Free Speech Network

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Is the Economy good or bad?

The Biden numbers:

210,000 new clean energy jobs

33,000 infrastructure projects

200,000 construction jobs

2,500,000 jobs in infrastructure

student debt cancellation for 3.6 million Americans

unemployment rate below 4% for 22 straight months

inflation falling to a pre-pandemic low of 2%

Since Biden took office, Americans income is up 6.6%

2023 - 3% economic growth

2023 - gained 250,000 jobs per month

2023 - S&P up 25%

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The men problem

The dividing of both genders into distinct categories was seen by even historical observers as a natural and inevitable part of life. It has been assumed at least since the dawn of civilization that men and women are different. This is not a bad observation. It's a natural one.

Many of the so called experts on women and dating that exist in today's world often cite historical and evolutionary data in their arguments, which is why it's pertinent to mention the historical context. The problem is that these "experts" often make claims about women that are objectively wrong. The books and videos they produce communicate to lonely, vulnerable men that the key to "getting girls" is to act confident, arrogant, and entitled. It doesn't take a genius to understand that men are not entitled to women's time, and even less entitled to women's bodies.

The generalization that all women like certain characteristics is silly at best, toxic at worst. Pointing out that women are the sexual selectors and men are the "hunters" who need to approach women is not a problem. Nor is it a problem to say men need to approach women for historical reasons. But saying men need to be arrogant and obnoxious when approaching women because of "history" is obviously incorrect and morally bankrupt.

The problems outlined above are bad enough, but it is only scratching the surface. The bigger problem is the reactionary nature of men who are rejected by women for acting indecently. Instead of doing any introspection, they get angry, call the women "bitches" and continue on with their toxic behavior. Never does it occur to them that they are the problem. The real issue that they don't want to face is the effect of sexual selection.

First, one must accept that women are the sexual selectors. Next, you must realize (if you are a man) that it is incumbent on you to attract women. Once you accept that you must attract women, it necessarily follows that you must make yourself as attractive to women as you possibly can. You have to accept that your actions and behavior must be in line with what women view as acceptable and appealing.

The bottom line is men need to blame other men for women's reticence. It's because of men who are creepy or obnoxious that women are as guarded as they are. This is not women's fault. It's the fault of toxic men.

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Andrew Tate.

Escape the Matrix

Take the Red Pill

You are who you pretend to be. So you must be careful who you pretend to be

Control your mind, control your life

To rewire the neurons in your brain and fix yourself, you must pretend to be normal every day and make a conscious effort to do so. Think normal thoughts and tell yourself you're normal.

If you are normal, you won't have to deal with the consequences of being abnormal.

Get your mind right.

Don't have a weak mind. Don't give in. Have a strong mind. Force yourself to have a strong mind.

Remember the evils of technology. Ted Kaczinski warned about them. You don't need it.

You don't want to contribute to harm in the world.

Through Christ, beating addiction is possible. If you want to be a man of God, you have to change the man you are.

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EXPOSURE TO PORNOGRAPHY AS A CAUSE OF CHILD SEXUAL VICTIMIZATION by Diana E. H. Russell and Natalie J. Purcell

Summary

There are 3 causal factors, according to "Russell's Theory", that explain how exposure to CSAM (child sexual abuse material) or IIOC (indecent images of children) can lead to some men committing child sexual abuse (rape, sexual assault, molestation).

Catharsis Vs. Intensified Desire

Some argue that the use of pornography as well as (CSAM) or (IIOC) has a cathartic affect on its consumer, but common sense, reality, and data proof otherwise. Indeed, the vast majority of SOs (sex offenders) who engaged in both contact and non-contact offenses reported that consuming (CSAM) or (IIOC) lead to them wanting more extreme images because they eventually become bored with the material they were currently consuming. For example, looking at images of young teens in swimwear would lead to looking at images of pre-pubescent girls in swimwear, which would lead to looking at nude images of children, and so on.

Much like a gambler who doles out more and more money for a greater high after a win, the same principle applies with CSAM. One would never make the argument that gambling just once would satisfy a person in a casino or give him a sense of catharsis, such that he would never want to gamble again. Yet many, including academics, make such arguments with regards to CSAM or IIOC.

The consumption of legal, misogynistic pornography is another example of the debunking of the catharsis theory. Indeed, we have testimony from women, as well as teenage girls, that their boyfriends either asked to or just blatantly choked them during sexual intercourse. When asked why they would want to or why they did that, the boyfriends responded they saw it in pornography. Clearly, they wanted to act out what they saw. Violent pornography, especially when consumed by young, impressionable men and boys, can give them toxic and problematic views on what women like, how women should be treated, and undermine the important of consent.

Sexual interest in minors is much more widespread than people either understand or want to believe. An interview was conducted by a political content creator named Ryan Dawson of an SW (sex worker) and she said that 60% of her clientele wanted her to act out a fantasy in which she was a child. Freund, K., in his work "Assessment of pedophilia" (1981), claimed that "normal heterosexual males respond even to very young girls substantially more than to males of any age group" (page 161-162). Additionally, he found that, even though "normal" males were more sexually aroused by women than female children, "children have some arousal value even for normal males" (Freund, 1981).

