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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 22nd, 2023

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  • To me the ring feels more like heroine or cocaine or something, you know one of the drugs that just make people feel good. The hobbits had no real ambition for more than a good life, and they pretty much all already had that, so when Bilbo or Frodo used the ring it was like “heh, nice” and then they went back to their great life with no desire to use it again. Of course they’re basically microdosing while they carry it so they eventually start to incur the cost. Frodo only really starts to get corrupted after months of grueling travel and suffering, and losing hope of ever returning to his life in the Shire. Everyone else has all these obligations and ambitions that weigh on them, and much like regular people they’ve given up varying degrees of their happiness to further those goals, so the ring would feel like getting back everything they’ve sacrificed and being happy again, or for the first time for some. The metaphor is a bit of a stretch, but I think it fits broadly with these magical artifacts that corrupt people. Just like cocaine, heroin, meth, morphine, or whatever, they give people a feeling that they can’t just get over. It’s biology, they hijack the reward system so we have no choice but to push the feel good button unless we can overcome the urge through willpower or getting whatever feeling the drug or magical artifact is replacing naturally. Some people only get so corrupted but some just keep going, chasing the dragon and replacing more and more of their life with the fake feelings of the drug or magical item.










  • Maybe you’re missing the context. The last time a group of states tried to leave we had a war about it. The confederates lost, are generally considered to have been in the wrong, and basically cemented the precedent that if any state tries it again they’ll get the same result. Everyone pretty much assumes that if Texas really did try to leave it would result in armed conflict, with the scale likely determining if we call it a civil war or not. This is more making fun of the laughable claim that Texas could win in such a scenario, since the US military is better funded than the next 4 or 5 best funded militaries combines. It is generally assumed that the federal government wouldn’t fight for Texas for the aforementioned historical reasons. Also there’s not 72 million people in Texas, there’s around 30 million, and many of those 72 million gun owners wouldn’t fight for Texas. I’d hazard to say most.