US Politics Megathread

[scarm]

I guess this wasn't the best wording, i am just spouting random nonsense here basically. The idea is that food and sex and sleep and shelter are essentially the most basic needs i suppose, meaning they kinda break the supply demand logic of capitalism (which is very evident looking at the housing market i suppose). As a result, all these sectors are "exploitable". That was what i was referring to.

[Dolan]

If I wrote that, some wise-ass redditor would say that I'm spewing incel talking points.

This is one of the reasons why I decided not to create anything valuable and make it widely available. All the new insights, the visions for new directions, I don't want to publish anything at all, ever.
If it was possible for me to make enough from some absolutely ridiculous occupation like moving a bunch of pixels on screen in captivating ways, for a good pay, that's where I'm placing my hopes.
I was also thinking of producing some kind of plastic gasket that every business would need, but it would be the most worthless crap ever produced that everyone would need. Nobody would think of that as great or valuable, just necessary. That would be my kind of valuable creation.

Well why would they be incel talking points? I legitimately think what she's doing is smart. And i don't think it is misogyn to say that people have a demand for sex (i mean this includes all humans, which is why i didn't say men but persons or people). I also think it s very reasonable to call people who send 100$ to a woman they don't know in hopes of entertaining a para-social sexual relationship retarded when they could also just meet real people or if anything pay 100$ for sex with a prostitute (is 100$ still realistic these days? Damn my knowledge really is superficial).

Idk apparently there is a perception among the wokest that if you say anything bad about "sex work", e-girls or if you say that there's a growing irritation at the idea of a #metoo movement, then you're sus. You must have some special animosity towards women, they insinuate. Even the idea that you'd care deeply about these subjects makes you sus.
What she's doing is smart, you think? She opened an OF account and spread them cheeks in front of the cam. You don't have to be Kant to figure out how to do that.

Tbh I don't care much about this subject, I've only casually run into it, like now someone mentioning it. But people who worked a lifetime, made some of the highest contributions to science, can at most get a Nobel prize, in the form of a paper diploma and a one million bucks cheque. Often they share the prize, because it's too large for one to handle. And those very few that are considered the pinnacles of contributions to human cognition barely get close in a lifetime to how much someone like her could make in a good month on OnlyFans:

millions of millions

I'm really happy I'm not in those people's shoes. Yes, I know, they would have done it even without getting the prize and most of them still keep making major contributions without getting anything more in return than a wage, but how "the market" rewards people based on the importance of what they "contribute to society" reaches a pinnacle of comicality with this example.

These people - football players, OnlyFans clitoris flicking experts - don't come up with any new techniques of performing surgeries that fix people's health problems or restore lost body functions. They just provide a short session of catharsis in front of a screen and they get paid millions per year. This works also because what they sell is something that can be multiplied without any effort.

Anyway, as a guy, imagine the level of competence or value that you'd have to provide to compete with someone who just sits in front of a camera and gets paid millions per year. Usually only CEOs, maybe some top-tier surgeons, football players can reach this level of income, but after many years of training, physical injuries, accumulated experience.

So while you're doing extra work hours in your office, saving up for that flat that you're going to own when you're 60, if even so , think of this professional who already made it thanks to making top-tier contributions that drive humanity foward



Inspirational ngl, they should have highschool classes on how to become an OnlyFans professional ngl. Because these are real-life skills, not those dorky things they're teaching in the class.

[Dolan]

If I wrote that, some wise-ass redditor would say that I'm spewing incel talking points.

This is one of the reasons why I decided not to create anything valuable and make it widely available. All the new insights, the visions for new directions, I don't want to publish anything at all, ever.
If it was possible for me to make enough from some absolutely ridiculous occupation like moving a bunch of pixels on screen in captivating ways, for a good pay, that's where I'm placing my hopes.
I was also thinking of producing some kind of plastic gasket that every business would need, but it would be the most worthless crap ever produced that everyone would need. Nobody would think of that as great or valuable, just necessary. That would be my kind of valuable creation.

Can you clarify? I want to understand but don’t anything at all

Idk, I guess it's me coming to terms with the meaning of the The Fable of the Bees.

[callentournies]

gl

[Cometk]

Even the queen gets it

image

[Cometk]

no market solution

[Horsemen]

men can open OF accounts too afaik

[harcha]

no market solution

wbout police state solution?

i wonder how is it still profitable to mine cryptos? do you guys have really cheap electricity?

[Cometk]

no market solution

wbout police state solution?

i wonder how is it still profitable to mine cryptos? do you guys have really cheap electricity?

coincidentally i logged on just to post this

sorry my posts are just 90% twitter links lately but what's the point in thinking further. can't wait for this empire to burn

[fightinfrenchman]

sorry my posts are just 90% twitter links lately but what's the point in thinking further. can't wait for this empire to burn

"This empire" burning isn't going to actually give you the satisfaction you crave. The people you hate will continue to see material successess until they die

[harcha]

sorry my posts are just 90% twitter links lately but what's the point in thinking further. can't wait for this empire to burn

"This empire" burning isn't going to actually give you the satisfaction you crave. The people you hate will continue to see material successess until they die

it sounds like you're implying that the solution is actually just logging off. that sounds crasy...

