Yes, I was never attempting to steelman OP’s argument. I was pointing out the flaws of the argument as it is given.

Steelmanning is a tool that is helpful in many situations, but that does not mean it is useful in every situation. Perhaps there is an ideal version of OP’s argument, a steelman, that I would agree with. But the actual argument that OP laid out is not ideal, it is hypocritical, and I am pointing that out.

A student who gets a poor grade on a paper does not get to go to the professor and ask them to “steelman” their argument for a better grade. The paper is judged as it is written.

This whole post is about OP taking issue with criticism.

OP’s snarky reference to free speech is hypocritical on its face. The entire thesis of their post is to attack criticism, and criticism is a form of free speech.

Pointing out hypocrisy is not a strawman.

Are you sure you aren’t underestimating the huge volume of demand that needs to be destroyed? I believe something like 20%-25% of demand needs to be destroyed, in both the crude and LNG markets.

The last time demand was 20% lower than baseline was during the two worst months of Covid, when the majority of people were staying inside their home

So the question is: how high does the price of oil have to get in order to force people to consume like they did under the worst of Covid?

I’m no economist, but my gut feeling says it will be sustained significantly higher than $160/barrel.

They shrugged it off when churches were damaged in Gaza, why would this be any different?

There’s this city in the West Bank called Bethlehem, I guess some famous dude was born there. The churches in Bethlehem weren’t able to have Christmas celebrations for two years due to Israel’s genocide.

How did evangelicals respond? Polling says 65% support Israel’s military action in Gaza, even after two years of indiscriminate bombing, death marches, forced starvation, and torture camps.

As an American I think it’s helpful to put this into some sort of perspective.

Things the US won’t forget:

• Tiananmen Square (thousands dead)

Things the US will forget:

• Korean War (3mil civilian dead)

• Vietnam War (2mil civilian dead)

• Iraqi War (1mil civilian dead)

• Violent overthrow of East Timor (widely considered a genocide)

• Violent overthrow of Afghanistan (twice, over 1 mil dead)

• Violent overthrow of Nicaragua

• Violent overthrow of Grenada

• Violent overthrow of Panama

• Violent overthrow of Libya

• Coup d’etat of Guatemala

• Coup d’etat of Iran

• Failed Coup d’etat of Syria

• Failed Coup d’etat of Indonesia

• Many failed Coup d’etat attempts on Cuba

• Coup d’etat of Congo

• Coup d’etat of Laos

• Coup d’etat of the Dominican Republic

• Coup d’etat of Iraq

• Coup d’etat of Brazil

• Successful Coup d’etat of Indonesia (1 mil dead)

• Coup d’etat of Chile

• Multiple Coup d’etat of Bolivia

• Coup d’etat of Haiti

• Multiple Coup d’etat attempts on Venezuela

• Coup d’etat of Palestine

• Mass civilian casualties, destabilization of many governments, people subject to a lifetime of torture without a trial, all under the War on Terror

This list could be so much longer, but I gotta get to work.