The whole world is crazy.
Actually, I agree, conspiracy theories and such are nothing new, but technology gives them a speed and reach they never had before mass communication existed. I always think to the Birchers in the 1950s thinking Dwight Eisenhower was a conscious agent of international communism as a great example of something that's just as crazy as anything being floated today, but back then it was confined to a relatively small group who were able to be marginalized by William F Buckley, as opposed to now when there aren't any gatekeepers able to police the boundaries, and it's so much easier for like minded people to connect to one another and feed off of their mutual energy and ideas.
_________________
“The totally convinced and the totally stupid have too much in common for the resemblance to be accidental.”
-- Robert Anton Wilson
Actually, I agree, conspiracy theories and such are nothing new, but technology gives them a speed and reach they never had before mass communication existed. I always think to the Birchers in the 1950s thinking Dwight Eisenhower was a conscious agent of international communism as a great example of something that's just as crazy as anything being floated today, but back then it was confined to a relatively small group who were able to be marginalized by William F Buckley, as opposed to now when there aren't any gatekeepers able to police the boundaries, and it's so much easier for like minded people to connect to one another and feed off of their mutual energy and ideas.
I guess technology has facilitated the rapid spread of good and bad information quickly.
Yeah, the whole double edged sword thing is very real, and the metaphor than be extended to almost anything. Social media in particular really does seem like an extreme example, it allows me to keep in touch with friends I would have lost track of years ago without it, but it also causes conflicts with people that would never have happened had they not had a platform for sharing their inner thoughts that perhaps should have stayed private.
_________________
“The totally convinced and the totally stupid have too much in common for the resemblance to be accidental.”
-- Robert Anton Wilson
Yeah, the whole double edged sword thing is very real, and the metaphor than be extended to almost anything. Social media in particular really does seem like an extreme example, it allows me to keep in touch with friends I would have lost track of years ago without it, but it also causes conflicts with people that would never have happened had they not had a platform for sharing their inner thoughts that perhaps should have stayed private.
Yeah I've had ex girlfriends try and reconnect/contact me via facebook 20 years after I last saw them in the 1990s. Back in the 1990s when you stopped seeing somebody they became invisible (even if they lived down the road), Now in 2022 a simple google search and you can find my entire life-history.
I've often thought of reaching out to people I knew in primary school via social media but I stop myself because it's a little creepy.
Dear_one
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Well, sanity is somewhat a matter of opinion. The more people who believe something, the less sane disagreement looks. However, I have always found a firm foundation in logic and science by doing it myself. I once had a licensed electrician telling me that it was impossible for my monitor to be on, but it was. I had done the circuit diagram, and he had just relied on his memory of never having seen it done.
Well, if you want the left wing conspiracy version, getting the economy back up and running and doing so fairly might require looking into various companies and individuals and their business practices, where as wokeness is an excellent distraction that doesn't require such inquiries, and is very easy for big companies to make token efforts in the direction of.
Well I talked to a friend of mine who is more left wing compared to me where as I feel I am more centrist more so... She said that the reason why the left never talks about the economy having problems is that it doesn't have problems and the economy is fine and this thing about the economy going down is just right wing propaganda to try to get people on their side. Is that true, or does she have a point though?
It's not so much about the economy going up or down as it is the idea that the economy is fundamentally unfair and manipulated to benefit the rich and powerful, and that wokeness is a way of keeping the little people fighting each other instead of recognizing their common enemy in the billionaire class and possibly doing something about it. I don't believe it's an organized conspiracy or anything like that, but it sure does seem to work that way, with companies adopting woke politics that don't actually effect their bottom lines but allow them to pretend to be the good guys and deflect criticism.
_________________
“The totally convinced and the totally stupid have too much in common for the resemblance to be accidental.”
-- Robert Anton Wilson
Oh okay, but even if it's true that the economy still propels rich people, poor people still need jobs too, don't they? I mean are poor people who are left wing really going to say "It's worth us not having jobs, because that means the rich people suffer too". Wouldn't the poor people rather just get jobs, compared to suffering just to stick it to rich people?
Dear_one
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Having owned a small business, that's easier said than done. The state, or at least my state, makes it much harder than it needs to be, and has their hand out at every step for their cut, plus you're on the hook for any losses, but if you do actually manage to turn a profit, the state is right there for their piece. It's like the opposite of what happened with the big banks and brokers in 2007, private profits and socialized risk, even though making it easier to start a business should be in their interest to generate jobs and incomes that contribute to the economy that broadens their tax base.
_________________
“The totally convinced and the totally stupid have too much in common for the resemblance to be accidental.”
-- Robert Anton Wilson
Dear_one
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Having owned a small business, that's easier said than done. The state, or at least my state, makes it much harder than it needs to be, and has their hand out at every step for their cut, plus you're on the hook for any losses, but if you do actually manage to turn a profit, the state is right there for their piece. It's like the opposite of what happened with the big banks and brokers in 2007, private profits and socialized risk, even though making it easier to start a business should be in their interest to generate jobs and incomes that contribute to the economy that broadens their tax base.
Aye, because everything is rigged for the fat cats. It is a sick economy. Capitalism is designed to wind up with one owner for everything, and it is getting closer every year.
Eh, I wouldn't go that far, capitalism has raised the global standard of living faster than anything ever tried before, and certainly has a better track record than any of the alternatives, but it does have some quirks and issues that need to be addressed, notably crony capitalism, regulatory capture, and rent seeking by the major players, but I think those things can be addressed without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I haven't entirely given up my libertarian belief that the state usually screws up everything it touches due to the nature of bureaucracy and the lack of market incentives, but I also am in favor of some pretty radical wealth redistribution and regulation of Wall Street in particular, as well as stepped up enforcement of things like wage theft and exploitative business practices, I think there is a balance to be found there.
_________________
“The totally convinced and the totally stupid have too much in common for the resemblance to be accidental.”
-- Robert Anton Wilson
Dear_one
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Capitalism is not what makes us prosperous; that's just a parasite agitating the trade and technology that have made our species totally dominant. It is also the force that is driving us into climate disaster, as the rich feel isolated from consequences. We are currently living on oil, but we could be harvesting wind and sun instead.
Dear_one
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Nuclear has never been as cheap as coal, and now both wind and solar are cheaper than that. We were sold reactors to subsidize the production of atomic bombs. The more activity in the nuclear field, the more opportunity for both accidents and crime.
Nuclear waste is an ongoing problem, like a deadly stain that will always spread, and only slowed down by constant maintenance. The attempts at permanent storage have quickly failed. The accident sites are permanently degraded.
There is not enough Uranium to power Earth for more than a few decades, and all attempts at re-processing it have been expensive disasters.
Fusion of hydrogen would be promising if not for the outrageous expense, and the fact that we have to use Deuterium or Tritium to have any chance, and those spew excess neutrons, slowly turning the apparatus into radioactive waste.
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