omelas adult

All for the in-group, none for the out-group. Where the in-out group line is drawn just slightly differently.

But it sure is Something that every single argument they make is based on misunderstanding their opposition as saying shit that no human would ever say. Like every single argument is just monkeys paw shit, malicious misunderstandings to twist something cool into something that sucks.

Like, you say that it would be cool if we could develop the technology to live forever

And they'll say that that would suck actually because you'd just be stuck in an aging decaying body with every single part failing but totally unable to die

And you explain that what the fuck, that's obviously not what anyone means when they say that and also not a thing we could reasonably develop the technology to do anyway. And the actual thing you're proposing, and that is the subject of research right now is technology to stop or reverse the aging process.

And they say that they just misunderstood, and clearly your real opinion is that you want to look young and hot forever, which is an entirely different thing and also the most reasonable thing to be a second guess but not a first.

And you explain that no actually the visual appearance of being old is not anywhere near as much of a concern as the degenerative effects it has on the body. The issue is the heart failure and the cancer and the alzheimers and failing joints and needing mobility aids and watching as the people you love wither away and die. And that the fact that we have a promising lead on how to prevent this means we have a moral imperative to do so.

And they say that they're still not convinced. Sure it sounds nice to live forever when you're young, but around year 500 you'd start to get bored and wouldn't know what to do with yourself. And you know that's true because there's a TV show about it.

And you have flashbacks to every conservative who goes red in the face at the suggestion of reasonable public transit and walkable neighborhoods, and very clearly, for some reason, thinks that "people do not have to use a car if they do not want to" necessarily means "your car will be taken away from you by force and you will walk and take the bus with minorities and be forcefemmed and whatever else goes on in the minds of conservatives"

And you try to figure out how to explain that there is literally no immortality enforcement mechanism that could exist where the enforcement mechanism would not be the issue, as it would be literal torture and would be precisely as much of a problem if applied to people who would die. And that "humans can live forever" does not mean "you will not be allowed to die." And that you believe in the right to choose death just as much as you believe in the right to refuse it.

And you consider pointing out that you could raise the same complaint about, like, basically any invention ever, that if the computer was invented today then this person would be claiming the computer will usher in a grand dystopia where only the ultra-wealthy can do things like communicate with each other freely at global distance or make certain types of art or do any of the automation that computers allow.

And then you realize this is one of those people who also holds such opinions as "any new advancements in medicine are literally eugenics" because they read too much YA and are terrified of anything new happening ever, and that if they were around for the discovery of fire they would be catastrophizing because you can kill and torture people with fire. And you realize there's no reasoning with them, so you decide it's not worth it and later end up bringing them up in a tumblr reblog.

Her and Grandpa were in a relationship with their best friends

The four of them have been in a relationship since they were teenagers

They flipped a bottle cap to see which girl the boys would marry

Their children could have either man as their biological father but their biological mother is the mum that raised them

something something -unfathomable size of the universe - something - how big is the universe? BIG, you already knew that - something something.

theft - yeah, it's called eating. Every time you eat, be it plant or animal, you are taking their life energy (calories, whatever) and using them to power your own continued life.

parasitism - your cells are in constant change, every seven or ten or however many years it is, you aren't (physically) the same set of cells that you were born with.

violence - point of view. Entropy is in itself not violent. It is a simple function of physics. Everything dies, or otherwise changes form, eventually.

you aren't the same person you were ten years ago, so it stands to reason that if you lived another hundred, you wouldn't be the same person you are today. Live long enough you WOULD be unrecognizable, but that's only natural.

Then there is the oft quoted one - everyone you love will die before you. Yeah, that happens sometimes. Sometimes you are the last one standing of your loved ones, through luck (bad/good is irrelevant and a matter of perspective), health, or random circumstance. People you love are always going to die eventually, regardless of how long you live. It is up to you how you deal with that.

First thing first, yes, I'm aware that the author is Jewish. That doesn't really change my judgement much. I also know the author has a tumblr account, so there's a nonzero chance he will see this post. In shch a case, I hope he can understand that I'm merely frustrated with being told this was a Jewish story and finding it less so than I expected, and that this doesn't really reflect the quality of his writing. From that angle, I think Unsong is rather good. I'm not sure it's for me, though.

What lit me up here forst was the electricity-on-Shabbat part. Admittedly, in Jewish circles it is common to think of it as fire. However, the Halachic discussion over it in Orthodox circles is less certain - there were claims that it's construction, or completion, or just something too weekday like to do on the rest day. However, in this story, the main purpose of the Shabbat commandment is regarding electricity. Which is rather weird. Also, not sure I like the way the commandments are treated - but that also stems from replacing G-d with Uriel, so what can I say at this point.

Now, the above point isn't commenting that much about the Judaism of the story. After all, it is actually very much a Jewish thing to consider electricity prohibited on Shabbat and connecting it to fire. No, my problems come in other areas.

First, the worldbuilding. Specifically, the war in heaven. The whole thing about a third of the heavenly host siding with Lucifer and fighting against the larger part of the angels? That is a very Christian thing, actually. If it was ever in Jewish lore, it was taken out of the canon long ago. Fallen angels are something of a different matter, and are a bit complex. Kudos for including the "angels can't speak Aramaic" thing, but honestly, this feels more like a nice fun fact added in more than anything. The explanation is kind of original, though.

Then there's the Midrash Shem on Kissinger. Which says that we learn kissinger would be the name of a bad person because Judas Iscraiot kissed Jesus in the act of betraying him. Relatedly, Kissinger happened to be a Jewish man and comparing Jews to Judas was one somewhat common antisemitic trope.

Now, to be fair, I don't really know much about Watergate, Nixon or Kissinger - funnily enough, the most I know comes from the Unsong version, which is different from the actual event in a number of ways, I'm sure. So I can only assume that Americans have a very good reason to dislike Kissinger - he was also likely a token for Nixon, who was himself somewhat antisemitic. So I'm not going to get on anyone's case for disliking him. Also, despite what I said, I don't think mr Alexander intended in any way to be antisemitic towards Kissinger. Not just because he's Jewish - that doesn't exclude people from being antisemitic, especially considering Kissinger himself may have harbored some bigotry towards his own people - but because I don't see any sense in it. However, what he did do was use a very Christian story as part of that. Oh, and there's also the Messianic figure born from a virgin.

i think about this old xkcd strip a lot. its nothing groundbreaking, just a very obvious 101 kinda observation of how sexism works, but i wish people would remember this here on the idpol wars website.

1. Check that you have good access to shade trees, a shelter custom made to fit you and all your friends, and plenty of good airflow

2. Find the hottest, sunniest, and least windy part of you pasture and lay down

3. Make sure you look as much as possible like you have died of heatstroke

4. Get your friends in on it