old hollywood movies had a lot of verbal sparring that I think is an ancestor of quipping, and I still do enjoy quipping when done well
but it's gotten a whole lot worse recently

there are also people in my own "tribe" who I don't agree with foundationally but there is more common ground
this *is* what "don't let perfect be the enemy of the good" looks like
sometimes the things people tell you are good, just. aren't.

sometimes you're full of shit, as much as everyone is

having high standards is all well and good but i fear sometimes you will take a position that makes no sense just because it serves a different position you also hold

but you can't celebrate mediocrity, because nobody can, mediocrity is boring, it resists even being talked about
keep your idols, but don't pretend they aren't

the conqueror doesn't have the rubicon crossed on them, *they* cross the rubicon *so they can conquer*

the thing about ian miles cheong is that whenever he says shit like this, he wants to say that he and his kind are like julius caesar, but what he's *actually* saying is that he and his kind are like pompey and the senate, fleeing rome in fear

and it's all well and good to be wary of people who want to "retvrn" to some golden age, but we should also be wary of people who want to *create* the golden age in the future
because they are all our enemies

ultimately these terms are imperfect descriptions of our complex reality, terms that break down really quickly in deeper discourse (to say nothing of fitting it into a wider historical context)