TheLoser
2d ago
By food i mean in general. Increased population leads to an increase in food demand, driving up prices.
Kowloon walled city WAS real neoliberalism and it was a GOOD THING.
We've reached a terminal end in values here. There's no point in arguing this further, since I consider Kowloon walled city (and situations like it) to be the closest thing to hell that humanity has voluntarily created.
TheLoser
3d ago
It appears that Poland's economic development has paid dividends to Germany. Developing nearby countries is a priori beneficial for Germany; not only does it get a new market for its goods, it gets a source of skilled workers. The strategic partnership improves the eurozone economy, which in turn improves Germany's position.
Germany shot itself in the foot when it comes to energy. Their hesitancy to adopt nuclear or at least diversify their natural gas sources is their problem. Blaming Poland for the inevitable energy crisis is just shooting the messenger; that pipeline was always going to be targeted by any actors that are fighting against Russia. If they weren't going to be based in Poland, they would have been based in some other eastern European country with an axe to grind against Russia (read, practically all of them).
TheLoser
4d ago
You haven't really answered the question; in what way does Taylor Swift exist as an art form that EDM cannot? Whether she writes her songs herself or they're ghost-written has no bearing on their quality.
Earlier in this thread you said:
As an art form, EDM is sterile, mere decoration. It has nothing to say about the cultural moment except as a monument to escapism and hedonism. Its closest historical parallel is disco.
I'd argue that Taylor Swift is similarly sterile, whether ghost written or not, and I think most people who aren't part of her rabid fanbase would agree with that assessment. Yes, most EDM doesn't even attempt to have a message, but to me there really isn't much of a difference between a vapid and a non-existent message.
Acts like Tiesto and Purple Disco Machine are also good. But they are a fundamentally a different category of music that doesn't reflect on society, but exists outside of it.
I'd also argue that any piece of music inherently reflects the society in it. EDM, as hedonistic as you may perceive it as, still has its rhythms and undercurrents.
I also think you are straight up wrong when it comes to how you describe EDM. You assume that EDM is different or lesser than other genres due it not saying anything about or reflecting on society or humanity, and that as a consequence people don't care about what EDM artists say or do. I think your just wrong about this. I know, personally, an individual who did a memorial post for Avicii when they died. Daft Punk was huge, and was sampled extensively by the 2010's biggest musician, Kanye. I can't see how you can say people don't care about EDM artists; clearly, America's biggest artists do care about them.
Obviously there's less European music, but I think you are engaging in a motte-and-bailey. The motte being that there is less good European music (true by definition). But the bailey you argued was that "As an art form, American music is vastly superior to European music". Is American music inherently better than European music, or is there still comparable music, just not as much?
TheLoser
4d ago
But the music of Dylan, The Beatles, or Taylor Swift exists as an art form in a way that EDM music, which is inherently disposable, does not.
I'm sorry, did you really say Taylor Swift exists as an art form in way that EDM music cannot? Corporate Taylor Swift? Basic white girl Taylor Swift? The most generic music of the decade, Taylor Swift?
Also The Beatles were British. And if you retort that they don't really count because of their still Anglophone, there's Rammstein, Stromae, Bladee, for your none EDM music consideration.
TheLoser
4d ago
it's not clear why countries like Germany or France would have any shared interests with countries like Estonia, Lithuania or Poland, which are all mooching off subsidies and still basically behaving like adversaries (between sabotaging infrastructure and demanding ever more reparations).
How are the mooching off of subsidies? As far as I know, the economic development of Poland and other eastern European states has been a great boon to both themselves and Germany; why would Germany cut that relationship off when its aids them?
TheLoser
5d ago
The canadian construction sector is a greater proportion of its gdp than the US construction sector is. They are literally building as fast as possible.
Furthermore, the reason productivity growth is so bad is because of the complex interaction between the real eastate bubble and indian immigration. Why invest in capital when you can invest in the real state bubble? Why try to be more productive when you can import more low-wage low-skilled immigrants, who coincidentally also inflate the real estate bubble?
I can accept that your job is globalized. But everything else in your life isn't. Your house, your food, your health care, your social services, your assabiyah are all local; they aren't competing on a global level, with a global population. Your job might be fine despite it being globalized, but I can almost guarantee it that if everything else was globalized, you wouldn't enjoy it.
TheLoser
6d ago
You mean to tell me that there's an entire population of hard workers who don't demand much in the way of resources and you want to keep them out? In the old days we used to have to round these people up with wooden ships! I can see how certain low-skilled segments of the populations are threatened by immigrant labor, but I'm not part of those segments.
You are quite literally wrong about this. Looking at Canada, even the middle and upper classes are struggling, primarily because of a real estate bubble that is continously being inflated with a stream of as you would say "low-skilled" workers. Furthermore, wages in Canada are aenemic, partly because the bottom quartile drags compensation down. You are mistaken in assuming that changes in the "low-skilled" segment of the population do not propgate to the "higher-skilled" segment.
TheLoser
13d ago
conveniently you have no choice but to slaughter your fellow White Christians beside a Muslim ally to advance the main plot.
What exactly is the context around this?
TheLoser
20d ago
For that matter I'm not at all convinced the Liberal government has an effective tit-for-tat tariff plan. I think they'll target something symbolic of the US like, say, guns... but that's about it.
Check again. Universal tariffs from Canada just got announced.
