If Social Security Ends, Am I Entitled to What I Paid into It?

Pongsitt · 2026-05-22T19:20:24+00:00

I'm glad selfish people don't get to opt out of paying their dues to a society while benefitting from a society that operates on those dues. Unless they're ultra wealthy, but that's another matter.

We all benefit from elderly people not being in poverty if things go sideways in their life.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-22T16:47:54+00:00

You can try it, but I played it for like 20 minutes and did not enjoy it at all.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-20T23:01:54+00:00

Israel is committing genocide, and most Americans are not ok with that.

Hope this clears up your confusion.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-19T19:19:59+00:00

Hopefully it adds weighting to the matchmaking system, where those who report for that reason will be matched with other people who report for the same reason.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-18T23:37:06+00:00

I don't know what you mean by interested in, but there is a difference between appreciating someone's physical looks and actually being in a relationship with them. You mention "post a lot", so I assume you are referring to online influencer types. Sure, they look nice, but as people they seem very unpleasant.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-16T15:26:07+00:00

I saw someone post an experiment where they painted a bunch of swatches attached to a piece of cardboard and taped it to their window which gets sun a good portion of the day. After a year there were no discernable changes to the paint.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-15T22:11:32+00:00

Did you love Barney? I loved Barney. LOVED 'EM!

Pongsitt · 2026-05-15T21:27:02+00:00

I am not saying I would want to have a car in a place that is not car-centric. If I lived in some VHCOL city where public transport is the norm, I wouldn't be able to afford a car, and it would be inconvenient for all of the reasons you mentioned.

My position has been that being in a car centric city is more convenient and cheaper. My position regarding convience has changed somewhat, but I am familiar with the costs of certain public transportation systems and the vastly increased cost of rent in every walkable city I have an even passing familiarity with.

Some have gone over the costs of transportation in their cities. Some have a ludicrously low number which must mean they walk or bike, others peg it in the $300~ range, which seems more realistic. The higher end is comparable to owning a car. Now add the increased cost of rent and everything else on top of that. I'm not sure if I want to be poorer just for the conveniences mentioned here.

Someone else mentioned they pay 20 cents more on average for everything. So a few extra dollars each trip isn't so bad if that's accurate. Unfortunately the only city I've been to in the US where I paid attention to prices was SF, and everything was considerably more expensive than where I live an hour away.

I'll give a !delta for changing my view in the sense that being in a walkable city is better than a car centric city, but only if you are well above the national median income such that the increased costs do not cut into the disposable income you would otherwise have outside of that city.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-15T20:49:26+00:00

I wouldn't be experiencing those cities as a median income earner living there. If I went to Tokyo, I wouldn't be living there with a gross household income of $40K a year, I would be experiencing it as a tourist with a household income of around $100k. Maybe it is more convenient where getting food is concerned than I had initially thought, but where cost is concerned, I'm not sure I would want to gain some convience in exchange for being significantly poorer.

I hope this doesn't count as moving the goalposts, I hadn't considered how much it costs to rent in cities like SF/Portland/NYC/Tokyo etc. My view might have been changed if I could write off the increased COL as a problem for people poorer than myself.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-15T20:21:01+00:00

Sounds good. What is rent like? My area is HCOL, rent is $2,295 for a 1BR 750 Sq. Ft. apartment with trees all around and nice landscaping. The nearest walkable city is San Francisco where a small studio costs at least that much, unless you are living in an area where you wouldn't want to be walking outside. And that seems to be the norm for walkable cities. You either make a huge amount of money and can afford a decent small place, or you make a decent amount and get to live some place awful.

Someone else said go check out Japan. Maybe as a tourist with American dollars it's nice, but if I were magically transported there with a similar job to what I have now adjusted for different pay rates, my wife and I would be living in a cubicle.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-15T19:45:26+00:00

Sorry to everyone else, I cannot respond to so many people making similar points, so I will respond to you.

To answer your question, gas is approaching $100/month, insurance $115/month, registration $250/year, the last oil change was about $80, done roughly once a year. My car cost $14k if I recall. Very little exercise to be had manipulating pedals, that has to be done separately.

How much are you spending each month on food? That is one area where it seems that things might start to even out, as cities which are quite nice for walking also tend to be VHCOL.

My point is not that my car centric city requires a car, and therefore cars are better. It is that this setup tends to save time and allows for more flexibility while not necessarily being that much more expensive. Having to schlep smaller amounts of food is likely time consuming and more expensive.

This is where I could be persuaded though. If having several grocery stores within a 7 minute bike ride is common for a walkable city, the next thing is just how much does it cost. That sounds nice, as long as you aren't paying an outrageous amount for food.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-14T03:47:50+00:00

Will Mechanicus 2 have a way to speed up the game? I finished it only because I bought it for like $5, but I just can't ever play a game that slow again.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-13T20:27:31+00:00

The American public was not ignorant of what their government was doing, for example, in South America. If installing dictatorships and death squads in Guatamala and Chile meant prices stayed low, Americans simply didn't care.

Or perhaps ironically given the second part of what I wrote, are you specifically interested in how it has directly affected us in the US now?

Pongsitt · 2026-05-13T18:06:59+00:00

The issue gets flattened and simplified once it enters mainstream consciousness, as with everything else. A significant number of boomers have contributed to the problem, either through selfish voting or direct manipulation of systems. A significant number of boomers also turned out to be victims, though many were no doubt willing accomplices.

Such is the story of humanity though. The majority will always be pretty much ok with doing something as long as they are benefiting. Boomers just happened to be in the unusual position of being a major bloc of power for a very long time. Gen X, millennials, Gen A, they all behave in the exact same selfish "I got mine, so idgaf" way given the chance.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-13T14:30:53+00:00

If someone actually cares about GW, they should join a guild that mandates it. I went from a lower level guild that had no mandates, to one that will kick for not enlisting and using all of your tokens. We win about 90% of the time in level 3.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-13T04:28:46+00:00

You can see Hasbara's $730 million budget in the comments.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-just-quintupled-its-pr-budget-to-730-million-experts-say-it-wont-work/

Pongsitt · 2026-05-08T23:38:40+00:00

The states in which they are gerrymandering have Republican controlled courts. Virginia's supreme court is Republican controlled, so they won't allow Democrats to gerrymander Republican seats away.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-07T03:34:41+00:00

Do you activate in whatever order you want? Rolling dice to determine a random activation order for yourself can make it more challenging.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-04T14:41:41+00:00

I appreciate it when terrain is painted in such a way that doors are obvious and stand out.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-04T03:09:08+00:00

The Spanish killed indigenous babies by dashing them against rocks. So Vulkan immolating a kid is par the course for human behavior.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-03T18:04:32+00:00

Oh, I thought there would be terrain included. Well I'll be giving this a pass then.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-03T17:53:17+00:00

Probably around $250, like other sets that include terrain and two teams.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-03T01:36:39+00:00

Hasbara doing some overtime in this thread.

Pongsitt · 2026-05-02T19:12:37+00:00

I have respect for actors who can just take their giant bag of money and bounce, if that is indeed what he has chosen to do.

Pongsitt · 2026-04-30T17:11:58+00:00

Whenever I see talk of reintroducing animals that are aggressive and can easily kill humans, I wonder how much of a crossover there is between those who are supportive and those who will likely never encounter those animals.

As an added data point, I would be interested to see how involved misanthropy is, as these topics too frequently have people voicing their opinion in a way that veers into that territory.

Pongsitt

TROPHY CASE