Your iPhone / Samsung is manufactured there. So no, that’s a bad take. You get what you pay for, and good quality is still cheaper than made elsewhere.

This is all true, and yet it’s still a good thing.

The more people invest in this stuff the cheaper it will get.

That is not true unfortunately. I tend to be very left wing socially - economically I’m more left of center - and that was reflected on my social media as well - either pushing me towards more radical content or stoking anger with more radical right wing content to get me riled up and coming back for more.

I ended up with a growing hatred and emnity for a growing number of people and “groups”, and black and white thinking. Even though I was aware that I was being manipulated, it was still impossible to sit on a high horse above the fray.

It’s quite easy to manipulate human minds, even ones that are careful and aware. We can all be manipulated. It’s why advertising works, for example.

The only thing to do really is to not play that game. Avoid advertising, avoid other content curators deciding what you get to see and telling you how to reason, etc… realise that most people are empathetic, that most people want what’s best, and those that are radical have been manipulated to be that way, sadly.

This is the first generation with worse prospects than the previous one. Wealth inequality is growing, and robber barons are back. Climate change is making any prospects even worse.

Combine that with a communication revolution (social media, to be exact) which allows anyone to pretty much target anyone else with any message they feel like, means disinformation pushing narratives is everywhere. And not to forget, there people in charge of these platforms are among the aforementioned robber barons.

It’s easy to offer simple solutions to these problems and push disinformation to people who don’t have the knowledge, time or energy to debunk everything and think deeply about things, since they’re busy slaving away to put food on their tables, struggling to build a future, and looking for solutions. And simple answers give people a sense of control or explanation over their difficult situation.

It’s why I have completely removed myself from every social media platform there is, except this one and I’m only on here intermittently.

Israelis will never accept to become a minority. It’s as simple as that.

I’m not a communist because I think communism is a big failure.

So is deregulation and unfettered capitalism. It’s why every time we deregulate and cut taxes, the wealth gap gets wider, life gets shitter for everyone but the wealthiest, etc…

These are the same clowns who added most of the debt (Bush and Trump tax cuts) then complain about the debt when they’re no longer in power.

Honestly? Yeah I don’t see any way around this than to simply predicate all aid to the region on conditions.

1. Israel on the demand that not one more brick be laid anywhere outside Israel’s borders and a plan with enforcement mechanisms to dismantle the settlements that are there in order to guarantee the possibility of a sustainable Palestinian state with an economy under their own control (I.e that trade, commerce, construction, monetary policy be Palestinian and not imposed by Israel). That reparations be paid to families of the victims of this bombing campaign and settler violence over the years, that those who perpetrated violence be brought to justice.

2. Palestine on the condition that they renounce the right of return, that they apprehend and surrender all militants to an international tribunal, that they recognize Israel, that they pay reparations to the families of Israelis that have been killed over the years.

3. Egypt and Jordan on the demand that they participate in the enforcement of the above.

4. for all parties, that Jerusalem be declared either an international city, or joint capital (split East-West).

5. that Iran be completely isolated from the region. This is a tough one, they have their fingers deep within Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon.

It’s unclear how anything else can work.

If this requires a permanent UN military mission with the right to shoot to kill any threat all along the border of both Palestine and Israel, I’m fine with it. If it means Israel bitches and moans about how unfair it is, who cares. It’s about time they respected and enforced the law. If it means Palestinians need to fight to dismantle their own militant orgs and fight for peace, at least they will have a light at the end of that tunnel instead of the despair of the past 70 years (and earlier too, tbh).

Hamas doesn’t give a fuck about peace, ceasefires, children, or anything else.

That doesn’t mean Israel should get carte blanche to do whatever they want. Let’s not forget that prominent members of the current Israeli government have expressed very clear genocidal desires of their own.

You still haven’t made any sort of point.

There is a definition, and it applies. It’s unclear why you disagree.

Yeah sure.

Conservatives elect speaker who doesn’t believe in dinosaurs, ancient history or climate change, wants to make homosexuality illegal, voted to overturn the election and did everything in his power to thwart it, reporters aren’t allowed to question it, but it’s those opposed who are “scum”.

Them’s Nazi words, quite literally. You really need an education.

Yeah, he’ll get trounced by someone in his own party though, like the last one did.

You make some strange and easily debunkable claims here.

• If “all Palestinians” cherished Hamas there wouldn’t be a Fatah or a PA.

• The Israeli right wing literally supported Hamas over Fatah in order to justify continued violence and land theft against the Palestinians. Hamas and the settlers (who are now the Israeli government) are literally feeding off each other.

• The main reason this attack succeeded was because the Gaza border was unmanned, because the current Israeli government moved the military to the West Bank in order to protect the settlers there while they commit attacks on the Palestinians there. Despite the Israeli military describing some of the actions of these settlers as a “progrom”.

• The “Muslim fundamentalists of the Levant” comprise Christians and other groups too, including Jews before this entire conflict started. There had been Jews in the Levant for millennia, despite it being under Muslim rule for 1400 years. Jews were still banned from Jerusalem under the Byzantines, until the Muslims conquered it and allowed Jews to return to the city. Jerusalem had a Jewish majority when the British took control of the place.

• I find this idea that the hatred is exclusively due to anti-Semitism to be the stupidest one Israel tries to put out there. Had Palestine been occupied by Bhuddists or atheists, you think they would not resist, or hate their occupier? Was the Viet-Cong motivated by anti-Christian values in fighting both France and the USA? How stupid are you?

The only response dumb tankies like you deserve is that if you say anything bad about Winnie in China, you’ll get literally disappeared, tortured, “reprogrammed” or killed.

On the other hand I can say Biden is garbage, Trudeau is a fanny and Sunak is a cockwomble. Nothing bad happens to me, see?

You are an idiot if you’re batting for imperialist authoritarians.

And that other serial liar from NY.

And he was still elected.

I am a software engineer. I work with a few Indian people who are amazing at what they do, but both of them have told me the same: a lot of Indian engineers are fakes.

Well I’m not sure what really can. What the hell did the Indian government think they were doing?

It’s Russia levels of shittiness.

Crazy Indian nationalists incoming.

How about an explanation as to why Canada would accuse India of such a thing without evidence?

They literally published a game plan for how they will capture all levels of government and make it almost impossible to lose power, in the same vein as Hungary. It’s right in your face.

As I said, if you don’t find it extremely concerning, you are either happy about it or you are a useful idiot.