What on Earth is going on in the world today? It's gone mad

[Ricardo]

"Refined?" That doesn't seem to describe anything you would know. Or culture. Or music. No surprise that rap has passed you by, you racist tone-deaf troll.

Just hit your g-spot again, Moxie got another orgasm easy....racism/sexism, your pick

 

[Ricardo]

Ricardo, if I may ask, why would you of all people have a problem with frequently calling women "bitches" (playfully or not), as rappers often do? I doubt this is something that would really unnerve you.

Good you noticed that, rap music is just one of the symptoms in a culturally degraded society. Surely left wingy Moxie gets on a high when rappers do that, so much sexism/mysogeny to pick from...

 

[Ricardo]

Much of the lyrics is sexist as fuck, yeah. Isn’t that common knowledge?

Primitive and vulgar, your cup of tea.

 

[britbox]

Question to the panel... Do we live in toxic times or is it just a perception?

Most metrics suggest we've never had it better.

I think I mentioned to @mrzz a while ago, that you need a filter or you'll be outraged by something or other on a daily basis.

Now roll back to the pre-Internet era... you might read something in a newspaper in the morning but move on. In the modern era, you are literally bombarded with information 24/7.

 

[calitennis127]

Question to the panel... Do we live in toxic times or is it just a perception?

Most metrics suggest we've never had it better.

I think I mentioned to @mrzz a while ago, that you need a filter or you'll be outraged by something or other on a daily basis.

Now roll back to the pre-Internet era... you might read something in a newspaper in the morning but move on. In the modern era, you are literally bombarded with information 24/7.

I certainly think technology is a factor - like you say - but this is also a time where certain tensions are really boiling over (which is not unprecedented in history by any stretch). And technology might be making things worse because people are more focused on their virtual reality bubbles than their surrounding physical environment. On the other hand, modern communications are totally addictive and can distract people from being violent. They can both incite violence and repress it, depending on the situations.

It's really hard to say, although I have to think that to raise entire generations of people on smart phone addiction is not a good idea, which is why the Facebook execs make their kids learn with paper and pencil and limited access to technology.

 

[calitennis127]

Much of the lyrics is sexist as fuck, yeah. Isn’t that common knowledge?

It may be commonly known but it isn't commonly said. It is one of those matters no one is supposed to talk about because it is unpleasant. It involves make a critical remark about a victim group so you're supposed to pretend it's not really there.

 

[Moxie]

It may be commonly known but it isn't commonly said. It is one of those matters no one is supposed to talk about because it is unpleasant. It involves make a critical remark about a victim group so you're supposed to pretend it's not really there.

Oh, it's pretty often said. Early on, it was a major source of conversation about rap.

 

[Front242]

So who had the worst 5th set collapse: 2pac or Biggie?

 

[tented]

Question to the panel... Do we live in toxic times or is it just a perception?

Most metrics suggest we've never had it better.

I think I mentioned to @mrzz a while ago, that you need a filter or you'll be outraged by something or other on a daily basis.

Now roll back to the pre-Internet era... you might read something in a newspaper in the morning but move on. In the modern era, you are literally bombarded with information 24/7.

It’s a Dickensian “best of times, worst of times.” On one hand, we do have it better than ever, especially in terms of technology, medicine, science, etc., but we’re also dealing with people and groups like Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and others who have global implications.

As for the 24/7 bombardment and outrage, I think we’re dealing with the fallout of 9/11, when news organizations realized they could make a ton of money by generating previously unheard of viewership numbers. Fox and MSNBC, for example, thrive on creating division between the left and right, ensuring audiences.

When I was young, you could count on one hand the number of times there were legitimate Breaking News stories each year. Now, you see breaking news several times a day. It’s how they hold their viewers’ attention, appealing to lizard brain behaviors.

