abraxas

abraxas , 5 months ago to White People Twitter in Trump popularity.

Yeah. At this point (honestly by 2020 no matter what) there's no question. The only two possibilities are a multi-million-Democrat conspiracy against him, or the dude's guilty of 21 major crimes related to election theft.

But Trump voters actually support the idea that it's ok for the Republican to steal an election. Simple as that.

abraxas , 5 months ago to White People Twitter in Trump popularity.

Why do we hate the people who are easily fooled rather than the people who are doing the fooling?

The problem is willful ignorance. A lot of Trump supporters knew better from day 1 and chose to be easily fooled. I had a friend when I was a kid who used to cheer on the defendants in court cases when he thought they were guilty of heinous crimes because they got to "fuck with the system" if they got off. People like that grew up to vote for Trump because he would "fuck with the system".

I think it's ok to hate someone who voted for Trump BECAUSE they wanted to elect an enemy of the majority. It might not be productive to hate them, but it's okay to.

How long and how loudly... how open will their distaste for right wing

We're dumb evil immoral pedophiles who are going to hell, and every time we try to cooperate with them in any way they backstab us and then blame us. What exactly are we losing standing up to them when they're going to punch us whether or not we do?

I am starting to feel like you could just switch a few words around and then the shit we believe about them and the shit they believe about is identical

The concept is assymetry. The most obvious (Godwinian) example is to take virtually any anti-Nazi quote and intersperse the word "Jew". All of a sudden it becomes horrible and bigoted. You can absolutely then take any anti-Jew bigotry and say the word "Nazi", and it suddenly becomes just and true.

Why? Because Trump Supporters and Democrats ARE fundamentally different. The best answer to the paradox of tolerance says that tolerance is a social contract - we are to be tolerant to those others who accept to follow that contract, but it can be open season (in terms of intolerance, not violence) for those who do not.

abraxas , 5 months ago to White People Twitter in Trump popularity.

This. There were plenty of articles pointing out how Trump supporters were already saying "he doesn't REALLY mean that" about the extreme policies he was pushing.

If a presidential candidate promises to something horrible, you take it seriously and vote against him. The end. Except we as Americans don't know that.

abraxas , 5 months ago to White People Twitter in Generational differences

moonshine manufacture is not steam distillation

It's almost the same thing, but if you use a thump keg it is the same thing. It was intended as a joke more than anything.

abraxas , 5 months ago to White People Twitter in Generational differences

I mean, legally it is in the US at least. Our age discrimination protections are only for 40+ people. I'm 40+, but I still feel like that's an absolutely unacceptable limitation on protections. I can legally refuse to hire somebody under 30 "because they're stupid millenial kids" but not a gen-X "because they're entitled"

abraxas , 5 months ago to White People Twitter in Generational differences

I used to feel the way you do. Now I'm a 40-something feel a lot less that way. You know why?

The same reason I blame "good cops" that watch bad cops murder a black man while politely saying "please stop, aren't you afraid of your dash cam catching it? Just let him go man"... but don't actually intervene.

The generation we're mad at aren't the ones who did this. They're the ones who said "the billionaires are right. None of us are working hard enough for them. I'm going to teach my children to work harder for less". The boomers/silent (even early-X) are the enablers, and enablers are guilty, too.

I'll put it this way. I know a guy who thinks his daughter is lazy because she won't pick up minimum wage work part-time at a factory to supplement her 6-figure salary. "It's not about the money, it's about work ethic". I know another, a small business owner that's mad he can't keep a head chef at his mom&pop restaurant for $18/hr "because this generation is all too lazy". The living wage here is in the $22/hr range. I know a third small business owner (this one technically a millenial) who gives his workers paycuts each year then calls them lazy princesses when they refuse shifts that require them to drive 2 hours at minimum wage.

NONE of them are the real villain. But ALL of them are still responsible.

abraxas , 5 months ago to White People Twitter in Generational differences

Makes me cry. The good luck I've had in my life should mean I could retire early. The bad luck I've had in my life means I still have no retirement fund. But at least I haven't gone through foreclosures like a lot of people my generation have.

abraxas , 5 months ago to White People Twitter in Generational differences

Factually correct - in many countries steam distillation is illegal because you can also steam distill tasty things that make you feel good.

abraxas , 5 months ago to News in Trump attorney tells judges presidential immunity would even cover assassinating rivals, selling pardons

, I think he did it.

