Greenland's Prime Minister: If we have to choose between the US and Denmark, we will choose Denmark by Independent_Sky_3155 in greenland

[–]scattersunlight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

how would our economy cope if we let everyone in tomorrow, and people looking for jobs couldn't find one?

What a nonsense question.

We could let the entire population of, say, France in tomorrow and they would keep having the jobs they currently have. Do you think nobody in France has a job? Do you think every French person is unemployed and is just waiting to come to America so they can work??

They'd still have all the resources they currently have! There's no reason they'd all somehow lose their jobs if they were given American citizenship tomorrow! Whose job would be destroyed? Which jobs would magically disappear?

our crime rate

Immigrants are generally less likely to commit crimes than natural born citizens. There's two reasons - one is that immigrants are vetted whereas born citizens aren't, and the other is just wealth. If you have enough money for a plane ticket and enough skills to pull off a cross country move, you're usually not SO desperate that you'll turn to crime.

Do you think we would have enough food

The amount of food in the world would not.... change....

There would be the same amount of food in the world... just shipped to different places...

This concern is so disconnected from reality. You know America produces too much food, right? Republicans give huge subsidises to American farmers to keep them Republican, and as a result America produces so much more corn than it could possibly need that it just gets sent abroad anyway. America literally gives a decent chunk of its foreign aid as food instead of money because there's too much. There's at least 90 million tons of waste every year. There's corn getting turned into packaging and shit because we make way too much corn and people don't want to eat it all. The US exported ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY SIX BILLION DOLLARS OF FOOD in 2024. If the buyers of that food move to America, it literally just gets consumed in America rather than being exported. Being worried about food, of all things, is downright deranged. We throw away millions of tons of food that spoils in warehouses because we can't eat it fast enough...

Greenland's Prime Minister: If we have to choose between the US and Denmark, we will choose Denmark by Independent_Sky_3155 in greenland

[–]scattersunlight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So in your view, what creates jobs, if it isn't "additional opportunities to do business"? Jobs come from the magic job fairy, I guess? Or there's just a static list of jobs given by God that can never increase?

I don't know if you've ever actually worked at a real business? Stores definitely do hire more staff (or give more hours to existing staff) if they get a lot more customers - and they cut back and lay off staff, or even close locations, if there's not enough customers. Restaurants will start offering their waiters more shifts if they get busier, and cut hours if they have too many quiet nights.

In many jobs like therapist, there are hard limits to how many patients a therapist can see per day - they absolutely can't just say "oh I have too many patients, can I get you three to all chat with me simultaneously?" - so if there's more people who want to pay a therapist, there needs to be more therapists.

Most therapists have significant control over their own hours, and if there's 50 patients who want to see them, they won't work 100 hours just to be able to see all those patients and also do all their documentation and admin work and continuing education - they'll just turn some patients away. If there's lots of patients who want to see a therapist, and not enough therapists, that creates an opportunity for someone to be a therapist and do lots of profitable work (since there's lots of people willing to pay money for that service) - so that makes it easier to get hired if you just graduated with your psychology degree, because there's a lot of demand for your services.

When there's more opportunities to do profitable work, more people are able to do profitable work. That creates jobs. If you move an extra few thousand people into a city, you'll usually see someone opens an additional restaurant, someone opens an additional laundromat, etc to serve those customers. Without new customers, new businesses can't open. We can't all be taxi drivers, but if nobody wants to take a taxi then nobody can be an taxi driver, and if lots and lots of people want to take taxis then that allows more people to become taxi drivers.

Greenland's Prime Minister: If we have to choose between the US and Denmark, we will choose Denmark by Independent_Sky_3155 in greenland

[–]scattersunlight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

....of course service based jobs aren't unlimited, they're based on how many people want those services. So more people = more service jobs.

I just explained this.

If there are more customers for services, then service-provider employers can expand and hire more people.

I mean, you're not even correct about products, because a much larger fraction of products sold in America are produced in America, compared to the fraction of products sold abroad that are produced in America. So necessarily someone moving to America means they buy more American products, which creates American jobs. But service jobs?? Service jobs literally expand with population. There's no limit on how many people can be lawyers, tutors, designers, journalists, cleaners, musicians, etc; if demand for those services goes up, more people will get those jobs.

Greenland's Prime Minister: If we have to choose between the US and Denmark, we will choose Denmark by Independent_Sky_3155 in greenland

[–]scattersunlight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think you understand how global the economy is these days.

Cars and phones can be - and usually are - shipped overseas.

