Liberals listen up, this is what oppression and injustice is in this day in age via Bill Maher. Your thoughts?

[Anonymous]

https://youtu.be/I8LxraECD5E

www.instagram.com/.../?utm_medium=copy_link

[MCheetah]

I used to really like Bill Maher when I was a teenager, but then I grew up and opened my perspective a bit. But even though he's still pretty myopic, he's intelligent for a strongly left leaning guy (I suspect he's more center than he lets, but it's his job to be on the left). I appreciate it when he goes "off script" and pisses off his "own side." I wish he did it more often. But yeah, I obviously agree with him. I've never lost perspective of how good it is to live in a First World country. I legitimately wish I could do more to help the rest of the world. I've been aware for a long time now how messed up much of the world is. I don't tell anyone this, but I regularly donate on Kiva. org. It's just so many people, literally billions, live crappy lives that most First Worlders take for granted. Yes, we all have problems. And most problems are valid to those experiencing them. But I really wish I could make it so that everyone's problems are "First World Problems." But I can barely make my own life happy, right now.

[Andres77]

Interesting.
The other two people that have responded, I've already blocked. So I don't even see their dumbshyt.

I used to hate Bill.
I don't like him now but he does say things that make sense or that I agree with. I'm trying to hear the other side. Bill at least tries to make sense even as he insults much that I hold dear.

I know there are lots of skeletons in our closet as a nation. I know we still have archaic policies or unfair laws in some places but I won't hate my nation. I love this country, vi detest my government.

My goal is not to find fault with everyone and everything I can. My hope is to find the best way forward and live at peace with all.

I still get pissed off but chewing ass in here is as "violent" as I get. Not looting and raping and murdering across the country as blm and antIfa have. I'm capable of violence, I'm only saving that in defense of my family.

blm and antIfa are socialists striving to overthrow the government. Assured democrat power is the first step toward socialism.
Deny it, you're as believable as Bill Clinton and obysmal and biden and harris.

Try to find a way forward together, don't try to take my stuff and kill me if I resist... but you can try...🤨

[supercutebutt]

Bill Maher is a moderate. He has never been far left. The problem these days is the loudest voices are on the extremes. QAnon basically equals Taliban. Far-right wackos. The people who stormed my Capitol are mentally ill Trumptards who beat cops with Trump flags. When have you ever seen someone beat a cop with a Biden flag? The answer is NEVER. We aren't weirdo extremists like MAGA nuts and ISIS-K nuts :) We are moderate. And some doof will respond about Antifa or BLM. Post a pic of one of those people beating someone with a Joe Biden flag or while wearing a Build Back Better hat. I will wait because you will have to spend time photoshopping to make that lie true. :)

[stevie123]

I would take a flag tap anyday over the democrat killers known as BLM and antifa.. They killed over 20 people, burned out half a dozen cities and caused over a BILLION dollars of property damage.. I
NEVER saw a Trump supporter throw a firebomb. The Dems act like the Al Queda terror group..
And don't forget the Dems pushed defund the police so there are fewer cops for them to harass and keep law and order.. Remember that the news media are responsible for four years of Trump harassment and damage to my country..

[supercutebutt]

@stevie123 The problem with your argument is that those criminals aren't Biden supporters. But YOU criminals are Trumptards. In fact, there is an 80% chance you were at the Capitol, trying to kill cops with your Trump flag. You probably smeared the walls with your fecal matter. U should be ashamed.

[stevie123]

Of course they are Biden supporters. That is why they were never held accountable for their crimes all summer last year.. No cops were killed by flags but they were killed during the DEM riots. How can you compare flag waving with outright DEM terrorism? You have no case...

[supercutebutt]

@stevie123 Dude, post a picture a someone beating a cop with a Biden flag. If you can't, then you lost this argument. I'll even let you post someone harassing another while wearing a Build Back Better hat and count that. Happy hunting!

[supercutebutt]

That shut you up. :)

[Agape93]

He's not wrong

[Asker]

I actually like Bill Maher.
I don’t agree with all his points, but overall he MAKES SENSE.

[Agape93]

Yeap. he's reasonable, an old school libertarian, regardless how he identifies now a days.

[Qdbrown]

Maher is correct. What people call oppression and tyranny is just upset people who have the right to rant and can't find the correct words, and use profound sounding words instead.

