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Shyfer

@Shyfer@ttrpg.network

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Shyfer , (edited )

It's why I stopped using Reddit on mobile lol. No, I don't want to download your official app, and no you making it so I need it to access NSFW stuff will convince me to.

Same with X/Twitter. I hate when people put information in those now because you can't read more than one at a time in some reply to self thread on there without downloading the app. Especially when it's important news or on the ground reporting. Screw that. All those reporters need to use mastadon.

Shyfer ,

So does Firefox make this more unique or something? I didn't know this was a thing but I'm interested in privacy and it sound like something I should be looking into.

Shyfer ,

Thanks!

Shyfer ,

There's hypothetically a bunch of different version of communism for everyone. The thing is, Marx described the problems with capitalism, and some vague sense of what socialism could be, some guidelines of what it should aim for, then kind of left the details up to each individual society to get there how they think is best based on their individual material conditions. He gave his own guesses, but didn't think he could predict that part fully, it would be up to the people of the future to figure it out and build on. A third world country, rural serf based near fuedal society, like Russia, would have completely different needs from some post-industrial country, like if Germany turned communist, for example. If the world's sole superpower, the US, turned communist, it would probably be a lot different than communist countries that had to transition under siege neighboring imperialism, like Cuba, North Korea, or Vietnam.

This is just to answer your last question. Don't think this really addresses your other questions, but just wanted to explain that part, as I've had it explained to me before. But I generally agree with you. There should still be some form of democracy but it might look different than what we are used to here in the US or liberal west.

Shyfer ,

Literature Cafe also looks like it has a community for that if we want to spread things out from world a bit. (Which I think we should at some point.)

!writingprompts

Spotify is raising the cost of Premium subscriptions, again (www.engadget.com)

Spotify is officially raising its Premium subscription rates in the US come July, following reports of the move in April. The platform is increasing its Individual plan from $11 to $12 monthly and its Duo plan from $15 to $17 monthly — the same jump as last year's $1 and $2 price hikes, respectively. However, its Family plan...

Shyfer ,

Odds the cost comparable to Spotify and Tidal? Preferably cheaper? Lol

Also do you know if it interacts with Apple Carplay or Android Auto? Looking for an alternative myself if Spotify will keep raising prices.

Shyfer ,

Never heard of that one. It work with Android Auto and Apple Carplay? And cost less than or equal to Spotify?

Shyfer ,

Thanks for answering anyway!

Shyfer ,

I would say helping perpetrate a genocide slightly outweighs making filing taxes a little easier. It's a very, "He makes the trains run on time" sentiment.

Although I do like it. We've been due this for a long time. I wonder if Turbo Tax is freaking out.

Shyfer ,

What a great idea for a page. People are becoming blase about privacy even though it's still important.

Shyfer ,

Wait, that looks kinda like my posture. Shit lol, how do I fix that?

Going Dark: The war on encryption is on the rise. Through a shady collaboration between the US and the EU. (mullvad.net)

Under the slogan ‘Think of the children’, the European Commission tried to introduce total surveillance of all EU citizens. When the scandal was revealed, it turned out that American tech companies and security services had been involved in the bill, generally known as ‘Chat Control’ – and that the whole thing had been...

Shyfer ,

I thought the EU has been pretty good on privacy so far. Of course the US is trying to duck it up.

Shyfer ,

Ah. Well that sucks =(

Shyfer , (edited )

I mean, you can use that same logic on the US government, even Democrat run ones, which have supported genocides in the past and even current ongoing ones, and have tried to stomp out left movements, been racist, sexist, and homophobic. But people have still supported the US and the Democratic party and called themselves leftist. The point is, I assume as I'm not a CCP Stan myself or anything, is to give critical support to back an actual socialist project and give a counterweight to a pure single superpower world (esp. When that superpower has destroyed or undermined almost every left project it can in the world). Critical support meaning you pick out the good from the bad, supporting the good and criticizing the bad. China actually puts a leash on its billionaires = good. But they seem to be forcing some cultural integration of Uyghurs = bad. But they're providing lots of housing and cheap EV's = good. But they can have bad working conditions = bad. But they're helping support economies and infrastructure in the global South with the Belt and Road project = good. But they keep doing that shit with territory in the south seas = bad. But they seem to have a long-term plan for implementing communism that they are actually following = good. And so on. I do think some people go too far in being CCP supportive, but I also think some people on Lemmy go too far the other direction, and think everyone that gives the slightest critical support to China or analyzes some US propaganda on China a bit before swallowing it is a CCP troll.

In the end, it's a mixed bag, but I do think there is some worth to not having a single hegemonic superpower in the world, so other leftist countries or colonized global south ones have alternative access to allies, trade, and support without bowing down to the US and their often reactionary policies. Cuba for example was doing pretty good until the Soviet Union fell and basically the only market became the western, US-controlled one that they had been mostly sanctioned the hell out of. I wish it was a better country than China, but hopefully they improve their social issues as they improve economically, which tends to be the pattern. I just wish they'd stop doing the aggressive maneuvers near the Philippines and Vietnam.

