JamesP

The streamer is going down for several hours today. It should be up and running again tonight, tomorrow at the latest.

On your feet all day, no rest, blah blah blah blaaaah Where's dad? No father? I noticed the music swell up right before they announced "Moms." I knew when the music swelled I was about to get an incredibly ripe cowpie shoved into my ear. I really detest these kinds of propagandas. I have hated Mother's Day for all of the pressure they put on people to revere MOM, especially given my experience of my own mother. (Mother's Day is the second Sunday in May in the US.)

Knowledge imputes responsibility. There is no religious person out there, at least in the west, that can credibly claim that they have not had significant exposure to the idea of atheism. Once you've had exposure to an idea, you have responsibility if you reject that idea. And even for those who have not had the degree of exposure that we do in the modern west, doubt of the existence of one god or another is rampant throughout history. It's so prevalent that hell awaits the doubters. You have to threaten people with eternal torment to get them to shut up about their question marks. I would say that caveman Gog is not all that responsible for not questioning his belief in a thunder god. His access to information was extremely limited and the threat of immediate death in the here and now was very real. And that responsibility ebbs and flows over time. The line may be fuzzy, but I think we are well on the other side of it now.

We do not live in a world where it can be credibly claimed that religious folk have no exposure to the concept of the non-existence of gods. Indeed, I'm not sure there ever was such a world as belief in different gods or no gods is usually proscribed against. Modern people in developed countries know about atheism. They have exposure to alternatives. Hence they have choice.

The brain is organized in response to its environment. People are desperate to avoid environmental discussions as environment is something you can control.

Are we not already inundated with data and anecdotes on the bad behavior of men? Those presentations aren't "balanced." Why hold a discussion of female bad behavior to a different standard? I get that it is uncomfortable to hear it discussed. But that means it is even more important to talk about it.

But you can't really back down from the word itself if you argue for applying morality universally. "Thou shalt not steal" immediately demonstrates that the government is immoral. "So, what, you're an anarchist, then?" That question is a learning opportunity. The concept of anarchy is unavoidable when discussing morality, so it's probably better to find a way to make friends with the word instead of regarding it as an enemy.

Beware of moralists who make exceptions.

Pretty much all of my recent photos are taken with a camera pointed back at myself. Does that make it a selfie? Why are they bad? Why do people dislike them so much? I don't think I've ever gotten a negative comment on my photos because I took them of myself. I might also be exercising discretion and not overwhelming my feed with my face. But hey. Go ahead, internet... chew yourself up over selfies. We've got bigger fish to fry.

He insulted you directly. When you called him on it, he doubled down. He did not apologize or back down or take a step back to be curious about why he was making such terrible accusations. Why do you want somebody so callous and caustic in your life? Guard your heart.

Ignore the trolls! It might be worth sitting down and trying to identify the things that are keeping you from a relationship. It might just be exposure to the right kinds of people. If what you're currently doing isn't working, do something different. It's taken me way too long to take that seriously.

When your mother contacts you, do you engage her or ignore her? My mother was pretty brutal in her manipulations when she contacted me. I did not engage with her but instead turned to my support system to deal with the emotions that came up. Manipulation is passive-aggressive. Just because she's not overtly violent does not mean you shouldn't treat it as a violation. I'm not saying what you should do, of course. But I think it's something to think about.

Only donators are able to vote, and this is limited to 5 votes per day.

JamesRedford has not been following the guidelines, and quite flagrantly so:"Please avoid accusing someone of bad intentions without any evidence. “Oh, so whenever you are wrong, you just run away!” “Oh, you're just changing the topic because you can't handle the truth!” Even if it turns out to be true, this kind of hostility will never bring enlightenment." I don't think the reputation system is broken at all.

It's not because the show has a greater proportion of men as listeners (which I think is probably still true but the proportion has been shifting and continues to shift). It's because these are the empirical facts and nobody is talking about it. (Whoops, not nobody, but certainly not a mainstream topic.)

If you think that the author of the OP was banned for making an invalid argument, then you don't get it. The OP was full of condescension, completely lacked empathy, and was intentionally triggering. He made several choices prior to his post, all of which are indicated against in the forum guidelines. He clearly did not research the topic prior to posting. He implied that Stef ought to be spanking his daughter. How much unprocessed aggression do you think this person has that he would actually advocate somebody else assault their child for his own abstract theory? That is statism in its rawest brutish form. I would ask you why you feel the need to defend against this fellow being removed from the conversation. I would not have a person like that in my house at a dinner party. I would ask him to leave and push him out the door if he refused.

http://board.freedomainradio.com/topic/29220-the-facts-about-spanking/

I don't think I've ever signed a receipt when I've paid with cash unless there was a promise of delivery at a later date.

Before sewer systems, there were septic tanks. If an existing sewer system proved ineffective or a new development was too far from a city sewer to make integration into that system feasible, they could build individual septic tanks or possibly a community one. There are challenges to both of course.

The point of the example in the book is that there are plenty of academics who tout free market philosophy who do not also apply it to their own lives. They do not live their stated values. Does that make sense? I find the title of this thread confusing.

Why is this important to you? Why do you find this guy's videos convincing?

Alternatively, if anyone can identify the problem and submit me a patch, I will apply it

I keep this forum software pretty up-to-date with patches and new versions, so if they come out with a fix for your problem, it'll definitely be in there.

I think you'll find that Stef agrees with your assessment that humans as they are today would not generate a peaceful society. That is why he has said that this is a multi-generational change. This is not because it cannot be done now, but because most people do not have the courage to follow through on their stated values. I know this one personally!If people denounced the initiation of violence against children (which includes threatening them with hellfire if they don't obey), we would have a free society in less than a generation. So what you are saying is right, the removal of the current state would cause another to pop up, because the state is an effect, not a cause. The state is in your head. It is in your relationships. Every time small-minded people attack you, the state is there. Does that make sense? It also might be worth listening to a few more podcasts & videos and being very specific about your criticisms as that would help us understand where the flaws are.

Mart, I agree with you that trading one irrationality for another is no victory, and can be very dangerous. Can you demonstrate how state-led education is rational?