Briere, J., & Runtz, M. (1989) "University males' sexual interest in children: Predicting potential indices of 'pedophilia' in a nonforensic sample" concluded that "based on a review of anthropological and historical data,” that adult sexual attraction to children is ubiquitous" (page 71). Briere and Runtz’s (1989) study confirms "the current data offer strong support for the notion that male sexual interest in children is relatively common in our society, even among “normal” (non-incarcerated and nonclinical) males [i.e., non-pedophiles — by the terminology Freund, Howells, and we favor]."

Jenkins, P. (2001) "Beyond tolerance: Child pornography on the Internet" drew similar conclusions. "A sexual interest in children is not confined to a tiny segment of hardcore… ‘pedophiles’” (p. 25). He rejects the notion that there is “a fundamental gulf dividing ‘child-lovers’ [sic] from ‘normal’ people” (p. 27)." Jenkins also says "those interested in child pornography might not be so far removed from the ‘normal’ population" (page 30).

However, the research shows that the overwhelming majority of those who sexually abuse children are not pedophiles. In Howells, K. (1981) "Adult sexual interest in children: Consideration relevant to theories of aetiology", he says "There is good reason to think that such persons [pedophiles] form a minority in the total population of people who become sexually involved with children" (page 76). Other researchers have come to a similar conclusion (Bromberg & Johnson, 2001; Mohr, Turner, & Jerry, 1964; Swanson, 1968). The reasons for their offending behavior are to exercise power or authority over the children, or another pathology that is not related to the sexual desire for minors.

Russell's 4 factors that cause child sexual victimization

Motivation

1a. Consuming CSAM or IIOC causes some males, not previously so disposed, so desire children

by sexualizing children

By Merging Sexual Images of Girls and Women Thereby Increasing Male Viewers' Propensity to Use Girls as Sexual Substitutes for Women

By Application of the Laws of Learning (boot experiment by Rachman and Hodgson (1968)

seeking more extreme pornography

1b. Consuming CSAM or IIOC increases the desire for children in males who are already attracted to minors

masturbation increases their desire for minors

seeking new CSAM because they are bored with older CSAM

CSAM provides material for offenders to imitate

creates a desire for ever more extreme CSAM

2. Disregard internal inhibitions

sexualizing girls

undermining the moral indecency and illegality of child sexual abuse

trivializing the harm of child sexual abuse

reinforcing lies about child sexual abuse

desensitizing consumers to the pathology if desiring children and the trauma of victims

advocating, legitimizing, and normalizing child sexual abuse

providing a blueprint for child sexual abuse

3. Disregard external inhibitions

diminishing fear of disapproval

diminishing fear of legal and social consequences

can profit financially

4. Bypassing the resistance of the minor

sexually arousing children

normalizing child sexual abuse for the child

desensitizing the child

using guilt to silence the child

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Devils Rangers Series

The Devils/Rangers series was the tale of 2 teams. The Rangers made a deep run last year and added veterans Terasanko and Kane to an already stacked team so that they could win the Stanley Cup this season. With Boston, Tampa Bay, and Colorado out and Carolina's best player injured, it would have been the Rangers Cup to lose.

The Devils were rebounding from a terrible year but it was never supposed to happen so fast. They exceeded everyone's expectations this year. In this series, they were playing with house money. They had very little playoff experience and it showed in the first 2 games. All the pressure was on NY because they were built to win and had experience playing in the postseason.

This series was unpredictable and proved that there is no such thing as game to game momentum. By game 3, the Devils understood that there's only 1 way to beat a team with such offensive firepower: old school Devils defensive hockey and playing the perfect road game at home as well as at the Garden. The numbers bear this out. In the games the Devils played old school Devils hockey, the Rangers scored 1, 1, 0, and 0. In the games where NJ did not play strong defensively, the Rangers scored 5, 5, and 5. The only constant for either team in this series was solid goaltending from NY. Igor outshined every other goaltender who made the postseason.

This is such a significant win for NJ given the accolades of NY. 2 (Kane, Panarin) 3 time Stanley Cup Champions, 1 (Terasanko) Stanley Cup champion, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner (Igor), the reigning Rocket Richard Trophy winner (Kreider), and the 2021 Norris Trophy winner (Fox). The Rangers had more talent than any other team in the league this year, except Boston. So this victory will provide these young players with confidence, which is a key to success.

An interesting statistic in this series is that 5 out of the 7 games were blowouts (2 4-0 Devils wins, 2 5-1 Ranger wins, 1 5-2 Ranger win). Only 2 games were close (1 OT game). You would think 2 evenly matched teams would have mostly 1 goal games in a 7 game series.

