Greedy people are more likely to end up wealthy. Greedy people are also more likely to end up doing ethically dubious things.

Of course, any wealth at all is unethical if you’re being honest with yourself. There’s a famous passage in the Bible.

Jesus was out teaching his disciples or healing people- whatever he did. And a rich man comes up to him and asks

“Jesus, I want to follow you and go to heaven. Please tell me what I should do”

What did Jesus say? Jesus told him to a) sell all of his shit b) give that money to charity c) physically follow me around

What did rich guy do? Have an epiphany about morality and living the good life?

No, he cried. He cried because he didn’t actually want to let go of the good things he had for morality.

All of us in first world nations are guilty of this to some extent. The way our world is shaped you essentially have to be unethical to survive. There are levels to it, of course. But I think your perspective is too black and white and needs a little nuance. Seem like a teenager.

Not a good thing but thousands of gays vs millions of illegals

Republicans today are not the same as Republicans back then. Reagan did more for illegal immigrants than any president since. I’d vote for him in a heartbeat if it was him versus the two bad jokes currently campaigning.

It’s a question of

How much effort (man hours which ultimately translates to $$$) versus how much revenue lost (people not buying because of Firefox bugs)

In my experience this depends on your specific application. Sometimes there are weird bugs or behavior where you have to really hunt down what’s going on. Other times it’s as simple as changing a few css lines or something.

I view India as a rising power that has the potential to rival China and the USA. I think the culture is backwards in many ways and advanced in others. I don’t like your current administration, but I do think India overall has interesting politics. I mean, you guys have an active Maoist insurgency. Pretty wild for the 21st century.

I tend to get along well with Indians I meet in the states. I appreciate India long history and cultural impact (Buddha came from India for example). There were democracies in India before Athens was a thing.

All in all India’s a rising power with a lot of potential. Unfortunately I don’t think they will reach China-status anytime soon because they don’t exercise as much central control as China does.

In some ways this is good, Cultural Revolution wasn’t exactly a great experience for a lot of people. But in other ways it means the Indian government doesn’t have the power to reshape India in a way where it can successfully rival the European powers.

Trust me marginally reducing the gasoline burned by the working class commuting to work will not make a difference. It’s political theater masquerading as activism.

Go after the largest items. Build solar, wind farms, nuclear power. Once we have 90% of the power in this country being generated without carbon emissions then maybe we can talk about the pennies worth from gasoline.

Because right now 40% is natural gas and 20% is coal. Think of all the A/C units in the whole country, all of the Google data servers beeping and whirring, and every single Tesla supercharger station and behind them is a giant plume of black smoke sinking up to the atmosphere.

Tell me where in Sudan you had some of the most densely populated urbanized places in the world carpet bombed and 2 million people tossed around and ping ponged around from evacuation to evacuation - all committed by a supposed democratic advanced country? Even worse- a key ally of the US? Nation who cares about human rights, egalitarianism, etc?

Darfur genocide happened 20 years ago over the course of years. Gaza we haven’t even seen a year yet. You want to argue semantics about what generation means? You want to compare and contrast? Did you see the US president get on TV and hug a warlord with tears in his eyes as F16s dropped MK84 bombs onto women and children like Biden did with his precious Bibi?

Let’s see. Maybe you are the disinformation agent. Trying to muddy the waters. Make it seem a little less bad. Very easy to say to discredit, yeah? You are a bot. Part of pro-Israel hasbara campaign. You’re a shill, a dope, a duntz

Look I did it too. I’m so tired of this nonsense online. This all started around 2016.

I think you’re wrong. I think if Democrats lose this election they will do their analysis and focus groups and surveys and if it points to the decisive issue being Gaza then they will change their attitude on Gaza - even if marginally, they will be forced to.

As for me, I just got my right to vote 2 years ago and I’ve been living here 25 years. I’m going to vote. I’m just not voting for Biden or Trump. I’ll write uncommitted or blank or something.

This is what democracy should be. Candidates lose votes if they don’t act in a manner congruent with the beliefs of the base. This “vote no matter what because the alternative is worse” is not democracy. If you don’t have a choice, you don’t have a vote. You’re headed same direction either way.

Voting for someone is giving them a stamp of approval either explicitly or implictly. Democrats need to lose. They need to be afraid of losing votes. If they can act in this manner and still win, they are learning the wrong lesson. The quiet part that Trump said out loud - that he can shoot someone on 5th Ave and people would still vote for him.

I’m tired of this end of the world argument for voting Biden. If our institutions are so fragile that this election topples our democracy for good - then sorry to burst your bubble but the democracy is already a goner.

