Idiocracy

[Phileas Fogg]

https://globalnews.ca/news/6847709/hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus-research/

Largest study yet.

 

[WAYNEINIONA]

Pretty much what most people expected. Just another shot at Trump trying to be the savior of America.

 

[Bender]

Pretty much what most people expected. Just another shot at Trump trying to be the savior of America.

Why is it in human nature to so readily trust a conman?

 

[herman]

The vote going the other way would not have solved racism/sexism/discrimination, merely continued to hide it. It's hard to defeat something that people deny the existence of. We've seen it ourselves here: they keep doing it because they don't know it's wrong.

It's out in broad daylight now. Between Brexit, Russia, France, ISIS, Boko Haram, and a Trumpublican US, we have tremendous fuel for education right on our door steps.

The election result is a great conversation starter to reach out to those of differing minds. Siloing with those we already agree with will only further the divides.

That would be great, but a lot of the people that were emboldened by Trump are willfully ignorant. There's no conversation to be had with them, or any education that's going to reach them. They're akin to 5 year olds with their fingers in their ears (and, yes, I acknowledge there are many with the same attitude on the other side, as well). These aren't people that are doing things because they don't know they're wrong, they're people who genuinely hold these positions and attitudes. Too many of them are beyond reach.

Their young children, on the other hand, hopefully are not. They're the ones that need to be educated, to be exposed to other races and cultures, and to have the values of equality and respect for basic human rights and dignities enshrined within them. We need to fix the future generations, because, the unfortunate truth is, large swathes of the current generations are broken beyond repair.

The problem is that the hatred just continues.  You can expose children to as much as you want but the values that their parents place on them seem to override what society is trying explain to them.  Like at the hatred that exists in the middle east and how long it has been going on for.  It's pretty simple to say "Hey if you stop hating one another, and stop fighting, things might get better", but they just don't want to let it go.

Be that as it may, I can't stop hoping; I can't say, this or that person is irredeemable. Because that route will lead to the Age of Ultron (or whatever AI singularity apocalypse you choose).

So yeah, it's going to suck (and be even more dangerous literally) for the next little while, but I know the oppression of what is good and noble will lead to some of the brightest works of humanity.

The indoctrinated hate mentioned does seem like a formidable wall. There's a reason such regimes abolish elements of society like free press and education up front. We have to keep talking about it, and try to build ideas towards solutions.

Where's your Pepsi now, 2016 herman? Sigh

 

[Bender]

The vote going the other way would not have solved racism/sexism/discrimination, merely continued to hide it. It's hard to defeat something that people deny the existence of. We've seen it ourselves here: they keep doing it because they don't know it's wrong.

It's out in broad daylight now. Between Brexit, Russia, France, ISIS, Boko Haram, and a Trumpublican US, we have tremendous fuel for education right on our door steps.

The election result is a great conversation starter to reach out to those of differing minds. Siloing with those we already agree with will only further the divides.

That would be great, but a lot of the people that were emboldened by Trump are willfully ignorant. There's no conversation to be had with them, or any education that's going to reach them. They're akin to 5 year olds with their fingers in their ears (and, yes, I acknowledge there are many with the same attitude on the other side, as well). These aren't people that are doing things because they don't know they're wrong, they're people who genuinely hold these positions and attitudes. Too many of them are beyond reach.

Their young children, on the other hand, hopefully are not. They're the ones that need to be educated, to be exposed to other races and cultures, and to have the values of equality and respect for basic human rights and dignities enshrined within them. We need to fix the future generations, because, the unfortunate truth is, large swathes of the current generations are broken beyond repair.

The problem is that the hatred just continues.  You can expose children to as much as you want but the values that their parents place on them seem to override what society is trying explain to them.  Like at the hatred that exists in the middle east and how long it has been going on for.  It's pretty simple to say "Hey if you stop hating one another, and stop fighting, things might get better", but they just don't want to let it go.

Be that as it may, I can't stop hoping; I can't say, this or that person is irredeemable. Because that route will lead to the Age of Ultron (or whatever AI singularity apocalypse you choose).

So yeah, it's going to suck (and be even more dangerous literally) for the next little while, but I know the oppression of what is good and noble will lead to some of the brightest works of humanity.

The indoctrinated hate mentioned does seem like a formidable wall. There's a reason such regimes abolish elements of society like free press and education up front. We have to keep talking about it, and try to build ideas towards solutions.

Where's your Pepsi now, 2016 herman? Sigh

We are in the worst timeline.

