I definitely bought a lot of things because of ads. Not directly though, I don’t go around clicking on online ads even if one slips through the blocker.

Just being exposed to the idea that some product exists is an ad. Reviews and comparisons. Seeing a brand name in the wild. A product being recommended by someone I consider an authority in that specific field.
It all provenly works on me.

And I don’t really regret it, how else would I even find out what exists? Go to the store and just buy whatever the seller recommends? Did people do that in the past before mass advertising?

Edit: I just realized this is exactly what Amazon is trying to do. Push generic “amazon option” products which have no independent sales outside of the platform.

Yes to both

Conversely I hate the trend in English language to keep the original pluralization rules when adopting words from other languages. Just anglicize it to “alumnuses” or “alumnis” (if you want that to be the singular). Rules of the original language don’t matter any more when you use it in English.

imo, permaban should be reserved for bots and spam accounts. and people committing crimes using the platform.
everyone else max 30 days, but no limits how many times you can get banned if you keep repeating the bad behaviour

1 bedroom, 1 living room joined to kitchen, 1 bathroom. Living alone. I hate the place but I locked in a good price when I signed the contract, it would be 50% more now.

brilliant student in school, studied law, moved to China, learned the language, always very high achieving and motivated to succeed in what ever she chose to do, seemed like she was aiming high career-wise,

Burnout is a bitch, speaking from experience. One way out is to radically change your lifestyle. Whether it turns out good or bad in the long term is very individual

👏

Comparing and ranking peoples suffering is in a really bad taste. By establishing a hierarchy of victimization you’re sending a message to some that their problems don’t matter because someone else has a bigger problem. Also you’re reinforcing the division between groups and reinforcing negative stereotypes, without offering a stable long-term solution for a society without injustice.

The current narrative at least on social media like Lemmy, Reddit, TikTok, etc is of the “equal but separate” variety. Injustices exist and we must protest, we must fight for the underprivileged, but the lines of division between groups are sacred and must not be questioned.

The actual long-term goal should be the merging of groups in which the former out-group becomes part of the in-group. This idea is offensive to many which is why it’s so hard to achieve.

I suspect US economy is in a much worse state than it’s obvious just looking at the numbers. Most of my contact with Americans is with relatively well-off people working in the tech industry. And even they are feeling serious financial constraints. I can’t imagine how the rest is doing.

The whole ‘you don’t hsve to let your husband know how you voted’ was a logical response to conservatives making women afraid their husbands would know who they voted for.

“your husband is secretly your enemy, lie to him”
I like to believe that most people at least like their spouse. And now you have a campaign trying to convince you your husband is an enemy. I understand it was aimed only towards those in abusive relationships, but it didn’t sound like that. Tone deaf at the very least.

The Harris campaign sent a constant message that gender and race are the most important thing about a person and must determine their status in society.
For example black and latino people were told they must vote for Harris because of their race, women were told they must vote because of their gender. And insulted by Harris supporters if they showed any doubt.

Lemmy crowd is extreme in that regard. A lot of people here don’t even see the problem with that train of thought.

An outsider perspective of someone who cares a lot about US politics mostly because of Ukraine war:

Turns out actively insulting potential voters rather than giving a positive plan for the future doesn’t work very well. Somehow in the last months Harris managed to be even more racist and sexist than Trump, which is amazing.

Add to all of that complete denial about real economic problems most middle class people are facing, even going so far to say the country is doing well economically.

As I said, my personal concern is 1. Ukraine, 2. global state of LGBT rights. EU needs to step up it’s military game by a lot. But I completely understand why Harris lost. Her domestic policy is a complete failure.

The system seems to work - voting fraud doesn’t seem to be a huge issue in the US.

It’s just that it’s so counterintuitive to me, making sure that everyone voted only once and only in their own name is essential. But somehow you managed to do it without requiring a formal ID document.

For me it is the concept of registering to vote. I am citizen so I have the right to vote automatically and only thing I need to provide is some accepted ID.

This but also that in some US states you don’t need a valid ID to vote

Some version of single transferable vote , along with a parliamentary government system.

I believe it’s a good starting point for an intelligent species to build on and develop further.

As to how would voting physically work? I guess dolphins can put things in a box. Better not to complicate on the first iteration.

I like to believe I’m pretty good. First, never assume bad intentions automatically. I go through a range of typos it could have been and respond like it was a typo. And then wait for another response to confirm if it was intentional or not.

Note - English is not my native language so that might have something to do with my higher level of tolerance.

In a college lecture, you can gain new information and ask questions. Local government meetings like public consultations about new projects - you can push for a certain outcome.

Political rallies - I reeeally don’t get it. The fact that you even go means that you support the candidate and know their positions. It’s unlikely they will say anything new. It’s usually just a series of soundbites repeating the same ideas that you likely already agree with, otherwise you wouldn’t be there.

Meanwhile old Iskra and Sloboda Čačak vacuum cleaners: “puny mortals I will exist until the heat death of the universe”

Retired after 2 terms in office

Fentanyl - ruining the pleasure of enjoying safe drugs since 2014