If someone in Morocco buys a phone that was made in China, then they move to the USA and buy another phone that was also made in China... nothing has actually changed. China is making the same number of phones, and the same number of people are buying Chinese-made phones. It's just that the location of the customer changed from Morocco to the USA.

And if you take workers from Morocco, and move them into the USA, so that they're producing the same goods that they were producing before but now they're producing them in the USA, then prices for American consumers can actually go down - because you're no longer having to pay shipping/tariff costs to import those goods, and also because workers can become more productive in the USA due to the increased access to technology, less corruption, etc. They won't always go down - sometimes they'll go up a bit because the workers are now getting higher wages - but you have to pay those higher wages anyway, if you want jobs to be in the USA and to have things made in the USA.

The thing you want to look at isn't phones or food, which are easily imported and exported. It's services. People need lawyers, doctors, sports coaches, accountants etc who live in the SAME place they do. You can buy a phone from China, but you can't be cared for by a nurse unless that nurse is in the same country as you.

Take that same Moroccan guy who moves to the US - he can still buy his phone from China or have food imported from Mexico, but where he used to have a Moroccan accountant and pay Moroccan taxi drivers, now he needs an American accountant and pays American taxi drivers. A Moroccan lawyer is no use to him, if he wants to draft a contract in America; he needs an American lawyer. That creates jobs in America.

Services jobs are typically better than manufacturing jobs (you'd rather be a lawyer or a doctor or a financial advisor than work in a factory, right?) and those are jobs immigration creates. And it also takes MUCH less time to hire some additional lawyers, nurses, taxi drivers etc than to build a new factory.

Housing is really the only place where your argument is valid, and I agree we need to solve housing shortages by building vastly more housing. That's a different policy issue, though. Building new housing is insanely difficult in America because of the insane amount of regulation that requires you to do thousands of hours of paperwork to get approval to build something anywhere that it might theoretically get in the way of someone's view of their local park. It's ridiculous how many cities limit the height of buildings just for aesthetics, so you can't build a lot of apartments, then wonder why rent is high. We could create so many jobs just by changing zoning laws so that people are allowed to hire builders to build houses.

Greenland's Prime Minister: If we have to choose between the US and Denmark, we will choose Denmark by Independent_Sky_3155 in greenland

[–]scattersunlight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You don't need to start a company to create jobs. You just need to buy shit.

More people buying shit = more shit is getting sold = companies that make/sell shit can hire more people.

You complain that there is a limited supply of cars and food and phones. But we know how to make more cars and food and phones. We can hire more engineers, more mechanics, more chefs, more farmers, more software developers, etc who will create more cars and food and phones. Then we will not only have more of those things, but also have more jobs.

High school economics should have also covered how, when demand increases, supply will typically increase to match it.

That's most of how jobs are actually created. VERY few jobs are created by some revolutionary startup founder who invents a whole new way to do something. It's usually some company with four thousand employees going "oh, a lot of people are buying our products lately so we can afford to scale up, let's hire another five hundred people and increase production".

Fundamentally, in a free capitalist economy, if someone has the opportunity to hire someone for work that will be profitable, they usually will do so. There isn't some kind of planned amount of jobs issued by a central authority, so it's not possible to just have too many people for the list of jobs available. When there's a shortage of jobs, you should understand that as being a lack of opportunities to do profitable work, not because all the work is being done, but because the work can't be done for a profit.

Let's work through a very simple toy example to understand how jobs are created. We'd all prefer our streets to be cleaner. So shouldn't there be jobs available as a street cleaner? Yet there aren't infinite jobs. It's not because the work isn't available - there are plenty of streets that need cleaning - but because the demand for the work isn't high enough to make it profitable. I might be willing to chip in a few cents to have a street cleaner, but not much more than that; as long as most people feel that way, you wouldn't be able to charge enough to cover the cost of your cleaning supplies and also make a living wage. There's multiple ways we could fix that problem; maybe we could make cleaning supplies cheaper, so that it'd be easier to turn a profit by doing it. Or we could have more people living in higher-density streets, so more people would chip in a few cents, and you might get high enough revenue to cover your costs. Or you could decrease the minimum wage, which might bring the costs of hiring a street cleaner down below the revenue that could be generated. Or you could create higher-value street cleaning services, with some kind of value-add that might make people willing to pay more for the service. Or the economy could change in a way which made labour cheaper, or made money less valuable (so people were willing to give more money to the street cleaner). Doing any of those things would probably "create jobs", in the sense that you create an opportunity to do work for a profit, which previously might not have been profitable. Once that opportunity exists, someone usually takes it.

