Izzy Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Brief History I was born in Russia in 1990, but most of my early memories are from Japan, where me and my family moved to because the fall of communism caused a lot of problems for my family. They are both scientists, so I believe it was difficult to have a career at that point. I moved to the US when I was 8 and lived in the states ever since. Religion Never grew up believing anything, both of my parents are agnostic atheists and I would say I am too. I vaguely remember some Muslim stuff because my grandparents were sort of religious. Most people assume that Russians tend to be orthodox or something, but I’m closer to the Asian parts of Russia, so it’s next to the Muslims. I used to be very atheist and think religions are evil, but have changed my stances. My Profession I’m a graphic artist and game developer. Usually do commission work because it’s easier to survive with a steadier income, but want to step up my game with more projects of my own. If you are interested in checking out my art, you can go to my portfolio - http://izzyaminov.com/ (but it’s a bit out of date). Politics & Philosophy I - Early Stages I was never really involved in politics until very recently, but I could tell now that I’ve always been somewhat conservative when I went to my university. Obviously everyone was liberal and hearing any points of view from the right was outrageous. Although I called myself liberal and believed in many leftist policies, I was different from the other students because I wanted to compete, while everyone else was just patting themselves on the back and saying how great their art is. At a certain point, I knew most of my peers wouldn’t find jobs based on what they like and probably end up as baristas. Politics & Philosophy II - Influences TYT was the first intro to politics I’ve ever had, and I hate myself to this day for listening to them. I can’t understand why I was drawn to them initially, perhaps I never took a firm position on things, so I assumed they were the correct ones. Since my university taught me to never believe conservatives and religious people, I had a bias and never looked into opposing points of view. Nowadays I seek out alternative points of view to keep that bias as limited as possible. Naturally I supported Bernie at this point. The Sam Harris/Bill Maher incident, like for many, sparked a new way of thinking for me. I started looking into the ‘evil youtubers’ like Sargon, Stefan, AiU, Milo, Crowder, Shapiro etc. It was a pretty rough time for me at this stage because all the positions I’ve started clinging to have slowly been taken down, and it wasn’t until a long series of debates with a conservative friend about guns that I could no longer call myself a liberal. FDR without a doubt has been the most influential part of my enlightenment. I hated everything about Stefan when I started watching stuff that didn’t line up with what I believed. Slowly my mind changed, but to others this was a drastic shift, which gets to… Politics & Philosophy III - Relationships The biggest obstacle was with my girlfriend, who saw this sudden change and was worried about me. I had no idea how to confront her about my new stances, but I knew I had to do it and it had to be careful. I started off with feminism, because that was the thing that started the worrying. I think I made a comment, without thinking it through, that would offend your regular feminist. I showed her some videos talking about what’s wrong with feminism to ease her into it, and we discussed them over drinks (alcohol made things much more enjoyable). Then came time for a Stefan intro, and she absolutely hated him. I believe it was because of his direct, to the point, rhetoric that struck her principles and tore them apart, leaving her on the defense and finding reasons why she hates him. Eventually she grew to like him as both of us have gotten to the same wave length. Friends were a different matter. To keep it short, there’s a lot of broken bridges now to varying degrees, and maybe a couple stronger relationships with friends who are conservative. I’m fairly introverted so I don’t care enough to keep the friendships strong by lying to them. I attempted to create some unity by making a facebook group about politics - https://www.facebook.com/groups/unsafespace/ - though it’s not working out the best. I want to talk to people I disagree with and enjoy a civil debate, but my friends (and I probably do this too) escalate the topics to an uncivil place. Other things & Conclusion One of the biggest concerns in my life is animal welfare. I try to be mostly vegan and not buy products that are factory farmed. I deviated from my diet not too long ago when my friend got eggs from his parent’s backyard, which I knew were ethically treated. This issue was something I was interested in discussing in this community, and wondered what Stefan’s position is on it. I get the sense that everyone wants animals to be treated well, but I do see that there are benefits to animal products on occasion. I tend not to suggest vegan diets because it’s very hard to make sure you’re getting all your nutritional needs, but I do think vegetarian diets are much healthier than eating meat. In the future, I hope to build a farm and rescue animals that were mistreated. Being vegan, I’m actually in favor of trophy hunting, but this isn’t something I’m completely set on. The “Adam Ruins Everything” video about this does a nice job of explaining my position. I will basically be a stay at home dad because my girlfriend is the breadwinner, for the most part (I provide some revenue, but only enough for me). I enjoy board games, my favorites are - Catan, Avalon, Dominion, Carcassonne, Splendor and Pandemic. Has been a bit difficult to organize games now that me and my friends are in a political turmoil… Hope that wasn’t too much information. Looking forward to nice conversations with others on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 Welcome to the forum. I played vegan vampire and it was great, loved the graphics and game play. I completed all 25 levels. I create games myself but I am better more on the programming side rather than the artwork. I had a few clients but consider it more of a hobby myself as I dont actively seek income from it. I am glad to see you're making revenue through commission and wanting to step it up I am willing to discuss the animal welfare or vegan issue. As I personally see nothing immoral with eating/using animal products or even unintentionally harming animals through convenience, like not watching your every step for bugs, riding in a airplane that can hit birds, cars that can run over animals, building homes on land occupied by animals etc. I do have a moral issue with someone whose intention is to just harm animals as in cruelty which by definition they take pleasure in causing pain and suffering. You can PM me if you want to discuss. Either way I hope you enjoy your stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzy Posted October 16, 2016 Author Share Posted October 16, 2016 Boss - Cool, have you put any games out on the market? It can be pretty difficult to generate revenue from them. Eating/using animal products I'm not as against, it's more about where you obtain these products. I'm not one of those leftist vegans that holds extreme positions and wants everyone to be vegan, I think there's a middle ground that would make both sides happy (as well as the animals). Buying cheap factory farmed meat means you are funding an entity that for sure mistreats the animals. It would be nice if more people can spend a few extra dollars to buy meat from local farmers, or even raise your own if you have the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviet Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 The Sam Harris/Bill Maher incident, like for many, sparked a new way of thinking for me. I started looking into the ‘evil youtubers’ like Sargon, Stefan, AiU, Milo, Crowder, Shapiro etc. This reminds me so much of 1984. It's can't be too long until Stefan changes his name to Immy Goldstein. As for the torment of having your friends reject you, I would say its more exciting to be in the challenging wilderness. If you are worried about having no friends over the horizon of them not being able to accept you, then [insert you own logic]. It's more exciting to live in unpredictable wildernesses. A lot of people I know have not had any challenges. They don't want any challenges. They want to moan in place of challenges. Recently I was marooned with nothing in a foreign country. Finding a way out of this situation would make these fags melt down, but I treated it is an experiment in character building. Take an adventure into challenging these people and enjoy the tribulations of their irrational emotions. As for not eating meat, there is no better way to stop people from considering abstinence than stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWXZVgvSps4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AccuTron Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 I just took a quick look at your work...you have a wonderful visual sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzy Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 aviet64 - I don't really mind friends not accepting me, my girlfriend is on my side and that's the only person I need to be happy with. Lying for the sake of social wellness is not my thing, and I do agree that it's much more interesting to challenge people's way of thinking. Problem solving is my specialty. About the video - it's cringe-worthy, but I understand that it can be an effective way to convince people (mainly women). It's purely emotional based, and that's one of the reasons why more women tend to be vegan. The problem I have with this approach is it puts all of us into that irrational category, even though a meat free diet can be defended in many ways with reason. AccuTron - thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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