And Maher use to be very liberal, and still is for his generation. The Overton Window has pushed politics far to the left that even Presidents like JFK would be a Republican today had he has the same same views then, and was alive now.

[zagor]

Wrong about that. Ronald Reagan would be rejected by today's GOP for being too liberal.

[NYCQuestions1976]

More people need to open their eyes and mouths with common sense about everything that's going on, like this:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/sSfejgwbDQ8https://www.youtube.com/embed/jtTvXZ5lby8

Right on, Jon Stewart. Right on. Colbert is a perpetual blithering idiot, but whatever.

[Soteris]

Are you serious? "Oh noes! They are oppressing me by thinking my country is bad!"

Grow up. That is not what oppression is. That is not what Injustice is. You are the reason people like me laugh at USA and think its full of idiots.

[anylolone]

People are laughing at the US because of him, but you, I know, I'm one of those people.

[Soteris]

@anylolone I can extract your intended message from context clues but man.. that made no sense.

[anylolone]

Well, I made as much sense as the British parliment holding biden in contempt.
Which makes a lot of sense.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Which implies that the Boris Johnson government is not equally as terrible (although for different reasons) as Trump was.

[anylolone]

Trump's government was pretty good actually,
He really brought up that employment, that trade surplus, energy independence, that federation, etc...

Boris sucks, for sure, he panders too much to the progs, the commies, the people with ties to the CCP who were caught with literal modern slavery of immigrants in their districts, the remoaners, the people with the same vision that hitler had of an Europe united over an undemocratic government, the anti-semites, IE, labor.

[Soteris]

@anylolone First of all, the president dont really have that much control over the economy unless they are directly doing a bad job. Trump did a bad job which is why your economy is even further down the crapper and only the stock market sort of clinged on which is hilarious in its own way since people love to use it as a measurement for the economy.

But fundamentally, the biggest problem with both Boris Johnson and Trump is that they are not really active leaders. They just want the position for selfish reasons and has no real plans or ability to use the power of the office either for good or evil because they are both too incompetent and too lazy to do any real work.

I mean, Trump had a full term and I could count the things he did on one hand. Pretty sure Biden accomplished more in his first 100 days. Likewise Boris Johnsons favorite tactic is just to do the absolute minimum to survive the day and ignore how that is going to come back and bite him tomorrow.

[anylolone]

Trump did a great job because the economy recovered like crazy until covid hit and then recovered like crazy from covid (but the second one is expected), he didn't pushed for lockdowns because it does work, masks and vaccines also don't work, by the way and I have a whole post on the vaccines, I could make one for lockdowns and masks as well.

When the need for assistance to the people he pushed for assistance only to the people instead of a plan like biden that has an infrastructure bill with single digits percent of infrastructure.

Biden accomplished record inflation of basic goods, losing energy independence, killing texans over "climate change" only to buy oil from saudi arabia, a retreat which was botched on purpose (I also have a post of that), he didn't fire faucci when he was exposed for doing gain of function in wuhan since the obama era despite obama signing a law prohibiting him from doing so, he has the most porous boarder in decades, there has been shortages.

I couldn't put it all here in one post.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Ahahaha! Well you just stepped into a whole minefield of topics I can beat you over the head with. Truly spoiled for choice here, lets just pick one such as what powers Trump has as president that allows him to achieve an economic recovery, that is unless you have any other preference?

[anylolone]

Same powers that would allow biden to do the same, which is with foreign trade and tariffs, among other things. There's also his powers on federal spending and taxing, which aren't much, usually need cooperation from congress but anything helps.
His veto powers.

The list is huge.

Biden is ruining the American economy, specially for the poor, on purpose, he has enough power to fight it off. Like with the afghanistan withdraw.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Negotiating trade deals takes a longer time than the president is in office. A reasonable trade deal takes around 5 years to establish and that is not to mention however long it will take for the markets to adjust and take advantage of it. Furthermore USA has been negotiating trade deals since it was established, there isent really that much more to squeeze out of it that has not already been exploited.

That is not to mention that while the President technically can negotiate, it is better left to the actual expert diplomats and Trump definitely did not do any of this.

