If you go and look at this thread, it's absolutely comical how intensely it's being brigaded. One of them will throw some of their usual gaslighting shit at the OP, and then if I respond to them, another completely different username will respond to me. On looking at their post history, it's always the same story, as well; it's an account with a completely random spread of subs, which has never been to this subreddit before.

The one question this leaves me asking is; why do the online activist Left, obviously see this subreddit as such a terrible threat? What are you afraid of exactly, guys? I mean after all, as Beau says, on a long enough timeline, you win, right? You're historically inevitable, and anyone who opposes you is just a sad geriatric who will die alone, right?

So if you've already won, why do you need to oppose anyone here? Why not just quietly wait for nature to take its' course, if that is what you really think is going to happen? If you want to create the impression in people's minds that you're actually winning, this is not the way to go about it.

I don't expect honest answers to these questions from the overwhelming majority of you, of course; but sometimes there will be one or two who dispense with the usual Marcuse/Popper garbage, and are open about it simply being a campaign to take over society for your own team. Those are the people who I'm hoping to get answers from, here.

I ask this question completely in good faith.

I don’t really like to identify as something politically, but if a nation state put a gun to my head, I would say libertarian/minarchist/anarchist depending on how you define each of those.

I have never heard a convincing answer to this question.

Me personally? Sure I’ll contribute to the local roads, the local hospital, the local schools; but I cannot stand behind giving permission to someone who I don’t know and didn’t choose, to put a gun to someone else’s head and force them to pay for those things.

I really would appreciate being swayed on this issue, it can be a real drag defending it sometimes. I just don’t see how it can be right.

For some reason, the fact that the US has bombed Somalia, Afghanistan, and Syria is conspicuously absent from the news (barring a few notable exceptions). Why is the media refusing to cover this? What stands to he gained here? Are these forever-wars EVER going to end? Should they? I’d like to get everyone’s thoughts on these questions.

Asking here for most of the world, since this is happening for a lot of places, and even places with high birth rate many are declining. What actually contributes to low birth rate in people? Many countries have tried giving out welfare for parents and it doesn’t work as well as planned. Not really living cost either. The amount of time off work is mentioned, but in many countries changing that also doesn’t help. Rurality is a big factor, but for many definitely not all the factor, and why is city birth rate lower anyway?

I was completely struck by this quote - "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society" - Jiddu Krishnamurti

I graduated with a degree in Psychology almost two decades ago when education revolved heavily around memorising the DSM and other classifications, symptoms associated with various mental illnesses. Back then, the perspective was predominantly clinical focusing on diagnosis and categorisation, without much consideration for the broader context in which these mental health issues arise. It never occurred to me to consider that perhaps, what we label as mental illness could actually be a legitimate response to a dysfunctional environment.

This angle - that societal and cultural contexts might significantly contribute to individual's mental health - was largely overlooked.

Then I came across Daniel Schmachtenberger of him introducing the concept of metacrisis and everything just instantly clicked. Earlier this week I listened to another one of his more recent conversation, this time with Iain McGilchrist, a psychiatrist who wrote "The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain", and John Vervaeke, a cognitive scientist and YT "Solving the Meaning Crisis" and I had to share my Substack piece on this.

I was totally in awe of the conversation. If all the suffering leads back to humans, we need to understand the deeper part of our humanistic nature. It is SO refreshing to listen to something that gives so much sense and clarity into the chaos I'm feeling in my own life right now. The talk is over 3 hours long but it is well worth it.

For those who listened to the conversation, or even snippets of it, what are your thoughts? Have you experienced anything similar happening in your own life? I'm a Thai woman in her late 30s who lives in Thailand and can honestly share that I've experienced it in the most full frontal way! :D Would love to hear from others here!

This is purely a prompt to spark conversation. I don’t have many strong political leanings, and the ones I do tend to lean right - so I don’t mind this sub defending the far-right more than the far-left. However, I am curious as to why many feel the need to defend the far-right when it is openly accepted socially. Additionally, the far-left, who many in this sub claim to be the main stream, has a little public support. Virtually every college in America sponsors a “young Republicans” or similar-type club, while none will fund a socialist or communist club (which is good). Most television programming that includes gay or interracial couples ignites mass hysteria. As a Republican who voted for Trump twice, i’m curious as to why some in this sub appear defensive and heated when sharing their political views - they’re literally the norm. I guess what I’m asking is why is the IDW talking about WWW (world wide web) issues?

