Trump/Guilt/Jan. 6 Insurrection/Brainwashing/Personal Responsibility/QAnon/Classified Brain-Scanning Technology/Legal Guilt or Innocence

Reddit Post Title: HaVe A vEry MerRy cHrisTmAs fellow democrats. Thank you everyone who makes this sub great! From the mods to the commenters. Make a wish to see Trump behind bars by next Xmas!

Me: Controversial take, but we don't know if he's been brainwashed (like members of a cult) or if his or his family member's lives are in danger or what. I feel like classified brain-scanning technology is far enough along that we should be able to use it to find out what's really going on and if he's guilty in the legal sense of the word...assuming there's a way to tell if his brain has been hacked or lobotomized or whatever to alter the results.

Commenter: Manchurian Candidate style.

Me: I don't know about that. I was thinking of how the QAnon people who took part in Jan. 6 thought they were following direct orders from the President. They get in trouble, the President denies doing anything of the sort, and now we're in the middle of a big investigation to determine how much he was actually at fault given his actions but not his thoughts. I feel like his thoughts would be part of the whole story, since there are people in cults, people who are acting under the orders of their commanding officer in the military, people who have a gun to their head, etc. who do things that they wouldn't ordinarily do if they weren't being forced to do it. The US should come clean regarding how far along they are with brain-scanning technology (probably a lot further than Neuralink, etc.) and use that technology to sort out the terrorists from everyone else. It would probably fall under the Patriot Act.

Me: To clarify, if he was brainwashed, it might have been done subtly through a disinformation campaign, or outright, like in The Manchurian Candidate. There might also be other factors at play, like Narcissistic Personality Disorder with delusions of grandeur.

Reddit Discussion Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/democrats/comments/zukwjh/have_a_very_merry_christmas_fellow_democrats/

If our courts didn't follow "innocent until proven guilty," we'd be living in a truly fucked up society.

Great news!

"WNBA star Brittney Griner released from Russian custody in a high-profile prisoner swap between the U.S. and Moscow"

Link to article: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/wnba-star-brittney-griner-released-russian-custody-high-profile-prison-rcna60683

Link to Reddit discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/zfyfhc/wnba_star_brittney_griner_released_from_russian/

Reddit appears to hate it, though. They're acting like our justice system is exactly like Russia's, and her being in a literal hard labor prison camp (Russian gulag) means nothing.

Also, in America, you're innocent until proven guilty. This means that we'd rather people who we're sure about be granted innocence instead of possibly throwing an innocent person in jail. Why? Because if we started throwing innocent people in jail, our country would be super fucked up. It's more ethical to let people go if you're unsure than to throw a bunch of innocent people into jail. That's basically what we did with the trade. We're letting someone go who didn't deserve to be in prison (a hard labor prison camp, actually) in exchange for the guilty Russian arms dealer. If it had been the opposite or if the trade hadn't happened, that would be like throwing one innocent person into a hard labor prison camp for every guilty criminal out there. Everyone and their mother would end up in the gulag. That's not fair. That would be a fucked up society to live in.

I think the same logic applies when you're doing prisoner swaps during war. In order to save guys on your side from being tortured and killed, you let some of the guys from the other side go. Even if you're playing by the rules (Geneva convention--war crimes rules), the other side is not. And your soldiers don't deserve to be tortured until they're begging for death. It's my opinion that no one deserves that, but that's a different argument.

I hope they find someone to exchange Paul Whelan for next. I think there's one other American as well.

Strict households and rebellion

Very true for some people.

I think it's like people who grew up in a strict household, then get to college and rebel.

Hopefully this will be studied in the future. A lot of factors probably come into play here.

Edit: Some studies have probably already been done, but I want them to come up with a near-foolproof plan that the mainstream media will pick up on and promote. Even if it involves things like being allowed to drink at home or go to parties as a teenager as long as you find a safe ride home. This is the kind of thing worth researching for future generations' sake.

Link to comic, published on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/comics/comments/zi42bu/triumph_oc

“I feel like this is one of those things that…in the future, we’ll look back on it and be horrified at how racist, classist, etc. everyone in the past was.” -me

My Reddit Comment: Making fun of people’s faces and facial muscle anatomy? Which are directly determined by where your ancestors lived, which was also directly determined by how much money they had?

I feel like this is one of those things that…in the future, we’ll look back on it and be horrified at how racist, classist, etc. everyone in the past was.

Reddit Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/meme/comments/ybzhct/im_watching_you_elon/

 

Torture/Sanctions/The Rights of Prisoners and Everyone to Food, Housing, Healthcare, Fresh Air, Space, Recreation, and a Long Life

I don’t believe in torture, sanctions, etc. I think everyone should have access to food, housing, healthcare, etc. and that short of taking someone else’s organs, even prisoners should be provided with everything to help them live as long a life as possible. That includes fresh air, space, and recreation. But I might be a bit ahead of the times.

