Who else dreads this year?

[The Name of Love]

You know its interesting to me that should you even seem to question the stated death toll of the Holocaust you are instantly treading into territory that will see you permanently shunned and ostracized, lose you your job if you attach it to your public name, and generally have you demonized, but you can basically freely question or even justify the deaths in gulags and dekulakization and write the Ukrainian genocide off as just a famine, no engineering whatsoever, and even be an academic with tenure while doing so. Funny how that is.

Perhaps this has to do with the fact that democratic liberalism and Soviet-style socialism have a lot more in common with each other than either has in common with Nazism. For more information on this, I'd check out The Demon in Democracy. It's a damn good read.

 

[LordsFire]

Conservatives have never been 'baying for the blood' of homosexuals en masse. If they had, then homosexuals would have been killed in bulk prior to 1960s, when social conservativism was much more of a cultural norm.

Yes, you can find fringe nutters who call for that, but you don't define a movement by fringe people, you define it by its stated ideals.

And the stated ideal of Christian conservatism in the US is as follows:

Homosexuality is immoral. Please don't hurt yourself like that, and if you're going to engage in it unrepentantly, you're not going to be allowed to be a member of a conservative church. Christians are called to Love our family, friends, and enemies, so we will still treat you with kindness though, if a sorrowful form.

That's the actual teachings of the Bible. Yes, you can say they weren't actually followed far too often, but that's the ideological core.

The idea that conservatives want to kill all homosexuals is, and always has been, nothing but left-wing fearmongering. Even when there were anti-sodomy laws on the books (which I think never should have been) in some states, imprisonment is not the same thing as killing, and by the latter half of the 20th century, those were being steadily removed, and rarely enforced where they still existed.

Even the cake baker, photographers, and pizzeria who've gotten fined or crucified on social media, all of them did not refuse service to homosexuals. They refused to cater/work at a homosexual wedding, because that would be seen as supporting something they believed was wrong. If just regular everyday services were asked for (the cake shop explicitly said 'if you want an already-made cake off the shelf, we'll sell it to you, we just won't make custom for a homosexual wedding'), they'd be happy to provide them.

The idea that a third to a half of the country is slobbering rabidly for the chance to 'kill the gays' is and always has been a myth in, at a minimum, post-1960 American culture and politics. It's a way to demonize the enemy to try to rustle up votes.

Don't believe me? Pick six random churches in your area out, call them up and ask the pastor what their stance on homosexuality is. See what kind of response you get. I'd be surprised if you got even one response that was more 'hostile' than 'It's unfortunate people succumb to sin and make it their identity' or something like that. If you got two without deliberately looking for known fringe groups, I'd be flat-out shocked.

 

[The Name of Love]

I believe @LordsFire has a point here. I know a lot of very radical, avowedly far-right Christians, and I've only seen one of them tell me that homosexuals deserve to be executed by the state. And he was pretty much talking about homosexuals who want to sexualize children. Pedorasts and child predators, in other words.

 

[Terthna]

You know its interesting to me that should you even seem to question the stated death toll of the Holocaust you are instantly treading into territory that will see you permanently shunned and ostracized, lose you your job if you attach it to your public name, and generally have you demonized, but you can basically freely question or even justify the deaths in gulags and dekulakization and write the Ukrainian genocide off as just a famine, no engineering whatsoever, and even be an academic with tenure while doing so. Funny how that is.

Most of that can probably be attributed to the botch job that was McCarthyism; it enabled the Communists to paint themselves as victims in perpetuity.

 

[The Name of Love]

Most of that can probably be attributed to the botch job that was McCarthyism; it enabled the Communists to paint themselves as victims in perpetuity.

The only thing McCarthy did wrong was underestimate the power of the communists he was attempting to prosecute.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

The only thing McCarthy did wrong was underestimate the power of the communists he was attempting to prosecute.

