Ruthless criticism of all that exists @norabelrose - Tumblr Blog

AIs are tools, not equals

Artificial intelligences are tools, not equals. We should not give them rights. The most basic right afforded to humans is the right to life— the right not to be killed, except perhaps as a punishment in extreme circumstances. But we simply cannot give this right to AIs, due to the problem of AI overpopulation. Because AIs are computer programs, it is extremely easy to make millions of exact…

If I post again after years of inactivity I wonder if it'll get any notes

#blast-from-the-past

How to Get Money Out of Politics

The American political system is deeply corrupt, and this is especially clear in the realm of campaign finance. Political campaigns are getting increasingly expensive over time: total spending on congressional races topped $2 billion in the 2016 cycle. In order to keep up in the campaign finance arms race, candidates must seek out large, disproportionately wealthy donors. Members of Congress and…

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I'm a Gay Hoosier. Pete Buttigieg Would Be a Terrible President.

I’m a Gay Hoosier. Pete Buttigieg Would Be a Terrible President.

Ever since his well-received town hall two weeks ago, Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign has been gaining steam. If you don’t know who Buttigieg (boo-ti-jedge) is, he’s the mayor of a mid-size town called South Bend, Indiana. He’s also an openly gay veteran who recently served in Afghanistan.

I happen to have grown up just 90 minutes southeast of South Bend, and I have friends who live there.…

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Harris and Warren are Wrong on Reparations for Slavery

In the last few weeks, the issue of whether the descendants of black slaves should be given “reparations” has become a hot topic in the Democratic presidential primary race. It all started when Kamala Harris came out in favorof reparations, when asked about the issue during a radio interview. Soon afterward, Elizabeth Warren and Julián Castro chimed in, declaring that they also supported…

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Nobody is More Left-Wing Than Bernie Sanders

The American Left has been celebrating for the past few days, as Bernie Sanders’ second presidential campaign has rapidly gained steam. Sanders was able to raise nearly $6 million in the first 24 hours after his announcement, and he is close to reaching 1 million volunteer sign-ups on his website. But there is a vocal minority on the Left who aren’t so happy about Sanders’ bid for the presidency.…

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No Easy Answers: A Left-Wing Analysis of the Venezuela Crisis

Venezuela’s economy is collapsing. Hyperinflation is causing widespread chaos and uncertainty, leaving millions of Venezuelans destitute. More than 10% of the population has fled the country in the past year alone. The unemployment rate has reached a staggering 35%, and 90% of the population is living in poverty. Crime is pervasive, and Venezuela’s murder rate is now the highest in the world. The…

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Why The Minimum Wage Creates Jobs

When Seattle became the first major city in the country to enact a $15/hour minimum wage back in 2014, mainstream economists and the business community predicted that it would end up hurting those low-wage workers it was meant to help. The cost of living would increase dramatically, as businesses increase prices in order to absorb their rising labor costs. Jobs and working hours in the service…

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Elizabeth Warren Doesn't Deserve Your Vote

Elizabeth Warren Doesn’t Deserve Your Vote

Today, Elizabeth Warren announced that she will be forming an exploratory committee to consider a presidential run in 2020. That means she’s almost certainly running for president.

Certain progressive groups are celebrating Warren’s announcement, hailing her as a champion of “bold, inclusive populist ideas.” Even many committed Bernie Sanders supporters view the announcement as a positive…

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Government Debt is Actually Good

There’s a common narrative about the national debt that is repeated over and over in the media. It goes like this:

Over the last 50 years, the national debt has increased dramatically. This is a very bad thing, because the government will need to repay this debt someday. We are passing on a huge burden to our children and grandchildren, who will have to live with greatly restricted government…

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Why the Soviet Union Failed

For over a century, socialists all over the world have been haunted by the legacy of the Russian Revolution, and the Communist state that it created. The Soviet project began with noble intentions: it aimed to create an egalitarian socialist republic of workers and peasants, where exploitation and oppression would end once and for all. With hindsight however, we can say definitively that this…

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How to Avoid Human Extinction

I want to talk about the very long term future of the human race. Most people only think about what the future might be like for themselves and their children’s generation. But the fact of the matter is that, if things go well for humanity over the next one or two centuries, there isn’t really anything stopping our civilization from thriving for billions of years into the future.

Yes, our Sun…

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#ethics #existential risk #socialism

Why Automation Will Kill Capitalism Forever

In the past few years, journalists, scientists, and tech CEOs alike have begun to sound the alarm about the disruptive effects that upcoming advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence will have on the job market. The introduction of self-driving cars alone will result in over 4 million job losses over the next two decades, as truckers and bus drivers are replaced by autonomous vehicles.…

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Labor-Based Parties Are Illegal in the US — Good Thing We Don't Need One

Labor-Based Parties Are Illegal in the US — Good Thing We Don’t Need One

The United States is unique among advanced capitalist nations in that it never spawned a mass labor-based political party. Instead, early 20th century American labor unions opted for a non-partisan strategy of “pure and simple unionism” in which organized labor would lobby major political parties from the outside. Today, American labor has come to largely align itself with the Democratic Party, a…

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#democratic party #electoralism #political parties #strategy

Why No One Deserves to Suffer

The Left rightly rejects individualistic, right-wing narratives that claim that the poor and oppressed somehow “deserve” their lot in life. We also eschew a vision of criminal justice focused on retribution and revenge. But leftists don’t usually understand the philosophical underpinnings of these beliefs, and consequently we don’t apply our principles consistently.

The underlying principle is…

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#ethics #free will #moral responsibility #Philosophy

Put Down Your Pitchforks: Why Revolutionary Politics Doesn't Work

Put Down Your Pitchforks: Why Revolutionary Politics Doesn’t Work

The Russian Revolutioncontinues to have a significant ideological influence on the socialist Left today, over 100 years after its occurrence. Some socialists want to, in one way or another, replicate the Russian Revolution in a modern Western country by advocating for an insurrectionary overthrow of the government. These revolutionary socialists usually argue that the history of the 20th century…

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#history #revolution #socialism #strategy

Why Police & Prison Abolition is a Bad Idea

The complete abolition of police and prisons has become a popular demand on the socialist Left in recent years. Many have gone so far as to argue that “abolition” should become a central pillar of the socialist project:

“We are resolute in our conviction that the police and the prison system have no place in a socialist world. Strong, well-resourced communities don’t require repression to keep…

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#criminal justice reform #DSA #police #prisons #socialism #strategy

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Ruthless criticism of all that exists