Merv's Politically Incorrect Audio Blog

Hahahahahahaha! That was genuinely funny

And yeah - you called it on Cuomo.

 

So basically trickle down doesn't work. Who would have guessed. My friends in software engineering are doing fine. They're pretty much the only ones. Everyone else is struggling.

 

I've always thought that a democracy by direct citizen vote on *everything* is the best way to do things. Relegate the politicians to administrative work. Let us vote directly on the issues. Tax the rich more? Yes/no. Socialized healthcare? Yes/no. And on and on. If shit gets fucked up, it's our own fault and hopefully we'll have learned a lesson come next proposal.

 

That's Switzerland for you lol

 

Welcome to Italy circa .... 1999? I think? It's been a while.

Also I think our limit is 1000€?

Meh.

Anyway, it hasn't really done much to stop the untaxed cash-only job market.

 

Switzerland is a country with instruments of direct democracy only. Only in the tiny, lowly populated cantons of Glarus and Appenzell Innerrhoden will you find pure forms of direct democracy in practice. The rest of the country falls under the Swiss Confederation which is a semi-direct democracy with federal governance structures... so it is in fact a representative democracy but with some of the strongest instruments of direct democracy seen anywhere on Earth today.

Unfortunately, direct democracy tend to gravitate to and/or exhibit one terrible aspect... that they embrace "zero-sum game" group think. This typically increases and aggravates social conflicts, splits a society between majorities and minorities with the minorities finding their positions, interests, and rights heavily suppressed while being grossly marginalized and segregated. Out-of-control, majority-mandated, government-endorsed corruption and intolerant ultra-nationalism are also possible side-effects of direct democracy.

 

I figured there's some drawback and...there it is lol.

 

I can't wait for more people going to cashless when we have a good part of the population who are without bank accounts. There's tons of those folks in NYC in the poor immigrant communities.

Can't blame some of them, reading Checking/Saving DDA Account agreements is super confusion unless you are a banker. Also, trying to hide your money from the banks and taxes.

I remember those days.....

 

Could be.

Mainly here it's a pain in the ass when you have to do big jobs like renovations because even though most contractors are fine with doing proper bills they'd all rather be paid in cash because all the workforce wants to be paid cash.

Often they'll split the bills and you might get 2 in a month with a smaller one you pay in cash so they can turn around and pay the guys right away.

So then you're pulling 5k€ a month out the bank and having to sign documents every time that state you're not laundering money and so on.*

Credit cards have very poor traction here and always have, credit rating is a term that does not exist, at most people pay with their cash machine card or local services similar to PayPal, the biggest of which is operated by the Post Office.

* they don't actually super duper check this for all transfers, it's more so that if you pop up later they can nail you for lying.

 

Move to Florida where sanity is showing signs of life. 9 min video warning, watch the whole thing. Texas ain't doing bad, though. https://thehighwire.com/videos/floridas-radical-new-covid-plan/

 

The problem I guess comes with subject matter expertise being relatively scarce as people are often incentivised in many workplace settings to follow the self-same factory model of education that hallmarks the modern era and that admirable folk the like of Sir Ken Robinson rightfully rail against. It's effective for rote learning and honing very specific skills, sure, but it's hyperfocused in the same way spearing a fish is in contrast to casting a net.

It doesn't matter what colour your collar is at work, there are always protocols and norms and standards of behaviour to adhere to, and while adherence to the system can be draining and ruesome (I've got two sisters currently starting med school and both are... stressed, to say the least), there's peace to be had in having a routine job that doesn't really challenge things be it ensuring no discrepancies in paper work, building Magnis, helping students reach learning goals, or just mitigating the very real risks in having shitty wiring at home-- God help anyone who desires to be genuinely inventive and break comfortable norms. Then again, "norms" can be understood as merely being what the majority of people agree ought to be done, and anyone deviant therefrom is automagically "wrong"-- does that qualify as ultimately correct?

I've been thinking about the Bug's Life movie recently and how the overall themes of the film are surprisingly blunt in its espousal of socialism for an American company. Haven't seen the film in years but the ending message randomly came to mind while pondering at the disconnect between the ultrarich and the exponentially greater number of "ordinary" people. I suppose it oughtn't be surprising that Pixar is radical though

That said, there's a whole global generation disillusioned by many of the same realities and aspirations that were once vaunted as being universally desirable. Stable and uneventful job, happy heteronormative family, regular vacations to hallmark years passing, hobbies to spark joy that give you an incentive to earn more money? It is what many to this day want, but there's a growing contingent that decries the homogeny and professes disillusionment by the same.

History says the exact same thing happened about half a century ago and if humans survive long enough with how anthropogenic climate change is putting a hard cap on our growth and continued existence, I'm willing to bet that it'll keep happening like 3AM cartoon reruns.

