I seriously hope liberals aren’t still holding on to the nonsense belief that leftists who refuse to vote for Biden might cause him to lose to Trump. There are an insignificant number of eligible voters who are leftist, there’s no possible way they will be the deciding factor in the 2024 presidential election.
It really comes down to trust, or the lack thereof. People don’t trust their governments and governments don’t trust their people. I think this mistrust originates from governments so often being imposed on the people, rather than the government being subordinate to the people. If the government were truly subordinate to the people, I don’t think privacy would be nearly as much of a concern.
Well, I think there’s much more to making a government subordinate to its people than just electing representatives, especially if our options for representation are limited. I’m talking about a more radical departure from the status quo, about making the people the ultimate authority.
I’m not necessarily opposed to privacy rights, but it would ultimately be the government that would have to enforce those rights, so how do you ensure that the government adequately enforces your privacy rights and that there isn’t any possibility for abuse?
I don’t think many people are saying that Biden is the same as Trump or just as bad as Trump. I think most progressives, for instance, would agree that Biden is better than Trump, it’s just that that’s such a low bar. I mean, are liberals really surprised that people aren’t all that impressed with a president whose main selling point is that he’s not as bad as the only alternative? Now, I get that liberals don’t see it that way, I understand that liberals, apparently, are really very happy with Joe Biden, but for the rest of us he is only the least bad option.
I would imagine those people are Marxists, or other anti-capitalists. If you’re somebody whose primary litmus test is whether a candidate is pro-capitalist or anti-capitalist, you might not see much of a difference between Biden and Trump because they are both staunchly pro-capitalist. But I think those people are overrepresented on lemmy and only make up a very small percentage of the actual US voter base.
In a scathing indictment of Microsoft corporate security and transparency, a Biden administration-appointed review board issued a report Tuesday saying “a cascade of errors” by the tech giant let state-backed Chinese cyber operators break into email accounts of senior U.S. officials including Commerce Secretary Gina...
China has scared the US into abandoning neoliberalism, rethinking globalization, and becoming more isolationist and protectionist. I think China has also convinced the Federal government that more state involvement in the economy is necessary. Perhaps this will move the US in the direction of a more state directed market economy, much like, well, China. It’s fascinating how much influence our “enemies” can have on us.
No, I don’t support neoliberalism. The point of my comment wasn’t to lament the death of neoliberalism, it was to point out how remarkable it is that China got Washington to turn against its own policies. The US has been trying to push the “Washington consensus” on the rest of the world for nearly half a century, only to do a total 180 now that they realize their policies might be a threat to their own national security. I find it very ironic.
Despite the country’s deep political polarization, most Americans share many core beliefs about what it means to be an American, according to a new poll....
I don’t think these were the things anyone was claiming we were divided over. Of course if you get a bunch of Americans together in a room and ask them if they support freedom of the press and the right to assemble and associate, they’ll say yes, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still very divided. Ask them what the role of government should be, whether we should provide universal healthcare and tuition free higher education for everyone, if taxes should be raised on corporations and the wealthy, what our immigration policy should be, etc, I’m sure you’ll get a lot less agreement.
If he thinks radical, systemic changes shouldn’t be attempted right now, that implies that he also thinks the necessary climate solutions are achievable within the existing system. What is basing that on? There is absolutely no reason to believe that the necessary solutions are possible within the existing systems, given that essentially all countries are well, WELL behind where they need to be to meet their own climate pledges.
Quite possible given the amount of radiation the average Springfielder is likely exposed to. I mean, have you seen the nuclear power plant’s safety inspector? Not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Just one of the many, many examples of what you get when you build an entire society around the idea that making a profit is more important than anything else.
There’s no bind here. Investors have no loyalty to any nation, they take their capital wherever they feel they can get the best return. They care only about themselves and their own financial interests. US investors do not care if US power is undermined. The US could collapse tomorrow and they would abandon the nation like rats fleeing a sinking ship.
Are electric utilities replacing coal and natural gas plants with solar farms? I’ve heard that solar power is now the cheapest, or at least one of the cheapest, ways to generate electricity, so you’d think electric utilities would be jumping on the opportunity to cut their costs.
I think we’re combining two related, but separate industries, here. I understand why fossil fuel producers want to continue to produce fossil fuels. That’s the product they sell. I get that, but what’s still not totally clear to me is why more electric utilities aren’t switching. Utilities don’t sell fossil fuels, they sell electricity. The utilities are the buyers of fossil fuels, they are the customers of the fossil fuel producers, and if there’s a cheaper way of generating the electricity they sell, I would think they’d want to switch. From what you’ve told me, it sounds like some utilities aren’t switching because solar isn’t the cheapest way to generate electricity everywhere, yet. So, what would it take for solar to become cheap enough for all utilities to make the switch?
Fremont, Nebraska, population 27,000, has three massive meat-processing plants. As young locals leave in search of better jobs, Central American migrants have been taking their places in the slaughterhouses, especially after Costco opened a huge rotisserie chicken facility in 2019....
Deep in the immigration debate are some dark truths that no one wants to acknowledge. It’s a huge problem that a town can’t survive without relatively poor migrant workers. It’s a problem that people in developed nations can’t, or won’t, do the necessary work that keeps their society running, so they must rely on there being people in less developed countries who are poor and desperate enough that they will come and do the work, for a low enough wage. If modern society MUST have poor, migrant workers to operate, then that means we MUST keep a certain percentage of the global population poor enough so that we in the developed world will always have a sufficient supply of cheap labor. We can’t allow all countries to achieve a level of industrial development and high enough living standards so that their people don’t have to seek economic opportunities elsewhere, or else we lose a necessary supply of cheap labor. It’s a dystopian reality.
