Over the past couple days I’ve heard a lot about how unacceptable violence is, and that’s fine, but if violence is never an acceptable option we have to make sure we have non-violent ways of resolving conflicts. I think the unspoken part of this plea for non-violence is that it’s better for conflicts to go unresolved than for them to be resolved through violence. I’m just not sure that’s a viable solution. In fact, that’s the opposite of a solution. I think these conflicts are going to resolve themselves one way or another, eventually.

You’re right, humans are not a virus. We’re animals, and just like most other animals we will increase our population and our consumption as long as we have resources to consume. Usually when an organism exceeds the carrying capacity of their ecosystem, they experience a population crash that brings them back within the ecosystem’s sustainable boundaries. We are currently exceeding the carrying capacity of our ecosystem, so a significant decline in population and/or consumption levels seems inevitable.

Not everyone cares that much about becoming a billionaire. Or, maybe many women are just more interested in marrying a billionaire than acquiring the wealth themselves.

That’s a good question. I’m not sure what a compromise would look like, assuming it’s even possible.

It absolutely is not sustainable, that’s true. Something’s gotta give. We have fundamentally different, diametrically opposed visions for what we want America to be. That has to be resolved, one way or another. Either one vision wins out over the other, we try to find a compromise between the two visions, or we break apart and go our separate ways. The way I see it, those are our options. Unless there’s some other option I’m not seeing?

Wealth is just another dick measuring contest, for some men. I think it makes sense why women might not be as interested in something like that. That doesn’t mean that women don’t care about money or being successful in business, only that many women might measure success differently.

You might imagine that a possible assassination of a leading presidential candidate would be a scared-straight moment for a nation that has been sleepwalking into a culture of political contempt, delegitimization and tribalism.

Was this written by AI? It sounds like someone who’s never met a human being before. Humans are tribal by our nature. It’s a fundamental part of how we have evolved as a species. That fact doesn’t change just because you choose to ignore it, or pretend it doesn’t exist.

The great recession, a global pandemic, and now a second American civil war. I want off this train.

I think most Dems, especially those who are highly politically engaged and closely follow election news, are going to vote blue no matter who. So, I think Bernie is preaching to the choir here. I think the Dems who are worried about Biden are worried he doesn’t have enough support among independents, and they feel independents are much less likely to just vote for the Democrat, no matter who it is.

Now, could just any candidate replace Biden and automatically win back any of the independents he is believed to have lost? I don’t know. A lot of Dems seem to think that just about any other candidate would do better than Biden among independents right now, but I’m not so sure.

I don’t think democracy can thrive, or maybe even survive, when individuals are allowed to accumulate unlimited amounts of wealth. Wealth is power, it always has been and it always will be. The more resources a person owns and controls, the more power they have.

I think it’s much more complicated than that. It’s about culture, poverty, the desire for order, the subjective nature of justice, mental health, inequality, tribalism, public safety, addiction, trauma, human nature, power hierarchies, narcissism and sociopathy, fear, mistrust, anger, and so on and so forth.

Oh, Democrats. It doesn’t seem like they made any attempt to come up with a backup plan, even though they knew very well the incumbent president would be weeks away from turning 82 years old by election time. Look, at 80 years old, the chances of a relatively rapid physical or mental decline are elevated. Even a relatively healthy 80 year old can take a rapid turn for the worse. The Democrats had four years to come up with a contingency plan, they didn’t and now they’re scrambling at the last minute.

Oh, Democrats. As they say here in the South, bless your heart.

Don’t get me wrong, if these numbers are indicators that some people are going to experience less stress and that they will be less overwhelmed or that they will be made to feel more secure in their financial situation, I do think that is objectively a good thing and I’m happy for those people. It’s just that these numbers don’t make me feel any better about the economy or my personal financial situation. Maybe I should feel better, but I don’t. I generally feel pessimistic, and these numbers don’t change that.

Well, congratulations on the good news, I suppose.

I probably should be happy about this, but I really don’t care. This seems like something that’s more important to experts and academics. Regardless of what the official indicators say, something just doesn’t seem right to me. I can’t necessarily quantify it or express it through some equation, something just feels…wrong.

I’ve been thinking about it, and I think I understand why many people have such strong reactions to the situation. Russia did illegally invade a sovereign nation, without provocation. They have killed thousands of innocent people and they have done incredible harm. It’s abhorrent. Any such unjustified invasion (like the US invasion is Iraq, for instance) is abhorrent. I suppose some people view my attempts to dispassionately look for peaceful solutions to the conflict as a kind of tacit support for Russia, or at least indifference. I am not indifferent, and I certainly don’t support their illegal and immoral actions, I just don’t want anything that could lead to more war, or more widespread war. However, as you’ve said, Russia has likely left the rest of the world with few other choices.

Isn’t Tankie a pejorative for Marxist-Leninists? I’m not a Marxist-Leninist.

I’ve learned my lesson, I’m not commenting on anything related to Russia, Ukraine, or NATO again. These people are…passionate, and they are not interested in hearing opinions that run counter to their own.

Yes, I am an idiot. Thank you for helping me see how stupid I am. I don’t remember saying what you’re saying I said, but you’re so much smarter than me, so you must know better what I said than I do.

Nuke the crocodile, then. I’ve decided I don’t care anymore.