I got my first tattoo on my chest as a pretty skinny dude (upper peck / under the shoulder). Pain wasn’t terrible for the most part, and like other good spots it’s covered most of the time but visible when wearing a tank-top.

Oh I absolutely relate with not having that deep connection until later on. I’m probably a little younger than you so by the time I discovered Michael at the age of 4 or so his legacy had already been established, I had vol 1 and 2 of the HIStory music videos and would watch them obsessively trying to dance and sing along, as a child I loved the performance aspect of it but even then felt some sort of emotional resonance… now as an adult when I dip back into Michael I can’t help but think about just how formative his art was in my life.

Yeah it’s the same shout used in many other performances, some of which that have very different messages and intentions. From a viewer’s perspective I agree that it can be easily misinterpreted; from a performer’s perspective, I don’t think the sound was specifically chosen or planned, when you’re zoned in on your performance you’re channeling a lot of energy and some things just find their way out. That’s what makes it so powerful to me, the dance doesn’t even feel specifically choreographed, the sound and dance are just expressions of raw emotion.

The man can literally make me want to cry by moving around and shouting. It’s so incredible.

but with the utterly bizarre shouts that don’t match the feel of the visuals.

I feel it matches perfectly, like you said it’s a dance of protest and anger, to me the improvised shouts are like outbursts of passion and anguish.

Not disagreeing with your opinion, the vocalisations are a little jarring. This music video (and a ton of other Michael videos) were a huge part of my childhood so maybe I’m just used to his shouts being a part of the visual.

Perspective from a mid-twenties American. I realized it was horseshit during the 2016 Trump election.

I was turning 18 just in time to vote in this election, and it was right around then that I started forming my own ideas about politics and what political “side” I stood on. Like a majority people with a semi-functioning brain, I thought Trump was an actual joke, a meme that had no chance at actually winning, like how we were acting when Kanye ran. Unironically, I thought that having trainwrecks of a leader was something that “other countries” did, obviously America wouldn’t let someone like this win because even though we make little mistakes here and there like Iraq and slavery we’re still the good guys and we wouldn’t actually let a moron like Trump become our president.

When it became obvious that he was more than a joke and an actual serious candidate with high potential to win, I realized that the only people consistently talking about how amazing America was at everything were the people voting for him, and I started dissecting the things I’d taken for granted.

Yeah, I’d actually forgotten about it since I’ve been here for so long but the joke “there’s a sub for everything” is actually completely true and one of the things I miss, even if it’s an inactive community you can 80% of the time find a subreddit with a few dozen posts to check out. I used to just hit “random” until I found an interesting one. I feel like I’d cycle through all the communities on my instance in a couple of days.

That being said I love the small feeling here compared to Reddit and if I had to choose between “small community with conversation” and “unlimited dopamine trickle tap” I’d rather it stay as it is

Thank you for your service well written response, it was really informative. I was really young when most of this shift began so most of my conscious life I’ve seen people throw themselves at veteran’s feet (unless they’re homeless of course… then ew) and didn’t know it was a relatively recent thing.

That ain’t a bollard, them giant concrete balls outside of target, now thems are bollards

How do you answer that question honestly though? Say I’ve got enough liquid cash/ income to buy a second home, if I decide to just sit on this money or throw it in the stock market, does it magically make the family of four able to afford it? No, the house remains the same price, the family has the same amount of money, and the seller moves to the next buyer and sells it to them instead of me.

If anything I’d rather my landlord be someone who owns 2 or 3 homes and rents them than a huge real estate company

mooOO’ DOUGH

DOT COOOM

Read the parent comment that we are under; do they sound like a Nazi to you? I’m not talking about the people that have already made up their mind that they want a Trump presidency, I’m talking about the uninformed, the unaware, the people starting to doubt their resolve, the people unsure their voice matters.

I feel like everyone that is arguing with what I’ve said thinks that I don’t agree that a Trump presidency will result in a huge increase in fascist ideology. It will be absolutely terrible if the man gets elected again and it absolutely will have drastic consequences to the US government.

This does not change the fact that LITERALLY, the ballot is between Biden and Trump, not between Fascism and Not-Fascism.

If someone is on the fence about something and you talk to them like there’s only one logical option (even if there is only one logical option), the immediate reaction will almost be a defensive one, and rarely will they be persuaded to your way of thinking. Like the abortion example I gave above; if you were on the fence about abortion, and someone asked you if you thought murder was wrong, that would be a fair sign that they aren’t presenting a good-faith discussion, and just want to brow-beat you in to their opinion. If you ask someone who (somehow) hasn’t paid attention to politics in the last decade if they want to let [presidential candidate] turn the country into [bad thing], you’re not opening a fair discussion, even if it’s most likely true that the outcome you describe is the one we will see.

I… What? I think you’ve got me mistaken for someone else bud, I’ve voted in every election I could since I was 18, what civic duty have I abandoned? And where did I defend anything?

Ok, but LITERALLY, the ballot says Donald Trump or Joe Biden. HYPERBOLICALLY it says fascism or not. Words don’t just mean whatever we want them to mean, and if someone isn’t already on board with Trump = fascism (which, don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% on that boat), phrasing things in pointed, biased ways isn’t going to convince them that we’re the side of reason.

The same car mechanics that usually have seating, coffee, TV etc for people who can’t leave to use while they wait…? You can also idk walk somewhere and grab a bit to eat? Don’t be mad at the mechanic because your car is broken and you don’t know how to fix it lol, also most shops that I’ve been to have offered me a ride when I live in the area and they aren’t too busy

If you’re speaking hyperbolically, sure. But when you’re trying to have a genuine conversation with someone regarding a serious topic, using hyperbolic speech to belittle someone’s position is pretty lame

I’ll continue to say this question still isn’t being asked in good faith.

Of course the ballot isn’t literally, “do u want fascism or nah”

It’s between two politicians. You and I are agree that one side is almost inherently better than the other, but you have to remember that a. the other side also believes that they are inherently better than the other, and b. not everyone believes that either side is inherently better than the other.

Judging by your comments I’m assuming you’re pro-choice; if someone asked you, “when presented with the choice of outlawing the murder babies, what makes that choice difficult for you?”, you’d rightfully say they aren’t posing the question in a fair way to you. It’s the same thing here, if you’re trying to communicate with someone who doesn’t outright agree with you you can’t just outright attack their position or frame it in a negative light or you just make them defensive and not receptive to an alternative view.

You can push for gun control while still protecting yourself while we don’t have it

Queue Belford: IM NOT FUCKIN LEAVING!

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo

Thirding the notion that it’s definitely not “mat” in the US. A mat is something you put on the ground, Matt is my cousin’s ex-fiance, and matte is a surface finish with little to no shine.

Really don’t know what people say English is hard to learn, we use the same word for so many things that there’s fewer words to learn /s