Yeah I wanted to say this too. Normal people don't know or care. They might know who the president is but beyond that they do not give a shit. I'd be surprised if more than half of Americans recognize the name JD Vance. The average American is full of ambient bigotry, but they have no formed beliefs until the moment they try saying stuff out loud. The average person's political affiliation is a shrug and a vote for whoever their parents voted for.
Chuds are in their own fabricated reality, as are liberals. But that veil is only so thick and the average American isn't usually following the spectacle. Normal people are going to see people getting shot with rubber bullets and come to a conclusion that something's being done very wrong, there's a problem in how something is being handled. That kind of thing does get attention
Politics are completely imaginary things that happen on TV for the average American. It's the spectacle they want. The only time it becomes real is when they personally start to feel the effects, or start to think the effects might hit them. When the TV is no longer showing old guys getting angry, but instead showing masked ICE agents shooting tear gas and shoving people into vans, then yeah it does make the average person anxious. The American is a docile animal who likes to make a lot of noise, but truly wants nothing to happen and nothing to change. Actual change is frightening and doesn't care about politics as a spectacule.
It's probably also very hard to spin the fact that ICE built a literal concentration camp, that looks like a concentration camp, right in Florida.
All my homies are dripped out with grass ears
Yeah but how they've even encountered maga communists is a mystery. They're so niche you have to basically be a politics nerd like one of us. How they conflate maga communists with normal Marxists is another question entirely. The only answer I've come up with is there's someone at the state department pushing this stuff
Mamdani is going to sneak up behind Netanyahu and press the O button to do a knockdown move and then he'll attach the Fulton recovery system
Then Netanyahu will be assigned to the brig on mother base
Yeah this is it right here. They like looking at their net worth increase but only in terms of money or stocks. Maybe they think once it hits a certain threshold everything will be fine, or maybe they just want to rack up the score before they die.
I mean if you ask a smug liberal from a coastal city if very right wing states like Louisiana or Alabama should be bombed or starved they'd probably say yes. Look at how they talk about the south whenever there's a bad hurricane or something.
The only people who fit the criteria for the liberal conception of communists are Caleb Maupin and that Haz guy. They're self styled communists who do speak positively about Putin and modern Russia. They also talk fondly about...the United States and talk shit about...service workers. They're the ones who are incoherent.
They're also virulent antisemites and pal around with actual fascists like that Dugin guy. My point here is that Maupin and Haz are probably feds or fed adjacent. And somehow these guys have become what a large groups of liberals believe a communist is.
This is the most cognitive dissonance I've ever seen in a person. Their leaders are warmongers so we need to do warfare against them.
?????
And we're talking about countries like Palestine, Iran, and Syria? Oh so countries that haven't invaded anyone in like 100 years? They're the warmongers? The only wars these countries have been involved in, within the past century, were from the other side, fighting off invaders.
Modern Russia has invaded several other countries but I don't think many of us defend the invasion of Georgia. I personally defend the invasion of Crimea for a bunch of reasons. The consensus around here with Ukraine seems to be that it's an unfortunate reality of Russia being boxed in by NATO and this is the result.
I'm so frustrated with liberals who don't understand it was Harris who was supposed to make her policy clear. If Harris was supposed to be so much better than Trump, especially in regards to Palestine, she should have made that evident to voters, including ambivalent voters. Except she ran a campaign that was primarily about begging for rich donors since no one thought she would win.
You don't signal how much better you are than the opposition by gaining, then bragging about, the endorsement of fucking Dick Cheney. Do liberals just not remember this guy? He's pure evil, one of the most extensive lists of war crimes and death can be levied upon him. He's possibly the largest architect of death of the 21st century so far. It would be like the Beach Boys bragging about how good their music is because they're pals with Charles Manson.
Liberals, just admit you don't care about Palestinian people and you have no values at all. Or admit you're gullible and somehow sincerely believed Harris would somehow stop the genocide she was actively perpetrating.
the liberal has no beliefs. She believes in nothing other than aligning with what she perceives is the socially acceptable left-liberal position. It should have been obvious she no longer had a soul when she was willingly hanging out with Hillary Clinton. Contrapoints is not a person with beliefs other than she deserves an audience. She's an empty vessel, she's a husk who wants attention. She wants a personal mythology and adoring fans. Everything she says is run through a filter to calculate the best possible audience retention. This is a person for whom beliefs and internal conviction are not an avenue to change the world, but rather beliefs are a malleable problem to be solved by choosing the correct postures in order to gain some mythical mainstream appeal.
The liberal is someone who believes there is a correct position, not necessarily correct on its own merits or based upon personal experience, but instead it's correct by virtue of how much of an audience it can get. But it's not even properly calibrated, it's based on the perception of what a broad liberal audience may agree with. Like I'm reminded of how Chuck Schumer has an imaginary retired couple who lives in Long Island or something, and before he does anything, he considers what their opinion might be. Liberals have given themselves imaginary brain creatures who whisper in their ears on what to say and do, because they know if they only acted based on conviction, if they only said words based on their own beliefs, the only words out of their mouths would be "i want to be popular."
We're expected to continue working when it's 90 F and 100% humidity indoors. Dude our paper is so soggy I punch holes in it when I try to write. I am straight up not having a good time.
Also our managers didn't even come in today. What even is capitalism
Hey everyone!
Six months ago I made a post about how how I managed to run a 5k in less than 30 minutes. Well just earlier today I managed to double that and ran a 10k in one hour! I'm extremely proud of myself!
I'm not very young or in shape, but about two years ago I made a promise to get better, lose weight, and have a level of fitness I can appreciate. I don't wanna get to 50 and be another overweight American with heart problems. I wanna look and feel healthy.
However I am incredibly lazy and scatterbrained, so I decided to go for an exercise that requires no equipment, no technique, and has a high efficiency for calories burned against time. My best guess was jogging/running would fit well, and I had done jogging for fitness way back in college. But that was just casual fun a few times a week. Two years ago I decided I wanted to do it right and focus. Go for longer distances, pace myself, record my times, that kinda thing. And it's working! I finished a 10k for the first time ever earlier this morning and I finished at 59 minutes 27 seconds!
I guess a full marathon is what I should aim for next. A whole lot is going pretty cool in my life ever since I started jogging seriously. I'm more comfortable in calling myself nonbinary and asexual, I'm dressing more nicely, I have a lot of creative pursuits now, and I don't get tired as easily. I wear makeup and no longer feel weird about it!
I wanna eventually get enough stamina to do a full marathon! Wish me luck, y'all. I wish you all luck and perseverance as well! I'm some lazy smelly goofball so if I can do it you all definitely can
(me every morning at 5:30 am)
Hello, it's me.
Japan is an imperialist capitalist nation in Asia that has been dominated by the right wing party 自由民主党 (The Liberal Democratic Party) almost entirely since the party's conception. The country has a reputation for harsh working hours, a repressive conformist culture, a huge and exploitative pornography industry, but worst of all: anime.
However, it's not all bad. Japan also boasts a rich cultural history, beautiful natural landmarks, and a deep culinary tradition. It's a place I've visited and stayed in many times. I really do have an appreciation of Japan. Not in a weeaboo kind of way, but I hope more genuinely in the things I like. I've actually taken the time to visit the countryside, to make friends, to interact with everyday Japanese people. I've made the effort to learn how to speak the language at a conversational level, and I've gone out of my way to have experiences beyond the normal tourist stuff. Not bragging but I've been to 38 of Japan's 47 prefectures.
But onto the main subject here: I hate, hate, hate how western reactionaries glorify aspects of Japan while also knowing jack and shit about Japan. In fact, I'd like to propose that if American white conservatives actually knew about Japanese domestic policy, they'd declare Japan to be socialist in the same way they refer to Canada or Europe as socialist. Here we go.