The Devils are going to struggle mightily against a suffocating Carolina team who don't allow anything in their defensive zone. They play old school Devils hockey and won the Division playing the best defense first hockey in the league. With Boston, Tampa Bay, New York, and Colorado out, it's Carolina's Cup to lose. But the Devils are used to being the underdog. Toronto, Seatle, and Florida proved that anything can happen in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

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The Right Way to Fix Low Income Areas: Development & Funding

Many people on the left advocate for bad policy that is discriminatory in nature and doesn't solve the problem with it comes to the race question. The other day, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the existence of Affirmative Action. Asian Americans protested outside the courthouse, rightly claiming Affirmative Action discriminates against them. Democrats don't care about racism if it's against Asians. They are hoping that a 6-3 conservative court will rule in their favor. AA is just one of those issues Democrats would let go if they were smart. If racial equity is something you care about, there is a much better way to tackle that problem that isn't discriminatory in nature and has been proven to actually work.

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My Attraction to an amazing, beautiful queen

There is a women I have known for years that I have become close to recently. She has all of the qualities that I like in a person and none of the qualities I dislike. No one is perfect, but some people are so compatible with you that they might as well be perfect.

Perhaps the most important quality a person can have is empathy and compassion. I realize these 2 terms aren’t entirely synonymous but I want to use them under the same category. The woman understands everything I say because she has faced the same or similar issues in her life. She understands depression, suicide, hypersexuality, trauma, and even inceldom. You don’t often run into a woman who tries to understand you when you tell her you’re an incel. Another reason she understands me is because she has had some of the same exact life experiences as me. Like me, she has been stuck in sexless relationships. She understand how difficult that is.

She has had an extraordinary amount of tragedy in her life. I haven’t, but I was born a manically depressed incel. Due to her life experiences, she understands how I feel when I’m depressed which is often. It actually is a sigh of relief being able to share these feelings with her because she has been there herself and knows how to calm me down and make me feel better. She always tries to make me relax and always cares enough about me to legitimize my feelings even when she disagrees with me. She listens to me when I talk, unlike most people. It must be said that most people just dismiss the things I say and that makes her validation of my feelings all the more meaningful.

It’s extremely difficult telling any women about your inadequacies as a man. Telling a women that you’re incapable of fulfilling your duties as a man is the most emasculating thing you can ever say. But somehow, she makes it easy to discuss some humiliating matters. She didn’t once judge me. Speaking as the man who has written the definitive explanation of inceldom, I can confirm that at the core of inceldom lies the inability to please women. It’s not simply a matter of an inability to attract women, although that’s also important. The unspoken truth and commonality that all incels share is the inability to pleasure a women. Being incapable of pleasing a women is so depressing and shameful because it basically mean’s you’re not a real man. It’s the worst kind of struggle for a man. I have more experience with women than all other men who consider themselves incels. Most are virgins and the few that aren’t have only been with 1 woman. Speaking as a man who has been with 8 woman, and having all of them let me know that I was not capable of giving them what they needed, I can say with absolute authority that I’m incapable of pleasing women. Even the ones that dated me and let me sleep with them confirmed this. This is extraordinarily depressing. But my beautiful and sweet friend never made me feel bad about this or shame me. She heard me and did not judge me. She made me feel better about this tragic situation. She even came up with some ideas for how I can move on and be better.

Being a person who has seen the view from halfway down is like being part of a club that no one wants to be in. She never judges me when I’m having a meltdown or a manic episode. She listens to what I’m saying and shows me empathy and tries to help. She makes an effort to make me feel better so I can get through to the other side. It’s very frustrating talking to people about depression who have never been depressed. They often give you clichés about never giving up and how things will get better. But talking to her is very different. She still has good moments and talks about positivity in an approachable and realistic way. Yet, she still acknowledges the horror of what it feels like being stuck in a hole. 

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Defending Eugenics

If the point of living on earth is to mitigate suffering, it must follow that eugenics is a way to achieve that goal. It's natural and normal to want the most capable, desirable people to breed with each other and create the most capable, desirable offspring. If we want to eliminate disease, genetic sickness, physical and mental disabilities, and other problems that cause pain and suffering, it must be that certain people should let their genetic makeup disappear. Certain people must not propagate their inferior genes and spread sickness like a virus, infecting the gene pool with undesirable traits. Every time a person with inferior genes procreates with someone with superior genes, the gene pool is compromised.

One of the reasons why the right to an abortion is so important is it's a way to protect the gene pool from unnecessary contamination. It's an efficient way to ensure people with inferior genes don't procreate. It's better than any other method in that it's self selective. Not only should abortion be legal, it should be encouraged. Abortion should especially be encouraged in low income areas, where people lack the means to care for children and have no business procreating.

