Throwaway05
9hr ago
Almost certainly.
Trump did what he always does - say a bunch of shit that causes people to freak out and in the process gets something done.
It's pretty clear his complaints are real (re: China, Russia), so......
Throwaway05
10hr ago
Exactly, I've been in a situation where someone removed a weapon from a patient and shouted that he had done so multiple times but we just didn't process it because of the chaos.
And that was in a much quieter more controlled situation.
Throwaway05
13hr ago
You may or may not find it heartening to know that this is almost always a choice.
Every hospital has regulars, people who have medical, psychiatric, substance use problems. Sometimes (but rarely) nothing at all.
We see them once a year, once a month, once a week, once a day. We know them. Sometimes they disappear and it's because they moved on to the next hospital or stop on their rotation.
Sometimes they pass away.
Always. Every time - we make offers. During winter or especially days like today we make many, many offers. Do you want to stay the night? Please this time go to the shelter. Etc.
Scores of bright eyed and scores of burnt out social workers emerge from the offices like lice, all trying to get the patient help.
They usually refuse.
Living on the street is a choice. That choice is often complicated by drugs, and the way someone was raised. Sometimes it's complicated by medical or psychiatric problems and we can often intervene in those.
But most people on the street are there because they made a choice and our society lets people make choices.
They may regret it in the moment in the cold, but they will make the same choice again.
It sucks.
Throwaway05
14hr ago
I wonder similarly about pants on fire if it gets reattached - I gotta imagine that they'd be very aggressive in um, reappropriating, but last I saw they had "suspects" so it might have gotten torn off and then thrown somewhere.
Throwaway05
17hr ago
Apparently someone also bit off an agent's finger.
Don't see that widely reported outside of Fox.
Throwaway05
1d ago
Same.
Before typing: why would anyone get mad on the internet?
After reading the responses: &%#@.
It is the way of things.
Throwaway05
1d ago
Protein stuff is this year's fiber stuff, lots of food content creators have bemoaned this or celebrated it. If you go to a store and look you'll see shit tons. I'm pretty sure you can even get protein fortified Starbucks right now.
Throwaway05
1d ago
Relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/386/
It is both our blessing and our curse.
Throwaway05
5d ago
It is not a belief system, I am expressing known facts.
If you'd like to provide a reputable source indicating that China is not an oppressive regime please do so. Same for my other concerns.
If your argument is that the Chinese are moral aliens then I suppose that's fine, but then also arguing that at the same time everything is a lie and propaganda isn't reasonable, you have to pick one.
Throwaway05
5d ago
A central theme I see in a lot of the pro-China comments in this thread is "well the U.S. sucks too" well yes. We don't dispute that, but just because the U.S. has DEI does not mean that disappearing people is anywhere near the same scale of oppression.
The same goes for dysfunction, the environment, and questionable reporting of economic health.
The fed is somewhat unreliable at times is not in the same universe as cooked Chinese economic numbers.
Throwaway05
5d ago
At this point (at least in gaming) we've hit a weird point where the west refuses to make the original recipe and therefore China is starting to overtake a bit.
What you are saying was super true for the longest time but Wokeness has left an opportunity and Asian produced and flavored things are taking over because the West is ass.
See: Kpop Demon Hunters for one. The amount of money made by Genshin et al for another.
Throwaway05
5d ago
I don't understand how someone can look at how the U.S. and Europe tried to walk off a cliff for environmentalism and say with a straight face that China is the same.
It's not credible.
China refuses to make costly economic decisions to protect the environment and is doing things like massive pollution, destroying local ocean fauna, and so on.
You can argue that this is economically a good idea, but it.....is happening.
The U.S. has chaotic moments but the overall arc is to make costly decisions of questionable efficacy to try and solve the problem. This has yet to be massively effective but they are trying.
Throwaway05
5d ago
I'd be more amenable to this if it wasn't for the industrial espionage and IP theft - I'm not complaining about VK here.
You also have a difference between likely popular versions (like Korea and Japan have) and state enforced ones.
Throwaway05
5d ago
You do realize that a large amount of the IP theft was literally using state espionage resources to seize and repurpose information from Western companies while instituting significant protectionism domestically?
"We will use all of our powers to compete unfairly against you and will prohibit you from competing at the most basic level" is a pretty central criticism.
China only does what they do because of the manufacturing prowess, otherwise they'd be a pariah state.
Throwaway05
6d ago
They are absolutely still engaged in state sponsored industrial espionage, and in a way that is pretty much unmatched given the way the state and companies over lap.
They still engage in a lackadaisical approach to international copyright (not that I am that mad about it).
Still continue to basically ban foreign competitors of various tech things and then make their own version.
One of the biggest ethical problems of the country is also its strength - state power and totally unfair business practices.
Certain you can do that, and you can get away with it if you are China but it is deeply unethical.
Throwaway05
6d ago
I have put vastly more effort into this than you did, but admittedly it's also mostly assertions that can be dismissed (I could support every one with a citation if I cared though). Just irritated at how easily people in rather mediocre societies can rattle off some half-baked condemnations.
