Quidam Viator posted:

The idea is that if each crab, instead of panicking and trying to be on top, worked together to create a unified crab initiative, that they could all be theoretically pulled out of the bucket through unity. That would require many things: the ability for the crab to overcome the natural pressures of the danger it feels, the artificial threats created by the crabmonger, and the contagious panic of the other crabs.

I like the metaphor because it can be extended. In this case, imagine the crabmonger is the person who's put you into this pot: an oligarch. They can pick you up, push you down, and their goal is to eat you. The person in control only needs to stimulate your natural panic reflexes to get you to fight the other crabs in desperation, and stay trapped. I believe the metaphor is illustrative because it makes an absolutist claim about human behavior, and the cornerstone of human behavior is adaptability.

Let's go back to being metaphorical: even if I admit the impossibility of each of your scenarios above, I can come up with more. They don't need to team up to overpower the crabmonger. Why fight against your opponent's strength. The crabs could cling together with the fiercest pinchers at top, draw attention and bite the poo poo out of the hand. Now the crabmonger is panicked. Now the bucket has been overturned, or perhaps accidentally thrown back in the water. All of the crabs can freeze, and act like they're dead. Now the crabmonger is worried that he's killed the crabs he intends to eat, and now HE's panicking again.

My problem with the people in this thread is that they genuinely believe that we are behaviorally crab-like; that we lack the ability to think outside the bucket, and that any nonconformist ideas should be met with pinching and grabbing. I fiercely believe that there are unpredictable, wild, massively risky techniques that we can attempt as humans to escape the certain death we face if we simply keep on crabbin.

I dream of a carefully planned crab offensive that throws the human being rear end crabmonger out of the boat, opens up the bait bucket, and gives us control of the helm. Because we're HUMAN loving BEINGS. We build pyramids and write relativistic physics, and build Saturn V rockets. Just because you've always been told that human beings cannot unite, will always factionalize and kill each other, even unto their own extinction does not make it true. We are NOT crabs, and it's time to stop acting like crab-rear end dipshits.

Nonsense posted:

Help Bernie out. Ignore people pretending he only serves white interests. He's no Jim Webb.

WhiskeyJuvenile posted:

Nonsense posted:

I remember liking the cheese enchiladas served, so very fake-cheesy!

WhiskeyJuvenile posted:

hey thanks for posting a single line from a loving article I posted last page

Joementum posted:

Sorry man, you posted that while I was writing up the exciting hotdish news, so I missed it. No hard feelings.

zoux posted:

This is why it's pointless to argue with people. Lady was tweeting fake racist looting photos and: