Shithole Countries

Conservatives have forgotten our roots and are pushing us towards anarchy, i.e., an unregulated society

Anarchy is law and freedom without force.
Despotism is law and force without freedom.
Barbarism force without freedom and law.
Republicanism is force with freedom and law.

Immanuel Kant,
Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View

Ballo conveniently forgets about how the bills get paid and where the money comes from.

I’m still friends with some people who voted for Trump, but I tend to avoid people who used to be friendly and fun but are now sour and bitter.

The Declaration of Independence was based on the liberal British ideas about individual rights being ordained by a universal authority higher than any King or state.

I'm not an academic, actually, I work at a national laboratory for the past 20 odd years (I had taught at UMass/Amherst in the 1990's).

My "arguments" aren't political, on these posts, they are pointing out that if you actually had any conviction to your opinions you wouldn't hide behind the anonymity of an avatar.

And many people that read and post to SuperTopoForum have read my trip reports, and more, they know who I am and have not trouble coming up to me when they see me climbing somewhere. When I post I think about that. That's a big difference (and not a political one, I've met Jody, and Cosmic and Reilly in climber settings), they would stand up for what they post here, whether or not I agree is quite beside the point.

My criticism of the current administration: it is one thing to shoot your mouth off, quite another to come up with some policy that effects the proposed changes, I don't see that the recent comments that lend to the title of this thread have anything backing them up, in terms of leading the world at least, and even in this country they are horrendously counterproductive.

I am happy to discuss any of my posts with any of the climbers I'd run into at any of the climbing locations I frequent. Apparently I am recognizable enough that people introduce themselves to me "out of the blue."

Until last year, I'd never considered politics a condition of friendship or partnership on a rope. Like music or film, boycotting liberals in the outdoor world leaves one with fewer options. But post-2016, I have cut off at least a couple folks who, frankly, became so unhinged about the election that I no longer consider them stable.

If you want some mountains that have snow,ice and glaciers with crevasses that don't pretend to be snow slopes, come to Canada, the richest shithole in North America.

PNW excluded from this rant because those Washington State climbers are friendly and know their way around an ice axe and pair of crampons.

All you have to do is make it past the California produce checkpoint without catching a 15 year prison sentence for a half eaten carrot.

It should be clarified that the person who wrote that post about having a party if DT or someone who supports him died, DID NOT WRITE that they wished anyone would die.

No, JoeM, our transition to the third world, or actually second world status, began in the mid 1970s with the dismantling of the New Deal and the assault on labor.

It should be clarified that the person who wrote that post about having a party if DT or someone who supports him died, DID NOT WRITE that they wished anyone would die.