zero

totally. maybe it's a middle age thing, or maybe all the political BS of the past 10ish years...but I don't have much of a desire anymore to watch a dramatic show about miserable people acting like immature twats to each other, as it causes me stress. I can watch the nightly news and get my dose of that if I so need. a big exception to that was Succession. I avoided it for a long time, due to the reason mentioned above. on paper it sounded like it would be a stressful watching experience. all the promo pics of it made it look very dark and gloomy. I didn't expect it to be as funny as it was, and that is a big part of what kept me coming back to it. they were all horrible people acting horribly to each other, but they all knew it and seemed to be having fun with it all.

I'm about 6 episodes into Station Eleven...still not sure on this one. the production elements on it are very well done, but there are some very annoying characters. it jumps around so much, also annoying. the characters I do like are in an episode, then gone in the next.

why exactly did the universe come into existence? aliens quickly pass a law to forbid anyone with the letter "T" in their last name from ever becoming president

not to divert too far into Thai politics in the USA thread... but I know over there they had a democratic election and determined a winner after the votes were tallied. then the corrupt govt officials stepped in, and more or less said the guy who won was not gonna become president. now the guy who won is 100% done trying to fight it, and whoever tf they want to become the next president is pushed into power. nice try democracy! the relation to the US here is THIS is exactly what trump wants to happen in this country. and the republicans cheering him on are trying their best to make it happen. yeah it is nuts compared to how the US was once perceived out there in the world. re: drugs. Thailand only recently legalized herb. before that was prison for a seed. I know there still are big problems with yaba (meth + caffeine) in the poorer farmer towns. same as it is here in the US with opiods in the smaller rural places. homelessness...yes I agree it is much worse now here in major US cities than it was 15-20 years ago.

this is not just a 'merican problem tho...similar shit is happening in other capitalist countries. lol don't you live in Thailand? corruption here is nada compared to many, many other countries in the world. in fact, people from places far more corrupt than the US still would sacrifice as much as they possibly can just to get here, so they can live their lives without the threat of corrupt govt assholes / police coming to mess with them. the media may play into the US govt corruption element, and yes, trump is by far the worst fake president/wannabe dictator this country has ever had...but it is still possible to find a job and make enough to send back home to support extended family.

true, and that is something I have to remind myself of. I try and adhere to the principles of common sense. but I can't control what other people out there want to believe. if they want to believe in BS and vote for cheeto man, then that's their right. IMO this doesn't help out the greater good at all...but there is not a lot the rest of us can do to convince them otherwise. his supporters are dug in at this point, won't budge. to clarify - by drastic I meant the fact that donald is still able to run for pres, despite all the shit that has happened. it seems insane to me that he could direct his tribe to storm the capitol, and still have a legit shot at coming back into the white house... the media attention helps him we know. IMO it should be all hands on deck to stop him from getting re-elected, like a media blackout so he doesn't gain any more traction. but yeah, that's only what I think, and not what will actually happen.

I agree with all this. but these are the sentiments that led him to win the election in 2016, should no longer be applicable in a 2024 election. he failed all the new converts to his tribe the first time around. he didn't deliver all the shit he promised his red hat army. where is his stupid wall? plus, all American voters (and the world) saw the chaos that ensued on Jan. 6th. because of him. and he later on threw all those people under the bus. realistically, there should be no more new converts to his tribe at this point, because he failed in achieving all the shit he said he would do for the cult the first time around. why would anyone with half a functioning brain believe he could do it all somehow better a 2nd time around, now that everyone knows what a failure he is? the problem, as I see it, is that so many people in this country no longer have "half a functioning brain." there are literally brainwashed zombies walking around that believe in 100% bullshit, and are ok with it! like we've past the tipping point where science, logic, facts, reason, etc. actually matter to millions of people anymore. aaand why is this? because of the fucking internet. before internet, was much harder to push all this nonsense out and be able for it to be seen by millions/billions of eyeballs. old school media, where info about what's going on in the world used to come from, is no longer trusted. trust any ol shit on the internet instead. IMO we are at the drastic point already. we've past the drastic point actually. that's why I think media should collectively agree to some pact to not give jackass Trump any more attention when he runs his mouth off, saying outright lies. but yeah, the money machine won't allow it. 100% agree. wealth gap is a huge part of the anger that leads to jumping on the Trump train, where he promises the best snake oil in the world. I know there's been slow steps to try and improve it (e.g., raising min wage), but it's not enough.

