I realize I just essentially said to tell people to vote while you were asking for something more. I wanted to share that because some people think that posting "vote" is the same as having a conversation about voting. Posting is not nearly as effective.
Another thing that might help is directly asking elected officials to intervene. Staffers for politicians keep a tally of calls and letters they receive for/against a given issue. So while your words may not move an elected, you and some friends can get them to act on an issue. If you have a group you can also request a meeting to discuss your issue which is even more effective. Politicians take notice of organized groups of constituents since that's a block of votes for/against them and possible a group knocking doors for/against them.
The trouble is I don't know what the ask is. There should be a specific action you're demanding: "introduce this bill" "cosponsor this bill" "vote for/against this bill". And it has to be something they're able to do. I don't know what that thing would be.
Pack the supreme court (but there's not time for that or majority in the house).
Long term I think building true power means growing communities, joining unions and cooperatives. Most of us aren't rich or powerful enough to be heard, which is why organizing is so important. None of this is fair or easy to do.
They say your time is much better spent guaranteeing people who already will vote blue show up to polls than trying to change the opinion of people who will vote red.
So that looks like asking people "do you have a plan to vote?" And perhaps in a less nosy phrasing: "When will you vote?" "How will you get there?"
People verbalizing a plan makes them more likely to follow through.
There are many places you can sign up to go canvassing, which is great. I would suggest in addition to and maybe before that, make a list of everyone you know and would feel comfortable talking to, and talk to them about voting. You will get much more mileage from existing relationships. (It's like how sales differentiates a warm lead and a cold lead)
Once you've exhausted that list then every little bit still helps. I do think high density events like farmers markets, community gatherings, concerts, games, etc have better rate of contact than door to door.
An important thought. What we tell ourselves needs to be true, or at least be believable, in order for us to take action. I tell myself that whether we reach such and such a goal in my lifetime, I want to have contributed to moving whatever tiny amount closer to the goal. It would be disappointing to me to not have tried to contribute something.
I like the Le Guin quote because it touches on that mental block to action, "Is trying to make change pointless?" On the one hand it is pointless, because we all die. On the other hand, it's possible to contribute to a multigenerational project.
Yeah, I guess you could argue it needs more contributors, but sort of like Wikipedia, suppose it saw wide adoption. Is it just a learn to code type thing? I guess better that Wikimedia runs it than stack exchange or whoever.
Anyone here heard of Wikifunctions, and if so what do you think?
Just learned that Wikimedia has a project called Wikifunctions. I'm a big fan of Wikipedia and associated projects, and on its face sounds like a cool site. I do wonder how this would work in practical terms though, like how could it actually be used?
What point are you trying to make? That it would have been better if the divine right of kings ended sooner? I'm sure Ursula K. Le Guin would agree.
Or are you trying to say we shouldn't be complacent in working to end capitalism? Because I'm sure Ursula K. Le Guin would agree as well.
The point of even saying this is to rally people who might feel there's no point in trying, because the current system seems unstoppable.
Would love to hear an expert talk be about this more. It's an interesting idea, but seems like it would be limited in usefulness to small adjustments.
That's why we need to regulate and tax kid's access to drugs and sex
In Pennsylvania this last year a murderer escaped from prison by pressing himself again two opposite walls and climbing up. So I guess the answer is, no they don't take additional precautions.
I don't know about all the information, but I'd rather read Wikipedia about a historical event than watch a YouTube about it
Lol yes. Frankly would take a vegetable over trump.
I think the panic is from people who would still prefer Biden, but are worried that his performance will hurt his standing with undecided voters (the most baffling demographic in the world)
I don't know, to use an extreme example, if I lived in Nazi Germany I would probably resist conscription.
That's an interesting take. What about a scenario where the nation as it stands doesn't meet the requirements you outlined, but there's clear indication the invading country would be worse?
Thanks for your thought. What about a situation where you know everyone won't be killed, but the defeated country will no longer be democratic/open? In other words, you'll live, but the quality of life will be much worse for the foreseeable future
So if for example every person's name goes in the hat, and then conscripts are drawn at random? I only clarify because in a situation where every able body is fighting you've already lost, there needs to be logistics, maintaining utilities, growing food, etc
In what scenario is conscription acceptable? (if any)
Prompted by another thread about conscription in Ukraine.
Do you think there are situations where conscription is appropriate?
If you're thinking about something and reach a conclusion that's super outside the mainstream, you could be right, but also could mean you should reinspect your assumptions.
I saw a post on lemmy about how we could prevent 133 holocausts by promoting animal rights and veganism. The article opened by doing some math about how many dogs you could torture and kill in order to be equivalent to taking a human life, and then how many animals humans kill, and concluded that we're committing holocaust equivalents many times over.
I have respect for people who question the status quo and think seriously about morality. Thinking about slavery, it used to be argued "this is the natural order," "this is actually the moral thing to do" and so on. It wasn't easy then to stand up for what we now see as the obvious moral position. So I have some receptivity to this type of argument.
That said, I think back to when I was a Christian (atheist now), and was fully bought into the anti abortion movement. They argued that fetuses were human, that we were committing fetus holocausts all the time. Taking that view to its logical conclusion, one could justify things like killing a few (abortion doctors, judges) to save many (fetuses).
The author of the vegan piece was not advocating for such things. But one could ask why not. I think the fact the conclusion (133 holocausts) is so far outside accepted views should prompt some examination of the starting premises. (Is any killing of an animal for food the same as torturous factory farming, should we do something about animals that eat other animals etc)
I'm glad I read the piece because there's value in hearing other perspectives. We can't see ourselves and our own blind spots. I would have responded in-thread but that community description said "not a place for debate", so tossing out this thought here.
