Hotter, Badder, and Unpopularer Takes

[TheReckoning]

The Holy Roman Empire was a legitimate successor state to the Roman Empire.

[Aurelius]

I have a much higher opinion of Malcolm X than Martin Luther King Jr.

[Gracile]

I find discussion of personal political opinions and ideology to be highly uninteresting much of the time (especially for someone who frequents/moderates a political forum). That kind of information is only compelling to me if it can be applied to data about voter preferences and demographics.

[Aurelius]

Shenandoah should be the national anthem.

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

Atlas would be better without recommends.

[Enduro]

I still like Superhero movies (does that count?)

[TheReckoning]

Mass incarceration is based

[Ferguson97]

Mass incarceration is based

Why?

[TheReckoning]

Mass incarceration is based

Why?

Studies have shown that the guarantee of punishment, not the severity of it, deters crime.

I would gladly cut prison sentences to 1/5th-1/10th of what they are right now if it meant we got to a 95%* clearance rate for violent crime. But, if you’re arresting/putting everyone who commits a violent crime in prison, even if it’s for a short amount of time, then you’re going to have a whole lot of people in prison.

The good news is that with such a high chance of getting caught, not only will less crime will be committed, but there will also be less criminals, meaning less people in prison overall.

*Right now, it’s in the single digits.

[Ferguson97]

Mass incarceration is based

Why?

Studies have shown that the guarantee of punishment, not the severity of it, deters crime.

I would gladly cut prison sentences to 1/5th-1/10th of what they are right now if it meant we got to a 95%* clearance rate for violent crime. But, if you’re arresting/putting everyone who commits a violent crime in prison, even if it’s for a short amount of time, then you’re going to have a whole lot of people in prison.

The good news is that with such a high chance of getting caught, not only will less crime will be committed, but there will also be less criminals, meaning less people in prison overall.

*Right now, it’s in the single digits.

How do you propose we increase the conviction rate without violating due process or other constitutional rights? How specifically do you think that the courts are failing in this regard?

[TheReckoning]

Mass incarceration is based

Why?

Studies have shown that the guarantee of punishment, not the severity of it, deters crime.

I would gladly cut prison sentences to 1/5th-1/10th of what they are right now if it meant we got to a 95%* clearance rate for violent crime. But, if you’re arresting/putting everyone who commits a violent crime in prison, even if it’s for a short amount of time, then you’re going to have a whole lot of people in prison.

The good news is that with such a high chance of getting caught, not only will less crime will be committed, but there will also be less criminals, meaning less people in prison overall.

*Right now, it’s in the single digits.

How do you propose we increase the conviction rate without violating due process or other constitutional rights? How specifically do you think that the courts are failing in this regard?

I’m not saying I have some foolproof way of catching every criminal without creating a police state. But I will take improvements in the clearance rate, even it means a higher incarceration rate.

[Xing]

I think our justice system is fundamentally flawed, because it is solely focused on punishing perpetrators and not providing any sort of compensation for victims. That’s not to say that punishments for criminals aren’t important, simply that it should only be part of the equation. Often, people who are victims of crime have to suffer the continued financial consequences of damage done to them, which hardly seems fair.

[RINO Tom]

Rightly or wrongly, the US Census categorization of race and ethnicity is incredibly stupid and based on rather colonial/racist thinking.  The idea that someone can be a "Latino" is retarded.  I don't care if you're a wokester looking to create as many protected classes as possible or a subconscious racist trying to gatekeep who is truly "White" ... it makes zero sense.

If we're going to classify in this way, it should be based off of historically literate ethnic categories that actually look at people's origins.  "Latinos" should be split off into either a broad Indigenous category or simply Iberian (or other) Europeans, with those truly being mixed treated like any other "mixed race."  Someone who is 50% Mayan and 50% Spanish is not functionally different than someone who is 50% Nigerian and 50% English in origin.