yeah I know it'll never happen. but it seems like one way to limit his ability to recruit members to his cult / get more votes, would be to turn off the spotlight that has been on him for all these years. show that he is not of interest anymore. stale. the lies that he spews out at the rallies don't deserve any attention. the equivalent of the loud drunk at a party everyone collectively slowly moves away from. idk. logic is out the window. there's no making sense of why this guy is still supported by millions of people in this country after all he did the first time around. a lot of longtime supporters of the R party just can't seem to vote for anything else. vote for party over sanity, I guess. here in TX there are a lot of Bush republicans. they love the Bush family, the 1980s GOP, hate Trump, but can't bring themselves to vote dem. get in the poll booth and just can't do it. can't touch the dem button...

was I too idealistic? the right answer should have been making more $$$$$$$$

said it before and I'll say it again - I fault the media for even giving him an inch of attention. we know what he's going to say, just more of the exact same shit he said before and repeats over and over again. he's brainwashing a certain subset of people out there in the most absurd way possible by repeating it. media need to stop covering him ASAP...but they can't. they are addicted to him and his nonsense. he gets them clicks. it's a sick cycle, which showcases a larger problem with society in general IMO.

bottom line: humans, as a species, after many thousands of years, still suck at managing / ruling / governing themselves. there will never be a perfect solution to the "problem" of how we all co-exist in a defined terrestrial area, or how we should all best work together toward achieving a common societal goal. you can argue one sociological "ism" vs the other for eternity, with no winner. they are theories, which cannot be 100% rolled out in the real world without holes occurring. whatever system it is, always will end up in some negative dimension for somebody. there is no arguing this. take your pick. they all will fall apart at some point...living off the grid, off the land, as naturally as possible, is starting to get more and more appealing as time goes on. but I know even that is rooted in idealism, realistically is not an easy option.

just wanted to say, you seem to be making a lot of assumptions on what other people want to do with their "toys." it seems there's a stereotype of a certain type of bedroom producer out there you are thinking of when you say all this? the stereotypical hipster I think? like just taking pics/vids of their set up all for the 'gram, and not learning them? I honestly don't know, because I don't go on social media at all, or talk to any other IRL music producers. not everyone who buys some of these gadgets thinks this way, of course. there's also the affordability factor on all these little mini synth devices. y'all know very well the gear world can get crazy expensive, and if someone wants to dabble into electronic music making with hardware, then I say better to let them start out with some of the entry level gear (e.g. Volca's), then heading straight into the lion's den. that's why Behringer/Korg, etc. rolled these mini products out, right? to try and get more electronic music making gear into people's hands, who may have been intimidated by the hefty price tags on older beast synths. yeah I guess I can see another argument here that they've made it too easy to make music with these mini products, and then the world will become oversaturated with unoriginal crap tunes. but, uh, I think we've way passed that point by now lol. I've always held the mantra that you need to get good first on the cheap stuff, before you can move up to the next quality level of instrument. I never thought it was right to go out and buy a Les Paul first, before first making your fingers bleed on a cheap knock off fender strat. at least that's how I see these mini synths, as learning tools to start on before moving up. I don't think they should be entirely bashed.

30 years ago today, one of the greatest network TV shows ever created debuted. the fucking X-Files https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/10/entertainment/x-files-anniversary-internet-culture-shippers-cec/index.html can honestly say this show made an impact on me more so than any other TV show I think has ever done. had it stopped after oh season 6, (or maybe 5 + the 1st movie) it would have been the greatest ever. but the shitiness of season 7/8/9, the 2nd completely forgettable movie, plus the recent reboot crap has tarnished its legacy...but whatever. everyone knows season 1-5 is where it's at.

that's accurate. morality does come into play here. I believed that what I was doing was wrong as opposed to right, but lust / physical attraction are powerful motivators of behavior. powerful enough to send a person's moral compass slightly askew. anyway, the universe got me back for my wrongful actions. some years later I was with a different partner who cheated on me. I found out about it through a painful STD she gave me. once she admitted the cheating, I was of course upset and wanted to immediately end it. then I slowly realized this is karmic pay back for what I did previously. I am one who believes in these sort of things - karma, the interconnectedness of everything, what comes around goes around, etc. - and so I let it slide.