As for Tariffs, they are pretty much universally bad for the economy but are also necessary to balance national interests. Some of the smartest people in USA had spent literal decades building up the perfect balance for your country and Trump came in and ruined everything. This is an example where Trump did have a direct effect on the economy, a bad one by doing something no sane or competent person would do and directly harm your own country.

The president can only spend money already given to him by Congress. Its another way that he can screw things up without being able to have any real positive impact even if he tried since other people already decided what he should spend it on.

But again, Trump did nothing of this yet you still claim he "saved the economy".

[anylolone]

"It's takes 5 years" if you do it like it was done, do I need to bring the israel accords?
It's both a trade and alliance in one swoop. A shit ton of trade deals have been done in record time due to covid. "It takes time" unless the market is starved, as it was and biden is back to starving it again.

Which is why his policy of "tit for tat" america first was good. Tariffs are bad, unless they are against countries imposing tariffs on you. Just by sanctioning china, gosh even the idea of a trump presidency took jobs back from china. And just covid took jobs from china to the rest of SE asia.

Yes, the president has some dependency on the congress, but at the same time, he has some freedoms, it's in those freedoms you can do good. Besides, you can pressure congress politically, which he did.

He did all of that.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Even just implemented a completed trade deal takes around 4 years if not more. Trade deals are MASSIVE things which includes re-writing laws, building new infrastructure and re-training your civil service as well as providing assistance to business around your country. Its not something you do in an afternoon.

Even if you do the BARE minimum such as the UK has after triggering Brexit 5 years ago at which they only had to copy all the previous agreements they had with a few minor tweaks and they are still not done and this is only possible because the UK was already in regulatory alignment with the EU and its previous trading partners as well as had earlier trade agreements to base their new ones on.

You think Trump clapped his magic asscheeks and magically got amazing trade deals that the worlds 2nd best diplomatic core was unable to do for literal decades? Personally I dont think he even knows what regulatory alignment is, much less what is required for a trade agreement.

As for imposing tariffs on each other, that just starts a trade war which historically everybody loses in. USA got hurt pretty badly during the Trump presidency specifically because of these tariffs such as the disaster with US farmers. The US government paid 61billion dollars to the farmers to compensate for the damages the tariffs were doing just to put it into context of just how FUCKED your economy was under Trump and that is just one sector in one industry.

Also the whole "take back jobs" is missing the point. The vast majority of those jobs no longer exists anywhere in the world. New technology eliminated a ton of jobs and those were the first to go for the same reason as they were the first to be exported to China, you are just blissfully ignorant of this back in USA. So no, you did not gain more jobs from China, that is just silly talk.

[Soteris]

@anylolone
As for presidential powers, he does have plenty however nothing really to influence the economy. Also Trumps political pressure was pathetic. He essentially only really pushed for 2 things. One was tax cuts for the rich which the Republicans also wanted so it passed easily. The second was his stupid border wall which the Republicans DID NOT WANT (because it would cost money and they did not want to give money away if it did not benefit them financially) so they completely stonewalled him for his entire presidency.

Trump could not pass one of the two things HE REALLY WANTED but supposedly he could pressure the house and congress to magically help the economy like its the easiest thing in the world.

[anylolone]

Am I going to have to quote myself? Abraham accords.

Ok, let's take this slow, "but brexit was slow" on purpose, and if they could ignore public pressure they wouldn't even have done it.

"But..." abraham accords.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Not sure why you are still on that. First of all it is not a trade agreement, its more of a "peace treaty" and secondly it has nothing really to do with USA except for the incentives USA is giving various nations part in the agreement for them to uphold the peace such as selling modern F-35 stealth jets to United Arab Emirates and supporting Morocco territorial claims in Sahara.

Also Brexit was not slow on purpose. While its being run by incompetent monkeys it is still an easy job to do compared to an actual trade deal so they are still among the faster trade deals in history.

[anylolone]

It's both, a trade agreement and an aliance. None of those countries were at war or hostile with each other, if I'm not mistaken.

Yes, the US paid upfront to spend less defending israel and also getting trade deals on the book there. Biden had a way easier time begging for oil to SA because of it.

