Uh, it’s a brick shelf made out of books.

You expect to own your body? Hah, that’s cute.

Just wait for the enshittification of Neuralink.

Unfortunately, the fate of the world kinda rests on the outcome of this election. From Ukraine and Israel at a minimum, to severe climate change and WW3 at the extreme end. I hate it too, but this is just too big to ignore.

This is what happens when stack overflow is used for training.

Well put.

I think the desire for a national identity (Zionism) is fundamentally at odds with peaceful coexistence with neighbouring ethnic groups. Israel is definitely at a major disadvantage here. Most other ethnic groups have a “homeland” out of sheer geo-historical inertia. Though I wouldn’t call it a completely unique situation. We see the tensions arise from the protection (or lack thereof) of national identity all over the world to lesser degrees, especially as globalization creeps in.

And I can empathize with groups that feel marginalized because of it. Though I think letting it boil over into violence is definitely a step too far.

Besides, geography as a means of cultural protectionism may be an outdated idea. We can’t underestimate the importance of soft power for spreading cultural influence, and being in a state of constant conflict does not further that goal.

In summary, I think Israel’s actions are rational at a tactical level, but ultimately fail to address the big picture you lay out.

You use the word “hobby”, but I think this is a unique problem to hobbies involving collections. Personally I stay away from collection hobbies because they inevitably devolve into a binder full of stuff you don’t use or enjoy because you already own it, and a rat race to obtain stuff you don’t have. That’s not my idea of a good time.

Granted, most hobbies are money pits or conversely time sinks, but that’s kinda the point. As long as it brings you joy or personal fulfillment.

Sadly, the problem with SaaS and online software…: just cause it’s great today doesn’t mean it won’t turn to shit in tomorrow. Blocking ads is just a small part of the kind of nefarious things that may be done.

So to answer your question, no.

You can have a capitalist economy without billionaires. It just requires a wealth tax and welfare state. Nothing wrong with small businesses and anti trust.

All that said, UBI is inevitable with the rise of automation, as the value of labour drops to zero. The only question is: will the labour class fight for their share of the pie, or will they roll over and just die of hunger.

Asking your employer for more compensation because you are exerting more effort due to inexperience isn’t so different than a AAA studio charging high fees for a crappy product because of corporate bullshit and inefficiency.

In fact, these two things tend to be two sides of the same coin.

Realistically, probably the same thing as what happens at self-checkout lines with idiotic anti-theft checks:

A beacon above the kiosk turns on, an attendant walks over and, without a word, flashes a badge at the machine to override the system lockout as they roll their eyes: this is only the hundredth time today someone accidentally pressed the wrong button, because what kind of terrorist would voluntarily press “yes”.

your phone can have 10 or more instant messengers installed, so there is no reason not to also have Signal installed

But I don’t want to have to manage 10 different communication apps, and I don’t want to be in a walled garden, and I don’t want to wrestle with my contacts about which app to use. I want federation.

F*ck off Signal. I choose Matrix instead.