Why go to a show when the replay button is, like, right there?

I do not think the problem is education, but a fundamental trait about human nature. Education, as an institution, can only lay the groundwork; it cannot instill the intrinsic desire to learn and grow. That fire must be kindled from within, yet so many treat learning as a phase of life rather than a lifelong pursuit.

There is a deep and persistent resistance to intellectual evolution in society. A cultural thread that regards curiosity with suspicion and introspection with discomfort. Too often, people conflate questioning with opposition, and the invitation to examine one’s beliefs is perceived as an attack rather than an opportunity. This isn’t a failure of education; it’s a failure of cultural conditioning, perhaps even a failure of human instinct.

Nietzsche wrote: “You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” Yet, instead of seeking out and embracing fluidity, many anchor themselves to certainty, mistaking stagnation for stability. They prefer to defend what they are rather than work toward what they could be. This anti-intellectual obstinacy isn’t uniquely American or modern; it’s something that’s been with us from the start. I do not think we cannot educate our way out of the problems we keep making for ourselves; it’s going to have to be either revolution, or evolution.

Can you explain why you think she is out of touch with poor people? I’m genuinely curious, because you may know something about her that I don’t, and if she’s as secretly two-faced as Sinema and Manchin, or has done something to actively denigrate or undermine the working class, I want to be informed.

I understand that most poor people feel overlooked, ignored, and exploited by the rich, and that’s because that is exactly what they do–but their greatest trick is to make us think that it’s not their fault that we are poor. Please look again to the last sentence of my reply: Holding someone in contempt merely because they are richer than you is exactly what the billionaires want you to do, because it distracts and redirects anger away from them, and is just another tool they use to make the working class fight amongst themselves.

It seems like you may be conflating having ~$500k net worth with being rich, which may not have been your intent, but it seemed that way based on context. I think what the other responder is getting at is that AOC is not rich. She may have a house, a car, and some retirement saved up. All of those are assets, but they do not translate into the kind of liquidity that many other American politicians have.

She was working class before she entered into politics, and some would argue that she still is based on her work and advocacy. I don’t want to sound like I’m accusing your of anything, or putting words in your mouth, because that’s not my intent; I just want to point out a common belief held by a lot of Americans. Lumping someone in with the rich and then holding them in contempt merely because that person is richer than you is exactly the kind of us-versus-them mentality the ruling class wants us to have.

Slaanesh disagrees.

It’s wonderful how misunderstood a lot of the ‘evil’ metal bands are. Bands like Cradle of Filth and Cattle Decapitation have ostensibly repulsive artwork and song titles/lyrics, but the themes and meaning behind the songs meander between tongue-in-cheek fun to philosophical pondering to outright castigation of humanity’s treatment of the natural world. Judging a book by its cover and all that stuff…

Then again, there’s Behemoth, who literally describe summoning demons and other pagan and satanic rites in their songs. But good grief, the music is so good.

I’ll take “Hyperbolic & Catastrophic Exaggerations” for $400, Alex.
I’m pretty sure you’re reply is tongue-in-cheek, but that did get me thinking how long it would take to actually destroy the Moon by mining.

Let’s say we used mass drivers to launch 1000kg of material from the Moon to the Earth every second, non stop, until the Moon was completely dismantled. The moon has a mass somewhere around 7.35×10²² kilograms. Dividing the Moon’s mass by the rate of removal, we get Time=7.35×10¹⁹seconds. Divide that by 35,536,000 seconds in a year, and it would take us about 2.33 trillion years to dismantle the moon.

Considering how the Earth only has, maybe, a billion years until the Sun’s natural life cycle makes life on Earth impossible, I’d wager that we’re good. Drill baby, drill.

I feel this. There was one time where I was playing metal over my speakers, but I was the only one in the office and I was not playing it loudly. After a while a security guard was doing rounds and asked me “what the hell” I was listening to. “Cattle Decapitation,” I said, and they wrinkled their nose like someone shat in the trashcan and went on about how they can’t how anyone would like “that stuff” – I shrugged and said me neither and got back to my work.

The purpose of prison ought to be reconciliation and rehabilitation, not revenge or forced contrition. Many prisoners do feel remorse for their crimes, but unfortunately recidivism is so high (in America) because our socioeconomic and judicial systems are tooled to undermine a parolee’s attempts to reintegrate into society, setting them up for failure.

Only in extreme circumstances, i.e. truly sociopathic criminals, should sentences that remove all hope of reintegration or release be issued. True sociopaths are incapable of feeling remorse, no matter how long or under whatever conditions they are kept. They do understand the weight and impact their crimes had on their victims, but they do not care. No amount of coercion will change that. In these fringe cases, I’d argue that giving them the choice between lifelong sequestration or self-inflicted suicide is ostensibly the best solution for everyone.

Ah, a classic. ALF truly is timeless.

It’s a meme where someone issues a threat against someone else, then veils it against moderation & reporting by appending “in Minecraft.” e.g. a user responds to your post with “I’m gonna burn your house down”, which can be construed as a real-world douchebaggery. But if they say “I’m gonna burn your house down in Minecraft”, there’s plausible deniability because it’s infers online douchebaggery where real physical harm is unlikely.

Username checks out.

A number of studies show that higher speed limits significantly increase the risk of accidents and fatalities for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. A National Transportation Safety Board report and separate study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety both found that the risk of being seriously injured or killed in a crash rises sharply with speed. This isn’t about “bubble wrap,” but real-world safety.

This is especially important in areas where cars and pedestrians share the same streets, such as large car-centric cities and poorly planned suburban neighborhoods. Driving in these environments poses a serious danger to pedestrians and cyclists, who often have limited protection. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, urban areas see the highest rates of pedestrian fatalities due to reckless driving. These laws are not just about controlling traffic—they help reduce the risks created when drivers act carelessly in places where people walk, bike, and live.