Stuff like this wouldn’t bother me if it wasn’t for the fact states (like mine) are lowering the working age to 14, and it’s all my damn students talked about when I taught middle school - how excited they were to make money. If we still had some semblance of child labor laws, then something like this would be pretty benign; I wanted to work fast food when I was a kid, and plenty of kids like to pretend they’re store clerks or chefs. Not surprised it’s Chik Fil A.

I’m trying to get into factory work. I’m looking at going to tech school and getting a job as a technician. Everything else has kind of fallen through.

I saw your comment pop up, 30 seconds new, and it already had a downvote. Wtf?

EDIT: I think I misread your comment the first time around, because I thought you felt bad for Palestinians because Iran was the only government attacking (i.e., no one else was), not because you think Iran’s government is bad. Whoops.

Also, my comment was about how weird a comment could get a downvote so quickly, even then.

I feel your pain. Reading and understanding ML theory while growing up in the Imperial Core is a uniquely painful experience. Thank God for spaces like Lenmygrad, where we can actually communicate and realize we’re not going insane.

They’re irrelevant because the Ghost of Kyiv is single handedly trashing Russia’s air force. /s

Well, I’m poly, so I’d just discuss it with my girlfriend. Idk how monogamous people deal with these issues. In my experience, my attraction to people wanes pretty quick when I focus on interests/ideas they have that I don’t like or disagree with, things that would bother me if we lived together, sexual compatibility, etc. Suck the wind out of infatuation’s sails by doing a pragmatic analysis of what a potential relationship might look like. It also helps you appreciate your partner(s) more, because you already have compatibility and comfort there.

But I would still take the job, yeah.

I had several catalysts while earning my BA in History. It’s a sick joke, and if you cry foul, they hold you in the same regard as Holocaust deniers or anti-vaxxers because you’re “fringe”.

They’re half-aware of the double-standard, too. My professors talked a lot about the dubious nature of sources, and how much of modern historiography amounts to reinterpreting the available evidence to challenge narratives, and how much academia requires funding for research and catering to your sponsors.

My favorite professor told me you wouldn’t find any “Stalin apologists” in academia today. He, and others, all astonished (and horrified) me once. We got to do this trip to Italy, and I mentioned an interest in seeing Roma culture. The prof leading the trip (an American, mind you) called them the g-word and said they’re all thieves. When I brought it up to my other history professors, all Americans, they agreed.

The foundations are rotten. The body of “experts” is intentionally stacked to control the narrative. If you somehow get into a level of status and respect in the humanities, it will be through omission or deception. And if you ever speak against the narrative in regards to communism, you will be destroyed. Want to humanize Nazis or explain away responsibility for their actions? You’re free to do that. Want to point out the inconsistency of anticommunist fables? You won’t even be allowed to operate on the fringes. Even climate change deniers and anti-vaxxers will have more status than you.

I wish I had any helpful advice.

I suspect the elites prefer Trump but keep up appearances. He’s a tool, like Mussolini or Hitler: a lacky of capitalists to bludgeon socialist movements and organize the rabid far-right into a tool to use for imperialism. But liberal values are still the dominant trend here, so they must keep up appearances. But, in that too, they like Trump. He’s a perfect scapegoat. They can give him some slack to crush their enemies, then use him as something to condemn in order to shift all responsibility from themselves. In that way, even the tragedies he causes become profitable.

A better question is what are we (American comrades) doing in preparation for the inevitable crackdown we’ll receive?

I fear that might be too optimistic. It’s a double win for libs. Trump’s reactionary rhetoric and policies further the interests of the global capitalist class much more bluntly and quickly than the usual liberal channels, but then when it’s done they can blame every evil act on him and use it as a rallying cry for more supporters. That’s how it is in the US, and I suspect the US sets the standards for the EU more than even its critics would like to admit.

The comparison is intentional. This viewpoint exists in the US, too, and the Nazi-abortion false equivalency is a popular one among various right wing sectors, mostly Christo-fascists.

When I was in high school, one of the various Christian groups allowed to operate in our public school put “informative” papers in all our lockers that made that comparison. I think they got a talking to and that was it. I never watched the film shared on the paper, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the same.

