Fair enough, but if they can navigate a gui that’s good enough for most workplaces.

Yeah… we really need to quit making proprietary formats into industry standards.

I suspect that’s social content fracture at work. If you have the right hobbies, access to the right tools, and move in the right circles, you pick up on this stuff. If you don’t, well… 🤷‍♀️

Honestly? Why do we let people who have no clue what’s actually going on decide the generations?

Oregon Trail generation sounds great.

I’m in the Minecraft generation.

Don’t know what the next generation would want to be called, but they’re the iPad kids for sure.

It’ll depend on their hobbies. PC gamers will know this stuff, or at least how to figure it out.

That’s certainly part of it. I think another part of it is that political theories are nice and sanitary in a vacuum, but once nation states co-opt them and use them to further their interests things get a whole lot messier.

Thanks!

I also feel like I might as well fight. I’m single and I don’t have a family (or not really - they’re on the other side and pretty fanatical about it). And I have more to lose than others do. More reason to be angry.

I think it is. Not in a nationalistic sense - we’ve done a lot of harms in the world. Maybe more harm than good, even. But there’s still a lot worth saving here. (USA)

If you just walk around and talk to people on the street, we’re still one of the most progressive people around, despite everything. The US is a melting pot, a country of immigrants, and therefore a fierce battleground for ideas and ideologies. Right now the fascists are in power, but that doesn’t make them the majority.

I really do think that if we get past this, we’ve got the “bones” to create something really great.

And that doesn’t even include American culture. Sure, there’s things I don’t like, but there are some really good parts, too.

We’re loud. Gregarious. We’ll strike up conversations with complete strangers. Most Americans are culturally curious, too - we like to try foods from other places, we’re fond of foreign movies and media, and we have a weird fascination with people who speak other languages (even though most of us only speak English).

Many of us see ourselves as citizens of the world, not just our own country. We like the idea of the US being a “global superhero” standing up for democracy and human rights. I know that’s mostly propaganda, and the real history of US intervention is more about maintaining global capitalism. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We could actually help the UN, defend Ukraine, defend Palestine, push for peace. The cultural groundwork is already there, we just need a more democratic system so that the will of the people is actually followed.

If you look at US history, you’ll see a lot of bad. That’s the nature of the two party system. But we have had some really good times, too. We have had leaders like John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and Jimmy Carter who have done a lot of good. And that’s just presidents, we’ve also had activists and leaders fighting for what’s right throughout our whole history.

They didn’t spring up from nowhere. Those people have always been here, and they’re just as “American” as the bad ones. In a sense there are two "America"s. There always have been. And, as in every generation, it’s worth fighting for.

I usually write in pen, only reason I’d use pencil is if I know I need to erase.

So… #5 I think. Simple, reliable, easily replaced.

But they aren’t sweet, and they’re softer than scones are.

Judging by Trump, I bet your reputation matters a whole lot less than you think it does.

I don’t know how things will be post-Trump, but up until now I’d say that (especially at the local level) it was very possible to field more left-leaning candidates and move the Overton Window to the left. We know this because the far right has very successfully shifted the discourse rightward, and a door can be traveled through in either direction.

Now, though, I’m not sure if Trump & co will even bother with sham elections. I suppose time will tell.

You don’t vote for a political party in the hopes that you might be able to push them to represent your interests, you vote for a party who WILL represent your interests.

In a true democracy, yes. That is what you would do.

In a false democracy, like Russia, you would ignore the rigged elections entirely and focus on agitating for the implementation of democracy.

But in a flawed democracy, you have a system where the elections are not exactly rigged, but where you do not have truly proportional representation.

In such a system, your primary focus should be on fixing the system. The closer to a true democracy this is, the easier it will be to accomplish via reform, although one should not discount direct action. However, when an opportunity to vote arises, you should take it. You can’t afford to spend all your effort on elections, but ignoring your opportunity to do some harm reduction would be ineffective.