@Terry I recall that the leftists that did protest Israel found out that being "on the right side of history" got themselves arrested and found that their usual state-backed support evaporated. This does not absolve them one bit, as it only goes to prove that they are merely attack dogs and they just happened to find out that they attacked the "wrong" group. Anyone who claims to be "the resistance" but refuses to fight the moment they get no state support is no resistance at all.
My inspiration for this Freedom Test comes from a scenario by the fat fuck commie Vaush. He asks if you are in a lawless desert, do you have freedom? The answer he expects you to give is no, because you don't have food or water and cannot live.
The presence of provisions or the lack thereof does not define freedom. So his assertion is retarded and the answer remains yes, you do have freedom. Take the inverse, prison, and even with food and shelter provided, you are not free.
@Zeb That is what marriage is supposed to be. A religious ceremony. The government doing every other action around the marriage makes that part not pass the Freedom Test. But you can have the ceremony and every other aspect of marriage if you remove the government from the equation. In fact, you remove all the bad parts of marriage when you remove the government. Namely, family court bullshit in the event of a divorce.
@shortstories Another good example to use. Without the government, these spouses would not have this provision, thus making it not pass the Freedom Test.
We can apply this test in multiple facets too. For example, gay marriage.
Whether you like it or not, if there are no restrictions to marriage, then gay marriage would be possible under the value of freedom.
The problems start coming in when the state is involved, such as lawsuits for gay wedding cakes or forcing others to acknowledge their marriage as valid. Many gays fail the freedom test the moment they are confronted with the fact that others do not want to participate.
Not everyone is going to be all about genuine freedom. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. But people should not be so quick to proclaim that they are about freedom if they require others to be forced into some action in order to attain their "freedom."
I would not consider myself anarcho-capitalist, but they at least are those that would be genuinely about freedom. But considering we have yet to have an ancap example in the world, that might show that 100% freedom might not be possible.
The Freedom Test is helpful in determining who is for freedom and who is for "freedom."
The test is this: if we remove government entities from the equation, are you able to get what you want? The answer should be quite clear if you think about this.
For those who want their freedom to have firearms, the government being out of the way would not change your ability to have firearms. But if your "freedom" is paid for by the government ("free" healtchare), then you do not have true freedom.
I have an idea I would like to call a Freedom Test. The idea of this test is to determine if you really value freedom or if you value something else. Many people will claim they are about freedom, but often they either are conflating freedom with another value that is not actually freedom.
One example of the misuse of this term is by those who call for "free healthcare." Whether or not you value this, it is not freedom, but a provision.
@Tfmonkey @VooDooMedic when the western economy finaly crushes do you think countries like mongolia or thailand will be hurting?
Any mention I have seen of a "power couple" is always catering to the ego of women. No man cares about power couples, because they are not looking for a woman who is chasing some high flying career.
It only seeks to validate the feminist idea that a women should be celebrated for chasing careers, and that they should be rewarded for keeping their hypergamy even when it is unnecessary. A family can be supported fully with one high flying career. Two of them just means more money than needed.
Turns out all the UN produces is reports no one reads. Bureaucrats don't do anything besides push paperwork and water is still wet. More news at 11.
@Aether I don't need a study to know that learning whole word reading or "by context" is a horrible way to teach someone how to read.
@Aether she clearly has some European genes, so it is not shocking that the child comes out looking like the majority of his genes.
@shortstories The only time I used an elliptical it did nothing for me. Maybe I was not using it in a way that would make it a more worthy workout. But I don't have a strong desire to try and use it again.
In theory I can run a sub 7 minute mile. I say "in theory" since it was done on a treadmill, which is not the same thing as regular running.
I doubt I will get to the point of being at my peak for distance running, but I at least am happy to be capable of improving my running back to a level I am happy with. And since my main exercise focus is lifting heavy, there is no way I am training optimally for distance running. But I am just fine with that.
Looks like this will be my new home. Warning: I (probably) have Asperger's, so my be prepared for my autism to show through.
I don't think I am a right wing extremist, but I am sure anyone with low testosterone might think otherwise.