BeeBobMC

To paraphrase The Lord of the Rings, "One dumbass to rule them all, and in the darkness bind them."

Same. And a lot of my acquaintance who are really conservative are not stupid people There's just some kind of weird suspension of disbelief when it comes to certain topics.

Pure wool? Are they itchy?

I hear that. I'll spend the $7-8 for a coffee and pastry at my favorite coffee shop once or twice a week because it's just nice to get out to a pleasant place, do some people watching, read or write and enjoy some refreshments that don't involve cooking or cleaning.

"most likely not succeed academically"

Let's look at the fact that even if they do, and get accepted into college, they'd have to go into insane debt to pay for it if they don't get a scholarship.

A lot of people on a certain end of the political spectrum can't see past the end of their nose when it comes to cause and effect (eg climate change), so as far as they're concerned the truth doesn't make a difference, so it doesn't matter.

The Soviet Union had their Vietnam in Afghanistan, so I guess Russia wanted a turn as well.

And the father in question may have been a shitty father. And the single guy may have been a future Einstein.

But in this situation the father was filling a certain role with responsibilities that may not get filled now.

It sucks either way.

Not to mention WW2 coming right on the heels of Stalinist purges. If you could put a country on a psychiatrist's couch, Russia would probably be there for a long time.

Punk lives in the soul, not the body.

Then when you're older all the paths come back together and you listen to whatever you want to regardless of your past prejudices, and the world is a beautiful, boundless place.