People with inferior genes spread the contagion of undesirable traits. It doesn't take a genius to see that society is falling apart, and one of the reasons for this is bad decision making when it comes to procreation. People who have children they can't take care of cause a chain of undesirable events. Their children tend to have a much harder time in school, tend not to be able to hold down a job, and often wind up in prison or homeless. One of the main drivers of poverty is dysfunctional families. Single parent households are breeding grounds for school dropouts, gang activity, and incarceration. This is the consequence of allowing people with inferior genes to breed. Their carelessness leads to the destruction of society. All of this could be solved via eugenics.

Allowing undesirables to breed leads to tangible real world problems and eventually the downfall of society. In the US today, we are seeing the consequences of peoples bad decision making skills when it comes to procreation. Our social safety net is being abused by uneducated, unsophisticated, unskilled people who have 5 children they can't afford and drain government resources that should be used to help people who just need temporary support until they get back on their feet.

The only way we can have a functioning society and a robust economy is by creating smart, successful, motivated people and allowing the least capable people to forfeit their ability to procreate for the betterment of society. Imagine living in a nation free of disease, mental and physical hindrances, gang violence, truancy, drug addiction, alcoholism, degeneracy, illiteracy, and idiocy. Such a world is possible, if society was organized differently and people were able to act in a way that optimized the good of the many rather than the wants of the individual.

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Rethinking Evil: How environment affects behavior

One observation that some people have made about poorly written books, movies, and television shows is that the characters are binary. The protagonist is wholesome, good, and innocent and the antagonist is fully evil, loathsome, and irredeemable. Human beings are much more complex than this. The most significant factor in determining what actions a person makes is their environment.

In Breaking Bad, Walter White does not evolve from good to evil. He transforms from a man of inaction to a man of action. He wanted to be a criminal but didn't out of fear. When he found out he had cancer and therefore nothing to lose, he became a criminal since there was nothing preventing him from doing so. The evil that had been inside him all the while finally had an outlet. So the one factor that caused him to break bad was a change in his circumstances.

The Sopranos is another example of how the circumstances of a persons life determines their actions. The writers of The Sopranos go to great lengths to show the audience that Tony Soprano isn't the way he is due to his own predilections. Tony is the way he is because of the family he was born into and the culture he was raised in. The show heavily implies that deep down, maybe on a subconscious level, Tony doesn't prefer his lifestyle. He would be happier if he was a furniture salesman or a mason. It may be the case that if you commit evil deeds, you are evil regardless of the reason. But even if you subscribe to this belief, the environment of the individual is still the determining factor in the actions they take.

The 1985 war and holocaust movie Come and See demonstrates better than any other film the profound influence of environment on a persons actions. Come and See tells the story of a teenager who witnesses the Nazi occupation of Belarus in 1943. The audience sees that it wasn't just the Nazis who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. Local people also collaborated with the Nazis. The thought that your neighbors, your friends, your family, and even yourself could participate in the most heinous crimes imaginable is something most people don't think about. But this film shows that under the right circumstances, anybody can become the perpetrator of violence on a massive scale.

Professor Timothy Snyder, in his book Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, details the extent to which environment caused ordinary people to participate in the holocaust. He tells the story of a young Polish woman who fled her home after the Nazi invasion and wound up in the swamp. She was assisted by a man who built her a shelter and fed her for a few months. She survived the holocaust and tells her story in a memoir. Her story could only take place in the broader context of Nazi occupation on the eastern front. When the Nazis occupied Eastern Europe, they destroyed the states of the inhabitants of those territories. When the institutions ceased to exist, there was no structure to help people who were targeted by the Nazi regime. Under these conditions, rescue was extremely rare. This explains how so many locals collaborated with the Nazis in the occupied territories. The SS destroyed the institutions that could have protected people who fell victim to genocide. Hitler did this very deliberately because he understood that under the right circumstances, many people would help the Nazis carry out mass killing against their own communities. Ordinary people all over Eastern Europe participated in the holocaust.

Hannah Arendt's masterpiece "The Banality of Evil" explains a lot about how evil functions. The people who committed the most heinous war crimes and crimes against humanity were not special or unique. They were normal and ordinary. It was only due to their environment that they wound up taking part in genocide. Adolf Eichmann was not a fire breathing monster spewing vile racism, foaming at the mouth in fits of rage and anger. He was no different than any bureaucrat. When asked about how he could have committed the worst crimes imaginable, he said he was simply following orders. He pushed paper, organized trains, built a particular apparatus, and signed orders. He said that he never killed anyone nor ordered for anyone to be killed. Arendt characterized Eichmann as thoughtless due to his seemingly indifferent attitude towards the horror and magnitude of what he had done. Eichmann's trial proves that ordinary people can commit the most heinous crimes against humanity, depending on their environment. The most unremarkable people have the capacity for evil under the right circumstances.

Jack Nicholson said in the movie The Departed, "I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me." He played the role of an organized crime boss. If he can control his environment, he can protect himself and his business. In fact he can only be successful if he's able to control his environment. In order for us to understand what makes a person evil, it's extremely important to look at the circumstances of the people we label evil. People are not simply good or evil. People are the product of their environment, and if their environment fosters heinous acts, it's only natural for people in that environment to act accordingly.

