onyangomakagutu

@enco  There is no perfection, and arguably no equality in real life.  An example of equity might be the allocation of school bus costs on a headcount basis, even though some students live much further from school than others.

It is precisely because there is no such thing as equality, that equity steps into the breach.

Strega,

Also grew up in an atheist family. No hiding my ancestry because of my surname or half of my ancestry and the only half that matters. Obama is Black but half White so he is Black. I have been keenly aware of racist mofo all of my life. First really vivid recollection i was a little kid and my dad had a ‘friend’ who we were visiting. I…[Read more]

Strega,

Thanks for the new word “kakistocracy,” and an apt word it is describing all sides and all places in our world today.

Now as for “Equity” and “Equality,” here is where you would need to define your terms, since the dictionary doesn’t suffice here.

If “Equality” and “equity” means equal dignity, equal rights, equal responsibilities,…[Read more]

Although I am very aware that anti-semetic beliefs or Jew hatred exists, I have somehow managed to avoid encountering any, in all my years. It’s bewildering to me. It’s as if everyone else can physically see something and I can’t. Maybe it’s partly because I grew up in an atheist family. Maybe it’s because there were many different religions…[Read more]

Strega,

Our biases are always in play and that is part of the trap of confirmation bias. We are all human and to one degree or another vulnerable.

I agree labels can be misleading. I don’t consider you a lets say doctrinaire lefty. If one adopts some aspects of an ideology but rejects others that is commendable. The problem is Ideologies sweep…[Read more]

Just watched Trump and his cabinet of sycophants. What a stable genius! His cognitive decline is accelerating. When he goes on for a few minutes at a time the tangents and non sequiturs are launched and he simply can’t stay cogent. What a jaw dropping spectacle of the movie Idiocracy in real time.

We can get swallowed by our own prejudices on occasion without even being aware of that.

@Jake I disagree with your perception of ‘lefties’. Perhaps we have a different interpretation of the definition of ‘lefties’.

I am a leftie. In my world view, equity is better than equality, women should be in charge of their own fucking bodies, we should…[Read more]

“Extremists care about the one cause more than human welfare.”

Is it true?

Lets agree on a subset of extremists. Nazis? Obviously. Islamic suicide bombers? Obviously. White Christians out on a Sunday afternoon to take in some entertainment so they watch an innocent Black man being lynched. Asked AI for a famous incident. I have read about m…[Read more]

Strega wrote:
kakistocracy

That’s a great word, I’ve never heard it before.

@simon

”Extremists care about the one cause more than human welfare.”

I really like this point. It makes so much sense for today’s white river rafting kakistocracy.

jakelafort wrote:
“Pediatrician fired for vile post suggesting Texas flood victims were Trump supporters who got what they voted for. New York Post” In the comments the following appears. “Leftists, liberals and Democrats need to be rounded up and put into concentration camps for treason.”

Those are dreadful things for anyone to say, and extremi…[Read more]

“Pediatrician fired for vile post suggesting Texas flood victims were Trump supporters who got what they voted for. New York Post”

In the comments the following appears.

“Leftists, liberals and Democrats need to be rounded up and put into concentration camps for treason.”

Moving right along singing a song it won’t be long till Murica aint…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
If you were socked in a snow storm and without a shovel would a Maga-head be less likely than a lefty moron to help you dig out your car?

Yes, I guess I’m talking about the administration.  The actual Trump supporters I know personally are all very nice.

Are lefties different, or just as deluded?  I think they’re subject to a l…[Read more]

Simon,

Are you othering Maga-heads? Do you differentiate the far right from far left in those terms? Your terms that follow. If you were socked in a snow storm and without a shovel would a Maga-head be less likely than a lefty moron to help you dig out your car? Are lefties smarter than Magas? Do there political affiliations or ideologies…[Read more]

Yes, values.

Far right values authoritarianism and in murIcA the value of lionizing our fearless cult hero. There and then to encourage a cozy fascist and Christian nation. Democracy was apparently only a brief experiment and was never fully achieved. Immigrants who are for most part peaceful and escaping terror and deprivation are villified.…[Read more]

Yes, the wholesome traditional family values of the Heritage Foundation as mentioned in that little known document called the Old Testa Project 2025.

Imposing values?

Opposing values we value.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
SCOTUS pretends Pride is Porn in bigot parents case.

Here the religious parents want to keep their kids in taxpayer-funded schools, while exempting them from lessons of general applicability.

The article is saying that the Trump administration wants to impose its view on everybody, without freedom of choice.  In the…[Read more]

Fellow Unbelievers,

The Scopes Monkey Trial a century on: A global mess that nobody won.

For this occasion, MST3K performed their Cliff’s Notes mash-up version of the Scopes Monkey Trial and it’s portrayal in Inherit the Wind. As with real-life, nobody really won here either but it was done with comic effect:…[Read more]

Reg,

From what I’ve read of the Aeon essay, this guy must have learned his biology from Jordan Peterson. Citing mythology and Sci-Fi and bad Roger Corman movies that didn’t even make it to MST3K and analogy and metaphor as evidence? And using the term “late-stage Capitalism” as if he knows it’s over (or even begun) or even knows what time it…[Read more]