powder

mreyallior, I find it interesting that as a self-proclaimed anarchist you say things that confuse people with states. You also said you want Israel to be 'free' (whatever that means), and maybe move to northern Canada, "lets talk to Canada". Who the heck is Israel and Canada? I live in the place you refer to as Canada and I would be happy to see you and your friends move here, just don't call your new area Israel please. I don't want the bombs to follow you.

Nice. I play lots of music too. I really like this piece Steven. Nice vibe.

that's easy, whichever one is hotter.

Good for you Nick. that was a good letter and I was actually surprised by her response. Getting a "I'm sorry you feel this way" from someone who has hurt you is a real kicker for sure. She did not show any empathy or sincere sympathy or curiosity, or take any responsibility. The part about narcissism sure says a lot, I am just not sure what. I don't think she is calling herself a narcissist but her response is exactly the kind of thing a narcissist would write. Good luck, looks like you are on the right track.

because you said this: You are trading your dignity, pride, honor, courage, self-esteem, self-reliance, confidence, etc, by taking $ and letting yourself be supported by "fascists. Bullies. Uninterested apathetic self-made idiots." You are no longer a dependent and these people do not owe you a living. It is an exchange that you are willing to make so you claim it 'works for you', but that makes you a prostitute of some sort I suppose. If you are happy with that arrangement then why are you here asking for insights?

Because it makes you into a whore.

If you haven't seen this yet it is worth watching. I don't know if this was rehearsed or staged but if it was, it is brilliantly done. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJNntUXyWvw

I have studied nutrition for many years and I am not convinced that there are any clear winners in the debates or that there is a 'one size fits all' diet. That said, I have personally come to the conclusion that for health a 'whole food' (unprocessed the way it comes out of the ground or off the tree), mostly raw diet is ideal and most closely matches the diet our ancestors had for the majority of our existence. I am not entirely opposed to eating meat but I do think it is absolutely horrifying the way factor farmed animals are treated. I am convinced however that the central issue for the human diet is more about raw vs cooked than anything else. By necessity, eating a mostly raw diet, would eliminate much of the meat, particularly flesh meat, from our diets. The modern meat centered diet is primarily flesh meat and relies on farm raised, genetically bred species that are killed young and 'tenderized' using unnatural dietary supplements so that our not-so-well-suited-to-shred-flesh teeth can chew and break up the meat for easier digestion. These practices are very recent in the history of human evolution. If we had to eat what we could catch then we would more often than not end up with the older, slower, less tender meat animals. For thousands of years humans mostly fed on the raw organs rather than flesh when eating animals. The flesh was reserved for starvation situations and dried and kept for easy storage and carrying. The raw organs are where the bulk of the nutrients are and can mostly be eaten fresh and raw with fewer health concerns. The flesh is invariably too tough to eat raw and that is where most of the parasites and nasty things hang out.

I am looking forward to listening to this video as well. I questioned the decision to interview Chomsky (https://board.freedomainradio.com/topic/38332-stefans-lack-of-integrity-with-chomsky-interview/page-2) and the 'against me' argument and I got the 'its optional' response. Didn't add up for me. I also don't need to challenge everyone who is close to me with the 'against me' argument to determine the quality of their character. and just because someone agrees with the NAP does not mean they are good people to have in your life. For me, relationships are based on more than mutual consensus of ideas.

that would be great, so annoying and pathetic is that stereotype, and so many artists are too keen to embrace it.

I agree that it is horrible, but I don't agree with your definition of 'it works'.

I have been a professional artist/painter selling in galleries for many years, and I studied art and art history for way too many as well... the art in a free society would certainly be more appealing because the government grants would go away and artists would have to make things people actually want to look at. I can say for sure that most of the WTF-political-weird-stuff that is paraded in the media so much would disappear in no time - it is almost all government/grant funded.

I have long thought that mentoring is the best way to learn just about anything. If I were in your place I would seek out the most successful person(s) I could find who are engaged in what I wanted to do and learn as much as I could from them.

good for you for seeking help, keep it up. yelling at your kids is abuse.

the added info about your life and family makes it all the more interesting that you would be asking a question that you clearly know the answer to. good for you for asking the question though.