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Why communism and socialism are fundamentally flawed and unable to function

You don't need to look any further than North Korea and South Korea to see why free markets and liberal democracy works and government control of markets and authoritarianism does not work. Communism and socialism are necessarily authoritarian in nature, and that inevitably leads to oppression and suffering for citizens who are unfortunate enough to live under communist rule. There's a reason the Soviet Union collapsed, Mao's China failed, Cambodia was subject to a genocide under the Khmar Rouge, Venezuala is falling apart, and North Korea's economy is 1/50th the size of South Korea. People's economic and social rights do not and cannot be protected under a socialist regime and this has been proven time and time again in the twentieth century.

In the world today, we can see what kind of government produces the best outcome for its citizens, and it's the same government that protects its peoples economic and social rights. The best examples are France, Germany, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Finland, and Spain. All of these nations have the same form of government: social democracy.

Social democracy is a form of capitalism that allows for free markets, leading to innovation, technological advancements, and social and economic freedom combined with government regulation that ensures a distribution of wealth that combats both poverty and excesses of wealth into the hands of the few. There is a healthy and robust welfare state, and rights like education, healthcare, affordable drug prices, and affordable housing are made available for those who need them. Social democracies function best because it's a system that prioritizes the needs of its citizens in a way no other type of government does. It's no coincidence that social democracies rank the highest in citizens happiness worldwide.

It is understandable why so many young people in the US have gravitated towards socialism. There used to be a time when a married couple could afford a house in a quiet, suburban neighborhood with two children and only one parent had to work. That used to be the American dream. Those days are long gone. The millennial generation is the first generation that will not be better off financially than their parents, and it's only figuring to get worse, given that the economy is in peril with no reprieve in sight. Young people have access to technology and some commodities that make their life more convenient than boomers, but they don't own anything.

Almost all young people are either renters or living with their parents. They are struggling economically in a way previous generations did not, and it only makes sense that they would blame capitalism. However, their plight isn't a failure of capitalism. It is a failure of the wealth redistribution system and an inadequate level of government regulation in crucial areas like affordable housing, healthcare, and welfare. The US has a social safety net but it's not broad enough. The government needs to strengthen the social safety net in order to protect young people economically. If this happens, millennials will stop looking so favorably to socialism.

There is a natural hierarchy to human nature. The strongest and most capable will inevitably rise to the top, and the weakest will find themselves at the bottom. This is not a bad thing, so long as you live in a society that protects its most vulnerable citizens. Hierarchies are an inescapable part of civilization. The idea that we should flatten everything and try to impose some false measure of equality which is the foundation of communism is inherently unnatural and detrimental to society.

The reason social democracy is the most egalitarian form of government is it allows for nature hierarchies to flourish yet also ensures those at the bottom are taken care of. The least capable citizens will have access to education, healthcare, potable water, healthy food, affordable housing, and a job with a livable wage. At the same time, the most capable will be able to be successful and live as they wish, free from government interference.

All people have a right to 6 basic necessities: potable water, healthy food, healthcare, education, affordable housing, and a livable wage. History has taught us that laisse faire capitalism and communism are not the way to achieve those rights. Nations that are social democracies are the only ones that successfully safeguard these rights. Therefore, capitalism that has reasonable government regulation works best.

Having private insurance with some regulations (protecting preexisting conditions, for example) as well as a public option would be ideal. Having public, private, and charter schools is also ideal. Having private and public ownership of apartments and some laws that prohibit excessive rent would be ideal. Subsidizing stores that sell healthy food at cost in low income areas to prevent food deserts would be ideal.

Both history and the modern world demonstrate the failures of communism and socialism. Every nation that has implemented a communist agenda has fallen apart from the inside. It's not a sustainable economic model. The present has given us a much better system that fosters both personal and economic freedom and guarantees the 6 positive rights all people are entitled to. Social democracy is the path forward, and we have overwhelming evidence that proves that communism is not only not an ideal to be striven for, but a danger to be averted.

[free-speech-network]

The failure of institutions and how corruption ruins them: An analysis of The Batman (2022)

When I first heard Robert Pattinson was playing Batman in the new Batman movie, I was skeptical to say the least. How could the guy from Twilight deliver a memorable performance after Christian Bale's awesome job playing the Dark Knight in Nolan's trilogy? All three movies, while flawed, were the best superhero movies of my generation, if not ever. The idea that someone would make another Batman movie just 10 years after the standard had been raised so high didn't make much sense to me. I assumed it would be a joyless cash grab but I paid a lot of money for my movie ticket so I walked into the theater with an open mind.

What followed was a three hour experience that shattered my expectations in every conceivable way. The movie was darker, grittier, and more coherent than even the strongest of the Nolan films (Batman Begins). Much to my surprise, Pattinson was an even more impressive and believable Batman than Bale. Pattinson did not smile once as Batman or Bruce Wayne. As promised, he did give the audience a Kurt Cobain feel, which makes more sense than billionaire playboy given his childhood trauma. 5 out of 5 stars for his performance in my book.

