Here is ramdomthought!

[BobbyZamora]

[maj]

luv to log onto people who mostly agree with each other arguing about someone neither of them r enthusiastic about and will both probably end up voting for the lesser bad guy and be disappointed at the further stagnation of their society over the next 10 years.

if we accept voting doesn't matter in the big picture, then we can accept that by voting for the more likable shit head doesn't mean we're endorsing them or think it will change something other than possibly removing the bigger shit head (yeah yeah they're both big shit heads ones just nicer about it yeah, i get you, yup! im on your side!!!! you dont have to tell me!!!). but similarly, it's hard 2 resent someone not being enthused to leave the house if it's raining on election day 2 vote for the guying saying "oh no you cant have good things but, guys.....that other guy hey?"

[BobbyZamora]

I don't live in the USA, I cannot vote against Trump. Believe me if I could vote I would. I'm speaking as a very concerned citizen from the USA's neighboring country regarding a fascist figurehead who is actively antagonistic towards us.

[UnwashedMolasses]

[maj]

personally i think it's ok to not have a solution, you can recognise voting is little impact in the grand scheme of things and that even if you had a leftist to vote for on a national political platform they would likely betray morals you hold dear (bernie), or vote for a climate denying, racist who merely handwaves that they're "listening and learning" in between seizures (biden), and not have to offer anything in return. it's ok to be disenfranchised, loads of people are!

there is a trend to in politics that disenfranchised people are somehow unaware, nieve or just don't care about people to not vote, that they're some other, and i'd argue this has perverted our view of politics for decades. "no i couldn't POSSIBLY be a non voter, i'm college educated and engaged!! i have a moral compass!! being disenfranchised is for the dumb....i uhhh mean....those without the privilege". It's something the right understands very well and why they favour voter suppression so much, they understand a disenfranchised voter is dangerous to their project so they've spent billions and decades supressing them, intentionally, the reactionary response to this is "that's more reason TOO VOTE", but it's not, simply telling someone isn't going to undo voter suppression or disenfranchisement. the center/left must work to re-enfranchise these people, something they failed to do four years ago, and argubly failing to do now, the draw of "a literal nazi" in the white house they're relying on is certainly a draw for a lot of people to be re-enfranchised. But similarly, many have recognised the opposition to them will do the same to them but slower, be it through letting them get cancer and having no cause to treatment, to bombing their relatives, friends and comrades aboard, or having a history of racially discriminating against them until it was politically unviable, much as they have experienced before "mr cheezit face" entered the white house.

it's with this which is why i have empathy for those who don't vote, surviving is hard enough tbqh, and after years of having the shit kicked out of you for who you are, economically drained by both the people who wish to harm you and those who supposedly will "save you from them", it's no wonder you sense the futility of it all and don't have a solution for an alternative.

i think everyone is looking for a bit of hope, a silver lining or light at the end of the tunnel, which is good, it needs to be done, but if someone can't see it, that's ok, they're working on just being able to survive in the dark, they're not some other, they're not any more morally perverse, they're just you or i, our friends and family, normal people trying to get on in life.

[fun_yunchables]

people who say vote blue no matter who are usually disconnected from the greater populace

[windowflowers]

a little off topic, and this is kind of a personal thing, and i certainly recognize the effect american politics have on the rest of the world, so i do understand people's interest in it, but as an american living in canada, and regularly interacting with people from other parts of the world, it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth hearing people who don't live in the US and are not directly affected in the same way as people who live here by american politics talk about this election and what americans "need to do" as if it's some simple equation US citizens are too dumb to understand, and not actually a very difficult and complicated situation on all fronts that's built up over the course of years and years.

this isn't directed at anyone in this thread exactly—more the broader discourse i see in general—but, as ignorant as much of the US populace is, maybe consider that people who have lived here their entire lives and personally experienced the results of our political system are maybe not complete idiots and maybe have valid reasons why they're choosing to vote or not vote in the way they are, that people watching from across the border or across the pond are maybe not actually actual experts on just because they follow american politics as a hobby.

