The Philosophy Discussion Forum

SpheresOfBalance wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2026 10:09 pm

Hey chunky. Still overinflating those spheres?

Lacewing wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 12:31 am

That's interesting, you two appearing at the same time.
What's the on-line term for alter ego?

*

Question to AI:
What is the current polling popularity of the Democratic Party?

AI answer:
The current polling popularity of the Democratic Party is quite low, with a significant portion of the electorate expressing unfavorable views.

Commentary:
Quite low is a reaction to ...
Nefarious, unethical doings in the name of a higher purpose… that are being revealed.
The reckoning threatens to catch fire.

Walker wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 1:47 am That's interesting, you two appearing at the same time.
What's the on-line term for alter ego?

I don't know about SOB's posting habits. I just got an email alerting me to a response to one of my posts.

Haven't you figured out yet that it's really stupid to continually put all blame on one political party?

What is it about this skewed 'trip' that endlessly serves you?

Lacewing wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 3:32 am

That sounds plausible, I guess.

- Attention to parties in this thread is limited to the one that hates America, not all parties.
- The Democrat Party Hates America.
- Haven't you read the book yet?

Endlessly? Forever and ever?
I didn't revive the thread. No need.
The hatred of the Democrat Party for America is obvious, and has been proven by events.

Whoever did revive it, has some kinda need, but the revival is just a reminder of how The Democrat Party has warped justice.

Walker wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 2:49 pm The hatred of the Democrat Party for America is obvious, and has been proven by events.

Well, it's a bit paradoxical. It depends what we mean by "America."

That sounds odd, I know. But think about it. "America" means different things, sometimes. If we mean the name to refer to the wealth and opportunities America offers, the Democrats love America. I think it's fair to say they see it as the power-base from which they can produce the changes they desire in larger human affairs. They devote massive amounts of attention to getting America to become what they want it to be. They know America has de facto political power, economic power, technological and innovative leadership and the most military power in the larger world. They want America to be theirs. I guess that's a kind of 'love.'

On the other hand, if by "America" you mean a distinct nation -- especially one with its particular history -- there's no mistaking their hatred for it. They continually run down America as a place that's "racist," and "capitalist" and "oppressive," and "genocidal," and "colonialist," and "sexist," and...whatever else they can conjure up. The broader open-borders policy shows that they really don't care for distinct nations at all...and especially not America. They don't care about the people in the cities and states over which they preside, either. They've made that very clear. And as for history, though the Dems themselves were the party of slavery, the Confederacy, the KKK, Jim Crow and opposition to universal civil rights, they're now fixed on finding a way to transfer (in the public memory) their own unsavoury history to the "nationalist" set, and particularly to conservative Republicans -- they truly hope to be "unburdened by what has been" so that they can "imagine what could be," to quote Kamala Harris. What really helps them is that not only foreigners, but sadly, Americans too have often not read much American history. So this public unawareness enables the Democrats to reframe their own past, without getting called on it. But even a cursory glance at a textbook would reveal that the vast preponderance of the history of oppression and discrimination in America is Democrat. That history is a ball-and-chain they still haven't quite shaken; but they're getting close.

What they really want is globalism. They want America to be a post-national entity, a "citizen of the world," and a vassal state of both big business and other global operators...the WEF, China, the European Union...all on the road to becoming a resource for the achievement of global Socialism with a Fabian twist -- a coterie of "elite" intellectuals, politicians and businessmen who can engineer human society towards the goals they believe they understand and can create, but nobody else can. They're demagogues, to the core. They'll just never openly confess that. They'll keep on about how they're "standing with the oppressed," and etc. and how America itself is the problem.

The American Democrats believe themselves to be in league with these "elite" Fabian-style forces, and do not think they can be discarded once America is reduced to servitude. But, of course, they can...and they will...if they ever attain the end toward which they are pressing. Room at the top is very constrained. But the bottom is very, very wide. The global 'elites' of Socialism have no more use for their American tools than they have for anybody else. And the fewer of them there are, the more effectively power and influence can be concentrated in a few hands.

In that sense, the Dems hate America. They hate that it exists as a distinct nation, that it has more power right now than other nations, that it has any pride in itself, that it might become successful without them, and never see a need for their leadership, and that it is proving difficult to subjugate and turn to their cherished agenda. But they love it if they can control it.

Walker wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 2:49 pm - Attention to parties in this thread is limited to the one that hates America, not all parties.
- The Democrat Party Hates America.

And so, in some sort of contrast, you imagine that the Republican Party loves America? Otherwise you would say that political parties entrenched in their own corrupt power hate elements or systems of America that interfere with their agendas. See, not that hard to speak the truth. You're being served somehow by not doing so.

