On May 19 2017 22:33 Spitfiree wrote:
RikD russian classics are just awful imo, the level of detail is so high, it feels like authors are just using adjectives for the sake of usage, but no other purpose. And I simply cannot be impressed by the topics as my country has been influenced by Russia's culture for the past 150 years. I haven't read Dostoevsky, only Tolstoy... didn't have the desire to even try Dostoevsky out after Anna Karenina, which is one of the few books I wish I didn't lose my time upon.
Dostoevsky>Tolstoy imo give some classics a try
new shit has come to light... a-and... shit! man...
On May 19 2017 21:29 Baalim wrote:
Marxism is awful, not in its conception but in its failure to understand basic human nature, ever heard of that story of the scorpion and the frog?
A scorpion asks a frog to carry it across a river. The frog hesitates, afraid of being stung, but the scorpion argues that if it did so, they would both drown. Considering this, the frog agrees, but midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both. When the frog asks the scorpion why, the scorpion replies that it was in its nature to do so.
Marxists are the frog, and in their idiotic attempts they have been responsible for the greatest tragedies mankind has seen.
So yes, Marxism is evil, because the greatest evil and the more dangerous one is willful ignorance.
I think this is mostly nonsense, and by your own definition, evil. (you're a smart, well read guy, so I can only assume that your ignorance is willful. ) If you wrote communism instead I'd have little issue with your post, but any of the tragedies of Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao had very little to do with the policies Marx advocated or predicted. I think there's quite a lot of truth to the idea that unfettered capitalism coupled with greed (which I assume you consider part of human nature - I think there are plenty indigenous people who go against this theory though) will lead to worker exploitation, and sometimes revolution. And I think the most successful countries in the world took elements from this analysis and worked to combat worker exploitation (strengthened unions) while implementing policies that actively distribute wealth from the top to the lower societal classes.
The state is violence, naturally having a totalitarian state will catalyze the death and destruction of the nearsighted Marxist ideal (communism), the same happens in Capitalism, an overgrown sate on a capitalistic society only amplifies its evils as we can see American imperialism and lobbying/banking corruption.
I am aware of the imperfections of the free market, it can bring poverty and misery to many because we are a selfish and brutish species of ape but pretending we are not is far more dangerous.
Changing a bit of subject I was listening to a video from Jordan Peterson where he talks about Hitler.
How history its mostly taught is that Hitler was a charimatic leader that "charmed" its people and lead them to commit monstrous atrocities, and people did this following orders blindly like the "miligram experiment" (google it if you dont know it).
Peterson exposes another theory of what really happened, a guy traumatized by WW1 in finantial problems, failed artistic career started a political one and started seeing some of his ideas resonate with the crowd, it didnt take long to realize the anti-semite rants were what the masses responded the most to, mainly from people equally as hurt and bitter as him eager to point a finger of all their problems at a simple cause.
How many times do you need to hear something like "You are especial, you are the savior of this nation" before you actually believe it?, probably not more than 10... now hear it from not thousands, but millions, an entire nation.
But if Hitler was created by the people, then who is responsible for all the carnage, millions of mostly good and normal people?. It was a fatherless idea, wrongfully attributed to an individual (as most ideas), and this idea killed 6 million jews and made the world tremble.
It makes me think of the parallels with Islam and old time christianity, it seems we are simply easy preys for murderous ideas, and ultimately these ideas conceived in chaos have ran the world throughout history.
The truly scary thing is, we are not only easy preys for murderous ideas, we are also self-deceived in thinking that we are different. So we can't even prepare against it. We see something like the Milgram experiment and our first instinct is saying "wow, I would have never complied". We all have a bunch of biases and think highly of ourselves (similar to the optimism bias where we think highly of the quality of our lives, which informs my antinatalism). We can see how people live in society and the degree to which they conform to its norms and it's quite obvious that only a few eccentrics and well-read individualists would really be able to avoid it.
