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ArbitraryValue

@ ArbitraryValue @sh.itjust.works

Posts
2
Comments
730
Joined
3 yr. ago

  • Citing Trump Order on “Biological Truth,” VA Makes It Harder for Male Veterans With Breast Cancer to Get Coverage

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  • The article seems to be saying that the VA is no longer classifying breast cancer in men as a "reproductive organ" cancer, and therefore it's no longer eligible for automatic coverage in some contexts the way that other cancers of the reproductive system are. I'm not sure why this is an issue, because I've never heard of any ideological claims about male breasts which the Trump administration might wish to oppose.

  • JD Vance slammed for saying he hopes his Hindu wife Usha will ‘join Christianity’ at Charlie Kirk event

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  • He married her and he wants her to convert, but there's no reason to think that he married her for the purpose of converting her.

  • JD Vance slammed for saying he hopes his Hindu wife Usha will ‘join Christianity’ at Charlie Kirk event

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  • So people want him to (1) believe that the Catholic faith is essential for eternal salvation but also (2) not care whether or not his wife is Catholic? That wouldn't make any sense. Of course any Catholic who cares about his loved ones is going to hope that they convert to Catholicism.

  • Python Foundation rejects $1.5M grant from NSF with "no-DEI" strings

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  • The PSF is (presumably) already required to comply with Federal anti-discrimination laws. Am I misreading the text or does it not actually create any new obligations for the PSF if they were to accept the grant?

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    Buy, Borrow, Die: How Billionaires Legally Avoid Paying Taxes While the Rest of Us Can't

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  • These tax savings come at the cost of having to live off of a small fraction of one's net worth. That provides a social benefit - a fortune that isn't being spent is like a loan to society. Consider, for example, a person with two hundred million dollars of assets. He has the option of selling those assets, paying a tax of, say, eighty million dollars, and then buying a hundred and twenty million dollars of stuff right now. He also has the option of spending ten million dollars per year tax free forever. The latter is worth incentivising - maybe it's not worth incentivising to the extent that it is right now, but an essay about tax policy which makes no mention of that is incomplete.

    Plus, if unrealized gains on American assets are taxed, that reduces the value of American assets relative to foreign assets in jurisdictions where unrealized gains are not taxed. That might cause problems which this essay also omits.

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    House Republicans want to strip Zohran Mamdani of citizenship, possibly deport NYC mayoral frontrunner over form omissions

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  • It's just two House Republicans, at least so far. Just par for the course of Republicans proposing things like this.

  • What is a useful or interesting product under $100 that you wouldn’t normally think to buy?

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  • A shoehorn.

  • Criticizing Immigration Laws Is Not Racist

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  • That's an extremely vague post. There's some irony in arguing against the suppression of an idea without clearly expressing what that idea is.

  • TIL - the Alt-Right is obsessed with Roman Memes

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  • This is an interesting prompt. I am fascinated by ancient Rome, both the memes and serious history, and I know for sure that I'm not a member of the alt-right (you might not believe me but that's irrelevant to my analysis of myself). So why do I find Rome so interesting?

    Part of the reason is due to the fact that Rome was powerful. I suppose that I share this with the alt-right but I don't think that it is an inherently alt-right way of thinking. Ideologies, forms of government, and ways of organizing society must be able to compete in terms of raw power. Ancient Rome was, in these terms, exceptionally successful. It isn't sufficient for my modern-day values to be in accordance with my moral sense, which is very different from the moral sense of an ancient Roman. My values must also lead to, or at least be consistent with, a society that is able to exert more power (military, economic, and cultural) than other societies organized along different values. Looking at Rome is a way to see what that can look like.

