating for supporting their particular side of the conflict mostly for personal gain and/or to force their political ideologies onto others.Their views often lack any nuance, charity, or civility toward those that disagree. It has resulted in hostile demonstrations on college campuses and what may be considered to be "cringey" TikToks/shorts.
-This performative activism is contributing to the continued political polarization in the US and leaves no room for said nuance, charity or civility.
-Governments are also not immune from this kind of virtue signalling. She uses the example of South Africa calling for the prosecution of Israeli leadership before the ICC for genocide and suggests that their demand was purely a political move to help the ANC stay in power. She further opines that this is hypocritical as South Africa refused to arrest then-Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir for the mass murder of 300,000 non-Arab Sudanese people in 2015, and that they even welcomed him warmly. (For what it's worth, Kidology was born and raised in South Africa but is now a UK citizen, and her tone turned markedly more angry at the start of this segment)
-Like governments, institutions of higher education (and their students) have engaged in performative activism for their own gain. The most prestigious of them have billions of dollars in endowments, government and corporate funding and donations from the wealthy that they use not in furtherance of academic missions, but to cultivate a student body that only subscribes to certain matters of social justice. This has resulted in the rise of mass demonstrations for social justice where dissenting voices aren't welcome, where demonstrators prevent uninvolved students from simply walking to class, where it's basically just a mob of people screaming and shouting for a cause they know nothing about and have no experience dealing with.
Stingray3906
5mo ago
Here is video essayist Kidology saying the quiet part out loud when it comes to political polarization and virtue signalling, especially as it applies to the Israel-Hamas conflict. https://youtube.com/watch?v=jz5k6rE-3m4?feature=shared
I understand that she's not everyone's cup of tea and has tried to tow the line of being apolitical while seemingly revolving her content around politics, but for me it was refreshing to hear what I've been feeling about what I see as performative activism and the breakdown in American political discourse.
Yeah, it's a difficult situation. Jones could quite literally stop making money all together, live off welfare, and the families would barely get any money from him. Or, Jones could continue making content or even get a day job and have his wages garnished and the families would still get very little money from him.
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