And brexit was slow on purpose. The people wanted no-deal "take us as it's or bite it".
The government purposefully pretended to believe EU's feigns.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Oh it is definitely a peace agreement. Lets just read some of the titles.
"Abraham Accords Peace Agreement: Treaty of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Full Normalization Between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel."
"Abraham Accords: Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations"

These are not trade agreements. If anything it is just the start of cooperation which means that its the point where you first open talks about trade agreements, not finalize them.

As for brexit I do not think you should talk about it since you clearly have no idea what is going on. Suffice to say that everything you just said is wrong.

[anylolone]

Wanna go in details of the agreements? Or are you going to magically throw red herrings if I start going in details?

[Soteris]

@anylolone Sure, lets go into details shall we. Lets go with the "Abraham Accords Peace Agreement: Treaty of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Full Normalization Between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel." which is between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. Here is a link so you can follow along:
2017-2021.state.gov/.../...AL-15-Sept-2020-508.pdf

1. Establishment of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Normalization
2. General Principles (UN, international law and mutual recognition.)
3. Establishment of Embassies
4. Peace and Stability (AKA stop sending terrorists and/or being a dick to each other)
5. Cooperation and Agreements in Other Spheres (Get busy passing agreements as soon as possible)
6. Mutual Understanding and Co-existence (Hey! Stop being dicks to each other, we mean it! *points to number 2 and 4 again*)
7. Strategic Agenda for the Middle East (Lets do cool things together in the future such as maybe >>>NEGOTIATE A TRADE DEAL?<<<)
etc.. etc.. etc.. Jumping down a bit.

Innovation, Trade and Economic Relations
The Parties shall enhance and expand their cooperation in innovation, trade and economic
relations, so that the dividends of peace are felt across their societies. Recognizing that the
principle of the free and unimpeded flow of goods and services should guide their relations, as
well as the potential for diversification of bilateral trade opportunities, the Parties shall cooperate
in order to enable favorable conditions for trade, and the reduction of trade barriers.
==================
In other words, this is not a trade agreement. Its just a promise that they will try real hard to stop stabbing each other and maybe trade in the future.

[anylolone]

"Innovation, Trade and Economic Relations
The Parties shall enhance and expand their cooperation in innovation, trade and economic
relations, so that the dividends of peace are felt across their societies. Recognizing that the
principle of the free and unimpeded flow of goods and services should guide their relations, as
well as the potential for diversification of bilateral trade opportunities, the Parties shall cooperate
in order to enable favorable conditions for trade, and the reduction of trade barriers."

Also, you forgot aviation, tourism among other things.
Again, as you can see, a trade agreement.

Biden sure must be thankful that this trade agreement made it easier for him to beg for oil to saudi arabia. It wasn't it's purpose but surely it helps.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Read it again. This accord does not establish any of those things, it simply puts forward a desire for future agreements containing these things, which again, a trade agreement would take around 5 years or more and considering the troubled relations between these countries I would wager on more.. much more..

Also Saudi Arabia refused to join the accord. Not sure how it would help Biden negotiate with them.

[anylolone]

No trade agreement is a 100% specific. (specially since conditions frequently change)
But the flights are there, aren't they? The tourism is there.

Just with the pen and paper, the market quickly responds to immediate demand.

I can today, get a flight to travel between all of those countries, in American airlines, besides from other nations. Or a flight to israel passing through those countries.

That, my friend, is a trade agreement.

[Soteris]

@anylolone No, that is literally what a trade agreement is. Lets look at an example.
www.mfat.govt.nz/.../

In here they specify all kinds of stuff including certificates, rules of origin, customs procedures, intellectual property laws etc.. etc..

There is a lot of shit that goes into each and every trade agreement and they get into very specific details such as what can and can't be called Champaign, mandating that each animal food product needs to have an accompanied certification of health or exemptions from local laws.

You can't just open up the border and expect things to work, that is not how the economy or even the "world" works.

[anylolone]

Yes, it can be very specific if the need calls for it. But we got those flights and tourism, didn't we, you know, that trade?

[Soteris]

@anylolone That is not trade. Also trade agreements by necessity has to be that detailed, if not more. Also the accord had nothing to do with flights and tourism. Pretty much the only thing the accord did was officially state the position of those countries on future cooperation.

[anylolone]

Is that an agreement over trade? Did we get trade? Yes and yes.

