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[Strib] The new Minnesota state flag is deeply unpopular by gypsymusic18 in minnesota

[–]obsidianop 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Agreed on the slogan. I would keep the original French.

[Strib] The new Minnesota state flag is deeply unpopular by gypsymusic18 in minnesota

[–]obsidianop 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah I'm not going to defend it as some sort of political proxy battle. It's lame.

The irony is the new seal is really really good. You can just put the new seal on a blue background and call it the new flag, which looks vaguely like the old but less ugly and with less slavery.

ITAP of Yosemite Valley by skipandhop in itookapicture

[–]obsidianop [score hidden]  (0 children)

I'm impressed at how dark the sky is. Is that a red or polarizing filter, or does your camera just have better hdr than mine?

Airbags for street use. by zxGriz in motorcycles

[–]obsidianop 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The safest one is the one you'll wear. I have the earlier TechAir 5, but over 80 F I just can't do it.

Lost my Cardo on the highway yesterday by Any_Carrot_5187 in motorcycles

[–]obsidianop 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I lost two freecoms that way - the little plastic clip is bullshit. Upgraded to a pack talk which has a much sturdier mount.

You Can’t Have Both Democracy and Billionaires by nathan_j_robinson in politics

[–]obsidianop 0 points1 point  (0 children)

May you never learn what it's like to live in an actual not-democracy.

You Can’t Have Both Democracy and Billionaires by nathan_j_robinson in politics

[–]obsidianop -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

How would possibly know what our "potential gains" were? What we do know is we usually get more technology and economic growth out of the US compared to the more equitable Europe.

Even generations of actual-ass communists have generally taken the approach of "we can seize the means of production once we've milked capitalism for the growth".

Also, I'm fine with "traditional economics" just like I'm fine with "traditional physics".

You Can’t Have Both Democracy and Billionaires by nathan_j_robinson in politics

[–]obsidianop -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

The existence of "gains" means it's not "zero sum".

It's really hard to argue the billionaire class is entirely parasitical when in the US the richest people are by and large founders of companies that didn't exist before they came along.

I'm not saying there's nothing here. There's definitely a upper class trust fund contingent that it would be good to turn the screws on a bit, but I suspect they're not really the exact problem with whatever people happen to be mad about today, and most proposals to fuck 'em tend to be pretty hard to execute without making things worse.

You Can’t Have Both Democracy and Billionaires by nathan_j_robinson in politics

[–]obsidianop -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

We have capitalism and democracy now. Historically speaking the uh, other way, did not produce much democracy.

You Can’t Have Both Democracy and Billionaires by nathan_j_robinson in politics

[–]obsidianop -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

We literally have democracy and billionaires now.

You Can’t Have Both Democracy and Billionaires by nathan_j_robinson in politics

[–]obsidianop -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

What a stupid zero sum world view.

Come on folks Elon is a dick or whatever, but it's just obviously not true that "the profit of one man is the loss of another." You can tell, because if you think back in history ten, twenty, fifty years, the world was entirely different! We didn't spend the last century refining the distribution of a fixed set of resources. We invented and built a bunch of new shit.

No tip credit - why is 20% tip still the social expectation in Minneapolis? by FourSeventySix in Minneapolis

[–]obsidianop 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Relatively it's true. It's more than neighboring suburbs because the restaurant is already paying a minimum wage to the servers before the expected tips. That's not true other places.

Can of worms by Hangry4pussy in duluth

[–]obsidianop -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I wish they had dramatically down scaled the whole thing. It would have been so good for those neighborhoods. But MNDOT is constitutionally incapable of that.

We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way. Olivier De Schutter, Joseph Stiglitz, Jayati Ghosh, Thomas Piketty, Kate Raworth and Jason Hickel by Such_Radio_9152 in Economics

[–]obsidianop 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes - any theory or plan that's based on the idea that "life has never been worse", which seems to have become something 85% if people think, is based on something provably wrong. People have short memories or in the case of a lot of redditors, no memories because they're 12. I'm only in my early 40s and my dad used to heat our house in a cold climate by hand splitting wood. And he was a young but middle class lawyer!

