hotpotamus

Christian or apparently anything else; the specific religion doesn't seem all that relevant actually (which says some things about religion I think).

I suppose I am currently mildly homeless which does tend to make the thought a bit harder. Also, as a man, I am not able to make children no matter how much money I'm given; there are other things necessary that I do not have. Anyway, the idea really just does seem infeasible for a few reasons - money is just one of them.

Interestingly, in other contexts I've heard people say that equality of outcome is an unwelcome suppression of meritocracy.

I believe the biggest correlate is actually religion, and I've suspected for some time now that Nietzsche was really onto it quite early with the whole "Death of God" thing.

That said, I can say that while I may in theory be able to afford a kid today, I couldn't after a layoff, which does happen to me sometimes. Frankly, I like my current employment, but I'm starting to get some bad vibes sadly. The thing is that kids need support for like 2 decades and it's hard to imagine a job lasting that long. I always remember the scene from Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" where the dad walks in and tells the kids he can't afford them anymore so he's going to sell them to science, and I can at least find it all pretty amusing.

In those 11 years fertility has fallen near universally. Speaking as a millennial, I never saw my career as a means towards changing the world or some life mission driven by passion; I just wanted to find stable employment to hopefully find some financial security and keep my ass in health insurance (I foolishly contracted a childhood condition that left me somewhat disabled). Graduating into the great recession and trying to stay on the treadmill of employment as I flee one layoff or another hasn't left much space in life for a lot else.

I actually feel quite fortunate these days (for a number of reasons) that I never wanted children (also for a number of reasons); if I had I can imagine that it would be quite a disappointment at how it has become ever more infeasible.

Perhaps lower and middle class people want upper middle class children.

What if girls’ biological differences predispose them towards success in educational institutions? Then we need some sort of specialized education in order to provide the boys more intensive socialization?

What does it mean to “fix” school/college?

> we finally start recognizing that men too can be victims of systemic issues.

This has always been known to at least some. There are reasons that the left pushes for universal healthcare - because they are aware that systemic issues can affect everyone. The alternative is personal responsibility - pull yourself up by your bootstraps, ironically first written as a joke because it's literally impossible, but then unironically praised as an ideal of American individualism.

Honestly, I think American men are caught in a bad feedback loop that results in them voting for ever more toxic political representation that then shreds whatever safety nets they can and results in more estrangement from society, and it's a trap they will not escape from; it's too far gone to be fixed at this point.

If we're in a simulation, there's no reason that other beings couldn't have also arisen within the simulation with us.

I'll note that both your options there end in rejection.

Perhaps we could call it putting your best self forward to make a good first impression? The advice I've often seen is to treat a date like a job interview - is full honesty expected there? In fact, in a romantic context, is full honesty ever appropriate? If you said something like, we're probably both around 7 on the attractiveness scale, make similar incomes, aren't getting any younger, and probably can't do much better; let's settle for each other - how would that sort of honesty play?

I live with them rent-free so it would probably go against my own interest as well to force them out via pricing.

Would you have dated her at all if she had been honest about how miserable she is up front? If her inherent personality is just miserable, then how else is she supposed to navigate through life?

Old people in Texas get their property taxes frozen I believe at 65. But honestly it might be better for them to downsize into something more appropriate and perhaps free up the larger houses for families. My mother has basically just turned my parents' house into an eBay warehouse full of junk that she intends to sell one day. I can't say that I have any big problem with that at the end of the day, but if you think getting young families into housing is a more important goal for society, then it does seem like a waste.

Meanwhile, I'm pretty sore about the 10% year over year thing, particularly when I hear about how Republicans run a low-tax state or that a wealth tax is unconstitutional/infeasible. I pay my wealth tax every year, but I suspect I'm too poor for the kind of wealth tax they mean. I can at least enjoy the irony.

I once awoke to see a large spider running away from me on my bed. I was a bit displeased with that until I learned that they hunt roaches. I figured if it was running away from me, then it figured (perhaps incorrectly) that I was not to be messed with and so the food chain in my house remained as it should be.