waterfall_maker
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User ID: 3616
waterfall_maker
2d ago
You should compare equivalent-cost housing (in work hours or at least in inflation-adjusted cost), not worst currently available to best preserved ones.
Are you doing this?
waterfall_maker
2d ago
You may like "Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City" - seems to fit your request, some people liked it. Personally I bounced - but not exactly sure why.
waterfall_maker
2d ago
How much of dystopian grimderp world it is?
As much as Worm? 10% of worm? 5%?
I dropped Worm on account of being distilled grimderpness.
waterfall_maker
2d ago
I think the Honor Harrington series and short stories get there eventually.
I tried reading something by this author and quality was atrociously terrible, in my opinion.
Citizen of the Galaxy (1957) is pretty good, although short-ish.
I really liked it despite not being 12 year old. Thanks for recommending. And recommending it also for others!
waterfall_maker
2d ago
it's not like they can send policemen to arrest Denmark's cabinet or Victor Orban
AFAIK Hungary is net receiver of EU funds
And even in case of Germany they can for example make German companies ineligible for say rearmament funding send by other countries or do something similar. Also, while Germany is net payer they may suspend some payments - forcing German government to surrender or deeply escalate.
waterfall_maker
2d ago
they deleted this post now
waterfall_maker
2d ago
and now this post is deleted
waterfall_maker
2d ago
Real incomes have been down for a generation for the average American worker
Even if it is true, then USA is still hilariously prosperous, also for average American workers. It could be better, but denying prosperity is not honest
as of this minute up on the day.
and down 7% over last 5 days, 11% over last month, 13% over last year. If you take since Trump inauguration it gets worse.
waterfall_maker
2d ago
have most other goods actually gotten any more affordable than pre-globalization?
yes
check clothing costs, food cost
check what people expect from their housing
check what is considered as a minimum viable equipment in house
how much people travel
and so on
cost of living
compared to past, especially pre-industrial times it is more of growth of expectations
when you measure cost of square footage of housing, measured by hours of average/median/typical low wage - then a lot of costs increase disappears do that while holding quality standards steady, and it disappears even more substantially
people dramatically underestimate wealth of typical modern people, compared to XX/XIX/XVIII century
when compared to typical people in ancient times (NOT emperors or pharaohs) it is even more hilarious
It may be in the form of immediately going out to fight slavery / chauvinism / racism in a medieval society, even if such a course of action would've realistically carried great risks for the gang and little practical changes.
And I in turn would love to see some story with anti-slavery campaign - feel free to recommend me some.
Just it should be serious conflict, not "everyone claps and praises to moral superiority of main character, slavery instantly disappears". It is a pity that I do not remember any stories doing it well. Narnia is closest of all things that I remember right now.
almost never deciding to procure slaves of their own (unless there's some convenient excuse to "force" such a scenario puon the MC)
mostly the same, it sounds like interesting topic to explore but either everything goes unrealistically well or entire story does not deserve to be read at all
I have no problem with Goody Two-Shoes protagonists, I have problems with story having no conflict or having utterly useless world-building.
The Witcher series would probably fit this if you haven't read it.
this one is quite funny in "The first is that the main characters will go out of their way to virtue-signal some stance or action to appeal to the modern Western audience" category
at the same it has some quite evident targeted attacks and virtue-signalling, but...
- it applied in a completely different political context
- to the point that some will be utterly missed
- this is decades old at this point so it is not so modern politics
Even blatant ethic/racist discrimination stuff is far less jarring as it has more realistic presentation than in a typical modern story (usually both sides did shitty things)
waterfall_maker
3d ago
Also, if you keep telling that Trump is literally Hitler and dismantling Democracy - then Trump may get interested in doing these things.
After all, he is accused of it anyway - and if enemies are terrified of it, maybe it is worth trying doing it?
waterfall_maker
3d ago
I think that tariffs on China are enough to cause a real turn. Add everything else to mix...
waterfall_maker
3d ago
I was thinking about Finland, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Croatia etc.
Not sure is that I have not visited homeless-infested areas (though in Germany I kept encountering them despite the same pattern of travels), how much is that their homeless moved to Germany, how much of it is having cold part of year.
But each of this places has no problems with taking weapon from homeless, homeless are kicked out from nicer parts of cities. At least in some of these places police can lock disorderly drunks overnight (this is AFAIK used to collect especially irritating drunk tourists and homeless drunk in public).
At the same time police is not brutal in Russian style and you can get help in form of food/place to wash yourself and there is some escape ladder for more functional ones. AFAIK such escape ladder is quite well paid in Finland.
(I see no problem with donating some of my old stuff to homeless shelter and at the same time expecting to not be harassed at railway station. If it would happen I would call police and I expect that they would come and remove offender - I see them several times taking away drunks from city center or waking up homeless trying to sleep in public view)
It was/is trying to do it with Hungary.
EU coerced Poland by blocking funding (done in way to influence elections)
Yet, EU cannot wins against member states in general, but multiple member states can win against one of two of them using funding blocking as a cudgel.
waterfall_maker
8d ago
There are some less certain indications that W-76 nuclear warheads are also being moved to Diego Garcia. It has long been theorized that Iranian nuclear facilities are too far underground to be destroyed by a conventional strike.
what indications? is it on level of 4chan shitposting?
waterfall_maker
8d ago
It looks large on maps with mercator-like projections.
waterfall_maker
8d ago
Putin is actually a moderate in Russia who just wants to bring territories that are majority ethnic Russian in Russia proper.
This part is dubious at best.
They openly demanded to get entire Ukraine as colony/satellite/feudal state/sphere of influence and succeeded with Belarus. See also Syria (this one almost entirely failed by now).
Putin is not limiting itself to "bring territories that are majority ethnic Russian in Russia proper". And if he would succeed with Ukrainian invasion scope will again become wider.
waterfall_maker
8d ago
there is functionally nothing Brussels can do aside from rhetorical scolding
blocking funding
waterfall_maker
8d ago
With 10 minutes flight time there isn't enough time to have that system. Russia won't give up on mad, instead they will start handing out launch codes to lower level people.
they did it in soviet times already (though not permanently, mediated by Dead Hand system)
waterfall_maker
8d ago
The setting might put you off.
yeaaaah
I tried to read some cultivation stories, supposedly gems of the genre and they were both fairly bad in my opinion (for multiple reasons, including really mismatching own preferences in multiple ways at once)
waterfall_maker
8d ago
OK, this one is unexpected here and was on my list already. Sounds like a good reason to likely start from it.
it wouldn’t be lights out
well, almighty good God is an ultimate backstop (situation was screwed up enough that it actually got involved anyway, twice, though full-on reboot was not needed)
Thanks for info! I have less problem with "a few horrific displays of torture and violence sprinkled here and there" and more with general hopelessness/pointlessness. Or world where everyone depicted would benefit from being nonexistent or deserves to be nonexistent (see also WH40K).
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