houseoftolstoy @[email protected]

I will end with a statement inverting Vaush's scenario.

If you were given all the provisions you would need to live, but you were forced to live in a 10x10 room and never leave it, would you have freedom?

The answer is no, because I just described a prison.

Another thing, when we no longer can even agree on what "freedom" really means, we see all sorts of abuses of the term.

"Those immigrants coming here are American as you are because they came here for freedom!" In many cases, they are here for economic reasons and really could not care all that much about freedom. Yes, they have a better standard of living and have the means to be more successful, but again, that is not the same thing as freedom.

One thing to note is that most people could not define themselves as being 100% about freedom. That indeed would be lawlessness. Most people want at least SOME laws in place. How many you want shows how much you do or do not prioritize freedom.

The same people who claim that they want homosexual marriage legalized because they are about freedom would scorn at the idea that someone could refuse to decorate a cake for a gay wedding. It shows that they are not as big on freedom as they claim.

You are also not guaranteed to be happy if you have full freedom. I recall a clip where Vaush and Charlie Kirk were on someone else's show (not remembering at the moment), and Vaush asked Kirk if someone would have freedom in a lawless desert with no food and water. Kirk incorrectly answers no, which not so coincidentally was what Vaush thought too.

Yes, you do have total freedom in this scenario. Because freedom is not about being happy or having provisions.

When it comes to prosperity, we see far too much conflation. Yes, you need freedom to be able to make money. But freedom itself does not guarantee success, it only provides a chance of that success. Yes, many people will credit that they are "more free" because they are able to earn more than in many other countries. But the high earnings themselves are also not equivalent to freedom itself. To equivocate the two means that those who are not successful will resent any talk about freedom.

There are many ways the word "freedom" is misused. Often, it will be considered synonymous with happiness, prosperity, success, and other positive outcomes. When these terms are conflated with freedom, we only invite criticisms of all the wrong kinds as well as word games to twist what it means to want freedom.

Example: "Why do you say you are 'for freedom' if you are opposed to free healthcare?"

Free healthcare, of course, is not "free," but requires mechanisms that are anti-freedom.

Better advice is indeed more universal, and most cases less specific.

For making money, I think it is important to look for something that you are capable of doing competently that will give you a good return on your investment (i.e. pays well and gives you enough time away from work). Along with that, it should be something that you do not completely hate doing (I think it is a mistake to tell people that they should love the job they are working in order to find happiness).

This applies to other ways people suggest making money, such as real estate/rental properties.

Not everyone is going to navigate selling/renting out property as well as those who did find success. Their success might not even be fully attributed to their own skills alone, as they might have hit a good streak of sales that cannot be counted on at all times.

And not everyone wants to be on the hook for maintaining rental properties either (not always going to be easy "passive income").

One problem I have when any individual gives advice is that they often assume that their advice can be universally applied. Often, their advice requires circumstances that assumes something unique is more universal.

"If you want to make good money in a reliable career, learning to code is the way to go!"

This assumes that everyone is even capable of doing this (too many people are indeed too stupid) or that it will be a job that they would want to stick with.

Whether or not the charges against Trump are a complete bullshit witch hunt or not, I have come to realize I do not care about the outcome. What will change? It is not as if him being charged is going to prevent him from winning the presidential election. That will already happen regardless with the "election securing" by the Democrats.

Perhaps it will give the left some bread and circuses. I have similar thoughts if the left decides to throw Biden under the bus in the future. It means nothing.

@Tfmonkey I know you said you were over the whole Destiny "debate," but if you have not seen this, it should further confirm that debating the likes of Destiny is a waste of time.

Yes, you heard that right. Destiny needs an article to tell him what to think instead of determining the meaning that is plain as day in front of him. What a tool.