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  • I disagree. I think that it's a product of capitalism. Wealth is still primarily gained by inheritance, but everyone used to know that, and so whether someone was a tit was not connected with how much wealth they possessed.

    The capitalist lie is that if you're rich, or poor, or somewhere in between, you deserve it.

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  • A lot of the "old world European" (and probably elsewhere, too) distinctions are focused around language, especially francophone (French language) and anglophone (English language), which both still carry weight today. This goes waaaay back, and if you think about it, a common language many hundreds of years ago was inextricably part of ethnicity. Language is a cheap way to distinguish between "us" and "them." (Shouldn't be, but it is.)

    Clearly, you have a strong ability with English. English is widely spoken in America, and the US in particular (notwithstanding current events) is a place where "Americanness" and "ethnicity" are not quite as lockstep as other places. But I imagine you would have a harder time being accepted as "American" without having strong English language skills. (Again, shouldn't be that way, but it is. And inb4 this becomes a "bash America" thread, there are plenty of places where that effect is much worse.)

    tl;dr: You'll have the best luck identifying as "Nationality" if you also have language skills that align with the nation's lingua franca, even if that's something other than French.

  • Some interesting things came to my attention recently.

    One, there was a headline about the guy who got caught setting fire to Teslas at a dealership, saying that he had caused "$5 million in damage." For setting a few things on fire? Really?

    Then, my HOA insurance policy renewal came across my desk (for the HOA, I'm on the board). I'm looking over all the details in the quote and I find some things about a federal program to insure against terrorism. This section explained how, in 2020, the requirement that the perpetrator be a "foreign agent" was dropped. Guess what wasn't dropped: the requirement that the damage must be at least $5 million. There is a portion of the insurance premium that goes to pay for this program (its own insurance premium that's handled through the insurance company). It's $80/year.

    Ever wonder why they're so keen on classifying these as terrorism? Sure, the authoritarianism is a big part of it, but the other part is that it lets them get paid more money, from the federal government. Call it terrorism, say there was more than $5M in damages, get paid.

  • The other day, I did some quick math to figure out what my family of five driving four cars across the country would look like. Several days and probably upwards of $5000 in fuel, if we can find it, and if cash is worth anything. I have a motorcycle that I would sell to fund part of that, and I've already decided which of the four cars would be first to sell on the road.

    I am fully expecting things to escalate to the point where any time we have to leave the house to get groceries, fuel, medicine, two people will be required. One to do the shopping, the other to be an armed guard.

    This chapter in American history is about as fucked up as it's been in living memory, and we have a very long way to go yet.