MerryJaneDoe

Dammit! I only have 29 chickens, will this method still work?

I think you would need to first make the case that software is making the world a better place. So far, it’s got a spotty record…

Any thoughts you’d like to share? Knowledge you’d like to drop?

I don’t mean this in a hostile way. I can clearly infer that, in your opinion, communism does not represent an extreme viewpoint. I hope that you can likewise infer that my comments were a shorthand representation of American politics and not meant to offend anyone.

ALL MEN SHOULD HAVE THEIR SPERM HARVESTED AT 18 YEARS OF AGE, THEN BE CASTERATED.

I’m so sorry, you forced my hand.

I know a lot of people who hate fascists and communists. It’s kind of a thing, in democratic countries, to be wary of extremists.

I’m not saying this fully describes Ted, obviously he had mental issues. But pushing away extreme lefties with one hand and extreme righties with the other doesn’t make Ted any different than your average American.

“The more I work in tech, the more I wish I was independently wealthy.”

I love how people use the word “just” when making statements about the simple life.

Simple ain’t always cheap…

This is fact. Source.

there are better authors who have made those same points without all the fucking reactionary and eco-fascism tied to it.

Seems like a great reason to discuss Ted’s viewpoints. We should definitely discuss the ineffectual extremists. Compare and contrast. Weigh and measure. That’s what truth-seekers do. Telling people not to read a particular author borders on censorship.

But asking people to expand their reading list and providing actual recommendations - that is wonderful and commendable. Thank you for that!

It’s been 30 years and people are still talking about it. He’d probably consider that a win.

He predicted that technological advances would lead to extensive and ultimately oppressive forms of human control, including genetic engineering, and that human beings would be adjusted to meet the needs of social systems rather than vice versa.

Kaczynski stated that technological progress can be stopped, in contrast to the viewpoint of people who he said understand technology’s negative effects yet passively accept technology as inevitable. He called for a revolution to force the collapse of the worldwide technological system, and held a life close to nature, in particular primitivist lifestyles, as an ultimate ideal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski

He hated leftist views, he hated fascism. He seemed to advocate a technological level somewhere between Native American and Amish. Call him an isolationist libertarian, I suppose. His solution to the problem is like something out of Fight Club - a one man “Project Mayhem.”

tl;dr: His methodology was pointlessly cruel and ineffective. But his assessment of the human condition wasn’t too far off the mark.

Wow, OP, your post history is just…something special. This one in particular.

Think of it as a big clit. Which, biologically speaking, it is. So is yours.

Clitoromegaly

How can this be true if it’s not a category on PornHub?

“We give up a piece of ourselves whenever we adjust to conform to society’s standards. That, and we’re too plugged in. We’re letting technology take over our lives, willingly.”

Absolute insanity. Obviously a madman.

I don’t approve of his methods, either.

Then again, I don’t approve of the Church’s methods, but there’s some pretty good stuff buried in the Christian bible, too.

Reading something doesn’t mean you need to agree with the author. It’s not like people are financially supporting the Unibomber, or excusing his actions, when they read his manifesto. They’re just studying history.

Aswering the only question on my mind, thanks for getting in early!

Asking the only question on my mind, thanks for getting in early!

I didn’t compare the two. OP made this comparison.

I pointed out that the numbers were WAY underestimated.

History tells us that when a country starts to run up debt faster than it can pay it down, the government is likely to topple. Especially if it’s unwilling/unable to address the crisis directly instead of kicking the can down the road. Standard operating procedure in the U.S. is to walk out of budget discussions, ignore the problem, underfund and borrow money. Each year this happens, it should be a HUGE red flag to our citizens. Instead, its become the new normal. It is unsustainable.

At this point, it should be clear to everyone that Trump is a symptom, he is not the disease.

I think you’re missing the point.

Our national debt is about 15 times higher than our GDP.

It’s NOT like a person making $75k/yr and owing $6k. It’s much more like someone who owes $600k and makes $75k.

It’s out of control. Reckless.

…and they’re so rich…

I hear ya, and I agree - but I think there’s a huge number of not-so-wealthy Americans who are just as culpable. People who happily empower the billionaire class, hoping to catch a crumb of their wealth. And I don’t claim to be different - when I was younger, I would have sold my soul for the right price.

The average ICE employee, for example, probably isn’t so different from younger me. When a young person without a college education is offered a six-figure salary - they will accept first and ask questions later. Any moral or ethical qualms are quickly overcome by the realization that their bank account is steadily growing every week. They can enjoy life instead of struggling. They can take care of their loved ones. Meanwhile, the screams of children become part of the normal workweek. It’s crazy but that’s human nature. We are cruel creatures.