The unappetizing title of this piece is: Thorstein Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class—A Status Update I read it despite that. It was kind of interesting in depicting how the wealthy latch onto ideas and ideals out of a desire to display and enhance their status, and how these beliefs, often patently unrealistic and even damaging, then seep down to the lower classes, where they are adopted to much more harm while the 'luxury class' moves on to something else. I was bewildered when I encountered a new social class at Yale four years ago: the luxury belief class. My confusion wasn’t surprising given my unusual background. When I was two years old, my mother was addicted to drugs and my father abandoned us. I grew up in multiple foster homes, was then adopted into a series of broken homes, and then experienced a series of family tragedies. Later, after a few years in the military, I went to Yale on the GI Bill. On campus, I realized that luxury beliefs have become fashionable status symbols. Luxury beliefs are ideas and opinions that confer status on the rich at very little cost, while taking a toll on the lower class. ... Unfortunately, the luxury beliefs of the upper class often trickle down and are adopted by people lower down the food chain, which means many of these beliefs end up causing social harm. Take polyamory. I had a revealing conversation recently with a student at an elite university. He said that when he sets his Tinder radius to five miles, about half of the women, mostly other students, said they were “polyamorous” in their bios. Then, when he extended the radius to 15 miles to include the rest of the city and its outskirts, about half of the women were single mothers. The costs created by the luxury beliefs of the former are borne by the latter. Polyamory is the latest expression of sexual freedom championed by the affluent. They are in a better position to manage the complications of novel relationship arrangements. And if these relationships don’t work out, they can recover thanks to their financial capability and social capital. The less fortunate suffer by adopting the beliefs of the upper class. This is well-illustrated by the finding that in 1960 the percentage of American children living with both biological parents was identical for affluent and working-class families—95%. By 2005, 85% of affluent families were still intact, but for working-class families the figure had plummeted to 30%. https://quillette.com/2019/11/16/thorstein-veblens-theory-of-the-leisure-class-a-status-update/

Baobab trees, Madagascar

Hanover, Germany

1

Sunset in Australia

Iceland

Japan

How long have I been saying that the Democrats are going to shoot themselves in the foot with all their identity politics and progressive views? They're vying for the support of the progressives of big cities like New York and Chicago and Los Angeles, but that's not where the election will be decided. The people they need to convince are the people in the swing states of middle America swing states, where those views simply do not go down well. A recent poll shows as much. In the six swing states Trump trails Biden only slightly, and is ahead of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. In 2018, Democratic candidates waded into hostile territory and flipped 40 House districts, many of them moderate or conservative in their makeup. In almost every instance, their formula centered on narrowing their target profile by avoiding controversial positions, and focusing obsessively on Republican weaknesses, primarily Donald Trump’s abuses of power and attempts to eliminate health insurance for millions of Americans. The Democratic presidential field has largely abandoned that model. Working from the premise that the country largely agrees with them on everything, or that agreeing with the majority of voters on issues is not necessary to win, the campaign has proceeded in blissful unawareness of the extremely high chance that Trump will win again. A new batch of swing state polls from the New York Times ought to deliver a bracing shock to Democrats. The polls find that, in six swing states — Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina, and Arizona — Trump is highly competitive. He trails Joe Biden there by the narrowest of margins, and leads Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/11/poll-trump-beats-democrats-swing-state-biden-warren-sanders.html

A worthwhile addition to the exploration of the subject "Why the fuck do people support Donald Trump?" Look closely. Those are evangelical leaders and pastors – people who represent America's various streams of fundamentalist Christianity – venerating a president who, I think it's safe to say, reflects none of the qualities Jesus is believed to have embodied. It has become almost banal to recite Trump's ugly, vulgar, misogynist, racist mendacity, and yet here he is in an official White House photo, an image clearly meant to invoke the Last Supper, in the midst of an ecstatic laying on of hands. It is no exaggeration to say many evangelicals consider Trump an anointed figure; a clearly venal man somehow chosen by their God to rescue America from venality. Eighty one per cent of white evangelicals voted for him in 2016 (notice the "white" caveat there – more on that in a moment). https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-neil-macdonald-trump-white-evangelicals-1.5346659

Did this come to your door this year:

Paso Giau, Italy

Beachy Head, Dover - England

To be fair it is not, and neither is anyone spreading misinformation.. which is anything you disagree with.

To far left extremists like you anyone who doesn't worship or admire Islam is an 'islamophobe'.

Are you seriously comparing an effort to stop women wearing shrouds to gassing people in ovens?

Of course not; you just repeat right-wing extremist nonsense from right-wing extremist sources. If you don't hate on Muslims, believe fake news and anti-Islam propaganda sites, you're human scum as far as Goddess is concerned.

If you don't love Islam and give Islam the respect she feels it deserves, you're human scum in Dia's books.

Well Dialamah, based on my own unpleasant experiences with Muslims and knowledge of Islam, I can't help but too feel and think the way I do. I am in no way a right-wing extremist. I love and respect many cultures. The nerve of you. You are a left-wing extremist then? There is no guidance or help out there. No leaders taking a stand and speaking to the Canadian people about this problem. It exists. No, it's just thrown in our faces and we are to shut up and not talk about our fears and concerns.

I hope your weekend is as pleasant as your personality.

Well to be fair, this forum is becoming a hangout for right-wing extremists and Islamophobes spreading misinformation, so she fits right in.