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Post by sloopjohnc on Jan 3, 2022 18:47:10 GMT
It does seem like that sometimes. Like, couples who have kids are seen as more successful in many ways. This would be a kind of snide 'revenge' for that idea. That's been a topic for years, especially in the workplace, where couples with children, and especially moms, get extra considerations at work. Or are thought to get them. I worked with a woman who apologized once to me for not wanting and having kids. I told her not be be sorry. I have kids and it's a tough job. I didn't get more than 4-5 hours of sleep for four years. Once with my daughter as baby and then with Derek. They're six years apart so once Devon got fairly self-sufficient, we had our son and started all over again.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2022 18:52:12 GMT
I don't buy the apocalyptic mindset. Call me deluded, but there's no point living a life if you think that everything is going to shit. I don't want to be around people like that as it just doesn't get you anywhere. Live your life to the best you can by making your home as good as you can and be a helping part of your community. If you love your job that's a bonus. The simpler your life is the better. I get irate at the "grateful I don't have kids" comments because what sort of message does that send to people who have kids? "Oh I'm glad I'm ok because THEIR LIFE IS GOING TO BE SHIT!" . I understand the reasons why people don't choose to have children, but don't be all sanctimonious about it. What's sending a message got to do with anything? He's just stating how it feels for him and it's hardly like his statement is going to kick-start a trend where we become terribly underpopulated in two decades time!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2022 18:54:18 GMT
It's also the way those kinds of ideas are phrased. 'I worry about having kids' is an understandable, thoughtful reaction to all the shit going on. 'Thank fuck I don't have kids!' is wanky. There’s almost a slight moral judgement on those who do. Not how I read it at all.
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wobblie
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Just a prick out to make a name for himself.
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Post by wobblie on Jan 4, 2022 11:08:07 GMT
Struke did mention recently that he's attempting to re-teach himself to read. I'll give him a break.
I would expect nothing less than what was interpreted by that other guy.
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Post by sloopjohnc on Jan 4, 2022 14:54:13 GMT
I was watching cable news this morning and they had on a woman who studies the fall of democracies/autocracies/dictatorships around the world for the UN and is part of a US taskforce on the subject.
She was saying, that while many factors are involved, the two biggest are a decline of countries from democracies to partial democracies, which the UN deemed the US has now.
The other huge factor she said was how countries are separated by racial and religious issues, which lead to civil war.
I could argue that there is a line from Obama's presidency, to George Floyd's killing and subsequent riots and the right's claim of CRT in school curriculum's to bolster that claim.
I see that in the UK too. Wasn't Brexit an excuse to cease or stem immigration in a vote for isolationism and conservatives, Nigel Farage, Britain's answer to Steve Bannon, using conservatism to make that claim and upset the social and political status quo?
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Post by Reactionary Rage on Jan 4, 2022 15:08:09 GMT
There’s almost a slight moral judgement on those who do. Not how I read it at all. I was replying to John's comment rather than Wobble's. It can be like that in my experience. A way of reaffirming one's own decisions. Personally I do think it's a bit daft because it's not as if the world is That bad. In fact, it's quite nice!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2022 15:56:13 GMT
I see that in the UK too. Wasn't Brexit an excuse to cease or stem immigration in a vote for isolationism and conservatives, Nigel Farage, Britain's answer to Steve Bannon, using conservatism to make that claim and upset the social and political status quo? Nigel Farage is not our answer to Steve Bannon..... Better comparison would be Dominic Cummings who currently has one of the best Twitter accounts (if you can put up with his style) where he lambasts his former "friend" Boris calling him "Trolley"....because he is OFF his trolley..... To be honest I think the US is very different from the UK in terms in how they approach politics, civics etc.....One of the more depressing trends recently has been the British adoption of American culture wars..... it's like the Americans are even exporting their outrage to the rest of the world....
As for Conservatism.....there is NOTHING CONSERVATIVE ABOUT BORIS,BREXIT AND CO. The radical nature of the Leave movement and what followed has only been missed by the usual commentators because of the pandemic that followed......actually come to think about it....been the perfect cover for those crooks!!!!
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Post by Reactionary Rage on Jan 4, 2022 18:44:27 GMT
Brexit was about sovereignty ultimately.
