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I just feel extremely sad about the mass quantity of events like this happening right now because they are all aggregate to huge negative effects but the averag

I just feel extremely sad about the mass quantity of events like this happening right now because they are all aggregate to huge negative effects but the average person knows nothing of it. It feels so unfixable.

selfselfgo 1y ago
[dead]
beanjammin 1y ago
They certainly want us to feel like its unfixable, but it's not. Were govt to put the effort into the energy transition that we saw in the early days of covid we could zero our emissions, and relatively quickly. The technology is largely available, it needs to be implemented. The ties between the fossil fuel industry and the far right are clear. Apathy, indifference, inertia, they are all products of propaganda and updated Cambridge Analytica methods. Fossil fuel interests will stop at nothing to further their greed.
- schmidtleonard 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - pjc50 1y ago
    You weren't paying attention to his Twitter, then. The far right turn was extremely obvious.
    - epgui 1y ago
      You can pinpoint, fairly easily, the year Elon turned from eccentric to insane to sometime in 2019 just by looking at his wiki page. It’s so weird.
      - ta1243 1y ago
        I think it was "pedo guy" which broke something in him.
        epgui 1y ago
        Maybe... But to me that whole incident seems more like a symptom than a cause. IMHO (disclaimer: pure conjecture), Musk must have been "broken" prior to engaging in such behaviour.
      - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 1y ago
        Huh, makes me wonder about claims that it’s a reaction to his daughter coming out as trans. That happened publicly in 2020, according to wikipedia, but it probably came up in private beforehand. The timing is close enough that it seems likely. It’s interesting to note since I wasn’t really familiar with the timeline of his villain arc.
        assbuttbuttass 1y ago
        No one becomes transphobic when a family member comes out as trans, it's usually the opposite
        bbatsell 1y ago
        I agree that it's not the usual response, but given Musk's strong promotion of natalism and the fact that he has used IVF to select XY embryos for _all_ of his offspring...
        theossuary 1y ago
        Am I misreading this it are you claiming the family of trans people becoming more transphobic when they find out not common? Because it's extremely common. There's a reason the joke exists: Don't like in-laws? Date a trans person and you won't have to worry about them!
        pjc50 1y ago
        ? It's uncommon for trans people to still be on good terms with their family. Coming out often gets terrible reactions.
- close04 1y ago
  > The ties between the fossil fuel industry and the far right are clear. The fossil fuel industry has ties to anyone who will promote their business. > Fossil fuel interests will stop at nothing to further their greed. Exactly. Nothing. If tomorrow the left advances their interest be sure that the fossil fuel industry will just as quickly attach to them.
  - dgb23 1y ago
    Is there a term to describe "whataboutism but it's not even happening"?
    - close04 1y ago
      > "whataboutism but it's not even happening"? What's not happening? I think you are confusing what "whataboutism" is? "Whatabout" the exact same fossil fuel industry OP referenced? I corrected a misconception that OP had, and I guess so do you: that the oil industry cares about political affiliation. To you this probably sounded like a support of the right, and whatabouting the left. Least effort interpretation meets trigger happiness. The oil industry has monetary affiliations and intrinsically sees no political color or affiliation except in the interest of making that money. The other way around, the US right has a strong preference for the oil industry, while the left has less. But I was clear that I'm looking at it from the industry's perspective: the oil industry doesn't care about right or left. They will without a doubt allow any tide to lift their boat without any moral argument. This distinction is important. Plenty of places in the world where the oil industry is affiliated to the center or left. Again, there's nothing intrinsically "right wing" about the oil industry, there something strongly "oil leaning" in the US right-wing. An example that captures this a bit is Musk publicly supporting and having ties to the democrat administration for years when it benefited him and the EV/green agenda. He had no qualms shifting to supporting the republicans when he thought this will benefit him even more despite the right being anti-green. You can bet that he'd try to switch back if the tides turn again although this time it's hard to come back from what he did. Source: worked in the oil industry for years.
      - 1y ago
- psadauskas 1y ago
  All of this is extremely easily fixable, from a technical standpoint. But, every solution would make some rich guy very slightly less rich, so its going to be an uphill battle where we have to fight for each step. If there's some proposed legislation that would make things notably better for 50 million people, but would cost an insurance company 100 million dollars, then that insurance company can spend any amount less than 100 million fighting the bill and still come out ahead. Even 10 million can buy a lot of lobbyists, and almost guarantee torpedoing the bill. Meanwhile the 50 million people are working 80 hours/wk across three jobs just to put food on the table, are stressed about how to pay rent, and don't have the personal cell phone number of their congressperson even if they had the time and energy to call them.
