I am tired of this world, these people. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives.

  • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
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    8 months ago

    I had previous learned that we will run out of oil soon. It seems this is not the scientific consensus - it’s just that known reserves will run out in about 50 years. In other words, this meme can repeat itself ad nauseam. We should look at every US geopolitical strategy or even statement through this lens. Greenland? Canada? Oil!

    • JustAnotherPodunk@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Thanks to the improvements in efficiency and price fluctuations that allowed shale oil extraction and the like, as well as new exploration, for all intents and purposes, we still have a basically unlimited amount of oil.

      When oil gets expensive, it justifies infrastructure that was previously economically unfeasible and not part of our reserves. And once that infrastructure is in place, the price can still go down and it can sustain itself. Is it really unlimited? Absolutely not. But innovation and economics have stretched what’s available to a level of surprising longevity.

      At this rate of price fluctuation and investment, in 300 years we will be extracting the oil from your facial pores and still have a “50 year reserve”.

      It’s kinda a neat thing if it wasn’t for all the shitty side effects, tbh.

    • Digit@lemmy.wtf
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      8 months ago

      According to patent whistle blower Tom Valone, by the year 2000 there had already been over 3000 free energy device patents secreted.

      Throughout the past century, we could have been producing abundant hempseed and hemp biomass to make hemp based plastics, oil fuels, alcohol fuels, graphene based photovoltaics and capacitor bank batteries and more, (all while cleaning the soil, feeding ourselves and farm animals, clothing ourselves without pesticides etc, and cleaning the air,) if not for what Bernays, Anslinger, and Hearst did to us.

      We never needed be hog-tied to crude oil. Probably could have found something better to do with it than burn it. Probably wise to not fall for scarcity-rumour scams to drive up prices either.

      We have so much headroom without these [ecocidal, mass-murdering, slaver] crooks.

        • Digit@lemmy.wtf
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          8 months ago

          free energy device

          Pity. Apart from that you have some good arguments.

          You have some refutation to what Tom Valone said?

          Or just presuming the prevailing dogma’s true that such is impossible?

            • Digit@lemmy.wtf
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              8 months ago

              I have no idea who that is

              as mentioned a couple comments back in this thread:

              According to patent whistle blower Tom Valone, by the year 2000 there had already been over 3000 free energy device patents secreted.

              Heh, oops, just noticed that should have read “patent office whistle blower”. ~ Not like that was the problem preventing knowing who that is.

              prevailing science

              lol. following science are you? XD

              I’ll do similarly, and presume that’s impossible. Just like sticking a feather up your butt doesn’t make you a chicken.

  • YappyMonotheist@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Do you think Americans were not bombing brown people when Democrats were in power? Didn’t Obama get a Nobel Peace Prize while having a top score in drone kill strikes? Lol. The empire is evil and murderous, regardless of who’s playing the part of the leader.

          • YappyMonotheist@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Sure, but does the reason matter when Americans murder all year round regardless? It’s for power, that’s all, and Republicans are horrible, disgusting people, sure, but for the rest of the world Dems are basically the same since they also have innocent blood on their hands. This “when Reps are in everything is shit but not when Dems are in” is part of the issue in America. The reality is that the ideological basis of America is fucked, always was, a group of self-centered violent maniacs who believe in nothing but their own comfort and have historically behaved like murderous beasts, and it doesn’t change because you have some charming brown dude in power instead of some decrepit blond dude with jowls.

    • lennybird@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      We aren’t both-sidesing this, are we?

      Obama was a breath of fresh air on the international stage and widely respected, globally for good reason. It was clear to anyone paying even half attention that he was confronting powerful forces.

      Couple points of fact to mention:

      • Obama used drone strikes, yes.
      • These Drone Strikes are orders of magnitude more precise with far less collateral damage than traditional warfare strategies used by his predecessors.
      • Obama passed an executive order making these drone strikes transparent to the public, understanding the danger.
      • Trump came in and reversed that transparency, making them classified.
      • Obama’s civilian death toll is significantly less than Trump’s first term alone.

      By the way:

      • Nearly all dissenting opinions on Iraq and Afghanistan originated from Democrats or Independents who caucused with Democrats for good reason.
      • Nearly all later dissent came from this side as well.
      • A Democrat is the one who actually got us out of Iraq
      • A Democrat is the one who actually got us out of Afghanistan
      • A Democrat is the one who actually stayed on task to eliminate Bin Laden.

      Republicans start wars; Democrats usually get them out. Perfect? No. But there is a very, very clear trend.

      Getting tired of seeing this false equivalence nonsense.

      • ATS1312@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        8 months ago

        Yeah, Obama ran cover for his predecessor’s war crimes too. Adopted his policies. Made them his own, accelerated them.

        Before Biden, Obama had the record of most deportations per term. Biden actually built Trump’s border wall, and beat Obama’s deportation record.