This is partly why Cioran is my favorite writer. He made it a big part of his writing. He fell prey to a murderous idea and never forgave himself and decided to give up everything and probe as deeply as humanly possible into his psyche to find out why and how such a thing could happen and what the solution might be. “In every man sleeps a prophet, and when he wakes there is a little more evil in the world.”
fuck I should just sell some of my Pokemon cards, if no one stakes that is what I will have to do - lostaccount
If I was a German at that time I would be a Nazi. If I grow up in a certain part of the Middle East I am in ISIS. Sometimes I see the order that Christianity provides. The order, the hope. I see a room full of people reciting the Lord's prayer in unison. It is easy to forget how flawed that belief system can be. How violent it could get. Whatever happened to "turn the other cheek"? Whatever happened to Christ as hero, Christ as God? It can never be right. People talk about "God's Will" and doing what is best for them in the same sentence. Even scarier is people talking about KNOWING God's Will for them. It is all a farce. "You know I stopped praying for 1 week and wouldn't you know it my life went to shit." I don't have to go on. I am just sharing my resentments with 12-step recovery programs at this point but it is related to the problem at hand. That is the only real area I get a first hand look at Christianity and all of its hypocrisies. It is kind of an overwhelming problem.
I took JP's advice and I cleaned my room today and read a great book and it does not feel so bad. These problems of Christianity and Islam are likely just outside my pay scale. I just know I don't want to have any part of them but I do want some order. I want some belonging, I want some society, and some culture. I want these things on my terms even if that is not possible. So, then I pout. Christianity is so ingrained in so many people and in so many aspects of culture. How does one untwine it all?
Prayer is pretty harmless. Prayer is pretty benign. Someone prays some good things may happen. If they pray for others they may become a little less selfish. They may be freed up a little bit from their day to day anxieties.
God's will is dangerous. Whose God? Based on what text? Anyone that says they can pray or do anything and know God's will for them is dangerous. We can roughly know what is the good for us and roughly know what is bad for us with a conscience but consciences can get out of whack and distorted. I think slowly but surely more and more will be comfortable with out a God. Christianity hates this. If one thing is likely wrong then everything must come into question. Although the distortion and facade of Christianity is strong each bit of strength dies with every believer's death but boy have we built an army base of churches and monasteries. Structures so brilliant and still looming over every ape consciousness.
Islam seems even more fucked up but I can't really speak on it too much. Glorious jihad is the destiny of a hero to one day recline in a new consciousness of 87 virgins. Whole armies of disenchanted youth striving for that goal. Are they afraid? That level of belief is scary. Back and forth and back and forth. Jesus Christ's Seals sent in to win an unwinnable game. Turn the other cheek with assault rifles and grenades but the gospels in brief is but a story. A story that is supposedly there to guide all of us... I mean all of us in the West... I mean... fuck this.
On May 25 2017 23:29 Loco wrote:
The truly scary thing is, we are not only easy preys for murderous ideas, we are also self-deceived in thinking that we are different. So we can't even prepare against it. We see something like the Milgram experiment and our first instinct is saying "wow, I would have never complied". We all have a bunch of biases and think highly of ourselves (similar to the optimism bias where we think highly of the quality of our lives, which informs my antinatalism). We can see how people live in society and the degree to which they conform to its norms and it's quite obvious that only a few eccentrics and well-read individualists would really be able to avoid it.
This is partly why Cioran is my favorite writer. He made it a big part of his writing. He fell prey to a murderous idea and never forgave himself and decided to give up everything and probe as deeply as humanly possible into his psyche to find out why and how such a thing could happen and what the solution might be. “In every man sleeps a prophet, and when he wakes there is a little more evil in the world.”
Especially when we are young, we lack the wisdom and we fall into the messianic age where there is a strong drive for change and redemption.and as Rik said, had we been born in Germany after WW1 we would probably be rounding up jews in trains happily.
The thing that gives me a headache is that these ideas doesnt come from young people nor really from leaders, they gain strength in the collective consciousness of society, which means all these tragedies and events throughout history are simply randomness.
