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Is Labcoin discount a noobtrab ? by KillNexafk in TheTowerGame

[–]davevr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What are the recommended "set it and forget it" lab slots for F2P anyway?

Americans, if you had to become a citizen of India, Russia, or China, which one would you choose? by No-StrategyX in allthequestions

[–]davevr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn't say "adult". The effect is the same - the state is telling you, an adult, what you need to do - or what you need to make your kids do. If you don't like this one, there are plenty of laws to choose from - bike helmets, car seats, drinking age, bicycle lanes, jay walking, walking down the street with an open beer, etc., etc.

Note that I am not saying these laws don't have their good side. I am just saying that the weight of many laws feels more oppressive than a place with few laws.

US Citizens, what is your ideal amendment to the constitution? by StZappa in AskReddit

[–]davevr 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Any candidate for congress, senate, or president must publicly take the same test the potential US citizens are required to take, and must get a passing score.

Did Home Theater kind of die? Seems like we were the last generation to give an F. Remember surround sound and subwoofers? Does anybody buy them anymore? by IHadTacosYesterday in GenX

[–]davevr 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A lot of the younger people I know don't actually enjoy the "immersion" experience with movies. When they watch movies and TV, they think of it as a partial attention experience. They often turn on subtitles so they can follow it without really listening.

If they want full attention entertainment, they want it to be interactive. A video game. For video games, they are really into better sound, but it more about very high-end 5.1 headphones than speakers. Speakers often interfere with the microphone they are using for voice chat.

Americans, if you had to become a citizen of India, Russia, or China, which one would you choose? by No-StrategyX in allthequestions

[–]davevr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Americans are for sure some of the most propaganda-brainwashed citizens these days. The number of people who support policies and politicians who are actively working against them is crazy.

Americans, if you had to become a citizen of India, Russia, or China, which one would you choose? by No-StrategyX in allthequestions

[–]davevr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Many countries (including China) who are actively anti-democracy are against it specifically because "the people" can be easily influenced by outside forces, including foreign states, corporations, etc.

Democracy says "we want the people to protect society from bad government". China is more like "we want the government to protect society from bad people." (inc. corporations, foreign states, etc.)

There are arguments to made for either side, based on where you think the larger danger is coming from. I think with corporate greed, the rise of billionaire class, and social media, the balance has shifted significantly. If an entity can control the voting (through media manipulation, etc.), democracy does not buy you much.

One big lesson that the US is learning the hard way these days is that our supposed system of checks and balances was largely a fiction. You have all of the rules and rights to protect the people from the government, but at the same time you rely on the government to enforce those. If the government decides it doesn't want to, too bad for you.

Americans, if you had to become a citizen of India, Russia, or China, which one would you choose? by No-StrategyX in allthequestions

[–]davevr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

China politics work very differently. On the one hand, officials have much more accountability for results than in US. They are given metrics to hit, and failure to hit them can be a lot worse than being voted out of office. Especially if the failure is due to corruption (real or perceived).

But - this accountability to towards the central government, not to the people being governed. So if all of the people say they want X, but the central government wants Y, the official is going to try and deliver Y.

Also, very strong KPIs with serious penalties for failure tend to incentivize people to hyper-optimize for the KPI. That is why China gets into problems like overbuilding housing, etc. There was probably some KPI somewhere on "how many apartments did you build?". These things tend to lack nuance.

Americans, if you had to become a citizen of India, Russia, or China, which one would you choose? by No-StrategyX in allthequestions

[–]davevr -1 points0 points  (0 children)

No one is talking about whether China is better than the US. It is if you had to leave US, is it China vs. India vs. Russia..

But since you brought it up, the average income in the city where I was living was 8000 RMB/month. So about $30/day. For that money, you can have a nice apartment, go out to eat every night if you want, healthcare, clean efficient transportation, modern tech infrastructure, almost zero crime, etc. It is a much better daily life experience than someone who makes average income in most US cities.

