Yes. Birth rates in developed countries naturally drop without government intervention.

That being said, socialism is more than just basic needs being met - it’s a question of who owns what laborers produce. Under socialism, the idea is that the workers themselves own what they produce (or the fruits of their labor, more generally), as opposed to shareholders or firm owners.

My college had “flat rate” tuition, so you paid about the same no matter how many classes you took.

Wow. I would’ve abused that and dropped my GPA even lower than it was. XD

The vast majority of people saying Chinese people are ‘peasants’ are racist, but if someone told me that they met someone in Fuckknowswhereville, USA, who genuinely thought that mainland China was still struggling under a feudal regime, living hand-to-mouth with villages of illiterates who lacked the educational tools to organize against their overlords, and was genuinely overjoyed to hear the contrary, that the Qing Dynasty had fallen and that China entered the modern world, rather than disbelieving or dismissive… well, I’ve heard too many innocently stupid opinions from my fellow Americans about international issues to reject that out of hand.

Admittedly, being from Fuckknowswhereville, USA, also greatly increases the chance of them being horrifically racist pieces of shit.

Depends on the opportunity cost. If you need to take time or effort away from your labor to lug a battery along, or your labor is so important or specialized that you would need an assistant just for lugging the battery, the ambulatory battery might be cheaper than trying to do it purely on manpower.

Explanation: Iceland is quite green. Greenland is quite full of ice.

Smarmy bastards.

(It has been speculated that Greenland was named as such to make it more appealing to prospective immigrants, who would not realize the truth until they arrived and had little choice but to settle - apparently, being alone in Greenland did not appeal to the original settlers)

They should seriously reevaluate that because they have and they continue to alienate large numbers of people. This is an undeniable fact at this point.

Yes, I agree.

No argument from me on the rest of your comment except for one small thing. The moderate that they’re chasing is a mirage, and doesn’t actually exist in the way that they think it does. These “moderates” don’t actually hold moderate views when questioned about what they believe and what they would support. Progressive economic policy positions are overwhelmingly popular across the board, and many who call themselves moderates tend to have socially conservative or even regressive views.

I would caution this with that wording matters very much to these moderates, and the support of ‘feel-good’ progressive policies (like universal healthcare) evaporates once objections are raised in the public sphere (like “Would you support universal healthcare if… the GOP candidate said it was going to ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS!?” or even realistic issues, like “if taxes went up a small amount”).

I would go so far as to agree that these moderates don’t hold moderate views, in the sense of having a ‘middle ground’ position, but say, in addition, that they have very little real policy positions at all, and that whether they think immigration needs to be loosened or if there’s a crisis on the border depends almost entirely on what side of the metaphorical bed they woke up on a given morning.

They will express opposition to gun control, demand the banning of ‘assault weapons’, and then vote for a pro-‘assault weapon’ ballot initiative, all in the same breath. Civic education in this country is… severely lacking.

Send the prisoners off with peg legs and arms!

I mean, people who think the Chinese people are just ‘peasants’ tend to be pretty goddamn ignorant.

Systems are difficult to oppose in every society. We’re all just trying to get by.

Zelenskyy’s public actions and reactions will likely be very cautious, even towards a fuckwad fascist like Trump, until Ukrainian victory and recovery is secured and assured.

As much as I’d love to hear Zelenskyy tell Trump to go to hell in no uncertain terms, I also understand completely why he doesn’t. Even just slowing down the deterioration of US aid saves Ukrainian lives, and Ukrainian lives are worth more than pride.

“just 800 yuan (or US$111)”

“just”

Fuck man, I’d go ballistic over $111 of unpaid wages, and that’s probably a bigger chunk of that employee’s monthly wages than mine.

I would never 🙇‍♂️

When fighting Bernie, Dems are fighting with a base that is already aligned with them - ie one that they do not have a strong fear of alienating with their positions or attacks.

When fighting Trump, Dems usually fight with the idea that there is a significant group of ‘moderates’ which can be swayed in this country, and thus cannot be offended under any circumstances.

The problem is that there are ‘moderates’ in this country that can be swayed, but that the civility politics approach of the Dems does jack shit to lure most of them. They vote on vibes, and Dems try to avoid any vibes at all, to be the most milquetoast, least unacceptable choice possible to present.

As disgusting as the idea of Trump, Russian removedsucker supreme, getting any short-term credit for victory in Ukraine is, I’d accept even that if it meant Ukrainian victory and an end to the butchery of the Ukrainian people.

Of course, there would an obligation for those of us with more than two brain cells to rub together to ensure that the cultural memory of the future remembers that Trump was an accessory to Russia, not an opponent.

This is assuming that tales of Russian weakening are not the same line as has been passed the past three years - ie that Russia is genuinely weakening, but ignoring that large countries can weaken for a very long time without needing to change course.

Showboating, or Cheeto Caligula having one of his fits of pique?

Why would he be relevant here, though.

Who’s the right wing podcaster? If you think it’s Benny Boy, that’s not his website.

Who the fuck is “Benny Boy”?

Andrew Schulz is a conservative.

Damn, boats have crazy job security

People have forgotten what it means to have style 😔

Russian Empire, done by an ethnic Ukrainian artist, but yes, War Of The Mushrooms, 1909!

Norsemen! God save us!