 

[Federberg]

I think on a macro level things are better than ever before. But it masks an extremely dangerous story. Ever since Nixon dissolved Bretton Woods in 1973 with the subsequent adoption of fiat currency regimes and economists like Milton Friedman advocated that companies had a primary duty to generate profits things have gone downhill. That was ok while economic growth was consistently strong. But a number of major things in my view have disrupted the global economy. China: greatest development story in human history; internet & technology in general: creative destruction and economic dislocation like never before seen in human history; push for global free trade: leading to massive creative destruction and economic dislocation and job arbitraging by global corporations; climate change: massive climate induced migration (it's a mistake to think it's just economic, it's economic because people literally can't feed themselves in some parts of the world now). I could probably think of a few more significant factors that have become evident in the last 2 decades but I think these are the major ones. The economic aggregates look decent, but underlying all of this we see increasing dislocations as more advanced economies can no longer sustain critical job producing sectors like agriculture, mining, low tech manufacturing. All of these sectors formed a base that kept the middle and lower classes quiescent. But that's all gone now. We don't know what can replace these industries, but something has to. And it's going to get worse with automation. The transportation industry is probably next. All those truckers... their jobs are at risk if companies like Uber have their way. The really bad thing is that democracy is failing at precisely the worst time. I think it's obvious that the move to fiat currencies and the the evolution of democracies towards plutocracy has left middle income and poorer groups with incompetent political advocates. When you have the Koch brothers and their ilk who have cleverly co-opted conservative policies with cultural movements, the poor have been tricked, their needs have been supplanted by cultural advocacy that benefit the manipulations of the plutocrats it leaves us with a powder keg that could lead to adverse solutions. Fukuyama was wrong, it wasn't the end of history, it was the beginning of a whole new post industrial political cycle. We may be in the most consequential times since the reformation. It's scary...

 

[calitennis127]

Oh, it's pretty often said. Early on, it was a major source of conversation about rap.

It's never been a major line of criticism. It's like criticizing Islam over persecuting gays. Everyone knows that it happens but they avoid the subject because it pits different victim groups against each other (black males v. women in the former case, Muslims v. gays in the latter case) and our official discourse has now designated the world's demon as the straight white Christian capitalist male. Unless you're demonizing that group it is considered unbecoming and unpleasant to mention anything negative about traditional attitudes, such as the fact that Jews, Hindus, and Muslims live highly conservative lifestyles that have nothing to do with transgenderism and flaunting homosexuality with joy.

Another problem is that what is defined as "sexism" is very arbitrary and vague and involves a wide range of non-sequiturs. Everything under the sun can be conflated into the concept of "sexism" as long as someone feels like it. Holding a door for a woman? That's sexist. Not holding a door for a woman? That's sexist too because you're mistreating women. Valuing family and having a wife? That's sexist because it's traditional. Valuing family and having a wife? Not sexist because you're respecting a woman. Liking rap? That's sexist because the lyrics are sexist. Not liking rap of female vocalists? That's sexist because you're not appreciating female empowerment. The goal posts shift whenever someone feels like it, so in the end the whole concept is asinine.

Btw, I agree much more with Muslims on the LGBT question that I do white leftists in the modern West. When the inevitable clash between the two happens in Europe in the coming decades, it will be hard not to side with Muslims on that one.

 

[calitennis127]

Okay, so let's try these mental riddles to illustrate my point.

1) Are Broken and Moxie racist for calling rap music sexist?

2) In light of the breaking story below, is Robert de Niro "sexist"? He is an ardent Democrat and has emphatically criticized Trump on multiple occasions. But apparently he was "verbally abusive" and "made sexually-charged comments" to a female assistant, which has led to her filing a $12 million massive lawsuit against him.

If De Niro is "sexist," why is that? If he is not "sexist," why is that? Anyone care to take a swipe at it?

 

[brokenshoelace]

Okay, so let's try these mental riddles to illustrate my point.

1) Are Broken and Moxie racist for calling rap music sexist?

2) In light of the breaking story below, is Robert de Niro "sexist"? He is an ardent Democrat and has emphatically criticized Trump on multiple occasions. But apparently he was "verbally abusive" and "made sexually-charged comments" to a female assistant, which has led to her filing a $12 million massive lawsuit against him.

If De Niro is "sexist," why is that? If he is not "sexist," why is that? Anyone care to take a swipe at it?

Biggest myth naive Americans believe is that white Democrats aren’t racist.

 

[Moxie]

Why would it be racist to say that a lot of rap music has been sexist?

 

[Moxie]

Bjorn Ulvaeus from ABBA defends Greta Thunberg. That has to mean something.