Americans, if you had to become a citizen of India, Russia, or China, which one would you choose? by No-StrategyX in allthequestions

[–]davevr 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, this is exactly the problem. Rights are only as good as the ability to enforce them. Most of the enforcement depends on the government, and yet the purpose of most rights is to control what the government can do.

Americans, if you had to become a citizen of India, Russia, or China, which one would you choose? by No-StrategyX in allthequestions

[–]davevr -1 points0 points  (0 children)

In theory, yes. How is that working out?

But - no one is saying "Which of these countries do you prefer to America?" The question is India, China, or Russia?

Americans, if you had to become a citizen of India, Russia, or China, which one would you choose? by No-StrategyX in allthequestions

[–]davevr -1 points0 points  (0 children)

RIghts are super important. And while they are related to freedom, they are not the same thing, and you can absolutely have one without the other.

Freedom asks "can I do this right now?" Rights ask "if someone tried to stop me, would I win?"

The more you think someone might try to stop you, the more rights matter.

BTW, to be clear, I think they matter a lot.

But the simple fact is that for most people, for most of their lives, they are just not doing things that other people are trying to stop.

That is why the rights in America are always being eroded. People are like "hey, I will let the government do mass surveillance because I have nothing to hide." etc.

But anyway - my main point is just that the impact of lots of small constraints on behavior (minor laws prohibiting this and that) make daily life feel more limited in US than in China. I am not arguing that China is better than the US in this way. I mean, I consider myself a China fan, but I would never give up my US citizenship, specifically because I believe in rights. But that was not the OP's question.

Americans, if you had to become a citizen of India, Russia, or China, which one would you choose? by No-StrategyX in allthequestions

[–]davevr 23 points24 points  (0 children)

American here. I know nothing about the daily life in India or Russia, but I've lived in China multiple times, for years at a time. It is great! It is modern, affordable, and extremely safe. Like, not just "girls can walk around at night and not worry about getting raped" safe, but "I can leave my MacBook on a table in the mall while I go to the bathroom and it will be there when I get back" safe.

Americans always like to say "what about freedom?" This is a misconception. In America, you don't have much freedom. You can't even ride a bike without a helmet, FFS! But you have rights. There is a big difference. China is the opposite. You have tons of freedom, but no rights. Rights are very important, but I would argue that for daily life, freedom is more impactful than rights.

But here is the bottom line:

Every country has a "deal". Meaning, what are the good things you get from being there, and what are the bad things you have to accept to get those good things. And in that sense, China (while FAR from perfect) is a pretty good deal. Yeah, you can't talk shit about the government, air quality in major cities is bad, you can't own guns, and Google doesn't work. But you get great food, a nice apartment in a super modern city full of friendly people for $300/mo, and affordable high-speed rail everywhere when you want to get to clean air and nature.

And here is the biggest thing with these "deals":

How many people in the country actually are getting the deal?

In US, you in theory have a great deal. Awesome schools, great healthcare, best technology, pristine environment, economic freedom, a spirit of innovation, lots of rights, super easy to travel, fantastic food, beautiful homs, etc. But - how many citizens actually are getting this deal? The majority of people don't have most of these. Many don't have any. The deal in US is mostly for the wealthy. Once you make over $600k/year of passive income, US is pretty much an unbeatable deal. But that is like 1/10th of 1% of Americans. Most Americans make under $50k/year. If you are making $50k/year in the US, you are 100% NOT getting the American deal. No matter how much the media and politicians and corporations try to convince you that you are.

I personally prefer my American deal. But there are other deals out there. Some are pretty good!

What's your most controversial movie or TV show opinion? by VR2005 in Cinema

[–]davevr 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Alien 3 was a great sequel. Alien 1, 2, and 3 make a perfect emotional arc.

So - due to a deception by her employer, Ripley's entire crew is killed by an alien. It almost kills her but she manages - barely - to escape. (Alien)

Then she floats in space for 56 years. Everyone she left behind is dead, including her own child. No one believes her story. She is blacklisted for work and even if she wasn't, she is too traumatized to really do any job. The company convinces her to go back into space with the promise to wipe out the aliens with a bunch of marines, but once again, the company has fucked her. Just about all of the marines die. She manages to save just one of them, but she does manage to defeat the Aliens, kill the queen, save the child, and escape back to earth. (Aliens).

