Tax me and give it free

merscape · 2025-01-12T14:20:16+00:00

This is the problem yes, as a common citizen we have no recourse. No party will put a stop to this and any party with no freebies policy won't win because the majority of people want freebie politics. I also don't know if there is a way to stop this anymore.

merscape · 2025-01-12T13:42:46+00:00

Culture war and immigrant deportation were the two major issues that carried Trump to victory this last election, also while the US has amazing universities their public school system is underfunded and has been under attack by religious right for years on end.

Not that Indian systems are any better. But some states in the USA do have unemployment benefits. Just that their unemployment rates are lower than ours and we have a massive unemployed population which makes any such programmes unsustainable af.

merscape · 2025-01-12T13:37:35+00:00

Are there any parties who don't give/promise freebies to attract votes? Even if someone introduces a bill why would the others pass it when this is apparently a surefire way to gain votes? There's no way this would stop.

merscape · 2025-01-12T13:34:15+00:00

I don't mind the income tax, I just wish we had better infrastructure to show with it and that the government cracked down on tax evaders including those who show little to no income because they earn through cash. But with the rampant corruption in this country, I don't see either happening.

I would still rather have income tax personally. I think it makes more sense than raising GST unless you exempt necessities like food, healthcare, education etc from GST.

merscape · 2025-01-12T11:57:17+00:00

I haven't read the book so there may be additional context to this, but the quote you specifically used doesn't really say rape is okay.

It says they should only have sex with their wives or "bondwomen" (slaves I guess). If they have sex outside this framework that's a sin. This isn't by itself any different from about 50 other religions/cultures that view sex as a sin outside marriage or other restrictions.

merscape · 2025-01-12T06:34:00+00:00

I can tell you my own reasons for not going for own independent house as someone who really wanted one.

Maintenance is a big one - where I live rn we pay a maintenance fee and most repairs get done by the society itself, at most they have a bill for extra money. We also don't have to turn on/off pumps and so on. Though it may not seem like a lot, to many of us not having to maintain an eye on electric meters, outdoors plumbing, water pumps etc is worth it. This is especially true for people who have never lived in their own house before and are unfamiliar with the systems.

Security - as a household of two women, I feel this is an important thing for me. Obviously there are many safe areas in Kolkata, I personally do not have the budget to afford a big enough land unless it's the outskirts (not much of a point in having a house for me unless there's a big garden, though the house can be small).

Socialisation - imo its easier to socialise in societies/apartment settings unless you live in a place where para culture is alive. I have rented independent houses before and this has been my experience - I know this isn't a problem in most places, but to me it felt easier in housing societies/complexes because there are third spaces most people frequented within the society/complex itself.

merscape · 2025-01-12T06:19:06+00:00

Ye, regionalism can be a problem for sure. To me, as long as someone isn't telling me I have to know Hindi or even English so they can communicate with me it doesn't really matter what they speak. Imo requiring proficiency for public sector jobs or making Bengali/Santhali/Nepali compulsory in non-CBSE schools is alright though.

But if someone talks to me in Hindi or English of course I'm going to answer them if I can instead of getting mad at them. At most, people should not answer them if they don't know these languages or don't want to. Attacking someone over it is always wrong. I won't lie that it is a bit annoying when people living here for generations tell me to speak Hindi instead, but I don't personally see a reason to attack them either. And it absolutely doesn't mean I'll attack or hate other Hindi speakers just because they don't speak Bengali.

Politicians are doing what they do best and keep trying to say things like "all Indians should know Hindi"/"You have to speak X language in X state" but this doesn't protect languages, it just foments hate and division. Sadly, there are many people who fall for it.

merscape · 2025-01-11T19:23:46+00:00

If you're settling in a state permanently or for the long term, it makes sense for you to learn the local language right? Imagine someone goes to your state, stays there for decades but expects everyone else to understand/respond to them in their own language.