Assisted Suicide/Mental Health/Consent/Philanthropy/3-D Printed Organs/Universal Healthcare

Reddit discussion link: Canadians Turn to Euthanasia as Solution to Unbearable Poverty

https://www.reddit.com/r/boringdystopia/comments/x9359o/_

Commenter: How are you going to convince anyone that someone mentally ill enough to not live can make the clear decision to end themselves? I thought Canada was supposed to be friendly? Starting to sound like Texas.

Commenter #2: No, Texas doesn't support a legal framework for self-electing to die. The Texas way is to generally not provide substantial aid or services, including aided suicide.

Texas has it's own kind of awful, but this is a sort of faux-compassionate that Texas wouldn't touch.

Commenter #3: I’m more referring to the fact that Texas likes killing the mentally ill. But yeah.

Me (responding to commenter #1): Also what I don’t understand. Normally, if someone is suicidal and a harm to themselves, we take action (in the US).

I also see a problem with someone choosing to commit slow suicide (by gaining so much weight that they can’t breathe, for example). How is that not classified as a mental illness that warrants intervention?

Say in the future you’re able to get a brain scan and an AI determines that your future is bleak/pain level high enough -and- you’re of sound enough mind to make that kind of decision (or you were of sound enough mind when you made that decision before mental deterioration). Why aren’t other avenues being explored/funded, like pain medication/thought editing/even a full-on brain transplant into a 3 or 4-D printed new body? In terms of effective altruism, this would save lives in a concrete and immediate way, and would continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I thought we’ve had 3-D printed organs for years now. Who’s getting them? The rich? I never hear about this option being offered to the people who need it most. Where’s the funding for the hardware and whatever goes into the refills/“printer ink?” Where are the philanthropies that could help people whose only alternative is assisted suicide? Where’s the universal healthcare that should cover life-or-death care like this?

Sanctions/Gas/Europe/Military Recruitment/Poor People/Universal Basic Income/Third-Party Candidates/2024 Election

I don’t believe in sanctions…I think I’ve mentioned this before. They’re not ethical because they end up harming the people instead of the governments, especially the poor (and more recently, especially in the UK, the middle class). Of course there are good arguments on both sides, especially since we are in the middle of a war, but this, to me, seems like we are just sacrificing the poor in order to gain an advantage. I feel the same about recruiting poor/working-class people into the military. I believe in a Universal Basic Income (UBI), which means that the government pays people instead of collecting an income tax. Like permanent stimulus checks. It’s what Andrew Yang stood for during the Democratic primaries of 2020. Unfortunately, since then, Yang has declared himself a third-party candidate, and I don’t want him to take votes away from Biden’s re-election and the Democratic Party. Also like I’ve said before, I hope he comes to his senses soon and switches back to the Democratic Party. 

It's okay for you to feel pain/torture as part of your punishment. Look at it this way--at least I didnt take away your "rights."

I think ideally we'd have a non-invasive (ELF-wave) mind reader that could interfere before it got to the point where a person could inflict harm upon another person.

Sort of weird how she dismisses this viewpoint with the questions she first asks regarding invasive treatments (if we had widespread brain implants before widespread ELF technology and/or brain implants ended up being cheaper or more sustainable) and pharmacologically-induced remorse. I feel like the point should be to keep people safe, not to impose your own personal sense of justice and appropriate punishment. Remorse, natural or pharmacologically-induced, is not necessary for a society to safely function, in my opinion, and in some people, it may even be impossible for them to feel remorse in a natural, real way. I'm of the opinion that people in general have much less free will than they think they do. Our DNA, the way we were raised, the circumstances into which we were born, and the situations we find ourselves in second-to-second form a feedback loop that causes certain behavior patterns to flourish.

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Link to the author's blog where she expands upon what she said in her interview with Aeon regarding future prisoners serving sentences that either last 1000 years or feel like they do (with the assistance of drugs and/or technology): 

"The future of punishment: a clarification"

https://rebeccaroache.weebly.com/blog/the-future-of-punishment-a-clarification

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One of many articles written based on the author's interview with Aeon (Aeon's link no longer works): 

"Could we condemn criminals to suffer for hundreds of years? Biotechnology could let us extend convicts' lives 'indefinitely'" (written in 2014)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2580828/Could-soon-create-hell-EARTH-Biotechnology-let-extend-criminals-lives-makes-suffering-HUNDREDS-years.html

How to elect a UBI (Universal Basic Income) candidate in 2028

EDIT 01.01.2023: As long as we wait until this MAGA thing dies out or Texas secedes (whichever comes first), a UBI (Universal Basic Income, or free money for every American) will do good things for our country in the long run, and for the world by setting a good example and starting a worldwide movement that will one day make it to the poorest countries.