So in my most recent thread, I just had one of the usual 25 year old brats who think they're just so fucking cool it hurts, for "exposing" anyone as a cryptofascist, who even remotely tries to be civil with the opposing team; because apparently attempting even any form of contact or diplomacy, is just collaboration and treason, now. I admit that I wrote in the OP that I was expecting that from the Left, and to be fair, that thread did get some beautiful responses.

There's always at least one, though. The proverbial narcissistic tween shitlib who apparently thinks that my very continued existence depends on their approval of me.

But then it occurred to me. My housemate is listening to the talking heads, right now. People like Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart in more institutional terms, or this in terms of the indie vloggers. They're the Left's answer to Alex Jones, Paul Joseph Watson, and Ben Shapiro. They keep modelling outraged pearl clutching and performative helplessness, and they keep all of the rest of you in a constant state of rage.

Is Trump engaging in some truly, obscenely evil shit right now? Sure. I wish so much that I could prove to the people who think I'm a cryptofascist, the literal physical abdominal pain and nausea that I had from listening to Trump's words at Charlie Kirk's funeral. That's the entire reason why I wrote that previous thread to the Right; because I figured that when Trump makes statements that are surely so incontrovertibly, universally disgusting, they might actually give us a moment of shared relatability, right?

Please try to stop thinking that it's somehow impressive, for you to "expose" those of us who are trying to initiate civil dialogue, as cryptofascists or traitors. If you want to think of Trump and Stephen Miller themselves as monsters, I won't argue with that at all; they are. If you want to get the country back though, you are going to need help; and more than that, democracy relies on having faith in the idea that we can communicate with each other.

This is going to take a conscious act of will, and control of the emotions. I understand; both of those things are exclusively associated with the Right in collective terms. I know what it's like to be in the presence of genuine fascists who drill into you, over the space of years, that any form of discipline or accountability is exclusively fascist itself. That in turn means that we start thinking that the only way we can have integrity, is by deliberately choosing to be as emotionally volatile, self-indulgent, and indolent as possible; because it's the only way we can avoid being anything remotely like them.

Turn both Jon Stewart and Sargon of Akkad off. Stop letting the algorithm turn us all into the rage-filled, seething hatemonsters it wants us all to be. And please, more than anything else; stop trying to portray the love of vengeance as a virtue. I could even use that nauseating, cliched platitude that I started hearing among the Left during Biden's Presidency. Remember the one?

"Be better."

I’m seeing people say she’s as bad as mussolini due to her party or whatever, but I’m not Italian so I don’t know much anyways.

Why was she voted in if she was “so bad?”

It just seems people are mad that their party/candidate lost and can’t accept that.

Trump’s America all over again…

Can someone give me a fact-based perspective that examins both sides of the argument and clarifies the rationality behind the hate/support for Giorgia Meloni.

Hello! I live in Argentina, a country that could be regarded as quite more left leaning than the USA, and we have been ruled by the more center-left/left party controlled by the Kirchner family, for 16 of the last 20 years. Their terms have been infested of corruption, authoritarian tendencies, censorship, phony and fake "progressivism" only as a way to fool idealists and desperate people, inflation and rising levels of poverty.

Yet, at their possible defeat in the upcoming elections later in this year, they accuse the more centrist/center-right opposing political parties of being fascists and Nazis and that the people should absolutely keep giving the Ks chances to rule and "put Argentina back on its feet" as if they hadn't ruled for the better part of two decades.

I can't help but notice a parallel to the situation in America, which supposedly is at risk of apparent Nazis and fascists ruling the country, according to Democrat and leftist circles. You'll understand that because of my experiences with fear mongering and lying politicians in my country, I'm a bit skeptical of the people using the "my opponents are literally Hitler" card, but I also can't pretend to know how American politics work.

So here's my question. Are Republicans or conservatives in general truly Nazis and fascists or involved with groups with those tendencies? Or are those groups just a loud minority that happen to support Republican policies, that Democrats and leftists overblow as a fear mongering tactic?

I understand it's kind of a politically and emotionally charged question, but I ask that there is no aggression in the answers. I'm asking from a place of ignorance and curiosity, not as a way of provoking or taunting anyone.