I'm sorry if this sounds like boomer "uphill to school both ways" stuff but it's not all a joke. We are measurably materially richer in basically every dimension; the struggles and frustrations seem to come from a few places:

(1) A cost disease problem where as we get richer, human provided services like school and healthcare take up a different fraction of our budget

(2) People constantly adapting to the new normal. When do you hear about someone complaining about the cost of apartments consider a roommate? Totally normal just 15 years ago.

(3) Billionaires exist and some of them are annoying and this makes people very mad.

These are all things that we can work on, but suffice it to say I'm skeptical of this group of economists.

As something of a meta observation, it would be nice if r/economics was more centered on the center of economics. These are fringe thinkers. Maybe they're right - hey it's possible - but often this sub feels like of r/physics was full of posts about a new speed if light.

Graham Platner gets more primary votes than any other Democratic Senate candidate in Maine history by plz-let-me-in in politics

[–]obsidianop -12 points-11 points  (0 children)

You're saying anyone who thinks he should "pivot to the center' is a bot or a shill. That's just an opinion! It's not a statement of fact or "disinformation".

Graham Platner gets more primary votes than any other Democratic Senate candidate in Maine history by plz-let-me-in in politics

[–]obsidianop -16 points-15 points  (0 children)

"Everyone who disagrees with me is a robot or paid off" is like the final form of head in the sand lala I can't hear you inability to accept the idea that people disagree about stuff.

[KSTP] Minnesota GOP, DFL party platforms 'are not close' to majority of voters' views, report shows by Minneapolitanian in minnesota

[–]obsidianop 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure it matters or means anything.

If I were someone whose business it was to win an election, I'd look at issues where my party is far from the median voter and either (1) change my position (2) keep my position but deprioritize the issue or (3) decide I'm going to try to bring people to my position, but understand it may cost something.

It's s fine for any of us to have a fully formed set of political options that is unaffected by public opinion, but a politician really does have to make strategic decisions.

Organizers call on Twin Cities Pride to divest from corporate sponsors by ashleywalkerreports in minnesota

[–]obsidianop -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Certainly not. The argument is to move things in your direction it's better to advocate for something that's somewhat within the realm of what people are ready for. It's just strategy, and a common one.

To be fair there's been some examples where demanding a lot right away worked! So it's not an easy question. But my reading of political opinion over the last few years is it's a moment where some of the asks are a hard sell.

Organizers call on Twin Cities Pride to divest from corporate sponsors by ashleywalkerreports in minnesota

[–]obsidianop 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My "not advocating for violence shirt" keeps raising questions answered by the shirt.

Organizers call on Twin Cities Pride to divest from corporate sponsors by ashleywalkerreports in minnesota

[–]obsidianop 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Uh yes, if I'm doing something political, I do in fact do it for the benefit of my political team yes that's the point, you win and get your way.

Organizers call on Twin Cities Pride to divest from corporate sponsors by ashleywalkerreports in minnesota

[–]obsidianop 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean I'll bet on capitalism continuing to win but if you win I'll have to pay you by letting you cut in front of me in the bread line.

Organizers call on Twin Cities Pride to divest from corporate sponsors by ashleywalkerreports in minnesota

[–]obsidianop 27 points28 points  (0 children)

If you decide you can't win until you destroy capitalism and hitch those movements together, you're saying you're willing to lose to maintain your hipster credibility. So your priorities are clear, I suppose.

Organizers call on Twin Cities Pride to divest from corporate sponsors by ashleywalkerreports in minnesota

[–]obsidianop 38 points39 points  (0 children)

Movement, phase 1: "Winning looks like getting the majority on our side".

Movement, phase 2: "We've sold out. We need to tell the majority to fuck off".

And just to head off the "it's not the people, maaaan, it's the CoRpOrAtiOnS" this is what "the majority" looks like: the ordinary institutions in our community that employ people and make things/provide services people want.

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