  - ethbr1 1y ago
    The failure for Democrats has been to convert those 80 hours/wk and poor economic conditions to support. Trump can increase inequality and make wealthy people wealthier, but says he's doing good for poor people. If things get better, it's because of him. If things get worse, it's because of someone else. Ergo, poor people support him.
    - psadauskas 1y ago
      I'm not sure "failure for Democrats" is the right way to frame it, because the system is working as intended, and the Democrats are responding to the lobbyists rather than the people, same as Republicans. Your choices are the party of billionaires, or the party of billionaires except we don't hate gay people quite as much.
SchemaLoad 1y ago
[flagged]
- ThatMedicIsASpy 1y ago
  Doubt with the whole tech stack. Germany is using a lot more Palantir in the police. I'd love to see change.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - FirmwareBurner 1y ago
    Germany produces not much valuable SW yet their police surveillance state has no issues making use of foreign developed spyware tech (Palantir, Pegasus) against its citizens if they say the wrong things or are not part of the political establishment. Do you still get threatening letters with fines at home when you download a pirated movie?
    - ThatMedicIsASpy 1y ago
      I have been pirating on and off for almost 25 years. This wasn't a problem in my early years so I learned and know all the sides of it. I would have definitely got those in my early days. But the whole thing started way later and they should still be around.
- jordanb 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - ben_w 1y ago
    That a Ukraine loss is seen as the end of a free Europe (because Russia wouldn't stop at least until at least DDR Germany borders), is why the other European nations are collectively increasing military spending. For a sense of scale (only scale, money is definitely not the most important criteria), the EU currently spends twice as much on their military as Russia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_highest_military_expenditures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_highest... So if (when) American support disappears, I expect Russia to continue to not go anywhere fast while wasting a lot of lives in the process. I also expect this to surprise Putin, as he thinks Russia is a Great Power and therefore can only be stalling if Ukraine is supported by another Great Power and doesn't recognise that (1) Russia isn't, and (2) the EU kinda is, sort of, when it feels like acting with unity rather than as 27 different nations.
forgotoldacc 1y ago
The big problem is people tend to look at history as a singular event, or the final consequence of a series of events. When such events are clearly ongoing, people roll their eyes and say you're overreacting. Then when it all ends and consequences happen, people say now is the time for healing, nobody could've foreseen this, and it's too bad nothing could've been done. It's the same as being sober and trapped in a car with a drunk driver and their drunk friends. To them, it's fine. They're comfortable with what they're doing. You're the one being annoying for complaining. But their every action is not only endangering you and themselves, but it's endangering people on the perimeters who don't even know about the crisis that's happening within that 2 ton box. Some can see the swerving from far away, but there's nothing they can do. The only hope is the passenger trying to reason with an angry drunk to pull over, but it'll never happen. They'll just get more pissed off and drive more erratically to mess with you and to get some laughs from their friends. So it's a struggle between closing your eyes and hoping it's over soon, or trying to fight back and hope you can stop them. But neither option is easy and both shift the responsibility to someone other than the ones causing the chaos.
lrvick 1y ago
It is fixable, but we are going to have to wait until the mid-terms to slow down the insanity, so in 3 years we can roll it back and start the cycle over again, as is tradition.
- crackrook 1y ago
  I believe the false perception that geopolitics are cyclical is a major contributor to the political apathy that allows clowns to get elected, or it seems strongly correlated, at least. Some doors can't be shut, once opened, and the current administration opens every door without a thought of what could be behind it. Maybe better people get elected next cycle, but they won't be able to rebuild everything. I hope people recognize that their tax dollars aren't the only dollars that can evoke change; we don't have to wait our turn to start fixing things.
  - lrvick 1y ago
    It is not entirely cyclical. We always have these one-step-back phases of the old guard clinging to power, then we make big steps forward again. Black people are not slaves anymore, women can vote, gays can marry, weed is mostly legal, etc. It takes longer than anyone wants it to, but we always get upgrades that stick in the progress phases of the cycle. This time the steps backwards are bigger than usual, so in 3 years there will be a lot more will to take even bigger steps forwards and progressives need to be ready to move fast when it is their turn again. Mamdani is a preview.

