Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Arx]

Yes, I am snide towards those who think that basic government needs to be vetted by how it performs in outlandish fantasy conditions.

You just called climate change an outlandish fantasy condition.

He just called society devolving into Wild West anarchy controlled by bands of extremist Christians as a result of climate change an outlandish fantasy condition.

[Lord Shonus]

Does it make it you feel superior that you won't? Because holy shit do you sound snide.

Yes, I am snide towards those who think that basic government needs to be vetted by how it performs in outlandish fantasy conditions.

Of great interest is that, while the US is often considered a "leader" in mass killings, the only way for the US to take #1 in the per-capita rate is to (simultaneously)

Are you including third world shitholes in your count?

The study I read (which I can't find right now, still looking) specifically excluded the Middle East and South America, but not Southeast Asia along with all active war zones.


EDIT: I've found a third-party report of one of the two studies I was referencing, but can't dig up the original anymore.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jun/22/barack-obama/barack-obama-correct-mass-killings-dont-happen-oth/

To summarize: if you sort by victims-per-capita in the years 2000-2014 instead of by number of incidents,  the US places fourth - behind Norway, Finland, and Switzerland, in gun deaths only. While this is in part due to the fact that a smaller population skews easier, that doesn't cover it entirely.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Yes, I am snide towards those who think that basic government needs to be vetted by how it performs in outlandish fantasy conditions.

You just called climate change an outlandish fantasy condition.

He just called society devolving into Wild West anarchy controlled by bands of extremist Christians as a result of climate change an outlandish fantasy condition.

Don't worry, the neoliberal high-energy lifestyle will remain stable forever. Everything will be alright.

[Arx]

Yes, I am snide towards those who think that basic government needs to be vetted by how it performs in outlandish fantasy conditions.

You just called climate change an outlandish fantasy condition.

He just called society devolving into Wild West anarchy controlled by bands of extremist Christians as a result of climate change an outlandish fantasy condition.

Don't worry, the neoliberal high-energy lifestyle will remain stable forever. Everything will be alright.

I don't really see the US government suddenly losing control of everything as a result of climate change. Besides, if they do they'll also lose control of gun regulations and you can buy your gun then.

But hey, I already live in a hellhole run by corrupt officials and I don't feel the need to own a gun. Wake me when you have a one in five chance of being raped. Then worrying is reasonable.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Well, one in five is the number that's always quoted to me these days for the US, so...

And trust me, as bad as things will be for America, I'm sure they will be indescribably worse for wherever you are. Hope you don't rely on any tropical weather patterns.

[mainiac]

You just called climate change an outlandish fantasy condition.

I did the what now?

[Arx]

Well, one in five is the number that's always quoted to me these days for the US, so...

Not so much.

A CDC study found that, in the US, 1 in 71 men had been raped or suffered an attempt within their lifetime. The same study found that approximately 1 in 21 men had been made to penetrate someone else, usually an intimate partner or acquaintance.

I'm not sure exactly what the difference between those categories is, but the point stands

About 3% of American men — or 1 in 33 — have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.

And that's just one statistic I'm throwing out there to make a point. I don't think events are likely to play out the way you suggest, and if they do I think you might find that you're better off than you think.

Edit: so, in summary, I can't be wrong on the internet!1!!one! Better derail the thread a bit to prove I'm not. And make myself look tough.


I don't think stronger gun regulations (not even strong ones. Just existent) would fix the US's problems entirely, but I do think it would help. I just don't see them making it past the gun rights activists.

[SalmonGod]

You just called climate change an outlandish fantasy condition.

I did the what now?

Ok, let me partially incorporate Arx's clarification, to the extent that I agree.

You just called de-stabilization as a result of climate change an outlandish fantasy condition.

Not that I completely agree with MSH's reasoning.

[mainiac]

The political instability from climate is the sort of stuff we are already seeing in the world.  Civil war in Syria and whatnot.  It affect vulnerable societies where a jump in the price of food is an extreme hardship.  The US is going to face some reduction in standard of living from global warming, but it's probably not going to even reverse the long term trend of rising standards of living and health improvement, let alone bring us to Mad Max territory.

When scientists talk about the millions of lives that global warming costs, that is a cost spread out over the entire world over a century.  It's a great humanitarian tragedy but it isn't going to destabilize the US very much.  It's not equivalent to say, North Korea nuking San Francisco.

It's a lot like gun control actually.  It's a steady drip-drip-drip of preventable harm.

[penguinofhonor]

No man, the Second Coming climate change is going to happen within our lifetime and everything is going to go to hell. You know our government won't be able to handle it. The evil communist left Christian right is going to come into power and try to take away our guns and freedom. Stockpile ammo and protect your families, friends.

[RedKing]

How else will we shoot the ocean back down to a reasonable level?

[Frumple]

... what would it take to do that, anyway? Cracking open huge (continent sized) chunks of the ocean floor to make more room? I'm not sure we'd be able to do that with just long guns... the bullets themselves would probably add more mass than they could displace, once it settled. Nevermind actually getting the bullets down there with any momentum remaining...

[Sheb]

Well, with something big enough you could just vaporize enough water...

[MetalSlimeHunt]

No man, the Second Coming climate change is going to happen within our lifetime and everything is going to go to hell. You know our government won't be able to handle it. The evil communist left Christian right is going to come into power and try to take away our guns and freedom. Stockpile ammo and protect your families, friends.

Maximum b8.

But step back for a moment and look at what we're dealing with here. 7 Billion people on the planet. Going to be about 10 billion at peak. We increase emissions by gigatons each year and reduce them by megatons at best, and even renewables cause high emissions through their manufacturing, not to mention the superfund sites that have already been created by neodymium and silicon mining. Just to deal with fossil fuels will take an emission budget we no longer have, for a population that's going to be demanding four times what we can do with fossil fuels. That says nothing about ocean acidification, about superfund sites, or about sea level rise.

And what will do we have to match that? For the US specifically, policy paralysis, and a system which is geared towards the people who want to consume the most and whine the loudest. Do you think that these are people who can agree on things like one child policies and preemptive resource conservation? With putting the boots to the industrial emitters who sign their donation checks?

The measured, personable kind of sustainability transition has been beyond our reach for a while now. There are too many of us, and too much of our byproducts. No fucking kitschy Captain Planet activism is going to help now. They should have been stopping reproduction back in the 50's. Now? Now you might as well just enjoy the rest of the ride.

How else will we shoot the ocean back down to a reasonable level?

Oh, and talking about sea level rise is literally illegal in our state's legislature. We're fucked, man.

[andrea]

a big enough gun could push the planet farther from the sun , dropping temperature and therefore decreasing sea level due to larger ice caps.

It may also crack open the crust and cause untold destruction.