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BTW, are you trying to say US oil usage has dropped? I looked that up and it’s not what’s happening.

US oil production is not US oil usage.

Explain. Do you think the oil disappears or doesn’t affect climate because it’s not burned in the US? Why wouldn’t I hold US policymakers accountable for oil being produced under their watch, even if it is exported?

As for dips, then there was the 2008 great recession and covid which changed everything for a few years each.

Look at the chart. The decline started in the mid-80’s, and reached the bottom in 2005. By about 2001 it was the lowest since 1950. Years before the 2008 crash. You are right that the drop during Trump’s last year coincides with the onset of COVID, but it rises again as early as the summer of 2020. And continues unabated into Biden’s presidency and last year.

That running on an environmental policy was a losing proposition.

Obama was already elected into his 2nd term when oil production started climbing quicker than ever before at the end of 2012. Campaign strategy was over by then.

Nothing I’m seeing in the data suggests that Dems were meaningfully impeding/capping oil production. You may say it’s because the environment is a losing political proposition (and you may be right). But in doing so you’re just assigning a reason for the trends and timing that show dual-party responsibility.

4 years? Climate scientists have been warning the world about climate change for about half a century, and urgently for a few decades. Bill Nye specifically has videos going back at least 13 years.

Don’t just blame the 2017-2021 Trump presidency either for the current high, if that is what you mean by your “reworking the energy grid/vehicles in 4 years” argument. US oil production was at its lowest since about 1950 under Bush Jr. then climbed again dramatically through Obama’s 2 terms. Then the Biden presidency started after a year of “low” production (that was actually higher than anything pre-2017) before climbing again steeply during the last 4 years. This is a problem of both parties, and the worst of it has happened in the last 13 years of which 9 were under a Dem president.

“I hope this medal makes up for 2024 being the year of highest oil production in US history. Which happened in defiance of all the climate science you’ve been trying to tell us about. You know, as part of the years of science education this award honors.”

Holy cow. I plugged that into a translator and it’s awful. Every time I think Israel can’t go lower something like this comes out. I can’t believe they have sung this song for almost a decade. I was going to post parts of it here to save people the effort of translating it, but it’s so hateful I don’t want to be responsible for that.

The Guardian has a story with the sequence of events and more video of multiple incidents. Maccabi (the Israeli team) supporters started burning Palestinian flags, vandalized a taxi, and started chanting about “let the IDF win, we will fuck the Arabs” and “there are no more children in Gaza.”

Stuff like that went on for a while, police made a couple of arrests, then after the soccer match things got nastier. 5 people hospitalized (don’t know who), Amsterdam natives demanding to know if people were Jewish and to see passports, Israeli supporters setting off fireworks and using makeshift weapons pulled from a construction site.

World leaders are calling it a targeted attack against Jews and shameful. No word in the article about leader reactions to what the Israelis did.

Edit for an important P.S. - Please don’t lump all Jews into this. There are many Jews that are at least as fervent in their opposition to what’s going on in Israel as any of us. Probably a lot more so because of the personal stakes. I think it’s super important to support them because they’re fighting from inside the culture. Israel does not equal all Jews - please don’t be antisemitic.

It’s possible, I left 4chan a long time ago. I won’t pretend it was ever a great place, but at least there were moments of entertaining randomness. Damn I’m old.

I remember an old 4chan joke from, I think, over a decade ago. It’s an old memory so I hope I don’t butcher it:

A 4chan user found a genie. He was tired of getting no action, so he told the genie his 1st wish was the ability to turn on sight that would let him see everyone willing to sleep with him. “Your wish is granted”, replied the genie. “You can now close your eyes.”

In the modern version I’d make it one of these misogynist assholes.

I think someone who takes say, a month off per year could still be a professional. Even 2 or 3, which has them working 9 months a year. If you disagree it’s not the end of the world. If you have a grounded argument to make in opposition, go for it and I’ll listen.

