The Political Thread

[Professor Bear]

All she had to do was be less crap than a man who fucked a pig.

[The Legendary Shark]

1: Hold a popularity contest for imperfect human beings.

2: Award the winners superhuman rights and powers.

3: Complain when those imperfect human beings err or abuse their superhuman rights and/or powers.

4: Go to 1.

[Tjm86]

All she had to do was be less crap than a man who fucked a pig.

... and a sterling job she's doing of it, too!   

[TordelBack]

This business of the WH issuing a terrifying climate change report, then verbally dismissing it, seems to encapsulate politics in 2017.  Reality doesnt matter anymore, there's no fact that can undermine a government policy, no reasoned argument, no lie that can undo a populist politician*. I firmly believe that Trump could tear up the US Constitution tomorrow and just say he had made a better one - the best one - and he'd still retain his supporter base - and most of the GOP.  Insert Brexit parallels here as desired.


*The response to sexual harassment and assault revelations is very welcome, and I hope it's the beginnings of a culture that endures, but its impact remains largely peripheral to real power games.

[TordelBack]

And off we go again.  The Texas church mass-murderer is Antifa, a Hillary supporter, an ISIS agent, a  Muslim convert... but Fake News and the FBI won't tell you this, because they are all communist Islamic feminists. Round and around social media it echoes and repeats and amplifies. Lies, lies, lies, and no one gives a shit as long as their narrative is supported: all these years blaming religion for foisting indoctrination and ignorance on people, and it turns out people actually WANT to be indoctrinated, voluntarily revel in ignorance and denial of the reality in front of them.

Who would have believed that universal access to all the information in the world would end up like this.

[IndigoPrime]

"White terrorist kills dozens at Texas church, taking advantage of lax gun laws" is a headline we're not going to see. (I'm guessing lots of "lone wolf". And we've already seen Trump bafflingly say it's "not about guns", and the GoP talk a lot about praying, despite the fact these people – including young children – were fucking shot in a church. If there is a god, he/it is hinting pretty bloody heavily that some manner of gun control law might be a good idea right now.)

[Steven Denton]

Who would have believed that universal access to all the information in the world would end up like this.

Me.

The world has evolved past most humans cognitive abilities. Society has evolved to such a degree as to make vast swaths of the population entirely redundant. We live in Megacity one only the futsies aren't so funny when you have to live with them.   

[TordelBack]

I never understood how the relative success of gun control in the rest of the world didn't represent an irrefutable evidence-based argument against "bad guys will still have guns", at least for the borderline sane portion of the US pop.

And then after Las Vegas I tried to gather up some actual facts and figures to spit back at the tossers that infest my various feeds: it's a nightmare. Google searches link repeatedly to page after page of cherry picked and outright falsified statistics, where single incidents in places like Serbia are used to 'demonstrate' that mass shootings are MORE common in Europe, and that the gun crime figures in the US just look bad because black drug gangs kill each other, and let's face it, that's probably a good thing.

Page after page of garbage stats, backed up by links to Fox editorials and the usual red-piller rants, just in case you didn't trust the evidence of your own eyes.  Even if people do some looking, odds are good that all they will see is confirmation of their idiotic beliefs. And that goes for climate change, feminism, Islamic takeover of the West, you name it.

There's literally no hope: this entire wonderful Internet has become a vast trap of reinforcement and self-delusion, an Encyclopedia Britannica of shit that can support any Murdoch lie you choose to check.

[Professor Bear]

[IndigoPrime]

TordelBack: In modern history, Australia's shift in stance on gun ownership should be enough evidence. But as others have said, once the US collectively decided it was OK to kill children in a mass shooting (compare that to the response to Dunblane), that was the end of it. Guns now rule.

[Theblazeuk]

I went into a gun shop in America, and it was interesting. This was an antique/collectable place so it didn't feel any different than looking at swords or armour or cannons in a museum. Was odd.

[IndigoPrime]

Right now, I'm honestly not sure I want to set foot in the US again. I've visited regularly, because my folks have a place in Clearwater Beach, but I've felt a growing sense of unease in recent years. And then my dad said during their most recent stay that he'd had a gun pointed at him by a kid in their condo's foyer. Fortunately, the kid decided to make a run for it. But when you hear stories like that, your blood runs cold. That country has a massive problem.

[Leigh S]

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents."

The problem is not new, but the phrase "Echo Chamber" is probably true for the internet. We all search for the reason why life is like it is, and you have to be very self aware not to look for blame elsewhere? 

Never did anything with your life?  It was those Bulgarians moving in next door

Left your wife for a younger model?  She was a drag who brought it on herself

Defrauded the Government?  I work hard - They don't deserve my tax

and on and on.

When we had a concensus of Church, State and Public Service Media provider, the "truth" was less slippy and multitudinuous - not to say it was entirely more accurate of course, but many things were accepted and shared as "right"

In this world where a quick google will find you in the company of like minded perverts/racists/dullards/zealots.... 

And then after Las Vegas I tried to gather up some actual facts and figures to spit back at the tossers that infest my various feeds: it's a nightmare. Google searches link repeatedly to page after page of cherry picked and outright falsified statistics, where single incidents in places like Serbia are used to 'demonstrate' that mass shootings are MORE common in Europe, and that the gun crime figures in the US just look bad because black drug gangs kill each other, and let's face it, that's probably a good thing.

Page after page of garbage stats, backed up by links to Fox editorials and the usual red-piller rants, just in case you didn't trust the evidence of your own eyes.  Even if people do some looking, odds are good that all they will see is confirmation of their idiotic beliefs. And that goes for climate change, feminism, Islamic takeover of the West, you name it.

There's literally no hope: this entire wonderful Internet has become a vast trap of reinforcement and self-delusion, an Encyclopedia Britannica of shit that can support any Murdoch lie you choose to check.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

In this world where a quick google will find you in the company of like minded perverts/racists/dullards/zealots.... 

Absolutely right. That's how I ended up here.

The Eternal September is what my father calls it.

Clickbait, listicles and Fake News all preying on narcissism. The web is an ugly place and should be used sparingly. I work in a bar frequented by functioning alcoholics and the majority of them are positively charming compared to the youtube commentariat. Better informed too. I think that's my point here. If you get out there and talk to real people, even the biggest degenerate is better than most 'net persona.

And they are persona. Comes from the latin for 'mask'. The internet isn't real life. This isn't really a conversation. Not a real discussion. Your internal monologue could be reading this in the snarkiest, most condescending voice your mind can conjure, or maybe the angriest, most bellicose vomit of bile. I'm nowhere near good enough a writer to convey my ideas with an appropriate tone, nor is yer average web denizen. The subtle tonal changes and cadence of voice are lost online, along with body language cues. You don't get to see the other person nodding along to your point, indicating comprehension, before disagreeing. You just see the disagreement.

I concede I may just be stuck in the echo chamber of real life.

[The Legendary Shark]

Well said, Mr P.