That doesn’t help at all. We are complicit.

No citizenship ever has been in a better position to prevent their government from doing horrible things, and yet we do nothing. We wring our hands and aren’t willing to hurt, let alone die, for what is morally right. The small arms in this country are more than enough to overwhelm the entire place. We have the numbers and the weapons and yes some would have to die. This isn’t even special though, all throughout history people have died for principles, it’s just… we don’t have any.

Have you ever read Of Mice and Men?

Sometimes we have to do hard things.

I disagree with the thinking for yourself part.

I honestly believe that “American independence” has a lot to do with the current state of the system. Bowing to your friends knowledge on a subject is frowned upon. Folding one’s position is seen as weak.

Every day laborer is told they should “form their own opinion”. As if they are anywhere near educated and informed enough to form a conclusion on some of these complex topics.

So that’s one problem.

The next is that money talks. Money informs and money is in the hands of capitalists. They further their ends and have controlled what people thought for a very long time. It is extremely telling to see my grandmother receive the newspaper and go through it like a YouTube conspiracy video. All orchestrated to bring your thought pattern to a predetermined conclusion. Moving forward and backward from there…

What was before that? Town criers? “Go tell the people the news, tell them xyz”.

And after that of course it’s the same just with data aggregation, mining, and algorithms. “Move the opinion 5% in the aggregate in this direction”.

I wish people would be more comfortable identifying experts in their actual social groups and letting people specialize and disperse opinion for the good of the group. They THINK they are but they are not. Often times people sharing something they believe with their friends is not malicious it’s just they are stupid. Like letting me know that the earth is flat this really good guy who is plainly not smart recently did. Like wtf? How does this happen? How do we fix this?

I have no solutions… but independent thought isn’t it I don’t think.

If you play it all out to its logical conclusion you are absolutely right.

Depends what you mean by regular gym goers…

You got the new years people.

You got the regular “schedule 3 days a week” but really go like 2 or 1 and mostly play on their phone.

You got consistently go 3 or 5 days a week.

You got “I go every day no matter what”.

The last two aren’t missing no days.

Pudding pops.

Sinc solo was mentioned lol.

Can you imagine China turning to a wartime economy?

China will make Japan and Taiwan look like the us made Baghdad FROM THEIR SHORES.

This whole conversation is ridiculous. China doesn’t move on Taiwan because of economic implications, not because of any threat from any outside actor. The US is on the other side of the world, Venezuela is about as big a pill as they can swallow. We failed in Korea, we failed in Vietnam. What on earth makes anyone think we can do anything in chinas civil war?

China is THE manufacturing and logistics powerhouse on this planet. That’s what wins wars and no one is even close.

“Democratically controlled” just means controlled by capitalists. I’m tired of the trope.

How about we remove the b?

Universal income. No accumulation of Capital. No robber barons. Everybody gets the same and you use it as you see fit.

Just… live your life.

Hope he keeps that same energy when the mob walks him up the scaffold.

Crazy they keep talking about China and Russia…

We(the US) are currently blowing up random fishing boats and taking tankers in Venezuela… what we did to Iraq… Iran… Cuba… every South American country ever… not to mention Korea and Vietnam.

The west IS THE EVIL EMPIRE. It’s not even close. No one is as bad as us. We aren’t rich as fuck because of “freedom and democracy”, we are(have been finally waning) because of the dirtiest mob shit you can think of. Since ww2 boot firmly on the throat of the entire world.

Just to head off about Russia:

The US(NATO tomato tomato) absolutely did move to isolate Russia. Whether you are moving honestly with arms or whispering in ears and propagandizing like the fucking devil, war is war. The west brought this war to Ukraine with their insidious posturing and it is wild how good the propaganda has been(and is, they will be in here) obscuring that fact. NATO movements regarding Ukraine and isolating russia was commonly discussed a couple years ago. Now it’s surprised pikachu and/or straight denial whenever it’s brought up. We forced Russia hand there. 100%. It’s like playing chess for your life, you aren’t mating my king before I flip the table.

You are killing em in here. I appreciate you.

Taiwan itself claims to be a part of China. They claim to be the temporarily embarrassed government of China in fact.

It is an ongoing civil dispute between factions in China, of which Taiwan is a part. This is all clearly outlined in the arguments and citations above. Including yours.

