LesserAbe

@LesserAbe@lemmy.world

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

LesserAbe,

Also there’s that documentary where the group that organized it was kind of cult adjacent. They weren’t scientists first. Still very interesting and impressive they did what they did.

What should be used for anonymous usernames?

More often than not, the best way to hide is to simply blend in with the crowds – this also encompasses one’s choice for a username. It is relatively simple to make a single throwaway account – just come up with a username, and off you go – however, if one makes throwaway accounts often, the task of thinking of a unique,...

LesserAbe,

One time I asked chatgpt to come up with a list of random street addresses, and the first couple were fine, then one was like “123 cherry street”, then each following address was like “777 apple lane” “888 banana ave” and so on. Which was wrong but also pretty charming I thought.

LesserAbe,

Sorry, I think we’re talking past each other. I’m not asking how the mechanics of the healthcare would work once a bill is passed. How do we even get that far? Our elected representatives don’t seem to have substantive interest (a few bright spots aside) and while polls often show majority support amongst the public, the results can vary a lot based on how the question is asked. So big picture / long term just as a start we need more perfect democracy, and we need better awareness and advocacy of the idea. In terms of first steps and short term (I think regretfully a decade or two is short term) I could see an argument to implement it in a specific state, or expanding medicare for certain age groups or something like that. But I don’t know! That’s why I’m asking.

LesserAbe,

Thanks for the helpful links! Some of the comparison charts are pretty grim for the U.S.

Are you aware of any sources on the ins and outs of public support for universal care when it was being implemented in other countries, or the political climate? I think knowing the destination is one thing, but getting there is more what I was focused on when talking about a pathway.

LesserAbe, (edited )

I’d love to see this pass.

Here are links to see who has co-sponsored these bills: House / Senate

If your senator or legislator has not sponsored that could be one action - call or write them asking them to support the bill.

That said, I volunteered with a group for a few years trying to pass an unrelated bill at the state level, which in at least one session had more than 50% of the chamber co-sponsoring, but we still couldn’t get our bill out of committee. Eventually, the bill actually was voted out of committee, only to add amendments that made our bill do the opposite of what it was intended to, and then we had to rally votes against it. Eventually I moved and kind of dropped out of that organization, but the reform we support still has not been passed. And that was for a non-partisan issue.

I don’t know the methodology that govtrack uses, but they give the Medicare for All act a 0% chance of being enacted. So I’m interested in more ideas on the nuts and bolts of passing a bill like this.

LesserAbe,

A 57% majority of Americans say the government should ensure health coverage. Of course then 53% say the system should be based on private insurance, which is contradictory.

Another factor to consider here is people don’t vote directly for policies. They vote for legislators who then decide which policies are a priority, and can interpret for themselves, right or wrong, what it is their constituents voted them in to do.

LesserAbe,

I don’t think you’re being serious, but the idea isn’t to give everyone worse care. If you talk to people from the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Australia, Canada, or any other country that has universal healthcare (all the green ones on this map) they would have plenty to say about things that could improve. You also wouldn’t find too many who would be willing to trade with the U.S.

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/bb9aa3a3-f1a2-40aa-8a50-571149c0cc18.png

LesserAbe,

Ah, so a referendum is a direct vote by the population on a given issue - for example a lot of states have passed recreational marijuana referendums, in my opinion at least because a lot of lawmakers didn’t want to to be seen as supporting it, but you can’t get blamed if the public approved it directly.

I’m not aware of any state level referendums on universal healthcare (which doesn’t mean that there haven’t been any) and there isn’t a national level referendum. (Although in googling this to confirm that I found an interesting article about implementing a national referendum)

With the Medicare for All Act it’s been introduced as a bill, but as I understand the process it first needs to be reviewed by a committee and voted out of that committee before the senate or house can consider it to possibly hold a vote. Then it needs to do the same thing in the other chamber of congress. So you can imagine that’s a lot more convoluted process than a referendum, and while voters may ask their representative to pass it, plenty of opportunities for legislators to say, “oops, some technicality or person who’s not me has stalled the process.”