No matter what, the US Federal government is going to be ruled by a single party, the only question is: will it be the liberal party or the Trump cultists.
Edit: every time I comment this I get downvoted, which I think is odd because it’s irrefutable. The US was a two party system, but one of those two parties has gone completely bat shit insane, leaving only one viable political party in the US. If the bat shit party doesn’t take power, that leaves only one other option. The math is pretty simple here, so I don’t get how this is controversial. Even if you think a new second party will emerge, that’s going to take some time, and in the meantime there will be one political party in control.
Washington’s drive to make the United States a major global lithium producer is being held back by a confusing mix of state regulations that are deterring developers and hampering efforts to break China’s control of the critical minerals sector....
U.S. federal officials in Washington are largely powerless to force states to change regulations, leaving the Biden administration’s aggressive electrification targets beholden to the pace at which local officials update outdated statutes.
I don’t think the US can continue on the way it is, somewhere between a federation of independent states and a single nation. I think we have to commit to one or the other, I don’t think this hybrid model will work.
If you want to understand America’s strange relationship with housing in the 21st century, look at Austin, where no matter what happens to prices, someone’s always claiming that the sky is falling....
The results are spectacular for renters and buyers…One could celebrate this report as a win for movers. Or, if you’re The Wall Street Journal, you could treat the news as a seriously frightening development
Because the wall street journal’s readers aren’t renters, they’re investors, and while lower rents are good for renters they’re not good for investors.
The relationship between investors and consumers is often adversarial, they have opposing interests. The investors want to make as much money as possible and the consumers want to spend as little as possible on the things they want and need. Usually that’s not a huge problem because (ideally) consumers have choices, like the choice to not buy something they want if they think the price is too high, but when it comes to things like housing, consumers’ choices are limited to: pay whatever investors demand or be homeless. That’s less a choice than a threat.
We really do need fewer cars in general, though. Replacing all ICE vehicles with EVs isn’t good enough. EVs still need tires and plastics and roads to drive on, all of which require petroleum. We need people living in relatively dense urban areas, that are highly walkable and bikable, with robust public transportation.
The era of energy blindness is over. We can no longer act as though we have an infinite supply of energy. That means some difficult choices are going to have to be made.
There are, but in the US the only two ideologies with any establishment or infrastructure are (neo) liberalism and the modern conception of conservativism. There is no third ideology that is in a position to compete for supremacy with the other two. For right now, at least, it is a strict, zero sum, winner-take-all competition between liberalism and conservatism.
China will use AI to disrupt elections in the US, South Korea and India, Microsoft warns (www.theguardian.com)
Beijing did a test run in Taiwan using AI-generated content to influence voters away from a pro-sovereignty candidate...
Morality isn't a team: it's the ball. (lemmy.world)
Doh! (lemmy.world)
I did not know the origin of the quote (lemmy.world)
bOtH SiDeS!!1! (i.imgur.com)
Scathing federal report rips Microsoft for shoddy security, insincerity in response to Chinese hack (apnews.com)
In a scathing indictment of Microsoft corporate security and transparency, a Biden administration-appointed review board issued a report Tuesday saying “a cascade of errors” by the tech giant let state-backed Chinese cyber operators break into email accounts of senior U.S. officials including Commerce Secretary Gina...
Yes, we're divided. But new AP-NORC poll shows Americans still agree on most core American values (apnews.com)
Despite the country’s deep political polarization, most Americans share many core beliefs about what it means to be an American, according to a new poll....
What is the cheapest way to beat climate change? | Simon Clark (www.youtube.com)
It's jarring and implies that either celebrities or everyone in Springfield is deformed. (lemmy.world)
Suicide Mission - What Boeing did to all the guys who remember how to build a plane (prospect.org)
Xi Jinping is caught in a bind: How do I undermine US power while also courting its investors? (www.businessinsider.com)
Xi Jinping on Wednesday was playing nice with US business leaders and academics on Wednesday....
Natural Gas Is Scamming America | Climate Town (www.youtube.com)
Alternative Invidious Link
Fremont, Nebraska - The town that can't live without migrants, but isn't sure it wants to live with them (www.nbcnews.com)
Fremont, Nebraska, population 27,000, has three massive meat-processing plants. As young locals leave in search of better jobs, Central American migrants have been taking their places in the slaughterhouses, especially after Costco opened a huge rotisserie chicken facility in 2019....
How Trump is Following Hitler's Playbook | Robert Reich (youtu.be)
America's lithium laws fail to keep pace with rapid development (www.reuters.com)
Washington’s drive to make the United States a major global lithium producer is being held back by a confusing mix of state regulations that are deterring developers and hampering efforts to break China’s control of the critical minerals sector....
America’s Magical Thinking About Housing: The city of Austin built a lot of homes. Now rent is falling, and some people seem to think that’s a bad thing (www.theatlantic.com)
If you want to understand America’s strange relationship with housing in the 21st century, look at Austin, where no matter what happens to prices, someone’s always claiming that the sky is falling....
Inside the Republican Attacks on Electric Vehicles (www.nytimes.com)
Nice house (lemmy.world)
Why is US energy demand soaring – putting climate goals at risk? (www.theguardian.com)
New industries such as cryptocurrency and cannabis are boosting industry forecasts, straining efforts to cut emissions...
It’s like they forgot what happened last time they tried to save the south (midwest.social)