nimblemarlin6 said:So, democratic elections don't count for anything then?
If the winning party’s whole platform is built on socialism, communism, or worker self-management—and the majority of voters actually pick those communists at the ballot box—then it means that’s what the people actually WANT. Look at what happened in Greece. The Greek people made it clear they wanted Syriz.
No outside force has any right to slap them with sanctions or try to destabilize the country just because the citizens want to run their economy differently than some typical capitalist powerhouse.
Theft is theft, period—it doesn't matter if it has popular support or not. In certain radical fundamentalist circles, a majority might actually support things like child marriage or other absolute atrocities, but we don't pretend those actions are any less horrific just because a local majority happens to agree with them.
nimblemarlin6 said:Any individual out there who's a true believer in capitalism and free markets will tell you that nobody actually minds if people choose to manage themselves.
Nobody is stopping anyone from starting a business and running it however they see fit...
but...
here's the thing... if you had an election here in the US and a platform won that argued for reorganizing the entire national economy toward that model, what do you think would happen? Suddenly, every major media outlet in the West would be painting that country as some kind of rogue dictatorship—they'd be rooting for its total collapse. And to make sure that actually happens, you'd see full-blown economic warfare, isolation from the global market, sanctions, or even worse—intelligence agencies orchestrating "grassroots" protests by "concerned citizens" to trigger a coup and topple the democratically elected government.
The thing is, saying one wants "to organize the entire national economy" is usually just a polite euphemism for "advocating for the seizure of private property." And, frankly, some people aren't particularly fond of the idea of having their property seized.
There are plenty of career paths out there where a formal degree doesn't actually matter—what matters is what you can actually do. And honestly, these days, all the specialized knowledge you could ever need is sitting right there on the internet, just waiting to be picked up.
I’m honestly really pleased with the pair of Dell UltraSharp U2422H monitors I picked up recently—they've been great. Even our graphic designer is completely happy with using this exact same model.
It could be anything—a failing hard drive, a RAM issue, or maybe just a clogged cooling fan—it’s honestly hard to say without looking under the hood. At any rate, if you aren't exactly sure what you're doing (and let's face it, most of us don't have the endless hours or the patience required to become a DIY tech expert), your best bet is probably just taking it to a local repair shop.
I honestly don't even know where to start here. This post is loaded with blatant personal attacks against the referendum participants—calling them "brainless, saintly little sheep" and whatnot. A ban was definitely warranted in this case.
There is a massive difference between stating a simple fact or pointing out a misunderstanding and writing something just to paint someone as a clueless idiot because of ideological bias and a lack of actual arguments. By the way, this isn't the first time you've tried to push an agenda onto other people in these discussions—so consider this a fair warning to stop doing it.
Your whole routine on this religious forum follows a pretty predictable pattern:
You show up—usually when the topic turns to homosexuality—and drop a few comments along the lines of "it's a disease," "it isn't natural," or "it doesn't count as actual sexuality." Then, whenever anyone actually tries to engage you or pin down your specific arguments, you just dodge the questions—avoiding any concrete answers about what you're actually claiming—and then you vanish for a while, only to resurface later with the exact same talking points. Honestly, we can't keep doing this.
So, let me get this straight—you actually expect the Secretary of Health and Human Services to just refuse to stock up on vaccines and medications that medical experts are literally telling us could save a massive number of lives?
By the way, I’m right there with velvetskipper19 on this one. The government is essentially an engine of dysfunction. Life was significantly more straightforward for honest, hardworking people before the state started meddling in everything—whether it’s forcing mandatory schooling on kids, imposing health insurance mandates, or all that nonsense regarding labor regulations and similar bureaucratic headaches.
To be honest, I feel like the government owes me compensation for all those years wasted in such a corrupt and dysfunctional education system, rather than the other way around.
Manian, due to your continued refusal to follow the community guidelines—and following several formal warnings—your access to the spirituality forum has been permanently revoked. You will be eligible to petition the moderators for a formal review of this decision in six months.
I’ve been scrolling through the last few pages, and honestly, they haven't exactly been "productive." In my view, the decision to temporarily lock this thread was a perfectly reasonable call.
The only thing I’d suggest to the moderators moving forward is to avoid playing both sides when it comes to handing out warnings—it just doesn't seem to yield any results.
It really all depends on the context. Religions discussed here aren't sacred cows—they don't get some special kind of immunity—but I do think the discussion needs to stay grounded in actual arguments rather than just throwing around tired cliches.