DocWatts

While I don't disagree with this overall assessment, that doesn't change the fact that the impetus is on Israel - the more powerful actor - to renounce its Manifest Destiny ambitions, and commit to working towards a two state solution. The impetus can not be placed on the people who have been put in an impossible situation, either resist and suffer massive and disproportionate retaliation, or submit and resign themselves to slowly having what's left of thier home taken from then.

Even calling this a Conflict seems somewhat misleading, when you considering the Power Imbalance between the two sides. As if there's any ambiguity over what the outcome will be when a stateless people happens to be in the way of an Imperialist State. If International Pressure was justified in pressuring South Africa to end Apartheid, it's equally justified in pushing back against the Apartheid that's the Israeli State is enabling.

Here's a few recommendations: Dan Carlin's Hardcore History: If you're not already familiar, he takes the approach of a master storyteller, and covers a number of topics from both the 20th Century and the Ancient world. Often covers well trod subject matter from a unique angle (Why isn't Alexander the Great legacy treated with the same disdain as Hitler? Or World War 2, but from a Japanese point of view). https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/ The Martyrmade Podcast: http://www.martyrmade.com/fear-loathing-in-the-new-jerusalem/ Best podcast you'll find about the origins of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Also has another excellent series on cult leader Jim Jones, which goes in to a ton of depth about the fragmentation of the US Civil Rights movement after MLK's assassination. The Dollop: This one's a comedy podcast, but also quite informative as it covers a wide range of bizarre and interesting topics from US History. Did you know that Andrew Jackson was sent a 1000 lb wheel of cheese which began going moldy and stunk up the White House ? Or that the City of Chicago created an ecological disaster when it released tens of thousands of balloons during a parade? https://www.dolloppodcast.com/podcast

Could you perhaps be referring to Meditations by Marcus Aurelius?

Because our Education System was created to serve the needs of the economy, rather than to help people develop self actualization skills.

Not sure if Vaush has been mentioned yet, but I could see that discussion being potentially very productive and interesting...

You'll be much better off if you think of him as just a guy whose job it is to contemplate philosophical ideas, and then to communicate those ideas via his online platform (and happens to be pretty good at it). If you find yourself putting him on a pedestal, put in some work to find the faults in the ideas and concepts that he puts forth. I've often been better served by seeking out outside sources for many of the topics that Leo discusses, and contrasting how the book I'm reading frames a topic vs Leo's take. For instance I've found the philosopher Thomas Nagel's arguments against materialist reductionism more convincing than Leo's 'Deconstructing the Myth of Science' series, but still found it useful for how someone with a Perspective would make said argument.

The more I learn about Don Beck, the less positively inclined I am towards him. Guess there's no requirement that important innovations or discoveries have to originate from people with a high degree of virtue or integrity (insert pithy anecdote about Thomas Edison here).

The point of my previous post wasn't to necessarily to justify everything that the neighboring Arab countries did in response to Israel's actions, but rather to demonstrate that the military invasions didn't come out of nowhere. I would further argue that many (perhaps even most) other nations would have responded in a similar way in that scenario.

@Raptorsin7 Some additional context may be helpful as to why the Arab nations tried to wipe Israel of the map, as you put it. When Israel was established, it created large numbers of displaced refugees who were pushed out of where they had been living, causing instability as they began streaming into neighboring countries, who either didn't want them or didn't have a place for them. To illustrate the difficulties this caused, imagine that a foreign power began colonizing the closest neighboring country to where you live and started pushing out the people who were already living there, causing tens of thousands of displaced people to begin streaming into the country you reside, with all of the instability which that entails. Even if you don't agree with the decisions they made in response to this, the surrounding Arab countries reacted in the way that they did for understandable reasons; not because of imagined unresolvable religious tensions, or because of an inability for Jews and Arabs to coexist.

I would be interested in hearing this as well.

Feel like I'm beginning to sound like a broken record when I lead off with : another excellent discussion from Vaush, but alas... Wasn't familiar with Epoch Philosophy before seeing this, but it was interesting hearing Vaush's reactions to someone critiquing the Structure (rather than the Content) of his work. I've never thought that Debates were a very productive means of Political Discourse, and that Vaush's Debate Lord videos have been by far the least engaging content on his Channel. As a side note, I'm tempted to start co-opting the term 'non ideological Left' as not a terrible way to surmise my worldview in a few words...

If you want to see the emergence of a Yellow aesthetic in fiction, I would specifically recommend that you research Metamodernism (the newly emerging Paradigm that was developed to transcend the limitations of Postmodernism), along with its fictional counterpart, which is variously referred to as The New Sincerity or Sincere Irony. David Foster Wallace is often seen as an early example of a Metamodern author, as a lot of his essays deal quite directly with the subject. His essay E Unibus Pluram outlines many of the limitations of postmodernism in fiction, and makes the case for a new Sincerity and Authenticity in the narrative arts.