I think he didn’t also cut funding from the non-STEM courses, there were Communist Professors “fleeing” from the Soviet Union but unlike the others didn’t change their minds

 

[Terthna]

The only thing McCarthy did wrong was underestimate the power of the communists he was attempting to prosecute.

There's a video made by Razorfist where he talks about Hollywood's close ties with Communism and the Soviet Union, and how they've successfully demonized with lies and propaganda everyone who tried to combat their influence, including McCarthy. I found it to be very informative.

 

[DarthOne]

There's a video made by Razorfist where he talks about Hollywood's close ties with Communism and the Soviet Union, and how they've successfully demonized with lies and propaganda everyone who tried to combat their influence, including McCarthy. I found it to be very informative.

Beat me to it man

 

[The Original Sixth]

Is google.cn the same company as google.com though? If a company operates in multiple countries, shouldn't it abide by local law in each one of them?

It's more than that. It's not that Google China was complying with Chinese laws, but actively producing Project Dragonfly. It basically tracks each individual in the country with a smart phone or device and assigns onto you a social score that will determine your economic, social, and political prospects based upon how you behave. What the state promotes is that if you are charitable, productive, and good in other virtues, you will have a higher score. If however, you steal and slander people, you will have a low score.

It also so happens that anything that might undermine government control is also deemed as socially immoral and anything that supports and obeys the government is socially moral. China was paying google to help them produce the program to make that possible. That's not just obeying the law because you have to, it's outright aiding a tyrannical power for large piles of fucking cash.

It's not just treasonous, but goes against the very fabric of the national cultures of Yankeedom, Appalachia, the Midlands, the Far West, and arguably a good chunk of the Left Coast. Only the Deep South and Tidewater might really approve of that sort of control, but they don't want China to have that sort of tool to support themselves with. And of course the Deep South hates google for its far left support and censorship against the right.

Suffice to say, Congress is going to beat the shit out of Google. Probably after Trump cripples them economically by beating the shit out of the Chinese economy.

 

[DarthOne]

It's more than that. It's not that Google China was complying with Chinese laws, but actively producing Project Dragonfly. It basically tracks each individual in the country with a smart phone or device and assigns onto you a social score that will determine your economic, social, and political prospects based upon how you behave. What the state promotes is that if you are charitable, productive, and good in other virtues, you will have a higher score. If however, you steal and slander people, you will have a low score.

It also so happens that anything that might undermine government control is also deemed as socially immoral and anything that supports and obeys the government is socially moral. China was paying google to help them produce the program to make that possible. That's not just obeying the law because you have to, it's outright aiding a tyrannical power for large piles of fucking cash.

It's not just treasonous, but goes against the very fabric of the national cultures of Yankeedom, Appalachia, the Midlands, the Far West, and arguably a good chunk of the Left Coast. Only the Deep South and Tidewater might really approve of that sort of control, but they don't want China to have that sort of tool to support themselves with. And of course the Deep South hates google for its far left support and censorship against the right.

Suffice to say, Congress is going to beat the shit out of Google. Probably after Trump cripples them economically by beating the shit out of the Chinese economy.

I hope your right. I really, really do.

 

[The Original Sixth]

I hope your right. I really, really do.

Google is in an untenable situation right now. No matter where it comes from, they're going to get an ass beating.