selfselfgo 1y ago

[dead]

beanjammin 1y ago

They certainly want us to feel like its unfixable, but it's not. Were govt to put the effort into the energy transition that we saw in the early days of covid we could zero our emissions, and relatively quickly. The technology is largely available, it needs to be implemented. The ties between the fossil fuel industry and the far right are clear. Apathy, indifference, inertia, they are all products of propaganda and updated Cambridge Analytica methods. Fossil fuel interests will stop at nothing to further their greed.

schmidtleonard 1y ago
[flagged]
- pjc50 1y ago
  You weren't paying attention to his Twitter, then. The far right turn was extremely obvious.
  - epgui 1y ago
    You can pinpoint, fairly easily, the year Elon turned from eccentric to insane to sometime in 2019 just by looking at his wiki page. It’s so weird.
    - ta1243 1y ago
      I think it was "pedo guy" which broke something in him.
      - epgui 1y ago
        Maybe... But to me that whole incident seems more like a symptom than a cause. IMHO (disclaimer: pure conjecture), Musk must have been "broken" prior to engaging in such behaviour.
    - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 1y ago
      Huh, makes me wonder about claims that it’s a reaction to his daughter coming out as trans. That happened publicly in 2020, according to wikipedia, but it probably came up in private beforehand. The timing is close enough that it seems likely. It’s interesting to note since I wasn’t really familiar with the timeline of his villain arc.
      - assbuttbuttass 1y ago
        No one becomes transphobic when a family member comes out as trans, it's usually the opposite
        bbatsell 1y ago
        I agree that it's not the usual response, but given Musk's strong promotion of natalism and the fact that he has used IVF to select XY embryos for _all_ of his offspring...
        theossuary 1y ago
        Am I misreading this it are you claiming the family of trans people becoming more transphobic when they find out not common? Because it's extremely common. There's a reason the joke exists: Don't like in-laws? Date a trans person and you won't have to worry about them!
        pjc50 1y ago
        ? It's uncommon for trans people to still be on good terms with their family. Coming out often gets terrible reactions.
close04 1y ago
> The ties between the fossil fuel industry and the far right are clear. The fossil fuel industry has ties to anyone who will promote their business. > Fossil fuel interests will stop at nothing to further their greed. Exactly. Nothing. If tomorrow the left advances their interest be sure that the fossil fuel industry will just as quickly attach to them.
- dgb23 1y ago
  Is there a term to describe "whataboutism but it's not even happening"?
  - close04 1y ago
    > "whataboutism but it's not even happening"? What's not happening? I think you are confusing what "whataboutism" is? "Whatabout" the exact same fossil fuel industry OP referenced? I corrected a misconception that OP had, and I guess so do you: that the oil industry cares about political affiliation. To you this probably sounded like a support of the right, and whatabouting the left. Least effort interpretation meets trigger happiness. The oil industry has monetary affiliations and intrinsically sees no political color or affiliation except in the interest of making that money. The other way around, the US right has a strong preference for the oil industry, while the left has less. But I was clear that I'm looking at it from the industry's perspective: the oil industry doesn't care about right or left. They will without a doubt allow any tide to lift their boat without any moral argument. This distinction is important. Plenty of places in the world where the oil industry is affiliated to the center or left. Again, there's nothing intrinsically "right wing" about the oil industry, there something strongly "oil leaning" in the US right-wing. An example that captures this a bit is Musk publicly supporting and having ties to the democrat administration for years when it benefited him and the EV/green agenda. He had no qualms shifting to supporting the republicans when he thought this will benefit him even more despite the right being anti-green. You can bet that he'd try to switch back if the tides turn again although this time it's hard to come back from what he did. Source: worked in the oil industry for years.
    - 1y ago
psadauskas 1y ago
All of this is extremely easily fixable, from a technical standpoint. But, every solution would make some rich guy very slightly less rich, so its going to be an uphill battle where we have to fight for each step. If there's some proposed legislation that would make things notably better for 50 million people, but would cost an insurance company 100 million dollars, then that insurance company can spend any amount less than 100 million fighting the bill and still come out ahead. Even 10 million can buy a lot of lobbyists, and almost guarantee torpedoing the bill. Meanwhile the 50 million people are working 80 hours/wk across three jobs just to put food on the table, are stressed about how to pay rent, and don't have the personal cell phone number of their congressperson even if they had the time and energy to call them.
- ethbr1 1y ago
  The failure for Democrats has been to convert those 80 hours/wk and poor economic conditions to support. Trump can increase inequality and make wealthy people wealthier, but says he's doing good for poor people. If things get better, it's because of him. If things get worse, it's because of someone else. Ergo, poor people support him.
  - psadauskas 1y ago
    I'm not sure "failure for Democrats" is the right way to frame it, because the system is working as intended, and the Democrats are responding to the lobbyists rather than the people, same as Republicans. Your choices are the party of billionaires, or the party of billionaires except we don't hate gay people quite as much.

