For anyone else reading this and thinking about trying linux for the first time, be sure to use Linux Mint. It will give you the smoothest and easiest experience, and you pretty much never need the terminal. It even comes with a really nice software store (but everything is free).
All the iterations of Communism as enacted in the world with its various flavors (not as described by Marx himself, which I have less issue with) tend to have fundamental structural power issues that cannot be resolved, and inevitably become authoritarian and eventually corrupt. Relying on who is steering the boat to have a positive outcome means that even if lucky enough to get a good person, it’s easy enough to replace them with a bad actor.
History has clearly shown centralized power cannot be wrangled reliably, which I think strongly necessitates the need for decentralizing power at a fundamental level to prevent the failings of the past.
I won’t dispute that some communist dictatorships did result in some benefits to the poor and disadvantaged, but at a needlessly great cost to liberties and innocent lives. I don’t personally agree with the Michael Parenti viewpoint that we shouldn’t be so harsh on previous communist regimes because of those gains. I think in the end, Capitalism and Leninism, Trotskyism, Maoism, etc. are ultimately horrific for the soul, and we have better solutions that mitigate the possibility of those extreme negatives.
Which would then lead to the conclusion that both are terrible. Investigation into solutions will usually then reveal that the most promising one is Anarchism, as demonstrated in Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War, which is where George Orwell became fully soured on Communist Totalitarianism, and witnessed the extreme promise of Socialist Anarchist society.
I think the idea is that hope is a good motivator to create change in the here and now, and more critically, is less likely to become completely depleted and make you a bitter person if success is not immediate.
A not insignificant portion of online games utilize the steam friend system exclusively to enable inviting others to your party, and would not function otherwise. One example off the top of my head is Hunt: showdown.
I flew with a safety razor in my carry-on within the US, and no one seemed concerned. According to TSA, they’re chill as long as there are no blades, and it’d probably be a good idea to disassemble it too (which is what I did).
There is a dramatic difference between razors of different cutting efficiencies (basically, how much of the blade is exposed). Someone with light facial hair and sensitive skin would likely benefit from a milder razor to prevent needless skin irritation. There’s also designs that mimic the experience of a cartridge razor, such as the Hansen razor (makes it very hard to irritate or cut yourself even without learning safety razor techniques).
Walden’s recommendation of a vintage Gillette Tech is a good one, but if you have your grandfather’s razor, that indeed would be the best place to start, as it’s likely just as good as anything you could buy now.
The hostile attitude and accusations will not be conducive to changing minds or furthering meaningful discussion, there’s room for nuance here.
Biden is ultimately a typical neoliberal bastard, with all the negatives that brings. None of us want him, but realistically, no third party has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning with our current voting system. I don’t think any of us would blame you for sticking with your ideals in your vote regardless of that fact, but I don’t think it’s right to denigrate those who would opt for a practical harm reduction vote over an idealistic one that would ultimately result in a dictator taking power and absolutely wreaking even worse havoc on both people and the environment, especially as we are living in a period where there is no time left for the environment.
We’re still not sure if there are extreme tipping points of no return climate-wise. If we assume for safety’s sake that there is, then it’s critical to prevent further warming, and I can’t blame anyone for choosing a lesser evil that has allowed meaningful climate legislation to pass, over one that is shopping around his willingness to destroy the planet for his own personal gain, and who has publically advocated for going full steam ahead with Palestinian Genocide.
Ultimately we’re voting for scraps, and that’s all that’ll ever be, since no meaningful reform can come from within the system. But I don’t see any benefit to giving up those scraps for something far worse unless one advocates for accelerationism, which I personally don’t since it means massively increased suffering with no guarantee of better outcomes long-term.
Saying all that, I do think doing anything beyond just tossing in a vote when the time comes, like volunteering for or financially supporting a political campaign is a waste of time and money that could be better spent outside of the political system.