Well, something does trickle down, it's just not money/wealth...

Eh, I dunno that I'd actually characterize him as a liberal so much as him being an authoritarian that just pushed whatever happened to serve him at any point. Kinda in the same vein of fascists not having any economic ideology, just whatever serves their ideal of the state at any given moment. So yeah, I certainly agree with your sentiment that Stalin certainly was not a communist, but more because he only cared about gaining/maintaining power rather than actually subscribing to any economic theory.

No, it's really not the same thing. You can legislate better schools with a variety of methods, the main point being that you're regulating government jobs(to oversimplify). You're more limited to negative legislation for parents, such as punishing child abuse. I guess you could technically legislate certain mandates for parents to be better parents, but like, good luck passing said legislation. And even if you do(and this is the big boi), how the fuck do you enforce that??? And on top of even that, how can you be sure parents will be qualified/able to teach their kids such a wide variety of skills? You can fire teachers for incompetence and publicly investigate school districts for failing to faithfully implement good practice. And it should also be mentioned that shifting these expectations (especially via legislation) onto parents will disproportionately burden the poor who will be less likely to have the time, skills, or knowledge to teach said things.

... that restaurant?

I'm struggling with answering this question. I mean, obviously, I don't know. I could give an opinion on what I think is most likely to happen, but what does it matter? Like, legitimately, what does it matter? And I do mean it earnestly, what would it matter even if I just so happened to be right about my speculation?

We all certainly hope that 2025 will be better. But I think the important thing to remember is that 2025 being better is possible. In fact, I used to be a homophobic ultra-conservative fundamentalist Christian bigot. In my remorse over the person I used to be, I noticed I felt shame rather than self-righteousness over my condemnation of people just being who they are. In my longing to undo the evil I committed in the past, I realized I have the opportunity to fight for good, even if it means fighting what feels like my own reflection. I got better. I still have a ways to go and even more internalized prejudice I need to demolish, but at least I know getting better is possible, because I did it before goddammit. And if a dickhead like me can be better, can't we all?

And even if things just turn to absolute shit, I know I can at least make my tiny corner of the world a little bit brighter if I can make myself better. And you know what? I think it's good enough for me to know that I can start doing something about that right now. Afterall, as Marcus Aurelius would say to himself; It is up to you!

Ooo man, this is a super underrated take. Too often people get caught up in what the law is trying to do, how people could get around it, and what the incentives/disincentives are, while not really taking into consideration how the law would actually operate. Sometimes people get all conspiratorial about it trying to point to ulterior motives, but man, most of the time it's more that bad-faith actors are taking advantage of what's already out there rather than actively creating the problems they want to create.

My wife is gonna appreciate the meme, but yeah, she's gonna roll her eyes about who the song is attributed to... all the more reason to send it.

Oh shit! Independent Fundamental Baptist! I had to deal with living with that shit, too. At the end of the day, if the king james bible was good enough for Peter and Paul, it's good enough for me. Also, rock music is the devil.

Are you trolling, or are you just legitimately that oblivious to the experiences of others?

What about it? It's not something we're in control of. It just kinda happens. It can be extremely disruptive to our lives, hence the qualification of it being diagnostic criteria for a disorder. For someone who experiences it as something destructive in their life, it's pretty fucking insulting to hear some jackass mythicize it as some "superpower". Especially after demonstrating a lack of knowledge on a subject they seem to feel entitled to have an opinion about anyway.

Bro, this shit is straight up insulting. Just shut the fuck up about things you very clearly don't understand.

I will preface with the honesty that the people at that "institute"lack; I'm not a medical professional. I'm very good with philosophy, though, so I generally have a good bullshit detector.

I took a look at the website. These people are quacks and actively harmful. There was a self-described "doctor" that was accredited by the same scam company of "alternative medicine" back in 2003 that killed a kid with bone cancer by giving him an infection from the injections of 'treated' blood. They collect all these bullshit "certifications" to make it seem like they're legit, many of them might even legitimately believe this bullshit. First red flag for me was seeing them trying to treat ADHD(a neurodevelopmental disorder) primarily through nutrition. Then I'm seeing buzzwords like "treating ADHD naturally", fake ass degrees from places like some quantum holistic school of alternative medicine or whatever, and loads of meaningless "coaching" certifications like "epidemic answers health". I won't mince words; these are predatory shitheads that actively harm people with their made up bullshit. Stick with legitimately licensed professionals and adhd coaches. You should even be careful with adhd coaches and keep in mind the primary premise of them being supplemental to psychiatry and therapy.

Unfortunately, I'm quite familiar with evil predatory grifters that start shit like this. I've found in my own experience that many of these programs tend to start as corporate seminar pageantry that move the grift into the medical field. I have all the disrespect in the world for the assholes that start this bullshit since they actively make the world a much worse place and demonstrably KILL people with their intellectually dishonest bullshit.

By all means, don't take my word for it. Read the about section for these assholes and look up the programs they display as their accreditations. If you have any questions or objections about my assessment of these people, please ask and I will provide my evidence. These are bad people and I'm 100% ready to die on that hill 1,000 times out of 10.