The movie is heavily inspired by Se7en and Zodiac, with an impressive performance by Paul Dano as The Riddler. Batman is the world's best detective hunting a serial killer targeting the powerful elite who run Gotham. And this brings us to the issue at hand.

The people The Riddler targets are the mayor, the police commissioner, the district attorney, and the most powerful crime boss in the city. The audience learns an important lesson with these killings. All three men are supposed to uphold the law and protect their citizens, but they actually serve the criminal underworld and work for the crime boss. Gotham is a place where the law doesn't function because the people in charge are steeped in corruption, racketeering, bribery, extortion, and murder. The result is a massive amount of suffering and injustice for the citizens of Gotham.

Through Gotham, we get a first hand look at what happens when the institutions fail. When the people in charge of upholding the law and protecting the citizens protect the criminals and line their pockets with dirty money, law abiding people have no recourse for their grievances. There can be no justice and no peace in such a world. And in this dysfunctional environment, we empathize with the serial killer because he's targeting the people responsible for Gorham's criminality. We may not approve of the brutal way in which The Riddler eliminates the corrupt officials, but it's only righteous that the people responsible for Gotham's suffering be taken out.

The best movies are the ones that make the audience realize something that they hadn't before. If you walk away from a movie a more aware and realistic person than you were when you walked in, the movie was successful in its goal. Understanding how the real world works is important, however bleak it may be. There's a huge difference between how the world functions in theory and how the world functions in practice. The Batman forces the audience to see this distinction in a shocking and powerful way. The Batman is the darkest Batman movie yet, mainly because it is the most realistic.

There is some commonality between Batman and The Riddler. Both are working outside of the law to try to defeat corruption and call attention to the criminality of the institutions. This is made clear in a widely circulated deleted scene where Batman visits The Joker at Arkham. The Joker taunts Batman by pointing out that The Riddler is also a masked avenger but he's even more righteous. He then asks Batman if he's afraid that The Riddler makes him look soft. The Joker even goes so far as to say that somewhere deep down, Batman is terrified that he's not sure what The Riddler is doing is wrong and that Batman thinks The Riddler's victims deserve it. There is something to be said about how both Batman and The Riddler work outside the bounds of the law to be righteous, even though their methods are different. Perhaps The Riddler is a more extreme, uninhibited version of Batman.

The Batman is a great movie because it exposes the corruption that exists in our world and is a reflection of our values (or lack thereof). It would be foolish to assume that the criminality we see in Gotham is purely for entertainment purposes and not a metaphor for any major city, both at home and abroad. The point the director is making couldn't be clearer: It's imperative that the citizens of any city must ensure that the institutions are working for the people, not the corrupt elite. Without upright institutions, society is doomed to collapse.

[free-speech-network]

Song & Movie Analysis

"Do you know what it is to be a lover? To be half of a whole?" - Inception

This is a perfect summary of what it is to be in a romantic relationship. You are half of a whole. And it stands to reason that losing your partner is losing half of who you are.

"When you walked out the door, a peace of me died." - Lana Del Rey, Blue Jeans

When someone leaves you, a part of you dies and you'll never be a full person again. When a part of you dies, you are a fundamentally different person for the remainder of your life.

"I am a lost boy from Neverland" - Ruth B, Lost Boy

When someone who you were supposed to spend the rest of your life with leaves you, you become lost. The person who you relied on emotionally and got you through the dark days is gone, and now you have no safety net the next time you inevitably fall. You have no one to save you. You are emotionally lost because the person you were supposed to navigate your journey with is no longer there. You are a ship in the night with no light. This is emotional death, and your body is still inviolate but that doesn't mean you're living.

"When you left I lost a part of me" - Mariah Carey, We Belong Together

It's incredibly hard to carry on when a piece of you is gone. Picking up the pieces of what's left of you is nearly impossible. You can't live with only one lung.

"It hurts to love you, but I still love you, it's just the way I feel. And i'd be lying if I kept hiding the fact that I can't deal." - Lana Del Rey, 13 Beaches

When you love someone that once loved you but no longer does, you can't help that you can't move on. You feel the way you feel and it causes you suffering and misery because you can never have what you once had. It's impossible to deal with a situation like this because your heart will pain, and it ruins your whole disposition. People can tell just by looking into your eyes or your body language that you are broken beyond repair.

"I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone. But though you're still with me, I've been alone, I'm alone." - Evanescence, My Immortal

Dealing with the reality of being alone when you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with someone is devastating beyond measure. The new reality that you're forced to live in is extremely painful. You know the life you wanted to live is no longer possible, and you've delved into a world you don't want to be a part of.

"Loving you forever can't be wrong. Even though you're not here, won't move on." - Lana Del Rey, Dark Paradise

The inability to move on is something that a lot of people don't understand. But for those who do, this is relatable. Some people can move on and be happy. But some can't. For some people all hope is gone, and happiness becomes nothing more than fantasy.