At this point, we're way past that line of the narcissist's prayer

abraxas , 5 months ago to Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics. in Eating Meat Is Bad for Climate Change, and Here Are All the Studies That Prove It

Coffee and chocolate are not substitutes for animal meat though. If you look at the chart and compare animal proteins to substitutes like tofu, beans, peas, and nuts the plant based options win every time.

You came so close to the answer, and then fell away. Factory farming as a process is what jacks up those numbers dramatically, not the thing that's being farmed. A few large corporations have seized the cattle and chicken industries, so their numbers would be far lower if regulations reversed that horrific trend (with a few caveats regarding methane in cattle, but I'm trying to stick to the topic). Remember how I mentioned "leaves out a lot of important variables"? That's another of them. Nobody cares that Tyson collects a feed subsidy that's paid for by small-scale farmers, or that small-scale farmers' animal products are 100% environmentally sustainable in most countries. There's nothing inherent about animal agriculture that means it NEEDS to be factory-farmed, or that we need to penalize small farmers so we can kick money over to Purdue.

But even in the current graph, poultry, pork, and seafood are in the same realm as most crops and are dramatically more usable calories. Several things that are not on the chart (wild-caught seafood, animals raised with certain processes, the influence of the symbiotic relationship between animals and crops) put most animals comfortably in with plants.

As for beef, that would deserve it's own entire conversation because those numbers misrepresent a lot of the reality. But that's another topic and I'm starting to tire of having 10+ people reply to me every hour on this topic, most of whom are angry at or belittling me (not you, just in general)

abraxas , 5 months ago to Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics. in Eating Meat Is Bad for Climate Change, and Here Are All the Studies That Prove It

Oh some people are trying.

Many of the rest are trying to coerce people into doing things. From a legal/ethical point of view, people typically consider that a form of a forcing.

And I can feel or not feel however I want, but the fact that you decided to bring up my feelings doesn't change facts.

Most importantly, I have clearly explained why the original comment was justified in using the word "shit" and a vegan would be justified in using the word "shit". Heaven forbid vegans are on the same plane of existence as we mere mortals. No, you're right. Vegans can use cuss words, but we non-vegans must bow and say "I understand that only vegetables taste good and that meat is horrible, but I eat meat because I like to feel guilty and want to burn in hell. Please judge me"

Or maybe the top comment really was justified in using the word "shit". Please leave your reddit at the door. You'll track in mud.

abraxas , 5 months ago to Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics. in Eating Meat Is Bad for Climate Change, and Here Are All the Studies That Prove It

I feel like you’re doing the thing you premptively accused me of wanting to do.

I disagree. You're bringing up those same other issues "in the context of land use" and I'm trying to respond as best I can while sticking to land use.

You’ve put forward an arbitrary unsourced number asserting that 2/3 of the land used for animal agriculture is otherwise useless for food production

Are you saying you contest the 2/3 number straight out? Because your previous reply seemed to be trying to gather ammo to object to it with supplemental data.

with the implication that we would need to use more high quality land to meet human food needs

I actually didn't make that implication. As "it's ok to keep eating meat" is the defacto winner, I'm simply pointing out that anti-meat advocacy has not resolved the marginal land issue with their land use objections.

That number is undiscussable until you can actually demonstrate to me how you’re arriving at it

Alright. So is your position that there is no such thing as marginal use land, or that there exist no cows on it? If we "undiscuss" that number for a moment, are you willing to concede the only point I made - that livestock on marginal use land is perfectly fine from an environmental point of view?

We can’t have a discussion if you’re asking me to work out the specifics of your claim and then disprove them, you have to actually make a specific claim.

My claim is that the vegan argument on marginal land hasn't defended their claim. I have argued that claim, and you're harping on a number you both believe enough to try to argue around and disbelieve enough to pretend it's impossible to discuss marginal land use without me somehow proving the number is exactly correct.

Does the 2/3 number matter to you, or doesn't it? Do you believe it, or don't you? If the former, maybe we can have a discussion on exactly how we can determine how much livestock is on marginal land. If the latter, perhaps we can focus on whether livestock on marginal land is horrible for the environment or not.

Getting into the weeds on the details of soy and hashing over the whole by/co product

I really didn't. You made the claim that soy represents secondary land use, one I took seriously enough to reply while pointing out how the reply can lead to tangents, so we can stick to the argument. ANOTHER person, in response to me (and maybe you) provided far more tangential, but effective, an argument against you, but I am not that person.

So please, make that claim

Which claim are you asking me to make now? Can we finish the claim "vegans haven't proven that livestock on marginal land is terrible for the environment" first?

abraxas , 5 months ago to Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics. in Eating Meat Is Bad for Climate Change, and Here Are All the Studies That Prove It

As someone who grew up eating meat, and still eats meat for various reasons (though I’m trying to cut down), I’m not sure I agree with that statement.

