The OOC Hangout Thread (New people introduce yourself here!)

[Magni Prime]

eek I seem to have hit a rather touchy spot. I'm sorry if I offended.

And I like to consider myself centrist with conservative leanings. That said, I fully admit that both Right and Left sides have good points, and both are full of crap. In the bygone eras where both sides would argue, then go get drunk together and hammer something out to compromise, our system seemed to work. Today it is all "take my votes and go home" unless the victory is absolute, leading to a deadlock that gets nothing done.  

[Magni Prime]

Snowman, you are truly one of my oldest and dearest friends. I trust you can forgive me my caution. I do not wish to offend one that is held in the highest of regards. Passion is a good thing- but so is ensuring that the passion is for the subject, not against the participant.

I am of a faith that is miniscule in population in our country. My desires to protect animals large and small are often seen as quirky or nonsensical. My beliefs are so antiquated that people only remember two things- one, that it must revere their own devil, and two, that people were murdered en mass/on sight four hundred years ago for even the accusation. That has made me very cautious about discussing my beliefs around any not in my admittedly very small social circle. I've seen that in others as well. For instance, I went to RP, and noticed another man I had not previously met doing something with his dice, something I immediately recognized as energy play. When I asked using that title, he grew concerned until the man who invited me reassured this guy "he is one of us." Living with persecution and misgivings just on not believing in the same pantheon leaves me a tad bitter about faith.

Admittedly, I am also a crumudgeon. I'm a grump and point out how stupid people can be without a second thought. But no, I am not as much a libertarian as I am centrist. Conservative leanings include the idea of my life, my problem. Nobody should be able to remove my autonomy for the sake of a Big Brother government or ideal. Larger oversight is not what I desire. Mostly I am centrist because both right and left have good ideas that seep through the rhetoric, though often are drowned out by the fanaticism. I recall hearing a show talking about how in ages past, those on both sides would fight, then go out and drink, and while drunk hammer out a compromise. Now we no longer do that in our government. Instead it is an 'all or nothing' situation where even after the fact, the first priority is to undo the laws and progress made by the 'other side' as soon as they are in office.

Perhaps I am centrist because I can't stand the waist-deep manure of either side?

oh, and your comment made me think of this.

 

[Magni Prime]

I am aware of a saying that has been floating around for some time. "Words have power, why else would we call it 'spelling?'" That speaks to my religious mindset, but I understand that such is merely a convenient homonym. Either way, it can be very isolating to have none of your faith nearby. I know of only one woman that displays any iconography, she has a massive tattoo across her chest. Turns out she only got it for her mother, who she is now at odds with, so yeah. Witches prefer to work in groups, in covens. Optimally, the group is composed of 13, and if too many more than that exist, evidently they break off to form a new coven. I am a group of one- so my practices are so far subdued that even I sometimes forget them. A support group like found in most churches would be wonderful . . . but compromising my faith just for a safety net is not acceptable.

As for people running, I still have some faith in Sanders, but don't have my hopes up for much happening. Lately, I've run fairly dry on things like hope.  

[Saucy Goblin]

Yo  

[Magni Prime]

Chaos Reclaimer

Yo

*gluggles the crap outta Chaos* HI!!!!

Sanders has publicly said he was going to fight until he was forced to quit. Furthermore, the media has downplayed every victory and hyped every defeat the man has had. Even when he was doing phenomenally well, he was asked "are you doing this to change Hillary's platform?" he responded by saying no, he wanted to win. Again, the next thing asked of him was "would you be Hillary's vice president?" he simply asked if Hillary would be willing to be his. Over and over, the tenacious old fart has held to his convictions, and stuck to the same platform he has been fighting in the name of for the last 40 years or more.

I'm confused. "Christians outside of the church environment is in New England"?  