"Every time I close my eyes, it's like a dark paradise. No one compares to you, I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side." - Lana Del Rey, Dark Paradise

The fear of never seeing your loved one again is very real. Some of us like to think that we can spend the afterlife with our loved one if we can't spend the rest of our life with them. But of course there's no guarantee. We hope that maybe in another life we'll be together again, even if we couldn't spend our life together on earth. The fear of that not happening just makes the loss of that person so much worse while you're still alive.

"Don't ask if I'm happy, you know that I'm not." - Lana Del Rey, Hope

It's frustrating dealing with people asking stupid questions like whether or not you're happy when they very well know that you aren't. It's a pointless gesture because if you say yes it makes them feel better but if you say no then you're a burden and they make you feel even worse for being honest. If you know someone is not okay, you should not ask questions like this because it only makes things worse.

"So do you want to take a leap of faith, or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone?" - Inception

The idea of becoming an old man with no one and nothing to live for is a terrifying reality to live with. Knowing that loneliness, regret, and misery are all that you have in your future is nearly too much to bear. All you want is a chance to go back and make different decisions, but unfortunately no one gets that chance, so you're forced to live with your unhappiness.

[free-speech-network]

Suffering

Not that many people know what it's like to be angry in your soul. Everyone claims to understand at first. But eventually they want the angry person to do something he knows he can't do - move on. So eventually they stop understanding.

But if you think about it, this is the appropriate response when you have become half of a whole and you lose half of yourself. When you give your soul and your life to another and they take it away, you become half the person you were. When they walk out the door, a piece of you has died.

Most people don't know what it's like to be emotionally and psychologically dead. Most people don't understand what it's like to wake up, to take a shower, to eat, to go to bed, but be dead inside all the while. There's no point in living if you are emotionally and psychologically dead. You aren't living. Sure, in a strictly literal sense you're alive but this is just a technicality. Just because your heart is pumping and your brain is functioning doesn't mean you're alive.

Waking up every morning pissed off that you're still alive is frustrating. It's like in Terminator 2, when John Connor asks the Terminator what would happen if he dies. He says he would become useless. There would be no reason for his existence.

Every day I picture my own death. I imagine myself walking down the street, about 50 feet from Walgreens and someone sneaks up behind me and shoots me in the head. I die instantly. This is the perfect way to die. I pray for this death. This would be the perfect ending to my journey. 34 years on this earth was more than enough. I already missed the perfect moment for me to die. There was this perfect moment, and I let it pass me right by.

This perfect moment was the night of my sisters sweet 16. That was right before everything bad happened. I could have avoided every bad thing that ever happened in my life had I died that night. I deserved to die at that point, because I would have been spared my suffering. I don't deserve to suffer. Like Tony Soprano says to his psychiatrist, it's the Hitlers, the Pol Pots, the sick fucks who kill for pleasure and the psychos who torture children who deserve to go to Hell. I'm a good guy. I deserved a better fate.

Life is a meaningless journey that doesn't matter. You either luck out and have a good one or you don't. And my luck ran out many years ago. The good times are over. So my fate is to suffer in misery until God finally and mercifully decides to take me. I'm ready. I'm prepared to give account. I did everything right in my life so I have nothing to worry about.

When pain becomes constant, there's no such thing as a good day anymore, and most people don't understand that. People not understanding how I feel is frustrating. I was born a bad hand.

I was born in the shallow end of the gene pool. It was inevitable from birth that I would suffer and that I was never meant to be a happy, well adjusted individual. I was not given the tools needed to succeed in life. I was at a disadvantage from day one. We're born into this shit. We are what we are.

So as I impatiently wait for the end, I know I have nothing but dark days ahead. Everything good is behind me. There's no joy or happiness to be found in my future, just heartbreak and tragedy. This is true suffering. It's the absence not only of joy, but of a potential for happiness. There is no light ahead. Just endless black, much like what happens after someone sneaks up behind you and shoots you in the head.

[free-speech-network]

in defense of incels

The problem in America in 2022 is that people don’t seem to understand there’s a difference between descriptive claims and prescriptive claims. We have a tendency to only look at the conclusion and disregard the way conclusions are drawn. As an example, we summarily reject white nationalism because it’s a morally deplorable position, and we don’t think about why a person would reach that conclusion. But no one stops to think there might be legitimate reasons to be a white nationalist. If you’re a young, white, straight, cisgender male in the US in 2022, you might look at the bias you face when it comes to college admissions and job opportunities you don’t have because you’re white. There is a descriptive reality at play here: white people are being discriminated against at University and in the job market via affirmative action and racial quotas. Yet people ignore this descriptive reality and act as though there’s no reason to be concerned about this racism. It’s no wonder then why certain people would drift towards white nationalism. When you ignore or deny that a problem exists even though it clearly does, then don’t be surprised when they attach themselves to nefarious thoughts and movements. If we as a society did a better job at acknowledging certain problems and trying to enact policy to fix them, we wouldn't have a resurgence of white nationalism in the US and worldwide. White people are being displaced in countries like the US and they have every right to worry about the future of their existence, their people, and their culture. But if by merely pointing out certain realities about discrimination towards whites makes you a racist or a bigot, you ironically will drive young white people into the arms of actual racists.

