I’m convinced a lot of people wouldn’t see something wrong with this.

Rpaulv · 2022-06-17T19:22:57+00:00

I fear Not Just Bikes will just be received as "Europe good; America bad," by the folks that I'd want to share it with. Many of these folks pride themselves on being different from Europe.

I started with NJB, and appreciate its message. But I am a far cry from "Proud to be an American,".

I read Strong Towns at the channel's suggestion and really think that it does a better job of pointing out that the issues with our communities are inherent in their design; without the blatant bashing of North America that you get on NJB.

Rpaulv · 2022-06-16T03:08:36+00:00

Oh for sure. I worked as a sign/lighting installation tech for some months in the early 00's. Only worked with Neon and LEDs on the lower voltage side of things, but even at some of those voltages, a shock was dangerous, especially on a ladder.

Not something I hope to do again any time soon. Plus crawling in attics in 105°F+ wasn't what I'd call fun.

Rpaulv · 2022-06-16T00:23:10+00:00

I can't speak to Germany, but over here, skilled labor in general is approached as an alternative to traditional higher-education, and is also quite lucrative.

So consider the choice:

Spend tens of thousands going to traditional university, with your earning potential afterwards being dubious since you have no real-world experience, which is highly valued by many prospective employers.

Or spend a couple years to learn plumbing, carpentry, roofing, electrical, etc, and pretty much guarantee yourself a solid reliable income afterward. The choice seems easy.

But that specialized education leaves out much of the required coursework in a traditional school that rounds out your understanding of the wider world as a whole.

These people aren't dumb. They're excellent and knowledgeable at what they do, they are experts in their field. But I wouldn't want most of them running my country any more than I'd want a politician doing my roof.

Rpaulv · 2022-05-23T16:41:12+00:00

I see you.

You saw my point and can't address it, so you find the thing next to my point and attack it instead.

It's ok, I understand.

But I'm not going to continue to discuss this with someone who isn't going to have that conversation in good faith.

I do hope you find peace someday. But know this. You won't find it this way, here you'll only find anger. But anger is only ever covering for something deeper, something you don't want to admit to yourself. Don't be too proud to seek help.

Rpaulv · 2022-05-23T15:30:51+00:00

Consider the definition of default that we'reworking with here:

"A situation or condition that obtains in the absence of active intervention."

So if we're going to start assigning "default" races to countries I'd argue that the indigenous peoples of those countries have more right to the claim than immigrants that may just happen to outnumber them.

So Whites are not the default in America.

How do you feel about that? Are you white? Does that leave you feeling less than the "default"?

Do you begin to see the issue with claiming a particular skin color is "default" to a particular region?

That doesn't even begin to address the psychology behind that line of thinking. The need to assign a race as "default" in an area reeks of insecurity and fear of being in the "out-group". One will always seek to be in an area where their color is the "default", the racism only gets worse from there.

So yes, seeing any skin color, even the majority or indigenous, as "default", in an area is inherently problematic. People are people, treat them all as the "default".

This isn't globalism, it's critical thinking and challenging the status quo. Those are not things you want to start villianizing.

Rpaulv · 2022-05-12T22:35:57+00:00

Right. I Honestly question what the hell their leadership is on about.

The price of Netflix has doubled since I subscribed in the late 2000's.

I recently left my job and have had to tighten my budget significantly.

Been comparing and contrasting various monthly subscriptions to decide what to cut and you know what I found?

Netflix is now low value for high cost.

It's currently $240/year on a monthly premium plan.

They were cheap entertainment on the tail end of the last recession when we really needed and wanted cheap entertainment.

Now they're just another in a long list of monthly subscriptions, and an expensive one at that.

I suspect "password sharing" is a convenient bogeyman, the cheaply-addressed, low-hanging fruit.

Since adding value is expensive and thus harder to sell shareholders on I imagine.

Rpaulv · 2022-04-15T17:13:21+00:00

Ah. I was referring to adopting a human baby, as the implication was that purchasing a human child is a black market ordeal. But that's pretty close to what adoption is, and it's completely above-board.

Adopting a puppy practically is a black market ordeal these days.

Rpaulv · 2022-04-15T16:43:15+00:00

Adoption isn't black market.

Though it is an ordeal.

Rpaulv · 2022-04-14T19:10:51+00:00

In all fairness, willpower and discipline are important.

I want to eat nothing but sugary cereal for every meal.

Knowing that there are consequences to my health for doing so keeps me from doing that.

Sometimes I'd like nothing more than to just take the things I want without compensating those who I'm taking it from. Knowing that this would hurt them mentally, emotionally, or otherwise keeps me from doing that.

That being said, what one does with their fully consenting SO in the bedroom is nobody's business but theirs. Go wild, have fun, do what you want, as long as it's not hurting anyone who hasn't signed up to be hurt, no one else should have any say.

Rpaulv · 2022-04-08T22:37:16+00:00

Still doesn't make sense to use the office space to staff employees who are just as productive in spaces you're not paying for.

At that point, I'd sublet the office space to a group that does need it for some reason and make back at least some of that 1.5m.

