If people vote against their own interests, it is solely their fault, there is no way around it, deal with the consequences and do better next time. Saying that people must be protected against themselves means that you believe that your fellow human beings are inherently inferior to you and that they are not rational beings, akin to animals.

If you believe that you have intellectual superiority but you are not able to communicate that to your fellow countrymen, then you have failed thoroughly at being a politician, or you are not as superior as you think you are.

Did you read the actual article?

It’s hilarious that that is the actual headline

I think that in a country where most of the population is trying not to starve and in too many cases failing to do so, in a country that can’t even be properly called as such due to the complete disappearance of centralized authority and the huge instability and internal conflict always present, maybe, just maybe, addressing that might be a bit more important (especially because a lot of the infant mortality rate is starvation)

I imagine that there is a /s here that most lemmings didn’t realise

It that this is not good, but I kinda feel that Somalia may have a few more important things to worry about?

The difference is that in western markets, (thanks to immigration) the population is still growing (for now) and the construction industry still hasn’t recovered from 2009 afaik. So you got the same number of houses for more people, therefore skyrocketing prices

Besides, almost all of the debt is in dollars, so worst case scenario, money printer goes brrrrrr

I know about the whole strategic ambiguity, but doesn’t mean that the position isn’t precarious

Especially because the US doesn’t even officially recognise them as a country

I tend to be more of a “nothing” absolutist. Even human rights are not absolute, as we saw during the covid pandemic, when most of us gave up somewhat willingly our freedom of circulation. Mask mandates were another example.

I tend to prefer to preserve the rule of law, because if civil desobedience to several laws becomes the norm (and those laws are not retracted), then all you are left with is either anarchy, with total disregard for such laws, or a despotic government that applies them as it sees fit (example: China. You kinda have to be corrupt to some level to do any amount of large business in there, but the hammer of justice conspicuously falls only on the “enemies” of the regime.

Even during normal times, things like abortion must not be handled lightly and the different rights at play must be taken into account, both of the women and the child involved. I tend to side with the child, although contrary to nutty Republicans I both believe in and live in a country where paid maternity leave is a thing, daycare is free for a reasonable chunk of the population (general availability coming soon^tm ) and we have a national health system. As such, given that most of the population is educated, that contraception is easily accessible (and free if you go to your family doctor) as well as pregnancy tests, it becomes inexcusable to have an abortion, especially one that violates the generous terms of our law.

The only thing I said, is that such a situation should be handled exactly like any other situation, in whatever way the law mandates. The only thing I expressed was support for the rule of law. If that law has to be changed is another discussion, but until then, it must be respected.

I think that Israel is playing the game exactly the way that Iran wants them to. The unreasonable level of violence against civilians is isolating Israel diplomatically and deeply tainting US reputation for relatively little cost.

Netanyahu is playing this game because his survival depends on it. As soon as war ends, he is kicked out and a bunch of judicial processes fall on him that he has been avoiding with his immunity. He has a vested interest in prolonging the conflict.

Hamas has a vested interest in prolonging the conflict too, because it means that they can be “freedom fighters” and “martyrs” instead of terrorists, and assassins, and means a reasonable amount of people flock to them. It also gives them legitimacy compared to the Palestinian Authority

For me it should be treated the same way if someone showed up clearly after drunk driving and had an accident. The same way if a doctor suspected of anything illegal in his patients. Idk how it’s handled legally, but it should be consistent

The main issue when it comes to European defence is the fact that we don’t have the ammo factories and such located in europe itself, which is a major strategic risk

In the words of John Oliver: “Do you mean the zodiac killer? The guy who put his balls in the hotdog stand’s water?”

Portugal has basically the same issue fun fact

Remember kids, the most important lesson in geopolitics is: everyone is a jerk and fending for themselves

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.bkBAv7LiuWLQaOBwpkv1XAHaHa%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=2893e92b24b995036f16afd169f645e9a6a66687f4bbe1607a4679c21579584e&ipo=images

We can make it a hassle enough that russia has to sell at a lower price, or spend a bunch now in infrastructure