Can we just stop using Discord and go back to using forum sites?
I realize it's (comparatively) super easy to set up, but y'all realize it's just going to bite us all in the ass as soon as someone at Discord decides they need to turn up the profit ratio?
It's a ticking time bomb. The whole thing is going to follow the enshittification process, and anything of value on there is going to be lost/sold/destroyed.
@malcircuit studying history and politics in the 90’s gave me a very warped idea of the future…the Berlin Wall had recently come down, Nelson Mandela was freed, then the USSR partially imploded, the West believed they had ‘won’ the Cold War and Francis Fukuyama was saying it was the End of History (if we’re all liberal democracies then there will be no further war). My university education ended in 2000. By the following year - 2001, the world was an entirely different place again.
I've stopped caring about new tech and become more political because in general we have sufficient technology to make everyone's lives better.
The problem isn't that we don't have enough or good enough technology. The problem is that the people in power aren't interested in making everyone's lives better.
@malcircuit I’m still caring about technology, but I nowadays see social issues as the more critical — and I hope tech won’t become the limiting factor again when we fail at the social part for too long: https://www.draketo.de/politik/herausforderungen-technisch-sozial
Or to put it another way, we've reached the point where any new technology that's being pushed (EVs, AI, cryptocurrency, NFTs, etc) is more likely to just make some lucky self-aggrandizing moron into a billionaire than it is to make your life better in any meaningful way.
In fact, it's more likely to make your life worse.
Corporations love to tell you about how you can "save the planet" or whatever by buying things made from recycled materials, using less water, buying an efficient car, using paper straws, or <insert trending thing>
Those things might help, but the problem isn't the choices we make, it's the options we're allowed to choose from. Your options aren't optimized for eco-friendliness, they are optimized for profit.
That's why the planet is burning. It's not because you didn't recycle the pizza box.
@malcircuit And those same companies who like to talk about how eco-friendly they are (Apple, Microsoft) are the very ones who make devices or restricted operating systems that force you buy new ones every few years or ditch your perfectly fine but older computer (filling up all our landfill space) to meet some phony TPM requirement. And all of that is done for one solitary reason, profit. When it comes to their $, they want you to pollute (so long as you buy more of their products, of course).
@WillA763 Yeeeeup, exactly. I have phones from 5 years ago that I would probably still be using, but they stopped getting software updates, and the battery is long dead and was impossible to replace.
I shudder to think about how much natural resources, carbon, sweat, and blood goes into making these devices that we replace every few years because we aren't given much of an alternative. Because the line must always go up 📈
If you have had an adult family member or friend that was recently diagnosed with a previously unknown developmental psychological disorder (ADHD, autism, etc), you might have noticed something that confused you. Right around the time they were diagnosed, maybe even a bit before, they "suddenly" began to exhibit symptoms when never had before. You might be like, "I've known this person for X years and they never behaved like this." You might even think they are "acting" or something.
The truth is exactly the opposite. Anyone that's "different" in our culture learns very quickly to hide their differences. The world punishes anyone who's different — usually not explicitly, but by enforcing expectations that cannot be met. People start doing what's known as "masking" — they hold back their true selves and maintain an appearance of normalcy by any means. Usually masking is driven by guilt, shame, and anxiety, and it often leads to burnout or worse. It takes a toll on people.
2/4
Your friend or family member hasn't started acting for "attention" or to get a medication or whatever. They've stopped acting. The person you thought you knew was only a façade constructed for protection . You only saw the armor they put on everyday, not them. Now that they've learned their differences aren't "their fault" or because "they are broken" or whatever, they can let their guard down. For maybe the first time in their life, they aren't forcing themselves to be who they aren't.
To every person who's publicly and proudly transgender, queer, gay, lesbian, ace, poly, pan, bi, black, indigenous, a person of color, disabled, neurodivergent, plural, autistic, ADHD, etc:
Thank You
Visibility matters. Simply being yourself can impact the lives of others in ways you cannot even fathom. I would not have found myself if not for people like you :heart_pride:
95% of shit people post was never intended by them to be an "argument". This isn't a debate club where you need to systematically dismantle every incorrect opinion that crosses your path.
Some people (me) get very annoyed when they're shooting the shit with their computer friends and some rando drops in to post a wall of text about how this minor thing you said in passing is wrong and here's why.
Silicon Valley brained people love to talk about "disruption", but you start suggesting that the best solutions to the climate crisis might involve the government nationalizing multiple industries, investing massively in new infrastructure, and a dramatic deployment of labor and suddenly they lose their minds
The more you learn about the practical reality of space travel and read sci-fi that reflects that, the more you realize that humanity will probably never leave the solar system. Some people might make it as far as Alpha Centauri, but only on generation ships that won't ever return.
