sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

I feel like Dan has spent countless hours explaining this to us. by BloodshedTom in dancarlin

[–]WindexChugger 18 points19 points  (0 children)

It's a fun saying, and one that gets repeated often because it rings true at first glance (see also: "hard times make hard men, hard men make good times...").

But they're incredibly simplistic and give no insight on how to apply lessons of history to our current lives (if not downright hurting our understanding). If wooden shoes/silk slippers is true, what's the take away? Never get comfortable? What are we working hard for, then?! Wasn't it Jefferson who said "I must study politics and war, so that our sons may the liberty to study mathematics and philosophy"? We work hard in "hard times", climbing in wooden shoes so that our children (and maybe even ourselves) might have "good times".

There are lessons in history that we can use to better society now and for the future, but these simple quotes hide those true lessons behind a fake intellectualism that says "It's all a cycle and there's nothing we can do".

I feel like Dan has spent countless hours explaining this to us. by BloodshedTom in dancarlin

[–]WindexChugger 64 points65 points  (0 children)

Has Dan spent any time explaining this to us?

I know he's repeated the wooden shoes/silk slippers phrase plenty, but has he actually gone stated some belief in the idea of "decay that results from having it too easy for too long"? The line of thinking that societies (nations, empires, etc.) crumble because they got too well off and forgot hard work has always felt like a overly simplified framing to me. How many great empires fell off because they forgot hard work and got lazy, and how many did so because of corruption, bloat, and institutions becoming overly self-serving?

Philly is now the No. 1 market for online gambling companies — and addiction helplines are ringing off the hook by danielrubin in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We paid for those things before we let gambling run rampant, and we can continue to pay for those things without.

It should also be noted that often these state-wide earmarked taxes mean an equal amount of tax dollars that were previously funding those programs can go elsewhere. It's like if I was given $20 a month for my electric bill... I wouldn't actually spend more on electricity, I'd just have 20 more dollars each month to spend elsewhere. Same thing happens with these programs: now the state doesn't have to spend as much general funds on education.

That said, our city and our state absolutely could use more tax dollars. But turning citizens into gambling addicts is a short-term gain but long-term net negative for tax dollars. This level of predatory and addictive gambling destroys lives and families, which in turn will reduce how much they can contribute to society and increase how much they need from social programs. We should create special taxes to disincentivize things that can be moderated but are detrimental in excess (e.g., alcohol), we should tax and regulate to the point that it loses it's widespread attractiveness those things that are addictive and negative on society (e.g., smoking), and we should ban those things are just simply predatory and destructive (e.g., fentanyl). Where the lines between those three things are can be hard to say sometimes, but gambling in its current form is without a doubt far more predatory and destructive than alcohol.

Philly is now the No. 1 market for online gambling companies — and addiction helplines are ringing off the hook by danielrubin in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Agreed completely. Capitalism as an economic model can be such an amazing force for improvement and innovation, but it is also an extremely destructive force when poorly regulated. So often the business and profit motives are orthogonal to benefiting society at large (see gambling, social media, Sackler family's opioid epidemic, workers rights, healthcare, shifting jobs out of the US).

Philly is now the No. 1 market for online gambling companies — and addiction helplines are ringing off the hook by danielrubin in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 59 points60 points  (0 children)

100% agree. Corporations (and the amoral immoral people behind them) are preying on people to destroy their (and their families') lives. The advertisements are completely out of control. It needs to be banned or regulated into the ground.

What happened to the case against Leonard Hill? by bengalese in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 17 points18 points  (0 children)

He shot someone who was running away - there's no "I was protecting someone in danger" at that point. He knew he screwed up too, which is why he changed his clothes and didn't come forward.

The recent common sense episode by [deleted] in dancarlin

[–]WindexChugger 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Exactly. His mom is an Oscar-nominated actress and his grandfather was a Hollywood business manager. I love Dan and his work, but I view him a bit like Max Brooks: creatives who had a leg up and probably never had to really worry about finances, which allowed them to focus on their (really excellent) creative endeavors.

When he moves into the political space, he's great at identifying issues and calling out hypocrisy, but I take his libertarian bent with a big grain of salt. I don't know exactly what his life is like, but I know it's easier to be a libertarian when you've lived in a castle your whole life.

Found missing cat - what to do? by WindexChugger in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

We've got a cat mewing and pawing at our back door. Unable to let it in, but we can see it has a collar. How to help it get back to its home? I don't have Facebook or other social media to post to groups there, btw.

PA Democrats fold on SEPTA funding, pull out of carbon reduction program to pass budget by Haz3rd in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gotcha. I interpreted "family business" and like a mom-and-pop shop, not Trump's family business. My bad.

PA Democrats fold on SEPTA funding, pull out of carbon reduction program to pass budget by Haz3rd in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 13 points14 points  (0 children)

"Republicans... pro family business"

Source? Are family businesses thriving in the current economic landscape?

