I wouldn’t say that. But I do think 90% of society probably isn’t worth interacting with through the medium of current social media.

Sorry to take so long to respond! It’s a novel set in a plausible near-future in which existing power structures have been fragmented by the effects of climate change. It follows a handful of disparate characters in the western US, and talks a lot about the water politics of the Colorado river. It’s very well-written (claims random internet guy, but hey—you asked!). Can also recommend The Windup Girl by the same author. Same eco-dystopian timeline, set in Thailand. Delves more into issues surrounding AI and genetic engineering.

That sounds interesting. It looks like you’re right, though; I couldn’t find an English translation, at any rate. Luckily, the search reminded me how much I loved The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi, and now I’m planning to hit the bookstore when it opens.

I mean, they made the emoji movie. And fucking battleship. Nothing’s too far-fetched. A family drama based on Connect 4? Why not! How about Dwayne Johnson stars in an action movie based on Hungry Hungry Hippos? It’s all too plausible now.

I’m not invested in it at all; it’s supposed to be funny. And I’m not hostile to the rodeo, it’s just never appealed to me. Honestly, I don’t know that you’d get broad consensus on any of this stuff across greater Houston— excepting support for local sports teams—it’s pretty heterogenous. Then again, what do I know; I just live here, I’ve never really felt like part of the community. That’s kind of the point!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don’t care about those things, or sports. Not many other things come to mind that Houston broadly agrees on.

Yeah, it’s a fair cop. I’m sure the train would see plenty of use. It’s just that I’ve lived in and around Houston for a plurality of my life, and the only thing that really makes me feel connected to my fellow Houstonians is a shared, exaggerated disdain for Dallas.

I think an interrobang would have been a game-changer for Jeb’s campaign. And yes, name recognition makes a big difference. It’s maddening that consent for dynasties seems so easy to manufacture.

I still can’t believe SHS got elected governor. She’s a horrible nepo baby whose only qualification was her big national gig telling ridiculous lies on TV every day. Like, what the actual fuck, Arkansas? Then again, Texas’s elected officials are at least as bad worse. So, yeah.

Of course Trump’s delusional, but this guy’s a fucking war hawk piece of shit.

As a Texan, who the fuck knows? Definitely wasn’t decided by plebiscite. I mean, seriously, a bullet train to Dallas?

I think that the therapist(s) in this case would have to be AI. The person could be in their own little simulation, experiencing a reality tailored to addressing whatever psychological problems they might have. It’s all science fiction, anyhow. There’s no theoretical, let alone practical basis for this technology afaik.

I mean, setting aside the danger inherent in creating demi-god wizards, there’s no reason they couldn’t do both.

Theoretically, if you had such technology, maybe you could use it to rehabilitate instead of punish. Being able to undergo months or years of therapy in a matter of hours could be extremely beneficial.

Dallas? Nobody in Houston wants to go to fucking Dallas.

To supplement the other answer here, Lemmy is home to a (relatively) large community of people who LARP as leftists. They claim exclusive access to the moral high ground, while uncritically parrotting state propaganda from Russia, China, the DPRK, and anyone else who appears to stand against western hegemony. Their sole creed is that the USA is the Great Satan, and obviously anyone who opposes Satan should be heeded. Tribal dipshits that rarely argue in good faith; in behavior, not dissimilar to former residents of r/the_donald.

Well, there were a certain number of disaffected Sanders primary voters that switched to Trump when Clinton “won” the primary in 2016.

I feel compelled to point out—because a certain subset of people continue to blame progressives for Trump’s 2016 win—that in the 2008 election, 25% of Clinton’s primary supporters voted McCain in the general.*

*See table on page 9

Trump is a blustering idiot, but he’s also a criminal facing bankruptcy and prison time. Even if we were to disregard every terrible thing he did in office, (and we’d be incredibly stupid to do so) we’d surely be fools to ignore his repeatedly stated intentions to wield dictatorial power and imprison his political enemies.

Extrapolating a bit from your comment: I, too, would like to have a national left-wing party to support in this country. It ain’t the Democrats, and likely never will be. We’ll need to reform the electoral system to make room for such a party. In this year’s presidential election, that’s not on the ballot, and no amount of self-righteous rhetoric will alter that.

It’s a binary choice.

I agree that any leftist person with two brain cells to rub together ought to have voted for Clinton in the general. I voted Sanders in the primary, and I certainly turned out for her. Maybe it’s just because I’ve blocked most of the tankie dipshits masquerading as leftists, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone claim otherwise that wasn’t a bona fide fash.

I do think it’s both fallacious and counterproductive to blame Sanders supporters for Clinton’s loss, considering they voted for her at a much higher rate than Clinton’s own supporters did for Obama in 2008. Fully 25% of Clinton’s 2008 primary supporters voted McCain in the general. By comparison, only 12% of Sanders supporters voted Trump.

Yeah, I feel like we’re mostly talking past each other. Cheers!

But my post was more about not beating yourself up about liking something made by a terrible person.

And I agree, that would be silly.