Didn't they think this was a good thing less than 5 years ago?

What happened to being the I Fucking Love Science crowd?

It sounds like the so called "experts" were literally making the case for tariffs then.

From what you're saying, it sounds like tariffs are just a way to put money back into the infrastructure without directly taxing citizens.

The fact that paid "economists" from the big institutions and publications think this is a bad thing boggles the mind.

Can't believe people see that as a bad thing. If a work's good, it's good no matter what the year is.

Are there any examples of creators or specific works that have gotten this parallel culture started, in your opinion?

For example, I've heard great things about Sound of Freedom.

I do hope that Trump's 2024 win can trigger a mass cultural awakening where even normies can recognize wokeness and become more motivated to reject this ideology, having seen what can happen when it infests other parts of life firsthand.

I think that good media can be more than just escapism.

It can help people find motivation to do big and great things in their real life; find and act upon confidence, selflessness, and savviness they see in their favorite characters, and introduce them to unique trades and ideas that inspire them to find something they love in life that can give them real value. A reason to wake up in the morning; a way to find talents or trades they can then convert into successful paths in life and perhaps unite with others who have a similarly motivated mindset.

Therefore, I think there's tremendous value in people becoming more aware of wokeness in media and promoting works that don't include it. Everyone needs examples, real or fictional, of people and ideas that inspire them to find their best selves and do great things in life; and sadly, it seems like most post-2020 pop culture just doesn't do that.

I think we've been seeing more awareness around groups like Sweet Baby Inc and how they're little more than vehicles to bully and con developers into making games woke.

Therefore, it seems less companies have become inclined to work with them and games with clues of their involvement have been underperforming left and right.

Do you think this could at least translate into more customers becoming more vigilant about signs of wokeness, avoiding products with those things, and using word of mouth to promote better design and marketing philosophies?

Sort of like how the election fraud of 2020 was so absurd, unprecedented, and massive that people frankly didn't know how to deal with it. But then we learned what to look out for; and come 2024, better safeguards were put in place and it didn't work as well for the Dems this time.

For a car guy like myself, it sounds like this means that if I want to bring this Alpine A110 sports car from France into America, I'd have to pay more to do that as it is not sold in America at all.

I'm probably grossly simplifying these numbers for argument's sake, but we'll say the car costs $100,000.

We'll also say that whatever tariffs he puts in place would probably make putting that car into my possession cost me $130,000 when all is said and done, 25 year import rule not withstanding (I hope Trump reverses this).

It sounds like Trump also wants to combine these tariffs with as many tax cuts as possible for everyone, therefore putting me in a better position to get a nice, albeit niche car like that if I so choose.

That doesn't sound like such a bad deal at all. It blows my mind that even economics professors deliberately neglect to properly teach how these tariffs actually work. It seems like they could actually be part of a better alternative to the debt based system we have now.

Apologies if I sound naive or ignorant; I'm trying my best to understand these concepts.

The irony is that their lives will be even BETTER under a 2nd Trump term. They won't have to worry so much about the government flexing its power over them or robbing them.

Unfortunately, they're too blinded by a manipulative, self-serving propaganda machine that only wants to brainwash them into supporting their own destruction. I hope they come to our side one day.

Your point is why I understand where people who think movies like Talladega Nights indirectly ended up hurting the sport are coming from.

That movie was one of many pop culture pieces that made NASCAR look like some brainless hick freak show, and NASCAR went down the wrong direction responding to those stereotypes. It didn't know whether it should embrace or dispel them, and alienated fans and outsiders alike when trying to appeal to people who were never going to enjoy it just for what it is.

I think the answer to that conundrum was what Steve Bannon calls "focusing on the signal, not the noise". NASCAR should have just ignored how pop culture saw the sport and just focused on maintaining the quality of the core product and marketing what I think NASCAR's strength has been the whole time:

Badass drivers doing incredible things with very powerful cars at speeds most of us can only dream of.

All NASCAR had to do if they felt they absolutely HAD to do something amidst the manufactured racial divide of 2020-21 was release the following statement:

"NASCAR has made tremendous progress establishing ourselves as a sport for all. Our sport is open to all fans and participants alike regardless of distinguishing traits like physical characteristics or social classes. We welcome everyone with a love of speed and competition into the NASCAR family, and we will continue doing so well into the future."

