Posts by Jessica Gonzalez

It’s pretty straightforward, really—there can only be one winner!

Chris Fisher3 said:The bookies are saying the Norwegians are slight favorites in our matchup.

That's right, they might be the mini-favorites, but I guess we're the maxi-favorites.

Oh my God, thank You for everything,
America is making it to the finals,
to the finals, all the way to Paris,
The Mona Lisa will be celebrating us

Jesus > Tor Andre Flop

Daniel Booth37 said:This might actually be the first handball game I've caught in years. I can practically feel the excitement building.

I feel like I’ve already seen how this all plays out. Everything!

This might actually be the first handball game I've caught in years. I think I can smell the excitement in the air.

Imagine Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, and Donald Trump all in the ring at once 🙏 🙏 🙏

urbanhawk17 said:This is the best post on this topic. And saying they don't realize where the budget money comes from isn't just an impression. It's a reality. They honestly don't have a clue.

They honestly don't know anything at all. It feels like the kind of crew that would turn 4 dollars into 3, instead of figuring out how to make 5.

Alex Brown50 said:It’s honestly wild how many people have such a shallow, childish view of things—especially those who act like they’re these gritty realists who "get" real life and aren't fooled by the news. They fall for this whole fairy tale about a corrupt elite vs. the free market, or some fantasy about being non-ideological and outside the system, plus all that isolationist nonsense... It's the exact same crowd that thought certain fringe populist movements were the answer back home.

If political correctness is supposedly so toxic and government interference is such a disaster, then why do the most decent, livable countries in the world actually lean into social sensitivity and market regulation?

And look, let's say we're living in an era more like the early days of industrial capitalism (instead of our super messy, globalized reality) and maybe the idea that Trump will use his business savvy to create jobs isn't totally crazy. You don't need to be a political genius or have deep social insight—just a basic grasp of recent history tells you what aggressive industrialization (plus militarization) and slashing regulations at the expense of social safety nets actually does. And we're talking about 2016 here, not the 1930s or the colonial era.

Even if he manages to spark some economic growth, that kind of policy is just destructive in the long run, both at home and abroad. Let's not forget, the guy basically promised a massive military budget hike alongside cuts to healthcare. God forbid we deal with this "entrepreneurial engineer" mindset where the whole world is viewed through nothing but spreadsheets and economic indicators. Honestly, a single lying, bottom-tier member of the hated political establishment is less dangerous than someone like him.

Maybe it's just because those countries have enough money to afford those kinds of luxuries and social programs.

ruggedjackal46 said:What has Donald Trump actually accomplished, aside from being born into a wealthy family?

Well, he managed to become the President of the United States, even without traditional public backing. I guess there’s an economic principle that many people tend to overlook, which is why certain theories often miss the mark. It seems anyone can produce something—whether it's a whole country or just an individual—but knowing how to market it is where the real difference lies. Maybe Trump pulled off the biggest deal ever by essentially selling himself as the President, and perhaps that's why a lot of average Americans find themselves leaning his way.

brightpilot6 said:👍

It reminds me of the excitement surrounding those attempts to defund liberal media outlets. The idea being that now "we"—though this cheering crowd doesn't even consume those outlets, and most don't even know anyone who does—will finally be free from that "Soros-funded" burden. Suddenly, the supposedly God-fearing, traditional American will be able to flourish in an economic and lifestyle sweet spot somewhere between Scandinavia and Western Europe.

Just as we were all swept away by the glorious triumph of those various conservative ballot initiatives in years past.

It is truly incredible how much people cling to this new quasi-conservative paradigm. Everything is a grievance: political correctness is garbage (unless you call a conservative bigoted), liberals are either elitist snobs or weaklings, Darwinism is poisoning children in schools, someone else's misfortune is always their own fault, and minorities have been given far too many rights.

If this hadn't happened dozens of times throughout history, I might not say anything. It’s just that today, stupidity spreads like wildfire across the internet; whereas you used to need a bit of patience to listen to the radio or read a newspaper to form an opinion, now you see three memes and suddenly you think you have the blueprint for saving the world.

I suppose Trump really just tapped into the frustration of a huge chunk of the population, and he did it through economic messaging rather than pure ideology. The ideology is probably just the icing on the cake, but he won them over on the economy. Elections are essentially just a competition, and if the opposition doesn't offer enough to the people, they lose. You just have to convince enough people from different walks of life to check a box on a piece of paper. The underlying reason almost doesn't matter as long as you sell a story they want to believe. In that regard, Trump sold a very compelling story to voters in the Rust Belt. Those folks were left behind during the industrial shift, and there are quite a lot of them.

restlesssurfer97 said:There's really nothing to worry about because the tiger will just adapt, it'll basically turn into a rat, kind of like how a die-hard Cowboys fan eventually just switches over to rooting for the Eagles.

I guess they'll probably just pivot from failure back to success eventually.

Alex Brown50 said:Capitalism is basically a system where most people end up losing—and once enough people feel left behind, you get these right-wing populists popping up, promising everyone will win if we just purge the "sick" parts of society and the "traitors." Then they pick their scapegoats: the corrupt elite, bureaucrats, immigrants, minorities, women, LGBTQ+ folks, some globalist conspiracy, the Illuminati... whatever works. They call for even more cutthroat capitalism, claiming the "real Americans" need to "work and build," leaving no room for anyone perceived as weak. And then, predictably—mathematically, really—the "people" go downhill fast, and everyone acts shocked about why.

It's because that "out-of-touch" elite they hated was actually just a reflection of themselves. Honestly, in a lot of ways, the public can be worse than the elite. Even if political correctness feels fake or forced, and even if those sociopaths at the top ignore basic decency, holding onto certain civilized standards is still an achievement. Trump is technically part of the elite too, but he's the worst kind—the type that looks most like your average American.

