🎓 Doc Freemo 🇳🇱 @freemo@qoto.org

@Surasanji I often haf-joke on FB that they need to add an auto-block feature for americans :)

@Saederup92

@neverfadingwood I tend to qualify my criticism with "and all english speaking countries" for exactly that reason.

@Surasanji @Saederup92

@Saederup92 Best to stay away. America is good for two things: 1) making money and financial oppertunity. 2) delicious food that will kill you.

@Surasanji

@Surasanji I have a bad habit of thinking anyone from the internet is american till I hear otherwise. Part of the reason I moved to mastodon is the lack of americans.

@Saederup92

@Surasanji I was just thinking more from the USA terms where "left of center" means "I vote democrat but i disagree with most of what they say". I realize now in your case it probably means something very different.

@Saederup92

@Saederup92 The USA is a model of example of my concerns and the reason i have developed the stance I have.

In the end the truth is I have dealt with many very traumatic life long patterns that directly result from the insanity of the left and the right.

Which is why i have a house in the netherlands now and minimize my contact with the USA.

@Surasanji

@Surasanji I can understand that. Though I personally feel the "lesser of two evils" mentality is the quickest way to ensure evil prevails.

@Saederup92

@Saederup92 Very true

@Surasanji

@Saederup92 I think both the right and the left make valid points. I also find that since neither the right nor the left address the valid points of the other side neither is capable of coming up with reasonable solutions that address all the concerns.

@Surasanji

@Surasanji If the left-right spectrum were a numberline with far left being -10 and the far right being +10 then I would fall exactly at the square root of -1.

@Saederup92

@Saederup92 Depending on the nuance I see nothing wrong with that.

@Saederup92 Generally nationalist is used to mean something quite horrible. Something akin to fascist. I presume that is not the way you mean it however.

@Saederup92 Yea I hear you. Unless I have a romantic or sexual interest in the person I dont really even see it as relevant.

@Surasanji

Meanwhile in america...

Liberals are idealists. Doesn't matter if an idea works or kills millions. As long as it sounds poetic and righteous then they really dont care if it is effective.

Conservatives are quite the opposite. They care more about the end results than how good it sounds on paper. Their problem however is a complete inability to understand the data or interpret it objectively. No matter what the data actually says in their mind it always agrees with them.

@reactor I am not talking about what the two are on paper or ideally speaking should be. I am talking about how self-proclaimed liberals and conservatives behave in america. By that interpretation it is entirely accurate IMO.

In the netherlands (where I have since moved to) this does not hold true.

@Surasanji I have no doubt what you describe is true. I wouldn't fault you for making the point of racial inequality.

My concern is that because it is the universal go to it overshadows the broader points consistently and reduces everything to race politics over time. Which gives us a sort of national tunnel vision which leads to ineffectively evaluating the problems or doing anything about it.

If we address all the injustice around people in prison over marijuana, and do so in a color blind way, then blacks receive justice, as does every other color. If we focus on the race even if we fix it we only fix it for one race.

@Surasanji Israel always struck me as a place of "wonky" morality at an aggregate level. All the stuff you've probably heard before.

But as always I dont let that effect my opinion of any citizen I might meet. That wouldnt be fair.

Plus i havent been there so i like to keep my opinions low-key if i cant speak from experience anyway.

@Saederup92

@Surasanji I never saw the meme as a black or white related point. While I have no doubt blacks take the brunt of it due to the fact that they tend to live in poverty and the poor are seen as criminals, the issue is bigger than that.

The issue I feel of importance here is the fact that people, no matter their skin color, are in jail for something as minor as marijuana at all.

@Saederup92 I find most countries (not all) are pretty sane. The exceptions are the english speaking ones really. Though russia looks worrisome too just havent been there personally so i dont want to judge