Shyfer ,

Sorry, I'll fix that.

Shyfer ,

This is worse than the idea of putting giant ice cubes in the ocean.

Shyfer ,

Perfect! We need a community like this.

Shyfer ,

That organized part is the hard part. Everyone is so atomized.

Shyfer ,

That's been an issue in constant capitalist countries, too. That's not an issue of communism and is an unrelated complaint.

Shyfer ,

Not really. You're talking about what happened after the USSR. Which yes, was horrible for the quality of life of people who lived in numerous countries all over the globe, but that's more of an indictment of capitalism than communism. The looting of the government coffers to privatize everything and create oligarchs was a result of the post-USSR shock therapy.

Shyfer ,

It also keeps being built in third-world countries, usually blockade, sanctioned, or regime changed by Western countries so it's also hard to tell without those variables. Although so far it has a pretty good track record for equal levels of starting development.

Shyfer ,

First of all, communism isn't utopian. Even communists don't think it will be some paradise where all worries disappear. You'll still have to fight racism, sexism, bad weather, famines, etc.

But it's often better for an average person from a country of a starting equal level of economic development. You've got to give it the "If I was reincarnated in a random person's body, where would I want to be?" test. US is a good answer, but it's got a way higher level of economic development with a big headstart. Even then, you could end up in the hood and die early and stressed. When you give the test comparing countries of equal starting economic development, it becomes a lot more muddled.

Like, would you rather randomly live in Cuba, or Somalia? The place where you get free education, health care, etc or a place that is also extremely poor but you don't get that stuff? You could reincarnate as some rich, warlord there, but would you want to take that chance when you could reincarnate in Cuba as literally anyone and not be worried about ending up homeless? When giving realistic comparisons like this with proper historical context, and you do it over and over again, they tend to come out on top.

Shyfer ,

You could do that with any country that's had famines and disasters.

United States
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl

Ireland
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)

India
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_famine_of_1943

Shyfer ,

Are they making actual progress on that path, though? They have tons of billionaires, lots of people go bankrupt there from medical bills or are homeless (unlike some other communist countries). The state owns a lot of businesses, but then so does Norway. All their initiatives seem to be related to hurting gay people or making it harder for kids to play video games. They've arrested some rich people and cracked down on some corruption, but that also sounds like it could come from a capitalist country. I can't really find any sort of long-term plan.

Shyfer ,

Even when they don't turn it into a dictatorship, they may just turn it back into capitalism, like Russia did. And when that happens, they just sell all the old estates to the highest bidder, making them richer and turning them into oligarchs. And that becomes functionally equivalent to a dictatorship of the bourgeois.

Shyfer ,

Lol it sounds like someone trying to defend capitalism. "No, it's totally fine, we just didn't implement it right. There are certain laws and regulations that can fix it, we swear!"

Yet for some reason any flaw with a communist country is endemic to communism itself, instead of the implementation, contexts of their outside conditions, or foreign influence, or general state of economic development.

Shyfer ,

Ah, I misinterpreted you. Sorry about that. But it's hard to tell exactly what you're talking about without more details. Afghanistan, maybe? I get if you don't want to dox yourself, as someone privacy minded, but it's hard to know how to respond without more context.

Shyfer ,

And a lot of attempts have also been great at raising the standards of living for the general population, as well as for economic development in a relatively quick amount of time.

Shyfer ,

The USSR did good things and bad things but reactionaries like to pretend it was all bad. There are hard numbers about life expectancy increasing, better life for women, research achievements, general quality of life and happiness metrics, and more that increased. There was lots of bad parts, but same in the US.

There were anti gay laws on the books for the US, and towns you couldn't even walk in while black. Hell, there are still some sundown towns in places in the US. If you just point out that stuff, or if you lived in such a horrible area or had family who did spreading their stories, then it will just come off as a hell hole. The US does suck, but it's not just Skid Row, the projects, lynch mobs, coups, wars, etc. Same for the USSR. There were good things we can save and build on, and bad things we need to avoid for future socialist projects.

It's not like the first attempts for democracy went well, either. But I wouldn't diss it in the Middle Ages and say we can only do monarchies, the pinnacle of political achievements, just because " it never succeeded. It fell in Greece and the Roman Republic and every other time it's been tried, and has never worked ever and thus is always doomed to fail."

Shyfer , (edited )

Oh ya, I should have guessed. There are a couple Baltic states that did increase in living standards and make some rapid industrialization improvements, but they also made some definite mistakes with handling some things there and trying to do some Russia centralization. It made some of those places very right leaning, which is unfortunate.