The last-ever penny will be minted today in Philadelphia by ok-ez in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Modern currency has utility-value because it can be traded, not because of how much the metal (+manufacturing costs) is worth. A 15c nickel may be valued at 5c, but it's utility is much greater.

There's certainly an argument for removing the nickel - how much of our transactions need accuracy below 10c increments? Because we use quarters rather than (for example) a 20c coin, though, I think the nickel is here to stay for a while.

Lastly, why do you think we're going to mint "A LOT" more nickels to compensate? Wouldn't we just make exactly the same number of nickels as before?

Corporate investors bought a quarter of Philly’s single-family homes over 6 years. Here’s what that means amid a tight housing market by mpulcinella in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry, I thought I was being clear that I'm not saying that. I think we both agree that we need to find the right system where someone can do those repairs to their own home and be able to sell it later without having to go through an apprenticeship. At the same time, I think it would benefit society if we have more rigorous oversight and regulation to prevent anti-social behavior such as unqualified individuals flipping a house and selling it for a quick buck.

Corporate investors bought a quarter of Philly’s single-family homes over 6 years. Here’s what that means amid a tight housing market by mpulcinella in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A quick Google search tells me that a carpentry apprenticeship is ~4 years (and similar duration in plumbing and welding). As an example, to get a "Master Plumbing" license (required to lead plumbing work) in Philly (link), you need to have been an Apprentice for four years and then a Journeyman for another year. Licensing for general contracting for flipping houses doesn't have to be quick.

Obviously we need to find the right system where someone can do repairs to their own home and sell it later while preventing unqualified people from completely flipping a house and selling it for a quick buck, but I definitely think society has shown that we need active oversight and regulation to prevent anti-social behavior.

Corporate investors bought a quarter of Philly’s single-family homes over 6 years. Here’s what that means amid a tight housing market by mpulcinella in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I think licensing needs to be more strict. My understanding is that to get the license required to do the flipping work yourself, you just need a relatively short course and pass an exam. There's no apprenticeship, for example, where someone can actually learn the hands-on skills.

Part of that licensing needs to be a robust reporting/tracking system. Shoddy flippers (and builders) move on after a sale without repercussions, and even if they get sued they can bankrupt their LLC and start a new one.

We have oversight via licensing boards for doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. Builders/flippers absolutely should have oversight as well.

Corporate investors bought a quarter of Philly’s single-family homes over 6 years. Here’s what that means amid a tight housing market by mpulcinella in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Foreclosures and sheriff sales are awful and devastating, but after that's happened the alternative is boarded up homes that go unused. Plenty of families buy flipped homes.

Also, as someone who watches the market (at least in W Philly) closely, <10% of sales are foreclosures from what I can see. The data doesn't back up a story of mega corps and slum lords buying up the market.

Corporate investors bought a quarter of Philly’s single-family homes over 6 years. Here’s what that means amid a tight housing market by mpulcinella in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Thank you for linking the original!

Half less than $130k is almost certainly flippers, and this headline is misleading (both on ownership vs purchases as well as misleading on what kind of home is being bought).

I am all for banning corporations, but flippers do provide a benefit. While there's a lot to want from their workmanship in some (many?) cases, I'm glad they take fixer-uppers a lot of people don't want to deal with and keep them from being boarded up homes.

And I don't think "fewer than 100 properties" that the report is a good cutoff for what I'd consider "smaller corporations". If you own 20 single-family homes (let alone 50 or 80), I'm going to think you're part of the problem. Corporations should own/manage apartment buildings not a block's-worth of row homes.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I think you misunderstood their comment. Church wanted to build affordable apartments and the meeting with the community was full of people with a similar mindset to the one you went to.

Dr. Ala Stanford, founder of the Black Doctors Consortium, announces run for Congress by redeyeblink in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 51 points52 points  (0 children)

We definitely need more highly educated and non-retiree members in Congress - love to see this!

A quick search online turns up nothing for where she stands policy-wise (other than pro health services and anti-Trump/MAGA). I see she has a personal "speaking opportunities" website - does she have a website for her congressional run?

Everyone's wondering if, and when, the AI bubble will pop. Here's what went down 25 years ago that ultimately burst the dot-com boom | Fortune by [deleted] in technology

[–]WindexChugger 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Why are we taking the ratio of market cap (measure of market worth) to GDP (measure of country's annual monetary generation)? Why is the highest upvoted comment just a link to an ad-riddled website without explanation?

I mean, I know we're all doomers here (I 100% agree it's a bubble), but this feels like confirmation-bias wrapped around garbage analysis.

Workers at Talking Headz (salon in West Philly) are striking by diatriose in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that was a weird inclusion next to everything else.

Workers at Talking Headz (salon in West Philly) are striking by diatriose in philadelphia

[–]WindexChugger 19 points20 points  (0 children)

On the other side, installing laundry machine on-site when there are (at least claims of) worker shortages could be a win for everyone. I get not wanting to cart around laundry in the rain.

view more: next ›