As for the next 2 years my gut feeling is that with the weaker omicron variant we may be coming to the end of the pandemic and that with vacs, boosters and herd immunity we can hopefully move on in the UK. It's been dismaying to see how the Scottish government reacted but I think patience is wearing thin with restrictions and people just want to get on with their lives. I intend to make the most of it as best I can anyway. You have to have a degree of faith and belief in life that things will get better otherwise you will just fall into apathy and despair and even if I have fallen into the latter these last 18 months, it does you no good.
In regards to the future past that I am not particularly hopeful - in fact I am quite pessimistic but I try and temper that with forced optimism - but there's nothing I can do to change that so fretting is only doing me harm ultimately. All any of us can do is try and live the best lives we can, be kind to those around us, be pleasant to strangers and try and impact the world in small, positive actions in a day to day way. Think locally you know. At the end of the day, that's the best legacy most of us can ever hope for.
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tory
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Post by tory on Jan 4, 2022 18:49:19 GMT
Anyway, didn't Biden WIN the election?
Or maybe that is cause for concern.
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wobblie
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Just a prick out to make a name for himself.
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Post by wobblie on Jan 4, 2022 19:11:06 GMT
Thursday will the the 1st anniversary of an attempted coup and none of the major players have been held accountable. A significant portion of the voting public still believes the election was stolen.
Millions are armed with military grade weapons, disinformation continues, white supremacists are embedded in the police & military and Trumpers have been installed in many local government posts. Most worryingly, on local election boards. There is a lot to be concerned about.
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Post by sloopjohnc on Jan 4, 2022 19:29:15 GMT
Thursday will the the 1st anniversary of an attempted coup and none of the major players have been held accountable. A significant portion of the voting public still believes the election was stolen. Millions are armed with military grade weapons, disinformation continues, white supremacists are embedded in the police & military and Trumpers have been installed in many local government posts. Most worryingly, on local election boards. There is a lot to be concerned about. On Stephanie Ruhle's morning show, they interviewed authors of a recent book on the right's new strategy of heading up local election and school boards. I'm sorry, but I think this is more insidious than a communist cabal doing the same thing on a wide basis. At least communists or socialists have an agenda of improving the world, although maybe in mistaken ways. The alt right just reacts out of fear and doesn't really have a solution besides shutting down free speech and thought. We're still waiting for the GOP healthcare plan and their response to Build Back Better. Never happen.
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wobblie
god
Just a prick out to make a name for himself.
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Post by wobblie on Jan 4, 2022 19:34:35 GMT
At this point it does appear that our real president is Joe Manchin.
Obviously I'm very far left, but I don't know any centrists who are pleased with this administration.
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Post by Reasonable good Nick on Jan 5, 2022 11:10:08 GMT
At least communists... have an agenda of improving the world, although maybe in mistaken ways. You could fairly say exactly the same thing about fascists, if you understand them on their own terms, as you do with communists. This is a longstanding misconception about communists, that they ultimately mean well, but are just a bit extreme in their views and methods. It's a lie. Communism is as malign an ideology as Nazism. The totalitarianism, persecution and bloodbaths are all baked in there from the start. The real divide isn't between far left and far right, they're two sides of the same coin. The choice that matters is between liberal (in the old-fashioned meaning of that word) democracy and totalitarianism.
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Post by Reasonable good Nick on Jan 5, 2022 11:20:13 GMT
As for Conservatism.....there is NOTHING CONSERVATIVE ABOUT BORIS & CO. The comedian Geoff Norcott said recently that he'd been asked if he regretted voting for a Conservative government. He replied "No, but I do regret not getting one".
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Post by Reasonable good Nick on Jan 5, 2022 11:25:46 GMT
Personally I do think it's a bit daft because it's not as if the world is That bad. In fact, it's quite nice! It is. I try to be, if not quite overly optimistic, then fairly sanguine about the future. We live in a world where, by most measures, life is better for more people than ever before. We do face serious challenges, problem and dangers, but that has always been the case, and in some ways we are arguably now better-equipped to meet them than ever before, at least in terms of technology and science. Look at the way pretty effective vaccines have been developed so quickly to combat Covid. That's unprecedented.
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