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Is everything falling apart?

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Re: Is everything falling apart?

#811

Post by sammalloy »

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…

> Far more people are skeptical of things like journalism

I’ve spent a lot of time looking into that kind of skepticism. It turns out, the vast majority of people who say they are "skeptical" of journalism adhere to far right, conspiracy-laden fringe news sites that create fake news and cast doubt on science. It’s safe to say that the entire "skeptical of journalism" meme can be traced to a handful of billionaires who have used dark money networks to go after journalists who have dared to investigate and publicize their malfeasance. These billionaires use the far right blogosphere and fringe news sites to encourage public mistrust of journalists for this reason. Sites known to do this include the Gateway Pundit, Newsmax, OANN, Breitbart, Fox, and most notably, the NaturalNews disinformation and propaganda network run by Mike Adams.

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#812

Post by mrexroad »

asdff wrote: post #492
throwaway6734 wrote: post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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. This is hyperbolic. The US is not a banana republic. Why would you expect the average person to need to know how to grow a potato?

Replace potato with any old piece of handy info, like home or car maintenance. A lot of younger Americans (myself included) have little practical knowledge, so everything needing knowhow in this generation must be outsourced. Compare this to my grandfather's generation, he knew how to frame houses, plumb, electric work, auto work, gardening, etc, and he was not alone. If he needed something done you'd get four of you…

I dunno. I’m early millennial and, due largely to money reasons, I’ve done the following myself in past 12 months:

- re-graded slope of dirt in back yard (by hand, oof), trenched and added irrigation (to code), and seeded a successful lawn

- rebuilt upper valve train on my minivan (5 failed hydronic lifters)

- reframed my garage, which had massive termite damage and wall was 1.5” out of plumb, roof sagging badly

- wired new 60A circuit for EV charger (to code)

- excavated (by hand) and replaced 10’+ section of sewer lateral

- rebuilt washing machine pump, added dynamat sound deadening so quiet when on calls in garage

- re-heeled my wife’s shoes

- designed / built custom bunk/loft/desk for my sons’ shared room (Baltic birch, flat packable, surprisingly beautiful)

- re-roofed and reflashed chimney to fix leak (then re-drywalled 1/5 living room ceiling, skip trowel texture)

- abs so on…

Not trying to humble brag, but I hadn’t done a single of those tasks before (except framing, drywall, electrical, plumbing, which I taught myself in last decade). Push comes to shove, people can get a book from the library.

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#813

Post by blindmute »

cnelsenmilt wrote: post #793
scrubs wrote: post #497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like these points: * We engineered away stability for JIT Yep. It would not kill us to recognize that globalization went 20% too far, and that supply chains in the US is good for us. We also have to deal with the fact that job loss v. cheaper goods has gone too far too. We need to swing back to a more US focused economy. Ex: I recently ordered brakes from a US company. They were out of stock of my model. I asked wh…

It's funny, because this should be a point of crossover for the (populist) left and the right. Basic nationalism on the one hand, "Buy Local" on the other. They all want the same thing, or close to it. The potential for alliance on economic topics like this is so blindingly obvious, and it's so frustrating that it gets derailed by "cultural" sideshows so that no one can talk to each other or realize they have the sam…

If they want the same thing, the laws will get passed. What actually happens is that each side proposes laws that are not even close to acceptable to the other side, proving that they don't actually want the same things.

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#814

Post by imapeopleperson »

jaegerpicker wrote: post #784
imapeopleperson wrote: post #766

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In my view, our "tribes" broadly descend from pro- vs. anti-slavery camps Fact: George Floyd wouldn’t have died if he didn’t resist arrest. I’m certainly not pro-slavery, and agree people can be racist, but there is certainly something wrong if people can’t openly discuss taboo truths without being slighted as a racist themselves, utterly dismissed, or censored.

The debate wasn't about that fact, it was about rather a white man would have died resisting or if him resisting in the way he did justified his death. The data shows that minorities are killed by cops at much higher rate[1]. He was accused of writing bad checks, that doesn't carry a death sentence nor should it. The reason people that express that opinion are often called racist is that it seems obtuse to bring up i…

Yes but there really wasn’t a debate. You either agreed or were racist, and that’s the issue in a nutshell.

