Bribes aren’t exactly a thing in Switzerland. I’m not saying there isn’t corruption but it’s not common.

Ba ha hahahaha… Thanks, I needed a good laugh…

Having you, a random citizen think there are no bribes and little corruption (I can’t even type it without laughing) doesn’t mean there aren’t any.

Switzerland, the country that claims “neutrality” but acts as the world’s best known financial, and physical, haven for not only the “anonymous” filthy rich like this family (who still have more influence on society as a whole than you can imagine), but actual dictators and war criminals, past and present, too IS corruption, in its entire essence. Its economical and political existence relies heavily on some of if not the dirtiest and most ill gotten money on the planet (the least dirty of which comes from wage theft on a global scale). Being discreet and polite about bribes and corruption is why. Maintaining favour with the evil people whose assets they protect will always be prioritised over anything else, including their local population (who are generally happy to look the other way as long as the dirty money keeps them in a relatively high standard of living, which is why they are kept in a relatively high standard of living), never mind the poor and or enslaved people overseas who are the ones actually paying the price.

That said they have to pay nearly a million dollars to the victims.

That IS a bribe, they’re literally throwing pocket change at the problem to make it go away. Going on their net worth of $70.8b, if they spent a whole million dollars a day, they wouldn’t notice it missing for nearly 200 years. And I say again - 4 of those years are categorically not going to be spent in prison, because they are never going to serve their entire sentence (and whatever part they might serve will undoubtedly be in greater comfort than they ever provided to those they enslave, and I deliberately use present tense because this isn’t going to stop them), which was already a corrupt and pathetic slap on the wrist to begin with.

This isn’t how you stop the filthy rich from enslaving people, this is how you put on a show for the poors to pretend to care while you continue to enable the exploiters and oppressors, because your government and economy depend on it (and because all of those “corruption scores” you see out there are based on perception, not fact).

And you’re buying the act.

Ok, I’ve had a proper read through now, I’ll admit there is a lot to process, but this a lot of sense (and some bits I was already doing without even realising, like trying to get space away from triggers).

I think my situation is tricky because the main person triggering me is my nibling, whose family I live with (I’ve been here since they were born and I’m often left to care for them during the day. Cuddling and playing and just spending hours on the couch watching cartoons with them used to be my escape, but for the past couple of months external stress has gotten worse, and after they “pushed me” on a really bad day and that brain switch has flipped, every time they want to be around me I feel like they’re “pushing me” and fight/flight which is the constant state of my autistic brain anyway, ramps up even more), so I can’t get away from them for any decent length of time, and they’re just a kid and it’s difficult to explain my growing boundaries (every time one gets crossed, by “hostile” or “friendly”, rationally I can tell the difference but irrationally they both have the same impact - a stricter boundary can’t help but pop up in its place, in self defence) and why I need them to stay away from me (or, if they keep “pushing”, why I’m suddenly horrible to them even though they don’t deserve it).

I don’t want to push them away, I rationally know they mean no harm and just want to give and be given love, but I also just need my boundaries respected.

The one thing I have avoided doing is reminiscing about good times because it makes me too upset that I’ve gone from that to this and I spiral in to a really dark place, but I do see how it might help, so I’m going to try my best to try it. I think some of the other advice is a little tricky for someone with sensory processing difficulties though).

Anyway, I won’t ramble any longer, thank you again, I’ve not actually talked about this to anyone else, and I feel like this exchange is a good first step to at least try and fix things.

I do wish I could find a descent therapist though… -_-

Wow, I wasn’t really expecting a reply, never mind something this through!

