Those guys just don’t want to see the US go the way of Europe where scorched-earth capitalism has been tamed and extreme wealth is taxed extremely. They are wealthy beyond avarice and STILL don’t feel they are free because they come up against regulations and institutions.

They capitalize on the rural Trumpism because it is the path most likely to lead to unchecked capitalism. Remember, the US isn’t like Europe - yet. And It will take a lot of work to get it there. All those rich guys need is a government that will do nothing. So not only is tax-cut Trump their friend objectively, he creates chaos. And chaos prevents action. Rancorous divisiveness means a logjammed national agenda. Which is all they want: no action. Look the other way while they rape the world.

Fun piece. I don’t know about best explanation ever.

It starts out talking about how movies idealize simple honest people from the heartlands (Star Wars, The Hunger Games, Braveheart) but then says:

the whole goddamn world revolves around them. Every TV show is about LA or New York, maybe with some Chicago or Baltimore thrown in. When they did make a show about us, we were jokes

So which is it? Does pop culture feed rural America’s sense that it is “Real America” or does it make them hillbillies?

As if explaining politics through TV and movies isn’t reductive enough, it can’t seem to keep its own story straight for ten paragraphs in row.

His debate performance was stunning because he spent 75% of his time talking about how we are being invaded by an enormous wave of criminals and insane asylum escapees who are violently claiming buildings and territory. I was like excuse me? Do I need to go check my yard for invaders? I didn’t realize we were being overrun. And yes I live in a state that borders Mexico.

I work at a company that has big offices in Japan and the US (as well as many other places) and it’s pretty interesting to see the contrasts in living standards and expectations up close.

On the one hand, when coworkers visit from Japan they are disgusted by how dirty, unsafe, and uncourteous the US is by comparison. They complain endlessly about the low quality standards of the food. I picture myself having to pick worms and hair out of everything and that’s what things seem like from their perspective.

But then some of them move to the US because they can’t handle the stuffy, oppressive attitude in Japan. Everything is about what you can’t do or aren’t supposed to do. One guy said he was so relieved to go to the US where people know how to say “we can find a way to do that.”

On top of that we’re asking a random assortment of Americans to compare where they live with the places they visit on vacation. Watch your wallet in Europe, people are saying. Duh, yeah, when you are a tourist in a tourist area. That’s universal, folks.

By the same token, people shouldn’t over-generalize about the US either. It’s a big place with massive differences from place to place.

I like the usually-better public transit systems. You have an advantage over us in that many of your biggest cities were established long before cars even came about, so they are not planned out as car-cities first and foremost. I’m in California where the automobile was a reality by the time most everything was being built. And in those days, people were excited by cars and the liberty they brought. Cars are much more fun when there aren’t too many of them and you have the open landscape before you. So the region I live in was planned as a love letter to cars and now we are living with all the downsides of that model being overloaded.

Obviously the whole picture is more complex than this - European cities have been rebuilt and replanned, sometimes after WW2 mass destruction. But still I think the effect of having an earlier establishment does make a difference in this way.

Can you document for me one case where such accusations against a high profile individual were shown in the fullness of time to be hired fraud?

There probably is some case like that out there - I’m not saying it’s impossible. But given the past we come from, where women were objects without status, I find it very believable that sexual assault is quite common. I need some reason to take your counterpoint as seriously.

So please, show me that one clear case where we found out that the woman had been paid by political enemies to create false accusations.

EDIT: 3 days later, still waiting.

That’s why he has to take on all this “masculinity” theater. Actually successful men are quiet about it.

Oh god, I can. Remember TiVo?

That’s why they had to call it that.

Buses drive outside.

People tend to step outside for a smoke.

So yeah, you actually might be more likely to get hit by a bus if you smoke, your smoking spot is anywhere near a bus route, and you are ducking out there 2-4 times a day to stand there smoking while you play with your phone.

I’ve even seen human engineers’ code thrown out because no one else could understand it. Back in the day, one webdev took it upon himself to whip up a mobile version of our company’s very complex website. He did it as a side project. It worked. It was complete. It looked good. It was very fast. The code was completely unreadable by anyone else. We didn’t use it.

China’s manufacturing capability is economically important in the short term but should hardly be looked at as a stranglehold on the entire world. Different countries have previously held the crown for “manufacturer of the world’s cheap rubbish” and India and Vietnam are currently vying for their turn to wear it. China will lose their supremacy before they’re able to do anything f politically strategic with it on the global scale.

Dude what? China’s near-daily incursions over Taiwan have escalated and escalated to an objectively ridiculous level. Nobody “painting” shit.

How does GPS just “go goofy?”

Whereas these airspace incursions are just… something you do?

Thank you for taking the time to say it all out. I saw this headline and my reaction was: who’s going to tell him: it never was one!

It is de facto political because people bring their politics to it, and because people are who they are. It is also overtly organized around the nation states of the athletes which is essentially political. But the spirit of it is to set politics aside and compete in a sportsmanlike way on an even playing field. You might say who cares what the “spirit” is versus the facts, and you’d have a point, but then again I’m not sure we should characterize the event by how terrorists choose to abuse it, either.

Congratulations for actually saying your piece instead of just “lol bruh.” You just took part in a discussion!

Well that was a perfectly substance-free reply.