What do you think America is?

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 5:04 pm

Walker wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 2:49 pm The hatred of the Democrat Party for America is obvious, and has been proven by events.

If we mean the name to refer to the wealth and opportunities America offers, the Democrats love America. I think it's fair to say they see it as the power-base from which they can produce the changes they desire in larger human affairs. They devote massive amounts of attention to getting America to become what they want it to be. They know America has de facto political power, economic power, technological and innovative leadership and the most military power in the larger world. They want America to be theirs. I guess that's a kind of 'love.'

And somehow that doesn't describe Republicans?

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 5:04 pmThey continually run down America as a place that's "racist," and "capitalist" and "oppressive," and "genocidal," and "colonialist," and "sexist," and...whatever else they can conjure up.

It isn't? Haven't abuses of power affected a great many people in that way?

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 5:04 pm They don't care about the people in the cities and states over which they preside, either. They've made that very clear.

Sounds like you're talking more about Republicans.

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 5:04 pm So this public unawareness enables the Democrats to reframe their own past, without getting called on it.

Trump reframes and projects daily. Projection is not limited to any political party. Nor are abuses and corruption limited to any political party. So how is it serving you to frame it like that?

Don't you care about being truthful across the board? If you're on a bandwagon that's demonizing one 'side' over another, then you're actually contributing to the ongoing delusional mental state that perpetuates such insanity.

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 5:04 pmThey're demagogues, to the core. They'll just never openly confess that.

And Republicans aren't?

Different people want different things. These political parties are labels for a collection of ideas. You do so love (it appears) pitting imagined entities (possessing qualities you judge as favorable or not) against each other. Like a child's game of playing with little plastic figures. The good vs. the bad. Armies. You're on the side of the good, of course.

The potential is much more diverse than that, of course. People are not so easily put into specific categories, no matter how much you try to put specific labels them. Or to pretend that 'Democrats' are an entity... a thing... much as you've done with your notions of 'Atheists'.

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 5:04 pmThe global 'elites' of Socialism have no more use for their American tools than they have for anybody else. And the fewer of them there are, the more effectively power and influence can be concentrated in a few hands.

How about the global elites of Conservatism? How about the leaders who are currently acting on their own whims, ignoring all standards and rules, causing destruction to their own people and others around the globe? Do they hate the planet and the different people who occupy it? Do they care only for their own gain and power? Are they dangerous to humankind? Do their supporters have any self-awareness of their own? Who really wants all this corrupt shit from ANY leader?

Lacewing wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 5:10 pm

Walker wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 2:49 pm - Attention to parties in this thread is limited to the one that hates America, not all parties.
- The Democrat Party Hates America.

And so, in some sort of contrast, you imagine that the Republican Party loves America? Otherwise you would say that political parties entrenched in their own corrupt power hate elements or systems of America that interfere with their agendas.

The Republicans have their own corruption problem, in at least some instances. But their present orientation is for secure borders, in favour of secure elections, and not for globalism or Fabian Socialism, or for eliminating America as a distinct entity in favour of some other conglomerate. So they're ahead on that much.

They're also ahead historically. They're the party that didn't own slaves, that had Abe Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation, who were on the right side of the Civil War, that did not create the KKK, or Segregation, or turn dogs and fire hoses on civil rights marchers...and that is not today fomenting riots that further impoverish black neighbourhoods or flooding the country with drug lords and child-traffickers, or trying to hide massive fraud schemes in Minnesota, Chicago or LA. So they seem to like their country a little bit better than their rivals, at least.

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pm The Republicans have their own corruption problem, in at least some instances. But their present orientation is for secure borders,

You think Democrats don't want that? Maybe the issue is about how it's handled, or how broken the system is.

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pmin favour of secure elections,

You think Democrats don't want that?

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pmand not for globalism

What kind of globalism?

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pmor for eliminating America as a distinct entity in favour of some other conglomerate.

You think Democrats want that?

This image you are talking about seems to be an imaginary conjuring for you to rally against, and I don't think it's accurate in a real and larger context. Did you know that 45% of American adults identify as Independent voters? Furthermore, people who identify as either Republican or Democrat have diverse views within their own parties. You're aware of that, right? So, blaming a political LABEL for injustices and wrong-thinking is, itself, wrong-thinking. That's why I ask how you are served by doing such a thing?

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pm They're also ahead historically. They're the party that didn't...

Oh, you want to talk about ignorance and injustice in humankind's history, and what really drives much of it: Christianity and religion? Let's go to the root of belief systems that allow and glorify humans to do the horrific things they do to others as if they are divinely directed. Is there a label for that? There should be.