• Due to the way Google's business model works, they've got a lot invested in the international supply chain, because it means that they can dump a shitload of money into R&D and pay pennies on the dollar for production of technology. With Trump's nationalist protectionist policies that are not only popular in the right, but the left as well this is only going to get worse for google. Google didn't just benefit from the global system, it was a crack baby born addicted to it.
• Google gets a lot of subsidies from the government and from private investors that is funded almost entirely by the boomers. That massive generation was impart why globalism was so strong; boomers trying to shove money into anything that might return a decent yield on their investment. It was so competitive, even Russian firms that knowing defrauded investors got money. When the boomers retire, all that free flowing cash stops. It just stops.
• China has been putting up a lot of money into companies for a long time now. Impart this is just the Chinese strategy of keeping the angry mob at bay, but it was also because it could use force technology transfers to rob those same companies in the future. However, with the coming crash, a lot of the smart businessmen in China started trying to buy up land or invest in US projects, anywhere where they hope they might even get 50% of a return on their investment. When the Chinese government got wind of this though, they began to cut off the escape routes for money. That includes Hollywood projects and tech businesses. And since 2016, China has been working overtime to cut off more and more of those escape routes.
• Google's focus on supporting left causes has made them an enemy of the right. And instead of backing off after a Republican victory, they doubled and tripled down on their strategy. The Republicans now view them as a direct threat to their communication and political networks and that cannot go unanswered.
• The Democrats would have supported Google and shielded them, but Google is a business and has been working to reduce the costs of manpower and taxation, which is not something the Democrats appreciate. Because algorithms and robots don't pay taxes.
• Worse, when Google's involvement with Project Dragonfly came to light, it stunned and angered both the Democrats and the Republicans. To Tidewater and the Deep South, this is blatant treason by aiding a rising super power that threatens American power. To Yankeedom, Greater Appalachia, the Far West, and the Midlands, this is aiding and abetting a tyrannical monster--something all four nations oppose down to the very core of their being. Even the Left Coast was shamed and Silicon Valley was their crack baby to begin with.

That is a lot of exposure for Google. What will happen to them will be at least as bad as what happened to Microsoft, minus the economic strength of the 90s.

 

[Cherico]

to further translate.

Google went from too dangerous to fuck with into too dangerous to let live.

 

[Hlaalu Agent]

to further translate.

Google went from too dangerous to fuck with into too dangerous to let live.

Google et Delenda est. I have spoken.

 

[Captain X]

Too bad they didn't keep with the "don't be evil" slogan.

 

[Scottty]

to further translate.

Google went from too dangerous to fuck with into too dangerous to let live.

So what is likely to happen to things like Gmail, or Google Drive, or the search engine itself?

 

[LordsFire]

So what is likely to happen to things like Gmail, or Google Drive, or the search engine itself?

Generally speaking, broken up between separate companies created as a result of whatever legal process Google goes through.

 

[Scottty]

Generally speaking, broken up between separate companies created as a result of whatever legal process Google goes through.

They were going to do that with Microsoft, weren't they?

 

[Cherico]

They were going to do that with Microsoft, weren't they?

Bill gates was smart enough to back down and step out of the way. The company might be ruthless but they know where their bread is buttered. Google not so much...

 

[Urabrask Revealed]

Too bad they didn't keep with the "don't be evil" slogan.

They repealed that a long while ago.

 

[S'task]

They were going to do that with Microsoft, weren't they?

Microsoft's "crimes" were nowhere near as egregious or all encompassing as Google's. Further, there's a signficant culture difference between Microsoft and Google owing to their locations. Google originated in Silicon Valley is southern California, and was heavily influenced by the anti-American internationalist progressives that are concentrated in California. That culture is deeply embedded in Google.

Microsoft, on the other hand, originated and is still based in Redmont Washington, outside of Seattle. While Seattle is very much a liberal bastion, the culture and economy there even before Microsoft and later Amazon appeared was dominated by a different industry: aerospace. The aerospace industry in the US is considerably more nationalistic AND willing (and wanting) to work with the US military, as they're arguably a major component of the industrial-military complex. What this means is that the initial core and culture of Microsoft was developed by people very used to working with the US military and seeing US military contracts as good things to be proud of (I mean, look at how competitive the aerosapce industry gets over things like who gets to design and build America's fighter aircraft, or mainline bombers... those are PRESTIGIOUS jobs). Likewise Microsoft has a long history of US government involvement since Windows and Microsoft Office are the industry standard, they have long ties to the US government in a way Google never did or could.

This led to MS being more respectful of the US government in many respects and while culturally liberal, MS also appears to have realized the old Michael Jordan wisdom in a way Google has not, that is, "Republicans buy shoes too."