[Magni Prime]

I will agree that Sanders may not have the most easily implemented platform. His ideas are radical and a fundamental change in American society. In my view, the catch to all that is how it is a needed change. America is not the greatest country in the world. In fact, for many people, it is a hard place to live. We need a fundamental shift in our society in order to allow us to reclaim our place among the greats. Not to destroy everything, but make it a place where our citizens can grow and be great. For the last 40 years we have had a society that was bought and sold as the ultimate extension of a capitalist financial ecosystem. We need things that Sanders is pushing for like a quality education system, healthcare for all people, and finding ways to support one another. We need to have living wages instead of starvation wages, and to find a way to let those who make absurd amounts of money on misery and oppression of their own workers realize that this is no longer acceptable. Sanders has pushed for those things to my understanding, and not only is his platform 'way out there,' nobody else is even approaching the subjects. One of the biggest selling points for me is as you mentioned . . . his stance has not changed in decades. No other politician I am aware of can even try to say that.

ahhh, that makes sense. I live on what I could call the border of New England, and all around me are churches that are of various aspects of Christ. Perhaps I am not deep in New England enough to see what you are referring to. Between the Amish and the prolific churches within driving distance of my home, I just cannot say that Christians are rare- in or out of a church environment.  

[Saucy Goblin]

I want to get an rp started, particularly of the dnd 5e flavor. I believe there's a program that allows users to play a tabletop game over a chat-esque form. Roll20?  

[Magni Prime]

I respectfully disagree again. American freedoms are a farce for approximately half. The reasons are diverse, ranging from 'security,' to racism, to 'political correctness.' The balancing act of security versus freedom has always been a difficult one to maintain. Unfortunately, we have a far bigger issue- we are not in a democracy. This is the (in my opinion) ultimate lie of our society. We do not get to choose our leaders. The popular vote is meaningless. What matters is the electoral college- a group that has no direct known link to the popular vote other than going with what they feel is best. even when the popular vote is for one candidate, meaning that person has the most votes of the American public, that candidate can easily still lose if he or she does not have the approval of the EC. Furthermore, if the EC fails, the task of naming the next president does not go to the public, it goes to the House of Representatives. Compounding this issue is that the politicians are predominantly purchased by the largest money-holders in our society. That means we are not in a democracy wherein the populace has power. We are in an oligarchy, a situation where a scant few hold all the power. The longer we reside in this system, the worse it becomes. We are at a breaking point, where very few can ignore the fact that the inequality of our society is unavoidable.

As for raising the minimum wage, it either must be raised to a point that serves the original purpose, or we throw it out altogether. The 'minimum wage' is the least amount a person can earn doing a full-time job to reach enough funds to live. I work full-time, and so does my wife. we each make more (on average) than minimum wage, and yet we still are below the poverty line. The wage is no longer livable. Most economists that I have heard as specialists on this situation all say the same thing: raise the minimum wage. The strongest piece of evidence is how low-income individuals spend all of their income, often and then some. Those that are rich now spend far, far less. Thus, putting more income in the hands of the poor and few middle-class individuals left will put more money into the economy and moving. Scrooge McDuck style wealth does no good sitting in a vault/money bin. The economy must breathe, move, flow. Instead, it has stagnated, bloated, and left those that actually keep the economy moving with a drip feed of funds instead of something to live off of. Meanwhile those that have the money keep getting more and not spending any more than absolutely necessary.

I put forth that undoing over 40 years of corruption will be as alien a structure as remaking the whole thing. A generation of workers all put this system into place, and undoing it will not be easy, simple, or fast. Supplanting the situation will not be easy, simple, or fast. If we know the vehicle is broken, why continue to use it?

Other countries on this planet have universal health care, and are vastly superior to our own. Not because of mediocrity, but because being ill or injured should not be a catastrophic ordeal to 85%-99% of the populace.

as for the issue of socialism, that is not entirely true. I recall a quote from online- "I don't want your money. I want a chance to make my own." Our system does not allow that freedom, and if you do not have a stack of funds to begin with, the likelihood to make one is dismal. At this point, we call it the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.

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Chaos:
I've never tabletopped through computer. I always have too much suspicion of the dice rolls, and just have to wonder about how the system could be cheated. The only RP I've done online has ever been pure text, as we once did as Charles and Contenmo.  

[Magni Prime]

poke