Elections and congress were built upon the idea of shame. As in, no one could possibly do that and still expect to be reelected. A felon with a fraud conviction and a history of naked nepotism isn’t going to ask people to donate money with a straight face.
Why wouldn’t they be?
I read thats as Poles and Dances, so you know where my head is at, but I was like, “wow AoE has really changed.”
Epic Games? The place with all the free games? Why would I buy something from the free store?
This feels like performative fascism.
Are we shaming them? Or are we bending over backwards to give people the benefit of the doubt? Are we hiding our political opinions because we don’t want to offend bigots? Are we compromising our values because we don’t think actual decent people can get elected?
How many news articles called it an awkward hand gesture, or a strange wave, or a misunderstood gesticulation?
How many news articles or political leaders called the Jan 6 coup a terrorist attack? Why are we so afraid of inflammatory language?
No, Nazis are not ashamed, and they are not afraid, and they are not going away. But you cannot simply kill them. Killing a Nazi is not like extinguishing a fire. It’s more like capturing a chess piece. You remove it from the board, but the game continues. Are you in a better position? Is that what they wanted you to do?
Sure, but that’s not my point. I’m saying we shouldn’t think of them as lesser people. I know how to kill a whole bunch of cockroaches. I’m not trying to convince some cockroaches to stop being cockroaches, because a cockroach will never be anything more. Likewise, cockroaches won’t be emboldened or motivated to violence if they see their little cockroach buddies being stomped upon. Baby cockroaches don’t need to be exposed to non-roach ideologies through public education. Nor are the cockroaches meeting in boardrooms to plan new propaganda and violence.
Stamping out Nazi ideology isn’t just about killing all the extant Nazis. Nazis need to be made to feel ashamed of their ignorance, because that’s how you prevent new Nazis from learning to hate. Organizations like Twitter or CBS don’t feel the need to hide their Nazi affiliations anymore, and that’s a problem you cannot solve with a can of RAID.
I don’t disagree with the metaphor, but I don’t like thinking of people as less than people. It makes it easier to dehumanize them and dismiss their very real human emotions and effect on the world.
We have real, thinking people who are wrapped up the the cult of personality, and they think they are righteous. They think their ignorance is as good as our knowledge. They think their hatred and intolerance is the same as our disgust and rejection. They think their desire for power is the same as our hope for equality. They are wrong, and they believe they are right.
They are not cockroaches. They are not unthinking vermin to be exterminated. They are a very real enemy that needs to be fought. Politically if possible, violently if necessary.
You know what you call an organization that defends Nazis? Nazis.
As soon as by one’s own propaganda even a glimpse of right on the other side is admitted, the cause for doubting one’s own right is laid.
Violent felon pardoned by Trump.
Sure, that’s one option. Juries have the authority to apply a moral standard rather than a legal standard. Another apparently viable option is to request a presidential pardon. Or better yet, run for office and win.
Personally, I doubt the evidence against Luigi is conclusive, so I’d argue that he’s simply innocent. But I would certainly not encourage anyone else to start murdering executives, because that would be legally indefensible.
It’s one thing to say he’s innocent because you believe he didn’t murder the guy. It’s an entirely different thing to say he was justified in murdering someone, or to encourage others to commit a murder. The latter is not legally defensible.
We’ve been over this.
The Ring of Power corrupts those around it by promising to fulfill their darkest desires. It channels their urges to get what it wants.
It wanted Gollum to hide away under a mountain until its master could return with his armies.
Hobbits and River Folk don’t seek power. They want to be left along, smoke their pipes, and have lots of fat, happy children. As such, they have a natural defense to the ring’s influence, but they are not immune to it. It makes them covetous and protective of the precious, even if they don’t seek to use it for their own benefit.
We see the Ring of Power turns Gollum and Bilbo and Frodo invisible, but is that what it would have done for Boromir? For Gandalf? For Gimli or Galadriel? Almost certainly not. We saw in a flashback what it could do on Sauron’s finger, and the only thing it did for Isildur is quicken his death. Gollum was seduced and wanted to hide away. Bilbo was a burglar wanting to sneak past a dragon. Frodo wanted to sneak into Mount Doom.
So what does Sam want? The only thing Sam wants more than to return to the Shire is to ensure his best friend makes it home with him. Sam cannot carry the Ring, not because he is weak to its influence, but because his best friend wants it. Frodo has been corrupted, and would fight Sam if he tried to take it. They tried taking turns, but Sam learned what it felt like to want the Ring, and knew he couldn’t do it again.
But he could carry his friend, burdens and all. The ring could not drive a wedge between them, because Sam didn’t seek to separate Frodo from the Ring. Sam’s singular focus was getting to the end of their shared quest so that they could get home together.
If you put the Ring on a mouse, then whoever is carrying the mouse would be tempted to take it away, and the mouse would use the power of the Ring to keep it. Sam was resisting the temptation of the Ring, and the Ring was fighting back as hard as it could. It fully corrupted Frodo in the end, and it was only Gollum, who coveted the Ring more, who was able to take it away.
Fate, luck, the will of Eru, call it whatever you want, but Hobbits have the superpower of quiet contentment, and that’s the only thing that can beat a lust for domination of the Valar, the Maiar, of Elves and Men and Dwarves. It’s why Gollum hid away without conquering the goblins living above him. It’s why Bilbo could roll with dwarves and give up the Arkenstone. It’s why Frodo could walk into Mordor, right to the edge, knowing the journey was going to kill him. And it’s why Sam could carry Frodo the rest of the way.
So we’re just going to skip 4?