You wrote more but that does not mean I'm convinced about most of your points:
RE: Lying - The West typically attempts to have objective reliable processes outputted by the government and corporate sectors that represents various things. China does not. For a recent and important example consider COVID policies, statistics, and information.
RE: IP Theft - I don't believe your statements on this are factually accurate.
RE: International Society - The U.S., Western Europe, and the weaker countries all at least pretend. China acts like the other "evil" countries. That is not good company.
RE: Genocide - Meh, I'm not particular excited about this one but the genocide people seem to argue that it counts.
RE: Oppression - You can get disappeared just as easily in China as Russia. You can get welded into your home during COVID. From the rich to the poor nobody has any rights unless they are an in favor party elite, all it takes is to get noticed. To add to the angst is an anarcho-tyranical element, petty corruption is everywhere and the country just sweeps through areas every once and awhile to execute or imprison anyone misbehaving. The superficial competence of the regime makes it worse not better.
RE: Taiwan - In the case of Russia/Ukraine the national pride aspect is somewhat countered by other somewhat compelling reasons such as the ports and agriculture. In the case of China/Taiwan it seems to primarily out of imperial angst, as the high tech industries that give Taiwan are fragile and would likely not survive kinetic action. If some democratic process occurs obviously it will be a bit different.
RE: The environment - While China does contribute to some renewables I challenge you to find a reputable source indicating Chinese is better for the environment than the West. This perception is not driven by mere propaganda effort.
Throwaway05
6d ago
Generally a private profile is a bad sign, and you seem to be making assumption and replying in a way that I don't think is conducive to discussion - for instance assuming I'm MAGA, or a Trump supporter, because I think that people need to be more calm about Trump?
Not typically a good sign.
Throwaway05
6d ago
Well the prompt was "good." If it was something else like "most likely to get us off planet" I might have a different answer, but I do think in terms of "goodness" they are pretty damn shit.
Throwaway05
6d ago
I picked one person from each side of the aisle to make it clear it wasn't partisan, and your approach seems more "gotcha" oriented than anything, between that and a hidden profile I think I'm going to exit this one.
Cheers!
Throwaway05
6d ago
Oh yeah many people here can do this if directly prompted, which is why I made it about people I know in real life. Too many people here will jump in on the discussion (big enough forum and people will get to it) or just say something to score points.
Likewise I'm sure with direct prompting people can do what I ask, but the baseline level on the internet is "Trump will cancel the elections" which is...not great understanding.
Throwaway05
6d ago
In Fate: Zero, there's a scene where three legendary kings get together and share a drink while discussing what it means to be a king.
Anybody interested in this discussion who reads Cultivation Fantasy should 100% read Virtuous Sons.
Throwaway05
6d ago
I mean China is one of the world's most morally bankrupt societies, they lie all the time to everyone (foreign and domestic), they have the most stealing of any country (primarily in the form IP theft), don't really believe in international treaties and society, engage in genocide, oppress their population, clearly want to steal Taiwan (jury is out on how bad they'll be about this) and during a time when we are realizing how much we've fucked the environment they refuse to do anything but worsen the problem.*
What they have (at least superficially, it isn't totally clear) is strength.
That's enough for some people, I'm not sure it is for me.
*I don't think any of these are controversial but please let me know if so.
Throwaway05
6d ago
One argument -
One party is actively claiming to be the party of decorum, empathy, and professionalism.
The dems need to act like the adults they claim to be or stop making claims to that end.
Throwaway05
6d ago
I implore you to consider that not all analysis of Trump's behavior are driven by hatred.
My assertion is that I have yet to really see any anti-Trump writing that acknowledges him as a complete person, pretty much everything I've seen for ten years now has been exaggeration and stereotyping of his worse attributes and behaviors.
A much, much less lower bar ("say anything nice about Trump at all") has never been cleared by anyone I've interacted with in real life and rarely here.
I disagree with your characterization of charisma but more importantly the aforementioned behavior has been well known and noted by neutral and positive coverage since before he jumped into politics.
Either you ignore it because of Trump hatred, or (more likely) you haven't dug into who the guy is a person, which does a much better job of explaining his beliefs and behavior.*
Private knowledge tells me that Obama is a shitty overly permissive parent and that Bush did a bunch of coke when he was younger, but you don't need to be clued in to know that Clinton got up to shitty stuff with women or that Obama is destructively competitive. These are the most important people in the world and the unbiased information about how they actually function is out in the world.
Related: almost zero moderate to low information Democrats I know are aware of Trump's attitude towards drugs and alcohol despite this being an important part of his character, in fact most people assume they are the opposite of the truth.
You aren't a bootlicker.
During the Civil Rights era the protestors did maximally nonviolent and safe protests to exhibit injustice.
During the BLM era the protestors engage in violence, harassment, rioting, impair communication, and overall behave in such a way that low likelihood fuckups become impossible to avoid. They then blame the right/police for conditions they created.
It's the same basic tactics as Hamas and its abusive behavior, victim blaming.
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