My theory as someone from Appalachia is that she’s a left leaning centrist trying to bring class consciousness back to the coal mining areas (y’know, where they shot their bosses in literal battles to establish worker unions previously), but she also depends on those local economies to get resources to do this and has to play both sides.

She’s made it her life’s mission to improve the education and literacy rate of the region and has to appear homey and down to earth to the folks living in the south as she doesn’t want to compromise her image. She says things in a vague enough way to not be accused of being a dirty lefty commie (their words, not mine).

I don’t think you deserve pushback, just offering an alternative explanation.

I mean, outside of the fact that things that “could be” in effect “aren’t currently”, Germany is not America. I’ll be making some broad sweeping cultural observations, but they’re mine alone as a German-American who is a citizen of both countries.

Germans don’t like using credit cards because of the implications of a log of transactions that could be tracked. They don’t like digitized forms. GDPR is a thing. Also, public consumption of alcohol is, by and large, legal in Germany so I’m assuming you meant “private property” when you said you could be fined for drinking a few centimeters off. Jaywalking is a crime, but generally there is so much pedestrian infrastructure that it’s not a big deal to find a crosswalk. You’d be more likely to get a “HALLOOOO?!” from a nosy German who is upset that you’re not following the rules than you will any sort of fine, though it isn’t outside of the question.

Not sure where your examples are coming from. These things are already illegal in America. We already have cameras all over the place in most urban areas. Going a bit over the speed limit? Speed cameras. Drinking beer in public? Public intoxication. Peeing in a bush? Indecent exposure and sex offender list if you’re near a school. Dropping a fry on the ground? Littering. Jaywalking because the nearest crosswalk is two miles down the road so it adds four miles of travel just to legally cross a road? Loud horns in your ears and police questioning at best, death at worst.

Americans already lost the fight against privacy and freedom thanks to Big Auto and Big Tech. Germany and the EU commission are why some American companies even care about privacy at all. Big Tech continues to get their anticompetitive practices challenged and fined in Europe, so I really doubt that what you’re saying would come to pass there without a significant cultural change.

So not only did America lose, but those industries have also convinced the majority of Americans that fifteen minute cities are “communism” and that Amazon and Facebook should know if your daughter is pregnant before you do. Big tech is already doing plenty of evil things without AI. The problem is the law and culture, not the technology.

His supporters won’t see it this way.

I mean via the official channels, you’re right. But you will immediately have conspiracy theories running wild that Hillary had Trump killed or something stupid. In a land where there are more guns than people and a small minority own them…the rest of us probably don’t want to see what happens.

Timothy McVeigh blew up a chunk of OKC for less.

I’m just glad no one has succeeded. There is no telling what his deranged supporters will do if someone succeeds.

you’re still butthurt about your downvotes? no one cares lol.

Not as garbage as your critical thinking abilities it would seem.

Identifying with the term “carbrain” is a choice.

One can have no choice due to lack of walkable, bikeable, or public transit infrastructure and also be annoyed about it. The would not make one a carbrain, but someone who is probably going to advocate for change.

Carbrain means you are so indoctrinated by the private vehicle industry that you can’t consider other options, get annoyed by bicyclists and pedestrians, and can’t possibly fathom taking public transit. That’s the entire argument.

Fuckcars also doesn’t mean we are literally sticking our dicks in tailpipes, but since you’re not big on reading between the lines I guess I’ll clarify that for you as well.

I certainly love hearing their speaker systems and modified exhausts from thousands of feet away.

Maybe don’t identify with the demographic the term applies to since it’s entirely by choice and such a stupid thing to base your identity around.

I’m white and I don’t feel comfortable saying it/typing it. It’s antiquated and weird.

My posture is shit and I tested the leaning back and breathing thing and it did feel pretty good. But yeah, nothing wrong with drawing some inspiration within reason.

Example being Jordan Peterson. Cleaning your room if you can muster the will isn’t a bad thing. That doesn’t mean pronouns are a Neomarxist plot to control language or that you should only eat meat and get hooked on benzos.

Don’t let their perceived expertise in one subject cloud your judgment over other subjects where they haven’t the scantest idea what they’re talking about. That said, it would be nice if everyone was forced to take a media literacy course or three in schools.

He’s literally calling the prime minister and asking him not to do it with of course the perceived benefit of kickbacks from Trump if he were to win.

Do you have Trump cum in your brain from sucking him off so hard? Is that where your critical faculties went?

Fuck man. I’m coming to Germany next year because it’s not the USA. Can you fucking not?