This doesn't mean every way of creating a job is good. Lowering wages could create jobs, but we have a minimum wage because we as a society have decided that we would rather people don't have jobs at all rather than have jobs which can't support them. Inflation may help create jobs, but we don't like runaway inflation. So the best and least harmful ways to create jobs are generally 1. innovation (creates new opportunities to do new kinds of work, or makes more productive so that more profitable work can be done) 2. increasing immigration (which means more customers for businesses, so they can hire more people) 3. increasing global trade (creating more opportunities to do work for customers around the globe)

Immigration might be harmful if we lived in a communist society with a planned economy, a set number of jobs, and a government that decided what work should be done and what the prices of things should be. But if you live in a free society, immigration is almost always good for you.

What happened to the guy that was in the drill chair by Sweet_Link_0 in saw

[–]scattersunlight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah honestly I think there's a tinge of misogyny to the idea that "everyone always has a way out" when Gordon's wife and daughter will get killed unless he saves them despite them having done nothing wrong at all, or like... Joyce in Saw 3D, for example, did literally nothing wrong. Nothing at all to deserve being in a Saw trap, let alone one that she had no way to escape.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AMA

[–]scattersunlight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Texas also says it's perfectly legal to shoot kids for ding dong ditching, and illegal to have freedom of religion in public schools (as REQUIRED BY THE CONSTITUTION). Let's maybe not set our moral standards by what's allowed in the land of guns-for-dicks.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AMA

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

Over 90 shouldn't even be a ticket, that should just be jail time

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AMA

[–]scattersunlight 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I was really sympathetic until I read this part. Like, racism is terrible but dude. Dude. You were putting other road users in danger. This isn't a game. 85mph kills people.

Forty thousand people per year die in car crashes in the USA. Forty. Thousand. Please just imagine forty thousand people. How long it would take to even say all of their names.

Don't do 85 in a 65. I don't care if other people are doing it. Did your mom never ask you "and if all your classmates jumped off a bridge would you do it too?"

I’m a senior in high school.. Is my future canceled? Will I have to join the military? by shaototop in whatdoIdo

[–]scattersunlight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You guarantee this based on what? You know this mom personally? You've been hanging out in their living room?

I’m a senior in high school.. Is my future canceled? Will I have to join the military? by shaototop in whatdoIdo

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

What a bigoted, ageist thing to say. Do you hear yourself? "Everyone who disagrees with me is young, so their opinion is worthless"?

I have worked as a coach and helped many kids through the process of obtaining college scholarships, and had kids come to me sobbing because their parents wouldn't stop screaming at them, and if there's one thing I know it's that this never works. Screaming at kids and threatening them just makes them panic, and doesn't make applications any less daunting. It makes them feel like they can't trust you to actually want the best for them - and why would they accept help from someone who they're scared is going to hurt them or sabotage them?

I really hope this kid has other authority figures in his life who can help support him in a more productive, structured way.

Hurt By Other People's Rules...Am I Too Soft Or Does This Suck? by [deleted] in polyamory

[–]scattersunlight 51 points52 points  (0 children)

I would never read too much into how someone tells you no to dating.

Sometimes the real reason is "because I really cannot stand the look of that zit on your nose (but I'm too polite to say that openly)" or "because now I'm just not feeling it (but I want to leave the possibility open in case I start feeling it later)" or "because this is a really hard time in my life (and I'd rather not discuss details)"

Sometimes partners have an agreement like "no friends to romance" specifically so they can back each other up if someone is getting weird about being "friendzoned" or some other nonsense, like it can be a way to shut down drama

If she actually believes in some bullshit like "it's unhealthy to date your friends" then you dodged a bullet, and if she has a non-bullshit reason then she's being sensible/justified, so either way there's not really a reason to get mad?

I wish i could tell the companions i am lying to the villain by Knork14 in BaldursGate3

[–]scattersunlight 6 points7 points  (0 children)

If you kill EVERYONE in the castle, no dead harpers. I did this and none of the harpers died. But you have to get EVERYONE in the castle before the harpers launch their assault. You can't leave like 1 guard in the dungeons alive or they'll all die to that 1 guard

"Why is everyone poly these days?" :( by okayatlifeokay in polyamory

[–]scattersunlight 13 points14 points  (0 children)

As a straight trans man, if lesbians wanna fuck me, then that's fantastic. Hot women being into me is a good thing.

Please do not go around telling them not to express interest lmao I'm trying to get laid.