Also all of this will be off the top of my head because I'm exhausted from work and just doing this as catharsis because I had to listen to several shitheads today talk about how conservative Japan is and why it's a conservative based utopia blah blah blah ahhhhh. So if I get anything wrong or don't mention something just call me out as a dipshit because I am a massive dipshit. I don't wanna actually google statistics and stuff right now.
Don't get me wrong. Japan is not some utopia, it's a capitalist exploitative imperialist nation, but I'm just very sick of hearing American conservatives glorify things about the country that they exaggerate, misunderstand, or just fabricate.
Things American chuds care about:
Ok let's address this one first. Personal ownership of handguns and rifles in Japan is strictly illegal. My understanding is that shotguns are legal for specifically hunters or target shooters, but require an evaluation, regular accuracy tests, proof of what the gun is used for specifically, and you have to let the police inspect your home and gun whenever they ask. American chuds would absolutely bristle at hearing any of this. Honestly, Japan's gun control laws alone might be enough for the average American chud to declare Japan a dystopian socialist dictatorship.
Japan doesn't have at-will employment. Every employer is required to give 30 days notice before firing someone, or issue payment in lieu of notice. Far more Japanese workers in the private industry belong to unions than Americans, I think it's around 16% of Japanese workers versus only like 3% of Americans. Japanese companies cannot fire employees without a specific reason. Minimum wage is pegged to cost of living in the surrounding area. It's also super common for companies to reimburse employees for public transportation costs. Employees are typically under contract with their employer, and all workers are legally obligated to pay into a national pension plan, which I believe starts to pay out at the age of 60.
While Japan is notoriously difficult in terms of gaining full citizenship, immigrating and becoming a resident is about the same process as immigrating anywhere else. Japan's xenophobia is probably the most cited feature of the place that chuds seem to like. I hear so many stories about the "No Foreigners" signs in front of shops. Personally, I've only ever encountered one of those signs, but it was less a "no foreigners allowed whatsoever" and more like a "we don't speak English, sorry." I'm pretty sure denying foreigners service entirely violates several Japanese civil rights laws. I remember there were some Korean residents in Japan like 20 years ago who successfully sued a bathhouse for several million yen for its refusal to service them. It's just not as widespread as chuds like to say it is, and it's definitely not true of cosmopolitan areas like Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya, etc. Maybe decades ago, but as far as Japanese cities are concerned, the yen is good no matter who's trying to use it. I could get into why I think Japan has a low percentage of immigration, but to cut it short I think it's primarily low wages for skilled labor compared to other industrialized nations. Xenophobia and discrimination are probably factors as well, but I really believe it's the lack of money and Japan's relative isolation that keep immigrants away. Like why would someone from neighboring countries China or Occupied (South) Korea immigrate to Japan at this point, other than an interest in Japan? They'd make far more money at home.
Also in regards to social xenophobia, that's probably true of the older generations, but the overwhelming majority of young Japanese people I've met have been obsessed with Korean media. K-pop, K-dramas, Korean idols, all of that. They also love American movies, especially slop like Star Wars and Marvel. If Japanese people are supposed to be based culturally isolated people who don't engage in foreign cultures, they're very bad at it. Go to anywhere in Shibuya and you'll hear the Billboard top 50 blaring all the time.
Yeah it's not great, but Japan at least acknowledges gender transitions. I also know that GRS is covered by the state healthcare system, although I don't know if HRT is. I do have a trans friend in Japan and she tells me there's actually a pretty decent community for her and things are alright. Japan notoriously has no national recognition of same-sex marriage, however, cities and prefectures individually may have their own laws regarding recognition. Like I know that most wards of Tokyo will issue a certificate to same-sex couples that carries many of the same provisions as marriage. Also, Japan has multiple elected officials who are trans or gay. Setagaya, a ward of Tokyo, had an open trans woman elected to its council all the way back in 2003. I believe Japan has no specific laws regarding discrimination or hate speech, I believe certain prefectures have their own laws protecting against gender/sexuality discrimination, like Tokyo and Ibaraki. (my friend lives in Ibaraki and she's told me there are local laws against things like hiring discrimination in regards to sexuality/gender). Basically, it's complicated and queer people aren't fully protected or normalized, but that's similar to most countries in the world right now. Japan certainly isn't a fully anti-LGBTQ country like chuds would describe. Instead it's a mixed bag where acceptance can vary depending on where in the country you are and who you're interacting with.
Japan's healthcare system is actually just about as good as you can get for a capitalist country. Japanese people have one of the longest life expectancies on Earth, the obesity rate is low, and access to healthcare is very high. The way it works is a public-private hybrid system, where 70% of healthcare costs are covered by the state and the remaining 30% is covered by private health insurance. After the age of 70, the state covers all costs. Most employers offer a health insurance plan, meaning the vast majority of Japanese residents enjoy widespread coverage at publicly funded hospitals. I know there are a lot of cases where the national healthcare system doesn't cover everything, or insurance won't cover certain conditions, but statistically Japan has a remarkably healthy population (at least in terms of physical health. There are a variety of widespread mental health issues.) Again, this is something else that American white reactionaries would bristle at, despite the obvious positive results. Also I think quack medicine is illegal, or at least, isn't covered by the national health system or something? I remember my friend saying something about it.
Japan has a progressive income tax rate that vastly out-paces the American tax rate. Its highest tax bracket, an income of ¥40,000,000 or higher, is a whopping 45%. The equivalent highest bracket in America is 37% for income of $609,351 and above. As I'm typing this, 40 million yen is $257,212. I don't even want to get into the inheritance, corporate, property, etc taxes because they're also higher than the American equivalents. Again, this is a feature chuds would declare as inherently despotic and socialist.
I actually don't know much about this, but I'm pretty sure every major party, including the LDP, acknowledges anthropic climate change is real. I know waste disposal laws are more strict than the US, and I think fines for pollution are harsher. I do know that most parties in Japan are against nuclear energy, including the Communist Party, which is kinda understandable given Japanese history.
Ok I'm done rambling. I just really needed to get all that out. I don't think I hit every point I wanted to hit but you're all very smart and you probably understand where I'm going with this. The actual reality of Japan is something chuds would not want for themselves, since they can only look at certain aspects of Japan, namely its immigration policies and its ethnic homogeneity, and declare that's all that's necessary for a country to be based or whatever. Yeah except nearly every other feature of Japan is something they'd find unpalatable at best and grounds for declaring it a dictatorship at worst.
ok thank you for reading my bullshit. 
death to America
I mean obviously there's Serum, Vital, and Phase Plant and all the popular ones, but what do you find yourself using?
My current rotation is:
Phonec by Psychic Modulation. Really dreamy synth meant to sound like a nature documentary from 1984. Very Boards of Canada.
Repro-5 by u-he. Really nifty emulation of the Prophet 5.
VCV Rack. The best software version of a modular synthesizer rack around. You can get lost for hours in sound design. Also it's free!
Dawesome Abyss. Honestly a little finicky and difficult to use but can make some super thick pads.
QasarBeach by Adam Strange - It's free! Super crunchy recreation of a Fairlight CMI IIx. Probably the most impressive free softsynth I've ever used, and it's more than that! It has a tracker, waveform editor, sampler, a ton of stuff. The GUI is just beautiful. It's really really hard to use and clunky, but it's just got so much soul and love put into it that I can't help but poke around in it sometimes.
What do y'all enjoy using? Also this is a great comm idea and I hope we have lots of cool threads! 
She was born in a storm drain. She's 6 years old! She's small and likes salmon. She's a good girl.
That's what all political donation ads sound like