Definition of trade agreement
1: an international agreement on conditions of trade in goods and services
2: an agreement resulting from collective bargaining

We could, of course, talk about his many more complex trade agreements, like him getting the supply line of a lot of pharmaceuticals out of china and into the rest of SE asia, specially india by doing trade agreements with those countries.

That was warp speed compared to his abraham accord that had little to no details.

[Soteris]

@anylolone *facepalm*
The Abraham accord is not even WITH the US. USA is simply there as a 3rd party to mediate between the other parties. How much clearer does this have to be?
It is not about the relationship between USA and these countries, it is not about a trade agreement and it is not about travel.

Think about it for a moment. Travel is a deceptively complicated activity. Just to begin with what are the travel restrictions? Do you need a visa? Where do you get a visa? How long can you stay? etc.. etc.. All these things and MUUUUCH more needs to be written down and agreed upon to even begin have a hope of travel. Where exactly in the Abraham accord do you see even a hint of this? Nowhere right? That is because its not a trade agreement and neither is it a travel agreement.

You are seriously underestimating just how sensitive these things are. Even if you think Trump can magically clap his asscheeks and get this magically fixed on the USA's side its not like the Chinese or the Israeli or anyone else for that matter would work any faster on their side. These things takes years upon years and every little detail needs to be looked over by experts to ensure there is nothing that could possibly go bad for their country and if possible, if they could find a way to exploit the other side instead. The negotiators in trade deals are heartless bastards who will bleed even their closest national ally dry if given half a chance and you think they rushed through an agreement just because Trump wanted to? Hell no!

[anylolone]

Feels like it's, though the US is just a "witness" so to speak.

[zagor]

You apparently either weren't bright enough or familiar enough with the US to understand the clip.

[Soteris]

@zagor Oh really then? Do explain.

[zagor]

Over here, some college campuses have become so PC that to say anything positive about say, George Washington, immediately draws accusations that the speaker is supporting slavery and patriarchy and white supremacy. This is not done in a tone of reasonable disagreement, or adding overdue balance to the historical record, but rather in the same sense that Columbus used to be celebrated as a daring explorer civilizing the savages, but now in the opposite direction.

[Soteris]

@zagor Calling out Columbus for being a piece of human garbage is not PC, its factual and historical. Trying to portray him as a heroic individual however is just white washing our history to better accommodate your beliefs and that if anything is pretty fucking reprehensible.

[anylolone]

Hey, let's believe the people who supplanted him with that accusation only to do all of those things, right?

Columbus actually pushed against the slavery of the natives.

[Soteris]

@anylolone You mean the same people he enslaved as governor and near extinction of the local native population? Its funny how public opinion on a character can change after historians look into the facts of their actual life as opposed to the bullshit that gets spread through the public news during the time.

[anylolone]

Bartolomeu de las Casas and Nicolás de Ovando.

[zagor]

Who said anything about whitewashing Columbus? He isn't renowned for being a great humanitarian. It was for having the balls to set out across the ocean to the unknown.

What is being whitewashed is the pre-Columbian inhabitants. There were cannibals among the Caribbean. The Aztecs were horribly cruel to their captives. The reason Cortez was able to defeat them with such a small force was the willingness of other native groups to fight the hated Aztec empire. Were the Spanish vicious? Sure. But it was not unusual for that time at any place in the world. Most slaves from Africa were not physically captured by Europeans, who didn't fare well in the tropics, but were bartered for from locals.

[zagor]

Nothing wrong with correcting historical myths. Just teach the WHOLE TRUTH instead of what supports one's agenda.

[Soteris]

@zagor Well if we are to teach the "whole truth" then Columbus was beaten both by a bunch of Norsemen and Polynesians which sort of detracts from his fame of "discovering" the new world since people in the old world has been going back and forth for at least 1000 years which predates Columbus mere 500.

Put into context, Columbus simply spread the news of the new world rather than claim any real achievement. Teach this in school and people like you call them PC.

[anylolone]

"He just spread the news" that's basically what discovering is.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Is it though? So if a news paper stripped Columbus name from the story and just ran it as "Discovery of new world!" would they be the ones who earned the achievement of discovering it? Quite frankly, its hardly impressive.

[anylolone]

Not necessarily, they didn't made the huge leap, which is the point here.

There's a huger leap between finding a new landmass and "reporting back", breaking the news than just spreading across Europe, or america.