 

[isabelle]

Why would it be racist to say that a lot of rap music has been sexist?

it's just reality my dear...but some people don't like the truth

 

[Federberg]

Like a few others I was a bit surprised by the vehemence of @mrzz re: Greta Thunberg. Here's an article from the FT (a bit naughty of me to copy in here) that makes a fist of explaining it...

One of the things that has bothered me for a while is why so many middle-aged men seem to hate Greta Thunberg. Suddenly, thanks to her speech to the United Nations, I know. They are already rowing with their teenage kids and don’t need another one on their case.It was the furious, accusatory tone in which she chided her audience: “How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood.” Has not every parent had that clash, albeit more usually about whether they can sleep over at Charlotte’s on a school night?Let me stress, before going further, that I regard Thunberg as a force for good, even if some of her catastrophising language can be counterproductive. She deserves appreciation, not abuse. But perhaps because of her remarkable efforts, the young environmental campaigner seems to bring out the worst in a certain cohort, especially on the right. Some of these people are beginning to demonstrate an almost pathological loathing for someone who is, after all, a child with Asperger’s syndrome trying to save the world.The vituperation goes beyond the contrarian instinct to recoil from anyone depicted as a modern-day saint. Some joked about her yacht to the US sinking; another compared her appearance to the children in Nazi propaganda. Is this just because she is cutting through or is there something else going on?Now it is clear. Her speech transported me back to every teenage row with the spawn, especially with the girl, who has a handy line in invective. Phrases such as “How dare you?” and “you would be evil” are very much swiped from the Bunty guide to teen rage. The only thing missing was a threat to never speak to us again if we don’t reach net zero by 2030.

Happily, it has been a while since my last domestic Thunberging but the tone was definitely familiar. I can hear the next one now: “You have stolen my dreams and ruined my childhood. How dare you stop me going to Glastonbury?” Of course, the main reason why some rightwingers are so agitated about her is that they do not like her message, but the messenger herself obviously riles them too.Once you see this through the prism of teenager and parent, however, it all begins to make sense. No one likes being berated by their children, least of all when we suspect they may have a point. Greta is guilt-tripping the adults on a planetary scale.Hence the instinctive response. This is the kind of stroppy defiance that makes a certain type of adult want to go out and trash the planet, just to show who’s boss.“How dare you talk to me like that, young lady? I’m jetting off to the US for a steak supper to teach you a lesson. In fact, I may eat a whole cow. And as for that transatlantic sailing trip, well, you can forget about that. You are GROUNDED. Think of it as my contribution to reducing the family’s carbon footprint.”

This is the age at which we parents feel control slipping away. The spawn are standing on their own feet; they are imposing their opinions on us. No wonder some adults are hacked off. We are not ready to surrender our grip on the world just yet. We’ve still got a few years of carbon emissions left in us.It’s only us drippy liberals, raised on books telling us how to communicate with our kids, who can cope with her onslaught. But even we feel the menace. We see the spawn watching Greta and we fret. She badgered her parents into turning vegan. What if the girl tries to do the same thing at home?Happily, I can recommend an answer for those threatened dads. Start urging your children to be “more like Greta”. Mournfully, turn to your teens and say, “I wish you were like that young Swedish girl. You are always on the phone with your mates while she’s out saving the world. You could learn from her.” Not only might you feel more positive about Greta, it is also guaranteed to turn your offspring back into carnivores.It won’t help the environment much but a lot of angry men will feel happier, and that is surely going to make the world a better place.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Like a few others I was a bit surprised by the vehemence of @mrzz re: Greta Thunberg. Here's an article from the FT (a bit naughty of me to copy in here) that makes a fist of explaining it...

