To be fair, I don’t think fundamental change is what Sorkin thought the goals ought to have been. Not that this is a defense or anything.

In fact Sorkin seems to very much love the status quo. Take his defacement of Sacha Baron Cohen’s charecter in “Trial of the Chicago 7.” In it the radical hippie Abbie Hoffman is questioned by the prosecution, who ask “are you intending to overthrow the government.” (Or something to that affect) and Sacha Baron Cohen [not Hoffman, as this exchange is ahistorical] replies “we overthrow our government every 4 years.”

Arguably the West Wing is the liberal call of duty. In that, the main charecters are often “forced to make hard decisions.” In call of duty this is used to have the main charecters torture people or extrajudicially kill people. In the west wing it’s used to justify the IMF and extra judiciary killing people. In the end neither if these properties argue that anything is wrong with the status quo, and said status quo needs to be protected despite its flaws.

Tbf I would probably be a drunk resentful man if i wasn’t trans and also have a very bad fear of alcohol

I’m starting to realize my problem with BE is that he desperately wants to be taken seriously but simultaneously treats basically no topic or person with sincerity or seriousness

I love how every few years it’s like “the German army fucking loves the nazis so much if they could get any attempt to coup the government and restore the Hollenzelerns at best and the nazis at worst they would do it” and then we move on like that isn’t a terrifying thing to be rearming rn

I don’t think a lot of sex positive people argue “oh just do whatever don’t worry about it.” I think i hear more about safety, security and support within the bdsm community than from outside of it. Imo sexual curiosity is not degeneracy or deviancy, but honesty. Those dangerous things you mention are taken seriously, or at least most of us try to. Power dynamics, selfishness, etc. Can all exist in normal relationships too. Hell, even “kinky” (per se) sex can exist outside bdsm and it’s communities. I’m not going to say everyone has these urges, but many people do. Bdsm isn’t about encouraging people to do these things against their will, or force this lifestyle in any degree upon people. It’s being honest about what we want and what we enjoy and figuring out how to engage with it in order to be happy with each other.

If there’s abuse, it’s handled like in any non-kinky or non-sexual relationship.

Alright, well I’ll keep this comment short then. Just personally I have it as a hobby and its helped me work through a lot of stuff, and it’s something I’ll cherish for letting me make people happy. Being powerless or powerful is often the fantasy, and I find that it’s actually helped make happier relationships when properly explored.

A better reference point for your argument would probably be pornography. As much as I’ve worked there, it’s insanely disgusting and exploitative in many ways, not to mention obviously objectifying. I do think there maybe should be room for exploring sexuality and it shouldn’t be forced to be a taboo, but pornography in general is one of the sharpest point of capitalist decay and “horribleness” for lack of a better word. So that’s better to use than BDSM.

Lastly, my general view on the topic is very similar to Dan Olsen’s discussion [unfortunately a liberal] in his 50 shades of Grey series.

Edit: although…idk, I’m trying to not be angry here. It’s just as someone who went through genuine abuse, having the thing that gave me a lot of comfort in my relationships afterwards be the thing being called “abuse” by anyone kinda incenses me. But I’ll try to understand where people are coming from

Prostitution yes, but I’m…politely, I will say I’m unsure how you could classify bdsm as “rape and abuse.” What even is bdsm in this context? If I wear some fuzzy handcuffs, am I being raped and abused? Or is it only for “extreme kinks”

How do we define comfort and safety outside of consent and safe practices?

What does pro-hedonism mean to you?

Nicaraguan authorities arrest dozens for reportedly supporting Maduro capture | Nicaragua | The Guardian https://share.google/q4F4DwvlACYTzhJjy

[Read: based]

Oops, thought something was off with that. Thank you

Communist auto-phobia strikes again

Edit: I mean, I suffer from it too. Don’t want to say it like this isn’t something a lot of us suffer from

I remember when George Floyd was murdered, and it shook me to my core. Now it’s…unsurprising, although still horrible

Why would blood cells and lining make someone want to stop drinking milk? I’m confused

My only thing to add to this [since another commenter said everything else i was going to say basically], those two should probably start being seen as more mental disorders than anything. Maybe mental disorder is the wrong term, but in any case it’s clear that neither of those urges are “natural” or should be “natural” [for lack of a better term] and yet are disproportionately common. Prison isn’t really helpful, since once they get out they’ll still have the same instincts. I’m not saying people who “indulge” deserve nothing less than a deserving punishment and definitely are horrible people, but presumably there are people who feel those urges but don’t indulge, and having a support system for that [along with making it harder to abuse children and animals] would probably help society.

Edit: disproportionately common migjt imply that it is more common than it actually is. But I think it’s common enough to be concerning

Most of this is fine [environmental stuff, forced insemination], but some others are kinda…pointless?

“Made for Calves, not humans.” Okay? Hot peppers are made for birds, not mammals, and we eats plenty of those.

“Available only because her own child was denied it.” I don’t think they care tbh. Unless there’s a psychological effect on the calf here I’m failing to understand why I should care.

“Something humans don’t need to thrive” i agree with that, but I don’t get why other animals are mentioned as examples. Firstly, goat milk is also a thing. Secondly it would make more sense to focus on things humans already consider unethical, i.e, shark fin or ivory. If we can live without those we don’t necessarily need milk either

Hey, is Maduro’s wife actually being charged with anything? Or is she just being held because ??? Obviously the entire situation is bad but I feel especially bad for her.

Justice Dept. Drops Claim That Venezuela’s ‘Cartel de los Soles’ Is an Actual Group - The New York Times https://share.google/mMPXXcpH9JUOyvfWB

[This won’t change anything but like…yeah, no shit Sherlock]

1. On second thought, perhaps he shouldn’t be placed as a “Maoist.” Honestly he’s very vague on what his ideological throughline is, but it’s not Maoism.

2. He’s not the worst person ever, I should point out. I wouldn’t trust him too much, but he’s certainly better than a lot of people

3. 1dime is a bit of an idealist sometimes [which might explain the lack of ideological throughline.] For example, his video on the cultural revolution handwaved away explanations about how certain structures would be good beyond them sounding socialist.

4. He tries to do that thing that western leftists do where they try to make a direct ideological connection between enlightenment thinkers [Nietchze, Voltaire, etc.] And marxist ones [directly or indirectly saying marxism is a continuation of the enlightenment]. This, in my opinion at least, is a very baby leftist take that I struggled with in my first years. It’s not a horrible thing to think necessarily, but 1dime has obviously been a marxist for longer than I have, so it’s concerning he is making what is quite literally a Vaush level take at this point.

5.Speaking of Vaush level takes, he believes China is imperialist and capitalist, says there’s a genocide(?) In xinjiang and that the CPC is using “Bush Era tactics” on Uygers [I for one wish I got the same treatment as Uygers in China, considering they have gotten more prosperous], constantly plainly throws out bangers like “Stalin had dictatorial power and called all of his opponents Kulaks” (note: he doesn’t actually try to argue this, he simply throws this out as a truism. This is one of the reasons i get a little angry with him, as truisims like that are my least favorite form of argumentation), and other such things you can find on his Twitter and videos and such.

Can confirm [not on the untention part though]. But the (current) inability for me to speak a second language really hurts, and not having the pathways necessary to easily learn foreign languages makes me feel like a foolish old man, but with no gods to move the mountains in response to my determination