TheLoser
23d ago
I knew about Undertale's general outline but couldn't piece it together, so thanks for doing that. So, in essence, ziz identifies one-to-one with Chara, an avatar of utilitarianism. He excuses his actions by simply asserting that his "true self" is a soulless consequentialist; he by-passes moral deliberation or crisis of principles by simply saying that whatever actions that puts him into conflict with himself are expressions of his true self. And because they are expressions of his true self, and therefore out of his control, he should not feel guilt over them. Determinism taken to its logical conclusions. Rationalism is just its beast.
TheLoser
23d ago
Alternatively, an extended Undertale reference that feels so on the nose it almost hurts (yes, fucking Chara is definitely the best person to mentally consult while trying to rationalize your actions).
I'm not very well versed in Undertale lore, so can you point out how this is an extended Undertale reference?
TheLoser
1mo ago
Fascinating. Is off-shore wind any better? Furthermore, is it plausible, or even feasible, to get around renewable energy intermittency by using hydrogen or other means of chemical energy storage? If, as you say. wind energy produces energy when it isn't needed, it seems potentially lucrative to buy that low price energy, transform it into a chemical, then sell high when the wind isn't blowing. This would also mitigate the energy efficiency blow you eat when converting to chemical energy, because you'd be using cheap excess energy in the first place.
TheLoser
1mo ago
I've heard that wind energy is an effective complement to solar; when solar is weak wind is strong. Can wind energy make up for the solar energy shortfall during the Winter?
TheLoser
1mo ago
To put it bluntly, the recent explosion of immigration to Canada is a naked attempt at keeping the ponzi scheme that is Canadian real estate inflated. The exact mechanisms aren't really important.
The LMIA and TFW program:
Canadian corporations can hire TFW (temporary foreign workers) by submitting a LMIA (labor market impact assessment). The LMIA is supposed to show that the relevant position could not be filled with a domestic Canadian. Of course, this program was rife with fraud. Corporations would put up fake job postings that were unable to be accessed, then use their vacancy as justification for hiring TFW. The foreign workers themselves would pay for an LMIA by paying immigration lawyers to fill an LMIA for them; those lawyers would then garnish their wages. Sometimes, the business owners themselves would act as "immigration lawyers", essentially paying TFWs below market rates. Also, foreign workers would sometimes simply pay for an LMIA for an entirely fake job, in order to migrate to Canada. This entire scheme was a way for Indians to escape to Canada from India.
Diploma Mills:
Foreign post-secondary students pay much more than domestic students in Canada. So, some fraudulent colleges have popped up offering extremely weak diplomas in "hospitality" and "business management", for the express purpose of luring in foreign students, mostly Indians. Side note: Its not just new colleges doing this. Well established colleges have also dumbed down their programs and purposefully admitted huge amounts of foreign students just to juice their profits. Now why would Indians enroll in such blatantly fraudulent programs? Why as a means of immigration of course. Foreign students (again, mostly Indian), enroll in this programs, then cheat, or skip class in order to work.
All of this is a way to attain permanent residency, and then eventually Canadian citizenship, all the while inflating the housing market and depressing wages. By the way, this doesn't even begin to cover the bribes, and fake job offers used to bolster permanent residency applications, or the fact that the points requirement got significantly lowered by the present administration.
TheLoser
6mo ago
You're asking for people to shoulder an additional burden for the sole reason of where they happened to be born, something that was completely out of their control ... the skilled immigrant always has a responsibility to feel grateful and not believe they deserve things natives do and nothing they do over their entire life can change this.
I do not believe that gratitude is a burden. Also, the immigrant by virtue of their citizenship is entitled to the full rights that that citizenship affords. I don't think its fair to say that conservatives or self_made_human don't believe that lawful immigrants don't deserve things that natives do, given that they've followed the appropriate pathway and contribute to the native's land.
I don't like this unegalitarian implication.
My expectation for anyone who lives in western countries is to be grateful for that privilege, native or immigrant. As far as I am concerned, I am being egalitarian when I expect immigrants to feel grateful; I have the same expectations of them that I do for natives.
Broadly speaking, I think you're seeing a deference or obeisance from self_made_human that simply is not there. His gratitude (or any immigrants gratitude) does not preclude him from enjoying the fruits of western society. He explicitly states that he wants to move to western society to enjoy its benefits. I'd even say that many immigrants (professional ones at least) do not particularly care if they are welcomed or not; they just care about living and enjoying western society itself. The sense of immigrants deserving something is in my opinion non-sensical. Immigrants immigrate to better themselves, not to bless the natives with their contributions; expecting natives to be deferential to immigrants just foments division and resentment.
TheLoser
6mo ago
Why would it make you vaguely uncomfortable? As far as I'm concerned self_made_human's attitudes are perfectly valid, and should really be the norm for all immigrants. Is it the deference for white people that makes you feel uncomfortable?
TheLoser
6mo ago
You do realise that I am a LGBT person who was pissed off at the government de facto recriminalizing homosexuality with lockdowns?
Why do lockdowns de facto criminalize homosexuality? By that logic, shouldn't lockdowns have criminalized all sexuality, homosexual or otherwise?
TheLoser
7mo ago
Anyway, the answer is either Steph Curry or GSP at #1. Until those guys nobody played like those guys. Brady in my mind comes next, then Woods, then Federer, then Bolt, then Djoker and Nadal and Lebron and Jon Jones and Mike Trout and Messi.
Steph Curry's playstyle reinvented the game because others could copy it; he demonstrated that shooting the 3 could be viable. Messi couldn't reinvent the game because nobody could replicate what he could do. Its a bit unfair to rank Steph Curry higher than Messi, just because his style could be replicated and Messi's couldn't.
How true is this actually though? Is it average amount of sex partners? Because i can definetlry think of some sub-cultures 100 years ago who probably have orders of magnitude more sex partners than people today.
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