Israel is committing the worst ethnic cleansing campaign of our generation. I cannot and will not vote for someone embracing them and helping them get away with it. We cannot let fear cloud our principles.

You’re right

That is an inverse progressive tax. The lower income you are, the higher % of your income you pay.

It’s essentially a tax on the poor trying to subsidize renewables. If the US had viable alternatives, maybe I’d support this. I don’t think the poor need more taxes right now, though.

I’m a bit cynical here and I think the country is headed down the same path whether Trump or Biden wins in November. We’re seeing pseudo-fascist rhetoric increase in frequency. We’re seeing authoritarian and militaristic policies pass virtually unopposed through our political system. War is virtually guaranteed with either candidate.

I know this opinion may be unpopular but I don’t think this election matters very much. There are of course potential differences- such as access to abortion. If Biden wins, maybe there’s more hope. But that’s really it- just hope. Democrats have had majorities dozens of times since Roe V Wade was ruled and never wrote abortion into law.

I don’t think it’s suddenly going to change in the next 4 years which looks to be a potentially very dangerous period of time geopolitically speaking. Biden isn’t going to have very much political capital to spend and the Overton Window is gradually shifting right.

Instead of looking only at this election, look at the next. And the one after. Do people think MAGA will go away? The world is in economic and geopolitical restructuring- instability breeds radicalism. The problem will likely only get worse. Especially with another weak Democratic administration.

Which brings me to the answer to your question. I have dual citizenship in South America. The only reasons I would leave the US are if there is a WW3 scenario or some sort of clear descent into a form of fascism. We’re toying with it right now, but it can get a lot worse.

It probably won’t be much better in my home country if I’m being honest, but there will be less chances for war. Any global war will inevitably involve the US in some capacity.

I think Israel in its current state is beyond saving

I think the fundamental issue with Isreal is that it was started as an ethnostate with the national religion explicitly endorsing their own population as “special” and “chosen by God”.

That ideology would never be compatible with a modern cosmopolitan liberal democratic society. All races and religions and people should be of equal worth. Any ideology that views itself as somehow special would always degenerate to apartheid and brutality.

Add in the fact that Jews are some of the smartest and most industrious people on the planet and you have a very dangerous country. You mix willingness and capacity and you get action- what we are seeing in Gaza today, and really what we’ve been seeing for decades.

I guess that is a long winded way to say, I agree. Israel in its current manifestation cannot be saved. It would require a total deconstruction of their ideology and to be frank, that probably isn’t happening anytime soon.

Maybe after WW3.

Biden’s been down in the polls all year. Even worse, he’s losing 5/6 of the battleground states that will decide this election.

Why is he losing? The most important issue to Americans in 2024 is the economy. Vast majority of Americans feel they are worse off or the same as 2 years ago.

Inflation & high interest rates hurt no matter how the administration tries to spin the numbers. Everyone is going to the grocery store and they see how everything is shooting up in price.

Add to Biden not really being able to point to much he accomplished besides the infrastructure bill (which was significantly watered down by the time it passed) and his constant gaffes/ sleepy appearance in his speech…

It’s really surprising he’s only losing by a couple %. It’s a testament to how unpopular Trump is. Trump was one of the most unpopular presidents in history. Biden somehow managed to be even more unpopular than Trump.

Fiction is more important than nonfiction in my opinion. Good fiction teaches you about the human condition. Studies have shown people who read more fiction are more empathetic for example. The ability to put yourself in the mind of another person is not only good for society as a whole, it’s good for the individual because navigating relationships is something you will be dealing with until you die.

That of course isn’t to say nonfiction isn’t important, but that’s what all your textbooks are for. That is nonfiction.

Tldr; I don’t think it’s a problem at all, no

Listen to Biden talk 30 years ago. Nobody was making fun of his speech. He was energetic and charismatic. People make fun of him today because he frequently sounds like a sleepy old man.

The lesser evil campaign strategy isn’t going to work anymore. It’s ran its course. Biden needs to offer something meaningful otherwise Trump will win.

At this point it’s almost certainly too late.

I’m a foreigner. Most aren’t. I work from home. Most don’t. I drink kava everyday. I doubt anybody else does.

There are benevolent kings every once in a while. Doesn’t mean monarchy is a good system in the long term. Nordic countries have some of the highest wealth inequalities in the world. They keep the working class content with the programs and benefits. They have been able to afford it up to now, but the system is straining.

In the long term they cannot sustain this and we see it with their indicators slowly falling over time to match other Western European countries.

French & UK citizens are not fans of their government.

Less power the government has unnecessarily, the better. Doesn’t mean the government shouldn’t have power, just we need a mentality that we always need to be trimming the fat.

What do you mean? You think I don’t support taxes or something?