I feel like external pressure is only half the problem. It is important but IMO the role model is also a problem. Non toxic masculinity is often describe in the negative of the toxic masculinity : you’re good when you are not toxic, not when you are something positive.

In some way it is less restrictive, but in other way it is missing the model.

The other side of this coin is the corruption of the ideal that lead to nihilism. Toxic masculinity corrupts ideals. Violence is strength. Protecting is necessarily the destruction of the threat. Independence is power. Smart is manipulation and deception. Everything is to be seen through a lens of domination and power. And that is the core of the problem.

Instead, a model is to be seen with any quality, but through another lens. Strength can help the weak. Smart can disarm an explosive situation. Power is to be shared and used wisely. Basically, a model opposite to the toxic masculinity can be many things with all the qualities of the virility, but the difference is that they will be used and targeted differently. And for many people, it is to be learnt through a model.

This is a core problem because for many people, if you tell them to drop the toxic behaviour, there will be nothing left to aim for, nothing for them to transform into.

And this goes back to the social validation you’re talking about. Going from toxic to positive requires a transformation so that the qualities someone has can be positive instead of negative, but as qualities they can still be praised and admired.

Exactly. In some way the software is a lock that ensure the property of the machine stays to the company that built it.

You’re all true until allocating scarce resources. These days economy is how to make scarce something that isn’t in order to profit from it. See copyrights and patents. In our society a replicator would be the property of a company and you would need to pay it to be allowed to use it.

Thanks for the offer. I’m not really put off by the difficulty, but I feel it’s impossible for me to make a build intuitively. In kingmaker I just failed miserably to it, and playing in easy was just a slog. I need to find some builds to blindly follow I imagine, and spend my money on equipment.

There is a remake : the enhanced edition. The games both run on the bg2 engine, with some tweaks to the interface and inventory management.

I’ve been really put off by the pathfinder rules on this one. Maybe I should try again.

Competition like gog, I’m all for it. But what is epic providing? I fail to see it.

As far as I know, conservative of both Europe and America are keen on banning abortion these days.

Really so? Do the conservative write abortion right in the constitution? Tell me more about that please.

The government in 1700 didn’t have as strong of a grasp on the military as it does now. And the police kind of didn’t exist in this time. The biggest inventions of the 20th century are mass surveillance, repression, and propaganda. An armed force being able to go from one side of the country to the other in a few hours is also a strength for government stability.

Hey France has a lesson for you: 2 years ago the liberals called the left to vote for them in order to prevent the far right from getting elected.

For 2 years the liberals governed with the leaning to far right - right. The far right applauded many of their policies.

This Sunday the far right went first in the European election, because the left was a bunch of clowns and everyone hates the liberal government.

1h after the results, the Liberal president Macron disbanded the parliament. Now there are 3 weeks to elect a new parliament. He also opted for a vote that favors the biggest, so the far right is favoured, and there’s no time for a campaign and barely enough time for the left to unite. The president is also still saying on TV that the left is just as bad and as extreme as the far right.

We didn’t see it coming, but the liberal who pretended he would fight the far right is the first accelerationist in France. It is chaos right now, and the far right has never been so close from being in power in France since 1944. The 5th Republic is almost a presidential regime btw, so if the far right has the power, it’ll be very dirty.

Trust the liberals they said, it’s better than the far right…

Well, considering the scales, the difference is not only imperceptible, I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to measure.

I would like for Russia to fail miserably, but HERE I’m afraid it’s not as stupid as it could. Ukraine is notoriously low on ammunitions, so extending the active front line can deplete those supplies faster. I would expect Russia to try to deplete those supplies in order to force the front line where a shortage appears first. And they need to do it before the supplies come from the US, which is already starting to come. So it’s basically a window of opportunity.

If they concentrated on one place only, the Ukrainian supplies would last much longer.

I expect the massive Russian offensive to slow down in June once the US supply lines are established again.

But maybe I’m wrong. If Russia continues to push hard like this through June and after, I’ll be wrong. Unless they try to really push through western supplies themselves. That would be insane but possible I guess.

I know plenty of small businesses. I know none that keep to one person and aren’t disguised employees.

But then, if there are two persons in your business, who’s the boss? And if there’s none, congrats, it’s a cooperative!

Employment is something workers won in the early 20th century. Ask yourself why they fought for it maybe. Then come back with your arrogance.

Small businesses grow, that’s how capitalism works. When OP talks about empowering individuals, that’s liberal ideology. When talking about how self-employment is better for society, that’s liberal ideology.

Wrong. A company can be a cooperative or state owned.

Being self employed though means you are the only one to support the risks of your activity and it leaves you a pray from bigger businesses.

But liberal propaganda did its job and you’re probably indoctrinated with individualism and liberalism.

And that’s even worse.

Being self employed means you support all the risks of your activity, without any mutualisation or support from society or partners. That’s a distopia.

The problem with what you’re saying is that either you’re employed without any if the benefits of employment, or you are a capitalist.

In either way you lose.

On the other hand a company can be a cooperative or state owned.

But in the US you hate the state, you are indoctrinated with individualism and you hate socialism. So it’s a lost cause.

This simply means you’re either a liberal or a fascist.

It’s simple really : the US left is liberal, thus it is not truly the left.