And this brings us to the issue at hand: incels. Much like our example of white nationalism, we have another movement that is summarily dismissed as hateful and bigoted without really thinking it through. Yes, being a incel is harmful and toxic. But to ignore why some men identify as incels is to deny certain descriptive realities. There is a certain type of man with certain characteristics that women find attractive: tall, strong, handsome, charming, smooth, and sociable. The data shows this. 80% of women are interested in the roughly 20% of men who fit this description. If you are a man in 2022 and you do not fit this description, your chances of finding a women are slim to none. It’s easy to understand, given the statistics, how a man could lose faith and become cynical when it comes to finding a partner. It very much seems like all women care about is looks, not only because that is their personal experience but because the data bears that out. So that 80% of men who were not born tall, strong, handsome, or charming will miss out while the 20% of men who have those characteristics enjoy all the spoils from the 80% of women. If you’re a physically unattractive, bald, manlet like me, it’s very easy to dismiss dating as another man’s game. 

All of this is to say that dating can be seen as a waste of time and energy by a large number of men who will give up and become bitter. They will believe, with some justification, that women are not interested in them and they will never succeed and find a mate. This is what it means to become an incel, except that instead of recognizing the reality that women are only interested in men who look a certain way, they see it as a societal problem associated with feminism. This is off the mark. Feminism is not the root cause of female attraction. It is a natural and biological reality that dates back as far as humans existed on earth. It was the strong and tall men who were deemed as most capable of taking care of the female and their young, so it was always the strong and tall who got to breed with the most desirable women. 

It’s not any particular woman’s fault that she’s naturally attracted to men who she either consciously or subconsciously perceives to be most capable of fulfilling her needs. Attraction isn’t a choice, and this is what incels don’t seem to understand. But they are not wrong in that they are being judged by women as unfit for partnership. It’s not their fault they were born short or bald or weak. It’s not their fault that women are not attracted to them. They deserve sympathy, not scorn. They deserve compassion and understanding, not ridicule and judgement. 

If we had a more moral, empathetic society we could handle these problems but we have an unfeeling, uncaring society that caters to the most powerful, most rich, most good looking, and most desirable. It is a societal failure in the sense that society isn’t recognizing and solving the problem of natural physical inequalities. We can’t blame women for their attraction to men but we also can’t blame men for feeling left out in the dating pool. It’s not the fault of women or men. It’s the fault of society at large. But it’s not society’s fault in the way that incels believe it is. It’s not because society in modern America is feminist. It’s society’s fault because of our failure to try to solve the problem of inequality in the dating pool.

[free-speech-network]

Democrats hate democracy

while it's true that Republicans also hate democracy and believe the election was stolen, Democrats hate democracy too. From the anti-white, anti-asian discriminatory policies of racial quotas and affirmative action to the tearing away of due process for young men on college campuses to the destruction of women's sports to the 3rd wave feminists complaining about non existent problems like the so called wage gap to Stacy Abrams refusing to admit she lost her election to Democrats like Kamala Harris encouraging the violent BLM protests to the acceptance of violence against so called fascists by Antifa with Joe Biden refusing to admit they even exist, there are plenty of non-democratic policies and beliefs that Democrats both hold and encourage. Not to mention the amount of voter suppression Democrats take part in to ensure the more radical candidates lose to the moderate candidates in primaries. Democrats don't love democracy. They love winning, just like Republicans. Don't believe the nonsense about election integrity and democratic systems coming from Democrats. It's all virtue signaling.

[free-speech-network]

There’s no swamp in DC - those are federally protected wetlands @thefreethoughtproject #swamp #propaganda #lies #blackwhite #doublethink #doubletalk #georgeorwell #orwell #orwellian #1984 #1984georgeorwell #georgeorwell1984 #oligarchy #kleptocracy #nepotism #plutocracy #guideddemocracy #manageddemocracy #empire #evil #evilempire #cia #torture #secretaryofcommerce #bigbusiness #specialinterest #lobbyist #secretaryofdefense #epa #bigpharma https://www.instagram.com/p/B8r4GT6Hj1w/?igshid=12dkihw2o9mkm

[free-speech-network]

The world’s strongest men look like those on the top #strength #strong #muscle #workout #work #working #power #powerlifting #protein #beefcake #worldsstrongestman #strongest #aestheticsvsstrength #eat #food #powerup #leveledup #life #built #lifestyle #motivation #goals #competition #real #realworld https://www.instagram.com/p/B8l5advgUEi/?igshid=wa958hfs3aku