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It’s an age of marvels

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Re: It’s an age of marvels

#321

Post by bee_rider »

selimthegrim wrote: post #216
chihuahua wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's probably because supermarkets tend to stock those things that sell in reasonable volume. So if you're in an area where sheep's brains (to pick a contrived example) would sit on the shelf for months, they're unlikely to stock it.

I had a classmate whose father was posted to Yakutsk with Strategic Rocket Forces, and he encountered a warehouse full of cow lips (presumably shipped in from all over the Soviet Union)

I’ll take the limited local selection we’ve got in the US, if the alternative is all-you-can-eat cow’s lips.

Re: It’s an age of marvels

#322

Post by emmelaich »

autokad wrote: post #215
bee_rider wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although, Yeltsin was already a liberalizing reformer. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was playing it up a bit.

> Although, Yeltsin was already a liberalizing reformer. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was playing it up a bit. I don't think so. People don't realize how bad it was in the Soviet Union. There's a story of two hockey players that came to the NHL. One went to the grocery store, he was completely taken back by how much was there, especially meat. He thought it was a mistake and didn't want to miss the opportunity so he…

Two stories I heard recently; the Soviet Union tried some propaganda by showing people the movie 'Grapes of Wrath' and also saying people had to eat cat food to live.

Actual Russian reactions: 1. even the poor own trucks?! 2. they have special food for .. cats?!

Re: It’s an age of marvels

#323

Post by dotnet00 »

agumonkey wrote: post #256
dotnet00 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It brings to mind the story of how when Boris Yeltsin was visiting the US, he took an impromptu detour to a random American supermarket to try to catch them off guard, only to be blown away that Americans really did have supermarkets everywhere practically overflowing with food. The story goes that the experience played a big role in shaping his vision for Russia when he went on to become its first freely elected lea…

Yeltsin visit is to put in contrast with Tucker Carlson visit in Russia.. where he somehow tried to do the same in reverse (without knowing he was actually visiting a french retail chain brand but anyway). Very odd.

Yeah that was very weird, but was also probably more convincing to his target audience of people who've never lived in even another town let alone another country.

Re: It’s an age of marvels

#324

Post by emmelaich »

paulmd wrote: post #315
dingnuts wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

maybe it's because cash is just one asset.. at least if goods exist, you can barter for them, if the cash isn't any good if the necessities just aren't there because, oh I don't know, you took the farms from the farmers because they owned land and owning property was deemed evil, and then the crops failed[1], then they just aren't available and it doesn't matter how much money or gold or any other commodity you might…

it's always odd when people latch onto that as an example, because the west has definitely had politically-induced holodomors caused by over-export of staple crops as well. classically, the irish potato famine comes to mind. you can probably objectively calculate the relative importance of pre-capitalism serfs and post-capitalism serfs by volume of political discourse and online discussion and citations - the peasant…

Such a patina of reasonableness to your comment but your comparison of the Irish famine to the Holomodor is way overwrought. Holomodor was deliberate and largely not caused by bad harvests. Irish had the potato blight; and in the beginning they were given a large amount of charity.

WRT authoritarianism, govt have a monopoly on violence that individual companies will never have.

Re: It’s an age of marvels

#325

Post by ChickeNES »

schoen wrote: post #309
Merad wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walmart. Walmart is totally the winner in this category. It has all of the grocery store things you mentioned plus mountains of clothing, household goods, mind blowing technology, medicines... Show them all of these wonders - then tell them that this is where poor people shop.

Last year I read some fan fiction in which a young woman comes isekai-style from a medievalish fantasy world to present-day Nevada. To make a long story short, one thing she concludes during this experience is that God wishes to bless everyone with ... a CostCo!

Do you remember the title? Would love to read it myself

Re: It’s an age of marvels

#327

Post by emmelaich »

derefr wrote: post #281
hansvm wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have many butchers within 30 miles, and their selection is almost always a subset of what I can get at the larger grocers.

The selection they have pre-cut and on display is a subset. But unlike a supermarket, you can just ask a local butcher to save you some of whatever off-cut the next time they're trimming it. Normally they'd just throw it away.

And you can explicitly request that they some particular cut in for you and they'll oblige. Might take a few days.

That might be possible in some supermarkets.

Re: It’s an age of marvels

#328

Post by galdosdi »

dotnet00 wrote: post #323
agumonkey wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeltsin visit is to put in contrast with Tucker Carlson visit in Russia.. where he somehow tried to do the same in reverse (without knowing he was actually visiting a french retail chain brand but anyway). Very odd.

Yeah that was very weird, but was also probably more convincing to his target audience of people who've never lived in even another town let alone another country.

Unless they've been to an Aldi, which is massively exploding in popularity everywhere in the US right now since they're a perfect fit for the current economic environment.

Aldi has carts you put quarters in, and Mr Carlson tried to play up seeing the same thing in Russia like it was some kind of brilliant Russian innovation.

It was truly bizarre. So weird how far that guy has fallen, much like the also once-respectable Giuliani. Back in the 2000s or 90s, he used to just be the dorky bowtie guy on an old CNN show about a rightist and a leftist having a civil and friendly debate, if I recall. Now he's... trying to hang on making a living by... shilling for Russian despots and for Snu brand sniffable tobacco (really). It's pathetic.

Re: It’s an age of marvels

#329

Post by dclowd9901 »

ertgbnm wrote: post #23

More than anything else, I think the modern American super market would blow the minds of anyone born before 1900 more than any other marvel that exists. You have blueberries for sale in January??? A variety box of tea from 7 different countries? A wall of spices? Pineapples? Packaging made from aluminum that is just thrown away? The bread isn't full of sand and grit? And it's sliced!!! All relatively affordable and…

Anything that stems from _protocol_, to me, is astounding.

Yes, the internet is predictable in a sort of “yeah I think people will eventually all want to be able to communicate with each other easily.”

But if I said to Benjamin Franklin — the ambassador to France during the American revolution — that the internet only works because every country in the world agreed to do internet the same way, he would’ve said “fuck you, no way”

Re: It’s an age of marvels

#330

Post by prawn »

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #200
ramblenode wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think the average American supermarket has every kind of meat, cheese, drink, and vegetable, you are in for a big surprise traveling the world. In many ways American markets have fallen behind relatively poorer countries in variety. Most of what is sold are monocultures and packaged foods. The selection of fresh produce (or any produce) is often disappointing.

Yep. For example, one staple dish of Cajuns is called "rice and gravy." Essentially, you sear thinly cut 7-steaks, remove them, cook down some trinity, then add the steaks back with some water or broth and seasonings. That's it. The steaks simmer in the broth for hours and create their own gravy. We serve it over rice, usually accompanied by some roux peas (tres petit pois cooked in a roux with onions and bacon) and…

I have looked a few times in Walmarts and not found duck breast, which is something I eat in Australia once every 2-4 weeks. And also noticed particular cuts of beef that I'd expect are missing. I have been to the US 10+ times, usually 1-9 week roadtrips, and can't remember ever noticing an independent butcher (though sometimes there is an equivalent within a non-Walmart grocery store).
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