[Soteris]

@anylolone I mean.. the other ones also reported back.. Hell, the Polynesians had a thriving cultural exchange which resulted in them importing goods and having children between each other.

[anylolone]

Yes, but the oblivion between ends still maintained.

Like between europeans and japanese around the medieval period.

Gosh, when you read the works of early european and chinese explorers you get flabbergasted by how hard travel and communication was.

[Soteris]

@anylolone So are we going to celebrate Columbus simply for being a glorified messenger boy?

[anylolone]

Yes. That's what currie was and I certainly celebrate her.
So for einstein, by the way.

"But it was an accident" so were a shit ton of discoveries.
Or they happened to be in the right place, at the right time with the right education and mentality.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Except those people were first. Makes you wonder why Columbus had a whole day dedicated in his name for something so benign.

[anylolone]

"they were first" but they didn't breach oblivion.
Several chemists and physicists handled samples with polonium before currie, but she was the one that discovered it.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Yet the people who went to the new world before Columbus were not ignorant over their discovery. They were well aware that it was a new land nor was it "accidental". They very deliberately made their discovery and even spread it locally hence why we can find traces of their discovery today.

[anylolone]

No, no, no, the Polynesians just sailed, they didn't knew there was land, they just hoped for it.
Like the vikins. Of course, fishing was a good part of their culture, so prodding didn't have to come with a huge price and nothing more than bragging rights.

Regardless, they failed to breach oblivion. So much the link between the polynesia and SA was broken when there was contact with the rest of the world. The vikins just basically died at america.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Hahaha! Are you saying that Columbus set out to sail to discover America? You do realize he was trying to find an alternate route to Asia right? At least the Polynesians and Vikings were sailing to discover NEW land rather than looking for a navigable route to somewhere they already knew about.

How did the Epic Rap Battle put it?
"I hear you call yourself an explorer
But I'm just not having it
You discovered a new world that was already inhabited
Why don't you boldly go someplace you've never gone before like India
Or any destination you actually set sail for"

[anylolone]

Nope, he set off to india, he accidentally discovered america.
But in the process he did significantly breeched oblivion.

And you just un-ironically quoted rap battle.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Yeah, I unironically quoted a rap battle because 1: Its funny and 2: Its true and I support the quote and what it means in the context of this conversation.

So what I have heard is that if we teach in school that Columbus was not even close to the first person to discover USA nor did he intend to do so not to mention his terrible track record of human rights and incompetent governorship you would be all for it?

[anylolone]

Again, discovery is about breaching the oblivion gap.
Turing is still the father of computing, even though babbage and lovelace came with multipurpose mechanical computers first. But then it was a fad that everyone ignored and forgotten.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Yes and no. We for example still credit to the ancient Greeks for their achievements in various topics even though those fell into oblivion in Europe and was re-introduced to us by the Muslims which by your logic should mean they deserve the credit for breaking the oblivion gap.

As such Columbus is far more interesting in an academic setting when discussing the oblivion gap rather than giving him any credit for something that honestly is not that impressive or admirable. Considering todays social climate the teaching of information and how to handle it would be quite useful especially how to not be tricked by propaganda or mislead by advertisement.

[anylolone]

They didn't fell to the oblivion then... Considering the muslims credited them therefore the gap wasn't reformed.
Also, considering the church, they all read a lot of ancient greek works on philosophy and math, so Europe still credited them.

[Soteris]

@anylolone But people today are not crediting the Muslims for keeping and adding to the body of work that became the foundation for Western society. Instead that credit is given to the Greeks who where initially forgotten about which brings up an interesting question about how the oblivion gap is a fluid thing and since we now know better why would we not credit the Muslims for their contributions or credit the Vikings or Polynesians for actually being the first?

[anylolone]

Actually they are crediting the muslims.
What sort of education you got? It's right there with teaching algebra, it's quite literally in the name and they pull up that fact exactly with that.
They are credit the arabs for spreading the decimal system to Europe and africa.

I think you just was a shitty student, the kind that remembers all the jokes around nudity and genitals in biology text books but somehow still believe you received no sex education.