SchemaLoad 1y ago

[flagged]

ThatMedicIsASpy 1y ago
Doubt with the whole tech stack. Germany is using a lot more Palantir in the police. I'd love to see change.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago
  Germany produces not much valuable SW yet their police surveillance state has no issues making use of foreign developed spyware tech (Palantir, Pegasus) against its citizens if they say the wrong things or are not part of the political establishment. Do you still get threatening letters with fines at home when you download a pirated movie?
  - ThatMedicIsASpy 1y ago
    I have been pirating on and off for almost 25 years. This wasn't a problem in my early years so I learned and know all the sides of it. I would have definitely got those in my early days. But the whole thing started way later and they should still be around.
jordanb 1y ago
[flagged]
- ben_w 1y ago
  That a Ukraine loss is seen as the end of a free Europe (because Russia wouldn't stop at least until at least DDR Germany borders), is why the other European nations are collectively increasing military spending. For a sense of scale (only scale, money is definitely not the most important criteria), the EU currently spends twice as much on their military as Russia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_highest_military_expenditures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_highest... So if (when) American support disappears, I expect Russia to continue to not go anywhere fast while wasting a lot of lives in the process. I also expect this to surprise Putin, as he thinks Russia is a Great Power and therefore can only be stalling if Ukraine is supported by another Great Power and doesn't recognise that (1) Russia isn't, and (2) the EU kinda is, sort of, when it feels like acting with unity rather than as 27 different nations.

forgotoldacc 1y ago

The big problem is people tend to look at history as a singular event, or the final consequence of a series of events. When such events are clearly ongoing, people roll their eyes and say you're overreacting. Then when it all ends and consequences happen, people say now is the time for healing, nobody could've foreseen this, and it's too bad nothing could've been done. It's the same as being sober and trapped in a car with a drunk driver and their drunk friends. To them, it's fine. They're comfortable with what they're doing. You're the one being annoying for complaining. But their every action is not only endangering you and themselves, but it's endangering people on the perimeters who don't even know about the crisis that's happening within that 2 ton box. Some can see the swerving from far away, but there's nothing they can do. The only hope is the passenger trying to reason with an angry drunk to pull over, but it'll never happen. They'll just get more pissed off and drive more erratically to mess with you and to get some laughs from their friends. So it's a struggle between closing your eyes and hoping it's over soon, or trying to fight back and hope you can stop them. But neither option is easy and both shift the responsibility to someone other than the ones causing the chaos.

lrvick 1y ago

It is fixable, but we are going to have to wait until the mid-terms to slow down the insanity, so in 3 years we can roll it back and start the cycle over again, as is tradition.

crackrook 1y ago
I believe the false perception that geopolitics are cyclical is a major contributor to the political apathy that allows clowns to get elected, or it seems strongly correlated, at least. Some doors can't be shut, once opened, and the current administration opens every door without a thought of what could be behind it. Maybe better people get elected next cycle, but they won't be able to rebuild everything. I hope people recognize that their tax dollars aren't the only dollars that can evoke change; we don't have to wait our turn to start fixing things.
- lrvick 1y ago
  It is not entirely cyclical. We always have these one-step-back phases of the old guard clinging to power, then we make big steps forward again. Black people are not slaves anymore, women can vote, gays can marry, weed is mostly legal, etc. It takes longer than anyone wants it to, but we always get upgrades that stick in the progress phases of the cycle. This time the steps backwards are bigger than usual, so in 3 years there will be a lot more will to take even bigger steps forwards and progressives need to be ready to move fast when it is their turn again. Mamdani is a preview.