I think Netanyahu and his crew of extremists are totally out of control and need to be stopped, and that the international community should put all the pressure it can on them to cease. Their excuse of self-defence has long since worn thin and has been replaced by a transparent desire to take control of Gaza and the West Bank permanently.
I believe this ultra-nationalist administration has hidden itself behind a terrified & grieving people and used them to deflect any criticism, using that fear and grief to further their ultra-nationalist agenda with terrible consequences, as we see now with the horrific blockade of aid to Gaza.
While our lives tick along as normal these endless thousands of innocent human souls are still being expelled from the earth… for what?
At the same time the unquestioning Free Palestine refrain that surrounds us all does not answer the simple question of why the hostages have still not all been returned? For what possible reason?
Why did Hamas choose the truly horrific acts of October 7th? The answer seems obvious, and I believe Hamas chooses too to hide behind the suffering of its people, in an equally cynical fashion for their own purposes.
I also think there is a further and extremely important point to make.
Social media witch-hunts (nothing new) on either side pressurizing artists and whoever they feel like that week to make statements etc do very little except heighten tension, fear and over-simplification of what are complex problems that merit proper face to face debate by people who genuinely wish the killing to stop and an understanding to be found.
This kind of deliberate polarization does not serve our fellow human beings and perpetuates a constant ‘us and them’ mentality. It destroys hope and maintains a sense of isolation, the very things that extremists use to maintain their position. We facilitate their hiding in plain sight if we assume that the extremists and the people they claim to represent are one and the same, indivisible.
If our world is ever able to move on from these dark times and find peace it will only be when we rediscover what we share in common, and the extremists are sent back to sit in the darkness from whence they came.
I sympathize completely with the desire to ‘do something’ when we are witnessing such horrific suffering on our devices every day. It completely makes sense. But I now think it is a dangerous illusion to believe reposting, or one or two line messages are meaningful, especially if it is to condemn your fellow human beings. There are unintended consequences.
It is shouting from the darkness. It is not looking people in the eye when you speak. It is making dangerous assumptions. It is not debate and it is not critical thinking.
Importantly, it is open to online manipulation of all kinds, both mechanistic and political.
Women don't benefit from patriarchy. So you are saying that men don't benefit from feminism.
Male loneliness is a bad thing. Something that doesn't benefit men. This is caused by feminism which men don't benefit from. Right? That is what you're saying ... Hard to know. You said so little and so shocked that people misunderstood you.
Feminism advocates for the equality of women and men in politics, economics, social, and interpersonal relationships. If women are treated in these areas (politics, economics, social, and interpersonal relationships), then men have equals to relate to, communicate with, and build community with. This is a benefit to men.
With #4, don't be surprised if they give you a short almost unengaged answer. They might not be warmed up, they might have something else going on ,or they just aren't interested. Either way, give them a couple of chances to signal if they want to join your flow. If not, that's cool... Just move on.
I don't know what a house daughter is, so I can't answer that.
You're an adult and so is your father. Have a frank and open discussion about expectations. Be clear about what you do and how long you'll do it. Your young and have a lot of time, make sure you go out and meet the people who get you and develop some skills that make you shine. I imagine your father wants this for you as well.
I'm glad to hear that the two of you have a loving relationship.
I found myself inadvertly doing the same thing. Only my color scheme is far from discipline. My basic think is like: "This comment is making me feel mauve." Done.
I know we like to mock vibe coder because they can be naive, but many are aware that they are testing a concept and usually a very simple one. Would you rather have them test it with vibe coding or sit you down every afternoon for a week trying to explain how it's not quite what they wanted?
RTFM is an obnoxious retort for people, arguably in community, not to engage with a member of the community. I don't mind reading the manual, but perhaps you can point me to where in the manual I could get further insight.
Reading a manual is also a skill. Being able to compartmentalize manual info into buckets of "obvious and I don't need to read on", "could be helpful", "interesting, but it gets there I ain't touching it" takes either training or just getting lucky after a certain number of reps.
A sincere question: is English your first language?
Yes. Why do you ask?
I find it difficult to see it any other way.
I can see that. I think a lot of what you wrote follows if you assume they were not being sincere. Would you like to know how I saw it as sincere?
defense of celebrity culture
This is a minor point, but I wasn't defending celebrity culture. I was defending autonomy. In particular, had I been asked, I would have said that I was defending those who engage in interests that aren't a direct harm to people without being derisively criticized for having those interests by those who don't have them.
I didn't read it as him asking for someone to explain it to him.
This is causing me some emotional vexation. I also never asked for someone to comment upon my comment. Yet you, OP, and others did. I understood this to be the normal flow of conversation in this online community. I assumed it was part of the I stated norms. And now I'm being told that it is not and appears to be a rule just for me. I assume this special rule is for me because I wrote something in content or tone that people disagreed with. I don't think that is fair. Which is vexxing. I might be missing something, but I don't know.
This is probably a large part of the reason that 70% of generational wealth is gone in two generations, and 90% in three, on average.
Are you saying they mismanage the wealth by selling the assets, therefore not paying capital gains, but also using the cash to fund their lifestyle?
I assumed a fiscal manager would advise them to live off debt in the same way their parent had.
The only way this strategy works at all is if the market value of the assets being used as collateral continuously increases, and not just increases, but increases at a greater rate than inflation and the interest rate on the debt, combined.
I reread it and I'm not seeing it. Can you point to any specific sentence that was particularly sarcastic? Elsewhere someone said the last sentence. I think I can see that. When I wrote it, I felt like I was helping.
Can you provide an example? I'm not sure I get how that works out in their favor. In my view, paying debt with more debt is a terrible mistake and will get you in financial trouble. But I get that they have far more assets than I do. I just don't quite see where it doesn't go wrong.
I'm not claiming op was being sincere. I read him as sincere. It appears others are not. So he is insincere that this is beyond him. Rather that everything I wrote is understandable to him and he chose to be insincere. I imagine it's for some reason I don't understand. Do you understand?
Thank you for taking time to explain this to me. It is now in my range of understanding. I do not know why people have downvoted me. I think they disagree with me. I do not know why people upvoted me. I think they agreed with me.
I'm not sure if you take me at face value any more. I think you think I'm being condescending and sarcastic. Are you being insincere?
You need to pay that loan with cash, right? I get that your assets secure the loan, but without another source of cash, how you pay back the loan and not sell your assets?
They both sides it.