Cringe comment tbh. Religion is a net neutral institution. It can be nudged in any direction. Majority atheist states are not less oppressive than majority religious states. America does have a uniquely large amount of Christianity-inspired cults tho. I would say this more of an indicator of America’s failing/non-existent social systems, rather than an inheritant feature of religion.

Cults, mafias and corrupt monopolies exist primarily, when the state fails at least in one key area. They act as competitors of the state. Competition in science, art and economy is great. In governance, competition means public chaos and oppression. Multi-party democracies are the only exceptions (to some extent).

paper money is aight, but coins are super annoying

How big “anti-imperialism” is as an ideology in countries ravaged by America and the former Soviet-bloc.

I’m of Iraqi descent and whenever I visit home I see people supporting extreme ideologies like Islamism or Stalinism or some unholy mix between the two, which is always nuts for me. They are super-political, but they never vote, because that means the “imperialist system wins”. They use anti-imperialism as a justification for anti-LGBT, anti-feminist, anti-democratic, anti-religious and anti-secularist hate.

Otherwise the people are very nice, but if any major political/cultural topic is being mentioned, they go full doomer mode.

I get why anti-imperialism is so big in Iraq, but actually experiencing it, is really crazy.

Only relevant if you talk to a Bedouin living in the desert. Otherwise bidet culture is pretty big in MENA.

I think the first Spiderverse movie, if I remember correctly. It was great, it set a new standard for animation in general.