 Reddit post: 

“Let’s All Not Die

“Hi friends, 

“I am curious if you think an anti-collapse political party could exist or be successful. I am worried that we cannot continue down any path currently endorsed by political parties (I live in the US). Do you think people who may believe in collapse or see the potential issues climate crisis will cause could create enough political traction to get their message out by creating a political party or movement with the goal of protecting the average citizen from probable collapse?”

My response: 

I’d say your best shot would be starting a movement within the Democratic Party, but not creating a whole new party. It’s basically a two-party system, and you’d want to choose the Democrats because Republicans wouldn’t want to support anything that requires money.

It’s because of this that I’m really disappointed that Yang became a third-party candidate.

Hopefully there will be another candidate in 2028 who supports a UBI, but from the Democratic Party. I was very pro-Yang in-between the time Biden first got elected and Yang deciding to go third-party (possibly due to 20/20 hindsight seeing how everyone was affected by the pandemic). I hope that Yang doesn’t take away too many votes from Biden in 2024, but is successful in increasing support for a UBI. Then a Democrat that runs on a UBI platform will hopefully win in 2028…

Reddit post and discussion: 

https://www.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/wd833o/lets_all_not_die

Yes on CA Prop 26 and 27; on the difference between supporting legal drugs, alcohol, gambling vs. legal prostitution

Personally, I’m voting yes on both Prop 26 and 27 (sports betting at Native American casinos and sports betting on cell phones/tablets/etc.). I understand it as a regional issue; as opposed to nationally legalizing these types of betting, it’s probably best left up to the states (or, eventually, individual cities/counties) to decide if the tax revenue is worth the change in the types of people that they get as tourists and new residents, as well as the effect it will have on the lives of the people allowed to gamble away their life savings. I’d have no problem with California becoming more competitive with Las Vegas or Atlantic City, and I believe for the most part in individual decision-making in regards to drugs, alcohol, and gambling. I draw the line at prostitution, partly because of the risk of STDs and mostly because so many people get kicked out of their house as soon as they’re 18 or graduate high school and they’d have nowhere to go, regardless of whether the job market is good or not. They’re just not raised with an education-first mindset, and that’s not their fault, and they shouldn’t be forced to prostitute themselves as a result.

I especially support 27 (sports betting on cell phones/tablets/etc.) because a lot of the tax revenue goes to support the homeless, a group of people who really need the money, and it could be the difference between life and death for them. I’ve seen the way conservatives on Reddit and NextDoor talk about unhoused populations, and it makes me sick. I feel like if 27 isn’t passed, a lot of good will be left undone, and we may not get the chance to significantly increase funding for the unhoused for a while. Meanwhile, global warming continues, making the summers hotter and more unbearable each year, with people more likely to die in larger and larger numbers. It’s one of the few times I feel like my vote will actually count towards something big. A lot of lives are on the line.

Link to info about the issues: https://ballotpedia.org/California_2022_ballot_propositions

The possibility of civil war if Electoral College electors decide that the American public’s votes don’t count, resulting in Trump becoming President despite losing according to the votes

I subscribe to a Reddit community for preppers (people who prepare for emergency/disaster/etc. situations) and someone asked what type of event would be enough to cause them to leave the country (a lot of people, like the author of the podcast “It Could Happen Here,” believe it’s possible that a civil war is in our future, and with the recent Supreme Court decisions and its seeming willingness to allow 2024 electoral college “electors” to decide to their vote goes towards instead of their vote being decided by the people the way most people think it works, it’s possible that no matter who actually wins the election, electors will decide that their vote goes to Trump and he will win the presidency…making a civil war a definite possibility). A lot of people said that they should start preparing to move out of the country (expatriate) -now.-

Link to the Reddit post in the Preppers community: https://www.reddit.com/r/preppers/comments/vs3k4t/im_planning_to_leave_the_us_if_shtf_what_event/

Fourth Jan. 6 insurrectionist found guilty/Trump, Russia, and Q/QAnon

This is just sad...we almost have Trump (Jan 6. committee) and this judge sounded like they believe Trump’s guilty as well. Yet, the rioter was found guilty.

I believe he thought he was following Trump’s orders. He’s been brainwashed by a Russian disinformation campaign, Q/QAnon.

If anyone else had been brainwashed into doing something like this, I think we’d say, no, he was brainwashed, he’s not guilty. The other side instead said, this isn’t Trump’s trial, it’s yours.

In my eyes the guilty parties are Trump and Russia (Vladimir Putin and the Russian government).

Hopefully he doesn’t get too long of a sentence. I don’t think the other person I read about who was found guilty got a very long one.