Knew a guy who said Planned Parenthood was made to cull the POC population in the US. He didn’t seem overtly aware that he was comparing abortion to genocide, or like a Christo-fascist. It’s a pervasive force here, repackaged a thousand ways in order to convince people in every demographic or party to support it.

Agreed. I’ve seen so many people here get 80% to a meaningful conclusion explaining why our country is the way it is, but they always refuse to finish the logic. Instead, they jump to some racist theory that a foreign power has corrupted the US, and therefore whatever element they disagree with is un-American sedition. Conservatives insist it’s Muslim or Chinese infiltration. Liberal progressives think it’s Russians. Nobody wants to admit it’s just all our insanity coming to a head.

The greatest irony is that they’ll admit the government lies, big lies are told all the time, and we get tricked all the time. But introduce the concept that they lie about socialist countries, point out the consistency and pervasiveness of the lies, and that the US has everything to gain from lying, and they’ll call that a conspiracy theory. Even if you produce evidence, like CIA admissions to lying. I feel like I’m insane half the time.

For me it’s wargaming subs. A little easier to understand, but still a nuisance.

Sadly not just the internet. I meet a lot of people who are too quick to believe anything bad they hear about “enemy” countries, no matter how absurd.

I notice the shit everywhere. From kids and family shows to churches, social media, and education, regardless of state. They really do introduce it and hammer it in from the earliest opportunity.

I tried using it only as a tool for hobbies, but anti-communism infects damn near everything. Couldn’t go a week without some dumbass take about China randomly worming its way into just about anything. Glad I quit.

It’s only an admission if their audience understands that. Libs don’t know or care to know that the replacement will use Soviet doctrine instead of NATO doctrine. At best, it’ll be spun as a “Syrsky knows how the enemy thinks” type of angle. People who aren’t drowning in the propaganda and copium can see who’s winning the war and whose doctrine is working just fine. The types of people who need convincing are so deluded they won’t be able to see the change as an admission; they’ll see it as proof of Ukraine’s genius adaptability or some such nonsense.

My best guess is because Dems alienated their power base. They used to be “the progressive choice”, but over the years have shown they’re just the same as pre-Trump Republicans, just a little less homophobic and racist. As long as I can remember, Dems usually struggle to rally behind a single candidate and it has hurt them in elections. There’d be, like, 3 Dem choices while Republicans get it boiled down pretty quick, and the Dems always betray the most popular to select the most status quo.

So, if I had to guess why Genocide Joe is still in and backed by them, it’s because they recognize they simply can’t afford the arguments and division. Nobody likes them except deluded libs. Nobody believes or trusts them. Progressives are disillusioned, many realizing voting doesn’t work, others desperately looking for an alternative. Meanwhile, Republicans don’t have that issue. The Trump cult wants him back, and failing that they’ll overwhelmingly select the closest to him, because to them voting is more about patriotism and owning the lib. They’ll vote so they can say it’s rigged if they lose.

Having talked to a few South Koreans who live or frequent the US, the general consensus I’ve gotten is that they think the conflict is caused by external countries trying to manipulate them (US, Japan, and China), and that if they were left to their own devices, they’d reunify in time. Of course, they also think North Koreans worship the Kims as gods.

This is a really small number of people I’ve talked to, I’ve talked to them in the US where I assume they spend most of their time, but it seems to align with the takes I’ve seen in South Korean media that’s critical about South Korea: disenchantment and even contempt for the ROK government and US occupation, but also a view that the DPRK is cultish and China is just another US. This is purely anecdotal, so take it with a heap of salt.

That’s good for me. I appreciate it, comrade :)

I’m honestly just following the layout of the textbook, which breaks each region into 3 lessons: physical geography, history, and daily life/current affairs. I’ve covered the first with the book well enough, but the remaining lessons are obnoxiously biased.

For history, I’ve focused mostly on pre-industrial periods and the formation of countries (then a little history blurb to catch them up to modern day). I try to keep things neutral, emphasize anything cool or unique about areas, and if there’s controversy, clearly emphasize it’s controversial and provide a nuanced middle ground (so I don’t get burned at the stake, but also to keep kiddos from drinking the Koolaid). For daily life, anything cultural would be good, but I’m having trouble finding videos that aren’t political.

I also need to move quickly through this section, so even just a handful of videos can help a lot.