I was the other guy in a married woman's relationship for about 5 years. she was 6 years older, married with 3 kids. she was in a loveless marriage with 2 mistake kids (twins). her husband had cheated on her before, so I really didn't feel bad about it. but risks were still high. most dickwad men don't like to find out their wife is banging some younger dude. was a lot of booty calls for 1st 2 years, then random one offs for the next 3. we did care for each other a ton, but knew it would never materialize past what it was. one of those what ifs a person experiences I suppose

cool. we for sure all have choices to make. and these choices we make today will absolutely affect outcomes further down the line. what matters to me at least, is I view reality as objectively as possible. try not to get swayed by all these online "experts" preaching utter nonsense. it sure sounds like to me you have been swayed by some online propaganda. so I'd ask - are you really thinking for yourself? or parroting ideas you've been exposed to and have latched on to as truths...when they are really not. after all, there is only 1 version of reality. 1 version of the "truth." there are no alternative facts. alternative beliefs of what is actually happening are purely subjective misinterpretations of reality. they are opinions, not facts. delusions fed to you through your ego / left brain interpreter. it is 100% FACT that humans are causing the planet to suffer. if you can't realize this, or feel it without a doubt, then no point in trying to make any further argument here. and not sure how taxes come into play in this discussion...I too dislike them, but accept them as a necessary evil nonetheless.

ok man. you believe in concepts not rooted in reality. fair enough. no use going further then. and you know who says stuff like what you're saying here? this guy:

except it's not. humans are doing it. you, me, or anyone living in an air conditioned or heated structure are all contributing to climate change. the way the majority of people on the planet are living is far from natural. I suggest you click on this link: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/mythbusters?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7bay1oSUgQMV_jjUAR2ChgwyEAAYAiAAEgLux_D_BwE

I see. wasn't aware about this. google search led me to find this article - https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a42543527/why-is-bill-gates-buying-so-much-farmland/

so they can eventually build more shit. maybe build their pie-in-the-sky future dome cities. dig, scrape, drill, burn the land, in order to produce more and more shit! that's what these delusional humans sitting at the top of the world order think is the right way. always making plans for the future. never being content with what they already have. this is a world driven by ego fucking maniacs. as long for profit industry exists, we'll never be able to stop further ecological damage to the planet.

the Starbucks of the world would all have to be eliminated first, then the people will be forced to change their lifestyles. if all our technologies suddenly went away, then you'd see shit change pretty damn fast. but changing our lifestyles, reverting back toward the direction of how humans originally existed off the land, we know will never happen en masse voluntarily. it would take a massive wide-scale societal shift to accept this, and humans are known to be pretty stubborn about things like this lol. so in other words, why can't we all just be like the BoC brothers living peacefully in a commune somewhere in the Pentland hills. I think those dudes have it all figured out haha.

the less time I can spend starring at a screen the better. that's why I prefer analog gear.

remember what Thommy Yorke said while speaking through his speech synthesizer - "pragmatism not idealism." I agree in theory with all you said. but remember these are all ideals, and it's very hard to turn ideals into reality for the majority of people on the planet. IMO citizens living their lives aren't the biggest factor contributing to the environmental problem here. it is the big companies doing the worst damage, in the name of the almighty dollar. but if we're talking citizens, I know "we have to start somewhere." but it seems that the "start" part is the toughest thing to get off the ground in regard to practical solutions toward climate change. for example, recycling gained massive popularity in the 1980's with average citizens as a way to help the planet. has it helped? climate change continues to get worse. recycling is an easy way to "do" something to make ourselves feel better. but is it really helping? I think most of recycling got debunked along the way. plastics don't actually get recycled, etc. and it is way too small a dent in the big picture any way... and then there's the whole eco-friendly organic food movement, which is only for people who can afford it. for all those scraping by trying to survive, they eat anything they can get. to grow their own food requires knowledge + capital, and where does that realistically come from? who is going to show them how to do it? this used to be passed down generationally, but that time has now passed us by, since the majority of humans in western countries are no longer living off the land. I guess my point is small steps with easy to understand "instructions," are what it takes to get people changing their lifestyles. throwing climate change bad news in their faces through media, as is currently done, will only make them yawn and ignore... again, the biggest problem is for profit industries wrecking the environment. yes those companies are powered by citizens. and the citizens need income to live in the world. to stop for profit industry, we'd have to change the current structure of modern society completely, and uh, yeah...that for sure is an easy thing to do lol.

the Greeks! good call dude. those OG's of government. suppose I need to read some of those classics before attempting to wax philosophical on political systems. seems like they had it all figured out. I know they talked about the cyclical nature of politics, one system will be replaced by another in time...sure seems like we're closing in on a point when democracy will be replaced by something else. probably AI related something or other. cool, thanks for fact checking. I was going on the anecdotal line of thinking that the younger generation doesn't turnout to vote in the same numbers as the older generation does.