doom_and_gloom

doom_and_gloom, 1 day ago

The game that changed everything, at least to my memory. It kicked off a new and exciting era in gaming. It gave us CS, DoD, and who could forget playing as Barney the security guy in Blue Shift. A landmark title imo.

doom_and_gloom, 12 hours ago

“Might not.” Such kind phrasing.

doom_and_gloom, 2 days ago

It’s a kei car, though.

doom_and_gloom, 2 days ago

They can usually be imported for private use, but kei cars aren’t street legal for most consumer purposes in the US. Which means they would be selling to a very small market. The very few that end up getting sold in Europe are usually modified versions designed for export is another limiting factor.

doom_and_gloom, 2 days ago

There is a small market for kei cars, for private use and export. But the economies of scale required for making these top-sellers don’t exist without regulatory and tax reform in foreign markets.

doom_and_gloom, 2 days ago

Yeah that existing market is a good point, I’m used to Americans talking about wanting kei cars (and the discussions of finding 25 year old trucks in good condition lol). I’m sorry.

It might have to do with production limitations for EV models (perhaps in part because of the focus on hydrogen and delayed battery procurement contracts vs. competitors), and mature competition from Chinese suppliers. Even so, iirc the entire kei market is significantly smaller because they are so much cheaper and because even if some countries do accept them, they can’t be sold universally. Also I think Japan changed incentives several years back which might have impacted sales and profits trends. That all probably makes the economics of expanding EV offerings abroad challenging.

I think that if they could do it they would, but you are absolutely right that Japan is not the only market where kei cars are relatively cleared and common place. I think I’m on the same page now.

doom_and_gloom, 5 days ago

Yet with those 100 watts, the brain cannot model itself in this detail - even though it is the literal embodiment of it! A strange thing to consider.

doom_and_gloom, 5 days ago

Not so different, I agree. But like you said, it’s still a weird thing to think about.

doom_and_gloom, 5 days ago

Have some respect for your elders. That dog has seen some shit.

doom_and_gloom, 5 days ago

But then what do we do with all of the naptha?

doom_and_gloom, 4 days ago

Hehe.

But really, we’re going to continue refining petroleum, and it’s nearly impossible to beat the economics of using a readily available industry byproduct. These plastics are a horrible thing but that’s the reality of the situation.

doom_and_gloom, 5 days ago

They’ve both got good points.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

doom_and_gloom, 5 days ago

I was sure it was going to be evergrande and Chinese property?

It might have collapsed another economy, but I think China is relatively well-equipped for dealing with financial crises given the higher degree of state-planning and the lack of needing to be corporate capital havens. I think they were extremely wise to prioritize deleveraging individual investors like people buying homes for themselves (and wise to maintain a state that can facilitate such decision-making). In the end they got a surplus of housing and blew up some rent-seekers - pretty impressive imo!

doom_and_gloom, 5 days ago (edited 1 day ago)

This guy reeks of 19th century white male anthropologist.

I won’t disagree there. But I would like to pick your brain on various statements if you don’t mind.

The human enterprise is in overshoot; we exceed the long-term carrying capacity of Earth and are degrading the biophysical basis of our own existence. Despite decades of cumulative evidence, the world community has failed dismally in efforts to address this problem.

I assume we’re on the same page here, that the Earth is experiencing a biophysical/ecological crisis?

I argue that cultural evolution and global change have outpaced bio-evolution; despite millennia of evolutionary history, the human brain and associated cognitive processes are functionally obsolete to deal with the human eco-crisis. H. sapiens tends to respond to problems in simplistic, reductionist, mechanical ways. Simplistic diagnoses lead to simplistic remedies.

I expect you reject the evolutionary psychology perspective here, but would you agree that humanity’s cognitive behaviors are unsatisfactorily dealing with the ecological crisis?

Politically acceptable technical ‘solutions’ to global warming assume fossil fuels are the problem, require major capital investment and are promoted on the basis of profit potential, thousands of well-paying jobs and bland assurances that climate change can readily be rectified.

Okay so here the author is simply giving their definition of what they consider politically viable, not too important on its own except that they clearly don’t believe these “solutions” are adequate.

If successful, this would merely extend overshoot.

This is what I’m more interested in. Do you think that if our current solutions alleviate the immediate crisis, that this will put us further into overshoot? Or do you think politically viable solutions can lead to an outcome that diminishes capacity strain such as soil health and fertilizer usage?

Complexity demands a systemic approach; to address overshoot requires unprecedented international cooperation in the design of coordinated policies to ensure a socially-just economic contraction, mostly in high-income countries, and significant population reductions everywhere.

I’m going to toss in my own objection here: The author is not supported imo in saying population reductions “everywhere.” Even acknowledging that many lower income countries have inflated populations due to foreign capital ensuring labor power is minimized, there are some localities that simply do not have a density issue.

Would you agree, though, that significant population reduction at the global scale is necessary in our current state to eliminate long-term overshoot? And would you agree that high-income countries need to experience the most economic contraction?

