In an open marketplace I’m afraid that is a competitive disadvantage Especially with a 1 in 3 approval rating.

If you use your truck as a truck often that’s fair. My ire is more directed at those that fall into the categories below (and I know several people that do, some of whom are upper middle class and seven figure salary folk who just want the appearance of ruggedness).

According to Edwards’ data, 75 percent of truck owners use their truck for towing one time a year or less (meaning, never). Nearly 70 percent of truck owners go off-road one time a year or less. And a full 35 percent of truck owners use their truck for hauling—putting something in the bed, its ostensible raison d’être—once a year or less.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/26907/you-dont-need-a-full-size-pickup-truck-you-need-a-cowboy-costume

Its a good yoke but coming at a South Asian person for the anglicized spelling of a South Asian word is the sugar syrup on the Gulab Jamun.

Honestly it’s pretty embarrassing for 6’1 55 year old too.

Western masculinity can be so fragile that some think consumerism is the only out of it.

Basically if you’re using a pickup as a commuter vehicle…you probably don’t make good life choices.

Western nations really need to teach their kids about colonialism. There needs to be an honest appraisal of the harm that went into creating the global imbalance we see today. Without it, the average person ends up cognitively deficient in discussions of global geopolitics (there are far too many that fit this bill).

I still meet too many people that hold onto a colonialism happened because we’re awesome attitude with a profound knowledge deficit on the number of genocides that went into the process.

They argue on a Western technological advantage which can be a reasonable assertion but also Western moral superiority which is so laughably misinformed they might as well have not gone to grade school.

There was no concept of a terrorist in biblical times.

I think the problem is that the antitrust ship has already sailed.

I don’t think a government run grocery store would be looking to compete on the open market. It would be more along the lines of subsidized food for lower income households on food stamps, practically speaking. That is much more sutainable than one that’s open to the general public.

If a government run grocery store could provide a fair price for items we are currently being gouged on, I doubt they would be able to keep up with consumer demand. Essentially middle class and above will have to keep putting up with commercial prices.

Collective hedonism is an abstract ideal that has not quite had any real world application. I have met quite a few hedonistic individuals but have yet to see a successfully and consistently hedonistic group. It’s hard to get a large group to agree on what is meaningfully pleasurable. For the purposes of this discussion it’s too abstract to be relevant and even if it was I’m still not quite sure why it would be ‘badass’ as doing the pleasurable thing often does not coincide with doing the right thing.

Collective pleasure does not exist with any degree of permanence but collective prevention of harm absolutely does, and often requires sacrifice / hardship, which is what I would define as “badass”

Price gouging has been a major problem at Canadian grocers since COVID. Basically prices went up with supply chain issues / inflation but have not been adjusted for improvements in inflation since then.

These are for profit entities. They would steal a quarter from the poor and hungry if they could.

That’s the fundamental flaw to capitalism - not that it concentrates wealth and power (because that is perhaps human nature) but that it celebrates it.

It conditions us to think that concentrating wealth is not only morally right but something we should all aspire to. That competing is morally superior to sharing.

Ultimately, if capitalists accrue so much wealth and power that they can buy out the interests that would seek to regulate them through democratic will, we then relinquish our democracy for feudalism.

The reason why it isn’t badass is it prioritizies self over others. Under a hedonistic worldview, your own pleasure matters more than another living beings pain.

It aligns well with capitalism and its inventivization of personal enrichment even if at an expense to others.

In my view being “badass” is taking care of each other, even the supposed “least” amongst us (if we are to believe in such hierarchies), as our superheros and religious figures are written.

There’s a reason we have immortalized such figures and I would describe exactly none of them as hedonistic. Rather they often take on incredible personal pain to bring safety and security to others. That is what I would call badass.

A lot of what we define as pleasurable in this part of the world is driven by consumerism or other environmentally unsustainably/harmful activity. If your pleasurable activities account for your impact on all living things then by all means knock yourself out. Most hedonists I’ve known do not demonstrate this degree of introspection and often are looking for fleeting pleasures to mask trauma or other mental health challenges.

Sounds more like the musings of a hedonist than a badass. The incoordination and head trauma are not as far off brand as he thinks it is.

So… Nukes.

This survey seems to suggest otherwise.

Many, including myself, see Trumps wins as backlash by legacy European settler descendants for to a part African man serving two terms as president.

You know those experiments Pavlov did with dogs that made them salivate to the sound of a bell (because they associated the sound with food)? Boomers essentially had that but the trigger is the word communism and the response is aversion / disgust.

They didn’t have the internet back then so mainstream media could essentially control mainstream thought.

An alarming number of Americans (and people around the world) just vote on vibes. That’s the only way you can explain voting for a fascist one election and immediately pivoting to a democratic socialist.

Perhaps Dalits will have their civil rights progression jumps like African Americans have had in the US. I’m not so sure it’s a necessary factor though. Economically India has grown substantially in the past 15 years largely through cozying up with the West. Many Western countries now see India as an important strategic partner given its proximity to China and Russia.

Extractionary systems exist in many post colonial nations, India being no exception. Corruption and maintenance of the status quo are a legacy of those systems.

For a system like that to change, sure revolution is one option. But if there’s a way to democratically extricate the fascist party (a long shot I know) that’s a desirable consideration.

India is at the stage now that China was at 20 years ago when people were trying to take their lives jumping off Foxconn buildings due to being overworked.

Wage suppression and unemployment are major issues. Modi’s economists have recognized the economy is at risk of underperforming due to inadequate demand (consumers not having the disposable income or time to consume goods and services).

They’re trying to fix it with certain tax breaks but I hope the Indian people kick Modi to curb ultimately since he’s spent most of his time stoking religious tensions, scapegoating minorities and giving kickbacks to Gujurati industrialists. He’s a fascist.