At least it generally shared technologies improvements and such with those places. It doesn't make the USSR worse than the US, for example, which ruined basically all of South and Central America even worse than the USSR did for its neighbors. I want to emphasize that it made some big mistakes, but for some reason people contribute those mistakes to communism, when the US and other capitalist countries had even worse occupations with even worse exploitation, but for some reason that never leads to people saying capitalism is terrible and awful, etc. The world is just too propagandized by the West. The difference is that imperialism and exploitation is basically required by the capitalist system, while it's a side effect of militarization under a siege mindset for communism. It happened, and will probably continue to happen as long as communism requires capitalism characteristics to jumpstart production, but it's not a constant requirement of the system like capitalism's necessity for the line to go up leading to always finding new markets and resources to take.

Shyfer ,

The Chinese government doesn't own Tik Tok, either.

Shyfer ,

It's the new red scare basically.

Shyfer ,

Isn't the rest of his cabinet picked based off winning a contest, being a family member, or having tits?

Shyfer ,

Is this like Slay the Spire? I had a lot of fun with that rogue like deckbuilder for awhile.

Shyfer ,

Is that for Android or Apple?

Shyfer ,

Right? I can't even meal prep because I can't even eat the same food more than 2 days in a row. I wish I could for my health and easier cooking, less thinking about food, but I can't do it. I'd jump off a cliff in like a week.

Shyfer ,

I need to read that book again. It was scary, but I finished it utterly confused. I clearly missed a ton from the appendices.

Shyfer ,

House of Leaves I believe

Shyfer ,

House of Leaves, I believe

Shyfer ,

Don't look up too much the first time reading it. Just enjoy the weird ride. Feel free to page over to the relevant appendices every now and then, although they didn't make a ton of sense to me. When you're done, check them out. Apparently there's various secret messages and stuff back there that reveal more of the story but like I said, I still need to figure them out myself lol. Once I finished the book my mind was too twisted up trying to figure it out to look into them, but I'll come back... one day.

Shyfer ,

Sound alike the gymnastics to define racial categories to preserve a social hierarchy as well. What is white? Well it's people from here and here, not Irish, not Jewish, etc. Oh wait, Irish are allowed now but not Okies. Okay, they're allowed now but no Jews! Now, Jewish can be allowed sometimes but no Italians. Alright, Italians, but no Jews, Irish are also okay, some Hispanic people if they can pass, certain Asians can be let in, etc. Etc. It always go on like that. It stays malleable just to make it exclusive.

Shyfer ,

I made the same point above, but should've just scrolled a bit to find this comment then I wouldn't have had to lol.

Shyfer ,

This Chef does amazing work. My partner's dream was to help out in a non-profit that helps in direct ways like this organization, she considered it when the Ukraine war started but just ended up sending them money lol. Like, his work to feed hungry people in places around the world has made my partner literally cry just reading about it.

His aide workers didn't deserve to be collateral damage in Israel's dumb genocide, especially when they made every precaution to let the government know where they'll be. But if it wasn't for terrible people like the IDF, then there wouldn't be a need for these brave and helpful folk, like the chef and his workers.

Also, fuck the White House for pushing back against his statements. They're almost as bad as Israel in how they are complicit in this.

Shyfer ,

Oh then it definitely shouldn't be on lemmy.world. You should make a new one and put it on Lemmy.dbzer0.com like someone else said.

Shyfer ,

Ahhh, the classics

Facebook snooped on users' Snapchat traffic in secret project, documents reveal (techcrunch.com)

Meta tried to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors, including Snapchat and later Amazon and YouTube, by analyzing the network traffic of how its users were interacting with Meta’s competitors. Given these apps’ use of encryption, Facebook needed to develop special technology to get around it....

Shyfer ,

But then it just comes off hypocritical and disingenuous if you selectively apply pressure. Then it just looks like you're trying to give a competitive edge to US evil social media and preventing youth from learning about the situation in Palestine.

Shyfer ,

Basically every war we did during the Cold War was about "sharing" the greatness of capitalism over communism, too. We're still pretending our embargo against Cuba is just for the same dumb reason.

Shyfer , (edited )

A protest is not the same as a coup. A coup is a coordinated attack to replace one regime with another, a sudden, violent overthrow of political leadership by a relatively small group of people. The business plot, Jan 6, Brooks Brothers Riot, were all about that.

Even if it turns violent, a protest is not the same as a coup. A protest is basically where you try to affect change or public opinion through large public demonstrations. It's trying to appeal the public or leadership to listen to you. Meanwhile, a coup doesn't really need the public. You're forcefully attacking the levers of power or the process to change leadership itself (ex: stopping elections, disrupting people counting votes, stopping electors from voting or swearing in, etc.). Meanwhile, even if some hooligans burn a police car during a BLM protest, that doesn't suddenly turn the protest into a coup.

Occupy was mostly peaceful anyway. The whole joke at the time was that it was a bunch of dirty hippies doing drum circle in the park and in front of finance buildings, like that they were peaceful to the point of not being effective, just annoying. That and their demands weren't clear. There was no criticism of them because violence that I remember at all.

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