I haven't studied or listened to very much on the topic so my perspective is simply my instinctive response but I would say that it comes down to choices. we choose to have sex and that may lead to childbirth, therefore, we are responsible for that child. Perhaps more significant is the fact that the child has no choice as to the situation it ends up in so it is up to the adults in their life to stand in on their behalf. that would relate directly to your questions about rape and looking out for kids that are within your social environment (family). what do you think of that?

You may like what you are doing with your self-directed occupation, but I am suspicious of the use of the phrase "I am happy" I have a friend, who is older than me, and he has a 40yr old son living in his basement doing exactly what you describe. He actually moved back home at your age after finishing his second degree, the last one in computer graphics. His idea was that he would work on his skill set and look for work but live at home until he was able to be self-sufficient - that was almost 15 years ago. His son has grown fat, lazy and clinically depressed with no social life and his ability to live an independent, self-sufficient life has all but evaporated with the dreams of his 20's. When I get together with my friend he laments about his son's situation and is burdened and conflicted over what to do about it and how to help him get a life that he knows will be good for him. We used to talk about what his son needed to do (counselling etc) and in recent years I have come to think that it is the parents that need counselling. The son is still in that situation because it somehow serves other peoples needs in the house. Otherwise, they would send him on his way for his sake. I had a dysfunctional home life, but my parents did have boundaries about this stuff. After the age of 18 you had to pay rent (unless you were still in school) to stay at home. If I was going to pay rent I would rather live my own life. I am old enough to be your father Phuein. Get out of there man. Don't wait for your parents to kick you out, it may never happen. I am a self employed artist making a good living so I get it on that level. what makes you valuable in the market is not what you can do or what you know, but who you are - work ethic, discipline, courage, integrity - you won't develop those qualities mooching off your parents.

I don't know enough about the idea to actually have any questions about it at this point. but that really does make perfect sense, and it makes you wonder what all those un-virtuous people are talking about when they speak of love I suppose. I will read 'Real Time Relationships" - thanks for the responses.

great! thanks tjt.

I have heard or read a couple of times that love is an involuntary response to virtue. I have never encountered this idea before and I find it intriguing to say the least. this would suggest I imagine that most of what we call and think of as love in relationships, esp some family relationships, is not love at all. I would like to learn more about this if you can point me to some material on the idea and I would like to know your own perspectives. thanks.

don't follow the news. I agree, it was easy to see how no good could come from this mess, but in a nutshell, what is the situation in iraq now?

not a friend, a member of another forum (not related to philosophy or politics but with a discussion section for politics), I have not responded since this response.

2+2=4, absolute, but optional. murder is wrong - universally valid but optional.

math is a universal principle, 2+2=4, but not everyone has to accept or apply it. how is self-ownership not a consequence of physical property? you own your physical body and the affects of its actions. the question is not whether everyone has to agree with a principle for it to be universally - that would be universally accepted. I thought professionalteabagger's post was very simple and clear, what am I missing here? Stef uses the phrase 'optional human absolutes' to differentiate it from things like gravity. it is optional to choose to believe that murder does not apply universally. from Stef's UPB book: “Universally preferable,” then, translates to “objectively required,” but we will retain the word “preferable” to differentiate between optional human absolutes and non-optional physical absolutes such as gravity.

That is an interesting and insightful synopsis Shem. Well done. I just saw the movie. I was engaged by the visual spectacle of it all, I am so impressed with what they can do with CGI these days. I really am amazed at how the stories, esp aimed at children, are filled with such violence and wickedness. The main characters are so lacking in virtue and integrity and intelligence it really is scary. I also found it remarkable that the young Aurora was so taken with Maleficent and how she greeted the father, who had abandoned her and never seen her before, with such joy - he quickly dismisses her. He did mention that she looked just like her mother - I did not catch the idea that she was Maleficent's child in the movie. the standard for female behavior portrayed by the characters in these movies really is twisted as you say. I couldn't get past the first 20 minutes of Frozen.