TokenBoomer @ TokenBoomer @lemmy.world

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409

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Joined

2 yr. ago

Alien Nation?

I think Gabriel Rockhill would consider Chomsky as part of the compatible left. It’s essential to separate the ideas from the person. I tend not to expect too much from libertarian socialists like Chomsky, and they rarely disappoint me. He can be a resource for early radicalization and dissident thought though.

I had no idea AI used so much energy. For what? Cool videos and incorrect answers. I’m not sure the costs are worth it.

This interview with Noam Chomsky explains why we should listen to intellectuals when they speak of matters that are not necessarily in their field of expertise:

Some years ago, for example, I did some work in mathematical linguistics and automata theory, and occasionally gave invited lectures at mathematics or engineering colloquia. No one would have dreamed of challenging my credentials to speak on these topics -- which were zero, as everyone knew; that would have been laughable. The participants were concerned with what I had to say, not my right to say it. But when I speak, say, about international affairs, I'm constantly challenged to present the credentials that authorize me to enter this august arena, in the United States, at least -- elsewhere not.

Anyone can give their opinions on football teams, movies, recipes for cooking. But, for some reason you have to be an expert to talk about economics or politics. The reason- those discussions challenge the accepted power structures of authority. So, those discussions are guarded, and any challenge dismissed.

Well, let me give an example. When I'm driving, I sometimes turn on the radio and I find very often that what I'm listening to is a discussion of sports. These are telephone conversations. People call in and have long and intricate discussions, and it's plain that quite a high degree of thought and analysis is going into that. People know a tremendous amount. They know all sorts of complicated details and enter into far-reaching discussion about whether the coach made the right decision yesterday and so on. These are ordinary people, not professionals, who are applying their intelligence and analytic skills in these areas and accumulating quite a lot of knowledge and, for all I know, understanding. On the other hand, when I hear people talk about, say, international affairs or domestic problems, it's at a level of superficiality that's beyond belief.

In part, this reaction may be due to my own areas of interest, but I think it's quite accurate, basically. And I think that this concentration on such topics as sports makes a certain degree of sense. The way the system is set up, there is virtually nothing people can do anyway, without a degree of organization that's far beyond anything that exists now, to influence the real world. They might as well live in a fantasy world, and that's in fact what they do. I'm sure they are using their common sense and intellectual skills, but in an area which has no meaning and probably thrives because it has no meaning, as a displacement from the serious problems which one cannot influence and affect because the power happens to lie elsewhere. source

ERB- Ford vs. Marx.

Power and the money, money and the power 
\ Minute after minute, hour after hour 
\ Everybody's runnin', but half of them ain't lookin' 
\ It's goin' on in the kitchen, but I don't know what's cookin'

What a ferkuffel.

Absolutely:

Realpolitik prioritizes practical considerations over ideological or moral concerns. This can involve making alliances or compromises with states that may have conflicting values or interests.

How else could we explain America allowing a genocide with 46,000+ deaths? It’s the reason people supported the Democrats, and a genocide, despite the threat of Trump and fascism. The ends justify the means.

Good read. Thanks.

We're talking about what a catastrophic fuck-up Trump is for the Palestinians

Source? ‘cause from their pov he gave them a ceasefire. Talk about straw men. These conversations hinge on a futuristic, hypothetical series of events that may not happen. Will Trump be worse? Maybe. Probably. But that’s still in the future.

We know that Biden and the Democrats in the present, and past, failed to stymie Trump from taking office again , while aiding Israel in a genocide.

I have no problem with the Trump hate mills mentioning all of his fascist actions. But when that is used to apologize for Biden, the Democrats, and an actual genocide I have to speak out.

The Democrats were never gonna save us from fascism. It’s time we accept that and work together without them.

KHAN!!!

My calculus teacher made us write our answers in complete sentences. I regret not putting bees in his car.

I’m sorry if I make you feel like you need to leave, it’s just a different way of viewing the world. I understand your sentiment about the threat of Trump, but I don’t excuse the Democrats role in allowing this to happen.

Lots of comments trying to sanewash an actual genocide. Humanity is not a team sport.

You’re so sure of yourself. A little humility goes a long way:

But those caveats should not obscure the fact that it was a Democratic president who so thoroughly failed in pushing Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to accept a ceasefire deal—and that Biden’s incompetence is what has allowed Trump to take a victory lap before even taking office.

This failure had catastrophic consequences. According to the official death toll, Israel’s onslaught has killed more than 46,000 people in Gaza. Public health researchers estimate the actual death toll, which will only be known after buried bodies after pulled from the omnipresent rubble, is far higher.

I’m sure the Palestinians sleeping in tents tonight are wistfully reminding themselves that Biden was better because Trump might be worse.

Realpolitiks hasn’t failed the West yet, why should it now?

Meanwhile, Palestine…

There is nothing to be optimistic about, so yes.

Fuck it. I’m gonna rob a bank, give Trump half, and get pardoned.