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GameStop, Bitcoin and the Commoditization of Populist Rage

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Re: GameStop, Bitcoin and the Commoditization of Populist Rage

#131

Post by Flozzin »

pcstl wrote: post #117
enraged_camel wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having your frame of reference defined by your own circumstances and the standards of the society you live in is not "out of touch." People in other parts of the world might have it worse — that is completely irrelevant when it comes to personal happiness.

It is not irrelevant if you want to use an expression such as "nasty, brutish and short", coined by Hobbes to refer to the condition of man living by himself, without a social structure to support him. It implies that people in the first world - specifically, the US - are living in conditions somehow comparable in their uncertainty to people living in a pre-civilized state. If anyone is minimally realistic about the…

I'm getting the impression that since the author overstates his case, by using a quote by Hobbes, his entire point is invalid. Therefor, millennials must accept their fate. And the fact that their lives will be worse than previous generations doesn't matter. Because the Hobbes quote is misused, and because other people have way worse lives.

I disagree. So what if he misused the quote. His overall point is valid. And other people have it worse, that's unfair, we should do everything in our power to improve everyones lives. And all backsliding should be protested.

Re: GameStop, Bitcoin and the Commoditization of Populist Rage

#132

Post by toss1 »

>>"Bitcoin serves as an emotional dual to the lottery. While in the lottery people pour their hope and money into the chance of life-changing winnings based on impossible odds."

I'm reminded of an advert campaign slogan that New York State ran for it's lottery: "All you need is a dollar and a dream". Spot on.

An astute friend's comment was: "We'll keep the dollar and you keep the dream".

I've long agreed with the author that lotteries are an innumeracy tax. His insight that BTC is also largely the same is spot on.

Re: GameStop, Bitcoin and the Commoditization of Populist Rage

#133

Post by jtbayly »

timerol wrote: post #122
Judgmentality wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> > I make no pretense that I don’t despise the bitcoin philosophy > Erroneous double negative here, does he even proofread his own work? I think he got this part right. I make [no] pretense that I do [not] despise the bitcoin philosophy ---> I {admit} that I do despise the bitcoin philosophy. Unfortunately, this is one of those weird English phrases where the more you look at it, the weirder it is. I'm actually less…

I think you've got it backwards. I'm counting it as a quadruple negative when considering "despise" and "pretense" meaning deception. "Make no pretense" means the same thing as "admit", not the logical opposite. Some equivalent statements to the original: I make no pretense that I respect the bitcoin philosophy. Edit: I made an bad logical leap here. The statement can only be interpreted about how the author pretends…

(edit: the below was written before the parent's edit. Still useful for understanding how that phrase works, though, so I'm leaving it.)

Part of the problem with your analysis is that "I make no pretense" is itself a phrase actually is a single negative in use. It means "I don't claim."

"I make no pretense of liking BTC" could technically mean "I am not pretending to like Bitcoin" as in "I'm not pretending to like BTC. I really do like it." But that's not what it means in practice. It means "I don't like BTC, and I like it so little that I'm not even going to pretend to like it."

Re: GameStop, Bitcoin and the Commoditization of Populist Rage

#134

Post by timerol »

jtbayly wrote: post #128
Judgmentality wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> > I make no pretense that I don’t despise the bitcoin philosophy > Erroneous double negative here, does he even proofread his own work? I think he got this part right. I make [no] pretense that I do [not] despise the bitcoin philosophy ---> I {admit} that I do despise the bitcoin philosophy. Unfortunately, this is one of those weird English phrases where the more you look at it, the weirder it is. I'm actually less…

You're right, he's right, but your analysis is not helpful, actually. "I make no pretense..." means "I don't claim to..." For example, "I make no pretense at being an bitcoin expert" means "I don't claim to be a bitcoin expert." So here's some more helpful analysis: "I don't claim to despise BTC" means I like it. "I don't claim to not despise BTC" means I don't like it. Thus, "I make no pretense to not despise BTC" m…

See my sibling comment's edit. "I make no pretense at being a bitcoin expert" can mean both "I don't claim to be a bitcoin expert" and "I am an authentic bitcoin expert" depending on context.