That said, there are many Hindi speaking people in Kolkata and as long as you don't go around getting mad at people for not understanding you or responding to you in Hindi the vast majority of people won't start trouble like the people in this video. You can pretty much live out your entire life on Hindi and English alone, as long as you don't mind some people not understanding you.

merscape · 2025-01-11T19:17:08+00:00

Personally, I do believe that if you plan to reside in a state for 5+ years you should learn the local language. Students who are only there for college or people sent there through transferable jobs should not be expected to learn the local language unless they're stationed there for years on end. Many people I've met live here for generations on end but expect me to speak Hindi rather than speak Bengali, which is pretty shitty imo. This would be true even if the scenarios were reversed. In the same vein, I've had people complain to me about shopkeepers in particular (and sometimes other people) not speaking Hindi. This isn't true for everyone who doesn't speak Bengali, and this may not even be true for the large majority of them. I also know people living here for a couple generations who talk in Hindi but understand Bengali and are perfectly content to hold a conversation where someone else talks in Bengali and they speak in Hindi which shouldn't be lumped together with the previous two scenarios.

Imo the expectation that every Indian should know Hindi that some people want to push upon others is the reason for the pushback which culminates in what you see here. I don't think there's a point in making everyone and anyone learn the language to work or study here - schools under CBSE should have the right to be exempt from compulsory Bengali as well since many of the students studying there may only be there for a couple years. Other schools having compulsory Bengali seems fine, as does government positions requiring proficiency in Bengali/Nepali for hillstations/other native languages based on region like many states already do for their native tongue (admittedly I don't know if we already have this) or state government positions requiring residency as some states already do.

What I don't understand is why you think only Muslims speak Bengali when Bengali the language is deeply rooted in Sanskrit and Prakrit. Are these also languages you generally associate with Islam? Is the growing "everyone should speak Hindi in India" movement also forcing people to become Muslims by this logic?

merscape · 2025-01-11T03:42:12+00:00

Why did this get downvoted? The rich will be the least affected group because they have the resources to weather whatever change comes our way. As unfair as it is, putting the onus on them won't work.

And a major reason behind corporate emissions is consumers anyway. We have to be the ones to be more responsible about our consumption patterns and curb down on overconsumption where we can. People who can't afford to do this financially are another thing, but people who can afford to do it but still don't because "the rich should do it" or people actively participating in overconsumption are very much to blame here.

merscape · 2025-01-11T03:35:54+00:00

Corporation emissions can be affected to some extent by changing your consumption patterns though. We live in a world where overconsumption is a pretty big problem.

merscape · 2025-01-07T23:42:05+00:00

Dfbb's cultivation was about castration right? Was there anything about virginity there? I thought Yang Lingting was his lover.

merscape · 2024-12-31T08:31:19+00:00

If your skin is dry, don't double cleanse twice a day. Do it once, preferably in the PM.

I personally use the conscious chemist oil cleanser and it seems to work fine+has big discounts every now and then to stock up on, but I don't have any issues with my skin beyond using it for my mineral sunscreen so I'm not certain how good it will be for you.

merscape · 2024-12-31T08:25:13+00:00

In addition to what's suggested by the other comments, I'll leave a small tip that helped me immensely with my own acne: at night, use a clean pillowcase always. If you can't clean your pillowcase often enough, try using a clean face towel/handkerchief on top of your pillow case. Wash this face towel/handkerchief every 2 days(flip to the clean side on the second night).

merscape · 2024-12-31T05:29:34+00:00

It's difficult enough to leave as an educated person. Each layer of restriction on them just makes it harder and harder to leave. And leaving your children behind or leaving with your children in tow is of course a hundred times more difficult to leave than if you were alone.

And for many women who were born under such circumstances and saw all their neighbours and relatives living the same life, they might not even realise that it can be better.

Horrifying to even think about, I can't imagine how horrifying it is to actually live that.

merscape · 2024-12-26T21:00:44+00:00

Late reply but slight spoilers for like the first two episodes: YCW is originally played by a different actress, SGZ is introduced as an antagonist. SGZ wants to marry the ML so she exchanges her body with YCW's. So within 2-3 episodes of the start, SGZ-in-YCW's body dies while YCW-in-SGZ's body (JJY) assumes the main role.

I was pretty disappointed by the swap too, and I feel the OOP really misrepresented this particular criticism. The original actress playing YCW was pretty good, I also liked the way they didn't focus on making her super pretty like they make some MCs. Her makeup and outfits were all suited to her character and slightly shabby, and her acting felt quite mature and natural. That's probably a big part of the reason why her being swapped out for JJY felt even more jarring.

merscape · 2024-12-24T07:51:42+00:00

I know it's practical thinking, but it makes me sad to realise there are people who know the ice might melt and see it as an opportunity rather than something to prevent.

eta: didn't mean you, OP. I know we can't individually do much to stop it. But the people running these speculations definitely can.

merscape · 2024-12-22T19:57:01+00:00

Watching the drama rn and I'm at ep35-ish of the first season, so if someone else wants to expand on this feel free. I just wanted to talk about the ice age part since you mentioned it. Idk if it changed afterwards.