[支持核绿派 (Greens4Nuclear)]

If we're going to classify in this way, it should be based off of historically literate ethnic categories that actually look at people's origins.  "Latinos" should be split off into either a broad Indigenous category or simply Iberian (or other) Europeans, with those truly being mixed treated like any other "mixed race."  Someone who is 50% Mayan and 50% Spanish is not functionally different than someone who is 50% Nigerian and 50% English in origin.

relevant

https://twitter.com/UrbFuturistDem/status/1426615877701488650

[支持核绿派 (Greens4Nuclear)]

Uttar Pradesh and Henan are kind of like parallels, both historically very important, both have large populations, and both are seen as crappy places by the people of their respective countries.

In terms of historical importance there's another analogy to be made with Bihar and Shaanxi.

The North-South demographic/cultural divides within India/the subcontinent and China proper map well onto one another, but the West-East economic/cultural divides are reversed.

Some of the clearer parallels:
Delhi = Beijing
Mumbai = Shanghai
Gujarat + Maharashtra = Lower Yangtze region
Tamil Nadu = Guangdong
Kerala = Fujian
Greater Punjab (India + Pakistan) = Shandong + Manchuria
Greater Bengal (India + Bangladesh) = Sichuan + Chongqing
Sri Lanka = Taiwan and/or Hainan (both work IMO)

As I alluded to in this post, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Taiwan, and Hong Kong only exist as autonomous/independent polities because of European colonialism and imperialism. Culturally they're not that different from neighboring parts of India (Punjab + Hariyana, West Bengal) and China (Central Guangdong, Southern Fujian), which have more in common culturally with PK/BD/TW/HK than they do with say Tamil Nadu or Manchuria.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Uttar Pradesh and Henan are kind of like parallels, both historically very important, both have large populations, and both are seen as crappy places by the people of their respective countries.

In terms of historical importance there's another analogy to be made with Bihar and Shaanxi.

The North-South demographic/cultural divides within India/the subcontinent and China proper map well onto one another, but the West-East economic/cultural divides are reversed.

Some of the clearer parallels:
Delhi = Beijing
Mumbai = Shanghai
Gujarat + Maharashtra = Lower Yangtze region
Tamil Nadu = Guangdong
Kerala = Fujian
Greater Punjab (India + Pakistan) = Shandong + Manchuria
Greater Bengal (India + Bangladesh) = Sichuan + Chongqing
Sri Lanka = Taiwan and/or Hainan (both work IMO)

As I alluded to in this post, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Taiwan, and Hong Kong only exist as autonomous/independent polities because of European colonialism and imperialism. Culturally they're not that different from neighboring parts of India (Punjab + Hariyana, West Bengal) and China (Central Guangdong, Southern Fujian), which have more in common culturally with PK/BD/TW/HK than they do with say Tamil Nadu or Manchuria.

What does European colonialism have to do with Taiwan being de facto independent from mainland China? In fact European colonialism is arguably the reason Taiwan is culturally similar to Fujian in the first place.

[支持核绿派 (Greens4Nuclear)]

Uttar Pradesh and Henan are kind of like parallels, both historically very important, both have large populations, and both are seen as crappy places by the people of their respective countries.

In terms of historical importance there's another analogy to be made with Bihar and Shaanxi.

The North-South demographic/cultural divides within India/the subcontinent and China proper map well onto one another, but the West-East economic/cultural divides are reversed.

Some of the clearer parallels:
Delhi = Beijing
Mumbai = Shanghai
Gujarat + Maharashtra = Lower Yangtze region
Tamil Nadu = Guangdong
Kerala = Fujian
Greater Punjab (India + Pakistan) = Shandong + Manchuria
Greater Bengal (India + Bangladesh) = Sichuan + Chongqing
Sri Lanka = Taiwan and/or Hainan (both work IMO)

As I alluded to in this post, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Taiwan, and Hong Kong only exist as autonomous/independent polities because of European colonialism and imperialism. Culturally they're not that different from neighboring parts of India (Punjab + Hariyana, West Bengal) and China (Central Guangdong, Southern Fujian), which have more in common culturally with PK/BD/TW/HK than they do with say Tamil Nadu or Manchuria.

What does European colonialism have to do with Taiwan being de facto independent from mainland China? In fact European colonialism is arguably the reason Taiwan is culturally similar to Fujian in the first place.

I don't see much point in debating what Taiwan would be like if it wasn't colonized by South Chinese peasants and traders in the 17th and 18th centuries. Which only happened because the Dutch and Spanish decided to set up colonies on the island while China happened to be going through a power struggle between dynasties.

