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Posts
14
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754
Joined
2 yr. ago

  • It's not something you do, it's something that society is. Japan has a long cultural history of a few things that are absolutely foreign to Western culture (not just the USA, but Canada, Great Britain, Australia, most of western Europe, etc.)

    Even in a high-stakes game of consumer-capitalism, Japan has a sense of ethics that just isn't present elsewhere. A CEO might pull the same shady shit in Japan as they would in the US, but if they're caught, they still mostly take responsibility - resigning in disgrace, rather than "resigning" to another company with a fat bonus, which is what we see elsewhere. I mean, three years ago McDonalds actually made news for clawing back a $105M severance package from their disgraced ex-CEO, who was having an affair with several of his employees. The fact of the matter is that he initially got the package, no matter what he did.

    Likewise, there is an expectation of acceptable behaviour in Japan. There are all sorts of circumstances where a blind eye is turned, but they're oddly strict - and sketchy behaviour outside of that is considered reprehensible.

    So can we? Maybe in theory, but we'd have to revamp our culture - and in a direction opposite to the trajectory it's currently on.

  • Two thousand was obvious.
    Two thousand and one as well, thanks to Stanley Kubrick.
    I made a determined effort somewhere around 2004 to go back to the previous century's naming, and call the first decade "aught," as in "twenty aught six."

    Nobody followed me in that.

    Even so, I now refer to all years except 2000 and maybe 2001 as "twenty (aught/oh)

    <year>

    ." Good riddance to "two thousand seven" as a year.

  • Sorry, not everyone who considers the party or their leader to be weak is a racist asshole. Singh has never been a strong leader. Trustworthy, definitely; and most likely a good guy. Policy-wise I agree with him and the NDP more than any other party (actually, the Greens under May but that ship has sunk), and he has been quite effective at forcing some good out of the past-their-due-date Liberals; but in all honesty, he has never had the strength of presence like Trudeau or Layton.

    I'll likely be voting for them in the next election (not that it matters in fucking CPC-washed Alberta), but I've always wished he were a stronger leader.

  • No, that's sadly not true anymore (if it ever was).

    Alberta's government is just as fucking insane as any Republican. The rural areas and small towns are redneck Christian hives of intolerance. I got called a "hippie cock-slurper" in the parking lot of a Lethbridge store, presumably because I have long hair. (And ignoring the point that I was getting into the car with my wife and toddler.)

    Edmonton is a mix of blue collar and academia, and is a bit of a hard city but I love it. They're reliably left-leaning. Calgary is very money-driven and tends to vote more conservatively (for lower corporate taxes), but hasn't been supporting the UCP that much.

  • Oh that's easy. They'll be destroyed by a party that can't lose an election.

    The UCP just introduced the most extreme anti-trans legislation in North America. They have been methodically and relentlessly destroying public healthcare, and handing private contracts to their friends. Education has been revamped with a curriculum that explicitly promotes oil and gas production, denies the harm of residential schools, and encourages rote memorization over comprehension. Oh yes, and public charter schools. They've recently started to make inroads on ultimately banning abortion.

    And they'll get reelected, over and over again.

  • Just leave reddit.

    Really, the platform has gone straight to shit in the last 18 months. There are possibly more bots than humans at this point, and a huge number of the people who made it good back in the day are gone. Much of the interaction is now driven by algorithmic rage farming.

    Its CEO is a small-minded vicious little fascist. Staying on reddit helps support the hard right.

    Leave. Don't look back. If Lemmy and Mastodon don't seem as exciting, make them better by being active here.

  • I'm nearly three times your age and so will likely have a very different perspective, but...

    I remember watching the news (from Canada) when Reagan was first elected. it felt HORRIBLE, and turned out to be just that - Reagan, Thatcher, and their psychophant hanger-on Mulroney ushered in a new era of "get fucked by the rich, fuck the poor" also known as trickle-down economics.

    And yet, there was always a sense of decorum among them. Even Harper and Bush jr. at least pretended to be civil in the world of politics, no matter how corrupt and evil they were.

    Trump changed everything. He was loud, abrasive, offensive, and off the rails. And he won! Suddenly the doors were open. Here in Canada, O'Toole did outhouse attack ads against Trudeau. Jingoistic, vapid, fear-mongering populism took root throughout Europe. And it just kept getting worse.

    Now this election in the US was unhinged beyond description. Trump said things and did things that should have gotten him locked up. Musk should be facing either life in jail or the electric chair for his interference. There are no limits in American elections anymore - I would genuinely say including shooting someone onstage.

    Here in Canada, Poilievre has been carefully fanning the same embers - stoking fear, instilling rage, creating groups to hate; and at the same time, throwing out meaningless attacks on his opponents. Unlike when O'Toole awkwardly attempted it, it is working very effectively. Having an entire room or stadium chanting "AXE THE TAX" without even offering an alternative shows that he's winning by being the same empty bully as Trump.

    (And meanwhile, Harper is chortling quietly from behind the curtain as he pulls the puppet strings.)

    So yeah, this is crazy - and it's the new normal, until we start showing politicians that it doesn't work, and can get them arrested.