shawn1122

In an open marketplace I'm afraid that is a competitive disadvantage Especially with a 1 in 3 approval rating.

So a fascist. Not suprising.

Its a good yoke but coming at a South Asian person for the anglicized spelling of a South Asian word is the sugar syrup on the Gulab Jamun.

Western nations really need to teach their kids about colonialism. There needs to be an honest appraisal of the harm that went into creating the global imbalance we see today. Without it, the average person ends up cognitively deficient in discussions of global geopolitics (there are far too many that fit this bill).

I still meet too many people that hold onto a colonialism happened because we're awesome attitude with a profound knowledge deficit on the number of genocides that went into the process.

They argue on a Western technological advantage which can be a reasonable assertion but also Western moral superiority which is so laughably misinformed they might as well have not gone to grade school.

There was no concept of a terrorist in biblical times.

I think the problem is that the antitrust ship has already sailed.

I don't think a government run grocery store would be looking to compete on the open market. It would be more along the lines of subsidized food for lower income households on food stamps, practically speaking. That is much more sutainable than one that's open to the general public.

If a government run grocery store could provide a fair price for items we are currently being gouged on, I doubt they would be able to keep up with consumer demand. Essentially middle class and above will have to keep putting up with commercial prices.

Collective hedonism is an abstract ideal that has not quite had any real world application. I have met quite a few hedonistic individuals but have yet to see a successfully and consistently hedonistic group. It's hard to get a large group to agree on what is meaningfully pleasurable. For the purposes of this discussion it's too abstract to be relevant and even if it was I'm still not quite sure why it would be 'badass' as doing the pleasurable thing often does not coincide with doing the right thing.

Collective pleasure does not exist with any degree of permanence but collective prevention of harm absolutely does, and often requires sacrifice / hardship, which is what I would define as "badass"

Price gouging has been a major problem at Canadian grocers since COVID. Basically prices went up with supply chain issues / inflation but have not been adjusted for improvements in inflation since then.

These are for profit entities. They would steal a quarter from the poor and hungry if they could.

That's the fundamental flaw to capitalism - not that it concentrates wealth and power (because that is perhaps human nature) but that it celebrates it.

It conditions us to think that concentrating wealth is not only morally right but something we should all aspire to. That competing is morally superior to sharing.

Ultimately, if capitalists accrue so much wealth and power that they can buy out the interests that would seek to regulate them through democratic will, we then relinquish our democracy for feudalism.

The reason why it isn't badass is it prioritizies self over others. Under a hedonistic worldview, your own pleasure matters more than another living beings pain.

It aligns well with capitalism and its inventivization of personal enrichment even if at an expense to others.

In my view being "badass" is taking care of each other, even the supposed "least" amongst us (if we are to believe in such hierarchies), as our superheros and religious figures are written.

There's a reason we have immortalized such figures and I would describe exactly none of them as hedonistic. Rather they often take on incredible personal pain to bring safety and security to others. That is what I would call badass.

A lot of what we define as pleasurable in this part of the world is driven by consumerism or other environmentally unsustainably/harmful activity. If your pleasurable activities account for your impact on all living things then by all means knock yourself out. Most hedonists I've known do not demonstrate this degree of introspection and often are looking for fleeting pleasures to mask trauma or other mental health challenges.

Sounds more like the musings of a hedonist than a badass. The incoordination and head trauma are not as far off brand as he thinks it is.

So.. Nukes.