[Soteris]

@anylolone You tell me. Most Americans I meet just think Muslims are backwards uneducated people who are just one step up from cavemen and have contributed nothing to society. Probably never heard of their importance in humanities progression nor important history such as the Baghdad house of wisdom or anything else. It is not that the information is not out there, just like with the records of the Vikings surviving to today, its that people dont choose to learn it.

[anylolone]

Most americans nowdays think most muslims of today are what you believe rural americans are but a bit better. After all they paid as much attention in class as you do, but they know more about your mentality than you know theirs.
They aren't wrong.

Ireland used to be a terrorism ridden place, it's not anymore.
Nigeria used to be quite a successful more or less free country, now it's australia.
Portugal used to be an empire, it's now subpar first world decaying country.

"It's not that the information isn't out there" when it comes to the arabs, people know that.
When it comes to the vikins, that information was basically buried by happen stance of history.

But since you chose to imute malice to the majority of the population, I'm gonna have to do the same with you.

[Soteris]

@anylolone "Buried by history", such a gross oversimplification for the forces and chance happenings that unravel throughout time. If anything human malice takes center stage in this dance with civilizations trying to eradicate each other both on a physical basis and historical one.

How many great libraries in history has been put to the torch? The House of Wisdom, Library of Antioch, Imperial Library of Constantinople or indeed the great library in Nineveh. We can also look at how Japanese people viewed Europeans in the years following their contact (For those who are not familiar with such basic history, the Japanese viewed Europeans as uncivilized barbarians which considering the Europeans where undoubtedly more 'civilized' at this time is a perfect example where malice corrupts your worldview.)

Point being that the attitude and perception of people can decide what survives the oblivion gap as it is what writes the common understanding of history. As such the discoveries from Ancient Greeks went from virtually forgotten in Europe to a foundation of our culture and the Muslims who safeguarded this information and expanded upon it in every way went from being seen as a lighthouse of learning to a geographic region that only ever managed to achieve mud huts.

Even that might be generous considering the outright hostile view Americans have of Muslims after 9/11.

[anylolone]

Well, I told you. Human malice does take part on the stage, you are a manifestation of it.

If you were in nazi germany you'd be one of the first to die... in the cleansing of the SS.
lol!

I know who'd would have burned the library of alexandria, you would, those philosophers weren't politically correct and all those jews were white adjacent.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Says the person who wants to protect the silly glorified PC version of Columbus instead of who he actually was and the actual weight of his accomplishments.

[anylolone]

It's not a PC glorified version, it's just the breach of oblivion.

If you look at his diaries in Spanish, the ones copied by people who wanted him fucked, it says he cut people's hands in it (which is why he was arrested), the people of course were colonists, and he cut their hands for several infractions, including selling natives as sexual slaves.

He also was a moron who miscalculated the size of the globe and took an exaggerated size of asia to justify his trip.

And he wanted to christianize everybody, and make everybody citizens of the crown, basically imperialism. He exaggerated a lot as well.

[Soteris]

@anylolone Oh but it is a PC version of him, not in the term of covering up most bad things he did but to protect his status in history on an increasingly shaky foundation.

[anylolone]

He did breach oblivion. That just resonates with people, even in their personal lives breaching oblivion has a great value.

But you have that people have their orienting instincts, taxophilia, instead of just being your slaves.
After all, you are a spawn of marcuse.

[RolandCuthbert]

I am just curious.

Is Bill Maher a liberal or a conservative?

[Asker]

Well, technically he may fit more the libertarian title more, but he’s certainly known to and has identified, I believe, with being on the left/being democrat/being liberal 100%.

I consider myself more conservative/right-leaning, but I like so much of Bill Maher’s points.

He just MAKES SENSE.

I also really like neuroscientist and author Sam Harris and evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein.

Have you heard of those two?

[RolandCuthbert]

Oh, you and I are definitely different. I don't get into political terminology. It is just hogwash to me. The only thing I respect is that Maher is unaffiliated. But no, I don't listen to people to tell me what my political views are.

I figure that all out on my own.

Now for your question, I don't know why you are posting the video. Especially when he critiques your guy but let's get to your point. What is amazing about you is that you do not possess the ability to simply state your point. You have to find some guy on the net who says what you are trying to say. I hope you know that when you don't possess the ability to state your own views, then you don't understand your own views well enough.

