71–80 of 225 posts
The article didn't answer my main question, which is how the economics work. How does it add up to have high-touch home delivery of $5 yogurt packages?
Low salaries/wages. Decades of deflation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Decades
Japanese have lactose intolerance, almost universally. They don't eat yogurt or dairy in general.
Case in video: Chinese and milk tea
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Low salaries/wages. Decades of deflation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Decades
I'm so glad I visit different countries to see what they are actually like so I don't get brainwashed into thinking GDP is anywhere near of good measure as people think it is.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What’s there to live for otherwise? Can you flesh this idea out more?
There are plenty of things to live for, but that’s not even the point. There is a difference between choosing to be social and having to be social because you will get depressed if you aren’t. I think this need for social interaction is harmful. We did see this in action during the COVID pandemic. So many people who weren’t able to abide by a short lockdown. Lives were lost due to our pathological need for social int…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The BBC is not state funded, it's a public broadcaster primarily funded by the general public, via the (admittedly outdated) TV licence fee system. How is that different from being state-funded? Everything state-funded is paid for by the general public, through taxes. That's part of what being a state is : an organization that forces people to pay taxes and directs them to various programs. Are you claiming that th…
The state doesn't make me pay it because I don't watch live broadcast TV, therefore I don't have to pay it. It's not a general tax it's a hypothecated tax and is administered by the BBC not the UK government. Furthermore the state isn't in charge of administering it anyway, it's a civil matter brought about by the BBC (or rather the company which is subcontracted to enforce licencing). The BBC has the authority to do…
There are plenty of taxes that only some people have to pay, for example, the fee to register a car.
> Furthermore the state isn't in charge of administering it anyway, it's a civil matter brought about by the BBC (or rather the company which is subcontracted to enforce licencing). The BBC has the authority to do this based on the Royal Charter that governs it
I'm trouble understanding how this doesn't make it part of the state? It is a 100% state-owned entity to which the state has granted (in a "Royal Charter") the ability to collect taxes... the distinction you're trying to draw seems meaningless to me.
Sure there may be two separate entities, one called "The UK Government" and one called "The BBC" where neither is part of the other, but structurally I don't see how you can claim that they're not both part of "the State" in general.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm so glad I visit different countries to see what they are actually like so I don't get brainwashed into thinking GDP is anywhere near of good measure as people think it is.
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Edit: guy has now edited his comment like 5 times as a response.
English is not my main language but this title confuses me
HN’s interest in this article is so “thing vs Japanese thing”