Apparition of Jack

Alpha males might get all the food and women, but they're also the ones expected to defend and - if need be - die for the tribe. Those perks come with big risks. Also, since being an alpha looks so attractive, other strong males will always be trying to take the positon from you, and if they succeed you'll be shunned by everyone else, so it's really not as "stress free" as it looks. In my opinion, rather than worrying too much about chasing material status, focus on self-actualising instead, and all the things you want (money, girls, confidence) will start coming naturally to you, only it'll be in a more conscious and less stressful way (what's trying to hook up with a random hot girl every week in meaningless sex compared to one or two relationships with beautiful, thoughtful partners who let you be open and vulnerable and very damn intimate with?)

Why not be the change you wish to see in the world? If your society is really as masculine and competitive as you say, why not act as a shining beacon of the Feminine and teach other guys that it's OK to feel vulnerable, calm, expressive, etc.? It'll be tough (ironically enough) but perhaps you could see the challenges of it as part of your life purpose / self-actualisation journey?

In my opinion, Epstein is merely a symptom, not a cause, of the sort or corruption that goes on at the top. If you want to prevent Epsteins from rising in this world, then to me you need to take responsibility for the society you live in and hold those with power accountable. This means holding to account not just when they sell children as sex slaves, but also when they rob nations of wealth, push for laws that cause huge damage to our health, environment, consciousness, and so on. Otherwise, by ignoring the more subtle problems of abuses of power, you allow the system that enables these subtle abuses to also create much more visceral abuses (like child sex trafficking by members of the ultra-wealthy.)

@Leo Gura How do you reconcile wanting to be a vegan for ethical reasons but then finding your body relies on animal products too much for you to realistically give them up? I'm always trying to cut down / eventually give up meat because I feel bad for animals, but my body seems disposed towards animal products

@CreamCat Income inequality negatively impacts quality of life though

@Rookie @RookieYou seem quite knowledgeable about the topic, so do you mind if I ask you a few questions? How do you forsee Brexit impacting the UK, as well as Europe at large? I know that when the votes came in a lot of people were worried this meant the end of the European project, but as you touched upon it seems to have had the reverse affect (at least in regards to the remaining members.) What will a post-Brexit UK look like? Where will most of its money come from, what will the cultural attitudes be like? Do you forsee Britain at some point rejoining, if the European honey pot seems too big not to be a part of?

It'd be almost impossible to have a stage green fascist society. Fascism by definition involves hyper-nationalism, militarism and ethnic tribalism, all things anathema to the green worldview. Fascism is unhealthy red and blue. There's really no reason to try and "emulate" it on higher levels.

I'm not sure what the motivation behind this is - are they protesting the anniversary or just putting an "artistic" spin on it?

In 2006 Oblivion released a "horse armor" DLC for $2.50 that did nothing but give your horse some purely aesthetic armor (no gameplay effects) and the fans absolutely tore it to shreds. This was before price-gouging DLCs were common, so people at the time just laughed it off, but it would be telling about the direction the gaming industry was headed.

The polls are finally starting to catch up with reality. Don't buy into the corrupt stage-Orange establishment narrative that Bernie doesn't have the support to get in - he does, and a YUGE chunk of it will be made up of the youth vote, a.k.a most Actualized.org followers Bernie 2020!

Point out the extreme differences in conditions that lead to 20th century soviet communism arising and 21st century modern socialism arising. The first arose in an illiterate feudal autocracy that was suffering under four years of the most destructive conflict in human history up to that point. The second is arising in the single most prosperous and democratic period in human civilisation ever with advances in technology and politics that would make your average Russian peasant quake in their boots. Point out how we have both the technology and guts to implement the massive social programs to reenergize western society. Point out to them how late stage capitalism is failing on its ability to deliver its promises, and how so few solutions have arisen from the free market to the many, many problems we're facing today (entrenched classes, climate destruction, etc.) Point out how just as a society needs cops to prevent people behaving badly, an economy needs government to prevent private corporations acting badly. Etc etc. These are just a few ideas I have.

Machines won't achieve true AI so long as scientists and technicians cling to the materialist paradigm

Spiral Dynamics isn't an exhaustive model of human societies by any stretch of the imagination. It leaves out many factors including history, local culture, specifics of religion, etc. Also, I would say SE countries are still dangerous, just not for foreigners (mostly.) There's a lot of crime and suffering that you wouldn't know about since it's just not relevant to you.

To me, Jesus represents the forgiving, selfless love inherent in reality. And since you are reality, you are this forgiving, selfless love. The reason a lot of people see him is because they've been conditioned to do so (I've had mystical visions of his presence) and because he just seems like a nice person all round. The trick IMO is to use him as an example and try to embody that bold, selfless love in the world. Despite the world being against him, Jesus never backed down from telling the truth and helping the needy because he knew that's what he was there to do. And even whilst being crucified, Jesus went to his death with forgiviness on his tongue, knowing that people only hated him out of ignorance. And since you are him, you're able to reach these incredible states of compassion too.

@Leo Gura I can't wait to land me an alien girlfriend

I'll bet you $100 he won't

@Hansu Green "authoritarianism" is worlds away from Orange or Blue authoritarianism. Having your name dragged through the mud because you once made an insensitive tweet on twitter by over-zealous progressives can be unpleasant, but it in no way compares to having your kneecaps broken and your entire family killed by a nationalist autocrat because you spoke out against him.

Do you need to be enlightened in order to be a spiritual teacher?

How do you approach the fact that eventually we all die?

Don't do black magic. There are better solutions to these sorts of situations than invoking harm on the other.

@tenta If Bernie gets the nomination, expect to see all of this sort of stuff come out. Trump's campaign won't stand a chance under the flurry of sheer hypocrisy and vileness Bernie's campaign will expose of Trump.

So, I've been exposing myself to Marxist and other left-wing ideas lately, and I feel like they've helped me grapple with a lot of my confusion about the state of the world. For instance, the idea of class consciousness (i.e. the awareness of the power dynamics between classes) and the lack thereof of it, has helped me to make sense of just how injustices against citizens of a society can happen every day without much backlash. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_consciousness Now, I'm not saying we need to go out and become ideological communists and try to tear down capitalism, but I think Marx and other left-wing thinkers offer a lot of valuable insights into the functioning of society that would otherwise be overlooked within the mainstream capitalist paradigm. What do the people on actualized.org think? What value can be derived from these ideas? Where do they fall short?

@Bas It has been very successful in a lot of ways, but its also not been successful in a lot of ways. The reverse back to authoritarianism after some movements towards liberalisation is not a good thing. Plus, there's still a whole lot of corruption, poverty, pollution, etc. that gets overlooked in the whole "China Rises" narrative. They've come a long way for sure, but they've still got a long way to go (as we all do.)

@Dodo Time to stock up on Consciousness

I like how he just spews off a bunch of buzzwords to get people riled up. "Freedom", "Religion", "Second Amendement". This is all a Trump supporter needs to hear go to off, without any critical investigation into the choice of these words. The Blue mindset is very predictable.