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Joined 9 months ago
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Cake day: December 24th, 2023

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  • Fully agree.

    My take as of late is that any 3rd party candidate who runs in our two party system can’t possibly be serious. They make a huge show, maybe get a message out, but almost always torpedo the party closest to them.

    With the Stein’s and RFKs in the news, it’s all sexy flashy publicity without any serious effort to have a 3rd party win.

    That said, there is another 3rd party personality that you might not have heard of in a while: Andrew Yang.

    I actually believe he is serious about electoral reform, in fact that’s the one issue his Forward Party is about. He and his team have worked quietly to help get ranked choice vote in local elections. He is not running for president as a spoiler candidate. He is not running for senate as an independent. He is putting in the work along with fairvote.org to make the structural changes needed to have viable 3rd party campaigns. We saw what happened in Alaska when ranked choice vote was present- they kept Sarah Palin from holding a Senate seat and elected a Democrat instead.

    If we had the NPVIC and ranked choice vote, our democracy would be much more representative, collaborative, and stable.






  • I guess the problem with that argument is that it doesn’t consider there are a variety of approaches to therapy that don’t all work on some “core function”.

    Of course, Hank Green to the rescue once again!

    Some therapy is designed to ignore deep trauma and rather focus on the most surface level things. We could go in circles all day about how 9/11 made you terrified of flying, but even if you found some answer, it wouldn’t necessarily help. Instead maybe some exposure therapy or psychedelics or idk some other strategies can be used here and now.

    I also think that even conservatives have differing worldviews within their own, so lumping it all together as a bad worldview doesn’t work. Not all conservatives are angry and pissed off at everything and everyone. Not all liberals are the embodiment of enlightenment. When it comes to therapy, I think there is no one size fits all, and a conservative therapist may help a conservative patient in ways that a liberal therapist couldn’t.


  • The other thing to note is that these Republicans believe it is in their best interest to endorse Harris.

    When it comes to how politicians act, I quote my old political science advisor, they say “I’m not dying in that ditch”. The bottom line is re-election. Everything else is secondary.

    These Republicans, like any politician, did the calculus for their political survival and decided their chances are better speaking at the DNC- that is not to be ignored.


  • I consider people who disagree with me human, and deserving of access to healthcare. As a former childhood conservative, I also understand that changing views is a long process and we need guiding hands that can meet us where we are. I didn’t change my views because someone hammered different views into me, I did it through conversations with people I agreed with on some things, and disagreed with on others.

    Political affiliations are not monoliths. My conservative dad now supports a $20 minimum wage. My left wing uncle argued blackface theater is acceptable. Again, we are not monoliths but divisive propaganda wants us to believe the otherside is all bad and we are all good- from politics to religion to our favorite sports teams.

    My “shithead” conservative aunt would ABSOLUTELY benefit from therapy. She has an eating disorder, trauma from losing her mom at 6 then living with a physically abusive father, and most likely undiagnosed BPD. I know for a fact I will never talk to her again because we’ve cut her off, but I also fully support her access to therapy that, while different than mine, would still be beneficial.

    As far as the “shithead” comment; I will say to you what I said to my “shithead” aunt and uncle at the dinner table when asked “don’t you just agree that conservatives, in general, are smarter than liberals?”

    “I believe idiocy knows no bounds”

    Edit: you said “shithead” not “dipshit”


  • So I was curious and looked to see what percentage of conservative men seek therapy, and while I didn’t get a number, I came across this interview with a conservative therapist.

    At least according to the article, 90% of therapists have liberal values, which in my personal experience makes sense. But the problem is that it makes it difficult for conservatives to find a therapist that they can feel safe expressing their political views, but of course with therapy so frowned upon in conservative circles and they use the church for counsel (not counseling), it’s tough for a conservative therapist to get work. It’s a bit of a catch 22.

    The therapist in the interview has so many stomach turning comments that personally I would not touch her with a 10 foot stick, but the point I do sympathize with is that therapy should be accessible to everyone, no matter your religious or political beliefs.

    I think this really hits with the “I go to therapy because of people who don’t go to therapy”, but that article gave me a perspective of “oh, the people who don’t go to therapy usually don’t have a therapist they could go to to meet them at their level.”






