Your point about the ozone layer response is very relevant to our expectations of solving climate change. I think replacing CFCs was just low hanging fruit, which I didn’t understand as a kid. I just assumed if we kept recycling and not consuming so much it would put us on track. So naive.

For sure, I think the patriot act was a turning point in trust of government in the US. It filtered though to our government in Australia during the Howard years. Similar to the US, around the GFC we had a hopeful change of government, but that hope for progressive values (Obama for you guys, Rudd for us) turned out to be misguided. I tend to think of those “centre left” governments as representing managed societal decline as opposed to the accelerated decline of the right wing parties.

And every hair on your back, shoulders and ass is step towards being Chuck Norris.

I think part of the problem is disillusion. Millenials in the west grew up in a period where it looked like tech was going to benefit society, and climate change was going to be addressed, and ethical consumerism was somewhat meaningful, and social mobility would still exist. We are having to downgrade our expectations and it hurts.

Even people who have put the work into therapy need a loving attachment figure. It’s healthy to be open and vulnerable when you need it.

Yes, but millenials have been doing it since we were kids. It’s not that hard, just embrace the joy of naughty computing.

The problem is that mainstream media has less integrity now than it did 30 years ago. The national broadcaster in Australia for example has been infiltrated by right wing people (BTW I don’t want to get rid of ABC, just wish it was better). To cut through the propaganda, people need to acquire the skills to find their own media sources. Unfortunately that also means getting technical ability with computers now. Best thing I can think of is helping less adept people to navigate the space. Otherwise we end up with a much weaker democracy. Listening to C-SPAN callers in 2022-2024 scared the hell out of me and made me think Trump was gonna get voted back in. People stuck in legacy media space are getting brainwashed. I wish it was easier to curate RSS feeds for non-technical friends and family.

Freedom until it’s taken from you by those who are wealthier and more powerful.

When you boil it down, being right wing means you value property rights over human rights, and left wing is vice versa. Right wing is maintaining wealth and power, and don’t let anyone else get in the way of it.

Do do doo do doo doo.

Sugar water.

Mate, he is on a very self destructive spiral doing those nazi salutes at the inauguration. That’s not a smart move. He’s let his fantasies get the better of him. If he was really smart he would shut the fuck up about politics. He has everything, And consequently he values nothing.

You’re right, the term is very subjective. The lower bound for me is owning multiple properties, owning a business and making money from the labour of others.

I agree. If you started from 0 and got rich you became a class traitor.

I’m not sure what you mean. I’m not American, and I don’t place much value on enormous wealth accumulation. I’m just acknowledging that there is a difference between gaining enormous wealth with a hefty leg up from family wealth versus doing it from scratch, like growing up in poverty for example.

I think he is dedicated, dangerous and awful. I just don’t think he is smart. I’ve known people who achieved wealth, started successful businesses etc. They had domain expertise and ambition. But they also neglected and fucked up other critical aspects of their lives (like their relationships with partners and kids). I didn’t consider them to be smart. In my mind, smart implies a well roundedness, and the capacity for self reflection, and empathy. Musk just has the personality traits, and family wealth, to enable him to “succeed” in our current society.

I have to question the judgement of Bill Gates when he calls Musk “super-smart”. Maybe if Musk started out with no money, that would be fair in some sense. I think he was just lucky and unencumbered by ethics or self-doubt.

Watch as Australia votes in a corrupt copper next year for prime minister. Making the same bullshit promises.