[Cometk]

sorry my posts are just 90% twitter links lately but what's the point in thinking further. can't wait for this empire to burn

"This empire" burning isn't going to actually give you the satisfaction you crave. The people you hate will continue to see material successess until they die

this is true if you believe fascism will prevail

[Cometk]

givin the whole game away

[lejend]

How it started

Foreign policy took center stage in Wednesday night’s Democratic debate, with former Vice President Joe Biden saying he would not sell weapons to Saudi Arabia — marking a sharp contrast with the Obama administration — and stressing he would make the Saudis “pay the price” for their killing of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi.

“I would make it very clear we were not going to in fact sell more weapons to them,” Biden said. “We were going to in fact make them pay the price, and make them in fact the pariah that they are.” Biden also said there is “very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia,” and, in reference to Yemen, said he would end “end the sale of material to the Saudis where they’re going in and murdering children.”

How it's going

[RefluxSemantic]

Current events (as in the last ... 6 years at least) in the US are scarier than i am letting myself realize. The US democracy is going to shit and might be on the brink to collapse sooner rather than later. Enter Russia, China, antisemitism running rampant... Not to be a doomsayer but i wouldn't be surprised if the most peaceful years of my life were over.

We lived in a local maximum of prosperity: With all the overpopulation and climate change, as well as general political instability due to a failing economical system as well as negative effects from social media, I genuinely think that 'we' wont be wealthier than now.

Luckily for me, past years I was living the relatively poor life as a student and the start of my career didnt enrich me either, so for me it'll still be getting better. But I doubt that we will really have the wealth that the boomers have had for the past decades.

[RefluxSemantic]

The food industry should technically have a similar option of exploiting people, but i guess pictures of food do not have the same marginal effect on satisfying hunger as pictures of sex have for sexual needs?

I'm not sure how you're defining "exploitation" here but what definition would include porn and exclude fast food?

Well, these people are sexually starved (at least im assuming thats what it takes to donate 100s to a random girl streaming). I dont think people going to a fast food restaurant are starved and then being fed something that hardly helps with their starvation. So I dont really think the analogy works here.

[Goodspeed]

The food industry should technically have a similar option of exploiting people, but i guess pictures of food do not have the same marginal effect on satisfying hunger as pictures of sex have for sexual needs?

I'm not sure how you're defining "exploitation" here but what definition would include porn and exclude fast food?

Well, these people are sexually starved (at least im assuming thats what it takes to donate 100s to a random girl streaming). I dont think people going to a fast food restaurant are starved and then being fed something that hardly helps with their starvation. So I dont really think the analogy works here.

Most people who donate to camgirls are more emotionally starved than sexually, but that's not really important here.

If you phrase it a little differently, the analogy does seem to hold up: People who frequent fast food restaurants are at the very least hungry when they go there. Eating will alleviate that temporarily, but fat people are notoriously almost always hungry so it will return soon enough. Similarly people who are sexually/emotionally starved can alleviate that temporarily but the feeling will return soon enough.

But is using people's want/need for profit necessarily exploitation? If it helps them with something, isn't it a mutually beneficial arrangement? Of course fast food is bad for you, so that's arguably not mutually beneficial, but if someone goes to a camsite and donates $ to a streamer, rubs one out and moves on, didn't the interaction with said streamer add something to their experience? These people are looking to buy something that the streamers are selling: Interaction with porn. I think that's just basic supply and demand, and calling it exploitation is misunderstanding either that market or the word.

My analogy with fast food is attempting to show the similarities between porn and any other industry that tries to make profit from people's basic needs.

Anyway there's really nothing wrong with trying to make profit from people's basic needs as long as you do it morally. The problem in all of these industries is that there is a lot of immoral actors. An example of this in the camming industry is people falling in love with streamers and the streamer taking advantage by leading them on and milking them for every last penny. There are plenty such stories, but it doesn't make the entire industry exploitative.

[Cometk]

Current events (as in the last ... 6 years at least) in the US are scarier than i am letting myself realize. The US democracy is going to shit and might be on the brink to collapse sooner rather than later. Enter Russia, China, antisemitism running rampant... Not to be a doomsayer but i wouldn't be surprised if the most peaceful years of my life were over.

We lived in a local maximum of prosperity: With all the overpopulation and climate change, as well as general political instability due to a failing economical system as well as negative effects from social media, I genuinely think that 'we' wont be wealthier than now.

it's a nitpick but overpopulation ain't a thing

[Horsemen]

Show hidden quotes

The food industry should technically have a similar option of exploiting people, but i guess pictures of food do not have the same marginal effect on satisfying hunger as pictures of sex have for sexual needs?

I'm not sure how you're defining "exploitation" here but what definition would include porn and exclude fast food?

Well, these people are sexually starved (at least im assuming thats what it takes to donate 100s to a random girl streaming). I dont think people going to a fast food restaurant are starved and then being fed something that hardly helps with their starvation. So I dont really think the analogy works here.