One of the things that has bothered me for a while is why so many middle-aged men seem to hate Greta Thunberg. Suddenly, thanks to her speech to the United Nations, I know. They are already rowing with their teenage kids and don’t need another one on their case.It was the furious, accusatory tone in which she chided her audience: “How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood.” Has not every parent had that clash, albeit more usually about whether they can sleep over at Charlotte’s on a school night?Let me stress, before going further, that I regard Thunberg as a force for good, even if some of her catastrophising language can be counterproductive. She deserves appreciation, not abuse. But perhaps because of her remarkable efforts, the young environmental campaigner seems to bring out the worst in a certain cohort, especially on the right. Some of these people are beginning to demonstrate an almost pathological loathing for someone who is, after all, a child with Asperger’s syndrome trying to save the world.The vituperation goes beyond the contrarian instinct to recoil from anyone depicted as a modern-day saint. Some joked about her yacht to the US sinking; another compared her appearance to the children in Nazi propaganda. Is this just because she is cutting through or is there something else going on?Now it is clear. Her speech transported me back to every teenage row with the spawn, especially with the girl, who has a handy line in invective. Phrases such as “How dare you?” and “you would be evil” are very much swiped from the Bunty guide to teen rage. The only thing missing was a threat to never speak to us again if we don’t reach net zero by 2030.

Happily, it has been a while since my last domestic Thunberging but the tone was definitely familiar. I can hear the next one now: “You have stolen my dreams and ruined my childhood. How dare you stop me going to Glastonbury?” Of course, the main reason why some rightwingers are so agitated about her is that they do not like her message, but the messenger herself obviously riles them too_Once you see this through the prism of teenager and parent, however, it all begins to make sense. No one likes being berated by their children, least of all when we suspect they may have a point. Greta is guilt-tripping the adults on a planetary scale.Hence the instinctive response. This is the kind of stroppy defiance that makes a certain type of adult want to go out and trash the planet, just to show who’s boss.“How dare you talk to me like that, young lady? I’m jetting off to the US for a steak supper to teach you a lesson. In fact, I may eat a whole cow. And as for that transatlantic sailing trip, well, you can forget about that. You are GROUNDED. Think of it as my contribution to reducing the family’s carbon footprint.”

This is the age at which we parents feel control slipping away. The spawn are standing on their own feet; they are imposing their opinions on us. No wonder some adults are hacked off. We are not ready to surrender our grip on the world just yet. We’ve still got a few years of carbon emissions left in us.It’s only us drippy liberals, raised on books telling us how to communicate with our kids, who can cope with her onslaught. But even we feel the menace. We see the spawn watching Greta and we fret. She badgered her parents into turning vegan. What if the girl tries to do the same thing at home?Happily, I can recommend an answer for those threatened dads. Start urging your children to be “more like Greta”. Mournfully, turn to your teens and say, “I wish you were like that young Swedish girl. You are always on the phone with your mates while she’s out saving the world. You could learn from her.” Not only might you feel more positive about Greta, it is also guaranteed to turn your offspring back into carnivores.It won’t help the environment much but a lot of angry men will feel happier, and that is surely going to make the world a better place.

Total and absolute bullshit. Just like her initial speech. But she is not the problem as initially mentioned by folks that can see through the manipulation. . She was just a tool for more virtue signalling by the crazies on the left, that's it. She is probably forgotten by now. Her manipulators forgot to tell her that there are kids in this world that are forced to work in horrible conditions for peanuts, kids that walk to work for miles, kids that die of every imaginable disease that are easily cured in the west, kids that do not have schools to go to, kids that drown in the sea trying to escape war zones, kids that are in detention centers, kids that are so traumatized by war that they cannot speak but HER childhood is stolen?
Anyone who bought into this show is evil. Not just stupid, but evil.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

This is Alan Kurdi. HIS childhood was stolen trying to escape war

when Greta was practicing her acting skills in front of a mirror.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Total and absolute bullshit. Just like her initial speech. But she is not the problem as initially mentioned by folks that can see through the manipulation. . She was just a tool for more virtue signalling by the crazies on the left, that's it. She is probably forgotten by now. Her manipulators forgot to tell her that there are kids in this world that are forced to work in horrible conditions for peanuts, kids that walk to work for miles, kids that die of every imaginable disease that are easily cured in the west, kids that do not have schools to go to, kids that drown in the sea trying to escape war zones, kids that are in detention centers, kids that are so traumatized by war that they cannot speak but HER childhood is stolen?
Anyone who bought into this show is evil. Not just stupid, but evil.

Way to read half her quote and throw a tantrum.

Here. This should help:

“you have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words yet im one of the lucky ones. people are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing.”

So yeah your whole rant is something she literally mentioned a second after the quote you’re all up in arms about.