Libra

I think history has shown that authoritarianism tends to be pretty successful, not that that means it will continue to be so. But even if that wasn't the case, if we only cared about what succeeds we'd all be deliriously happy with capitalism, wouldn't we?

Thus my skepticism that she had anything useful to say in response.

Funny how every time anyone talks about replacing capitalism everybody trots out the examples of innovation and competition as things we would lose. Meanwhile capitalists are over here doing their level best to sabotage innovation and buy or legislate their way out of competition so they can remain complacent in their dominant market position. 'Won't someone please think of the billionaires' is wearing kinda thin when they're actively undermining the purported benefits of their wanton exploitation and delivering nothing but stagnation and enshittification.

Since the Stasi were one arm of an authoritarian government and the Nazis were the whole-ass authoritarian government, including Stasi-like arms, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. But I mean if you're just here to conflate fascism and communism then you are probably immune to nuance and subtlety anyway, so by all means, don't let me stop you.

I'm gonna guess a whole lot of flustered backpedaling amounting to not a lot of anything, but I'm willing to be surprised if someone wants to dig up the video.

Capitalism's Invisible Army often acts as the propaganda arm of the US hegemony, so it is in a very real sense a part of their job to make sure this doesn't come to pass. Sadly they seem pretty good at it.

Yeah, what's a little authoritarianism between friends?

I got caught stealing cigarettes.

I was like 16 I think and a delinquent to be sure, but not a very smart one. I was out of smokes and went to the grocery store to get more, grabbed a pack off the shelf, then realized the woman who usually kept an eye on the smokes wasn't around so I started eyeing those cartons. I shoved 4 of those fucking things into my jacket, it was so obvious it was funny, and naturally they caught me on the way out and called the police.

I was also drunk at the time (listen, it was the 80s, it was a different time..) so I ended up having to take some bullshit 6 week class and go to AA meetings for 3 months which sucked, but by far the worst was when the police walked me up to the house and it was clear that they had already talked to mom cause man she was pissed. I don't even remember what the punishment was, but instead of yelling at me or lecturing and guilt-tripping me she just sat there not even looking at or talking to me for like an hour, and that was the worst.

I think there is no evidence. Witness testimony is not it itself sufficient evidence to convict someone of a crime, why should it be enough to convince you that physics-defying aliens exist in the universe and somehow, for some reason, came all the way across the galaxy/universe/whatever to.. what.. fly around and make pretty patterns in the sky?

Do I believe there is other intelligent life in the universe? Yes, statistics alone suggests there should be.

Do I believe it's making crop circles and buzzing F-18s for giggles? Almost certainly not.

Do I believe some guy saw absolute incontrovertible proof that aliens exist and somehow both failed to acquire any of it to present to the world and failed to be credible enough to be arrested or otherwise silenced by the people who care a whole lot about the leaking of classified info? Absolutely not, not under any circumstances.

If aliens exist and are here and you've seen them then the best advice I can give you is next time grab a fucking button off a control panel, a blood sample, a piece of metal we don't know how to make, like literally anything, because we've been drowning in bullshit witness testimony on this subject for most of a century now. I don't care how credible you are, If 99.99+% of people who talk about aliens are crazy/hoaxers/attention-seekers/etc, the odds are pretty good you're not the <0.01% who is totally legit. So without some actual, physical evidence I'm going to go ahead and assume that you're a crackpot regardless of your credentials.

...and still be a billionaire.

Why should oligarchs get to decide where the proceeds of their exploitation get spent?

Because the US congress is not in the business of speaking out against policies they support, and 'geopolitical interest' (ie, imperialism) will garner their support almost no matter the cost, especially if the people bearing the burden of that cost are not voters they need for reelection.

Sorry, are we under the impression that Israel after killing north of 50,000 people, most of whom are children, is in any way civilized? I guess that's what delusion will do for you.