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Things That Happen in Silicon Valley and Also the Soviet Union
101–110 of 252 posts
Re: Things That Happen in Silicon Valley and Also the Soviet Union
#102"- being told you are constructing utopia while the system crumbles around you" This is the one that resonated with me. Obviously "the system" as a whole isn't objectively crumbling by traditional measures like GDP, but there were things that could give that feeling: Homeless sleeping in the subway and on the main streets, the smells, crime so rampant it's basically ignored (my car was broken into > 5 times), working…
The one thing that you didn’t get in the Soviet Union was everyday crime, well, what we understand as crime. Sure they could and did send people off to the camps for weird [political and crimes against the state] offenses, but property crimes and such were close to non existent.
Sure, you could in Soviet Union meet some nice guys under the bridge or in the park selling you a brick for 50 rubles when you salary was like 160 rubles a month. I heard of nobody refusing to buy it. Is it a crime? Drinking in a bar in foreign city with some stranger would end with clonidine poisoning. Stealing from workplace was that common, that it wasn’t defined as crime anymore. People were so poor in general, that there was nothing to steal from each other.
Re: Things That Happen in Silicon Valley and Also the Soviet Union
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not really sure how the 2nd Iraq War is a testament to American evil. It sounds to me like you're saying the invasion was unjustified? But, is there really anyone who thought Saddam was a good guy? He was very obviously a brutal dictator. So, at the very least there's one fewer of those around. Sure, WMD turned out to be a total fabrication and the Iraq War ended up being a misguided attempt at democracy building…
I did not state my personal opinion, just asked a question. I believe public forums are great to post facts and questions, but horrible to debate opinions.
I just was shocked to hear that anyone considered it was even possibly an evil thing and not just misguided.
So, I am actually happy to see another poster's short comment about civilian casualties, destruction, and other impacts of war.
That was kinda a perfect answer I think. You could see it as evil from a utilitarian standpoint because the suffering under Saddam was less than the suffering it took to displace him.
I have no idea how to weigh those two, but that's an area where I could see someone coming down on the side of letting the dictatorship continue is "less bad". Though I don't really agree with that position.
Re: Things That Happen in Silicon Valley and Also the Soviet Union
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not really sure how the 2nd Iraq War is a testament to American evil. It sounds to me like you're saying the invasion was unjustified? But, is there really anyone who thought Saddam was a good guy? He was very obviously a brutal dictator. So, at the very least there's one fewer of those around. Sure, WMD turned out to be a total fabrication and the Iraq War ended up being a misguided attempt at democracy building…
> Even if the only outcome (as it seems to be) is getting rid of a dictator, Innocent people died, friend.
This is a very good answer.
It puts us in the situation of weighing the suffering and death of the war against the continued Saddam rule. That's an interesting debate where it is possible that the invasion was less good.
Re: Things That Happen in Silicon Valley and Also the Soviet Union
#105HyperNormalization looms large. "everyone knew the system was failing, but as no one could imagine any alternative to the status quo, politicians and citizens were resigned to maintaining a pretense of a functioning society... Over time, this delusion became a self-fulfilling prophecy and the "fakeness" was accepted by everyone as real" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperNormalisation
Most of society is built on shared fictions.
Corporations, The UN, Governments, borders, the value of the $20 bill in your wallet, only exist because everybody accepts it's real.
Re: Things That Happen in Silicon Valley and Also the Soviet Union
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
The homeowners have much of the blame, you're right, but tech has made things worse by rapid job growth that contributed to rising rent costs.
You're absolutely right! Tech has made things worse! With that said, it might be worth discussing where the blame for the problem that has been made worse might lie. To aggravate an underlying problem, one has to already exist. So let's talk about that problem, and its causes, rather than casting aspersions on every group who contributed marginally after the fact - that's a very long list, and it's not even a useful…
This is so passive aggressive iycould only have been written by a woman.
Sorry comrade, just joking, I know there are no such thing women!!
Re: Things That Happen in Silicon Valley and Also the Soviet Union
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll go ahead and say the United States is the greatest country the world has ever seen. It's not perfect, but once you live in other countries for a bit, even if you enjoy the experience, you appreciate the U.S. a lot more.
> I'll go ahead and say the United States is the greatest country the world has ever seen. It's not perfect, but once you live in other countries for a bit, even if you enjoy the experience, you appreciate the U.S. a lot more. Depends on whether you have lived in an advanced Western European country. It also depends of your tolerance of rednecks, prudes, puritans, and ignorant people (which exist everywhere in the wo…
> It also depends of your tolerance of rednecks, prudes, puritans, and ignorant people (which exist everywhere in the world, but have particularly large concentrations there).
FYI, using "redneck" as a pejorative, as in this context, can be interpreted as pretty offensive, and maybe this is unintentional. I for one consider it offensive.
Re: Things That Happen in Silicon Valley and Also the Soviet Union
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Even if the only outcome (as it seems to be) is getting rid of a dictator, Innocent people died, friend.
This is a very good answer. It puts us in the situation of weighing the suffering and death of the war against the continued Saddam rule. That's an interesting debate where it is possible that the invasion was less good.
Do you understand how bonkers it sounds to play calculus with millions of lives in the service of geopolitics?
Re: Things That Happen in Silicon Valley and Also the Soviet Union
#109- Anyone who sounds like a wrecker must be reeducated. (q.e.d. https://twitter.com/DanielDoWrite/status/1015263695558135808)
Re: Things That Happen in Silicon Valley and Also the Soviet Union
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Depends on whether you have lived in an advanced Western European country. All of which enjoy the shadow of nuclear security provided by the United States.
That was true briefly for a few years. The EU is itself a fairly well-armed nuclear power. psst They're also quietly better at cybersecurity than the US government.
This isn't true at all. The EU is just now starting to think about self defense because of Trump. Trump's insurgence is putting into question the US-led world order and NATO alliances. Without the US, NATO is functionally useless.
The EU is under the security blanket of the US, whether it likes to believe it or not. Hell, most of those countries pay less than 2 percent of their budgets towards their own defense, and they get pissy when the past three US Presidents call them out on it.