Even just scratching the surface of this point, the data you shared fails to include details of whether the victims resisted arrest or not.

There have been dire national consequences of how the public views enforcing the law since Floyd. And claiming racism when a point seems obtuse to you is hardly productive

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#815

Post by celticninja »

coldtea wrote: post #726
heavyset_go wrote: post #679

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rejecting organized religion for any reason is a step in the right direction.

Or that's a facile thought, that doesn't take into consideration second order effects and utility, only whether "god is true" or not...

Organized religion is a different kind of societal harm, where personal religion can be good or bad, organized religion will always be a net negative.

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#816

Post by unsupp0rted »

Johnny555 wrote: post #797
unsupp0rted wrote: post #791

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We currently do what no society has ever done every day, and in larger terms every decade. It's easily conceivable that 100 decades from now we could do this too.

It's also easily conceivable that in less than 100 decades from now, global unrest or war will make us regress 100 decades. Climate change in particular is going to cause a lot of problems with feeding people.

Maybe so, but that would be straying from the point.

GP said "there can't be any human civilizations that last indefinitely" and in response I gave an easily conceivable version of how human civilizations can last indefinitely.

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#817

Post by roenxi »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #671
buscoquadnary wrote: post #478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the USSR isn't around anymore and they had quite a few nukes so....

I think we got lucky with that one. A special set of circumstances that are unlikely to repeat.

Western thought severely undersells the noble and peaceful way the USSR folded up once they couldn't handle the economic madness any more.

Relative to what it could have been anyway, it was no doubt terrifying for a lot of people.

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#818

Post by jackcosgrove »

scrubs wrote: post #497
oicU00 wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 forec…

I like these points: * We engineered away stability for JIT Yep. It would not kill us to recognize that globalization went 20% too far, and that supply chains in the US is good for us. We also have to deal with the fact that job loss v. cheaper goods has gone too far too. We need to swing back to a more US focused economy. Ex: I recently ordered brakes from a US company. They were out of stock of my model. I asked wh…

> We need to swing back to a more US focused economy.

> Cheaper medical, education, housing is what other 95% could use.

Eds, meds, and beds can't be outsourced, which is why they're increasingly too expensive for workers. Fix the first problem above and the second will follow.

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#819

Post by lgvld »

jaqalopes wrote: post #756
basisword wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree that buying property has become very difficult, what has changed in 2022 that prevents you from getting a stable white collar job or finding a partner? If you have the requisite skillset (which can be acquired more easily than ever thanks to the internet) getting a stable white collar job is very possible. And in the age of dating apps, so much friction has been removed when it comes to finding a partne…

While I know you inteded this as a direct question, I'm actually going to give a meta-response. It seems to me that you think that the problem I'm outlining in my "train" analogy is that I personally am not on the train. To the contrary, the problem is that there is a train at all. Even if/when I manage to climb safely aboard, I'll have left behind an entire class of people who weren't so lucky. Smart, capable people…

Solind answer, thanks for writing.

Re: Is everything falling apart?

#820

Post by imapeopleperson »

BEEdwards wrote: post #795
imapeopleperson wrote: post #766

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In my view, our "tribes" broadly descend from pro- vs. anti-slavery camps Fact: George Floyd wouldn’t have died if he didn’t resist arrest. I’m certainly not pro-slavery, and agree people can be racist, but there is certainly something wrong if people can’t openly discuss taboo truths without being slighted as a racist themselves, utterly dismissed, or censored.

So in your "not pro-slavery" view police are allowed to summarily execute people on the street? That's what your stated "taboo truth" amounts too, it's fine for police to kill people as long as you have judged them worthy of death.

Yes this is quite simple. Cops can use deadly force to defend themselves and the public. If you’re threatening a cop or the public you’re increasing your own odds of getting hurt.

Very far from anything to do with slavery.

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