LesserAbe,

If you owed $1k then $1 wouldn’t save you

LesserAbe,

Yeah, in the states a college campus center is a great place to hang out if you’re passible as a student. Some of the campuses are huge and there are multiple places that don’t require an ID card

LesserAbe,

In my experience it’s not like they get mad at you for making any sound, but they wouldn’t be happy if you were having a lively chat with friends

LesserAbe,

You could write a script to scroll through the document at defined intervals, take screenshots, then have the script edit them together.

Of course by then, the time you’d have spent would be worth more than $25

LesserAbe,

What these lists are missing is a word for a person who is doing something bad/unwise.

LesserAbe,

Seems like statistically, each year a certain number of people would be vibrated to death by malfunctioning sonic showers.

LesserAbe, (edited )

Oh man, as soon as I saw “there was a French guy” I thought this was about Tarrare. He was even more unbelievable, but at least the fart maniac isn’t as unsettling

LesserAbe,

I will say I went from a place that had these meetings to one that doesn’t. It’s more concerning when leadership doesn’t seem to have any plan at all, even if the plan is “do a good job and sell this much of this thing”.

LesserAbe,

Not to sound like an after school special, but if a “friend” encourages you to do something harmful then they’re not your friend. (Making fun of others, physically fighting, consuming more substances than you’re comfortable with, generally breaking the law) But especially when people are younger they might be eager to have a friend, and feel pressured to go along with what another person suggests.

LesserAbe,

The “we” thing is a good point, and even as I was writing this was thinking about the post the other day where someone was like “how can we get more redditors to lemmy” and a bunch of people were like, “we don’t want that.”

I’m thinking about anyone interested in the subject. There’s never going to be universal interest in some philosophical project, and there doesn’t need to be in order to have a positive impact. So I’m thinking of people who do have an interest in the sort of meta issue, how things “ought” to be.

I’m interested in practical, testable ideas, and at the same time I think there needs to be a philosophical underpinning to any type of project nurturing “beneficial” ideas, because otherwise how do you evaluate what’s beneficial?

My philosophy is that existence is desirable, continued existence is desirable, and ever more elevated ways of existing. So going from “anything existing,” to life existing, to animals, to conscious beings. The basic nuts and bolts are important then - is there enough food to live, is something going to kill me, and we’ve for the most part got these down (although not at a systemic level to eliminate homelessness, universal healthcare, etc). But I don’t think we have any kind of grasp on long term sustainability - we’re in serious environmental peril, the existence of any nuclear weapon is a threat, biological weapons, decline of democracy, even something like an asteroid impact.

So when talking about an ecosystem of ideas, for me at least its about ideas that will avoid or mitigate larger threats which are difficult for any individual to address.

LesserAbe,

You’re right, better schooling is important. What do you think are the obstacles to getting it? Why isn’t it happening already?

Does seem like there’s a loop of misinformation means less effective democracy, and less effective democracy allows for more misinformation. Seems like better democratic systems are called for, like ranked choice voting, but also better news or education outside formal public school.

I also think overpowered interests (ie. rich people) can veto education on subjects that most people would benefit from. So maybe one thing is better limiting the accumulation of outsized wealth or power?

LesserAbe, (edited )

This is good. Are you aware of any places explicitly doing solutions journalism? (I’m sure there are, more just interested to find places I’m not aware of)

This reminded me of “The Problem with Jon Stewart” which while not perfect seems like a move in the right direction. It just got canceled, and the article I had seen suggested it was because Apple had concerns over some of the subjects (ie, didn’t want to piss off china and have its operations in china highlighted, and didn’t want focus on AI which it may be using).

So then what are the conditions which would allow for more solutions journalism? Off-hand I’d say employee owned entities (or less optimally operations with wealthy patrons willing to give them leeway) would mean they’re less likely to be shut down. I suppose seeing examples of it being successful would inspire more individuals or groups to move in that direction.

LesserAbe,

Not sure I follow, I don’t think this problem is inherent to Linux. Just the solution described uses Linux.

LesserAbe,

No, I don’t expect a company’s website to be open source, just their primary product or service

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • localhost
  • All magazines
  • Loading…
    Loading the web debug toolbar…
    Attempt #