Definitely a misdirect from the corporate takeover of everything.

I grew up in a shitty small rural town, but while I was in high school I watched the shitty “mom and pop” stores slowly disappear and the local factory vote against unionization only to be closed a few years after I moved away. You know what immediately moved into the fill the void? Wal-Mart and Dollar General.

My dad was so focused on immigrants taking his job and other insane republican economic talking points that he lost that job when the company decided it wasn’t cost effective to operate in the US anymore.

The graphic design of MAGA will be studied at some point. I think it has the effect of looking like some “Everyman” did it themselves. Who’s to say whether this effect is intentional psyops or just the result of distancing themselves from people who actually practiced and studied an art, trade, or discipline, but this shit worked on a certain slice of the population pre-MAGA, too.

I mean, they already have a rootkit, a few worms, and a half-dozen viruses running in their wetware. Why not go ahead and install a few crypto miners and some assorted malware on their PC?

He conveniently left out that Rader was former Air Force and a devout Christian. That last part is actually how he got caught (by using the church’s PC to write his letters taunting the police and sending them a floppy).

Another thing that separates Pretti and Rader: Dennis Rader is fucking still alive.

No disagreement here. I wasn’t necessarily advocating the idea, but it was interesting to explore it and “try it on” for a while when reading the book. I think there is some value in attempting to steer society in better directions, but disagree with rewriting history or purging culture to do so.

Just finished reading The Dispossessed and was going to comment similarly. It was fantastic read and surprisingly modern considering it was written in the 60s. Some of her contemporaries don’t have the same sort of timeless readability as Le Guin.

The key anarchist takeaways from The Dispossessed is the use of syndicates in lieu of corporate or government, no private ownership or equity, and the absence of law, elections, and criminal punishment. Committees exist do public discussion, but the outcome of that discussion is non-binding (although one may find themselves an outcast). Le Guin presents anarchy like libertarianism mixed with socialism: you are free to do as you please, but you are obligated to recognize your role in the social organism.

Le Guin also recognizes that anarchist thought is in some ways extremely foreign to all of our modes of thought, philosophy, and language. So she devises a world where the anarchists invent a new language to correct and remove “egoist” ideas. The society she develops revolted against a hyper-consumerist society, referred to as “propertarians,” and this drives much of the plot and dialogue: what does it mean to not be an egoist while still being human?; what is the limit of personal possession before becoming a propertarian?; what happens when your personal freedom and needs are trampled on by the social organism?; and how long can a non-hierarchical society last when it inevitably creates systems that begin to self-organize into hierarchies and bureaucracies?

The protagonist realizes that any revolution must remain perpetually in a state of revolution lest the people settle into inviolable customs that then calcify into law.

I’d argue these values are not inherently conservative, even if conservatism reinforces the idea of having those values and attempts to institutionalize some perverse variation of those principles.

While many conservatives and libertarians may profess to be principled, their actions demonstrate that they are full of shit.

I mean, yeah. That’s for the character development and human flaws. Even Jean-Ralphio has some redeemable moments.

If the poop knife existed in modern times, I’m sure that there’s a communal sponge somewhere.

Sorry to read that about your brother. I have similar people in my life and it’s infuriating and depressing to observe.

If you want a positive read to just reframe it in your head, hear me out. People use quotes aspirationally, right? They are summaries of our values or insights into our personalities. Maybe your brother uses that quote because he’s aware that he wants change but is unable to summon the courage. Maybe the conflict between his values and his social circle is wearing him down. Maybe he regrets a bunch of stuff and wants the chance to start over but feels trapped.

You could view your brother’s use of the quote as him being a superficial emotionally stunted dude who misunderstood the premise of the film, or you could view it as something that is meaningful to him, that hints a deeper truth. “I am Jack’s wasted life.”