It is so incredibly refreshing to hear someone with (however limited) power say what I’ve been seeing with the naked eye.

A four-hour drive through rural America last week showed me this: trump signs in the very poorest and the very richest yards, for miles and miles. There was the occasional Harris sign for obviously middle-class dwellings but not all.

Nope, they’re going to ignore all of that and pay attention to the propaganda for what spin makes their hearts sing, instead. Cognitive dissonance just makes these chucklefucks double-down, not wake up.

Meanwhile, they’re going to point at all the total lack of Dem paraphernalia on car bumpers, and everyone now suddenly blending in, as an indication that “we won” and we’re all friends now. I’m already seeing this nonsense on FB - trump voters literally not understanding why people are so upset - and it’s fucking infuriating.

Why isn’t that the case?

There is no law in the US mandating that people vote. I can only speculate as to how that started, and why that’s still the case.

That makes sense. Tigers are just big cats - they’re all kinda jerks to each other (let alone other animals), but I suppose that comes with being an apex predator.

The key phrase to remember here is: Price Discrimination.

Stores already possess the technology to track anyone’s shopping experience through loyalty cards. The “discounts” you get are really just a tax on everyone that doesn’t participate, and the benefits to the company for having your data are worth potentially losing business from un-tracked customers. That’s how valuable your data is.

So why aren’t we seeing per-customer targeting? This is not to suggest that businesses are benign here, but rather, just cautious about outright per-customer discounts and other price manipulation. Custom coupons are kinda/sorta a part of this. IMO, the door is still wide-open to find ways palatable to the customer (and courts) while dialing everyone in.

In that context, all cameras do is make the system practically impossible to dodge. Considering how much stores value that kind of information, it makes sense they’d invest to capture 100% of their retail activity.

Agreed. I wonder how one controls for confirmation bias here? Maybe show another graph depicting screening rates, or a plot showing the introduction of newer and more accurate screening methodologies?

For me, it’s all the suck brought on by a pathological fear (trauma) of authority figures abusing their power. In this case: TSA, and their ability to completely screw with your travel plans. To be clear, this is not rational and 100% nothing bad happens.

As a (perhaps unintentional) slip, “an insensitive” works rather well here. Gatekeeping your field in a forum of open(ish)¹ information exchange is just categorically “not nice”.

Personally, I would have opted for a portmanteau like “incentsitive”.

¹ - Paywalls notwithstanding.

The only good bug is a dead bug.

I dunno. If you DGAF about long-term outcomes for anyone, including the job itself, and have zero moral fiber, it’s probably a pretty plush gig. That said, I’d be worried about that paycheck bouncing now and again.

Too bad.

…

Hello there!

Thanks for the deeper think on this. I’m out my depth by not living in such an area - I knew I wasn’t going to cover all the bases on my own.

Are you counting things like shopping, medical care, visiting friends and family, education , and events like concerts or sports as tourism?

So, no, but after reading this it makes a lot more sense. Thank you.

I never played this game; is it really so good that fans were clamoring for a re-release? What am I missing if anything?

Also, I may be misremembering when this was launched but isn’t it a bit early for a re-master on this one?

On the one hand: it’s completely irrational to think like this.

On the other: fearing for your life one moment and then facing tragic outcomes the next, can really torture one’s psyche. People do irrational things when pushed past their limits/tolerances. That includes indulging in the just world fallacy in order to make sense of things.

Why indulge in irrationality at a time like this? Because the alternative is unthinkable in the moment and exposes you to survivor’s guilt, grief, despair, depression, the reality of a random & uncaring universe, and more waiting for you in the end. And it just so happens that the church is often the only psychological support structure folks have, so we get god-fearing advice like in OP’s meme.

As much of an oxymoron as it sounds, I see things like this and think that an “atheist ministry” could do people a lot of good.

I see the argument that OP is quoting but I’m left wondering one thing: if most folks in the countryside could travel to a “big” city in three hours, what business would they conduct? Outside of tourism, that is.

My understanding is this would be most useful to middle-men and business people, but the common man wouldn’t have much use for it.

Edit: or is the (implied) application bigger than passenger rail?

Mom, I want to go to school and learn to form my own opinions.

Honey, we already have opinions for you at home.

Everything makes sense now. Elon works for mom.

I honestly can’t wrap my head around this. If I emigrated elsewhere to flee this shit-show, I would absolutely help other people cross whatever borders I did.

Oh no. It’s a whole genre?!

I’m inclined to agree. I think the best path through would be to focus on laws that benefit multiple minor players that have a seat at the table.

Antitrust laws in general are a good example. These function at the direct expense of big monopolies, but are exactly what companies need if they want in on what was monopolized. And in the case of breaking a monopoly down, the resulting “baby” companies given more power, growth opportunity, hiring opportunities (job growth) and money making potential than the parent. This can also spur economic growth for all the fat cats out there by creating many new investment and hiring potentials. Overall, if you can get past the monopoly itself (read: take the ball away from your billionaire of choice), everyone else involved stands to benefit.

There may be other strategies, but I can’t think of any right now. I think the key is to tip the scale in favor of more favorable outcomes, then repeat that a few more times, achieving incremental progress along the way. Doctorow outlines the ideal end state for all this, but it’s up to everyone else to figure out how to get there.

While I don’t like the idea of embracing capital to improve things, the whole system is currently run this way. Standing with other monied interests that are aligned with the same goal might be the only way to go.