Infinite Quack

Some are born leaders, some work hard to become leaders, and some have leadership thrust upon them. I don't see myself as a natural leader, at all. I'm most comfortable as an individual contributor. But sometimes I find myself in a position where leadership is called for, and nobody else fits the bill. Sometimes I must step up to ensure things don't fall apart. This happened to me today, but not in a work context. It happened here at home. Not many people know this about my home situation, but it's non-traditional. I share a house with nine other people: my domestic partner / long-time girlfriend, her disabled son, her mother (a retired medical worker), my girlfriend's sister, the sister's two young children, a friend of my girlfriend along with her spouse, and a friend of the sister. Four of these people receive disability income, and a couple of others deserve to (and one is working on getting approved). A number of these people ended up here because they had ...

Facts illuminated by recent events: People are only rational actors up to a point. Even when acting rationally, it may be just rational self-interest that motivates someone. Short-sightedness and greed. Brainwashing, sadly, does work. It doesn't require any instruments of torture either. A slow drip of falsehoods, spiked with righteous anger and salted with paranoia, will convince millions given enough time. Systems of law are not magical. Just as money only has value because everyone agrees it does, laws only have force because social norms dictate that they be followed. If enough people decide to ignore those laws, or that they mean something different than the words which compose them, there is no higher system to which the rest of us can appeal. Empires have fallen before and it will happen again. Nothing renders the United States of America immune to collapse. Its great wealth and military might won't matter if it rots from within. They might even make things worse, fallin...

  Transcribed image contents, a tweet by @JoshuaACNewman: I don't know why this is hard to understand. Toxic toads are toads that are toxic. Most toads are not toxic. But the ones that are, are a real doozy. Toxic masculinity is masculinity that is toxic. Most masculinities are not toxic. But the ones that are, are a real doozy. I think I know why it's hard for some to understand. Masculinity is like one's religion or one's political affiliation: it's part of one's identity. Attacks on those ideas are difficult to consider in a detached, rational way. They become personal attacks; they feel like an attack on the person. They inspire a fight-or-flight response. The person feels they must win at all costs, and out come the flimsy counter-arguments, the slanted evidence. If someone believes being a "Real Man" is crucial to their perceived worth, and that this necessitates treating women like objects to be dominated, well, they're going to freak out wh...