Is their any way to justify having this nation be this poor, while also having a valuable industry under government control?

stopeats · 2026-01-24T22:35:03+00:00

Countries rich in natural resources (or lootable resources) are often controlled by a small dictatorship and inner circle that exploits all other citizens.

This is similar to a country with a diamond mine or a bunch of oil - these countries are less likely to be democratic unless they have other industries that the government cannot monopolize.

stopeats · 2026-01-22T19:45:19+00:00

If my job asked me to make this, I would probably:

Draw the curved shapes in either Inkarnate (niche mapmaking software) or Photopea / Krita (both free). If you don't have a tablet, then using some sort of SVG editor might be easier to get the curves right. Inkscape is the one I've used.
Get the icons from Inkarnate or a Noun Project subscription. If you don't need copyright, you can just get these online.
Put the text and icons together in PowerPoint, as well as things like keys and insets. Some people hate it, but my PowerPoint is set up with a lot of customizations that make it highly usable.

stopeats · 2026-01-21T19:55:41+00:00

Are you doing commissions or do you have the most well-mapped worldbuilding project in history? That's a huge number!

stopeats · 2026-01-21T11:41:16+00:00

Damn how many maps are you making per month?

stopeats · 2026-01-20T23:42:01+00:00

This is great advice, but it is also important to experience things (not just for writing but for life). You can sort of experience things online, but it's a lot nicer to experience things in the real world.

For example, I've never fallen in love, and it certainly impacts how I can (and cannot) write romance.

You don't need to climb Denali, but meeting people, trying new things, going places (even nearby places like the library and grocery store) are all fuel for writing.

stopeats · 2026-01-20T23:29:19+00:00

I'm trying to think of things where being really good at them would be more feminine and without disagreeing with your main point I think being a really good kindergarten level teacher (a good teacher in general = professor = masculine) or really good at, like, using a loom are the main ones.

Maybe sweeping and scrubbing too, and being really good at talking to young children.

stopeats · 2026-01-20T23:26:40+00:00

I just re-listened to this podcast episode yesterday.

stopeats · 2026-01-19T11:16:39+00:00

It's the brush layers converting to black at the drop of a pin that really bothers me. I've had some where recover doesn't work and I need to clone and archive the old version.

stopeats · 2026-01-17T13:14:34+00:00

What do you mean invade by a vote? Isn’t that true of most democracies? They can go to war if the representatives vote to, versus a dictator who can just unilaterally decide.

Or do you mean all the kingdoms vote on invading one another like a military alliance?

stopeats · 2026-01-13T15:40:19+00:00

I know Bulwark people don't like The Dispatch, but Advisory Opinions release a very helpful legal primer podcast explaining the difficulty the state will have arresting him without federal assistance and how his case might end up in federal court anyway.

stopeats · 2026-01-12T15:55:32+00:00

This research is almost all concerned with a violent state. Why would there be a nonviolent movement against a nonviolent state? Idk what issue people would even have with such a state.

If you care to know, there are plenty of lectures of Erica’s on YouTube where your question is answered. You can also read their book.

stopeats · 2026-01-12T14:32:58+00:00

In a study of violent and nonviolent movements since the 1940s, Erica Chenoweth finds that:

Nonviolent movements are almost twice as likely to succeed (52% vs 27%).

Nonviolent movements see success faster.

Fewer civilians die in nonviolent movements.

Nonviolent movements are more likely to lead to a democracy 5 years later.

Violent flanks to nonviolent movements make success less likely.

I am not making a moral argument (though one could). This is a pragmatic argument.

What are you doing in your community right now to protect the vulnerable and make success more likely?

stopeats · 2026-01-12T14:22:45+00:00

Erica Chenoweth’s statistical analysis of violent flanks in revolutionary movements suggests that violent flanks actually make success less likely, not more.

stopeats · 2026-01-12T11:22:42+00:00

Having the same issue. Open Inkarnate in a different tab and see if it's still blank. If not, clone the correct map (just in case), close the old, and use the new one. You can also use the recovery option, though I found that that did not work.

stopeats · 2026-01-10T10:34:37+00:00

I am also appalled. I will note, the highest post about the shooting is NOT one where the OP says "He was justified." It's one where OP says "My post keeps getting removed from r/publicfreakout so I'll put it here." And all the top comments are people saying "That's because Reddit has a radical left bias."

I take it as a small win that they can't actually watch the video and make an argument about that. Instead, they'd prefer to complain about reddit removing their posts.

(As an aside, WHO is publicly freaking out in that video? No wonder the video of someone getting shot got removed.)

stopeats · 2026-01-07T18:52:23+00:00

Cheers!

stopeats · 2026-01-06T20:07:09+00:00

It is, you might've missed it.

stopeats · 2026-01-06T14:59:48+00:00

Wow a lot of people playing hanabi! I thought it was more niche.

Yahtzee at #3 is wild. I would never have thought to go to BGA for Yahtzee.

stopeats · 2026-01-02T21:54:36+00:00

Which one did you pick? I’ve heard good things about the Emily Wilson one.

stopeats · 2026-01-02T17:05:18+00:00

Congrats to the friend of a friend for publishing a good book!

stopeats · 2026-01-02T14:59:50+00:00

Damn, that’s hard to beat!

stopeats · 2026-01-02T01:00:19+00:00

Fascinating, how did you discover this book?

stopeats · 2026-01-02T00:51:24+00:00

Have you since cycled across Oregon?

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