[INNIT]

[ramdomthought]

[ramdomthought]

does anyone want some free pants

[ramdomthought]

i have a lot of pants that i do not wear that i am too lazy to sell and want them to go to a good home

[ramdomthought]

finally a gym nearby enough to walk to. 1.2 miles to get there. perfect for warming up >(smiling)

[ramdomthought]

Lodge 49 fucking rules

[ramdomthought]

[ramdomthought]

my cat is completely codependent. he's 13 or 14 and healthy. I've been feeding him irregularly and now he will not stop shouting at me for food randomly

do not make my mistake

[ramdomthought]

i know people here are mad as hell at antonio from eidos and 18 east and this is related to that but i do not care and i learned about these throws from him which are really cool

[ramdomthought]

people aren't good at posting online anymore

[ramdomthought]

being bad at posting was cool when everyone was good at posting but now it sucks

[ramdomthought]

ripping off the philly(?) dsa and organizing doing car repairs in a local church parking lot (brakelights and such) has ruled

didn't do much but mutual aid (we should just call it being part of a community or something) is damn satisfying

[rjbman]

worst feeling in the world is when u gotta shit but you're 1 hour into a 3 hour bike ride into the wilderness with no civilization & more importantly no TP, and it's bumpy as fuck and every bounce you feel it sorta wanna creep out & so you can't even hurry

[rjbman]

at least you get to watch your friend nosedive into a pile of sand they thought was more firm & come out looking like an extra from Dune (delayed to Oct 2021)

[mooncorp]

last night me and my friend were sitting waiting for our sandwiches and a guy came over and said to him

God told me to come back to tell you that I love you
To express his love for you
and i feel like god is with you in the moment

[fun_yunchables]

i've been holding out for an affordable es-102 task chair and sitting on a backless stool ever since starting working from home in feb. and my back hates me because of it

[can-]

when ur Bloc is all just 03-07 raf

[JewTurk]

How are people handling ~all of this~? Spending any time with friends? What does that look like? Is there going to be a correction in the housing market so that people can own homes again?

[rjbman]

terribly, a couple of friends outdoors biking prior to stricter rules lately & playing video games online with friends, and LOL

[bels]

From my position of privilege it has basically been fine aside from not being able to see some high risk loved ones, but realistically that has been worse for them than for me.

Otherwise minor changes like no gym, wfh, no indoor socialising have been pretty easy to execute because I have a pull up bar, a desk and no indoor social life anyway. I still see my local friends about as frequently as I did pre lockdown. Everyone in the company took a paycut when covid hit so I haven't amassed some crazy savings that I'll be looking to spend next year. The only thing I really miss is the frisson of a random encounter with someone in the street, but that was already basically a non occurrence.

I read an axiom that said if you want to know what will change going forward, you can try and look for the things that people have stopped or started doing without noticing they had.

I think things like people constantly going for walks + riding bikes will drop back down post pandemic. I think things like live music, cinema, gallery attendance, will never get back to their previous levels (part of a larger trend) Likewise your friends in long term relationships who you never saw are never going to come out again now that they've discovered they can build their own little sourdough life without you. I've said it before but increasing domesticity is a one way street.

The flip side is your friends in less staid living situations are going to be more desperate than ever to link up. Maybe they'll want to organise things? What things I don't know, all my friends are staid.

Financial things like housing markets seem so detached from any previous known metrics that I wouldn't really have any guesses I have faith in, but what do I know, I'm an electronic engineer not an economist. I'm drawn to pessimistic predictions, but that's just my pathology. I don't know about globally but over here interest rates are rock bottom, maybe for the rest of our lives, everyone is beginning to throw their money at "active investments" ie things that can lose value as well as gain it. What will that do? Not sure. Larger amount of retail investors in the mix could make for something. Volatility?

[fun_yunchables]

i've been doing okay although i do get antsy being inside too long

intentionally choosing car-free life meant relying on public transit / skating / biking / rideshare but i think especially public transit has been significantly cut back, limiting mobility (and i can't even think about riding in a rideshare at this point).

as for the housing market, it's tough to say but judging from population growth alone I don't suspect it will tank the way you want it to. even comparatively to the bust in the early 90s and late 2000s recession, i think it has continually grown on average no? one thing you might bank on is increasing natural disaster frequency in certain areas (wildfires in california, for example) dropping the value of previously expensive housing

my guess is that there's going to be a baby boom coming out the pandemic with more people hitched up, and the typical population boom shockwaves that happen as a result

[JewTurk]

For some reason, the idea of this going on indefinitely was more palatable than the prospect of herd immunity in July (possibly). Thinking of doing ~this~ until July feels impossible.

[ramdomthought]

took the johnson and johnson trial vaccine beginning of november

i'm not dead yet and haven't been sick. i hope this keeps up