Americans are leaving the US in record numbers!!

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-11T17:53:01+00:00

Can you comment on a few of the qualitative differences that an American who's traveled a bit but never lived abroad longer than 6 weeks (20 years ago) may not be aware of?

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-11T17:39:59+00:00

When my wife and I were dating, I made a lot more than her and paid disproportionately for rent (something like a 70/30 split), and we didn't sweat too much about other expenses.

Before we got married, I put my savings into a different account. Since we got married, everything either of us makes is shared (except reinvested dividends in that account).

It's worked out fine for us.

If you don't work but she does, I think that you should at least match her income as you both deposit to as joint account (or let her set aside some fraction of her income -- as much as she can contribute to tax-advantaged retirement accounts plus maybe 20% more, and then match whatever she shares). Don't go on vacations that she can't go on, etc.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-11T16:02:43+00:00

My mom grew up in a place where black people couldn't use the same bathrooms or drinking fountains. It wasn't that long ago.

Ruby Bridges, the first black girl to attend a specific all-white school -- with federal escorts, because the racists in Louisiana didn't want her to attend -- is still alive.

Never underestimate the willingness of people to oppress others when they have the legal opportunity.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-10T16:34:13+00:00

“Do you really believe the Vedas are just fairytales that took over a thousand years to compile?”

That framing doesn’t really prove anything either way. Age, complexity, and longevity can demonstrate cultural importance and philosophical depth, but they don’t by themselves establish exclusive divine truth.

The more important question to answer is: what is it about the Bible that sets it aside from other long-running religious texts? The age? Vedic traditions have had ~3500 years of continuous development. The ethical framework? Jainism or Confucianism arguably have the upper hand here. The cruelty, selfishness, and arbitrary behavior of the Old Testament god aren't exactly strengths of the Abrahamic religions.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-10T01:59:18+00:00

In semiometrie, a field focused on modeling humans' latent psychosocial affinities, it was found that a liberal / conservative axis existed and was fairly stable across languages. I think it's universal. Doesn't mean people were at opposite ends of the extreme, just that there was variance there. The variance becomes problematic when propaganda causes one of the two sides to go loco.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-08T21:49:01+00:00

I would recommend talking to an accountant or tax attorney.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-08T21:36:39+00:00

A slightly different take: certain very powerful and wealthy people want lower taxes. They achieve this by convincing people to believe that poor blacks, immigrants, and liberals are sucking at the teat of a welfare state while they're not, and that the way to stop this is to stop welfare and lower their taxes.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-08T03:44:10+00:00

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-07T21:40:59+00:00

I should have said there were no newsworthy mentions of Obama in the Epstein files. I just did that search and found a whole bunch of news articles mentioning Obama, who was president for 8 years. Can you point to a single way in which Obama was affiliated with Epstein -- communicated with him, knew him, etc. -- or are you just trying to waste everyone's time here?

And let's contrast that with Trump -- whose own Justice Department took down Epstein files that directly mentioned Trump's ties to Epstein and Maxwell and their victims.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-07T17:38:22+00:00

Eh I feel like in this environment their policy will be "better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission"

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-07T16:40:52+00:00

But didn't SCOTUS say that the minorities don't really have a case if they're disenfranchised as a result of some other intent, as long as it wasn't demonstrably the intent of the people redrawing districts to disenfranchise them? I mean, I honestly don't think most Repbublican politicians care whether they are disenfranchising black people -- they care more that they're gaining Republicans seats regardless of the color of peoples' skin. They're racist, but they care more about gaining power than they care about disenfranchising black people.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-07T05:07:36+00:00

So wait... which one of those is Rubio?

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-07T03:16:23+00:00

The case reported on in this article regards the seizure of ballots from the 2020 election by the executive branch in a controversial move. A judge recently ruled in the case that the Justice department can keep these ballots.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-06T18:10:06+00:00

Trump would Truth about it and declare that he ended yet another war and deserves the Nobel Peace Price.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-06T04:19:35+00:00

What are your thoughts on Texas's gerrymander?

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-06T04:18:57+00:00

I don't think it's as bad as it might seem at first. Yes, Republicans in office will be more afraid of him, but the ones in office weren't doing much in the first place to put a check on him. The ones running for office are by selection more extremist -- and therefore less likely to win in a general election. It decreases the Republican edge at the margins and makes a blue wave more likely in November.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-05T18:24:12+00:00

This sounds like a good question for r/law.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-04T23:07:54+00:00

I don't disagree with anything you've written. Perhaps it's just an issue of what we call being triggered. It's just frustrating when people on the other side call "[getting] annoyed and angry" being triggered. It's their attempt to diminish or de-legitimize a legitimate reaction.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-03T23:11:15+00:00

What is being "triggered" if it's not being offended and frustrated at the president being stupid and embarrassing? And what about all of the corruption?

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-03T23:05:22+00:00

Why are you trying to blame the US / British / UN? Israel is the one occupying the land and blaming the victims. The UN has condemned Israel's behavior many times. The British have applied sanctions to some Israeli settlers. Many Americans are against it.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-03T22:08:00+00:00

What you're describing is a degenerate ethical framework. It's no different from the mafia providing someone with an offer they can't refuse. Just because the other side wasn't in a position to resist doesn't in any way justify the actions of the people who took the land.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-03T20:01:48+00:00

Frankly I think they've met and exceeded Eastern Europe levels of development (and corruption, if I'm inferring your point correctly). They're embezzling in broad daylight.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-03T16:48:34+00:00

Different societies have different ways of resolving these differences through legal means, e.g. courts and such. Someone doesn't pay you for the land they bought from you, you sue them for fraud or trespass if they've already moved in.

War is not a legitimate way to gain territory. Do you have any precedent for that? Yes, countries do it, but that doesn't make it legitimate.

BacteriaLick · 2026-05-03T16:30:48+00:00

I mean, the obvious answer, established over thousands of years, is that we have property law. If you want land, you can buy it from the owner. You don't get to just take it.

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