There are probably houses out there somewhere that do not have one of these, but I have never encountered one. They appear with the same frequency as 10 million dollar lottery tickets.

Exactly. It’s the same as the answer to the question, “Why do you talk to people?”

Fundamentalism is certainly a contributing factor, but there are others. Conservatives have been working to cut back on education since the early 80’s. Removing critical thinking training was one of the objectives… Conservative policies are unpopular and are often supported with misrepresentations and outright lies. To succeed, they need a public without the knowledge or skills to realize their arguments are invalid. Unfortunately, they have gone a long way toward accomplishing that.

The film score from Die Hard.

If people weren’t stupid they would not put up with having the highest medical costs in the world while achieving the lowest quality of care in the first world. Health Insurance Companies exist because too many people haven’t figured out that their purpose is to limit, or prevent, actual health care.

Health Insurance Companies

I don’t have a general answer for you, but I did want to say that you should not rule out depression as a major component of what’s going on with you. I have a genetically-based cyclic depression that’s been with me more than four decades. Despite that, I have managed to remain employed. It has sometimes been very difficult, but it is possible to remain somewhat functional even when severely depressed. I have had to change jobs a few times because of it, but I’ve been able to make a steady living.

Depression can leave you with very little energy or volition, but very little is different from none. The worse it gets, the more you have to focus on your most critical necessities, which is not pleasant, but it can keep you going. Small victories like that can actually help counteract it. I think a lot of depression is “living to fight another day”.

If you do have depression, there are many things you can try. Therapy, medication, exercise, meditation, mindfullness, support groups, volunteering, hobbies, etc. Start by talking with a doctor.

I wish you the best!

The Lemmy Lick.

I don’t think we’re going to gain any traction until we override Citizens United and make bribing public officials illegal again. That would allow us to take back the legislative process and begin passing bills that the super rich are not going to like.

17 C. I find it comfortable even when lightly dressed. My wife dresses more warmly.

I loved A New Hope and thought The Empire Strikes Back was brilliant. I never recovered from the Muppets in the opening act of Return of the Jedi. None of the movies since then have gotten as high on the scale as “good”. The series have been a mixed bag, but none of them have had the grandeur of the first two movies.

I like you.

Yes. I, my wife, and several friends have had intermittent problems with long-delays in message delivery. In some of those cases, neither of the phones involved moved, which rules out most of the common explanations. I’ve considered disabling RCS entirely, but a recent move to Signal has made this less of an issue.

“Religion” is too broad a term. Conservatives like to call what they practice Christianity, although it would have appalled Christ. They also like to represent themselves as the mainstream of Christianity, but they are very much in the minority. They just get on the news more often.

It’s good that you seem to understand this problem is about her and not you. This sort of behavior is usually driven by some form of mental illness. She may not be able to change her behavior. Whatever the cause, it is not you.

You are experiencing a form of psychological abuse. Protect yourself as best you can. Even when you know, on an intellectual level, that she is being abusive, it’s hard not to react to it emotionally. Find some people who can understand the problem, whether they are family, friends, or counselors. It helps to have outside perspectives and it definitely helps not to feel like you’re alone in dealing with it. You may find it beneficial to get counseling for yourself.

I wish you all the best.

If you’re seeing a lot of material you don’t want to see, for whatever reason, you should look at which communities it keeps appearing in and unjoin those communities. Even if they would otherwise be of interest, they are doing you harm right now. You can always rejoin later.

I don’t think it is generally considered a good book, but I’m sure it depends on who you ask. I thought it had some interesting ideas, but was pretty weak overall.

That makes perfect sense. :-)

Language is just a consensus. If enough people agree about how it works, then that’s how it works.

Absolutely. It isn’t true. It just should be.

Neither side has been willing to change, or even talk about, the shift of wealth that has left most people barely able to get by. Working people get less and less reward for their efforts and the difference all goes to the owners. I think that is at least one aspect of Bernie’s complaint about the Democrats.