Author Topic: Idiotic Basketball Questions  (Read 14353 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Re: Idiotic Basketball Questions
« Reply #15 on: January 18, 2021, 06:45:02 PM »

Offline Jvalin

  • Ray Allen
  • ***
  • Posts: 3737
  • Tommy Points: 737
Neither one of them. I come from a small town in the island of Crete. I support our local team, the Rethymno Cretan Kings. Unfortunately, the team got dissolved last summer and we now play in the local divisions of Crete. Don't follow the games anymore.

There's a difference between fighting against oppression and being the oppressor. This is the #1 distinction in my book. The Basques have no country of their own. They are oppressed by Spain. The Republic of Ireland got separated from Northern Ireland because of British oppression. The US under Trump (and prior to Trump for that matter) are oppressed by nobody. If anything, they are the oppressors.

Out of curiosity, did you support Trump prior to what happened in the Capitol or did you always dislike him?

Trump? I've always disliked him. Not that I'm any more enthusiastic about Biden or Harris either though. That said, I'm conscious of being in the very early days of my membership of this forum and I don't want to disrespect the warm welcome I've received by going too deeply into the issue. Suffice to say, Republicanism in Ireland (and in Wales) is very different to Republicanism in the USA. Polar opposites in fact. Tone and Emmet would have found very little in common, if anything, with the GOP.
I bet nobody was enthusiastic about Biden. Not even his own supporters. Anyway, I understand. Political discussions tend to become heated ones in no time! Always love to talk politics and basketball. No big deal that we disagree. If everybody agreed on everything, the world would have been a boring place to live. :P
« Last Edit: January 18, 2021, 06:57:26 PM by Jvalin »

Re: Idiotic Basketball Questions
« Reply #16 on: January 18, 2021, 07:07:13 PM »

Offline 100% Celt

  • The Green Kornet
  • Posts: 88
  • Tommy Points: 25
Neither one of them. I come from a small town in the island of Crete. I support our local team, the Rethymno Cretan Kings. Unfortunately, the team got dissolved last summer and we now play in the local divisions of Crete. Don't follow the games anymore.

There's a difference between fighting against oppression and being the oppressor. This is the #1 distinction in my book. The Basques have no country of their own. They are oppressed by Spain. The Republic of Ireland got separated from Northern Ireland because of British oppression. The US under Trump (and prior to Trump for that matter) are oppressed by nobody. If anything, they are the oppressors.

Out of curiosity, did you support Trump prior to what happened in the Capitol or did you always dislike him?

Trump? I've always disliked him. Not that I'm any more enthusiastic about Biden or Harris either though. That said, I'm conscious of being in the very early days of my membership of this forum and I don't want to disrespect the warm welcome I've received by going too deeply into the issue. Suffice to say, Republicanism in Ireland (and in Wales) is very different to Republicanism in the USA. Polar opposites in fact. Tone and Emmet would have found very little in common, if anything, with the GOP.
I bet nobody was enthusiastic about Biden. Not even his own supporters. Anyway, I understand. Political discussions tend to become heated ones in no time! Always love to talk politics and basketball. No big deal that we disagree. If everybody agreed on everything, the world would have been a boring place to live. :P

I love talking politics as well. When I become part of the furniture I'll open up a bit but at the moment, given that I'm still very much in the "guest stage" of forum membership, I want to be as respectful as possible especially given people here have been very friendly and I want to acknowledge that. In my opinion, being the new kid on the block and criticising things to do with the country the bulk of members come from isn't going to be welcomed. I'm more than happy to criticise Irish (and Welsh) politicians though even at this early stage lol! Disagreeing is good too as that's always more interesting than an echo chamber. The only kind of politics I've no tolerance for is when people are being discriminated against, other than that I'm always interested to learn.

Re: Idiotic Basketball Questions
« Reply #17 on: January 18, 2021, 10:23:57 PM »

Offline Jvalin

  • Ray Allen
  • ***
  • Posts: 3737
  • Tommy Points: 737
Neither one of them. I come from a small town in the island of Crete. I support our local team, the Rethymno Cretan Kings. Unfortunately, the team got dissolved last summer and we now play in the local divisions of Crete. Don't follow the games anymore.

There's a difference between fighting against oppression and being the oppressor. This is the #1 distinction in my book. The Basques have no country of their own. They are oppressed by Spain. The Republic of Ireland got separated from Northern Ireland because of British oppression. The US under Trump (and prior to Trump for that matter) are oppressed by nobody. If anything, they are the oppressors.

Out of curiosity, did you support Trump prior to what happened in the Capitol or did you always dislike him?

Trump? I've always disliked him. Not that I'm any more enthusiastic about Biden or Harris either though. That said, I'm conscious of being in the very early days of my membership of this forum and I don't want to disrespect the warm welcome I've received by going too deeply into the issue. Suffice to say, Republicanism in Ireland (and in Wales) is very different to Republicanism in the USA. Polar opposites in fact. Tone and Emmet would have found very little in common, if anything, with the GOP.
I bet nobody was enthusiastic about Biden. Not even his own supporters. Anyway, I understand. Political discussions tend to become heated ones in no time! Always love to talk politics and basketball. No big deal that we disagree. If everybody agreed on everything, the world would have been a boring place to live. :P