    With that said, the western world, organized largely in accord with liberal values which I share, has been not just the best place to live in all of human history but also the most powerful in this sense. I think the alt-right, to the extent that they prefer other values (like ancient Roman ones), are largely fools: the west in general and the USA in particular are far stronger than Rome ever was. This ties into the second part of the reason Rome is interesting: the Republic ended not at a time when it was under threat from external enemies (it was, in many ways, at its strongest when it was the most threatened) but rather at the height of its wealth and power - most of what we think of as the "Empire" was already conquered by then. Then the Empire declined and fell largely because of infighting (although the full explanation for the collapse is a lot more complicated and, frankly, beyond my level of historical expertise). Romans were each other's worst enemies. And when the Empire fell, it fell far. Things got a lot worse, not just for the Roman elite but for almost everyone, rich and poor. We're a lot higher up than they ever were so we have a lot further to fall, and yet a lot of people are willing to risk the integrity of our society due to a short-sighted view of history that fails to appreciate how good we do, in fact, have it. The alt-right is among these foolish people - I am lower-case-c conservative because I oppose making large, sudden changes, but the alt-right is not conservative in this sense.

    Then the final part of the reason is that Rome is both alien and familiar - Roman ideas and aesthetics were deliberately preserved and spread, so that they are familiar to me in the modern day. Other ancient empires like China are also a source of useful lessons, and I'm sure they're fascinating to people who know enough to appreciate them, but to me they are far more alien and so I don't. If I were a professional historian, that wouldn't be an excuse, but I'm not so I prefer to read and think about Rome.

  • Bob's Air Fried Jackboots!

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  • Those look like rubber galoshes, not jackboots. Don't settle for imitations. Demand the real thing!

    (I'm joking. They look about the same in a drawing.)

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  • I grew up in a big city so I didn't learn to drive until I was 23, and once I did, I realized how much I had been missing. A car with a full tank of gas really does feel like freedom to me, so I enjoy having a car that is good at being a car. I'm not particularly interested in aftermarket modifications, but I am willing to pay more for a car that is fast, handles well, and looks good.

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  • Having nice things is a display of wealth and status, but which nice things a person chooses to have still depends on what they enjoy and how they want to express themselves. Even among car enthusiasts, which sort of car one is enthusiastic about varies a lot. I know a guy who has a luxury SUV which is extremely comfortable. I, on the other hand, had a car which could go around corners really fast. Whenever my passengers bounced around as the car went over a bump, I would tell them "I paid extra for that stiff suspension."

  • Trump, 79, Admits He Might Not Get Into Heaven

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  • I wouldn't say that Trump is interested in being a theocrat - his movement pays lip service to Christianity as part of its nostalgic fantasy of America the way that it used to be, but the actual Christian conservative movement has been sidelined within the Republican party since 2016 (if not earlier). Trump and his inner circle care about Christianity only to the extent that it is a label that divides "us" from "them".

  • Trump, 79, Admits He Might Not Get Into Heaven

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  • That's true, and I think that Trump is actually not a Catholic theologian but rather that he is expressing the view, common among cultural Christians today, that God weighs a person's good and bad deeds against each other. There's still the hope for divine forgiveness in this view, but the abandonment of the idea of unearned grace is contrary to the teachings of every Christian denomination, as far as I know.

  • Trump, 79, Admits He Might Not Get Into Heaven

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  • Confession is not permanent, in the sense that it does not absolve the penitent of future sin. That's one reason why last rites are important.

    CANON XVI.-If any one saith, that he will for certain, of an absolute and infallible certainty, have that great gift of perseverance unto the end,-unless he have learned this by special revelation; let him be anathema.

  • Trump, 79, Admits He Might Not Get Into Heaven

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  • Catholics consider the idea that any living person can be sure of getting into heaven a heresy. Trump isn't Catholic but he's still not saying anything theologically controversial here.

  • Cuddly gerbils

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  • You're right!

  • Cuddly gerbils

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  • Then why is there an odd number of gerbils?

  • I'm calling the police.

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  • That... doesn't seem bad? No one would mind if he also put some vegetables in there and called it a pasta salad.