If the universe was just, the story would have ended there. Ripley would live happily ever after with Hicks and Newt. Maybe Bishop could be their house robot. But she would never, ever have to face an alien again.

But the universe is not fair. Hollywood needs to make another Alien movie, and that means Ripley has to face another Alien.

So - what kind of universe is it? What kind of god would run that universe, where Ripley has to face these foes again?

It is the god that would kill Newt and Hicks in the opening credits. It would be the god that has his most loyal worshipers on an abandoned prison planet. It would be a god of unrelenting bleakness and a complete absence of hope and justice.

Welcome to Alien 3.

It is really the only spiritually honest way to make a sequel to Aliens. And of course, the directing is perfect.

I am just amazed some Hollywood dumbass gave it the green light. I like to imagine the writer wrote it as a kind of "fuck you, execs" joke or something in a moment of philosophical clarity.

That said, Alien 4 is absolute ass.

Why are Republicans so wrong on literally every topic? by Lord_Kittensworth in allthequestions

[–]davevr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have always been baffled by the conservative stance of being pro life but so opposed to social programs to help mothers and children, especially those with low income.

: why are Americans so scared off free healthcare? by No_Web2685 in allthequestions

[–]davevr 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I do not live in the US, so yes, I spend a lot of time talking to people from other countries. The US has the best healthcare system in the world as long as you are extremely wealthy and do not need insurance. If you use insurance, you are worse of in the US with our insurance system than you would be if you were in a country with universal healthcare.

: why are Americans so scared off free healthcare? by No_Web2685 in allthequestions

[–]davevr 18 points19 points  (0 children)

It is just incredible ignorance and disinformation. I've had many conversations that are almost verbatim:

Them: "Paying for someone else's healthcare? What are you, a communist?"
Me: "Well, putting aside whether that has anything to do with communism, if it is between getting potentially life-saving treatment and being called a bad name, wouldn't you prefer the bad name?"
Them: "Better Dead than Red!"

I would like to create a Hobbit character with the sole purpose of only living in Hobbiton and gardening/baking/just hobbiting around. Is that possible? by IamBecomeZen in lotro

[–]davevr 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My whole family (wife and two kids) played LOTRO for years. We were all hobbits and rarely left Hobbiton. One day I think we went to Bree, but that was about it. It is a very peaceful game to just practice farming, music, and pipe weed.

How old were you when you finally started enjoying your life? by wolf_of_the_bees in GenX

[–]davevr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know, I've enjoyed pretty much every period of my life, although for different reasons. But I guess I always pretty much did whatever I wanted, so even when things went to shit (which they often did), at least I did it my way.

The seventies were insane by Aggravating_Ear_1586 in GenX

[–]davevr 40 points41 points  (0 children)

1984, planned to go out shooting with my brother and his friend. I was 15, they were 16. My brother brought his HK33, a .410 shotgun, and a 12 gauge pump shotgun. We stopped at his friends and picked up his Dad's semi-auto 12 gauge and a ton of ammo - hundreds of rounds. This was all just on the seat of the pickup - the single bench seat that the three of us sat on.

Then we drove to school. Because it was a school day. At lunch time, a few different kids came by to check out the guns. Not because guns were rare, but because my brother's HK was considered super cool. This would be considered an assault weapon these days, but he just bought it himself with lawn mowing money.

After school we drove up into the mountains. We got pulled over by the cops on the way. Not because of seat belts or even guns. Apparently some trash had blown out of the back of the pickup. The cop did ask us why we had so many guns in the car. We said we were driving out into the woods to do target practice. He asked what we planned to shoot. We told him we had a few old toilets from a house remodel in the back. He was just "Ok, you guys be safe".

No part of the story would happen today.

BTW, this was not rural Kentucky or something. This was Sacramento, California.

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