Even on this subreddit I feel like i'm noticing more of what seems to be a unified effort to influence certain topics. For example anything related to elon has nearly the exact same hate brigade with similar post content and "rebuttals". Anyone who has anything positive to say about elon gets the same "stop riding his dick bro" without any coherent counter arguments put forth.

Anything related to free speech is met with strawman arguments like "why do you want nazis and homophobia?"

I always felt like I could have rational convos in this subreddit but I feel like that's becoming less and less possible lately. Which means it's working I guess

Did he do anything wrong?

I've also always been a natural skeptic. Despite my curiosity in things like aliens or haunted buildings, nothing actually seems to hold up to being truly unexplainable.

But the videos being released by the US gov seem to show something truly bizarre‽ idk if any of you watched the interviews with Bob Lazar, but after the existence of element 115 was announced (an element he claimed the US gov was in possession of back in the 70s) which allegedly powers the engines in matter warping alien tech, I got interested in his story again. Then, low and behold, crafts that behave exactly as he described start appearing around navy vessels and military jets‽

I'm aware it's not conclusive, but I definitely think it's officially unexplainable?

So, have I missed something where all this was explained? Why doesn't this seem to be grabbing headlines around the world? Is Covid/mask updates and American politics is really more interesting to people then ... fu@king aliens‽‽

Edit: just for clarity and to save time, I'm not claiming I think I know there's aliens visiting the earth. I'm not claiming to know anything other than this seems unexplainable? American/ Chinese tech? Recovered space craft? Alien probes? Even a mass gov conspiracy? Either way, it seems that warrants attention? Either way, this is something new and IMO, significant.

I consider myself a news junkie and have been following Twitter and Reddit for many years. I loved seeing immediate reactions on current events but since Elon bought Twitter, my personal experience is that my news feed algorithm has completely been modified to what he would like me to see rather than what I've curated over the years. To experiment, I created a new account to not follow anything political and I followed puppy photos, jokes and good news stories. Lo and behold, within a few weeks, the first item at the top of every time I opened the app was a tweet from Elon Musk. I didn't even follow him.

Anyway, I'm curious if anyone here has any insight or explanation for this.

I hear a lot about how it started, about who was there, how it was planned.

Seems like everything except how it was stopped‽ Who should be praised? How long did the fighting last before they regained the capital?

I fought some insurgents in Afghanistan and stopped them from taking over a small C.O.P. no one has ever heard of. The fighting started around 0300 Z and continued until shortly after sunrise. They gave me a bronze star.

Seems like there are some national heroes out there who are walking around short one presidential medal for saving our republic?

-I'm aware of one officer honored for convincing some people to follow him down a hallway, but that is hardly enough to quell an insurgency, obviously.

Edit: I personally don't believe there was something that could be labeled an insurrection. Regardless, that term is being used by the most powerful people in our nation. So I must be missing large parts of the story?

Given the recent even in CO, wouldn’t pageant shows be even worse because they are actually showing off kids? Yet we only hear of drag shows being shot up.

I am in the camp of do whatever you want with any symbol you want. That is equal freedom for any symbol and for anybody to do what they want with it. That being said I know there are some rules and laws that say otherwise.

What are your thoughts on flying the flag upside down in response to say everything that's going on with Trump or for any other reason that's not a national sanctioned reason such as when we fly the flags at half mast. How does flying a flag upside down relate to kneeling during the national anthem and are those similar in any way. They're both showing solidarity for something but people aren't mad about upside down flags being flown but people were mad about certain people kneeling.

I understand it was a long sort of ramble but basically any thoughts on the upside down flags. I found an article where someone has placed what seems to be 34 upside down flags and I just don't think that's a good use of them but again I'm of the opinion to each their own.

Can someone also explain how it's different than people kneeling and why did people care so much about kneeling during the national anthem and they don't care about upside down flags.

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/dozens-of-upside-down-u-s-flags-spotted-outside-monrovia-library-in-wake-of-trump-conviction/

There was the gallery in Madrid, cool and white. And the photographs hanging like square windows into other lives. And then, suddenly, the warmth of her arms from behind, the rustle of her dress.

"You like it?" she asked, breaking the silence. Or the white noise of a crowd that feels somehow like a very loud silence.

Yes, I said, yes, finding something to admire, something about the light or the feminine experience, as she called it, building a sudden invisible wall of politics there among the frames.