As I understand it, many of the big pandemics started because of raising many animals in close proximity, those animals develop some sickness, and at some point it makes the jump from the animal to humans.
When a virus or bacteria starts in humans, the progression of the disease is more gradual, so our immune systems have time to develop responses. But when it jumps the tracks from animals we have less defense built up.
All of that to say, a globally connected world means the disease spreads faster, but it would likely reach everyone eventually, and they wouldn't have an immune defense whether it hit them two weeks after introduction to the human population or a year after.
Looks like the reddit thread is deleted now, too bad
Cool, I didn't see this before.
When the country is doing stupid shit like invading Iraq I'm opposed to the draft. When it's defending against an existential threat which is on native soil, I don't have as much sympathy for people avoiding the draft.
Q: “Are we doomed?” A: “We would be, if not for the amazing developments in renewable energy.”
When people find out what I do for work, it’s not unusual for them to ask, “Are we doomed?” My usual response is, “We would be, if not for the amazing developments in renewable energy.” We know the people willing to destroy the planet for personal gain are still
I wasn't aware just how good the news is on the green energy front until reading this. We still have a tough road in the short/medium term, but we are more or less irreversibly headed in the right direction.
AI is just one small part of data centers’ soaring energy use.
Elon Musk’s Boundary-Blurring Relationships With Women at SpaceX
Man, fuck this guy
Idea: government funded parties with attendees selected by sortition: "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Party" "Lincoln County Party"
Every week or every month each level of government throws a party funded with taxpayer dollars, and attendees are selected at random from the residents and given advance notice of the party schedule.
What should I know about buying / replacing a garage door opener?
My default buying process is research + spreadsheet creation, this time thought I'd ask the community here if you have any experience / wisdom with garage door openers. Thanks for any help!
Additional info: Single car garage built in the 1950s in the U.S. The current opener is a lift master, just eyeballing it probably from the 90s. The door could be original? I don't know. It's wood, seems fairly substantial.
Yesterday and this morning started having issues with the door just stopping in the middle of opening or closing. When it stops, the remote button becomes unresponsive for a few seconds. When it starts moving again it goes the other direction so you have to keep pressing and try to get it to close/open before it stops again. This morning I ended up pulling it down part of the way because I'd gone through several rounds of up, down, up, down. It doesn't seem to want to move manually which isn't surprising. Worried my car is going to get stuck in there before work so I figure should probably be proactive here.
What are legitimate arguments for legalization of gambling?
Question inspired by the news that Dave and Busters is supposed to be adding gambling to their games. And of course there are the sports betting apps.
I get that all things being equal we should let people do what they want to do. But I don't see much of a benefit, and a lot of downside to allowing the spread of gambling.
Some disaster has befallen society: you have to secure a month of food for you and three other people. How do you do it?
Let's assume no zombies or other supernatural occurrences, but could be plenty of people being shitty, consequences thereof, or natural disasters
Edit: to expand on this, presumably if society has temporarily or permanently collapsed there would be issues with things like deliveries, security, digital transactions, utility service etc. Feel free to use whichever scenario seems most likely to you, I'm asking more because I was thinking how screwed I'd be if I was just out of food after say, seven days.
What does it take to get a constitutional amendment ratified in the U.S.?
I don't mean the actual rules of passing it, I mean what organization, activities and funding are necessary to do so.
The last one passed was in 1992 and it was just about congressional pay. Last one before that was 1971. Is there some kind of play book? It seems to happen so infrequently that it would be hard to study and conditions would vary enough that the last effort wouldn't be useful as a model.
("The amendment process is very difficult and time consuming: A proposed amendment must be passed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress, then ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states." Link)
If you could guarantee that one action you undertake would be successful, what would it be?
We're talking actions limited to something one human could achieve - so not wishes, but could be something amazing or rare like "become president"
Conferences for the .1% breed skepticism
Plus: The trouble with rent inflation and the hope for a new B-school AI tool.
"...These kinds of private conferences, where business and cultural leaders interview one another free from the pesky, prying grasp of the press or public, are becoming increasingly common."
What's that machine they use at the eye doctor to bend/refit your glasses?
I like getting glasses off of Zenni but they never seem to fit quite right, mostly the arms. Would be nice to be able to make adjustments.
YSK if you've built a computer and it won't boot, sometimes the issue can be resolved by taking the memory out and putting it back.
Or by only putting one stick of memory in, or changing the slot you're using.
I was assembling a computer and everything seemed to be correct, the fan would spin up, I'd get some lights, but there was no image on the screen, not even the BIOS. I saw someone else make this suggestion and didn't think it was likely to work, but it did. First I just tried one stick, and it booted. Then I tried both sticks and it didn't work, but I reseated and then it did.
(Also worth pointing out that your motherboard should have diagnostic lights which if you check the documentation may point out which component has an issue)
Thinking about Lemmy's demographics many here may have heard of something like this, or have more helpful suggestions about troubleshooting which would be welcome. But thought I'd write out a little post about my experience to contribute to Lemmy SEO supremacy.
Watched "20 Days in Mariopol" tonight: about an AP team of journalists trapped in the Ukrainian city while it was besieged by Russians
FRONTLINE and AP’s Sundance Audience Award-winning documentary 20 Days in Mariupol follows an AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine, drawing on filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov’s daily news dispatches and personal footage of his own country at war.
Amazing and horrific footage. Definitely not easy to watch, but worth seeing.