OpenStars

I think it means "I brought you some dinner: ME!":-P

Tbf, I was accepting that there is a situation in front of us that needs to be dealt with, i.e. accepting that there WILL be a crisis - any question on that front seems in the past. But I never said who I thought will win:-) Honestly I don't know the latter, though in either case yes I do think that a lot of people will give up rather than fight.

The REALLY odd part about all of this, imho, is that the type of person who previously fought on the side of freedom, now is mislead to be acting on behalf of the oppressors. Those who grabbed their muskets and fought to the DEATH against the external British overlords, are now the ones voting for increased corporate power, and increased non-aggression or even thoughts of aid towards the expansionist Russia, which will only be friendly in return for a few decades until it decides that it wants us as well. Yes, this side has "guns", but what good are even fully automatic machine-gun rifles when pitted against TRULY modern weapons like weaponized viruses, nukes deployable from fucking orbit, and perhaps most dangerous of all, the ability to control all flow of all money, which puts a strangle-hold on all supply lines such that failure to comply means starvation.

In short, you are correct that I do not put much stock in the mere words that people are throwing around, no matter how "tough" or "inspiring" they sound. Instead I am looking at the trajectory of actions, such as USA Republican obstructionism, UK Brexit, Russian expansionism, and the like. And to me, it seems like fascism is winning. People BLED and DIED to fight against it as recently as WWII - but that was then, while now they would be turning over in their graves to find that their children's generation (Boomers) are just handing the world meekly over to it within their/our home countries. McCarthism is back, book burning is back, and everything old it seems we are trying over again, like it was for the first time. Those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it.

It makes sense. It might also be the house of like his butler who delivers him food occasionally, while he himself lives in a plane flying around the earth that never sets down... or something. I am mostly joking here ofc:-).

I dunno, it is a plutocracy now, but why wasn't it a democracy when it started?

The only reason I am upvoting this is bc if I had to see it, others should have to share my pain as well! :-P

(/s in case it is not obvious - though I did upvote it!:-D)

Well I did say that people would demand it... which as you correctly point out, is by no means a guarantee that corporations would want to accept.

I mean sure, that too but... what would it accomplish really? There is an arms race, but look at Bill Gate's house... exactly (first, where is it, second, which one(s), third, they are on like entire HUGE islands, fourth they can move the whole thing at a moment's notice, fifth there are other defensive options too, etc. etc. etc.), plus there will always be the "collaborators" who will say "but no, they are the JOB creators" as if that justifies doing, or not doing, anything at all.

Anyway, tech has reached the point that we can put it inside of our very bodies, to hide & power it, plus with CRISPR the tech flat-out becomes our bodies. At least, if you are talking about the stuff available to ~~billionaires~~ trillionaires, whereas to us "normies" all we get are cellphones to mollify & pacify us, yay (and even that privilege comes at the cost of also tracking us, plus can be taken away if we do not cooperate fully or fast enough).

Anyway, tech is neither Good nor Evil, it simply is - and automation isn't the problem, though it could be part of the solution, e.g. if it were to solve climate change for us?

Best I can offer is this:

I believe it is a self-portrait of Donald Trump's clone from 2040?

People have tried that before - every attempt at a utopian society has failed. e.g. perhaps someone will bring "homemade milk", and after the 99th time people begin to relax and whoopsie forget to check it, then a large portion of the group gets exposed to a serious illness, maybe many die, the problems with communal actions get revealed.

Or else that person decides to get REALLY serious with their milk, and people decide to help chip in each week to defray the costs... and voila, capitalism is rediscovered!:-D

Though for the therapeutic benefits alone, it's probably mostly worthwhile - and anyway I'm cynical and bitter so please don't let that stop you:-). Probably the fact that you can see people's faces that would be affected by everyone's actions may make the difference?

I am not a historian, but I get a sense that perhaps the intellectuals at least seemed to think that democracy (in the USA specifically, but also perhaps everywhere?) were just waiting to see how this grand "experiment" turns out. So there has practically always (since 1776 when the fire of democracy was re-ignited in the world after its long hiatus) been this expectation that we might someday fail, and each time something highly challenging comes around they likely re-visited that thought that perhaps it would be soon?

The difference is that this time, it's for real. Even if there were solves already in-place for both globalization and automation, how would climate change be dealt with? I am not saying that it's a 100% certainty - nothing ever truly is, until it has already happened - but I am agreeing with you that there seems less room for hope than ever before, that our way of life will survive intact.

I predict, for instance, that people will start demanding that their employers offer them housing. They might even start demanding longer-term contracts. In essence, they WANT slavery, as opposed to what is coming: anarchy & lawlessness. What good is "freedom" when you have no home, no job, no food, and can't do what you want anyway? This whole "government = bad" idea will cause many people to take refuge in the only other thing that offers even a glimpse of a good(-ish) life: enslavement to corporations. In return they will house, feed, and clothe you - if only barely - and you will in turn commit your very soul to looking after their needs rather than your own, including devoting every waking moment of... oh my, we are already there! (except without the "taking care of you part")

You are right, Pie is Awesome!! :-P

In their "defense", they don't want people to learn much of anything, except obedience. :-(