Most people who donate to camgirls are more emotionally starved than sexually, but that's not really important here.

If you phrase it a little differently, the analogy does seem to hold up: People who frequent fast food restaurants are at the very least hungry when they go there. Eating will alleviate that temporarily, but fat people are notoriously almost always hungry so it will return soon enough. Similarly people who are sexually/emotionally starved can alleviate that temporarily but the feeling will return soon enough.

But is using people's want/need for profit necessarily exploitation? If it helps them with something, isn't it a mutually beneficial arrangement? Of course fast food is bad for you, so that's arguably not mutually beneficial, but if someone goes to a camsite and donates $ to a streamer, rubs one out and moves on, didn't the interaction with said streamer add something to their experience? These people are looking to buy something that the streamers are selling: Interaction with porn. I think that's just basic supply and demand, and calling it exploitation is misunderstanding either that market or the word.

My analogy with fast food is attempting to show the similarities between porn and any other industry that tries to make profit from people's basic needs.

Anyway there's really nothing wrong with trying to make profit from people's basic needs as long as you do it morally. The problem in all of these industries is that there is a lot of immoral actors. An example of this in the camming industry is people falling in love with streamers and the streamer taking advantage by leading them on and milking them for every last penny. There are plenty such stories, but it doesn't make the entire industry exploitative.

Interesting, some people would say that it's the cam girls who are being exploited.

Although it's hard to see how that's possible when Belle Delphine has made $30m from OF.

[RefluxSemantic]

Current events (as in the last ... 6 years at least) in the US are scarier than i am letting myself realize. The US democracy is going to shit and might be on the brink to collapse sooner rather than later. Enter Russia, China, antisemitism running rampant... Not to be a doomsayer but i wouldn't be surprised if the most peaceful years of my life were over.

We lived in a local maximum of prosperity: With all the overpopulation and climate change, as well as general political instability due to a failing economical system as well as negative effects from social media, I genuinely think that 'we' wont be wealthier than now.

it's a nitpick but overpopulation ain't a thing

Do you really think so? If we take western life as a baseline, then we are definitely overpopulated. In many aspects, at least for the forseeable future, earth cant sustain this type of life for the amount of people we have.

[RefluxSemantic]

@Goodspeed fast food doesnt exploit hunger though. It exploits the fact that we are hardwired to enjoy unhealthy food. Ultimately they just offer food that is tasty and 'exploit' the demand for tasty food.

[Goodspeed]

Show hidden quotes

The food industry should technically have a similar option of exploiting people, but i guess pictures of food do not have the same marginal effect on satisfying hunger as pictures of sex have for sexual needs?

I'm not sure how you're defining "exploitation" here but what definition would include porn and exclude fast food?

Well, these people are sexually starved (at least im assuming thats what it takes to donate 100s to a random girl streaming). I dont think people going to a fast food restaurant are starved and then being fed something that hardly helps with their starvation. So I dont really think the analogy works here.

Most people who donate to camgirls are more emotionally starved than sexually, but that's not really important here.

If you phrase it a little differently, the analogy does seem to hold up: People who frequent fast food restaurants are at the very least hungry when they go there. Eating will alleviate that temporarily, but fat people are notoriously almost always hungry so it will return soon enough. Similarly people who are sexually/emotionally starved can alleviate that temporarily but the feeling will return soon enough.

But is using people's want/need for profit necessarily exploitation? If it helps them with something, isn't it a mutually beneficial arrangement? Of course fast food is bad for you, so that's arguably not mutually beneficial, but if someone goes to a camsite and donates $ to a streamer, rubs one out and moves on, didn't the interaction with said streamer add something to their experience? These people are looking to buy something that the streamers are selling: Interaction with porn. I think that's just basic supply and demand, and calling it exploitation is misunderstanding either that market or the word.

My analogy with fast food is attempting to show the similarities between porn and any other industry that tries to make profit from people's basic needs.

Anyway there's really nothing wrong with trying to make profit from people's basic needs as long as you do it morally. The problem in all of these industries is that there is a lot of immoral actors. An example of this in the camming industry is people falling in love with streamers and the streamer taking advantage by leading them on and milking them for every last penny. There are plenty such stories, but it doesn't make the entire industry exploitative.

Interesting, some people would say that it's the cam girls who are being exploited.

Although it's hard to see how that's possible when Belle Delphine has made $30m from OF.

Why would one say that?

Afaik it's not common for women to be forced into that profession.

[harcha]

that would just be 21st century pimping, i don't think it's too uncommon

[Goodspeed]

I'm sure it happens but can think of a few reason it would be less common than women being forced into physical sex work. Digital sex work is very public-facing (camgirls have their own brand, significant social media presence) and transparent (sites like OnlyFans require proof of ID, all transactions are stored) neither of which you want if you're doing criminal stuff.

[Goodspeed]

@Goodspeed fast food doesnt exploit hunger though. It exploits the fact that we are hardwired to enjoy unhealthy food. Ultimately they just offer food that is tasty and 'exploit' the demand for tasty food.

It's unclear to me how this is fundamentally different from what happens in porn