Re: GameStop, Bitcoin and the Commoditization of Populist Rage

#135

Post by jtbayly »

timerol wrote: post #134
jtbayly wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right, he's right, but your analysis is not helpful, actually. "I make no pretense..." means "I don't claim to..." For example, "I make no pretense at being an bitcoin expert" means "I don't claim to be a bitcoin expert." So here's some more helpful analysis: "I don't claim to despise BTC" means I like it. "I don't claim to not despise BTC" means I don't like it. Thus, "I make no pretense to not despise BTC" m…

See my sibling comment's edit. "I make no pretense at being a bitcoin expert" can mean both "I don't claim to be a bitcoin expert" and "I am an authentic bitcoin expert" depending on context.

Yes. I see your edit. I'll only add that although second meaning is certainly allowed by the words, in practice the phrase is understood in the first sense.

Re: GameStop, Bitcoin and the Commoditization of Populist Rage

#136

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

baja_blast wrote: post #119
me_me_me wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why can't more kids get into STEM fields? Because not everyone is predisposed to be a programmer, engineer or statistician. Not everyone can become a whitecollar worker. This is reality of the world we live in, no amount of though experiments will change that. What you are really doing is blaming victims of a system set against those people. Our society should be built so those people can have decent lives too. Ie…

Agreed the idea that "everybody study STEM or get a PHD" is flawed, not everyone can have a white collar job with a high salary. The goalposts will just move, look at SK for example almost every millennial there has a collage degree yet still many of the college graduates that went to less elite schools work at 711. Also in China art graduates make more than STEM graduates since a STEM grad is a dime a dozen.

Are all art grads in China that well off or only the few rockstars?

Re: GameStop, Bitcoin and the Commoditization of Populist Rage

#137

Post by Zababa »

pcstl wrote: post #127
jancsika wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me tell you, we used to dream of living in the non-US/Western European world! What I did there-- and what you are doing-- is referred to as "one-downmanship." Essentially, attempting to ignore or downplay suffering by talking about a case of worse suffering that you have experience with. When not part of comedy sketches[1], it's usually considered disruptive. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue7wM0QC5LE

Fair enough. But my point is to be disruptive. I don't think the author has a point here. I think he's appealing to the fact that, on an emotional level, humans think they're entitled to always have their standards of living be equal or better to what they were before to make people think they live in uniquely hard times. Looking to the world outside of the US might provide some badly-needed perspective as to why tha…

> Looking to the world outside of the US might provide some badly-needed perspective as to why that is not true.

My understanding was that this is the opposite. In the US, the standard of living is pretty high, but not improving. In most of the world, standards are lower but improving. I think your point is that people should focus on what they have compared to the rest of humanity and the world, rather than compared to the generation before.

Feel free to correct me if I misunderstood you.

Re: GameStop, Bitcoin and the Commoditization of Populist Rage

#138

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

equality_1138 wrote: post #76
hintymad wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fine with the norm. The norm is better than losing all hopes or a bleak future. The norm is a job that pays ordinary salary but gives me hope that I sharpen my skills and get rewarded accordingly (no guarantee, of course, but there's hope). I'm grateful that STEM pays so well nowadays, but I don't mind if my pay goes back to norm in exchange for many people having a better future. I don't see the current K12 syst…

Increase in STEM degrees does not have a causal effect on number of good jobs. Any hope that it does is about as speculative as "investing" in bitcoin or the next Gamestop pattern.

So much this.

I live in Austria now and the market is flooded with STEM grads due to very good schools and free education to the point where, in my college town, I can't throw a rock out the window without hitting someone doing a PhD in ML, but that doesn't translate to an abundance of jobs due to the lack of VC funding in this area.

This leads to massive academic title inflation where, unless you already have job experience, most companies can afford to throw your resume in the bin if you don't have a MSc and stil have enough candidates to fulfill their demand, so your only choice if to pursue at least a MSc if you want to be employed.

Friends in Denmark have told me the same, you can easily find an Architect but good luck finding a plumber.

Re: GameStop, Bitcoin and the Commoditization of Populist Rage

#140

Post by totetsu »

Clewza313 wrote: post #14

> Everyday I see a world where many in my generation have simply given up all hope for opportunity of a family, a house, a stable career and forced to confront an uncertain future in a world that is slowly boiling itself to death. South Korea and Japan are 10-20 years ahead of the same curve here. However, the result has been resignation and stagnation, not revolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampo_generation h…

In Japan such hopes can be replaced with digital celebrities, and DMM games characters https://japan-animemusic.com/en/news/%5BAnime%20Key%20Player...
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