Talcosis

BRI is almost certainly economic colonization. Is that nicer than European colonialism? Yes. Will it have negative effects on African nations? We shall see…but I think it’s likely. It’s like that megaport China is building in Myanmar: it’s way more capacity than Myanmar needs. Maybe a debt trap, maybe a way to continue shipping through there in return for maintenance that Myanmar can’t afford. Maybe just a big Chinese billboard on the coast.

China quietly beat the USA in 2018. That was the year that China became the global leader in scientific output. Everything is downstream of scientific and technological advancement.

Tbf Shadow Warrior is explicitly trying to be Blood with more dick jokes.

Time is a resource, and in the modern world where near-full time parental involvement is assumed, it would effectively limit reproduction.

Matter of fact, it is entirely possible that is a significant part of why birthrates keep declining.

True, democrats taking Congress would mean at least two strongly worded letters telling trump to stop doing that.

I have found one specific use case where ML has helped quite a bit: finding trends in massive databases with tons of variables.

Would be nice if by that time there were still functional democracies anywhere in the world.

Nobody deserves shit. I made the choices I made and got to where I am. A number of kids I grew up with made different choices, and left that village for the first time to go die in Ukraine.

C’est la vie.

That’s why the article clarified that instead of reading the Bible, they will read specific passages often taken out of context.

That’s why they (and others) wrote the “smoke cover” loophole into international law.

They just don’t clarify that the “smoke cover” happens inside of their victim’s lungs, as well as other body cavities after the phosphorus burns through the skin.

Pretty much everyone is a real criminal, it’s just that most crimes are so minor that they are ignored (see: jaywalking, speeding, putting ice cream in your pocket). In some cases, the laws exist to provide a fig leaf for the powers that be when they want to fuck with someone.

Imagine being able to say shit like this successfully and earn enough to call it a career.

That skill is not very common.

The oligarchs will escape. The people up against the wall will be those that are not wealthy enough to escape, but not poor enough to be desperate.

There’s a reason that Orwell was banned in the US for being pro-communist and banned in the USSR for being pro-capitalist. That reason is because Orwell was anti-authoritarian.

I was born in a small village ~200km SE of St Peter back in the soviet days. We got electricity when I was six years old, because my neighbor figured out how to tap into some nearby high voltage lines. After the collapse of the soviet union, I collected enough scholarships and got a visa sponsorship to get a chemical engineering degree in the US. Then I went on to grad school. Then I got the rest of my family out of there. Now I am somewhere in the top 10% of the US.

The only advantage I was born with is above average intelligence and the ability to put it to work.

That is the cost of my comfort. And yes, I am sure that whether leftists or fascists take over, I will be persecuted. Fascists will persecute me because I am not a fascist. Leftists will persecute me because I have done reasonably well for myself, but not well enough to hop on a private jet when the shit hits the fan. That is also the cost of my comfort.

Yeah, everyone except the people that end up against the wall.

More often than not, those people aren’t the ones causing the structural problems in society. The really rich people with the power all escape before that point.

Yeah, no shit. I do things to improve my life. If you don’t, then you’re either lying or an actual example of capitalist caricatures of leftism, just looking for a handout.

Edit: And if you’re not acting to improve your life and the lives around you, what’s the purpose of revolution? Action for the sake of Action? That’s point #3 on Umberto Eco’s list of the 14 common features of fascism.

What an astute observation! I wouldn’t even describe it as a boil, maybe a light simmer if anything. Because you know what? My life is pretty nice.

So now that we have established that fact, perhaps it would be prudent to consider how you reach the majority of the population that is in my boat (not literally, I mean, when I’m on my boat I’m generally reading a book on my own). But I mean the ones that think like this and don’t read books by Kropotkin.

I am glad that you were able to build a community of your friends and neighbors.

I do not have the time or resources to do so.

So you labeled that as me being a consumer brained idiot on par with Alzheimer’s. Now you’re surprised that my general demeanor towards you is negative?

Okay. I guess your world doesn’t have a place for me then. If it’s camps either way, I’d rather do it the easy way.

Okay. Well, when all your hard work leads to actual tangible results that are better than the status quo, then we’ll talk.

Until then, less blabbing and more sleeve rolling