There is no other habitable planet or moon that we can reach. Anyone that tries to colonize Mars will probably die there. Earth is a very special place for us.
As the climate activism meme says, there is no Planet B
@Simplicator The idea of terraforming Mars into a habitable planet is laughable when we can't even ensure the planet we are currently living on stays habitable
Capitalists love to spread propaganda of space colonization because it implies the assumption our entire economic philosophy rests on — infinite economic growth — is not only possible, but inevitable.
Admitting that the Earth is humanity's only home, and that we need to respect and manage it as such, is anathema to their belief system. It would mean undermining the justification of their own power and position in society. They'd burn billions on literal flights of fancy before admitting that
Humanity was fucked before you were even born. It's not your responsibility to fix it. Do what you can to make things better, but don't get upset if it seems like you aren't making a difference. Never feel guilty about indulging in things you enjoy or taking a break.
Life is a accident of chance and circumstance. We didn't get to choose to be alive now — at this moment in history, in this place, under these conditions, etc. We just have to deal with it all as best we can
Humans are dumb. We are a bunch of fuckups and misfits. It's surprising we've made it this far. But we've survived some crazy shit. Maybe we'll survive this too.
The planet will live on regardless. Or not. Doesn't matter. In a few billion years the sun will expand and burn it to a cinder.
Doesn't change the fact that you have to live your life right now.
Kiss your partner. Play a video game. Chat with a friend. Help a stranger. It's all still good even if it's meaningless. Savor the good.
I've always loved Terry Pratchett's quote on the name of our species: "The anthropologists got it wrong when they named our species Homo sapiens ('wise man'). In any case it's an arrogant and bigheaded thing to say, wisdom being one of our least evident features. In reality, we are Pan narrans, the storytelling chimpanzee."
Yooooooooo hot damn. NOAA SWPC just pushed a new #aurora forecast and they are predicting another G5 storm tonight with Kp index up to 9!
DEAR GOD IF YOU DIDN'T GO OUT LAST NIGHT GO OUT TONIGHT!!!! I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH MORE I CAN STRESS HOW FUCKING COOL THE AURORA IS OTHER THAN TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS AND USE A BUNCH OF EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!
@malcircuit barely anything just now in Ireland, but seems like more than zero. Clear skies, and at 01:30 local time, that's not any remnant of sunset.
I immediately get a little exasperated whenever I see someone post about how much we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions if we did this thing or implemented this technology or invest in this research.
I'm going to keep saying this over and over again until people listen: the problem is not, and never has been, a lack of ideas about how to tackle the climate crisis.
The problem is that the people in power DON'T CARE. They don't want to make our lives better. They don't want to solve problems.
And whenever I talk about the people in power, that's not exclusively politicians. Wealth is power in a capitalist system. Don't let anyone convince you differently.
The capitalist class is the thing that's stopping progress, not technology or money or clever solutions. Their wealth and power was gained from exploiting the people and natural resources of this planet. They don't want a damn thing to change, even if it means the extinction of our species and many others.
I would LOVE for there to be an easier solution than a political and cultural revolution, but I don't see how.
Capitalism is not the right economic system to deal with this crisis. Capitalism is what caused the crisis to begin with.
Capitalism needs constant growth. That's unsustainable on a finite planet, and impossible on a dying one. If we want to survive, even thrive, we need an economic system that's resilient and maximizes the welfare of the planet and all its inhabitants.
I'm anti-war because the more I learn about history, the more it's clear that wars have a legacy that extends for decades or centuries beyond when they officially end.
And I don't mean only the lives lost.
The propaganda drives people insane and clouds their vision for decades. All of the things people "had" to do to "win" end up bringing about unintended and unanticipated consequences that never really disappear from society.
Facist ideology is basically the idea that there is a way the world ought to be, and our moral and civic duty is to bring that about, no matter the consequences. It says that there is a righteous destiny for society, and to deviate is evil.
Fighting fascism starts in your own mind. It is as simple as acknowledging reality for what it is, and accepting it without judgement. It means accepting that our shared destiny is not preordained or inevitable. It means recognizing our impact on others.
What are "hiding in the closet" and neurodivergent masking if not manifestations of fascism? A little voice in your head forcing you to meet an ideal that is not who you are? Fascism is so pervasive that it infects even our souls.
Start the revolution by first killing your inner fascist
Like and boost this toot if you think that either catgirls are adorable and need more head pats UwU or that people are morally justified in destroying the private jets and yachts of billionaires