I recently has a $120 filet from a premium steakhouse for a special occasion. I'm sorry, but in my lifetime of being an "try anything" foodie I've never tried a meatless dish that comes within $3-40 of creating a food experience worth that much money to me, and that includes some stuff created by amazing Indian or Lebanese chefs (where I got the best meatless food I've ever eaten).

And here's the thing. I can make that filet. If I hit a butcher and get a prime cut of angus filet, toss it on the grill, I can have that $120 filet in front of me. I went through part of a culinary degree, and my wife comes from incredible restauranteurs of two cultures. If I were to dream of coming up with a $120 non-meat meal, it would require such an immense amount of expertise and skill. That $120 filet I could have mostly managed wiith none of the experience I have since picked up.

Beef (the most environmentally unfriendly meat) is far and away more expensive than vegan or vegetarian substitute ingredients

On beef, I lean to the simplicity. You're right about the price, but a good steak is worth the price in terms of enjoyment. At least to this foodie.

All meat, at least without any seasoning, I personally find pretty darn bland

I wouldn't call a little salt and pepper complicated. Would you? I wouldn't ever put more than that on a quality cut of beef. Compare that meat prep with, say, falafel.

A good head-to-head was creating meat toppings and creating veggie toppings. The fanciest meat topping I created was a delicious liver pate. Prep took me about 20 minutes. My wife's family has a meat-based cheeseball recipe that's about 30 minutes. Both are amazing. Compare to the excuisite mustardas and chutneys I've made, and the effort difference is an order of magnitude. For me, I'm talking hours of work, sauteing each ingredient and letting it cook down carefully to maximize flavor. And the latter start requiring more and more pricy specialized ingredients. Liver for pate is dirt cheap around here, and devilled ham (cheeseball) is pretty cheap, too. My chutney required specific harder-to-find breeds of fruit.

From your explanation of meat, I think it's clear you're not a huge fan of meat in general or that you've often been stuck with bad cuts of meat. The way you described meat "absorbing other flavors" is the one thing we were taught in culinary school you never do with your protein. In French Style cooking at least, your protein is your star - it's the most important part of the dish, and it's the one thing whose flavor should SHINE. Properly cooked duck is perhaps the perfect example of that. Duck L'orange is one of my favorite dishes, but the orange sauce needs to be on it sparingly because the point of the dish is that amazing and irreplacable flavor of Duck. The orange is like a stairway to get the duck from "great" to "life-changing"

My wife puts it this way with scallops (the scallop industry is in our family, sorry). If you want to buy scallops somewhere far from the ocean, you buy fried scallops because the scallop is basically ruined and you're just trying to get a hint of the flavor you like and drowning it in flavors that are palatable. If you eat a scallop off the boat, you pan-sear it with a pad of butter and some crushed cracker crumbs for about 2 minutes.

BUT, I tried some premade frozen impossible patties from costco, and I couldn’t believe how delicious they were

I didn't love Impossible. But I like my food elevated. I will agree that Impossible compares favorably to a "Applebees" burger, but I haven't eaten at Applebees in 5+ years. If I compare it instead to some fresh 80/20 from the butcher, mixed with a little bit of pork, it's a different world.

I'll agree the best fake meats can beat the worst real meats. I don't think that's a concession for someone who teaches himself to cook things because he thinks good food is worth the effort.

abraxas , 5 months ago to Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics. in Eating Meat Is Bad for Climate Change, and Here Are All the Studies That Prove It

What's your take on a meat eater with a net-zero or net-negative carbon footprint? The same? What about a vegan that has to drive to work and can't quite get their carbon footprint to zero? Which one is better, the climate-hurting vegan or the climate-helping non-vegan?

abraxas , 5 months ago to Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics. in Eating Meat Is Bad for Climate Change, and Here Are All the Studies That Prove It

I think you overestimate many of the people fighting on the vegan side of arguments these days ;)

And I mean that only half tongue-in-cheek. Too often, people who should be smart enough to know better put on blinders because "I love animals and don't want you eating them" mashes up with "what's actually good or bad for the environment and climate"

We absolutely should be making improvements to farming to continue to scale. Unlimited amounts of chicken or pork are indefinitely sustainable at the low-low price of perhaps making animal treatment vs climate decisions that might be difficult for some. I swear they hold on to the whole vegan thing because sometimes the most climate-friendly choice is a little less humane-seeming to some people.