That's it. They didn't have to do anything else to prove their inclusiveness, which they've had well before all the BLM madness. Instead, they handled it in the worst way possible and alienated everyone; fans and outsiders alike.

Thankfully, they've started to bounce back from that lately and no longer emphasize identity politics so much.

As for Bubba, I think some Democrat/globalist strategist paid his team and NASCAR's management to stage the noose hoax, and he probably leaned into it at the direction of some far left or just plain out of touch marketing or PR agent.

Once it started becoming clear that it was a blatant Jussie Smollet like hoax that was intended to start riots and only created more division; and didn't boost the sport's overall reach, I think the whole thing got mostly rejected and that level of Marxist political influence started getting shut down.

Which brings us to where we're at now, an apolitical NASCAR with good core product and far less of a need to cater to people who would never get into it on its own merits. It helps that Bubba and NASCAR as a whole have mostly abstained from forcing politics and social activism into the sport lately.

Yep. I really haven't seen much "Bubba worship" lately. He doesn't seem to get any more attention than the other drivers (I actually think he's a solid, competitive driver in his own right and proved he can win in his Truck and K&N Series days), and I don't think NASCAR themselves give him preferential treatment when it comes to things like officiating.

They probably won't outright say it unless a second Trump term can create a better cultural shift, but I think NASCAR's management quietly knows they fucked up big time with the whole noose hoax and the Let's Go Brandon response. They've mostly just focused on promoting the racing itself over the past couple years.

I think they've been heading in the right direction by largely staying silent on politics or social issues and adding older fan favorite venues back to the schedule.

A lot of the complaints with the current product come less from the evolution of core things like the racing or cars and more from the management's habit of doubling down on bad ideas like a playoff system, stages, or overtime that hurt the sport's reach among long time and potential new fans.

As much as I love NASCAR, I never liked the fights.

I think they're part of the reason it's been dismissed in the public eye as a redneck freak show for so long. The fights make NASCAR's fans and participants look like a bunch of impulsive, petty, and stupid psychopaths that can't use reason to sort problems out. I think there's a reason almost every other motorsport penalizes physical altercations and actively avoids promoting them.

The sport's dangerous enough without people putting their hands on each other. No reason you can't use your words to solve disagreements, especially since we're grown adults.

I know. When NASCAR tries to promote events tied to their emphasis on promoting it as entertainment rather than a sport, it gets talked about for a bit then quickly disappears from the public eye. It doesn't translate into real growth for the sport.

I thought the Hail Melon was cool too, but you really can't force Game 7 moments like that with a convoluted points format or rules. They're special BECAUSE they rarely happen. NASCAR is better off being run as just another motorsport rather than a direct competitor to stick and ball sports or as an entertainment entity, in my opinion.

I hope MJ, Front Row, and Denny are able to win that lawsuit.

It could be what NASCAR needs to become even better and more stable in the long term.

This is how I enjoy the on track action for all 3 of the major NASCAR series; I just ignore the playoff implications, fights, and don't even bother keeping up with how the points system works. I just enjoy seeing how the races play out because I think the base racing product itself is still very good.

Besides, it's hard to make a playoff format work when you still have all 40 or so of the participants on track at the same time. Playoffs only work in other stick and ball sports BECAUSE they don't have more than 2 teams play at the same time, better setting up an elimination format.

I think there is plenty to like about current NASCAR.

The cars look great; we regularly see close, competitive racing with frequent position changes (lead change records have been broken left and right this year), there is far more parity in the field where the smaller teams have a better chance of winning than ever, and I actually like the diverse schedule that has a great mix of ovals and road courses (helps that my first love is sports car/open wheel racing on that last note).

Then situations like what you just described happen that make me scratch my head.

NASCAR has always been a product whose quality for me is defined by the on track action and driver skill alone. I don't think it needs any artificial gimmicks like a playoff system, "overtime", or stages to be exciting. Attempts to create fake drama like that can sometimes overshadow the good points in the public eye.

