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It's time to build: a New World's Fair

cameronwiese.com

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Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#141

Post by orf »

jiofih wrote: post #121
orf wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Borderline indoctrination. You're not pledging commitment to it's "values" and young children are not at an age to have a nuanced discussion or awareness about what those exactly those values are, and make a decision about if they should be declaring a commitment to them or not.

Should everyone wait until their kids turn 18 to start teaching them their own morals and values? You’d just be auctioning their brain to random others who are willing to do that. I think we either have very different concepts of what indoctrination is, or there is much more beyond the pledge itself, and that is where the real issues are?

> Should everyone wait until their kids turn 18 to start teaching them their own morals and values?

You keep saying morals and values. Which part of the pledge pertains to morals and values? It was still said during a time of complete racial segregation. Did the practically unchanged pledge teach children about the morality and values of that? Or domestic internment camps during WW2? What about during the Vietnam war? What deeper nuanced meaning am I missing where it balances "freedom and liberty for all" with the massive expansion of the post-9/11 surveilance state?

It's got nothing to do with morals or "values".

Perhaps we should just say "if you feel so strongly about your country at the age of 15 that you want to recite a prayer to it every morning then you can in your own time".

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#142

Post by wil421 »

markdown wrote: post #72
thepasswordis wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US seems to have largely decided that any amount of national pride is something to be ashamed of.

Ordinary people hang US flags off the front of their houses. In a bizarre indoctrination ritual, they make their kids pledge allegiance to the state from a young age. They think they're the greatest country in the world. Have you taken a good look at your own country.

What’s wrong with hanging your country’s flag? I’ve seen people from all over the world wear or display their own country’s flags.

Have you taken a look at yourself?

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#143

Post by reaperducer »

ant6n wrote: post #82
camwiese wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes! Success for most Fairs depends on the timeline you're looking at. Even the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans (which I know I call out in the essay), was considered a failure at the time. Now 30+ years later, New Orleans has a thriving waterfront district that wouldn't have been developed without the Fair.

How can you be sure it wouldnt have happened without the fair?

In existing cities, districts like that don't just happen. They are created through urban planning.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#144

Post by markdown »

wil421 wrote: post #142
markdown wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ordinary people hang US flags off the front of their houses. In a bizarre indoctrination ritual, they make their kids pledge allegiance to the state from a young age. They think they're the greatest country in the world. Have you taken a good look at your own country.

What’s wrong with hanging your country’s flag? I’ve seen people from all over the world wear or display their own country’s flags. Have you taken a look at yourself?

It's abnormal behaviour. There's no reason to hang your country's flag in front of your house. I mean... maybe if you live near the Canadian or Mexican border and are feeling particularly patriotic or insecure.

> I’ve seen people from all over the world wear or display their own country’s flags.

You may have imagined it. If not, could you say where? It is a uniquely American thing. I mean, Indians will pull out a flag quite often, but they're perpetually at war with their neighbours so it's kinda understandable. In the US you'll see flags on houses in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, owned by people who've never met another foreigner. It really is bizarre behaviour.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#145

Post by tonyarkles »

ksm1717 wrote: post #46
lswainemoore wrote: post #24

Nitpicky/unsolicited UI feedback: I do a lot of double/triple clicking to highlight text as I read online (fidgeting, but also helps keep track of where I am). On your site, triple clicking unintentionally hits the twitter share button, which opens a new, unwanted window. Bit annoying. Medium does something similar, but they offset the button so you have to move cursor in between clicks to actually trigger the button…

I’m fascinated by that phenomenon. I don’t even notice I’m doing it most of the time, and I’m shocked by how many other people do it. Specific, common, digital tics. Another one is control-s after a single line changed. Something immensely satisfying about selecting that perfect block of text and making that “altered document” asterisk go away.

For me it’s partly a habit from writing code. Most of the time I’m only modifying a few lines at a time and am going to do another test cycle. Gotta save to make that happen! (Excluding, of course, the editors that auto save all the time and cover your screen with red lines when you’ve tipped half a statement and then stop to think about it for a few seconds...)

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#146

Post by markdown »

jiofih wrote: post #102
markdown wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ordinary people hang US flags off the front of their houses. In a bizarre indoctrination ritual, they make their kids pledge allegiance to the state from a young age. They think they're the greatest country in the world. Have you taken a good look at your own country.

I don’t get the fuss with the pledge of alliance (non American here). > "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Why is it bad to declare your commitment to the country you’re born in and it’s values? It’s not like you can’t leave (except for the IRS) if you don’t like it.

> Why is it bad to declare your commitment to the country you’re born in and it’s values?

It's just indoctrination. I mean, commitment to your country is implied. Do you stand up, put hand on heart and pledge allegiance to your family? Your church? Your friends? Why would you do that for your country? It's nationalistic nonsense that has no place in a modern, democratic society.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#147

Post by IgorPartola »

Fordec wrote: post #101
labster wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speak for yourself. Los Angeles ran a profitable Olympics in 1984 and we look forward to doing so again in 2028. And nationalism is at a low ebb here, given our last four years fighting His Nibs on everything. It’s all about competition and entertainment for us. And infrastructure that can be reused for more entertainment.

The 1984 Olympics, considered to be the most financially successful Olympics ever, were ran on the basis of renovating existing infrastructure, not building new stuff in a new city because the previous two Olympics were financial disasters. Also, yes, if you mess up LA the United States will still truck on. Also Nationalism isn't just flags, hate and hands in the air, it's also an outward expression of ideas and idea…

Does the US still have an identity as a country? I certainly would have a very hard time explaining to someone not from here what it is that the United States stand for at this point.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#148

Post by potiuper »

nonford150 wrote: post #137
potiuper wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Build a dome over New Orleans or York; Call it the New Palace. Or to be more optimistic a nuclear plant, maybe Governor's island? or recommission Indian Point, along with district heating.

Agreed with most but finish Shoreham? With all those no show jobs and failed, touched up x-rays, that sounds like a very bad idea.

Finish being putting it to some productive use like turning it into a battery given the solar farm going up nearby and the substation hub is there.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#149

Post by buzzert »

I really think the closest thing we have these days is the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas every winter.

At some point in the last twenty years or so, it became less about companies demoing next year’s products and more about really grand visions of the future (of course, where the company in question was the centerpiece of this grand vision). I believe it was Panasonic in 2020 who had a huge booth showing off a flying car concept, accompanied by a wall-to-wall LED display showing a video of families in the future taking it to work/school/etc.

Once I realized that CES is less of a marketing event and more of a modern World’s Fair, I really started to enjoy it a lot more. Even with the corporatism. Can’t wait to (hopefully) go again next year!

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#150

Post by wil421 »

markdown wrote: post #144
wil421 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s wrong with hanging your country’s flag? I’ve seen people from all over the world wear or display their own country’s flags. Have you taken a look at yourself?

It's abnormal behaviour. There's no reason to hang your country's flag in front of your house. I mean... maybe if you live near the Canadian or Mexican border and are feeling particularly patriotic or insecure. > I’ve seen people from all over the world wear or display their own country’s flags. You may have imagined it. If not, could you say where? It is a uniquely American thing. I mean, Indians will pull out a fla…

Germany. Southern Germany specifically. Lots of people even have Bavarian or German flag stickers on their cars.

Lot’s of flags in Italy including regional flags like Siena which has 17 different flags corresponding to the parts of the city. Lots Italian and Vatican flags in Rome.

I’ve met a Costa Rican tourist in Europe who had a flag hat, shirt, backpack, and a small flag in hand.

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