 

[Kin]

I said it a while ago with regards to the most important schism in politics not being left/right but pro or anti-revolution but I think we're seeing the evidence of that now. The more and more people think they're playing a rigged game without meaningful democracy and the more and more the winners of that game take the attitude of "Tough luck, losers. I got mine" then the more and more you're likely to see this sort of violence and resistance. This is what leads to the revolutions in other countries that we read about briefly before moving to the sports page and we're no more evolved or civilized than the people in those places are.

Simply put, the status quo no longer works for a lot of people and if you're one of the lucky few who it does work for you're either going to be in favour of massive reform or, well, you're going to see people throwing bricks.

 

[Bender]

I said it a while ago with regards to the most important schism in politics not being left/right but pro or anti-revolution but I think we're seeing the evidence of that now. The more and more people think they're playing a rigged game without meaningful democracy and the more and more the winners of that game take the attitude of "Tough luck, losers. I got mine" then the more and more you're likely to see this sort of violence and resistance. This is what leads to the revolutions in other countries that we read about briefly before moving to the sports page and we're no more evolved or civilized than the people in those places are.

Simply put, the status quo no longer works for a lot of people and if you're one of the lucky few who it does work for you're either going to be in favour of massive reform or, well, you're going to see people throwing bricks.

With that level of social stratification as well as outright institutional racism & massive erosion of basic democracy? Yeah man, something's got to give here, especially when you've got an administration that has basically failed the American people in every possible way except for maybe the already entrenched elite.

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/greg_doucette/status/1266751520055459847
Most people (who aren't heavy internet users) are probably only catching the marches on their news outlet of choice, who are trying very hard to both-sides this. This thread, that I was catching piecemeal previously but now consolidated, is horrifying, heartbreaking, and I (not directly affected or involved) am livid.

Anyone who insists on All/Blue Lives Mattering/But the Looting these issues is siding with the bad guys.

 

[Kin]

https://twitter.com/chrislongview/status/1267560856071659523

 

[WAYNEINIONA]

I can't tell you where I'd like to stick that gun.

 

[Bender]

Horrifying. They need to get the death cult out of power. This is absolute madness.

 

[L K]

All Lives Matter.

I too like to go to Funerals and say, sure you are mourning but lots of other people are mourning other dead people too.

 

[Bender]

All Lives Matter.

I too like to go to Funerals and say, sure you are mourning but lots of other people are mourning other dead people too.

Very true, although to me it's even worse than that because the all lives matter tag I feel is really disingenuous even in that sense. It's like a young person getting killed as an innocent and going to their funeral and saying to the family you should also mourn my grandmother who died peacefully at 93 a few years ago.

 

[herman]

All Lives Matter.

I too like to go to Funerals and say, sure you are mourning but lots of other people are mourning other dead people too.

Very true, although to me it's even worse than that because the all lives matter tag I feel is really disingenuous even in that sense. It's like a young person getting killed as an innocent and going to their funeral and saying to the family you should also mourn my grandmother who died peacefully at 93 a few years ago.

It's even worse than that, because it's used insidiously to distract and detract from the original message that black people are still being treated as sub-human on a systematic, everyday level. Very much the same way their marches for their right to exist and not be killed by the police are undermined by many officers deliberately inciting violence so the nightly news can report that the protests got violent and those privileged enough to have no stake in these things can tut tut disapprovingly and implore a return to their unaffected status quo.

 

[Bates]

One thing I have trouble reconciling is that Police are being ostracized for treating all Black people as if they are the same criminal they deal with regularly while at the same time people are treating all Police Officers as if they are the Racist Cops that act that way?? 

 

[Highlander]

Or we could call it "Lives Matter". 

Just a few thoughts, when I moved to the Caribbean 30 years ago, I noticed two things. Why did the Locals never sit on their porches or balconies, and why the overall mistreatment of dogs?  I asked one of my Local friends about this and he candidly told me that when they arrived as slaves, the only time they felt safe was when they were in their own shacks. There they could be free of the slaveowners eye and have camaraderie with their fellow slaves and families. In the case of dogs, they were used to control the slaves. The Blacks of the day were basically fearless of guns, but not dogs, so dogs became the control mechanism.
I say all this as we see that customs set up from the late 1600's are still part of the practices and habits of our present world.  Racism roots run very deep and we cannot expect a magic wand to wash the repercussions of Slavery away. In the islands there was a concerted effort to teach Local people about Dogs and how they should be treated and the value of them as companions. I can actually say over 30 years I have seen a quantum shift regarding the treatment of dogs in the islands. Great.  Racism, not so easy.
I remember as a young boy, going to Florida and seeing the rifles in the back windows of pick up trucks, the racism factor was so thick you could cut the atmosphere with a knife.  In the 70's I was in a bar with Dad when some rednecks came in and after a few drinks where into lines like "Hey Orville, have you every shot a N__gger"?  Orville responds, "No, but I sure would like too".  They laughed so hard they were falling off their bar stools.  I grabbed my Dad and quickly vacated the dive he had chosen.

