[ExI] Electoral College and 1177 BCE

[Will Steinberg]

John, I don't disagree with you about anything besides whether using the
exact same politicky shitposting in every thread is appropriate discourse.
It *suppresses* discourse.  It is a terrible, ineffectual means to your
desired ends.  I am *completely* willing to accept your value judgment of
said shitposting here being justified, but I am of the strong position that
it is destructive (and already has driven long-time members away.)  I do
not believe you could have a compelling argument in favor of its use.


On Sat, Aug 25, 2018 at 7:39 PM John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> wrote:

> some American citizens (cow owning republicans in small states)
>

Wow!! Real cowboys?!



> other American citizens (bookstore owning democrats in large states).
>

Yeah, books!


> Everybody wants to have the last word but I respectfully suggest i
> f you
> really
> want me to stop commenting on this fucking topic then stop responding
> to this fucking topic.
>
>
>
No, I have stake in it.  I like this list a lot and it's pretty crazy what
the effect of these political shitposts have been.  What happened to the
awesome H+ list I joined?  Can't we talk about uploading or
Matryoshka Brains or lab-grown organs or metamaterials or anything else??

I truly, truly do not understand why it has to overtake the list.  We're
all dealing with the fallout from current events, and the predication of
worse ones to come, in our own ways.  Maybe someone on this list will be
inspired by a H+ post and invent a device that lets people share their
thoughts so they will have more empathy for one another.  Or perhaps figure
out the remedy for the behavioral-economical advantage-taking of gullible
consumers, and lessen the grip of corporations from the roots.  Or figure
out how uploading works so the underlying survival/death anxiety is
alleviated?

The current events are part of a LONG TERM PROBLEM THAT HAS BEEN EMERGING
FOR A LONG TIME.  And the solutions, even if some needed to be completed
quickly to avoid a fascist coup, are of varying lengths.  You can NOT use
the assumption we will nuke ourselves to death at the hands of a madman to
NOT also plan for the more likely events otherwise (even while actively
trying to avert said fascist coup.)

This is a place for the growth of forever ideas.  If you want to go make
political change with your own hands, go to a revolutionary group.  Or if
you want to circumlocute around repetitive quasipolitical ravings, I
guarantee you there are a lot of lists for that too.  This just doesn't
happen to be THAT list.  This list is a different list.

 Nobody is going to listen to repeated bashings over the head with
political value judgments.  It is extremely pointless and going nowhere.
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