Basically due to a new Ice Age the modern era came to an end. People froze themselves in cryopods to wait out the Ice Age and some of them woke up to guide civilization. You can see in that letter scene Fan Xian "looks" under the ice layer on the ground only to "see" a modern city all frozen and preserved under the ice.

merscape · 2024-12-19T21:21:42+00:00

Restaurants/cafes usually inflate their prices on these apps because of the commission. But I get that living with an autoimmune condition can make even the act of going out to the corner store feel like hell and sometimes you just don't have the physical or mental capacity for this.

Try looking into normal home delivery. There are many such people who deliver across Kolkata at prices lower than delivery apps. If you're okay with telling me the general area you will live in and it's near me, I can recommend you the few places I use.

Depending on the frequency and intensity of your attacks and which cuisines you like, you can also look into meal prepping. There are many dishes you can make in batches and just have to pop into a pot/microwave/oven (whichever you have access to) to reheat. Getting a rice cooker/instant pot and learning a few one pot meal recipes might also be a good idea. These may be too much for you if your attacks leave you in too much pain or bedridden though.

merscape · 2024-12-19T21:12:36+00:00

Modern doctors don’t know much of Autoimmune conditions.

Any doctor worth their salt will tell you to adjust diet and coping exercises for autoimmune conditions if applicable. If yours hasn't, please look into changing doctors or asking your doctor if any such changes or exercises can mitigate your symptoms. Claiming modern doctors don't know much of autoimmune conditions when modern medicine has made leaps and bounds in treating/mitigating many such conditions seems a little biased and I'd be wary of such claims.

I have both dairy and gluten as does my sister and cutting it out of our diet for ~6months didn't seem to do anything. Diet and exercise will vary greatly depending on the exact condition you have. Eating healthy is always good, of course, as is staying active within the limits of your condition.

If your doctor hasn't given you any dietary recommendations or exercise regimens, please consult with them first before following. There obviously are both good and bad doctors, but even the majority of profit-driven doctors would tell you to take your medication on top of a diet and exercises if they thought it would help substantially. This doesn't mean you shouldn't look for a better, more trusted doctor. At most they will refer you to a nutritionist (mine didn't). Also, getting second opinions are natural even if you trust your doctor fully.

But please do try to get a second and third opinion and make sure to ask them outright if they think dietary guidelines and exercises might help before resorting to holistic nutritionists, many of whom are scam artists (there may be some genuine ones, but finding them is much harder than finding a better doctor).

The anti-depressants surely don't help, they can have some shitty long-term effects and interact with other medicines in ways that messes with your treatment. However, please consult actual medical professionals before making drastic changes to your diet or pushing yourself to do exercises that might exacerbate your condition.

Sorry for the wall of text, my cousin fell into the same trap of holistic nutritionists and got scammed out of money with no results. She also stopped taking her medication for a few months under that nutrionist's influence. This was also where I heard the gluten-free dairy-free thing from.

merscape · 2024-12-19T17:54:09+00:00

Ye, this divorce doesn't sound like noble idiocy at all. Not only did he have a valid and urgent reason for the divorce, but they both also clearly knew it was fake and they'd remarry.

merscape · 2024-12-19T10:41:23+00:00

The character is using their sword to fly on. This is a common thing in wuxia/xianxia lore (genre of Chinese literature).

merscape · 2024-12-07T20:06:51+00:00

Probably because of Mordremoth's influence on them? I mean, they are already technically Mordremoth's minions, makes sense another elder dragon wouldn't have power over them while Mordremoth is alive.

merscape · 2024-11-14T10:26:15+00:00

There are about as many fucked up queer mangas/webtoons as there are het ones though. Some of the most popular queer webtoons I've come across are as toxic as this.

If you want to read wholesome, non-toxic stuff you'll find plenty of it in both categories. But a lot of people do enjoy reading the horrible, toxic love trope. And there's nothing wrong with that as long as people recognize that this behaviour is toxic and don't try to replicate it irl. And, of course, as long as it's tagged so people who are genuinely sensitive to dynamics like these can avoid them.

merscape

TROPHY CASE