I've always been a "chaos theory" man... but this just takes it to a whole new level
Yep, and that ties into my philosophical pessimism perfectly. Such a state of affairs can't be reconciled with a historical narrative of linear social progress.
fuck I should just sell some of my Pokemon cards, if no one stakes that is what I will have to do - lostaccount
I don't know if it is linear but certainly there has been social progress. Certainly there is still tremendous human suffering. More of that should be broadcasted rather than frivolous bullshit. It is such a complicated thing. I mean really all I can do is make sure my house is in order before adding on to that. Really. My day consisted of unpacking boxes and putting things into order. I unwind with a great novel. That is a meaning that overcomes the fragility of existence just barely. Just barely. Just barely is all I need. I honestly don't think Bill Gates feels any better or some Priest or Monk or anyone although the extent to which they have positioned themselves to help the suffering is surely respectable.
nice
I was wondering how "post modernism" as a term started to be used interchangeably with contemporary Marxism by some people. I thought this would prob have something to do with the alt right grouping all things that they dislike, I didn't know this was one of J. Peterson's propositions. Pretty solid arguments from the video maker, I wish J.P. would address it but I guess he's probably too famous right now
new shit has come to light... a-and... shit! man...
When I've seen JP critique posmodernists its always against ideologues, the professors indoctrinating SJWs not the fathers of postmodernism philosophy like Foucault and Derrida.
the video is pretty reasonable, but I feel its defending something that was never truly attacked.
I was wondering how "post modernism" as a term started to be used interchangeably with contemporary Marxism by some people. I thought this would prob have something to do with the alt right grouping all things that they dislike, I didn't know this was one of J. Peterson's propositions. Pretty solid arguments from the video maker, I wish J.P. would address it but I guess he's probably too famous right now
I havent heard the alt-right using the term postmodernism often, and its not interchangeable but SJWs usually hold marxists beliefs and also have a postmodernism approach of hierarchy emphasis and non-debate
I just finished the Past Authoring program. I wrote 23,000+ words. I don't necessarily feel any different but there were some interesting connections I made during the writing. I uncovered some festering resentments I never knew were there. I feel like I have a stronger idea of who I am and why it is that way. It is weird how like an experience in elementary school is totally who I am which never changed. There are some things that happened in elementary school and middle school which are just like the core of who I am and then it was cool to see how that was built on in some cases. I would have never been the captain of my lacrosse team if I was not a standout in travel soccer as a youth (or also naturally predisposed to that from genetics/conditioning). Many others but I won't write them here.
I am also really liking JP's Maps of Meaning class. It is JP completely in his element. JP as psychology professor teaching his own class is pretty cool.
I think there is potential for Big 5 personality in lessening suffering that is mostly untapped at this point. I haven't seen it used in job seeking either. After seeing my results it explains so many things.
On June 04 2017 01:49 Baalim wrote:
When I've seen JP critique posmodernists its always against ideologues, the professors indoctrinating SJWs not the fathers of postmodernism philosophy like Foucault and Derrida.
the video is pretty reasonable, but I feel its defending something that was never truly attacked.
Do you feel the same after watching this?
His grip with 'postmodernism' (or what he think postmodernism is, according to, it seems, mostly just Stephen Hicks' 200 pages book) seems to be a lot more serious than that.
fuck I should just sell some of my Pokemon cards, if no one stakes that is what I will have to do - lostaccount
) If you wrote communism instead I'd have little issue with your post, but any of the tragedies of Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao had very little to do with the policies Marx advocated or predicted. I think there's quite a lot of truth to the idea that unfettered capitalism coupled with greed (which I assume you consider part of human nature - I think there are plenty indigenous people who go against this theory though) will lead to worker exploitation, and sometimes revolution. And I think the most successful countries in the world took elements from this analysis and worked to combat worker exploitation (strengthened unions) while implementing policies that actively distribute wealth from the top to the lower societal classes. 
United States. May 26 2017 03:08. Posts 8535