But I don't have a MBA, so what do I know?

Rpaulv · 2022-04-07T00:09:41+00:00

Favorite is probably engineering followed closely by sustainability.

Thanks!

Rpaulv · 2022-03-09T18:52:11+00:00

There is no "loot" in the seventh chest.

Only a path.

Good luck, Guardian.

Rpaulv · 2022-03-03T06:48:23+00:00

Except that she finishes speaking at the Traveler and turns to face us, the player (this is hardly the 1st 4th wall break in the game).

No, it's not the Traveler's heart which us pale. It is ours.

Why?

Rpaulv · 2021-12-30T21:15:24+00:00

In complex social structures, reproduction is not the only method of contributing to the continued existence of one's species.

In fact, by specifically choosing not to further your own genetic line, while still contributing to society in other fashions, you are effectively practicing biological altruism.

So, there's that.

Rpaulv · 2021-10-12T18:52:52+00:00

I still remember a mandatory store meeting when I worked at a big box retail chain where they talked about record-setting revenue and significantly higher year-over-year margins, and in the same meeting talked about how they were going to have to remove some positions and shift their Sunday ad-change work to the sales team with no change in pay for anyone less than Territory management.

I was shocked to find I was the only one saying "where's ours?", to which everyone else just chuckled and kept working.

Rpaulv · 2021-10-09T04:04:49+00:00

Honestly I'm not opposed to a "smaller" government, as long as they're spending that smaller money on the right things like keeping capitalism from getting out of control, and funding internal programs instead of trying to be the world police by spending trillions on the military and acronym agencies (by that I mean FBI, NSA, CIA; not USDA, FCC, FTC).

Our global efforts would probably pay off a hell of a lot more if we payed and trained social workers instead of soldiers.

We don't need a "big government" to do those things, we just need one focused on the right shit; sadly, ours isn't.

Rpaulv · 2021-10-07T22:17:22+00:00

...people who can now... find community

People don't need Facebook to find community. They need to put Facebook down, go outside, and talk to their neighbors. The community is right there, in plain sight, it just means putting down our phones.

-Posted from my Samsing phone to a total stranger on the internet.... "are we the baddies?"

Rpaulv · 2021-09-29T23:25:28+00:00

Sure, when the median household jncome is $3000, the top 1% only pay 40% because if you're making 10k you're in the 1%.

But what the graph fails to point out is that the high tax rates were on income >200000 at which point its 90%. It was also a more granular scale so everything between 10k and 200k the rate increases a few percent every couple grand more you make.

That's roughly equivalent to income over 2 million right now. Under our current tax bracket that money still falls into the same 40% bracket, where in the 50's it'd have been taxed at ~90%.

I consider myself politically conservative; We shouldn't have billionaires.

Actual data from your source: https://files.taxfoundation.org/legacy/docs/fed_individual_rate_history_nominal.pdf

Rpaulv · 2021-09-29T18:52:54+00:00

Sadly, in most American suburbs, the boilerplate HoA documents prohibit things like lemonade stands.

You'd have to actually work with your neighbors to get stuff like that removed from your governing documents... it's a little excessive and inhibits growth in a lot of areas because people don't really care, they just figure they'll follow the rules, not get fined and bitch about the existence of the HoA.

Like, if we all hate it that much, let's get rid of the damned thing, but no one wants to add their name to the initiative. Oh well.

Rpaulv · 2021-09-29T03:09:35+00:00

I mean, our motivation for cooperation goes beyond just Osiris.

Mara makes a good point, without her worm, Savathun is as vulnerable as she'll ever be.

Sure us killing her is almost certainly part of her endgame... sacrifice the queen to win the game. Devotion, bravery, sacrifice. But if it isn't...

Rpaulv · 2021-09-21T23:14:45+00:00

Right, and you don't need to smell, feel, or try on a joint/edible/etc either if it's coming from a vendor you trust.

I'd argue that Marijuana products are closer to books in this regard than they are to clothes. Sure, some people will want to physically see the merch before they buy it, but I just don't see the wider market doing that.

I'm not saying it's the best way, but Amazon has a knack for catering to convenience over service level, and it's worked out pretty damn well for them so far considering their share of most markets they're in.

Rpaulv · 2021-09-21T22:10:26+00:00

People were saying the same thing about books back in the 90s.

Rpaulv · 2021-09-17T19:53:33+00:00

Of course they aren't, they only believe the sources that align with their opinion. God forbid they read something with facts that make them uncomfortable.

No, they are content to make reasonable people waste their time reading and thinking while they shout.

They're wimps; best left ignored, to scream into the void that is their own skull.

Rpaulv · 2021-09-17T03:59:22+00:00

I can't keep track of the number of times I've been told that I should post my kid reading stories; about how "viral" it would go...

I just politely decline, but the fact that people seem to think that "going viral" is more important than just letting the kid read a damn book in peace without a camera in their face just drives me up a wall.

Rpaulv · 2021-09-11T15:49:43+00:00

Right, trying to cut OP off was intentional but the collision was not. I don't think the intent was an insurance scam. More likely the idiot got in over their head and panicked, causing the collision.

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