Japanese colonialism and militarism is a direct consequence of 19th-century European colonialism in Asia. Contemporary Taiwanese nationalism is partly a result of Qing (pre-Japanese) and Cold War-era KMT (post-Japanese) misrule, but Taiwan only became politically separated from China because the island was handed over to Meiji-era Japan following the first Sino-Japanese War.

There's a well-written historical fiction blog post that describes how ethnically Chinese residents of Taiwan would've felt about Taiwanese nationalism at various points in history.

Another hundred years have passed since your last life.

For the first time in many lives… your life is actually good. China lost the Opium Wars, but what was supposed to be national tragedy ended up becoming a great thing for Taiwan. Britain forced China to open its ports, and as a result, Taiwanese ports (such as the one in Dagou and Tamsui) became lucrative and open for business. For the first time in a long time, the maritime ban that started way back in the Ming dynasty was finally lifted.

British visitors, such as George Mackay, Thomas Barclay, and Robert Swinhoe came to Taiwan to spread Christianity and introduced Western medicine. Many diseases that were thought to be incurable for all of history up until now suddenly don’t seem like such big threats anymore.

And Taiwanese tea is big… really big. In fact, Taiwanese tea (along with other crops such as sugar) became world famous! So much so that other countries are envious of Taiwan… “It’s an island with such a bright future! Too bad it’s being wasted away in the hands of Qing”, or some foreign diplomats like to say…


After the end of the Sino-French War, you think for a moment that things are finally starting to calm down… until you hear news that China is now in a war against Japan over the Korean Peninsula. You don’t exactly know where Korea is, but you’re happy that China is now at war against Japan. Avenge the people of Pingtung!

… Except that the Chinese lost. And not only did the Chinese lose, they also agreed to give up Taiwan to the Japanese. You’re dumbfounded. You don’t understand. Taiwan has nothing to do with the war in Korea, so why is Taiwan being sold out?

[TheReckoning]

NIMBYism is bad in urban areas but it’s very understandable for people who live in rural areas. I’ve lived in an exurban area, and I would hate for it to turn into generic suburb with strip malls and cookie-cutter houses lining up the street.

[It’s so Joever]

Atlas has a slight sexist bias.

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

Atlas has a slight sexist bias.

This is true. I am a woman who believes that males are bad.

[HisGrace]

I don't care if you're a wokester looking to create as many protected classes as possible or a subconscious racist trying to gatekeep who is truly "White" ...

Amazing how close these two groups are to each other at times. Like the debates about whether Jewish people are white with the far left/right coming to opposite conclusions so they can have a reason to hate them.

[It’s so Joever]

Rightly or wrongly, the US Census categorization of race and ethnicity is incredibly stupid and based on rather colonial/racist thinking.  The idea that someone can be a "Latino" is retarded.  I don't care if you're a wokester looking to create as many protected classes as possible or a subconscious racist trying to gatekeep who is truly "White" ... it makes zero sense.

If we're going to classify in this way, it should be based off of historically literate ethnic categories that actually look at people's origins.  "Latinos" should be split off into either a broad Indigenous category or simply Iberian (or other) Europeans, with those truly being mixed treated like any other "mixed race."  Someone who is 50% Mayan and 50% Spanish is not functionally different than someone who is 50% Nigerian and 50% English in origin.

Functionally nobody is different based on race. Culturally? You bet the half Mayan half Spanish person would be different from the English Nigerian mix.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

That sex and reproduction are inherently connected in biology instead of reproduction being inherently its own thing that people can control independently leads to suboptimal human happiness in a lot of cases, and should be treated as an example of the unintelligent design aspect of arguments against Gods existence.

[Meclazine for Israel]

It seems that americans like to use the word jam.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

That sex and reproduction are inherently connected in biology instead of reproduction being inherently its own thing that people can control independently leads to suboptimal human happiness in a lot of cases, and should be treated as an example of the unintelligent design aspect of arguments against Gods existence.

Sex serves an important function in humans and some other animals in promoting pair bonding, alongside its adaptive advantages to multicellular organisms generally. True there are drawbacks to sexual reproduction but its not clear another system would end up working better.