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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • I compared those two polls because they asked specifically about declaring war on Germany. The other polls you’re referring to ask less direct questions, such as:

    Which of these two things do you think is the more important for the United States to try to do–to keep out of war ourselves or to help England win, even at the risk of getting into the war?

    This question, which was asked multiple times between May of 1940 and December of 1941, specifically asks if we should help England even if it risks war, which is different than asking a yes or no question about declaring war on Germany. I acknowledge that responses shifted from 61% saying ‘keep out’ and 35% saying ‘help’ in June 1940, to 68% saying ‘help’ and 28% saying 'keep out" by November 1941, but ‘help’ is not necessarily the same thing as ‘declare war and send troops.’ Also, Germany had already invaded Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and France by the time that June 1940 poll was conducted in which 61% of respondents said ‘keep out.’




  • I think that’s great. I agree with the majority consensus. However, I don’t know enough about how the UN GA operates to know if that institution has any meaningful way of enforcing their demands, or if any means of enforcement apply to all nations equally. The US, for instance, doesn’t recognize the authority of the international criminal court, even though president Biden praised the ICC for talking about prosecuting Putin for war crimes. Biden condemned the ICC when it talked about Benjamin Netanyahu being prosecuted for war crimes. The rule of law can’t only apply to some, it must apply to all, equally.




  • I don’t think there’s such a thing as a moral or ethical hegemony. They’re all immoral, even if some are less immoral than others. But that doesn’t mean that I want to end all hegemony in favor of international lawlessness. I believe in democracy and the rule of law, but that is not the same as a single nation achieving military supremacy to such a degree as to allow them to declare themselves the globe’s judge, jury, and executioner. If we believe in democracy based on consent of the governed and the rule of law, we must support it not only within nations but between nations, as well.









  • That’s exponential growth, for yuh. Fossil fuels could decline significantly as a percentage of total, global energy consumption but we could still be emitting several tens of billions of tons of carbon dioxide every year, if global energy consumption continues to grow.

    Here’s what I mean: between 2013 and 2023, global energy consumption increased 14%. As of 2023, fossil fuels accounted for 77% of global energy consumption. Now, let’s say that between 2024 and 2034 total global energy consumption increases another 14%, but over the same period the percentage of our total energy that comes from fossil fuels DECREASES from 77% to 65% (a fairly significant decrease, I think), the amount of energy that comes from fossil fuels would have only declined 3.2% between 2024 and 2034.


  • I think the consensus is that it’s mostly as a result of women having greater reproductive choices, greater access to family planning services, and more women choosing to delay having children or choosing to not have children at all, often so they can instead focus on a career.

    Edit: I want to point out that what I’m describing is the consensus, as I understand it, of mainstream experts in the US. However, I believe there is evidence that this consensus opinion is not entirely accurate. If I’m not mistaken, surveys indicate that there are a fair number of people who would like to have children but are not because the right circumstances are not present for them to feel secure enough to have children. Many of the people who are not having children would have them if they felt more financially, romantically, and/or emotionally secure. Therefore, it’s possible that it’s not so much that people are choosing not to have children as it is that the necessary conditions for making people feel secure enough to have children are not present for a large number of people.