The ultimate goal should be a human population in the vicinity of two billion thriving more equitably in ‘steady-state’ within the biophysical means of nature.

I’m not sold on the 2 billion number, but do you agree that a population reduction of some degree is necessary to attain an equitable steady-state, or in other words, to avoid collapse?

I find most of these statements to be relatively true and/or supported, and without an overt political orientation. It’s horribly written, but the most contentious parts I see are the 2 billion number and the conclusion that “everywhere” must experience population reduction. The evolutionary psychology statements could simply be replaced with “as you can see, our actions are not adequately addressing these issues” and it wouldn’t change much imo.

You call it ecofascist, but if it were better written (and preferably not in such libby language) I would cite this publication as a demonstration of why revolution against capital is the only hope of success and why the highest priority must be the degrowth of the imperial core. Maybe the author actually is my ideological enemy, but if so, in describing reality they couldn’t help but paint a picture of why fascism must be overthrown if we are to survive. Or at least that’s how I’m reading it, and I’m curious as to where you agree/disagree.

doom_and_gloom, 8 days ago (edited 4 days ago)

I help maintain !collapse

Although it doesn’t take much effort at the moment.

doom_and_gloom, 8 days ago (edited 5 days ago)

Mother 2 is the best game of all time and if you disagree, Ness’ bat would like to have a word with you. Paula will pray for whatever is left of your soul when he is done.

Nintendo digitally re-released the original strategy guide awhile back, but I think my copy is faulty because I can’t smell the scratch and sniffs…

doom_and_gloom, 8 days ago

I hope you can get to both of them soon… especially EB.

doom_and_gloom, 9 days ago

This isn’t the most practical advice but here it goes: Live your life, chase your passions, find community, volunteer your abilities, and work on fulfilling yourself. Along the way, keep an eye out for other lonely souls. At least this way, you’re more likely to be starting from some sort of common ground.

If you’re a bit of a black sheep locally, it can also really help (in a multitude of ways) to move somewhere that you fit in better. It’s unfortunate but true, at least in my observations.

doom_and_gloom, 10 days ago

The taiga has been burning for years due to climate change. Some of these fires are nonstop, with so-called ghost fires burning underground through the winter that reignite into bigger fires when it gets dry. Siberia has had it the worst. I wonder if this is related. I would think it probably is.

It is noteworthy that the mayor of Bratsk (Irkutsk region) has already stated that “in all cases, fires are handmade, everywhere the human factor.” In all likelihood, the season of kebabs with alcohol in nature gave a new impetus to the elements. In some settlements, the fire was close to multi-storey buildings.

This could be a possibility too, although I don’t know whether the statement is in earnest or coming from a climate-denial perspective like you hear in the US and Canada. Hopefully the former. Is anyone familiar with the mayor, by any chance?

doom_and_gloom, 10 days ago

I’m really hoping an expert on Bratsk politics shows up to the thread to let us know lol

doom_and_gloom, 10 days ago

I lost some plants to cold snaps earlier in spring, after my losses during winter hardening. But the survivors are doing well, and most of the perennial garden plants are growing once again.

I’ve also had a lot of losses to the wildlife. I’m not sure if it’s because they are hungry, because they tend to cut the plants off at the base and not eat any of it. Maybe they don’t like my garden. Maybe they don’t like me? Either way, they eat plenty of the harvest, and they aren’t doing themselves any favors by biting the hand that feeds!

All-in-all, I am very pleased with the progress of the garden this year. At this rate, it should be substantial within 2-3 more years. The goal is a permaculture system so seeing the perennials doing well is a good sign. The soil is also slowly improving, although it has taken a lot of work and amendments. Hopefully I can get the plants well-established before the world gets too crazy. Then it’s up to them to try and adapt.

I wonder how much time that gives me? I feel like I’m going to be cutting it close. I don’t want to let me plants down. They deserve the best start I can give them heading into the pyrocene. 🥲

doom_and_gloom, 13 days ago

I’m not saying this explains all of it, but there is a lot more resistance to the mainstream culture now than in previous decades. That culture is the continuation of Roman Imperialism which is where shaving the face is adopted from. This was in contrast to other societies such as the Greeks and Vandals.

Of course not everyone wearing a beard is counter-culture, but the counter-culture is currently strong enough to influence acceptable trends. Looking like Zuck isn’t cool anymore. I would say this trend started many years ago with the hipsters, and has steadily expanded beyond that group.

doom_and_gloom, 14 days ago

lmao well he isn’t wrong about Japan at least

doom_and_gloom, 14 days ago

Because it is what early !collapse looks like from a consumer’s standpoint.

doom_and_gloom, 15 days ago (edited 9 days ago)

BG3 will feel like an entirely complete game on its own. It is in the same world and has some recurring characters, but the game is designed for newcomers so they don’t assume that you know the characters and history.

For those who have played BG1/2, it starts off feeling more like a spiritual successor imo. But eventually you see how it all actually fits, and it fits very nicely. But that’s more of a bonus for return visitors to the Forgotten Realms because the game stands just fine on its own.