And the Creepy Boss of the Week Award goes to … this dude posting on Reddit

It’s not like you explicitly said “we’re talking about the recent trend of people hurling the word around to people who hold such positions as”

Well obviously, SFHC. You said “for such things as” instead of “to people who hold such positions as.” You’re just BEGGING to be misinterpreted!

@Jenora Feuer: This version. It’s like D&D but without any of the fun RP elements, haha. We put them in anyway! It’s just silly, and doesn’t need anyone to spend too much time prepping a campaign.

I also really like Betrayal, but one thing to be aware of when you play it… If one of the group that you are playing with doesn’t like to be targeted as ‘the bad person’, maybe let them know beforehand that this could happen.

One of my friends really doesn’t like to suddenly have everyone else gang up om them. Also, some of the scenarios seem really unbalanced, either for the Betrayer or for the rest of the players, so sometimes it is a little rough to play.

But I still really love the exploration mechanic! And getting the items! And the story! It’s really cool!

Has anyone recommended Dead of Winter yet? Here’s how to play. Don’t worry, you only need to watch it once. UNLESS YOU ARE THE OWNER, then you must watch it every time you bring someone in.

The game seems really complicated, but it actually plays really well. It also has the betrayer mechanic that someone (EJ?) likes. Or you can just not have that, and have it be co-op, which is my preference. Either or!

It’s a very fun game, and I’m not a huge fan of zombies. There are lots of ladies, and there are also some not-white people. Not a lot, but a few.

The art is really nice too.

I also really like Betrayal, but one thing to be aware of when you play it… If one of the group that you are playing with doesn’t like to be targeted as ‘the bad person’, maybe let them know beforehand that this could happen.

We have a house rule that you’re allowed to decline being the betrayer, especially if it’s a new player.

@Policy of Madnes

There’s a big difference between saying that capitalism facilitates/accepts/encourages slavery (choose your preferred term) and saying that it is a system of slavery.

Right, I just re-read that. It does sound like nonsense. Point granted.

One is true, and the other minimizes the plight of actual slaves by comparing them with McDonald’s workers.

Yeah, my first sentence is problematic and detrimental to the rest of the post. Which is that capitalism has allowed for labor in near slave-like or actual slave conditions to still exist in third world countries, as a means to preserving the quality of life in first world countries which greatly benefit from the cheap labor.

@Scildfreja Unnyðnes

Thanks for clearing things up. Also:

Diego, your division of “Brocialists” from “Neoliberals” isn’t clearly defined (or, more properly, the division you’re using may not be a common one); that might be a source of the problem.

I’m not trying to compare Brocialists to neoliberals. From my understanding, the former are [usually] White males who mistakenly believe that socialism will magically make racism, misogyny, islamophobia, transphobia, etc magically disappear, and who feel the need to belittle anyone who does not adhere to this magic vision.

Neoliberals are either misguided or deceitful fools who preach that they are socially liberal but their hard stance on Free Market economics actually results in the oppression of women and minorities, and the preservation of White supremacy.

As with most people who use the word “neoliberal,” it essentially doesn’t matter what actual words you say to him.

Yeah, after my morning covfefe coffee, I’ve decided that he really was just using me as a randomly-chosen jumping-off point for his hobby horse. I could’ve posted a five-page dissertation on my favourite colour for all it matters.

It’s green, for the record.

(Also, now that I’ve caffeined my head on straight, I need to point and laugh at him mansplaining objectivism to me. The one who was raised by objectivists. White men, everybody! *sarcastic applause*)

I disagree with that perspective considering that awareness campaigns in regard to labor conditions in third world countries are constant. At this point pretty much everyone is aware of what goes on in Foxconn factories at China. Likewise, there was a massive campaign last Halloween against Nestlé for using slave child labor to harvest cacao seeds. Their profits hardly dropped.

You vastly overestimate the degree to which consumers pay attention. I guarantee that if every clothing item was required to have a verified “Slave-made” or “Free-made” tag on it, the slave-made items would have piss-poor sales. Once it is in people’s faces, they make choices based on their preferences, and the preference in the US today is that slavery is bad (can’t speak for anywhere else).

@ POM

but they don’t know the goods are made by slaves

How much of that do you think is down to genuine ignorance and how much to just turning a blind eye? I guess people can be forgiven when they buy three t-shirts for a fiver for not considering how little must be left over for labour after the cost of raw materials, transportation, and profit for the store. But are people unaware of what’s really going on? The idea of five year olds in sweatshops is a joke in the Simpsons.

Is it just that sense of detachment that it’s happening far away? Like how we can read about a child dying for lack of fresh water; then flush enough potable water for an entire family every time we take a piss?

I kid myself I’d be one of the ones walking away from Omelas; but I know I’m just as guilty as anyone.

ETA: Ah, ninja’d and answered, cheers.

@PoM

There’s a big difference between saying that capitalism facilitates/accepts/encourages slavery (choose your preferred term) and saying that it is a system of slavery

Indeed. Sharecropping wasn’t too much better than the system what came before it. But! Try telling a freedman that it’s the same thing. That the blood, sweat, tears, families, and lives spent getting to that point were wasted. Slavery exists today, exploited, aided, and abetted by capitalist systems. But they’re not the same thing. Hundreds of years of fight and progress means my employer doesn’t hold deed to my life as property. I tend to find that difference a crucial one

See this shit everywhere in ‘lefter than thou’ circles. Which speaks to the lack of intersectionality in said circles. The same people who said Clinton and Trump would be exactly the same. But I’m a neolib counterrevolutionary for being skeptical of such claims. Gets tiring…

@Alan
My problem is I know very few companies which advertise paying their workers well, so I don’t have many ethical options.

@Katz

Neoliberals and libertarians are near analogous with the difference that “libertarians” is mostly used in the US. In Latin America libertarians are more commonly referred to as neoliberals. If I’m not mistaken Chomsky was responsible for popularizing the term. Even though now purist leftist use it to throw it at anyone who does not wholly buy into their garbage.

Also, what do you mean they don’t fit that description? Or did I word it wrongly?

What I meant is libertarians/neoliberals (choose whichever term you usually apply) preach socially liberal stances (euthanasia, opposition to war, decriminalization of weed, etc).

Problem being that they place the Free Market above everything. Thus what ends up happening is the preferences of the group which holds institutional power (White males) will completely impose itself in the detriment of other groups (anyone not male or White).

Can I go back to games really fast?

Does anyone here like Agricola or really silly stuff like Guillotine or Gloom?

@Skye
Oh, I forgot about Guillotine. Used to play that with my team back in 1998. Good times, lovely sangria. 😀

@kupo, Texas zombies looks really interesting (actually a lot of the games linked here look interesting…Dead of Winter, Skulls, etc…totally need to have another game day w/friends)

@Scildfreja,

I just love games, really. The social lubricant that they provide is exactly what I need in life

Definitely agree