Yes, they will operate in the same way (motivated by money) but they’ll do it at a drastically reduced level of societal harm. You come across as someone who isn’t greedy, and who understands the concept of “enough” which are admirable qualities I strive for myself - I live on disability payments and largely succeed in being thankful for it. However, making everyone happy with a middle class level of “enough” (i.e. no motivation to succeed beyond that) would require changing the nature of a lot of, perhaps most, human beings IMO. I think it would be a hard sell. Failing to convince at least most people to not strive past middle class living could lead to dissatisfaction, a collapse of the limits we’re proposing, and an eventual return to more harmful “norms”.

And surgeons/engineers aren’t making 40 million.

That’s true. I’m just ballparking numbers and gave surgeons/engineers as an example of what I consider difficult, valuable jobs (as far as education etc.). I don’t think they are the top paid individuals in America by a long shot.

40 million is about 20 lifetimes.

I think a person living with the best society has to offer (big house, multiple cars, a yacht, luxury trips, personal chef, etc) + setting up their kids to succeed (e.g. buying them a house) could spend 40 million in their lifetime . Obviously those aren’t necessities, but IMO enjoying the best society can offer is the hallmark of being in the top tier of a system with economic classes. It’s definitely just a ballpark, but I think the purchasing power of 40 million in 2024 dollars is a sustainable cap on wealth that would be immensely better for wealth inequality while still allowing the very successful to enjoy the best in life.

I don’t disagree a whole lot with what you said, but I think perhaps you are placing caps based on a middle-class life lived according to necessities + some luxuries like yearly vacations. Honest question, not putting words in your mouth I promise - are you expecting absolutely everyone to live a middle-class lifestyle (which I think makes caps on wealth a much harder sell)?

I’d like to see a soft cap implemented that’s tied to the nation’s average income (I think median would be the most fair, but it’s very possible I’m wrong). So for instance, the real median income in 2023 was about 80k according to census.gov. Let’s say we cap total wealth at 500x that median which = 40 million, after which taxes make it increasingly difficult to accumulate wealth, and have a yearly earnings soft cap of 100x = 8 million with similar restrictions.

I think that would drastically reduce inequality while still preserving different economic classes, which I think are critical to motivating people into difficult, high-value jobs like engineers and surgeons. Stacking up 500 years worth of income would let the rich stay wealthy, and a soft cap would discourage hoarding and encourage spending which stimulates the economy and spreads money around. If the wealthy wanted to be able to earn more per year or raise the soft cap they’d have to arrange for the average income to go up. Moreover, I <think> that increases across many people at the bottom would move the median more than a few large increases at the top, which would encourage a higher “floor” for earnings.

Biden wanting to stop supporting Israel is complete crap. Protesters didn’t invent their outrage out of nothing. Here’s evidence for people who want facts. No one knows what he could have done - he never seriously tried. He could have invoked the Leahy Law for starters, but “The State Department has never delivered a list of ineligible Israeli units to the government of Israel. Not once.” All his “warnings” and “concerns” were just words:

• “US spends a record $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since last Oct. 7” "Biden said Friday that “no administration has helped Israel more than I have.” “…it was impossible to get the full details of what the U.S. has shipped Israel since last Oct. 7, so the $17.9 billion for the year is a partial figure, the researchers said.”

• “Joe Biden Is Turning Out to Be America’s Most Pro-Israel President Ever” “Yet Biden seems to have pushed aside the strategic and political considerations that guided past American leaders’ responses to Israel’s wars. He joined himself at the hip politically with Netanyahu and echoed Israel’s talking points faithfully.”

• “The Biden administration once again bypasses Congress on an emergency weapons sale to Israel” “Bypassing Congress with emergency determinations for arms sales is an unusual step that has in the past met resistance from lawmakers, who normally have a period of time to weigh in on proposed weapons transfers and, in some cases, block them.”