RE: Chinese hegemony I had a few adult students who, while otherwise very enthusiastic, kind, and deeply engaged in learning, were nonetheless ardently supportive of the recent move to boycott western brands e.g. Nike, H&M, and others for their questioning of how exploited Uighur labour was an integral part of the overall profitability of their systems; many others who knew my nationality (but often questioned whether or not I was really Filipino because I "didn't look like it"... charming) were insistent that China's move to effectively homogenise all of Asia is in everyone's best interests and will ultimately benefit the entire continent, if not the world.

For the love of crap even a really subtle easter egg in a Taiwanese horror game is enough to raise fire. "Best interests" my low hanging left nutsack: https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/ar...me-devotion-banned-china-after-hidden-message

@rhythmdevils frankly I don't necessarily think that there're more right-wing extremists here than elsewise, it's just that those tend to be the more vocal bunch because of how people who identify as conservative proclaim more rigid adherence to established laws and are enabled thereby. Of course the matter of WHY certain laws exist is seldom questioned--one of my best friends from undergrad is a Nevada native and he lives there now with his son-- he is very much a conservative as many Filipino expatriates are [what's the difference between an immigrant and an expat? ] so conversations with him almost never go down the line of "what's right to do?" but instead "what does the law dictate?".

In the same way that falling neatly in line at one's job is a source of comfort and peace, people on every end of the political spectrum will invariably gravitate towards their own and treat out-groups as either enemies or poor, unwashed savages to be shown The Right Path. Everyone has biases, no exception whether you're a charity worker, priest, prostitute, mechanic, lawyer, musician, gambling addict, doctor, broker, shopkeep, pensioner, or trust fund baby, and challenging preconceived notions is always going to be harder than anyone dares to expect. The trick is to try and be dynamic and look at oneself from without; many people find it hard to imagine themselves as another person, likely because that perspective would reveal unflattering things that their ego and sense of self-worth may not brook.

 

As a Floridan, our new "Surgeon General" hasn't been approved by the Florida Senate. We should be raising our eyebrows on why this person is providing health directions for the state when he wasn't officially approved by the Florida Senate. Also, why we are using our tax payer money to pay for these press conferences to someone who is not a "Surgeon General?"

As a Floridan, why the hell we have a "Surgeon General" office in the first place? The office doesn't have that much powers to begin with, and the FL Legislature can just pass a law that more/less make that office useless. Why our tax money is being wasted on a media circus? Our state budget with the Covid funds is almost $100 billion, which is slightly more than the NYC annual budget. That's a crap ton of money, and I know there's fat in it.

Voters on both political parties in all 50 states deserve the government they get: A bunch of f'ing lawyers who are smart enough to make $$$ on my tax money, rape me on my taxes, and smart enough to have the ignorant masses continue to vote for them.

A warning for everyone regarding DeSantis: He is a Big Government GOP fan like Trump.

• He permanently raised my taxes - Making sales tax in FL permanent on online sales, which they didn't have to do it since the state reserves were not running in a negative. This hurt my wallet.
• Working with the FL GOP in making ballot initiatives even harder - You need to have millions to even get something on the ballet. DeSantis and FL GOP saying it will prevent special interest, but you now need special interest to even get something on the ballot.
• Doesn't Respect Home Rule - If a City/County pass something that the GOP that control state government doesn't like, they just pass a law overriding the City/County law. FL is a Home Rule state which over the last 20 years the FL GOP has been attacking it, just like the NY Dems.
• How to solve a problem? Just pass more confusing laws. - There was this "Anti-Riot" law that passed in FL. However, we already had strict Anti-Riot laws to begin with and our police force before this law was pass can already handle riots. I read the law, and honestly shit is vague. Justice Gorsuch said best: “In our constitutional order, a vague law is no law at all.”

@purr1n asked how political policies affected me? Well, DeSantis got my wallet. I blame the voters who voted DeSantis for raising taxes on everyone. I do not forget, but FL Voters like everyone else vote D or R, even if they forgot who fucked them over.

I love the Conservatives Media keep calling FL a state of "freedom." I'm saying "freedom" with "" because FL doesn't come close to freedom as TX, LA, MS, AL, etc.

• Our gun laws are the strictest in the South.
• A lot of cities put bans on rentals and other things on the property that you own.
• Even with less restrictions, there's still plenty of restrictions businesses can't impose on.
• Yes no income tax, but the state will rape you in other ways.

This is what you get when you have a tons of moderate conservatives moving to FL from the Northeast. They look down at the "god loving rednecks" who live in TX, LA, MS, AL, etc. They know those states are cheaper to live in, but they want to move to a place that reminds them of Long Island. And they don't mind of the politicians are assholes, since they are used to it up in NY! Plus, the people want the town/city to act like one giant HOA by imposing their will on other property owners (you have a commercial vehicle, well you can't have it in your house - that's one law where my dad lives).

FL is the GOP version of California, but minus the good weather, mountains, food, and wealth making economy.