There is a vast frontier of knowledge and value to be gained in renewable energy, fusion technologies, CRISPR/medical science, systems integrations and automation, environmental cleanup, food science, etc.

These all take hard work and knowledge and aren’t quick fixes, so of course it seems like all the low hanging fruit is gone.

There are a ton of problems that need solving. It’s not the dog eat dog universe you say it is.

I used to be nihilistic and cynical for a time as well. Then I went through a divorce, went deeply into debt, became an alcoholic, lived in my car for a while and got sober and got my shit together. Not to say I recommend it, but the survival instinct is strong, and a wife and kids are a wonderful thing to wake up to every day.

I hope you can get some distance from the drugs and you might also get some perspective.

Your story is at least interesting, and if true, it sounds like you at least have the resources to improve your mindset and lot in life.

Well naturally, but I was and still am a dumb hick from Appalachia, so I didn’t understand that at the time. I’m a senior engineer now who does system integrations. I was speaking of the cliché advice given to people without marketable skills in a bit of a tongue-in-cheek way.

Is it not work to make connections? Is there no value in learning to learn? I think this is a pretty short sighted way to go about life.

You seem like you’re younger than me and also not from the USA, so I can’t understand the exact realities of your situation without more info.

I got straight A’s in school (1992-2005) and found later in life that I was learning what other kids already inherently knew or learned way earlier. My “AP Calculus” was algebra I for the kids in the larger/wealthier cities in the state. Once I got to college/university I made up the difference somewhat, but I still felt very out of place.

Grades are not the end all be all, but learning to learn is important and it shouldn’t be reduced to just “testing once or twice”. How will you pass the test if you don’t know how to study or have at least some underlying knowledge of the test subject? Maybe I’m misunderstanding your meaning.

I may regret engaging, but I can say as someone who grew up in Harlan County, KY (one of the poorest places in the USA), hard work and education absolutely do still make a difference. You can get educated in a variety of ways, and you can meet people and lean on those connections even if your family isn’t born with them.

Raging about the world on the internet won’t fix your problems even if it does provide catharsis for a brief time. You’ve got to do some work. Whether that’s learning to grow a garden and giving produce to your neighbors, or learning music to join a band and connecting to others through songs you write. Those things take work. People want to connect with others who have skills, even outside of a capitalist system.

Anecdotally, I “LeArNeD tO cOdE” instead of removeding that all the mines closed, and it’s worked well for me. Wrapping my head around coding concepts when I objectively got one of the worst educations available in this country has been hard work and I’m proud to be where I am. I hope you find something you can work towards.

I think it’s a start. I’ve seen more and more from the feds and local governments about the infrastructure/walkability issue. It moves at a snail’s pace but that’s the government in general. My guess is that if you can align the people making federal policy to allocate federal money for public transit projects and high speed trains and such, you can incentivize local governments to use more dense mixed-use zoning laws and drum up local support for public transit projects where people aren’t stuck in a car all day.

I lived in Nashville when Barry proposed and mulled over their now doomed spoke and hub suburban train project between bang sessions with her security detail at the graveyard. It was frustrating that local businesses removeded and moaned and doomed the city to be another shitty Atlanta, so we have to understand the hurdles and the politics involved. Fortunately I have some faith that Buttigieg does but it’s admittedly frustrating when everything related to climate change is already too little too late and it’s moving so slowly to the point that we are only in the early stages.

So many cultural things have to change too. Penalizing big truck and SUV manufacturers is a start. Nobody needs one of those damn things.

A former prosecutor selecting AOC also suggests a semblance of growth on the part of the prosecutor.

Yes, she put away a lot of people on drug crimes and I’m sure other BS. The conservatives are already circulating memes with a collage of black faces she put in prison. As if they give a fuck about black people in any capacity outside of when it’s politically expedient. They’ll be in the camps with the rest of us if Trump wins.

Someone like AOC diffuses some of the Israel and ACAB criticism. Or it could be turned to say AOC is a sellout, which I think is a hard argument to make. No one saying that should really be taken seriously given her record.

In this political climate of violence, it’s basically also a giant “fuck you” to the right. You’ll get this centrist woman, or you’ll get this left leaning woman. It hints where a Kamala Harris admin is wanting to take the country in the future and could also serve to finally motivate the youth vote.

AOC seems to understand realpolitik better than the many on the left, and I think she’ll eventually save us all. I know she probably won’t be on the ticket, but manifestation is a thing right?