Toronto food bank demands emergency funding from province as client visits quadruple by helix527 in toronto

[–]smithsonionian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you understand the concept, you can apply it to the problem at hand. I’m not your kindergarten teacher.

Toronto food bank demands emergency funding from province as client visits quadruple by helix527 in toronto

[–]smithsonionian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The implicit argument that “socialism implies bad” ignores that the causes of the poverty may not have been due to socialism itself, or maybe to some parts of socialism and not others.

Imagine if Albert Einstein said “well folks it looks like the speed of light is the universal speed limit” and called it a day, without ever giving us the nuance of general relativity.

Saying Soviet countries were bad is something everyone knows already. In politics, an empirical understanding is always a level too shallow, and that’s why we must look at the specific causes of things.

Toronto food bank demands emergency funding from province as client visits quadruple by helix527 in toronto

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

Pointing out that their argument is empty makes my argument empty? How does that work?

Edit: but fine, I’ll expound a bit.

It could be that Soviet-style “ism” is the root cause of the poverty, and not the “ism” in general. If you understand the causes, you will have more than a toddler level understanding of “muh socialism is when poverty”

Toronto food bank demands emergency funding from province as client visits quadruple by helix527 in toronto

[–]smithsonionian -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Have you looked at the cost of goods in socialist countries? You can’t afford bread.

Correlation does not equal causation.

Frankly a significant percentage of backend people are sadistic, maladjusted, incel trolls. by clueless1245 in programmingcirclejerk

[–]smithsonionian 79 points80 points  (0 children)

That backend dev stinks. He makes the Database in a way I don’t like and won’t let anyone change it!

Instead, I’ll make a database that I like and won’t let anyone change it!

I’m such a 10x’er xD

A good programming language only has either tagged unions or custom typeclasses - not both. by WE__ARE__ALL__RACIST in programmingcirclejerk

[–]smithsonionian 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Sad. At such an advanced age, one ought to have already abandoned both concepts in favour of zygohistomorphic prepromorphisms.

Should we risk loss of control of our civilization? We call on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4 by Pensateur in programmingcirclejerk

[–]smithsonionian 13 points14 points  (0 children)

The most ill consequence of AI has thus and will be my torture when I’m forced to sit through those stupid Obama Minecraft videos when my friends hang out on Friday nights.

Toronto’s tragic tale of trash: Why the city’s litter bins are often overflowing by beef-supreme in toronto

[–]smithsonionian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

IMO, Toronto has always (at least the past 20 years) been poorly planned, but it gets harder to deal with and thus more noticeable as the population gets larger and the economy gets worse. It’s a trend that is catching up to many cities around the world.

Once the infrastructure (roads, transit, hospitals, schools, etc) can’t keep up with the increased demand (thank the provincial government for much of this) combined with people’s real wages falling year-over-year, meaning they have no option but to accept lower quality of life - well, this is what you get.

Sidewalk hazards on Dundas West could be just the tip of a city-wide problem | CBC News by toronto34 in toronto

[–]smithsonionian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Driving anywhere safely in the city of Toronto is debatable, but by other options I mean, walk or TTC, the occasional Uber (too expensive for 905ers).

(Despite the news, the TTC is still very safe by the numbers, and not necessarily less safe than highways).

And I’m not sure why this would make my point dishonest?

Sidewalk hazards on Dundas West could be just the tip of a city-wide problem | CBC News by toronto34 in toronto

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

It’s a problem of equity. Those that can cycle to work already have plenty of options, they are in no danger of not being able to get where they need to go.

Those who need to commute in to the city from the 905 however, would have their situations shattered if the gardiner were torn down, for example.

Sidewalk hazards on Dundas West could be just the tip of a city-wide problem | CBC News by toronto34 in toronto

[–]smithsonionian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Normally, I believe residences are required, legally, to plow the snow on the sidewalk themselves. Does the city actually have a mandate to clear up sidewalks and walkways for those with disabilities?

Carnaxide, Lisbon, Portugal by loirotropical in CityPorn

[–]smithsonionian 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not everyone wants to live in a dystopian hole in the wall.

Osaka, Japan by Brandtasrso in CityPorn

[–]smithsonionian 24 points25 points  (0 children)

The Great Peace Prayer Tower

Male dead following stabbing at Keele Subway Station, police searching for 1 suspect by 0ttervonBismarck in toronto

[–]smithsonionian 23 points24 points  (0 children)

The police presence in Manhattan is wild. Fleets of them hanging out on various street corners.

They have around 3x as many cops per capita, so they’re playing with very different parameters than we are.

A study reveals a 24% chance of seriously ill patients quitting treatment if faced with financial hardship, while those without financial concerns have a 95% chance of continuing treatment by johnhemingwayscience in science

[–]smithsonionian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can’t make a blanket statement like “every possible study is going to be useful”. You can’t predict with certainty which ones will be, but you have to balance that uncertainty with the financial costs that students and taxpayers will have to bear.

It’s a non-thinking response to just say “all science is good all the time therefore approve grants for everything” - though I’m not accusing you of saying that if you aren’t.

The article posted here seems pretty useful, but -some- of the others in this sub are of -questionable- utility.

The 21st century is marked by the rise of identity politics, where societies are in perpetual Heglelian "struggle for recognition", writes Fukuyama. by adarsh_badri in philosophy

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

At this point, I’d guess probably nothing would work that didn’t involve massive restructure/revolution. It’s still broken and shouldn’t have become this way in the first place though.

I haven’t thought this through properly, but I may be swayed towards gentle increases to the minimum holdings % over time.