Triumph

I would say no. The reason being, courting rituals and charity are common anywhere in the world. Tipping to the extent we do in the USA, is not at all common. For sure.

Good observations fractional_S

Not that I have been in that situation yet, but I think it would be helpful to list all the major life changing events. And if it is pertaining to a specific relationship, list the major events specific to that. It is just observation, but the conversations seem to be led astray frequently because callers aren't open about such things and their major impacts on their lives. They wait for Stefan to ask them a question before divulging the information. Then Stefan has to rewind in order to once again move forward. I don't think you need to read it off like a list, but have it handy so you can bring it up when such histories are relevant.

You have too much faith in the virtue of other nations, but I can't argue that the USA is becoming more evil. The only good news is that virtue and virtuous people stand out the worse things get.

"...proposing to issue a "BitLicense" that would protect consumers, prevent money laundering and enforce cyber security." I love how the writer doesn't even get past the first sentence and has to mention how the law will 'protect' the little people.

"Non-aggression" is a bad set of words going into an acronym that represents and ideology where you have no problem kicking someone's ass if it's in self-defense.

Honestly, I do try to listen to stef about UPB, but am not enthused. UPB is so broadly defined that it is a synonym for "good". As such, I don't find it's discussion to interesting beyond specific case by case examples. For me, "do unto others as you would like them to do unto you." is about all I have ever needed. My philosophy is very similar to UPB, though less defined. Where I have difference with UPB is the in the role of violence in society. Specifically in progenitors of violence and how to deal with them.

The non-religious explanation is that positive behavior "good", is the result of the evolution of biology and culture to imprint preferential attitudes on the individual. Example: two women, each have a child, take turns caring for both children. This allows each mother to have a turn to go off alone and perform more dangerous chores without jeopardizing her child's safety. They display virtue and empathy in caring for each others child as if their own. The problem I have with the evolutionary explanation it doesn't explain the negative behaviors. There is no good evolutionary explanation for a parent enjoying their own child's suffer, something all to common. As most of FDR listeners seem to know, parents can be pretty fucking evil. At best true evil can be explained away as genetically defective. Religions can explain this one a little better before turning into philosophical shit heaps. That's part of the reason I haven't completely eliminated the possibility of god, but that is another subject.

There is no perfect way of identifying good people. The best way to start though is figuring out your own moral boundaries and then comparing the actions of others with them. If someone does something you would never let yourself do, don't waste anymore time on them. Waiting for bad people to change is a waste of time compared to meeting new, hopefully good, people. Go on if you can with your story. FDR is a safe place to unload the shit in your life. I don't know you and you don't know me. We're all strangers here. It's like writing into a journal that sometimes writes back.

It is a moral issue because society has made it a moral issue. How many viral bullshit stories have ran in the last year directly concerning waiters not getting small tips or no tips. Too many. They've been so popular because it offends our moral sensibilities.

I am angry. WTF! Was there no one to protect you from this fucking hell as a child?!

When is it alright not to leave a tip at a restaurant where tips are expected? Poor service Terrible service or My waiter was a Statist Assassin sent back in time to kill me and stop my future revolution from taking place

oops not a theological question.

Welcome to the FDR forums.

Take on an IT job to fix random people's computers in a shopping center. Let the pain and resentment build up inside you until you can't take anymore of their stupid shit questions and attitudes. Then fully motivated, consider going to college or becoming an entrepreneur.

A man is in a coma... - in general, it is best just to stop right there, it is not a particularly useful illustration from which to create a useful example. An example of a moral null is if I give you a choice to eat either an apple or an orange, and you choose the apple. There is nothing to be learned about your virtue from that choice. The interpretation of non-actions is not quite correct. The reason being, is that a choice is an action. If I choose not to steal, I am practicing a virtue because innately I wanted something and the nature human behavior would be to take what I wanted. So a choice that leads to non-action is an action in it of itself. Coma patients are without choice. In a conversation about UPB, you can replace "coma patient" with "paper weight" for the same effect. It is just easier for us to attach moral responsibility to a coma patient (still human) than it is a paper weight.

It split my family. She said I threatened to murder her. Which was not true. The people that tried to stay neutral, she started to attack them from frustration. I didn't try to defend myself and stayed quiet. I bluntly answered questions when asked instead of trying to spin my own story. I would say by the end, I had more support than she did. The fact of the matter is, to continue to maintain a relationship with her, I would have needed to become her emotional punching bag. Fuck that.

idk I remember one guys tell a feminist, "Wait so I was a rapist before I lost my virginity? Amazing!!" thought is was a good line

Yeah it bothers me. What can you say about the modern feminist movement? They are the most pathetic breed of sadists. They group up and prey upon a weak & singled out target the moment they smell blood.

good stuff!

I feel like in a truly free market, potato salad would fund itself. Like there would be an evolution from picnic creation gone wrong. A potato salad so disgusting no one could get near it. Then as the sun beat down on it, dangerous chemical reactions would take place. Fermentation on an energy scale equal to a nuclear explosion would cause it to produce slime 10,000 times more powerful than gasoline. People would be grosses out, but would continue to add potatos to the salad as all of the world's energy problems were solved by a clean, renewable potato salad extract.And that ladies and gents is how a free market potato salad could save the world.

Nice to meet you Suebee

No, she has not tried to make things right. The first thing she did was to try and turn the rest of my family against me. When my mother didn't take sides, my sister got angry said somethings that I can only guess and refused to speak to our mom for about a year. Things are better now, but the family is still split on the issue. My sister and I don't speak. She knows that what she is doing is wrong because it requires conscious effort on her part to keep herself blind to her own actions.

First unicorns are real. Second there are two ways about going about the god probability, both of which will piss of the standard theist. The first is as you say, come up with some sort of existence probability. Which won't be much different from numbers calculated by theists for the moment life began, they use to argue against evolution. The second, a possibly better option, is to calculate the probability that challenges their particular version of god. Cuz every religion is the correct religion and they can trace it back to the beginning of time. And thus their blend of religion was somehow unchanged by time, language, and culture. It would be a lot of work to do, but I think it would be far more valuable then existence probability. That stated, I'm not sure either would be particularly useful.

I don't quite understand the yelling. It's not a good punishment, it's just an easy punishment. The big thing I got from your post, is that you are avoiding the responsibility of being the parent. Not good. If they see you avoiding your responsibilities, they will avoid the responsibilities you ask of them.