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If You Build It, They Will Come

benlandautaylor.com

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Re: If You Build It, They Will Come

#171

Post by inigyou »

mannanj wrote: post #76
Exoristos wrote: post #39

America used to be awash with grassroots social institutions. I know an elderly gent who belonged to the Lions _and_ two similar organizations. When my mother was young, there were dances and dinners multiple nights a week. Which, for me, raises the question why weren't these things passed down? Why weren't the young a kind of apprentices to the old? That seems like the natural progression. But we see this generation…

It was technology. With greater efficiency, came also greater separation and distance at home and with family and community and our initiatory rituals/rites. We used to use community to pass those down, but now the average American family gets divided from each other at an early age as soon as the distraction and ideology from technology like screens and things social media comes into play. Edit: Before internet, the…

What was the social media before social media? TV?

Re: If You Build It, They Will Come

#172

Post by inigyou »

grahar64 wrote: post #117

I volunteer at a weekly event where we consistently have over 400 people show up, and every week it is a struggle to get 20 necessary volunteers to run it. When you ask, you do get volunteers, but there are a few awesome people who volunteer every week and love it. The event would absolutely be impossible without them. Thank you to every person who volunteers, especially if you do it without asking.

Fusion Festival offers a free guaranteed ticket and free meals to anyone who's willing to sacrifice 3x7 hours of their time across the 6-day event doing menial work. Despite this they still apparently get fewer volunteers than they'd like.

Re: If You Build It, They Will Come

#173

Post by inigyou »

skybrian wrote: post #63
sim04ful wrote: post #60

This is indeed part of the something i've been internalising for quite a while. I've always felt i needed to improve my social circle by finding/making one, but i realised it's better to just have hobbies and skill sets that make me useful and relevant to a certain niche and then my circle would naturally arise from there. It's also why i'm trying to participate more here, even with the crippling imposters syndrome t…

I'm skeptical that posting on social networks will accomplish what you're hoping for. I've been fairly actively commenting on Hacker News for over 15 years and haven't met anyone this way. This is just recreational typing.

Some usernames stick out. If there's a thread about DNSSEC you know tptacek will show up to complain about it.

Re: If You Build It, They Will Come

#175

Post by inigyou »

qurren wrote: post #19
salahadawi wrote: post #13

This makes me realize I should show my appreciation to organizers more. It’s easy to take events for granted.

During my grad school years, back when the world was less competitive, I organized a LOT of events. I liked giving to the community, I had space to do it, and my needs were taken care of. Nowadays I feel like anything I do either needs to be either (a) getting me closer to opportunities to build a living or wealth OR (b) individual recharging time. When my poke bowl costs $24 (yes, it actually did), and my job applic…

Capitalism. It's like kudzu. It sees (metaphorically) a strong, healthy tree. It grows all over the surface of that tree, using it for support. It grows so much it blocks the sunlight and kills the tree. Then it dies too, but not before spreading to the next tree.

Who the hell thought it was a good idea to make kudzu the bedrock of society? I get why there's some of it - variety is good and all - why did we decide to worship it instead of keeping it in check?

Re: If You Build It, They Will Come

#176

Post by inigyou »

BobbyTables2 wrote: post #133
joveian wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A quick look at your comments history suggests you are in the US. Of course individual circumstances can vary but overall looking at median disposable income adjusted for purchasing power parity (median equivalised household disposable income), the US is the wealthiest non-tiny country in the world (tecnically this data only covers the OECD and Luxembourg, a country smaller than many US cities, is the wealthiest). ht…

The statistics may suggest that but it rarely feels that way. It’s hard to not feel financially insecure from mid-teens through mid 30s-40s in age. And after then, there is just a sense that things will work out if one doesn’t screw up employment, house purchase, or face unexpected health issues. The less prudent can easily trip and fall, metaphorically speaking. Plus childcare expenses and retirement savings easily…

Statistics never lie.

Re: If You Build It, They Will Come

#178

Post by pclowes »

inigyou wrote: post #166
pclowes wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Enforcing fares massively decreases vandalism, and antisocial behavior on public transportation. If you don’t have public transportation that I feel safe having a 10-year-old ride on unaccompanied by an adult then you do not have public transportation. You have a very expensive drug addict shelter on wheels/rails.

They aren't enforced in Berlin and the worst vandalism is graffiti on the side of some trains (which, let's be real, who cares and it adds some variety). You know what I think helps? Treating people like grown-ups

The impact in SF was absolutely incredible. A very small percentage of the writers was causing 90+ percent of the problems and vandalism.

Treating these people like adults would be best, but I’ll take getting them off of public transportation first.

https://x.com/SFBART/status/2020952977180328184

https://growsf.org/news/2026-02-12-bart-fare-gates-10-millio...

Re: If You Build It, They Will Come

#179

Post by pclowes »

aweb wrote: post #151
pclowes wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Enforcing fares massively decreases vandalism, and antisocial behavior on public transportation. If you don’t have public transportation that I feel safe having a 10-year-old ride on unaccompanied by an adult then you do not have public transportation. You have a very expensive drug addict shelter on wheels/rails.

That's an interesting point and I agree it makes some kind of sense, but is there a source for it? I live in Montpellier France and all transit has become free 2 years ago. I didn't notice any change in people's behavior at all. Transit is also free in Talinn IIRC and I wonder if they saw something there?

https://growsf.org/news/2026-02-12-bart-fare-gates-10-millio...

The maintenance cost graph is very eye-opening.

Re: If You Build It, They Will Come

#180

Post by inigyou »

pclowes wrote: post #178
inigyou wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They aren't enforced in Berlin and the worst vandalism is graffiti on the side of some trains (which, let's be real, who cares and it adds some variety). You know what I think helps? Treating people like grown-ups

The impact in SF was absolutely incredible. A very small percentage of the writers was causing 90+ percent of the problems and vandalism. Treating these people like adults would be best, but I’ll take getting them off of public transportation first. https://x.com/SFBART/status/2020952977180328184 https://growsf.org/news/2026-02-12-bart-fare-gates-10-millio...

What was the vandalism?

Sometimes you see trains with graffiti on one side and a stern duct-taped paper notice offering a reward for turning in whoever drew the graffiti to the police. Which is retarded, it's just paint. They seem to have stopped doing those notices now.

If you think graffiti is vandalism I don't care. If they were smashing the windows then it actually matters.

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