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
I just don't see how it's coherent.
Isolationism born out of non-isolationism? The one would defeat the other.
And that's not even getting into the assertion of capitalism being isolationist in the first place. It seems like the argument is self-defeating outside of the factual, but to go farther,
Capitalism is born of connection and social environments. Where does the capitol come from? Generally associating with others. Why bother organizing those resources in the first place? To provide value to others. Otherwise there's no value in the capital efforts in the first place.
So it's on two different levels that I find your perspective to be very tenuous. Both in terms of the argument and in terms of the premises that the argument is built on, it seems to fail on both levels.
Engagement with other people is at the heart of what capitalism teaches because transactions with others is both the mechanism and the goal. I don't know what you're talking about to assert otherwise.
volkris
boosted
tests are showing je ne sais quoi levels at 65%
(65%) ■■■■■■□□□□
@b I've been following Johnson for years, and the guy is really too smart to fall for a lot of the #Trump nonsense, but he does have to play the game as Speaker.
It's his job to represent the chamber that is dominated by stupid people who actually believe Trump's lines.
But the thing is, Johnson is smart enough to put little tidbits like this into his speeches to make fun of the #MAGA crowd in ways that would go over their heads.
I think this was one of those times when he's making fun of them, and they don't even know.
What's worse, a #DEI hire or #Trump hiring somebody he said was outright unfit because they sucked up?
#Conservatives were expressly proud of this.
#Trump: We hired this woman who wrote me a beautiful letter. I didn't think she had what it took for the job, but she wrote me a beautiful letter....
Right, the focus should be on the coding error, the mismanagement that led to this.
But to be clear people were not laid off due to a coding error. I don't know if it's better or worse, but people were told that they were laid off when they really weren't.
It might even speak to a situation where people who weren't laid off, workers that they wanted to keep, might quit because this kind of incompetence is the last straw.
But CNN is not doing any favors with misreporting the layoff part. It just makes people less likely to trust CNN.
Social control? Sounds like you just brought up a completely different topic.
But again, you say it's about being isolated but now it's about social control which is the opposite of isolation... I really think you need to think this thing through more, because it sounds like you're buying into some ideas that people are telling you that contradict each other.
It's pretty incoherent, especially with the individualism versus social dynamic it can't be both ways. And in the real world, it's not.
You're assuming that they know the consequences. These people are really really dumb, and they have some misguided theories about the consequences of their proposals.
They do care about consequences! The problem is, they don't know what the consequences will be.
Evidence of that is how often they shoot themselves in the feet by engaging in strategies that defeat their own interests.
If they knew what the consequences would be, they wouldn't do so much self-defeating stuff.
I really don't see how you can say capitalism told us that we're isolated individuals who compete to survive.
Heck, the very phrase is contradictory. If we're isolated, who are we competing against? If there's someone to compete against then we're not isolated!
But further, what's the point of organizing capital without interdependence to make something come from that?
No, interdependence is at the CORE of capitalism. Capitalism is necessarily all about interdependence and ecology as we organize resources into productive use.
The problem is that going nuclear and overriding the Democratic vote against proceeding to funding will lead to serious consequences, as it did when that option was taken with regard to judicial nominees.
The current state of the judiciary in the US came out of a party doing exactly this, overriding the minority party's traditional power of objection.
They CAN end the impasse by changing Senate rules, but blowing up that dam is a seriously consequential proposal.
(preface: I'm going to use language that's overstating, but only slightly)
Unfortunately, my experience on Fediverse is one of cheerleaders promoting Fediverse irrationally and demeaning BlueSky ignorantly (or dishonestly).
On one hand I hear people extolling that everything on Fediverse is light and grace, the technology is a gift from on high, and then they apply the pattern of having a solution in search of a problem as they wonder why everything from email to WiFi connected toasters aren't connecting.
On the other hand, they insist that BlueSky is nothing but X but worse, nobody uses it, and despite nobody using it there are a ton of racists posting there. Also, ATProto is an icon of a shadowy cabal of capitalists.
The whole treatment is factually empty, just true believers in Team Fediverse against Team BlueSky, numbers and technical reality be damned.
Unfortunately, I've seen that perspective a whole lot over the years, so all too many DO seem insistent on keeping their own bubbles instead of acknowledging reality.
@lisagetspolitik supremacy clause: that, by design, only goes one direction.
Really, the solution is that democrats should withhold their votes from ineffective congressional representation.
We keep reelecting and reempowering the same representatives who only end up leaning into this mess.
@drweb2 it needs to be emphasized that "dozens" is still not that many.
Folks may not realize how many sitting judges there are and may be mislead by the reporting to thinking this was a huge proportion.
This story is overblown with a biased sampling of a few judges' perspectives.
@stevevladeck.bsky.social my sense is that your argument starts with an apples vs oranges comparison and then builds on it with confusion as to why anyone would notice and find that kind of weak.
The Trump admin is doing things that are unprecedented in recent times, so it's not that unexpected to see the Court reacting in ways that are themselves unusual.
Before defending what the court is *doing* I'd start with challenging the question itself for the apples and oranges comparison that proposes misbehavior in the first place.
volkris
boosted
Sloppy reporting: #CNN repeatedly describes employees as fired in a report about notices being sent out in error. Sounds like they weren't fired, and sensationalist language detracts from a story of governmental mismanagement.
This is CNN.
www.cnn.com/2025/10/12/h...
#journalism #uspolitics
More than half of CDC staffers...
@OldSquida2 No, that's not how that works.
The advancement of public good is a negotiation between Congress, which has to give permission, and the executive, who has to actually implement policy with permission of Congress.
The Democratic representation in Congress remains a vital, vital element of the US government even as the president heads the executive branch.
So that statement is absolutely wrong. It absolutely misunderstands how the US government works.
Really, if they lied to Congress, the main response to that should be looking for impeachment and removal from office, not prosecution.
That's the tool that Congress has to deal with misbehaving officials.
Don't look to the executive branch to police executive branch officials. That's a conflict of interest. And that is exactly why the legislative branch has the power of impeachment.
Say it loud, if you think these people lied to Congress then we need to hold our congresspeople accountable for responding with the impeachment tool that they have.
And if they don't, hold them accountable for not, and stop re-electing these people.
Remember: the vice president is the president of the #Senate. The VP is in the legislative branch, not the executive branch.
People talk about #Trump as if he should be passing legislation to fund government when really it's not his call. The legislation is being blocked in the Senate, so the executive branch has nothing to do with it. Trump doesn't get a vote, so let's not inflate his ego by saying otherwise.
HOWEVER, JD #Vance actually does have authority in that chamber, in fact he's one of the few people that really does.
Yes, the #Democrats bear responsibility for voting to block the legislative procedure, but really, let's also lay this at Vance's feet. He should be pressing for a solution because that's his actual job.
I wish more Americans were informed about the VP's actual position in the US government.
The funny thing about a headline like this is that, I don't think it's broadly reported because it's technical, but there are serious reasons to think that Halligan was not legally appointed and so has no authority to bring any charges at all.
You know, if we're talking about law and order here...
THE RETURN OF LAW AND ORDER: US Attorney Lindsey Halligan Expected to Drop More Charges Against Serial Liar Letitia James – John Bolton, Pencil-Nec...
@lain I hear the album is really good but the way they edited it into the movie was very badly done.
(I take it I'm not spoiling anything with that based on how you phrased your post)
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
volkris's choices:
