bayesic-bitch

quasi-normalcy:

quasi-normalcy:

Elon Musk’s only real act of genius was casting himself into a fictional archetype (the Tom Swift / John Galt / Tony Stark-style billionaire inventor) that so many people want to believe in so badly that they will overlook the mounting evidence that he’s actually just an unstable idiot with enough money to hire better engineers than himself.

And in some ways, clever people *have* to believe in it. If it’s real, then they’re living in a meritocracy; the world is fundamentally just, Everyone Can Become Rich in America, and all social problems can be solved through visionary engineering and rugged individualism. If it’s a lie, on the other hand–if he only bought his way into his position using the proceeds of a stolen emerald mine worked by stolen labour–then how will *you* ever become a genius-billionaire-playboy philanthropist with *your* engineering degree? And worse, if the system is unjust enough to promote someone like that, and if electric cars and underground tunnels and colonising Mars aren’t going to solve the problems that capitalism creates–then don’t you have a moral obligation and practical obligation to change the system?

No, it doesn’t bear thinking about.

i’ve always said elon musk didn’t get those ostentatious hair plugs & plastic surgery to trick ppl into thinking he’s young….he got them to trick ppl into thinking there was a time when he couldn’t afford them

bayesic-bitch Source: quasi-normalcy
funereal-disease

cop-disliker69 asked:

Why not just abolish marriage rather than legalizing polygamy?

funereal-disease answered:

Tbh I’d be fine with either, as long as it was evenly applied. Though I wouldn’t go so far as to *abolish* marriage – I would certainly strip many of its privileges (health insurance is a big one), but I still think it’s useful to have a legal way to say “this person is my next of kin”, especially for emergencies.

(Also, when I say “abolish marriage”, I mean in terms of its legal status, not “after glorious revolution no one will pair-bond”.)

funereal-disease:

butyouvealwaysbeenthecaretaker:

chickadeedeedeedeedee:

“abolish” marriage by, wherever possible, making its privileges equally accessible to all, and un-bundling those privileges from one another.

I’m not sure “abolish marriage” is a practical goal: people like marriage, it’s been independently developed in most places and religions. I think minimising the problems caused by marriage (ie, women legally owning their own property), and then expanding the benefits as widely as possible - both to people in and outside of marriages - is the way fo go

I *like* being married. There is something profoundly powerful about another human being saying “you, and for the rest of my life”; it’s a level of commitment that I’ve always wanted, in both friendships and relationships, the knowledge that someone is with you long term, that there is commitment, and that commitment is being expressed in decades and is public. There’s something beneficial in “this is a commitment I cannot easily opt out of on a whim”, in that it allows you to have bad days and fallow periods knowing the relationship will still be there, and knowing that you’re committing to work on things.

There was rat talk recently about hierarchical poly vs relationship anarchy, and how hierarchical poly allows for much clearer communication. And thus, marriage vs a mere pair bond. You can have the commitment and power of marriage without a certificate, but I for one much, much prefer the clarity of marriage as as cultural state. When my ex asked me to move abroad with him, I was kinda waiting on a proposal to say yes; I only did move abroad with my man because we were married. Marriage isn’t a band aid,but it’s a communication tool: you are asking me to uproot my entire life for you. I’m not sure I can do that for someone who may evaporate from my life at any moment. But if you are agreeing to marriage, you’re agreeing to a state of permanence, longevity, commitment, which you imagine/intend to be lifelong - and therefore I’ll evaluate my decisions differently.

I completely agree with this, which is why I don’t really use the phrase “abolish marriage” unless prompted to do so by the context of the discussion, and only if it’s crystal clear that I’m talking strictly about legalisms. I love marriage, for all the reasons you cited and more. I think it’s beautiful to make a public commitment to another person. But I think there’s a difference between marriage as a *social practice* and marriage as an *institution*, and it’s the latter that I’d like to dismantle. Basically I want a world where everyone, married or not, has the same legal benefits. But I don’t want to downplay the social importance of making a lifelong commitment to another person or persons. That’s still something worth celebrating.

i don’t want to overemphasize this, bc it’s not the most important thing, but there’s also kids? two people make em, one taking more risks & gaining more certainty, one having less certainty & taking fewer risks. legal marriage largely seems to be dealing w that fact & i struggle to imagine a replacement

funereal-disease
chamomilegeode

chamomilegeode:

thinkin about a baby of my acquaintance & how when her parents are hanging out & chatting, she’ll almost fully participate in the conversation–politely watching who’s talking, saying something approx the same length & tone of what her parents are saying, occasionally using a questioning cadence & looking at someone specific for an answer, laughing when they laugh–doing everything except actually using any recognizable language

this baby also once tipped me a granola bar at work. she’d been watching everyone in line very closely & when it was her parent’s turn, at exactly the right point in the transaction for a tip, she pickpocketed her mom’s granola bar & shoved it in the tip har

chamomilegeode

thinkin about a baby of my acquaintance & how when her parents are hanging out & chatting, she’ll almost fully participate in the conversation–politely watching who’s talking, saying something approx the same length & tone of what her parents are saying, occasionally using a questioning cadence & looking at someone specific for an answer, laughing when they laugh–doing everything except actually using any recognizable language

i think my fav restaurants ive worked at (like, as restaurants, not necessarily as work environments) were the grilled cheese place & the pizza place. the pizza place was pretty cheap & had a nice spread of weird pizzas, the best was artichoke, pineapple, roasted garlic, basil & cilantro. it was byob & we had one regular who would bring in like, $200-$300 bottles of wine on the regular. we found this out bc we would sometimes eat w him & his wife after the lunch shift, w our shift meals but sharing his wine, & one day i really liked one & googled it to buy it. nope!