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Is everything falling apart?

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Re: Is everything falling apart?

#251

Post by blauditore »

TimPC wrote: post #211

I'd argue that the greater risk of things falling apart is economic rather than political. We've built our society on two near-ponzi schemes that are in danger of falling apart. The first is pension funds which are paid into by current workers to pay out for past workers. Pension funds inherently depend on population growth to avoid shortfalls. They rely on the fact that more people pay into them then take out from t…

> They rely on the fact that more people pay into them then take out from them at any one time.

This doesn't need to be a ponzi scheme though. Even if population size is stable, if people on average work longer than they are retired, they have to pay less than they receive, all things equal. A problem here has been that people get increasingly older, so they spend a larger percentage of their life being retired, making the ratio of payers vs. receivers worse. The most obvious solution to this is raising the age of retirement, but that's always politically difficult and somehow seen as cruel.

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#252

Post by oicU00 »

ravenstine wrote: post #111

Everything is not falling apart, though certain institutions may be falling apart. In America, there's definitely been a breakdown of belief in its own institutions. Far more people are skeptical of things like journalism and Silicon Valley; it really wasn't that long ago that the former was constantly salivating over the latter, but now it's more of an openly vulture-carrion relationship because that caters to publi…

Oh yeah no doubt; I collate trends into reports for rich investors. Lately they have been focused on youth trends, and some numbers are wacky.

40% point drop in 16 year olds getting a license since the 80s as urbanization puts people closer to stuff and ride share appeared.

Youth participation in sports, especially full contact sports, had been going down since before covid which just accelerated it, leading to forecasts of a major contraction in commercial sports.

“Essential workers” are pretty fucking pissed millions sat on their ass with no clue how to feed or care for themselves, while being paid minimum wage. They are not showing the same allegiance to shit jobs and moving on.

We engineered away stability for JIT, covid came along and proved to many we live in a Banana Republic exporting memes of exceptionalism, while most people can’t grow a potato for themselves.

Given sentiment nurses, teachers, “essential” workers just experienced from their neighbors during covid, why not tell the so called gritty masses who melted down over hair cuts to find new solutions.

People who are not alive yet have no obligation to carry our sensibilities forward after we die.

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#254

Post by usrn »

ravenstine wrote: post #111

Everything is not falling apart, though certain institutions may be falling apart. In America, there's definitely been a breakdown of belief in its own institutions. Far more people are skeptical of things like journalism and Silicon Valley; it really wasn't that long ago that the former was constantly salivating over the latter, but now it's more of an openly vulture-carrion relationship because that caters to publi…

This describes how I feel about it well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlqnfU2U4Gk

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#255

Post by refurb »

giantg2 wrote: post #207
RivieraKid wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why did he think the paychecks would stop coming?

My grandfather worked for the steel mills. Some workers didn't get anything for their pensions. He was one of the lucky ones and got something, like 10 cents on the dollar. I think they even stopped sending them before he died (remember him saying something about that was the last check and complaining about the company).

Pensions are all insured in the US

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#256

Post by drugstorecowboy »

xhkkffbf wrote: post #216
ianbutler wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to see numbers backing it up either way. I'm center left leaning and I largely distrust journalism these days. I don't consistently read any news source and assume appropriately relevant and significant information will filter it's way to me from my network. It's worked well so far and I've managed to keep my biases moderate. It also let's me more easily filter out bs since I'm not consistently immersed in i…

Absolutely. I'm very center, perhaps slightly left. But aside from Rachel Maddow, I don't trust what I hear.

"Slightly Left" but the only journalist you trust is Rachel Maddow? That is a very interesting take, I have never heard Maddow described as anything remotely resembling slightly left, only as a caricature of the extreme left.

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#257

Post by 4ggr0 »

fallingknife wrote: post #203
4ggr0 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

> no one is trying to change sex or biological genders Except when they let men compete in women's sports. So if I have to choose between the new lefty version of gender, or what we had before, I'm going to choose the old way because it didn't result in comically ridiculous outcomes like that.

Granted, sports is a topic which we haven't really figured out yet. I'm also thinking about it a lot, how we could shape sports competitions, or if we leave the categorizations as they are etc. I don't have a definitive solution or answer to that.

But - What you describe doesn't really happen that often and its made a bigger issue than it really is. Yes, it happens. Yes, some do seem to maliciously abuse it. Yes, we should talk about it and really chew it through. As long as you really mean the first word you used, 'Except', then I am fine about your comment. If you use sports as an argument or excuse not to accept trans sexuality or changes to gender roles, norms etc., then I fully disagree.

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#258

Post by naravara »

It seems a little odd to try and reassure me that everything isn't falling apart by referencing the Protestant Reformation as the "we've been through this before and come out of it" example.

The Protestant Reformation was something of a disaster. Everything DID fall apart. It got rebuilt again into something better but the transition period was an era of war and strife and bloodshed. It is not at all reassuring to lean on that as the example. (Ditto broadcast media (radio, TV, film) and its associations with the rise of fascism and bolshevism in the early 20th century.)

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#259

Post by floren »

giantg2 wrote: post #161
mbg721 wrote: post #124

It's easy to lament polarization, but the reason it's not going away is that there are important differences in how people view the world, and calls for unity are really closer to "It would be so peaceful if we could eliminate the opposing viewpoint once and for all".

I agree. It seems "compromise" is increasingly used as "What I'm proposing should be considered the compromise and you should listen to me". There's no real debate. Nobody tries to address the other side's concerns. And then we do have, as you say, some fundamental differences in world views and experiences that sometimes form an impasse.

As someone who follows gun laws, "compromise" often takes this form:

Lawmakers: "We intend to outlaw all semi-automatic rifles with scary black stocks"

Gun owners: "Please don't do that."

Lawmakers: "Ok, let's compromise, we'll only outlaw scary rifles with collapsing stocks and vertical handgrips on the front."

(time passes)

Lawmakers: "There is a terrible loophole in our gun regulations..."

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#260

Post by Jotra7 »

bombcar wrote: post #99
earthboundkid wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My toddler has learned how to use a stool, and it has given me a new deep and profound sympathy for G-d in the story.

Toddlers make it exceptionally clear why God is continually referred to as a father and the people as children .

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