And that’s exactly what China does? They don’t do unilateral trade agreements. They don’t impose their policies on countries they make deals with. They are equal partners. Which is why most countries in Africa prefer China as a partner than the US or EU nowadays…
But if you legalise all drugs, as you say, no one will want to use shit like fent at all. Fent was legal for decades, it’s older than most opioids. It wasn’t an issue until the crackdown on pills.
Music. My parents weirdly never listened to music. When I was a kid, the most they would listen to was a Queen greatest hits album and another greatest hits from this 80s band from my country. But like, only on road trips.
I don’t know why, but ever since I was very young I loved music. One of the first birthday presents I remember choosing myself was a copy of Dookie (Green Day). I didn’t know what it was, but I loved the cover. Less than a month later we were back to the record store and I bought this brand new album by a band I had never heard before, In Rainbows by Radiohead. And that was it. I was hooked forever. Music was to become the most constant and important part of my life.
I spent years finding and listening to music. Trying to understand the history and development. Music really was my main hobby in high-school, like listening to music.
Nowadays I also play guitar and produce a bit, but I still listen to music as a hobby.
And my parents still don’t listen to music at all lmao. Even after enduring years and years of me hogging the AUX cable and forcing them to listen to everything from Wu Tang Clan to Burzum and Sufjan Stevens and Nirvana… but I love them. The most they would say is “wow this is very heavy” as I blasted black metal lol
You do know that the most well informed people (like active researchers in the field) are often the most pessimistic right? Like you hear on the media that “oh no we’re gonna pass 2º! I guess I won’t be able to ski as much”. But you go to a climate science conference and it’s “yeah… now that we can add more parameters and feedback loops into our models the chance of total extinction by 2100 is 99.99%. On the bright side, half of us expected it to be 100%. So kudos”.
I know, but that’s a very detached and unemotional take… Sure “life” will keep existing. But not the life we know. That we love. That we grew up loving so much.
I understand not everyone feels exactly like me. But I was absurdly fascinated by biology books and wildlife documentaries and would read and watch them religiously as a child.
Thinking of all of that just dying and ending truly breaks my heart. Almost more than anything.
Just not as much as the thought of humanity disappearing. But I know most people share that sadness.