I think history will see the rioters as victims of Russia and Trump’s actions...but right now, at this point, we haven’t convicted Trump and we want someone to blame. It looks like they also want to make an example out of him to prevent insurrections like the Jan. 6 one from happening again. Trump looks guilty AF at this point, especially because of the missing call logs, and eventually we’re going to all agree that Q/QAnon was one of Russia’s many attempts to dismantle the US government and cause another American civil war. Hindsight is 20/20.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/14/politics/dustin-thompson-january-6-trump/index.html

Reddit question: Those with chronic mental or physical pain, what keeps you alive?

“We always try to separate mind and body but after months and months of recovery I’ve found myself sobbing and the physical and emotional pain become one

“It becomes dangerous at some point. To constantly feel like you’re dying from something but knowing it’ll drag out basically as long as it damn wants

“How do you keep going in that sense? What makes you decide today you’ll live and you’ll find a life and love beyond the pain and more pain?”

Me: Because I wouldn’t want anyone to murder me. That would be awful, and wrong, and unethical...

I also don’t want to die early. It would be a shame if I didn’t get to live out my life to the best of my ability.

I like to pretend like someone could make my life infinitely better if I just gave them $100 (I have no money). Then I pretend I’m working to earn that $100, but don’t set a checkpoint for it, just keep working. Like working without checking the clock, just giving it your all while getting rest, food, etc. How much money would you pay to have the best/longest life possible? As much as you could afford? Pretend you’re paying someone else to do the dirty work for you. You deserve to have the best life possible as long as you don’t step on anyone along the way.

Same goes for everyone else.

Of course, it would be nice if you believed in contributing to society while you’re alive. It would be nice if everyone believed this.

In case of emergency, break glass

I’d like to think that if things get really bad in the United States, people will wise up over the next 0-4 years and elect someone who supports a UBI (universal basic income). If the US dollar is safe, a lot of other currencies will be too, and we can help the movement to start a worldwide UBI (or at least a UBI in every country). That’s just my hope, though.

Traits of future presidents?

What kinds of people do you see getting elected in the future? What trends do you see?

What kinds of people would you -like- to see elected in the future? 

I, in particular, would like to see more geniuses chosen. They can have high g scores or high scores in emotional intelligence (or be geniuses in multiple areas with no real weak points). I guess foresight is the thing I’m looking for the most, as I want my country (the United States) to both succeed and be on the right side of history...people are too risk-averse when it comes to big change, and I would like to see more things implemented to make sure that history sees us as an honest attempt at a utopia, not one that makes enough bad decisions to make it a dystopia. I would get rid of the Patriot Act, because it’s illegal under UN law, but I’d also encourage the UN to deploy NATO troops on the basis of the invasion being illegal (Putin tried to say he was invoking some clause that allowed him to, but a lot of countries signed a statement saying that what he did was against the UN charter. The UN still refuses to get involved, and Biden won’t even send Ukraine the fighter jets that they need. I’m normally a liberal Democrat, but I believe in the enforcement of laws that are ethical and agreed upon through a vote (majority if we’re being particular on that. There is a movement to abolish the electoral college, and my state, California, is already a part of it). I’m also somewhat libertarian in that I think almost all laws (except those regarding federal military, budgets, etc.) should be decided by the city or municipality instead of the state or federal government. This would give people more freedom to live somewhere that believes in the laws that they believe in. If you want guns, don’t want guns, want enough security to make a gated city or community, etc...and if you get a job in a big city but don’t agree with its politics, you can move to a suburb. There would also have to be more low-income housing, and I think the federal government should legalize marijuana and make money off of its taxes...I also think all philanthropies should be run by volunteers and interns and/or the federal government, so that 100% of all donations go directly to the cause. I also believe in a UBI (universal basic income, where you get free money from the government to spend however you want. Instead of paying taxes, you get money).

Covid Lockdowns

Of course we should have lockdowns. Just because they didn’t prevent that many deaths this time doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep using them. What if it was the after-effects of the lockdown, like fatigue/social anxiety/I don’t even know that added to people staying home and not catching the virus? And even if the original effect is minimal, we should we doing everything we can to save lives without infringing on people’s rights and freedoms. I’m hoping they make N95s and boosters the standard. I don’t have an N95 yet and I don’t have a booster yet, but I’m sure it will save lives even if I personally have such a hard time breathing (I’m getting a sleep apnea test soon) that I might not be able to use the mask and have to stay home.

Context: CNN, MSNBC, NYT, WaPo completely avoid Johns Hopkins study finding COVID lockdowns ineffective

https://www.foxnews.com/media/johns-hopkins-university-study-lockdowns-media-blackout?fbclid=IwAR2VhgTUmBMBQbD-sdtIyoKf3YkckF8tZbg_zSb0GRUBOAbvyUBS-OVSLyo