I get that it may be at least some exposure to outside views for people sealed tight into an echo chamber, but it seems pretty sub-optimal for delving in to the thought process of other worldviews, does it not? Because the structure of a debate is more akin to something like a Game, people are naturally going to be more defensive and guarded in that situation. Though learning what sorts of Rhetorical tricks different ideologies tend to employ can be useful, I'll grant you. I'd argue something like Borat is far more illuminating than listening to two talking heads in a debate style format, since in the former the persons being spoken to don't have thier defense mechanisms in overdrive, and are more willing to be honest about thier motivations and feelings as a result.

@Dryas While I don't see debates as very productive, I would argue that there's value in, well let's just call it Dialogue for lack of a better term, where the goal is less about confrontation and more exploring an idea with someone with the aim of mutual understanding of perspectives. I can't speak to the rest of the world, but I've seen this used far more successfully in getting someone to consider and take seriously other perspectives than a debate ever could.

From what you know of J.P., is it your sense that this due to him operating in Bad Faith and not actually giving a damn about fixing Predatory Capitalism and addressing Climate Change? Or do you think it's more a case that he isn't developed enough to recognize how his own biases are preventing him from thinking systematically about Societal Issues? Sometimes it can be hard to tell whether an otherwise Intelligent person at the lower Value Memes truly doesn't recognize that something is a problem, or whether they do recognize but don't actually care enough to try and fix it. I kind of get the sense that he has extreme tunnel vision for monomyths as a normative force for fixing the perceived deficiencies of modern society, but I'd be interested to hear whether or not you agree.

@Leo Gura You've been mentioning recently how you've been wanting to make your work more accessible, I think the J.P. Video is a great step in that direction. As far as ideas for more short form content, have you considered making a short 10 - 20 minute Primer or Introductory video for Spiral Dynamics? Could potentially be very useful for newcomers who might not have the time or patience to make it through a multi hour series on the topic.

In my mind I separate Conservatism from the modern Republican Party, whose operating philosophy seems to be : "How do we make life more difficult for as many people as possible?" Granted this probably isn't intentional, so much as an unconscious byproduct of an extremely selfish and unreflective worldview.

Beat me to it So are reality TV Stars running for political Office just going to be a thing now that we're resigned to?

Interesting how he just assumes that the lowering of Living Standards in Western Democracies will lead to working class solidarity and a rejection of exploitative Capitalism, rather than to Right Wing authoritarian populism (ie a resurgence in Fascism), which is pretty much exactly what we've been seeing over the past decade or so. I have to wonder whether those who are waiting for The Revolution to come along and fix the world's problems are engaging in Magical Thinking akin to Christians waiting for the Rapture, or whether they're just being willfully obtuse to unintended consequences of Revolution as a means to enact social change. While I'm glad the issue of International exploitation is being discussed and taken seriously, it really is incredible how naive some on the Left are to the unintended consequences of the course of events they opine for... There's just not going to be a 'quick fix' to the issue of exploitation; a developmental approach is the only realistic avenue I've seen articulated that would address this issue.

Sure, life is going to be synonymous with suffering to some degree, but that's not all that life is. I do wonder if this misguided view is restricted to humans, or if in thier utilitarian calculus it would be better if life in general didn't exist, since the natural world is full of suffering. Hell, maybe by extension it would have been better if there were Nothing rather than Something, and there was no Cosmos to speak of...

While I do think that for people living in developed nations with access to contraceptives, it's incredibly irresponsible to have more than 2 or 3 kids, considering the impact that each additional person who lives a first world lifestyle has on the planet. I doubt that most thoughtful people would object to every single one of the more limited (and defensible) claims that 'weak' versions of anti-natalism propose. That said, the stronger claim that it's unethical to bring any new people in to this world seems incomprehensible to the point of being dishonest.

With events moving quickly amid a national crisis, I figured it might be useful to create a Thread to help keep us up to date on Joe Biden's actions during his first 100 days in office. To kick things off, here's a list of the Executive Actions that Biden has signed as of 1/26: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1255564 Highlights include the US rejoining the Paris Climate Accords, and halting withdrawal from the World Health Organization. In addition: Biden plans to limit private prisons and transfer of military equipment to police https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden/biden-plans-to-limit-private-prisons-and-transfer-of-military-equipment-to-police-idUSKBN29V15H President Biden will make entire 645k federal vehicle fleet electric https://electrek.co/2021/01/25/president-biden-will-make-entire-645k-vehicle-federal-fleet-electric/

Ishmael - Daniel Quinn Though I can see some of the flaws in this work now, as a late teenager it was an excellent introduction to Social Construct Theory, and was the first work to force me to seriously consider the myriad ways that we're Culturally conditioned to fit into a larger narrative or mythology.

@Opo If you want a more generalized take, my sense is that Bernie would probably come across as more of a Centrist in the political environment of the other wealthy Democracies. As @roopepa pointed out, things that Bernie advocates for (such as Universal Health Care, free College, more equitable Labor Laws that protect the rights of Unions) are relatively uncontroversial among the Social Democracies of the world.