It’s past 2am here, so my brain can’t take it all in right now, so I’ll give it a proper read tomorrow when I can better process it and reply accordingly, but I just wanted to say I really appreciate your effort, thank you!

the behavioral pathway will flip and the calming trigger will start causing anxiety instead because that’s when you’re doing it most

You might have no idea, but since you bring it up I might as well ask - any way of reversing this once it’s happened? Recently my stress levels have been so heightened that that switch has flipped on some of the things (and people) that gave me most comfort and instead now they just cause me rage, and I’m struggling to find a way back (am autistic too which I understand can make this even harder)…

While them getting a jail sentence is good, the term is a joke, especially since they’re not likely to actually serve it all or even any of it (house arrest, time served, “good behaviour”, bribes, they aren’t short of ways nor money to get around it), and are probably the most likely to re-offend out of anyone who has ever stepped foot in a jail…

I would be much more excited if they were made to pay their earnings for the duration that they kept slaves, to the people they enslaved (never mind all the other people they have and continue to exploit to get to be the richest people), and were then kept under constant supervision to make sure they don’t start doing it again as soon as they possibly can. (I am well aware this will unfortunately never happen)

Now apply it to the super rich, before their accountants get their “creative” hands on it.

https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-the-gender-imbalance-in-top-level-chess-150637

Flu-galoo

Ding ding ding, we have a winner.

(edit to be completely clear: being queer myself, this is not something I am celebrating, just pointing out that you have the correct answer)

This is a massive spoiler for the film in the context of the conversation, but have you tried

What I’m referring to is the idea of allowing myself to believe that a people group are less intelligent than I am just because they don’t align with me politically or ideologically. There is no actual handicap for which they are being discriminated against

They might not have a disability, but using intelligence based insults isn’t ableist because of that, just like calling someone “gay” as an insult isn’t problematic because the person they’re trying to insult isn’t actually gay, but because it frames being gay as a negative term and something worthy of derision and mockery.

Just saying that that kind of thinking sets up a “we’re superior” mentality that can too easily lead to the same kinds of consequences as thinking you’re superior based on race or social status.

It already does, it’s called ableism and it has such deep roots in society it is everywhere no matter political leaning, which is why it is rarely addressed - because most of society still sees it as perfectly acceptable that disabled people are inferior (even though ableism impacts them too, not just because accessibility and inclusion benefit everyone, but because people just don’t like to think about getting hit by a car, having a stroke, or just growing old, nor about their child being born neurodivergent for example).

Seems to me like he said it again (E: or that the spin doctors are telling us about him saying it again now, I doubt it’s the first nor the second time he’s said something bigoted) because he can see that people are more focused on him using a slur, than they are on the context that it is being used in - excluding gay men from the church.

That isn’t to say there’s nothing wrong with using a slur, there obviously is and it all feeds back to exclusionary attitudes, but this is clearly a distraction, and it is working very well - I’ve not seen any comments about the actual discrimination.

Humour hasn’t changed.

Bigoted jokes were never funny, they’re just pandering to the privileged group by punching down at and bullying those outside of it, it’s always been lazy and uncreative (aka “edgy”) “comedians” who resort to it, and that’s why they’re “less popular” now - because when you take the bigotry away, there’s nothing else left.

Unfortunately their privileged and entitled target audience is still large enough (and the interests of those in power to keep society divided strong enough) that they’re not “less popular” at all, the opposite in fact - they’re given netflix specials and continue to have massive platforms to spew their bigotry from despite being desperately unfunny, because it was never about the humour, and always about the spreading of hate and division towards marginalised groups.

Edit: this whole thing reminded me of this Alex Norris comic strip

If your material isn’t received well, you’re targeting the wrong audience. If your material isn’t received well by anybody, the problem is you.

The problems start when they have been telling the “jokes” to the “right” (read: bigoted) audience (this could be their 3 drinking buddies or a small well chosen venue) and they land well, so when the group they’re targeting (and in really bad cases, the general population) doesn’t find it funny it’s their fault for being “too sensitive”, not the “comedian”'s for being an asshole. Privilege breeds entitlement and entitlement makes people believe that the way they experience life is how everyone must experience it, and any challenge to that is met with aggression and or defensiveness.

Ahahaha perfect 😂

So frustrating isn’t it…

Well done, you’ve provided some anecdotal effects and benefits, which I didn’t deny exist.

However none of them demonstrate necessity.

Breathing, sleeping, drinking, eating, shitting - those are necessities.

Having orgasms is not, no matter how much you try to convince yourself and others.

Orgasms are normal, healthy and necessary

Yes, yes, no.

While orgasms are normal and can potentially have some physical and mental benefits, there is no physical or mental necessity to have them (plenty of asexual and otherwise celibate people of all different kinds out there to prove it).