Pudutr0n

That’s horrible but yeah… sounds right.

Dolphins and killer whales are capable of all the things you describe. So are all great apes. Chimpanzees are capable of genocide. It’s not even human nature. It’s just nature.

Are you familiar with Dunbar’s number? The problem isn’t how people organize, it’s how many people organize. You get groups too big, the human empathy module short circuits and starts ignoring other humans as such…

You know what other animals can organize in large collaborative groups and not fight each other? Ants, bees and mole rats. Eusocial animals.

The problem with eusocial animals is they divide into genetically determined castes… So nature has shown us it’s either small packs or become a drone for the hive, and the problem with small pack is that larger packs destroy them.

I hope you’re right.

haha why not?

Technically, you’d be right though.

But yes, I ignored nuance. Would you like to talk about nuance?

I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not, but that is what I actually think. Like, that’s just what empires do imo. Sharks can be pretty brutal to smaller fish. Empires are brutal to smaller nations. It’s just how it works. Nothing personal, the way I see it. vOv

Yes, I am.

Your democracy is falling apart because of it is an empire in late decadence. Its systems of checks and balances are collapsing.

The world is getting more war friendly because as dominant empires fall apart internally, nations want to do stuff they weren’t allowed to when the big bad empire had more control.

This is all part of the natural life cycle of empires. Best case scenario is they fizzle out with protection from another empire, like Great Britain did. Worst case scenario is really bad.

Expect to see more of this kind of thing in the future. Might be a good time to consider going somewhere else, cause things could get really ugly. These problems are terminal and at this point it doesn’t really matter who gets elected. It’ll keep falling apart. I say this with sadness. My country also got screwed by the USA, but if it hadn’t it would have been some other empire. Such is the life of the small poor nation.

I’m sorry, but I think it’s important to see this for what it is and to adapt.

Kthxbai

This assumes single-dimensional political repercussions, though, which i don’t personally consider a good analogy.

Imagine if they not only set temperature, but also humidity, average rainfall, barometric pressure, wind speed, intensity and frequency of sunflares and chancea of tornado. Imagine if the person handling the thermostat set it for millions of locations with different needs simultaneously.

Imagine if your expectations were likely to be missed by a longshot in all regards and furthermore, all the information you were given regarding any possible consequences was completely untrustworthy.

This is what politics feels like, to me, in latin america.

Hope i’m wrong and you guys have it better. Best of luck.

They’re all bad ones, from what I can see and have learned. At least the ones we get here.

From my perspective, I don’t think there’s a good way to tell who is worse. Plus, even if we were fully able to predict all consequences of electing anyone in the ballots, there’s the value of the short term vs the long term and what demographics benefit most, which get punished, what interest groups are supported, which are persecuted, and which economic activities benefit.

I don’t feel qualified to make judgement calls or bet on anyone in any of those regards.

I have my opinions and values, and none of them align with the candidates I’ve been presented during any of the elections during my entire lifetime.

You feel differently and that’s great. By all means vote. I honestly hope it makes a difference for you and those who you care about. I really wish I agreed with you too, I just lost all faith. Don’t want to convince you either.

Hope it goes better for you guys than it has for us.

I agree with your second statement, but in the case of my county, all options tend to be very bad. I realize this comment will be well unpopular, and am not trying to convince anyone of anything, just explain my perspective.

I don’t vote.

Voting is mandatory here, so I show up and fulfill my civil duty, and have even been in charge of voting tables when “drafted” to do so by authorities. I just don’t vote for any candidate because I’ve always disliked all of them, their policies and their discourse. Furthermore, our electoral process is so full of fake news, statements taken out of context and general mudslinging, it’s nearly impossible to make a genuinely informed decision. Peer pressure gets wild too.

I don’t want to vote for someone who will later on go on to continue the pattern of corruption, populism, nepotism, selling out to foreign interests, authoritarianism and incompetence that has been the hallmark of the vast majority if not all of our political leaders the last century.

People get very worked up about these things too, and I also don’t want to jeopardize my bonds with loved ones due to my decision, which I didn’t even believe in to begin with.

I’m deeply sorry but I’ve lost all faith, not only in the democratic process but also of any possible political candidate or system fixing society for the vulnerable and deprived.

It just seems to me that healthy societies emerge from social trust and solid values, not votes… So I try to do my best to be an example in those regards, hoping it will make a small difference in the long run. I wish we would all focus on that to be honest.

Whatever you believe in or do, I wish you, your society and our world the very best.

hugs

Do you need a hug? I feel like you need a hug.

There are some nice ones.

Wise.

I usually don’t care what color the person that sells them to me is, but I could become concerned about their health if they have blueish or purple hues and might refuse to purchase products from people who are orange.

It’s misanthropy.

Another critique to capitalism and billionaires by The Atlantic?

I wonder if Kara Swisher realizes the irony of writing a critique to tech industry giants, hegemonic thought and capitalism from the comfortable position of an elite journalist of the hegemony with a podcast, on the webpage of an elite newspaper (which is owned by the foundation of Steve Job’s widow), behind a paywall.

Yeah, keep fighting the good fight, Kara. This is how we defeat them! It’ll all come tearing down any minute now.

The sad reality is there are and have been an overwhelming amount of real life alternatives to capitalism that exist and work pretty much as well as capitalism through out the entirety of human history, such as tribal societal organizations, anarchy, totalitarianism, monarchy, theocracies, and nomadic life.

The sad truth is people just prefer capitalism because we’re too chicken shit to have a little danger and miss out n some idiotic gadget or social media post. Me included.

And don’t tell me socialism is a better alternative. Might as well call it diet capitalism. And if you think communism would be any better, sure, give it a shot. I honestly don’t care.

I think we try to escape to propose alternative systems of social organization to avoid facing the fact that what we’re truly disappointed in is what we ourselves are within it. I know I am, but I also know I’d be equally miserable under anything else.

Whoever replies to this comment. If many reply, whoever of them survives after a fight to death.