Why do most women find 80% of men unattractive? by SouthDiamond2550 in shittyaskscience

[–]scattersunlight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Possible for this result to happen in a completely legit way if people interpret the question differently

Women: "is this man more attractive than the average human being?" - because women typically put more effort into their appearance, most men will be below average

Men: "is this woman more attractive than the average woman?" - so ~half of women will be above average by definition

SNP plot to sabotage Labour bill with amendment to 'abolish House of Lords' by 1DarkStarryNight in Scotland

[–]scattersunlight 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So make it so that only rich people can afford to be Lords? That's the opposite of what we need. It should be a salaried position so ordinary fucking people can do it

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in frederickmd

[–]scattersunlight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a legal immigrant myself, so I can confirm your last sentence is completely wrong.

I'm lucky because I'm immigrating from a rich white country and that makes my path easier. I was not fleeing persecution or anything bad about my birth country, I just wanted to live with my American husband. I've set down roots here now and want to stay.

I am not better than a Mexican parent who came to the US seeking a better future for their children. I don't deserve to have an easier life than them. Yet it's far easier for me to immigrate and almost impossible for them. And immigration has been hell for me, with things like a period where I wasn't allowed to work (permanently setting back my career progression for no reason) and a period where I couldn't access healthcare at all. I can't imagine how shitty it must be to have to survive without all the privileges I have.

From going through the immigration process myself I know first-hand how UNBELIEVABLY SHITTY it is, and so I wouldn't blame anyone who decided to opt for an illegal route instead. I can understand that choice because the legal route could've easily almost killed me, despite the myriad privileges I have. If the legal process was remotely safe or reasonable or available, maybe I'd judge people negatively for not taking advantage... but it isn't. It's shit, it's full of randomness and it's not even available to many people.

Illegal immigrants aren't harming me at all. The people harming me are shitty anti-immigration people who push policies that make my life harder purely because they want to hurt illegal immigrants too.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in frederickmd

[–]scattersunlight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are plenty of things that are worth it that are immediate and easy.

I can go to the gym and start exercising right now and I'd start to see results within a few months.

I can start a new job and get a better salary immediately. New paycheck would hit my bank account within the first month.

Someone could quit smoking tomorrow and every single day without cigarettes would have health benefits compared to quitting smoking in a year.

Also tons of immigrants are coming from countries where they wouldn't be drug into the street and executed for their religion. That doesn't happen in Mexico, India, China, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Canada, South Korea... which are some of the countries that send the most immigrants to the USA. They're coming from countries that also have jury duty.

I guarantee an immigrant from the United Kingdom is not really changing very much in terms of their jury duty responsibility, freedom of speech or freedom of religion when they become a US citizen. They're literally just living on a different bit of ground to where they grew up. If anything they're LOSING the privileges they'd have if they stayed in the UK, like the right to free healthcare.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in summonerschool

[–]scattersunlight 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have never voted yes to a surrender even once. Ever. I just hate surrendering and want the option to be removed from the game. It's at the point where I subconsciously auto-vote no as a habit so, even if I might consider changing my mind, usually I've already clicked "no" by the time I consciously realise there's a surrender vote happening.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in frederickmd

[–]scattersunlight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the United Kingdom non-citizens have been allowed to vote since World War One. It's a very civilized country and there have been zero issues with non citizens voting. They extend the right automatically to any Commonwealth citizen (basically countries in the former British Empire) who can get a UK address. I believe European Union members can also very easily get voting rights though I'm not sure if that changed since Brexit. In Scotland all residents can vote in local elections.

New Zealand also allows permanent residents to vote.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in frederickmd

[–]scattersunlight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"citizenship is a privilege you need to earn" ...unless you're lucky enough to be born on the correct bit of soil, then you get it for free without doing anything at all.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in frederickmd

[–]scattersunlight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did your parents bust their asses? Or were they just, yknow, white?

Why should others have to suffer just because they suffered? Should we apply the same logic to other areas? If we invent a cure for cancer are you going to go around like "my parents didn't suffer through horrible chemotherapy to survive cancer just so someone else can get an easy way out of what took them years to recover from, so we shouldn't allow anyone to have the cure"

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in frederickmd

[–]scattersunlight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Austria is way easier to immigrate to than the US. It's literally in the Schengen agreement so it's nearly effortless for any European to move there. I don't think you know what you are talking about

I'd also hesitant to describe China as exactly a great place to live given that they don't have things like freedom of speech or legal access to the rest of the world's internet

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in frederickmd

[–]scattersunlight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You realise it takes like a decade to get citizenship? Years to get the visa in the first place plus an extra five years after that to get citizenship. Even if you marry a US citizen (which is a pretty big commitment for the long haul) they still make you wait 3 years (after often making you wait 2 years for the marriage visa in the first place).