• “Majority in U.S. Now Disapprove of Israeli Action in Gaza” “Approval has dropped from 50% to 36% since November” “All three major party groups in the U.S. have become less supportive of Israel’s actions in Gaza than they were in November. This includes declines of 18 percentage points in approval among both Democrats and independents and a seven-point decline among Republicans.”

As for Kamala being so much different:

• “Time is running out for Kamala Harris to break with Biden on the Gaza catastrophe” “Kamala Harris was asked how her presidency would differ from Joe Biden’s. “There is not a thing that comes to mind,” she said.” “Harris also made positive rhetorical gestures towards the plight of Palestinians, saying kind words in her convention speech about the injustice of their suffering and their right to self-determination. But for the most part, that’s all these moves were – words. Now, Harris has mostly stopped saying them.”

• “Here’s Why Two Protesters Interrupted Kamala Harris—in Their Own Words” “The vice president was both stern and direct in her response. “If you want Donald Trump to win, say that,” Harris commanded from the stage. “Otherwise, I’m speaking.” Her supporters at the rally roared in applause, drowning out both Hamamy and Hakim, who were escorted out of the rally. Following the Hamamy and Hakim protest, Phil Gordon, an adviser to Vice President Harris posted on social media that her position has been clear. “She will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. She does not support an arms embargo on Israel,” Gordon wrote.”

I understand what you mean, and it sucks. I’ve been accused of being antisemitic because I post against Israeli policy and I’ve never cared about ethnicity or birthplace. Sometimes because I put up a post talking about supporting Jews that oppose Netanyahu’s Zionism. It doesn’t matter to some folks - if you have a problem with certain people it’s not because of what they do or say, it’s sexism, racism, etc.

Here in Canada it’s not automatically assumed men are sexist. There are folks who will say that but they are a small group. I can only imagine it’s maddening to have to defend yourself constantly, especially if most people won’t believe you no matter what. It kind of reminds me of an old Dave Chappelle sketch (NSFW language) about being accused of sleeping with someone and having people assume it happened.

You are my hero :) Thank you for the link! You are right to say that number is probably significant. Given how vocal female support of Kamala was, it’s likely young men make up a lot of that shift too. Of course we’ll have to wait for more detailed stats to be sure, but it’s not unreasonable IMO.

I’m not doubting you OP, just asking if anyone has the voter demographics data that shows Gen Z males voted for Trump because I’m interested in the #'s of the issue.

As to the question of the post: I think part of the issue is that what it means to be a strong, mentally healthy male has been left unspecified or even attacked in recent years and that’s left a lot of young men confused and upset. Men get all sorts of advice on what’s wrong to do, but not enough on what’s right. Contradictory advice makes the confusion worse.

Are you supposed to chase a girl or is that creepy? How do you navigate increased romantic isolation and dating apps in a healthy way? What are expectations about being the sole income provider a la tradition? In that vacuum confident, opinionated, clear voices are persuasive, and a lot of those voices are the jackasses pushing a toxic masculinity and telling males to reclaim it. We need more strong, positive male role models and visible social support of them if we want to win young men back - they have to know that being better will yield rewards.

Kid loses 32 family members, has his limbs crushed in the rubble of the home he was sheltering in, and coming to Canada is a rare exception that will saddle his uncle with 40k of medical debt (I found the GoFundMe here). What makes it worse is that this is a better outcome that many of this kid’s peers will have. Over 13,000 children have been outright murdered by the IDF, tens of thousands more have been wounded like this kid, and hundreds of thousands are starving.

American tax dollars + multinational Israeli support makes it possible. Biden is sending Israel another 1,800 2,000lb bombs and 25 F-35 jets (worth over 2 billion just for the jets). One 2,000lb bomb “can have a lethal fragmentation radius – an area of exposure to injury or death around the target – of up to 365 meters (about 1,198 feet), or the equivalent of 58 soccer fields in area” and the US only dropped 1 ever in all the years they fought ISIS. Israel dropped hundreds in the first month alone.