Bill Maher doesn't know what he is talking about. I think he sits on throne of judgement because of the cultural perspective he embraces. He cannot speak to the oppression or problems in the America from a perspective of having to fight for rights and freedoms he takes for granted. That's ridiculous.

I can only speak with a bit of certainty when it comes to two groups. "Blacks" and American Indians. "Blacks" winning some political concessions in the 60s and 70s, while American Indians winning some political concessions in the 70s and 80s. Those rights were won after centuries of lynchings, murders, rapes, marches, assaults, threats, and more.

My rights were not granted the same way Bill Maher's was. His rights were granted in his opinion, by the Constitution. Mine were not. Mine were included much, much later. And for an entirely different set of reasons.

I don't expect for you to have the ability to understand that. But even if you don't get it, why would you think I would ever forget the sacrifice of people who died horrifically just so a little "Black" boy could pursue a career in technology?

[Asker]

Oh yeah, the US has a bloody history for sure.

But we’ve made progress and continue to do so.

You acknowledge that correct? Well, if you do, then the next point you should also agree with it.

In the year 2021, there are countries WORSE than the US in terms of how these countries treat their citizens, commit injustices, etc.

I’m sure you would agree with that.

I guess, both of those points are what I am saying in summary.

I don’t think I say anything beyond this point but if you believe otherwise then point that out to me.

[RolandCuthbert]

Let me just be really factual and really short with this response.

1. Why would you talk about "progress" when you bemoan that things "are not like the good ole' days"? I don't blame you wanting to go back to the good ole' days. Why on earth would I?

2. As for progress, I am talking to a person who believes my individual rights/freedoms are contingent upon who you define as "Black" people and what you perceive them to be doing to each other. So seeing that you think my rights/freedoms are not God-given, I would say we haven't really made much progress. I am at GaG every single day. And I see racist filth and drivel in truckloads. Our society is on the brink simply because of an age old obsession with race. So I can't take my freedoms lightly. You can. Enjoy that.

3. I don't live in other nations. I live here in America. And no one is going to take my rights away, simply because he/she believes other nations treat my make-believe race, religion, ethnic group, etc. worse. I will have the same rights/freedoms as every other American. . . period. Again, people died horrific deaths for this journey. I know you can't understand that. And I am uncertain why you keep asking a question, for answers you have no capacity to understand. For you, everyone must accept your worldview or somehow they are violating your rights.

[zagor]

What is the difference what label he uses? He defines himself as a liberal, more in a traditional sense than what passes for "progressive" in some circles.

[RolandCuthbert]

@zagor Of course it is important because I have a label I use for myself. Everyone had labels they use for themselves. But most of the loudspeakers in GaG don't use those labels. So it is important to know what these prolific posters define conservative and liberal.

@embracethepain has internet access just like everyone else. Did he use the label that Bill Maher uses?

Maher often eschews political labels, referring to himself as "practical". He identifies as liberal, but stands against political correctness. In his words, "The difference is that liberals protect people, and P. C. people protect feelings."

[Thegreendagger]

The lazy coward sand people should join the military and fix their country instead of relying on others to fix it for them.

Maybe isis. or whatever terrorist wouldn't take it over if the men weren't pussy

[jshm2]

Bill Maher is full of shit and looks like a comedian trying to be serious about an anecdote, before he drops the punchline.

[zagor]

That's what he does. As far as being full of shit, what part of this video do you take issue with?

[EnglishEuropean]

Democracy dies inch by inch. Any country looks great if you compare it to Afghanistan, North Korea and Venezuela. What matters is the direction of travel.

[zagor]

So eliminating slavery, passing civil rights legislation, no longer arresting homosexuals for being such - that is the wrong direction?

[EnglishEuropean]

@zagor I haven't said so have I?

[OddBeMe]

Funny how you skip past the Republican American exceptionalism bullshit. But sure, libs could benefit remembering living in the west is better than Afghanistan. Big woop.

[zagor]

Actually Maher talks about that frequently.

[KrakenAttackin]

Liberals are mentally ill, even Bill Maher sees this. Look at the liberal cunts on GAG, they are dated beyond repair.

[BlacklightShade]

I don’t disagree with any of that. Never have.

[joeldalton]

He's correct here.

[anylolone]

He's still a moron.

[jimmy2]

For real