nymnympseudonym

People do respond to rhetoric, especially rhetoric that is reinforced by their culture

It is crucially important that the memes people internalize are not based on belief-without-evidence, nor or specially-chosen-people.

Those are toxic memes for a successful modern diverse inclusionary civilization

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US support if Israel is arguably very much driven by religion as much as geopolitics

Yes that’s an integral part of “religion”

Yeah that’s the real serious problem here

There is no Force Majure. America that was, is no more.

Learn to swim?

What an uninformed, specious thing to say. I almost suspect trolling

Are you seriously suggesting Bibi’s Likud, or its partners Shas and Mafdal are … secular ?!?

No. Not disengagement; quite the opposite. De-radicalization and modernization.

The way Germany stopped worshiping Hitler and the mythical Great Germanic Past. The way Japan stopped worshiping Hirohito and the mythical Great Japanese Past.

Both were quasi religious states, depending on a population steeped in a culture of credulity coupled with unchallengeable authority.

Related but not identical: North Korea, Iran, Putin’s Russia, MAGA

I can think of another one.

What if religion was separated from government, and all people were treated equally under secular law, as is the case in every advanced country where even non-cis-males are allowed to read freely and have a complex pluralistic civilization ?

IOW what if all the Sky Daddy people fucked off with their cosplay and let the adults manage things?

… which is more evidence of Trump’s pathetic nature

USA is a hydrocarbon exporter . We literally extract & refine more than we can use, snd sell the excess at profit.

This doesn’t get USA more oil; it removes a competitor from the market.

Fucking gas station run by the mob

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corporate propaganda

We all swim in the sea of ideas that is our culture. Many people for many reasons seek to make certain ideas the dominant ones.

most communities are much quieter than reddit.

We can change that right now!

I’m doing my part!

Not Necessarily all that well!

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… and a lot of redactions

Millionaires and billionaires are utterly different cats. Wage earners become millionaires all the time – save, invest wisely, yadda. I know many people in that category.

vast majority of wealthy people

Honest question: how many Billionaires have you had personal interactions with?

I work for a huge corporation and once in a blue moon I’m on an email thread or God help me an actual meeting with the CxOs. Doesn’t mean I know them in any real sense. But I mean… as well as you know bosses 3 levels up if you have to report on projects once in a while.

I am very politically active in my swing state. Some Billionares have been happy to spend a little face time with me. Doesn’t mean I know them at all – plus, these ones are either directly politicians, or supporters of specific politicians. But I know them as well as you might know the guy at the mall kiosk where you had to get your phone fixed like 4 times in 6 months.

In none of these interactions do I feel like I’m dealing with a different species.

I can’t think of any I’d want to take care of my children. About the only common thread is the type-A high-acheiver type. Which is very common in US corporate management culture across the board.

Indeed, the dehumanizing is always associated with collectivism vs individualism, and thence to collective guilt, and collective punishment.

All done with moral self-justification.

Why do some people think dehumanizing anyone is fundamentally OK?

There are actual psychopaths and sociopaths. They are humans. They got that way not from Stan Lee’s pen, but by real experiences in our actual world.

Making them a caricature will in no way help with the problem.

Or just help grow Sunflowers in-place as a goodwill gesture

correct, they’re fully interoperable