Lacewing wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 8:09 pm

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pm The Republicans have their own corruption problem, in at least some instances. But their present orientation is for secure borders,

You think Democrats don't want that? Maybe the issue is about how it's handled, or how broken the system is.

You know they don't. Just look at what the Biden admin. did.

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pmin favour of secure elections,

You think Democrats don't want that?

Again, you know they don't. There really is no other plausible explanation for resisting voter ID, or opposing the elimination of gerrymandered "ethnic" districts.

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pmor for eliminating America as a distinct entity in favour of some other conglomerate.

You think Democrats want that?

Beyond question.

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pm They're also ahead historically. They're the party that didn't...

Oh, you want to talk about ignorance and injustice in humankind's history,...

No, because other cases throughout world history don't change this one. Just in the history of the Democrats. The Republicans had a different historical relationship to all these things.

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 10:00 pm

Lacewing wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 8:09 pm

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pm The Republicans have their own corruption problem, in at least some instances. But their present orientation is for secure borders,

You think Democrats don't want that? Maybe the issue is about how it's handled, or how broken the system is.

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pmin favour of secure elections,

You think Democrats don't want that?

You know they don't. Just look at what the Biden admin. did.

So, you still think 'the Democrats' are some kind of group that all think the same? That doesn't even make sense, and yet you keep building on that false belief. Do you think everyone who voted for Trump agrees with what he's doing now? Will you ever recognize that there are more perspectives at work?

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pm They're also ahead historically. They're the party that didn't...

Lacewing wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 8:09 pmOh, you want to talk about ignorance and injustice in humankind's history,...

No, because other cases throughout world history don't change this one.

So, it doesn't matter to you how the issues you cited were a result of religion... because you just want to blame 'the Democrats'? That's the simplistic model that works for your purposes. Ignore the monster behind the curtain. Blame ANYTHING OTHER than what you have aligned yourself with.

Lacewing wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2026 12:39 am So, you still think 'the Democrats' are some kind of group that all think the same?

The ones in power did.

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pm They're also ahead historically. They're the party that didn't...

Lacewing wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 8:09 pmOh, you want to talk about ignorance and injustice in humankind's history,...

No, because other cases throughout world history don't change this one.

So, it doesn't matter to you how the issues you cited were a result of religion...

So...the Dems had slaves, because religion. And they started the KKK because...religion. And they defended Segregation because...religion. And the BLM riots...very religious? This is your argument?

Yeah right! Give me that good old-time religion...

Religion was a **major** factor in the KKK, especially in the second Klan of the 1910s–1920s, where leaders wrapped white supremacy and nativism in Protestant language, rituals, hymns, and symbols like the burning cross. But it was not simply a church movement: historians note that the Klan used religion both as genuine identity and as a recruiting/legitimizing frame, while mainstream Christian denominations officially denounced it. [factually](https://factually.co/fact-checks/histor ... ory-f9a410)

## How religion functioned
The Klan presented itself as defending “Anglo-Protestant” or “100% American” values, which meant Protestant Christianity was tied to its ideas about nation, race, and morality. That religious framing helped turn racism into something members could see as sacred duty rather than just politics. [berkleycenter.georgetown](https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/re ... e-politics)

## How deep it went
Some scholars argue the second Klan became almost a kind of **civil religion**, with its own texts, ceremonies, and faith-like identity. Others are more cautious and say religion was central to its rhetoric and self-image, but the Klan was still primarily a political and social movement that weaponized Protestant symbolism. [factually](https://factually.co/fact-checks/histor ... kkk-2e02c4)

## Bottom line
So religion was not a side issue; it was one of the KKK’s core organizing ideas, especially in the second Klan. But that “religion” was highly selective and exclusionary, built around white Protestant supremacy rather than mainstream Christianity. [factually](https://factually.co/fact-checks/histor ... ory-f9a410)

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2026 1:51 am

Lacewing wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2026 12:39 am So, you still think 'the Democrats' are some kind of group that all think the same?

The ones in power did.

How do you know?

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2026 7:12 pm

Lacewing wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2026 12:39 am So, it doesn't matter to you how the issues you cited were a result of religion...

So...the Dems had slaves, because religion. And they started the KKK because...religion. And they defended Segregation because...religion. And the BLM riots...very religious? This is your argument?

Are you really unaware of how much springs from religion? Look it up. Then maybe you can focus on what actually drives a lot of corruption and abuse.

Lacewing wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2026 2:40 am Are you really unaware of how much religion drives?

The Democrats? They don't seem particularly religious.