The social trends that drive—or result from—modern philosophies are pretty complicated, and I guess you can't really solve them with just one single system or move. Take the situation in small-town America, for example. People move away from these rural areas, and everyone seems to mourn that loss. They point to the lack of jobs, the dying industries, and the lack of opportunity. But honestly, this mass migration from the countryside to the big cities has been happening all over the world, including right here in the States, for decades now. Most young people, especially those who have gone through college, just don't see themselves living in a rural town. Capital, convenience, and decent career paths are almost always concentrated in metropolitan hubs. I suppose the resentment felt in these struggling rural areas stems from that shift. Smaller communities in the American heartland aren't really concerned with things like transgender rights, California politics, or overseas conflicts. It’s just not on their radar. When a candidate shows up promising to bring manufacturing and jobs back to their doorstep, that’s when they get the vote. That candidate might be exaggerating, but they're telling people exactly what they want to hear. Major news outlets have spent months covering these elections, focusing on those specific regions where, maybe a generation or two ago, there were plenty of solid jobs available for people without a degree. It's unlikely that any one leader will actually reverse those economic tides, but they certainly know which buttons to push to win an election.

restlesssurfer97 said:I don't think you quite caught his drift, because Matthew Anderson4 was actually talking about the Earth itself, you know? Like, plants and animals are basically just like the hair or all those little microorganisms living on our own skin, they're part of the system. I mean, look at the planet as its own thing, for instance, the Earth doesn't have hands, but it feels the sting of coal deep in its gut, so it basically used humans as tools to dig it up. Evolution was just the Earth's way of using a tool to deal with some of its own internal issues, and sure, nothing is ever perfect, but man, she's just doing her absolute best to manage.

I suppose I see what he means. Life will likely find a way to flourish again. Even around places like the exclusion zone in the US, wildlife is thriving and seems pretty resilient. Still, I guess it's a bit of a tragedy when a single tiger or rhino goes extinct while fans of the Dallas Cowboys or the New York Yankees seem to multiply endlessly.

Matthew Anderson4 said:Maybe we're doing a pretty lousy job writing the story of this planet built for humans, but luckily, Earth is way more than just our world. What we do to it is gonna come back to haunt us, while the planet stays exactly what it is. Just not for us.

I wouldn't say we created it, since most animals have been thriving long before us. Plus, I suppose there isn't really a way to bring back species once they're gone.

James Anderson5 said:I was honestly floored by the sheer amount of money poured into these campaigns—$1.3 billion for Clinton and nearly $800 million for Trump.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...paign-finance/

That’s over $12 billion, which means there's going to be a mountain of debt that someone eventually has to pay back. On top of that, Trump will probably appoint one of those big coal industry lobbyists to lead the EPA. It doesn't look great for the planet with this crowd in charge...

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-d...s-planet-loses

Given how long these campaigns last and all the advertising they run across the whole country for 330 million people, I actually thought the spending would be even higher, maybe.

ruggedjackal46 said:Generally speaking, this whole "lesser of two evils" campaign strategy has been an absolute train wreck across almost all of America. You self-proclaimed civilized politicians from the center and the left are going to have to actually come up with some tangible ideas and actual policy platforms, because scaring voters by labeling everyone else a "fascist" just isn't cutting it anymore.

If there's one silver lining I can find in all of this, it's the fact that Biden and Hillary had been.

There are no real ideas or programs, just a bunch of empty slogans. It feels like they're just moving air because they can't even identify the core issues, let alone fix them. Trump really tapped into the heart of what's happening in America, much like how Brexit supporters did over in the UK. The standard of living isn't growing, and the current level is mostly being propped up by mass immigration to drive down costs and fill jobs nobody else wants. Or through outsourcing. It feels like trying to patch a sinking ship with a Band-Aid. As for the US, it's pretty clear we've all watched plenty of American movies and shows. For example, back in the 1920s, how was Ford able to build that famous Model T entirely in America and sell it at a price regular citizens could actually afford? Now, they say factories have to shut down in Detroit—which is a city with below-average incomes, so according to modern economic policy, it's supposedly "competitive"? It doesn't seem that different from many other parts of our country. Factories closed down, replaced by retail jobs in shopping malls that barely pay enough to survive on. About 53% of adults in America have less than $1,000 in their bank accounts. Everyone is just living on credit.

Well, they had someone like Gavin Newsom as Governor of California too, so people managed just fine. Everything seems to be such a spectacle over there, though I guess I’m not a huge fan of how much the campaigns and the whole election process feel so personalized. You have these massive political parties behind everything, but in the first, second, third, or even hundredth place, it really just feels like it's all about Clinton and Trump.

I kind of expected this, since these polls always seem a bit predetermined. America is definitely diverse, but I guess a huge number of people there are dealing with some real struggles. Atlanta, for instance, is just tough—honestly, my drive from the airport to downtown felt a little like being in a war zone. It doesn't surprise me at all that Chicago’s inner ring, especially the South Side, is seeing such an escalation in shootings and violence. Trump offered them a narrative about fixing everything, and maybe people just bought into that story. Whether he actually wants to or can even make a dent in it is another thing entirely; I don't really believe things will change drastically for anyone, whether here in the States or anywhere else in the world.

Looking further down the road, I guess the very concept of what a movie actually is might start to change. These kinds of action-heavy spectacles could eventually turn into interactive experiences where the audience gets to participate in the story, or maybe even see VR headsets becoming a standard part of the theater experience. It feels like things might move closer to the world of video games and drift a bit further away from traditional filmmaking.