I don't think the rather manufactured the drama the current rules bring really helps the sport. It frustrates long time fans, doesn't seem to bring new ones in, and seems unpopular among everyone within the industry except for the higher ups that I believe are motivated solely by short term gains.

I think controversies like the one you describe may be a reason why we're seeing sponsors often leave the sport and why even the biggest teams have to struggle to make deals with like 5 companies to fund a full season. Why would I, as an executive, want my brand to be associated with a league that's so often shrouded in controversy purely because of its management's incompetence and unwillingness to listen to feedback?

It's like the polar opposite of F1, which is seeing far more marketing activation and investment than ever. That sport's management isn't perfect, either, but it must be doing something right if it's seeing all this success without needing things like playoffs or "overtime".

In spite of all that, I still watch NASCAR because when it's good, I think it's really good. I just ignore things like the championship or who's making the playoffs; it allows me to appreciate the on track action better. Unfortunately, the management's mistakes can be very glaring, too. Peoples' frustrations with their approach seem to have reached a boiling point (even from industry veterans and drivers), and I admit that at the top, it's time to see what some new talent can bring to the table.

TLDR; I think that current NASCAR is very good, but I think it's time NASCAR abandons all the counterproductive gimmicks they think makes it exciting and lets the already good on track action speak for itself. Perhaps it's also time we see some new talent take up the management and officiating positions for the long term health of the sport.

Avengers Assemble......for a Diddy party.

We all look back at the '90s and 2000s era of gaming with fondness, but apparently some people were already what one would consider woke back in 1999.

Here are some virtue signalling SJWs being put in their place by far more level headed staff members from EGM at that time. The gist of EGM's response was that there was no reason to look for meanings about patriarchies and harmful stereotypes because developers simply didn't intend for games to be big, poetic social commentary.

The polar opposite of gaming media today. It makes you wonder what changed so suddenly.

I wonder if the game industry has an Elon Musk of its own that can buy all these companies out, purge the woke Marxist DEI ideology, phase out the predatory DRM and monetization, and set the stage for the return of a gaming scene more like the one we had in 2010 at least.

I remember a time when this revelation would actually get the nerd culture demographic excited.

Once upon a time, they would have been thrilled to see a public figure like him (especially a politician) express an interest in something people are usually quick to dismiss as frivolous.

Now, they take that common ground they have with him and use it to demonize him. The 180 pop culture pundits have taken on social and political issues never ceases to astound me.

I can't bring myself to get mad at these people. These stories just make me sad.

They got God awful advice from people they should have been able to trust on paper.

These corrupt doctors should be the people who tell them, "No. You do not want to physically warp your body in this way because this procedure comes with long term consequences that are very painful and bad to deal with. You can't reverse them when they're done, either."

"If you think you're the other gender because your interests are different from ones stereotypically associated with your gender (girls liking cars or boys liking dancing and theater, for example), you don't have to put yourself through all the pain and complications that come with any surgeries or medications. Just accept that you're the boy or girl you really are and be proud of what you like."

"Embrace that you're an example that having different interests than most girls/boys like you can be done and that there is nothing wrong with that. You are fine with the body you already have and your interests/hobbies don't make you any less of a man/woman as long as they're not hurting anyone else. There is nothing wrong with that."

Unfortunately, that's not the case. I think it's these horrible doctors that should be shamed, ostracized, and criminally punished for taking advantage of vulnerable people and tricking them into doing irreversible damage to their bodies just for their own profit and fame. These doctors shouldn't be given a free pass for defacing their oath to do no harm when they approve and conduct this "gender-affirming care", especially when they do it to young and impressionable people who have no clue what they're signing up for.

I don't hate these victims (that's what I think they are). I just hope they get the help they ACTUALLY need.

I wouldn't exactly call myself a Democrat Party fan, but watching Carter "vote" just made me sad.

He was in abysmal shape. I felt dirty watching him get trotted out there basically looking like he was dead. I can't bring myself to wish that on anyone.

Except Winnie and Dems are equally dangerous.

Now Mr. Jinping of China, on the other hand....

I hear it's right up there with GoldenEye and Escape from Butcher Bay as one of the best movie licensed games.