Yet years later the stench of racism seems like it is finally gradually lifting. At a snails pace but it is lifting.

I feel for the peaceful protesters who are out to try and jump start true equality and respect.
It's really too bad that the movement has been totally highjacked by looters and arsonists. 
It also to bad the U.S does not have a present day Martin Luther King to preach peace and tolerance to try and help his people. They need a leader like India needed Gandhi in his day.
I fear that Trump will have to move in the military with shoot to kill orders and then we may see the real race war that has been boiling for centuries.  I certainly hope not.

 

[Highlander]

All Lives Matter.

I too like to go to Funerals and say, sure you are mourning but lots of other people are mourning other dead people too.

Very true, although to me it's even worse than that because the all lives matter tag I feel is really disingenuous even in that sense. It's like a young person getting killed as an innocent and going to their funeral and saying to the family you should also mourn my grandmother who died peacefully at 93 a few years ago.

It's even worse than that, because it's used insidiously to distract and detract from the original message that black people are still being treated as sub-human on a systematic, everyday level. Very much the same way their marches for their right to exist and not be killed by the police are undermined by many officers deliberately inciting violence so the nightly news can report that the protests got violent and those privileged enough to have no stake in these things can tut tut disapprovingly and implore a return to their unaffected status quo.

Herman, I have a great respect for your intelligence, however I have to disagree with you on this post.  You seem to be blaming the police for the looting and the criminal factions that riot and burn.  The last thing the Police want is to be out on the street every night battling a criminal element.  I would trust that most want to return to their families, homes and the comforts of their own beds, instead of risking their lives containing a mob.
Most of the people out protesting have no interest in violence, they are out trying to promote and demand fair treatment and the end of racism, huge segments of these crowds are white.  They intend to follow non violent methods.

However there is a bad apple element who shadow these peaceful protesters.  They use the crowds to loot and steal and burn. They have no interest in honouring Mr. Floyd at all.  It has been proven that in Minneapolis, that most of the looters and "violent" protesters have bussed in from other centres to wreak Havoc.  There is are movements out there to promote this violence and increase the racial tensions that the Peaceful Protesters are trying to diffuse.   

 

[herman]

One thing I have trouble reconciling is that Police are being ostracized for treating all Black people as if they are the same criminal they deal with regularly while at the same time people are treating all Police Officers as if they are the Racist Cops that act that way??

a) if you have trouble reconciling something, you can do something about that by learning as much as you can
b) who has the power? Those that have the power also have the responsibility
c) the police are the acting arm of a system that is rooted in racism (War on Drugs, Iran-Contra cocaine, Infiltration of law enforcement by white supremacists)

This is a bit like saying, why are we treating all cotton plantation owners as racist.

 

[Highlander]

One thing I have trouble reconciling is that Police are being ostracized for treating all Black people as if they are the same criminal they deal with regularly while at the same time people are treating all Police Officers as if they are the Racist Cops that act that way??

To lump all police together as complete Racist element is insane. There are approx; 800,000 police officers are in the U.S.  There are bad apples in all segments of our society.  Business leaders like Epstein and Peter Nygard pray on young woman with their wealth.  Are all Business leaders pedophiles? Of course not.
Yes Racism runs deep and there is deep hatred between the races in the U.S. especially.  Trust is zero.
There were segment on last nights news where police departments are reaching out and taking part in peaceful protests themselves.  There will be a lot of work and eduction coming out to try and bridge this gap. You can see its already started.

 

[Deebo]

One thing I have trouble reconciling is that Police are being ostracized for treating all Black people as if they are the same criminal they deal with regularly while at the same time people are treating all Police Officers as if they are the Racist Cops that act that way??

To lump all police together as complete Racist element is insane. There are approx; 800,000 police officers are in the U.S.  There are bad apples in all segments of our society.  Business leaders like Epstein and Peter Nygard pray on young woman with their wealth.  Are all Business leaders pedophiles? Of course not.
Yes Racism runs deep and there is deep hatred between the races in the U.S. especially.  Trust is zero.
There were segment on last nights news where police departments are reaching out and taking part in peaceful protests themselves.  There will be a lot of work and eduction coming out to try and bridge this gap. You can see its already started.

Not every individual officer is racist, the racism is systemic.

The system fails to deal with the racist officers who act this way and then it causes other racist officers who see no punishment to act the same way. Policing is a field where we can't afford to have as many "bad apples" as there are.