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
Well, the key is that the trade has to be made ahead of time.
Once the politician has written the no-string-attached check. maybe with an oversized check photo op, that horse has left the barn.
If the US government was stupid enough to hand Starlink a ton of cash without asking for enough in return, well, yes, the people we elect to the US government really are that stupid.
SpaceX and so many other companies benefit as we keep reelecting those who hand them those benefits.
@TCatInReality @bobwyman @lauren
Because we keep electing and reelecting people who are so proud of spending money regardless of where it goes and what it actually gets us.
If they had to actually hammer out such agreements, lots of companies wouldn't take them, and the politicians wouldn't be able to use the spending as bragging rights.
In the end, though, we reelect those people, so *shrug*
@InayaShujaat@mastodon.nz
I think you really miss what's going on in that post.
The person is highlighting the drawbacks of Mastodon, the challenges it would have to overcome, and instead of taking those criticisms to heart as something to address and be better about, well it's not helpful to overlook criticism for the sake of reading insult between the lines.
It's hard to see how a person or platform can grow and address problems when they're too busy getting upset at the messenger to consider the message.
Well no, there's an obvious way to report truthfully on events that are themselves false: report truthfully what happened.
Ignoring the events isn't a political error, but it allows falsehoods to fly under the radar and unchallenged where they grow.
@Runkleva @stopgopfox@libretooth.gr
The deposit of payroll taxes into the US Treasury to be spent on other programs was written into the original law that founded the scheme.
It's been there the whole time, even as politicians have lied to the public about how the program works.
The trustees administering the programs have been warning about this constantly, but nobody listens to them.
@mmeadway @stopgopfox@libretooth.gr
Every year the SSA's report warns of exactly this problem with funding, though. I'll quote directly from it:
"Social Security’s combined trust funds are projected to cover full payment of scheduled benefits on a timely basis until the trust fund reserves become depleted in 2035."
@stopgopfox@libretooth.gr
By law the Social Security program takes money from workers, immediately hands it to other workers, and deposits the rest in the Treasury where it's immediately spent on other programs.
Assuming the workers are considered investors, that pretty clearly meets the definition of a Ponzi scheme.
What that statement overlooks is that the weak workforce participation rate takes the wind out of the sails of the headline unemployment rate as an indicator.
A TON of people are unemployed but not in the workforce, so they aren't being counted in that headline number.
Meanwhile, ALL inflation is bad. Calming down doesn't mean getting better, it means remaining bad. 6.5% remains bad and contributes to recession, or at least low economic performance.
That's not how inflation works.
Firstly, it's a line that doesn't make sense, no matter how much certain politicians repeat it. If corporations can simply price gouge they would have been doing it all along.
What, they just now decided to be greedy? No.
But more importantly, inflation is by definition about the money supply. Other market forces and events don't fall under that category, especially as they will come and go, but inflation is a lasting increase in the overall price level.
@darlulittledeer@universeodon.com
Oof, this comes across as creepy, with the tone of kids mindlessly echoing propaganda of an authoritarian leader.
It seems like things changed when Biden decided to start crossing a line and repeating already debunked theories about what their membership were up to.
At that point all bets are off.
Yup!
I'm sorry, did you think that these networks were somehow above trying to profit off of sensationalistic headlines?
@Zee@social.coop it's pretty funny that that description sounds even more marketing friendly, designed by committee.
Well the headline is ridiculous, promoting the flat out misleading description of the Florida bill as don't say gay. The Florida bill absolutely had nothing to do with saying gay.
So this report doubles down on that misreporting, with incomplete quotes.
This is clickbait. It is not healthy to promote this sort of nonsensical reporting.
It's better that you link directly to the bill if you want to talk about it. These journalistic institutions have rightfully lost a whole lot of legitimacy in the public eye through misleading reporting like this.
It's that whole separation of powers thing, though.
The design of the US government, in order to provide checks and balances, has co-equal branches, so it's pretty much unconstitutional for one branch to order another to do anything.
They can certainly request things of each other, but if one branch could order another branch to do something it would make the other branch not an equal but subservient to the first.
So this idea is just stupid.
@Zee@social.coop
Sounds like a different label on the old term designed by committee.
Sounds like a rebranding because that term rightfully is now a slur.
@AstraKernel Other Fediverse clients have such a feature, so #Mastodon risks getting left in the dust!
So I was specifically asking what you have experienced, not what headlines have been squawking about.
I don't know how much of that would have actually impacted you as a user, depending on who you are following and such.
@joeinwynnewood @stopgopfox@libretooth.gr
If you didn't know, the DOJ is a law enforcement agency.
How you do politics: Make a statement that has been roundly rebuked as misleading at best, roll it up in a false dichotomy, present it as divisive rhetoric right alongside a call for coming together, and stammer out an excuse to try to save the moment as the moment collapses around you?
Biden really lost it here. I don't think people elected him to turn this moment of traditional pump and circumstance into Reality TV.
And conservatives had a field day with this ammunition.
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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