The details of this are so stupid I don’t want to believe it. I don’t want to jump straight to conspiracies before I really know much either, but seriously?

Maybe I just imagine political assassins to be more careful and intentional than they really are.

Personally I doubt most of these people are genuinely worried about being harassed by the state for publicizing those beliefs. In some cases maybe they should be worried, but in reality I think most of them are more concerned with social pressures.

If you voice those opinions, hordes of people will attack you for it. And that’s a product of both wide spread conservatism influencing real peoples view of the situation, and social media platforms actively crushing dissent and pushing the narrative that aligns with their interests.

In all likelihood my comments, despite being made with no vpn or tor, will never result in any action taken against me. That’s simply because I don’t pose any material threat to the state or its power. America maintains its illusion of freedom by explicitly allowing dissent, as long as it doesn’t have teeth. I am simply not worth the trouble.

Its in moments like these that I really appreciate non corporate social media. Everywhere outside the fediverse all I see is people freaking out, acting like this is the first shooting to ever happen in the united states. Even supposed leftists are just like “I don’t agree with the man but no one deserves to get killed over their beliefs”.

They seem to have forgotten that people get killed over way dumber shit all the time. Personally I care about all the other shootings a lot more than this one. Especially the school shooting in Colorado that happened the same afternoon, which is being mostly ignored.

There are even lots of comments that condemn anyone making light of his death, or even just making comments about his politics. This dissent they condemn is almost nowhere to be found though, because algorithms bury it all straight to the bottom. The only opinion allowed to be seen is “I’m horrified look at me”.

Coming back to a place where a real discussion can be had makes me realize just how important this project really is. We need more spaces that we truly own.

Taiwan is only strategically important to the us because it manufactures those chips. Trump’s goal is to increase production in the us, so we aren’t forced to intervene when mainland China comes for them.

No, because Facebook is not explicitly designed for the sole purpose of illegal transactions. Very clear difference.

I think its slightly dishonest to frame this as him simply “creating a website”. He created a marketplace to sell drugs on, I just don’t understand the sympathy. I feel bad for low level drug dealers in jail, this guy not so much.

I would agree it could’ve been handled differently, same with every other aspect of the war on drugs. But celebrating this guy is a step too far for me.

Why are people in support of this guy?

Guys this is a Buddhist symbol. I’m simply supporting America’s religious diversity, you bigots.

You don’t have to have a debate, but using that image as a reaction makes you look like a child. Just respond thoughtfully, or don’t respond at all.

Really bro? That’s what we’re doing now?

That is true, but hamas has a far better reason to be an asshole. If I were in their situation, I wouldn’t be the most agreeable person either. My hope is that if their impending doom is eliminated, their more problematic behavior would go with it.

He is a hired attorney.

They know the motive, they just don’t have enough proof to say it publicly. They like to keep things vague.

He has a website where you can pay to hear him yell at you.

I did more research and I found out it actually isn’t standard where I live now, I am misremembering probably because I haven’t had many interactions with police here. This is a somewhat standard practice in major cities though which would explain why I was familiar with it. I will admit copaganda probably reinforced that though, most media I’ve seen does depict 2 officers. But whatever, I’m always happy to learn a new reason to hate cops.

No, I am thinking of what I have seen in real life. In my area there is almost always 2 cops per vehicle. I was unaware this was not standard.

I haven’t seen that before. I guess they really are just using a laptop and driving at the same time.

I don’t want to be the guy defending cops, but there is usually more than one officer in a squad car. There is no rule against a passenger being distracted.

I think its ok to enjoy art from terrible people as long as it isn’t actually about their problematic aspects, and you are avoiding directly supporting that person by giving them money or drawing a lot of attention to them. Plus in this case there were a lot more minds involved than just Cosby’s.

I don’t have a strongly held belief regarding the existence of any gods.

The strongly held belief I’m referring to isn’t a belief in a god or lack thereof, its a belief that religion is a net negative for society.

I’m surprised you’re not aware of this.

To say I’m not aware of this is again to argue in bad faith. I have mentioned myself that religious indoctrination of course still exists, and is a problem.

As for the assessment of benefits, there’s a great deal of research into what people do with their lives and why.

Yes there is research into how religion affects society, but it isn’t very useful for this purpose for multiple reasons. There is no instance of a society without religion, so the difference between a religious and non-religious society can’t be studied. There can be no consensus on what is beneficial and what isn’t, as morality itself isn’t objective.

There is not and there never will be definitive evidence as to whether or not religion is beneficial for society.

There is nothing to suggest we need religion for any of the benefits that religious people say they obtain from it,

There is also nothing to suggest the opposite, because this can’t really be determined. You would have to so create a set of all the benefits religious people claim to get, which in and of itself would be a monumental task. Then, you would have to demonstrate that nonreligious people can achieve all of the exact same benefits.

This is why I’ve come to the conclusion that this argument is pointless, and neither of us know anything beyond our personal experience.