  • Nope, they confirmed it was him.

    My take though is that it was ~4 years ago- he was 17. My politics between 17 and 20 did a 180 so I don’t see it as any damning evidence of his political affiliation.

    They looked at his search history and he also was looking up Biden and other politicians of different political affiliation- this is just conjecture but he may have chosen Trump merely because he was the easiest to get to. The kid was angry at the world and wanted to kill someone in power.

    The only thing we know for sure, is that we don’t know and can’t know the whole truth. It died with him. That take generally too scary for most people to accept, so any explanation gives us comfort.




  • I mean I get it. We’re all people, we want our dignity. I was diagnosed bipolar and my biggest fear was having a mental breakdown and being locked away for the rest of my life. I hate the thought of not being able to be my own person with the freedom to navigate my destiny. I take my meds, I eat right, I exercise, I go to therapy, and I do so so I don’t end up involuntarily sanctioned. I want to build my own career, find love, see the world and experience what there is to experience and I don’t want that to go away.

    Older folks are still humans who experience the same emotions as we all do, and they also want their dignity like we all do. It’s easy for us to pass these off as grumblings of senile folks, but from their perspective they were at the top of their careers yesterday and now they are being shoved out by society.

    Biden needs to drop out, but I understand his hurt.




  • First- I actually really like seeing AOC not being one of those “burn the house down” politicians as I knew her when she started. It seems like she’s learned what it takes to get a large group of people to do one thing, and outrage politics does not do that. Frankly this is the restraint I would look for in a future presidential nominee.

    Second- at a base level I’m very for Biden stepping down and giving us the opportunity to escape this hellhole of an election cycle. John Stewart put it pretty well to the DNC- “Do you understand the opportunity you have here? Do you have any idea how thirsty Americans are for any hint of inspiration or leadership, and a release from this choice of a megalomaniac and a suffocating gerontocracy?”

    I always look for reasonable takes from opposing viewpoints, and I did find American Historian Allan Lichtman’s argument for why Biden stepping down would not be the best idea. Here’s the 6 minute video of his 13 keys to the Whitehouse which has predicted 9 of the past 10 elections.

    TL;DW:

    1. Party mandate: After the midterm elections, the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than after the previous midterm elections.

    2. No primary contest: There is no serious contest for the incumbent party nomination.

    3. Incumbent seeking re-election: The incumbent party candidate is the sitting president.

    4. No third party: There is no significant third party or independent campaign.

    5. Strong short-term economy: The economy is not in recession during the election campaign.

    6. Strong long-term economy: Real per capita economic growth during the term equals or exceeds mean growth during the previous two terms.

    7. Major policy change: The incumbent administration affects major changes in national policy.

    8. No social unrest: There is no sustained social unrest during the term.

    9. No scandal: The incumbent administration is untainted by major scandal.

    10. No foreign/military failure: The incumbent administration suffers no major failure in foreign or military affairs.

    11. Major foreign/military success: The incumbent administration achieves a major success in foreign or military affairs.

    12. Charismatic incumbent: The incumbent party candidate is charismatic or a national hero.

    13. Uncharismatic challenger: The challenging party candidate is not charismatic or a national hero.

    If 5 or fewer of these statements are False, then it is predicted that the incumbent will win. His take is that replacing Biden will do nothing but make point 2 & 3 turn from True statements to False statements, and increase the chances of Trump winning.

    While crystal balls are everywhere and you could point to other political scientists who would say different, I was looking for a decent take on the counterpoint. I would also say that in political science, we like to have tools to help us make predictions so we can make actions. Just going on deep gut feeling won’t cut it. Having a tool whose measurements don’t always align with how you feel an outcome should be doesn’t necessarily mean the tool is bad, it means it works independently from your biases. If you watch the video, I think he puts it well as the election is a thumbs up or thumbs down on the party more than it is the individual leader. It might be a helpful thought exercise to change the words “Trump” to “Republican” and “Biden” to “Democrat” when discussing the race as charisma and celebrity only goes so far in politics, but that’s what we get caught up in the most.