volkris @volkris@qoto.org
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
@stopgopfox@libretooth.gr @joeinwynnewood
One problem is that so many of these accusations are based on misunderstandings of laws or the processes of electing presidents.
I'm always amazed that in the US we have people who every four years stop and ask, wait, how do we elect elect presidents again? How does the electoral college work?
We have so many people who have no idea how government actually works voting on government. But that's democracy for you.
Frankly, I suspect that the reason Biden hasn't prosecuted these people is because the cases against them are seriously deficient, that they actually didn't do things violating federal law, regardless of the sensationalistic reports that biased outlets are putting out.
Sometimes a person is not prosecuted simply because they didn't break laws and articles attacking them are just stupid and wrong.
@scottjenson @tchambers @pfefferle
I'd say there's a pretty big difference that ActivityPub actively transmits updates while RSS only passively provides them.
@KingDetrick @Oldfartrant @stopgopfox@libretooth.gr
Oh, in my experience the definition of "insurrectionist" these days means "person I disagree with."
We live in stupid times.
@joeinwynnewood @stopgopfox@libretooth.gr
Well the thing is, if it's criminal then there will be a specific statute to reference. It wouldn't just be eyeballing the situation and giving an opinion.
So, what specific statutes would criminalize these actions even assuming they happened?
@KingDetrick @Oldfartrant @stopgopfox@libretooth.gr
Some kind of breakdown in the fediverse? The post was nothing but talking about the people on the floor of Congress, at least as it showed up on my instance here.
@KingDetrick @Oldfartrant @stopgopfox@libretooth.gr
When the OP highlighted people being on the floor of Congress to debate anything, it seems to me that was focusing on disagreement with the election of these people by their voters.
If the point was just about the judicial process then I would not have mentioned Congress at all since it really has nothing to do with their election.
If somebody should be rounded up by the authorities and thrown in jail or whatever, that's a completely separate issue from voters voting for their representatives.
Well this is one of the better steamed hams spoofs
Is #SteamedHams a hashtag around here? Well it is now!
@stopgopfox@libretooth.gr
Not at all. Prosecute away. There's nothing to stop prosecutors from prosecuting democratically elected representatives.
It's a completely separate issue.
But it just has nothing to do with their being democratically elected, and it is dangerous territory to talk about overriding voters or undermining the democratic process because one would rather authorities bring down a hammer.
@Oldfartrant @stopgopfox@libretooth.gr
Of course it is, because people are still voting those members into office.
You can talk around that all you want but at the end of the day, unless you are saying the voting system is itself reporting inaccurate results, it's still democratic.
I don't think only guilty of some things but not additional things is the huge victory this headline makes it out to be.
Ha! Now that I glance over at my home feed (whatever they're called) I do see your post there since I believe I follow the hashtag of Mastodon.
You'll be glad to hear that!
I was just randomly scrolling through the federated feed on my instance, the little world logo that shows all of the content that this instance sees from the broadcasts from all of the other instances It knows about.
I have similar questions, and I sort of get the impression that it is almost like a social credit system where I will follow you and an exchange you will follow me and the whole point is to mutually boost our follower counts because that number makes us feel good?
Yeah I really don't get microblogging.
@stopgopfox@libretooth.gr
It is about the democratic process because they were democratically elected to the democratic institution.
You are welcome to want to use the state to punish them. But let's be clear that you're talking about applying authority that would subvert the democratic process that elected them.
That happens from time to time in history.
The results tend to be less than ideal.
Yeah this brings up one of the axes I like to grind that #Mastodon actively spreads content throughout the system even to people the author does not intend, relying on good faith to not display it. Users really need to know that this system does not do much to protect privacy securely.
Anyway, I would suggest that you go down the road of encryption. You can broadcast and encrypted message all throughout distributed systems even though only the intended readers will be able to decrypt it, with a good UI handling all of the technicalities of course.
That is, as long as you are okay with it being observable that the speaker has spoken.
I just really wish that sort of functionality had been built into #fediverse
@darlulittledeer@universeodon.com
Wow, that's quite the conspiracy theory they have there.
Whatever you linked here is showing up as not available.
@stopgopfox@libretooth.gr
Well it's about democracy.
You might not like these people, but they were elected by their constituents to be representatives in the democratic institution.
When you talk about a powerful nation being powerless in contrast to these democratic results, well it comes across as awfully authoritarian, maybe even fascist.
I'm sorry you don't like how the democratic process worked out, but to use rhetoric about the power of the state to oppose democracy? That's troubling.
Say I wanted to follow your content and you are posting both micro blog posts through one program and videos through another. I could use your certificate to follow you and know that both the microblogs and the videos are actually coming from the same identity even if they are coming from different instances.
It's not about proving who you are as a person.
It's about your being able to brand your content across platforms, if you want to put it like that.
We really need to push back on this story about the possibility of default. It's fear mongering plain and simple.
The Treasury brings in enough revenue to service its debts, and it is legally obligated to do so. There is no legal chance of a default regardless of what happens with the debt ceiling.
Politicians trying to hold up default as a threat are misleading the public, and we need to call them out on that.
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
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