        I’m tired of pretending the centrist, corporate Democrats are “left” of anything but Nazis.

        • lennybird@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          There is not a single quantifiable mark you can place that Republicans aren’t exceedingly worse on, in every respect. The two proverbial poisons are nowhere near equal potency; and it always amuses me that these armchair leaders would’ve reacted especially nobly if they were in the hot-seat and privy to the intelligence Obama was. I look forward to their run for office.

          Deportation number is irrelevant; the methodology is of course what matters. Obama prioritized violent offenders, for example; he also did not separate mothers from children the same way Trump did. Literally no pro-immigrant advocacy group would trade what Biden or Obama did for what Trump is doing right now.

          MuH BoTh SiDes false equivalence fallacies are easy for the mind to comprehend, but when you actually examine with any particular depth and nuance, they tend to fall apart.

          • balderdash
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            7 months ago

            Your entire series of comments basically boils down to: “Democrats are the lesser of two evils!!”

            The person responding is saying that they’re still both, you know, evil.

            • lennybird@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Evil is a biblical term based on bullshit. If I’m forced to consume one of two poisons but one has less potency or lethality than the other, I’m taking the less potent one. Obviously.

              Would I prefer to take neither? Sure. But we don’t live in a fairy-tale utopia where that is an option.

              This user ended up agreeing by the way with that assessment.

              • balderdash
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                7 months ago

                If I’m forced to consume one of two poisons but one has less potency or lethality than the other, I’m taking the less potent one. Obviously.

                There is a third option.

                Would I prefer to take neither? Sure. But we don’t live in a fairy-tale utopia where that is an option.

                How do you think this country was founded?

          • ATS1312@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            8 months ago

            There is not a single quantifiable mark you can place that Republicans aren’t exceedingly worse on, in every respect

            And Democrats rush to accept their terms without considering the voters, any principles, or even practicality.

            They haven’t had a real primary for the Presidential candidate since 2008. Here is your one Mark. I’m begrudged to give the Red Team that much, but your Blue Team is what it is.

            Its not a false equivalence to say the following: yes, your shit team is better than literal Nazis, but that’s still not calling anyone good.

            What are your thoughts on Mamdani? Are you a “Blue No Matter Who” voter in this context, or only without him? If Democrats want to win, he’s got a model that works. I’m scared that the party insiders demand Ezra Klein’s Reaganism repackaged in New Age “law of attraction”-pretending-to-be-Economics.

            • lennybird@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              What are your thoughts on Mamdani? Are you a “Blue No Matter Who” voter in this context, or only without him? If Democrats want to win, he’s got a model that works. I’m scared that the party insiders demand Ezra Klein’s Reaganism repackaged in New Age “law of attraction”-pretending-to-be-Economics.

              Couldn’t agree more, honestly. I am pretty progressive-left and have much criticism of Democrats, much like Sanders or AOC do. I embrace the Fight Oligarchy movement; I denounce the Third Way enlightened centrism at every turn. Schumer, Jeffries, Martin need to go. Pelosi’s seat needs to be taken by Chakrabarti and not some AIPAC centrist puppet. Major reforms must happen between now and through Primaries season. And yes, I absolutely cheer Mamdani on and hope he suceeds. Agreed, Ezra is basically as useless as Bill Maher.

              But years ago I swear to fuck I was one of the first to use the term Pragmatic Progressive" title, in noting that I would vote for Sanders but vote for Hillary and vote for several other candidates ahead of Harris or Biden in 2020, but still vote for Biden; still voted for Harris even though I wished for something different. Why? Because the reality is that in a binary choice election — and my ultimate point in this discussion on Biden and Obama — they were objectively, logically, by every qualitative and quantifiable measure the better choice. I do not subscribe to the deeply selfish ideologies of accelerationism or nihilism that would see others like my children or anyone else’s suffer as a sacrifice to meet another’s ends, either.

              I of course am not alone in that damage-control assessment; after all, the likes of Bernie and AOC adhere to the same principle.

              I apologize for coming out strong on this. I’ve just seen so many people try to act like Obama wasn’t a genuinely good person trying to do his best but confronting forces or failing, versus someone is genuinely pathologically evil and psychopathic, like Trump.

              • ATS1312@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                8 months ago

                Is Obama better than Trump? Yes.

                Do we need to keep claiming he is perfect? No, let’s quit deluding ourselves.

                https://youtube.com/shorts/4xaT7Qr7hA8 a short video that cites a couple sources.

                So much of what Trump can do is built upon what Obama accomplished in the name of “National Security”. Even ICE.

                He caved. He was an effective, brilliant, and charismatic community organizer. But when he took office in the White House, he balanced all of those things we love about him? With his party’s pathological need to please both his opposition and their shared donors.