I love talking politics as well. When I become part of the furniture I'll open up a bit but at the moment, given that I'm still very much in the "guest stage" of forum membership, I want to be as respectful as possible especially given people here have been very friendly and I want to acknowledge that. In my opinion, being the new kid on the block and criticising things to do with the country the bulk of members come from isn't going to be welcomed. I'm more than happy to criticise Irish (and Welsh) politicians though even at this early stage lol! Disagreeing is good too as that's always more interesting than an echo chamber. The only kind of politics I've no tolerance for is when people are being discriminated against, other than that I'm always interested to learn.
I guess I must have misunderstood. My bad. When you said you are a nationalist, I thought you were a conservative. This is why I asked you about Trump. Like you said, Irish Republicans have nothing to do with US Republicans. If anything, you are on the left of the vast majority of US Democrats on the political spectrum.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2021, 10:33:38 PM by Jvalin »

Re: Idiotic Basketball Questions
« Reply #18 on: January 19, 2021, 07:19:22 AM »

Offline 100% Celt

  • The Green Kornet
  • Posts: 88
  • Tommy Points: 25
I guess I must have misunderstood. My bad. When you said you are a nationalist, I thought you were a conservative. This is why I asked you about Trump. Like you said, Irish Republicans have nothing to do with US Republicans. If anything, you are on the left of the vast majority of US Democrats on the political spectrum.

I would say Irish Republicans are to the left (and very significantly so) of pretty much all Democrats. The Democrat Party in a European context would be considered very much a right wing party and even Sanders would be viewed as a very moderate centrist, at most centre left. The left in America (apart from a few very fringe parties) doesn't exist. That's not intended to provoke, it's just the reality. There is a fear of the left in America which simply isn't present in Europe. Without going too deeply into it, Rosa Luxemburg would be extremely close to my politics and I would in fact consider myself a Luxemburgist. I'd be happy to carry on talking about this via pm if you'd like to but I'm conscious of being a new member so I don't want to get too into it in open.

Re: Idiotic Basketball Questions
« Reply #19 on: January 19, 2021, 08:11:26 AM »

Offline Jvalin

  • Ray Allen
  • ***
  • Posts: 3737
  • Tommy Points: 737
I guess I must have misunderstood. My bad. When you said you are a nationalist, I thought you were a conservative. This is why I asked you about Trump. Like you said, Irish Republicans have nothing to do with US Republicans. If anything, you are on the left of the vast majority of US Democrats on the political spectrum.

I would say Irish Republicans are to the left (and very significantly so) of pretty much all Democrats. The Democrat Party in a European context would be considered very much a right wing party and even Sanders would be viewed as a very moderate centrist, at most centre left. The left in America (apart from a few very fringe parties) doesn't exist. That's not intended to provoke, it's just the reality. There is a fear of the left in America which simply isn't present in Europe. Without going too deeply into it, Rosa Luxemburg would be extremely close to my politics and I would in fact consider myself a Luxemburgist. I'd be happy to carry on talking about this via pm if you'd like to but I'm conscious of being a new member so I don't want to get too into it in open.
I love this! Most posters here are right wingers by european standards. That said, the political spectrum is leaning heavily towards the right recently. Not just in the US, in most european countries as well. I would argue that Ireland is one of the few exceptions. For instance, the greek government is self identified as neoliberal. Don't get me started on neoliberals, but in fact they're even worse than that. We have a very oppressive government which controls literally all nation-wide media and only serves the interests of banks, multinationals and a bunch of greek oligarchs. We even got a couple of high-profile fascist ministers. I'm talking about legit fascists in the mold of Orban, Trump, Bolsonaro, Salvini, Le Pen and so on.

Welcome to the forum mate! You're like a breath of fresh air!
« Last Edit: January 19, 2021, 08:20:42 AM by Jvalin »

Re: Idiotic Basketball Questions
« Reply #20 on: January 19, 2021, 08:58:48 AM »

Offline 100% Celt

  • The Green Kornet
  • Posts: 88
  • Tommy Points: 25
I guess I must have misunderstood. My bad. When you said you are a nationalist, I thought you were a conservative. This is why I asked you about Trump. Like you said, Irish Republicans have nothing to do with US Republicans. If anything, you are on the left of the vast majority of US Democrats on the political spectrum.

I would say Irish Republicans are to the left (and very significantly so) of pretty much all Democrats. The Democrat Party in a European context would be considered very much a right wing party and even Sanders would be viewed as a very moderate centrist, at most centre left. The left in America (apart from a few very fringe parties) doesn't exist. That's not intended to provoke, it's just the reality. There is a fear of the left in America which simply isn't present in Europe. Without going too deeply into it, Rosa Luxemburg would be extremely close to my politics and I would in fact consider myself a Luxemburgist. I'd be happy to carry on talking about this via pm if you'd like to but I'm conscious of being a new member so I don't want to get too into it in open.
I love this! Most posters here are right wingers by european standards. That said, the political spectrum is leaning heavily towards the right recently. Not just in the US, in most european countries as well. I would argue that Ireland is one of the few exceptions. For instance, the greek government is self identified as neoliberal. Don't get me started on neoliberals, but in fact they're even worse than that. We have a very oppressive government which controls literally all nation-wide media and only serves the interests of banks, multinationals and a bunch of greek oligarchs. We even got a couple of high-profile fascist ministers. I'm talking about legit fascists in the mold of Orban, Trump, Bolsonaro, Salvini, Le Pen and so on.

Welcome to the forum mate! You're like a breath of fresh air!

I replied by PM  :)