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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 10th, 2023

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  • I know this is a bit of a meme, but there is no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism. It’s entirely a question of where you choose to draw the line.

    This applies to a lot of causes/principles I care about, but to illustrate with my stance on LGBT issues:

    • If a company openly donates directly to anti-LGBT causes? I’d boycott them, no further questions needed.

    • If a high ranking member of a company donates to anti-LGBT causes using their own (likely unethically obtained) funds? I’d boycott for sure unless their product/service is an absolute necessity.

    • If a company is headquartered in a state/country that is anti-LGBT? I would definitely boycott as long as there is a suitable alternative.

    • If a company pays/employs people who are anti-LGBT? Gosh, well, that’s probably most companies. Is it possible to account for how every individual employee/beneficiary chooses to spend the money they make for their work? I have no capacity to make choices at this point.

    Those are my lines.

    When I shop at the supermarket, I have to accept that there are likely people working there somewhere with horrible beliefs whose income is financially supported by my patronage. When I buy clothing, I have to accept that there are probably products I’ve purchased that are made through exploitative labor practices. When it is within my means to spend capital more ethically, I will. But it is absolutely not possible for me to ensure that every dollar I spend goes to a worthwhile cause or to someone who deserves it.

    The Good Place really illustrated this point well in the later episodes. In the modern world where everything is so much more interconnected than ever before, we need to redefine traditional ethics to better consider what is practical for normal people. And the worse your circumstances are, the harder it is to have that luxury of choice.








  • Obligatory IANAL, but…

    Generally a search warrant needs to be issued by a local authority, and that requires the crime to be prosecutable in the place where it was issued.

    So in theory, California is potentially able to refuse requests to search for things that are not illegal in California but may be illegal somewhere else.

    That being said, it looks like there are specific practices in place making it easier to issue warrants for electronic data like this scenario, even across state lines.

    And in this particular circumstance, the alleged offense is even illegal in California (abortion of a viable fetus), so it’s a bit of a moot point anyways. A Californian judge would have issued this warrant if a local police department requested one.






  • You’re right. A lot of people in China would probably disagree with me. But a lot of people in China lack the basic critical thinking skills to even question their circumstances, because secondary schools (if you even have the means to attend one) don’t like students who ask too many questions.

    A lot of people in the US would also disagree with me politically, because they think they were chosen by Jesus to oppress brown people and spread glorious capitalism around the world. But that doesn’t make them right either.

    I am a Marxist. I’ve done my homework. What do you want me to do, start quoting Zizek or Gramsci to pass your shitty litmus test?

    China is an experiment in socialism gone awry, because like the rest of the world, those with power lust over capital. I lived in a T3 city in China where things were relatively quiet, but flew out to visit a friend way down in Shenzhen periodically. It’s hard to see billionaire kids racing their Ferraris down the street there while the poor masses look down from the windows of their destitute coffin house apartments and think that this is somehow a socialist success story.

    China is as capital-driven as any other world power. The government just likes to participate in it a bit more directly.

    But sure, you’re the expert, not me, so I’m sure this is all just capitalist propaganda intended to denounce great Mao zhuxi and sabotage the workers’ revolution.



  • Stovetop@lemmy.mltoMemes@lemmy.mlWe can all agree on that, right?
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    1 year ago

    I’m going to level with you, I don’t have time to watch an hour long video for a topic that is likely just government-approved talking points.

    In practice, I just don’t see any difference in the way the mega rich in China control society, just as they do in the rest of the western world. There is too much aesthetic reverence for the West in the upper eschelons of Chinese society.

    It is just as dystopic as the West with the way workers are used as fodder by megacorps with no regard for their well-being. Any country with such widespread income inequality cannot call itself a socialist success story.



  • Facebook/Instagram (Meta) is one I am not sure how to get a read on. They are branching out a lot, but I have no idea what they’re doing to remain profitable. It seems like they’re in “Throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” mode, hoping that they find a new niche before their sizable warchest from the 2010’s runs dry.

    They severely downsized once this year already and I have a feeling that won’t be the end of the story. Wouldn’t surprise me if they sell off/shut down Oculus in the near future.

    Tiktok, meanwhile…well it’s already undergoing enshittification (it is the subject of that original essay) and old people are starting to use it, so I feel like it’s only a matter of time before it’s no longer cool with kids and they lose a sizable chunk of their revenue stream and content.


  • The pandemic caused serious financial burden to the average American, and the only reason why it wasn’t significantly worse for millions of people is because the federal government paused interest and repayment deadlines for federal student loans.

    Loan forgiveness is another method of providing relief for people whose economic means took a hit as a result of the pandemic, and is something a lot of people were counting on the day it was announced. If this is unconstitutional, then so were paycheck protection program (PPP) loans that were forgiven by the Fed due to the pandemic as well. The only difference between the two is that the GOP likes big business owners who benefitted from PPP loans (and several GOP politicians and their families took out millions in PPP loans that were forgiven) and they don’t give a shit about college students who aren’t likely to vote red.

    This is just another way the conservatives are “sticking it to the libs”, so they have something to brag about during next year’s election.