                And he was so much more effective at doing what Republicans wanted, even when he adds some “humane restrictions” to it, these policies and precedents set us on an even more dangerous path. Just like with every previous presidency in my lifetime.

                I don’t say this to be mean, I wish it wasn’t true. But we need to be honest with ourselves. If Democracy is supposed to work, we cannot afford to trust our representatives to be surrounded by lobbyists without our active voices demanding some share of their time.

                And yet, we have allowed our politics to be “vote every 2-4 years along party lines, and trust that it will be fine.” We’re not doing just fine.

      • YappyMonotheist@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        They believed in him and, from what I recall, he did his job thoroughly (something like 500+ drone strikes? Wasn’t there one at a wedding too?). Yes we can! 😂 These people are fucking monsters, lol.

        • Digit@lemmy.wtf
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          8 months ago

          And then came trump, in first weeks, tripling the rate of drone bombing kills, and to solve that, he ordered the publishing of drone bombing stats be silenced. So now both sides in the purple party bubble can think their side the angels. … Or at least, lesser evils. Ready to give their vote to evil come the next pseudo-election, with a clean conscience, as the candidates furnish their minds with fresh promises of ending wars, and so on…

          … Something’s broken in people’s brains for continuing to fall for it.

  • GrammarPolice@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    How Americans don’t take this as a sign that their electoralism is always bound for failure will forever remain a mystery to me. You emerge from the fallout of Republican leaders by voting democrats and joyously claim, “the storm has passed” and “we should never repeat these mistakes”. Come 8 or so years and a Republican is re-elected.

    How have you guys not en masse realized that democratic reign is merely a refractory period for Republican governance? Why have you not organized and promoted other parties? The greens are slow and will take a lot of work to build, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. This cycle will continue until you’ve en masse woken up to the real contradictions driving your politics.

    Spiel over!

      • Alwaysnownevernotme@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I can’t even comprehend it with the blinding majesty of the democratic actions taken, where they heroically and with the utmost of poise forgive their opponents for all crimes domestic and international.

        The darn Republicans just don’t understand how forgiving and merciful the Democrats will always be. So mean.

    • AEsheron@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      First we need to excise the foreign influence from the Greens though, which is probably harder than just starting over again. Which doesn’t fix the problem with first past the post voting systems which mathematically make it almost impossible for one ideology to win if they have more candidates that an opposing ideology. That’s where the fight has to start, grass roots voting reform to more represational systems like STAR. Get it in locally, and then push it up from there. Then new parties will be allowed to flourish, instead of just torpedoing their platform by splitting the votes.

  • bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    Question that will enrage everyone:

    What would you do with $8/gallon gas (in the US where there is very very little public transport). Many many people would be totally fucked.

    There’s a reason this happens unfortunately, there’s prices to pay for modern life, just like the slave labor that built all of our electronics and clothing.

          • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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            8 months ago

            Eh. It can be multiple things. The Second Iraq War was about oil, but it was also about W. having a personal grudge against Saddam. Saddam at one point tried to have Bush Sr. assassinated, and Jr. had it out for him as a consequence. Plus it was for political purposes, both to drum up the base at home and to assist Israel abroad. It was about all of those things. Wars are never caused by just a single reason. Oil was absolutely a powerful factor, perhaps the most powerful. But it’s overly reductive to simply say it was about oil. Launching a war requires getting a lot of stakeholders on board. And not everyone will have the same motivations. The Zionist faction wanted Iraq toppled to help Israel, but they have no particular concern for oil. The oil industry folks wanted Iraqi oil, but money-hungry CEOs don’t really care about throwing red meat to the Fox News crowd. Launching a big war requires a coalition, even if just the Republican coalition. Wars always thus have many motivations behind them.

              • zd9@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                The MAGA base is too anti-interventionist now.

                The MAGA base will think anything that Newsmax, OANN, and Fox tells them. I’ve seen it happen in real time, multiple times now. They wouldn’t be MAGA still if they had any morals or critical thinking capabilities.

                Trump won’t go all in just yet, just try to provoke an attack (or stage a false flag) to give pretense to crack down on their land. Preceded of course by some covert bombing to soften their SAM defenses.

        • Alaknár@sopuli.xyz
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          8 months ago

          Yes, but Trump forgot about that and posted this to Truth Social:

          “You remember, they took all of our energy rights. They took all of our oil from not that long ago, and we want it back,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews. “But they took it; they illegally took it.”

          “They took it away because we had a president that maybe wasn’t watching, but they’re not going to do that. We want it back,” he continued later. “They took our oil rights, we had a lot of oil there, as you know, they threw our companies out, and we want it back.”

          I saw a screenshot of hit post, but couldn’t find it now. The quote is from here.

    • HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      8 months ago

      Trump at a rally in 2023 already said ‘we could’ve gone into Venezuela and gotten all that oil’ if he had been elected in 2020 (except of course he lied that election was stolen)