You just don’t like it.

In the general case my house is clean because I find it to be so. However you feel about that is on you(grandma I’m looking at you), trying to elevate yourself by picking apart other people is toxic.

If I am hosting I will make it nice. I chose to host and so I chose a big event and I will decorate and deep clean and move stuff into the garage and whatever else.

On a random day if you show up or are coming over I am doing absolutely nothing different. I don’t expect you to either. We are friends/family and I take you as you are. I expect the same.

For specifics on the day to day. There are never dirty dishes in my sink that’s about all I can say lol.

Interesting. Would you care to address any of the sentiment I have expressed within the framework of the OP?

Or do you just want to attack me?

Care to share anything about yourself, your lived experience? I’m not even sure you qualify to comment on my thoughts at all.

Do you have or have you ever been in an LTR? How long? Is it successful? Kids? What are your regrets? What do you struggle with? Are you, ahem, a man?

Consider the OP. I certainly didn’t just pop up with this. The premise is literally that a huge majority of married men express regret. Then I share my experience. Here you come “pshaw that’s not even real!! You are sick and need help.”

Hmmm. I wonder who is honestly working through their issues and who is simply denying. I’m willing to bet it isn’t me. Or perhaps we are just different.

Because we are lacking actualization. I will use I statements but there is LOTS of consulting with other men and reflection in this.

I enjoy making my wife and kids happy. I get some satisfaction from compersion. A lot in fact. But that is not primarily for me. I am not filling my own cup as it we’re.

But what I really want is to win women. I want the admiration and loyalty of women. I essentially want a harem. That is a huge ask and not realistic but deep down inside that is what I repress all day every day. I am hardwired to pursue women. I have found this to be true of basically all men in private conversation, whether they verbalize it in those terms or not. It is not politically correct and so crazy to say out loud that the very idea of my true sexuality is essentially a thought crime.

I don’t want monogamy.

I will never be really satisfied by sports or fishing or whittling wood or any of the things that we take on when we retire from life by participating in monogamy.

The grass is always greener it’s true and I think a lot of men have experienced loneliness and are happy to have someone. I have always had an SO and a waiting list. My wife is so incredibly good to me that I just can’t leave to fulfill myself. It’s fucked up honestly and I carry a lot of resentment.

This is just the part you asked about and there are complexities throughout but that’s the gist.

I agree wholeheartedly. A practical discussion should be had first. Some of the real concerns:

Securing oil for whatever conflict they are brewing. (China probably, whether they view China as a military aggressor or a threat to their hegemony in general).

Energy needs because we are so crazy far behind in our electrical generation.

What will Venezuela, and more importantly their sons after we criminally murder swathes of their people, do? Are we looking at more 9/11? We will certainly deserve it but is their culture setup for such?

How about South America in general?

What about China et al? Will they back Venezuela? The oil there is a very important resource in whatever is coming up.

Then we can moralize.

The dishonesty over the premise is absolutely disgusting though. The action is as well but the lies… that part is weak af.

I’m going to disagree here. Blaming the sacklers is a copout.

People use drugs because they are unfulfilled, repressed, etc. our situation and culture is fucked up.

People are NOT going to start, or stop, using drugs due to the actions of some scapegoat. Frankly dr prescribed opiates from the pharmacy are likely our best bet. They/we(I am in recovery) are going to use something because we WANT to. Not because you are selling it. You are selling it because I want it.

Watch what happens when they pull Kratom and 7oh. Another wave of death as people turn to the streets. A new scapegoat for the capitalists sucking our lives away for their benefit. 8 hour work, they own your lunch too pretty much so that’s 9. Commute and hour each way. That’s 11. Pick up the kids cook dinner and do it all again. Just do subsist and breed the next gen of sheep to be sheared. THATS who you blame.

There is no reward doing that for someone else so we seek out a way to stimulate our reward pathway.

Data aggregation and mining have already made a mockery of the idea of humans having free will. Why cry now?

We are just a herd. Can I move THAT sheep? Maybe. Can I move the herd? Absolutely.

It isn’t 1982… a drug smuggling ship… is a container ship. With people paid off to let the container through.

There is zero control over drugs entering the United States. It’s a farce. A show. Drugs come in by the container load. 50k to the customs agent, done.