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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 3rd, 2023

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  • uhh no. comparing our actual life experience today with the actual life experiences of our parents and grandparents is the only way to know if we’re doing better, the same, or worse.

    your argument is the argument of the domestic abuser and the authoritarian government and the rapacious theologian.

    “be grateful for what you have” or “it could be worse” is shitty advice.

    “The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class”

    https://youtu.be/akVL7QY0S8A

    Elizabeth Warren a long time ago told us what was coming, and it’s either here or nearly here.




  • When your parents say, “did you talk to any of them,” they mean did you strike up a conversation with a woman with no presumption of potential romantic outcome.

    When you say it, it seems like you’re assuming there’s a potential for a romantic outcome in every conversation between heterosexual men and women.

    Your goal should be to strike up a conversation with a woman about random topics of interest, including very shallow ones, with no expectation that you’re evaluating her as a potential mate, and she’s not evaluating you.

    Yes, we’re all subject to intrusive thoughts so from time to time, you’ll fail at this goal and start thinking about a romantic path. That’s fine. Just acknowledge it to yourself and endeavor to do better.

    It will probably take time and practice. Give yourself grace to try and fail and learn. You’ll know you’re succeeding when you realize you had a conversation with a woman without her gender being a consequential thought in your mind.





  • After WWII there was a halcyon era where nearly every adult in America agreed that nerds had been crucial to our winning. That’s why Operation Paperclip came to be where we stole all the former Axis nerds we could find.

    It also led to an unprecedented boom in education spending, research spending, etc., mostly aimed at beating the USSR at technological development. Sputnik goosed that significantly, and the Apollo program briefly did as well, until Americans got bored of Moon landings…

    That was probably the first major flashing red warning light most of us ignored: Moon landings… boring!!!

    Anyway, educated people started doing things that weren’t directly associated with winning the Cold War, like exposing the dangers of lead in everything, the dangers of smoking, the dangers of chlorofluorocarbons, the dangers of greenhouse gasses, etc.

    That threatened the ability of grotesquely wealthy hoarders to hoard even more grotesque levels of wealth.

    So they started the project to dismantle education in America.

    That project kicked into afterburn once the USSR collapsed and the Cold War ended.

    And so far, nerds haven’t been successful in regaining their status.