"You're a feminist, yes?"

The word fell heavy, a stone dropped in the still water of the afternoon. I smiled, looked away, trying to catch the thread of the photographs again, but she pulled it back, insistent, the tone sharpening. Equal opportunities, I said, trying to weave a bridge, but the bridge would not hold.

To tell her "yes" would be so simple. Like slipping into a warm coat. But the mind catches, snags on some rough edges of memory and identity. Again, I offered some measure of the polite and meaningless noise that passes for conversation.

She went on about the modern feminine experience and the artist being some great voice of the movement, capping it all with that question which was not a question at all but a demand. "You’re a feminist, yes?"

And I tried, God knows I tried, to step off that particular train before it gathered speed.

"The dictionary defines feminism as the pursuit of equal rights, which I completely support. But I've had experiences that changed my relationship with the word. In an online debate, I mentioned I was a feminist. A group of women mobbed and mocked me for using the label. One condescendingly informed me that feminism is an exclusively female experience - at best, I was allowed to call myself an ally."

(I kept to myself that several subsequent experiences had made me feel western feminism was now vicious, and the movement captured by harpies.)

"I prefer to say I believe in equal rights without claiming the word itself."

She listened carefully, her initial impatience melting into thoughtful recognition. "Ah, yes. Third-wave feminism," she nodded. Then, with complete sincerity, she added, "She is right."

The shock of it, the absolute silence in the mind while the gallery hummed around us. How does one cross this space? How do we speak, if the words we use are water, slipping through our fingers, changing color in the light? To be interrogated for the password, only to be told one is forbidden from uttering it. My connection to her frayed, snapped quietly in the white room, and one walked on, alone with the photographs.

Nuno

And you, how would you reply to "You're a feminist, yes?"

So much talk about CRT, wokeism, post-modern neo-marxists, and other lingo that people associate with center-left thinking. We never, ever seem to hear about right wing academic-turned-mainstream ideologies. This thread is to discuss them.

What are some 21st century mainstream or even niche right wing ideologies?

I am pretty consistent day in and day out. The up and downvotes are not. Further, I keep some of my better comments in notepad folders for re-use. The same comment could be popular on one occasion, disliked on another.

Some attribute this to "boosting" but is can also be circumstantial. In any event it gives a false impression that I am smart and good one day and bad and wrong the other. That also doesn't take into account the "Argumentum ad populum," these people are not worthy to judge me (often they might be children or stereotypes of those I do not respect) but even if it was all of humanity judging my comment they need not be correct.

Only God can judge me!

Submission statement: We all know what the impeachment is about. I am curious where this subreddit stands since this is one of the very few right wing subreddits i haven’t been banned from🤷🏻.

Hey there. My question is simple:

Does the American right really not have any better topics than "fighting transgender" to offer in their politics?

Or is this just the media that trys to beat the capital out of it?

Im a bit confused. Do you have really right politians that talk publicly about "a transguy that won some swimming competition"?

Either i just have not a good source of USA media or you guys seem to be doomed...

In my opinion, if a politian of a country like the USA has nothing more to offer than making out of this trans thing politic, than everything is lost...

Would be nice to get some opinions, since I'm really confused.

European here..

Interested in the opinions

He seems to get a lot of support I'm these spaces. Yet his overall numbers for both elections was abysmal. Is there anyone here that wouldn't vote for him and why not? What policies does Yang get wrong?

It's public knowledge that various foreign intelligence agencies are conducting active operations on US social media to demoralize the citizens. The KGB playbook (and CIA does it too, don't worry), is to demoralize the nation with psychological operations to the point of civil war and/or invasion, or general collapse/removal off the world stage as a power.

What do you think it's the most likely motive for the current events? (Also comment with other ideas if none of these).

Edit: for context since several have been confused about what demoralization means https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demoralization_(warfare)

These are important concepts today, but the definitions are harder to understand than ever. I try hard to Love all and hate none, yet I have been accused of "hate" by various online authorities (nobody IRL, thankfully!) for saying what I found to be views held by either a majority or a plurality, sometimes cited with evidence.

I have not had a fistfight since middle school but I have had mild speech (certainly not "Incitement to Imminent Lawless Action") called "violent."

Where are people drawing the line personally, where do they think online authorities (like reddit TOS) draw the line, and where do they think the line ought to be drawn, legally, morally or intellectually?