I'm too old to worry much about these kinds of foolish things any more, but I fear for my grandkids. I know, "it was ever thus". But was it always this bad?
I'm not worried about California destroying itself. It should do so. I believe that sanity will prevail in the sense that California will be legally prevented from imposing its will on the rest of the United States, though I can't be sure.
We've all heard of nullification and secession in connection with the Civil War and the prelude to it. Has anyone ever thought of kicking a State out of the Union?
I wish we could do it by county. The left is concentrated in very few places, West Coast, Northeast Coast, DC and environs.
Here is a handy map of how counties voted in the 2024 presidential elections. Note the non left counties in northern California and southern Oregon bordering on the Pacific. These could be our Polish Corridor!
Love it. My favorite econ professor always said "enforce the anti-monopoly laws" and most aggressively when the mergees were both dying. I was 20. And he was joking. Over time nearly all those merger partners have vanished. I am now past 80. Pretty sure I think I get it.
When was the last time politicians "steered" something for "public benefit" ? It will always be steered for personal benefit in the name of the public.
One good thing about AI is that china is right on the heels of US companies. Hopefully if Americans create EU like regulations Kimi and Deepseek will still be available for the rest of the world.
I'm not even sure what your point is, or if you even have one. Fact is, John was mocking this accusation made against Facebook, even though it is exactly what Facebook did. No need to be such an antagonistic and dismissive dickbag about it.
God John, doesn't it feel at least a little bit *off* to have an audience that is almost 100% unflinching echo chamber and sycophancy?
What you missed was Eric's joking comparison of your hyperbole to people who blame the food industry for gaining weight.
Stop blaming everyone else for your poor individual choices. Do you blame oceans for people who drown in them? Do you blame blizzards for the Donner Party's troubles?
You have agency, you can stop blaming everybody else and start taking some personal responsibility. So does everybody else.
If you had the insight to see Facebook's addictive nature and avoid getting sucked in, then so does everybody else. Relying on politicians to solve problems does not work.
I'll be pedantic and point out that there are three nouns, one adverb and one adjective, but Mr. Unimpressive does have a sadly unimpressive vocabulary.
Daniel, grand idea! Remember, we were at war when The Declaration was issued. We free thinkers are already in conflict with the statists. How do we resist the "Stasi" when they send their Jackboots? Underground resistance? empty armories? It's here. Be prepared!
Californians are unbelievably idiotic about their politics. What makes it even worse is that, as an attorney working in LA, I'm surrounded by highly-intelligent and friendly people who know better on everyone single one of these issues, and would say so if you asked. Yet these same people are democrats and will not vote for a republican (or even an independent) no matter what. Our politics is no longer about policy preferences (if indeed it ever was). If Bass's blatant incompetence couldn't get her ousted, much less knocked to third-place or worse in the primary, it's hard to see what would get the majority of Californians to change their votes.
No doubt the converse is true in many red states. Indeed, Trump himself shows that politics-as-entertainment is a universal phenomenon.
P.S. -- thanks for posting. I generally read and don't listen. It's much faster that way.
I think it started (recently) with Obama, and the promise of a post-racial society betrayed by race-mongering. But Trump splayed it wide open. Like him or hate him, his frankness and unwillingness to hem and haw and speak in political tongues flummoxed everybody.
The post-2028 world is a mystery. All I hope for is that TDS dies down on both sides.
I generally agree with you (though not including many of Trump's worst excesses). I thought it important to point out that republicans are not immune from the problem. I grew up in Idaho, so I've lived in both extreme red states and extreme blue states, and I've seen both sides.
A good observation concerning the problems of regulation based on hypotheticals. The flip side also is a concern - exemption from normal legal requirements to promote technology with unknown possible applications does nothing but grant privileges and immunities that create significant diseconomies. At times it seems we have a difficult time allowing costs to be allocated to those responsible for creating those burdens.
As you say, Meta is accused of "maximizing profits". It goes further. It is also attacked for studying how to make a product that the consumers really like.
I hope you will take a good long look in the mirror. You cannot claim ignorance or stupidity. Do you really think it is worth taking this kind of risk of our country becoming like Putin’s Russia, because it is so terrible that billionaires have to pay progressive taxes and that we have a social safety net. You think probably something in the ballpark of freedom will survive? You do nothing to fight to stop us from becoming Putin‘s Russia because it’s only a substantial chance, and not an overwhelming likelihood. You know better than to think like that. I don’t know how you can do this having the intelligence and knowledge to know what you’re doing.
Thank you for the rant. It is 100% factual.
I'm too old to worry much about these kinds of foolish things any more, but I fear for my grandkids. I know, "it was ever thus". But was it always this bad?
Not blessed with grandkids. My kids are too pessimistic about the future
Maybe the Hoover Institute should move to Las Vegas?
A modern civics lesson. Thanks
I'm not worried about California destroying itself. It should do so. I believe that sanity will prevail in the sense that California will be legally prevented from imposing its will on the rest of the United States, though I can't be sure.
We've all heard of nullification and secession in connection with the Civil War and the prelude to it. Has anyone ever thought of kicking a State out of the Union?
yes...along with NY
And Illinois!
I wish we could do it by county. The left is concentrated in very few places, West Coast, Northeast Coast, DC and environs.
Here is a handy map of how counties voted in the 2024 presidential elections. Note the non left counties in northern California and southern Oregon bordering on the Pacific. These could be our Polish Corridor!
https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/1gl630u/a_mostly_complete_map_of_counties_in_the_2024/#lightbox
Love it. My favorite econ professor always said "enforce the anti-monopoly laws" and most aggressively when the mergees were both dying. I was 20. And he was joking. Over time nearly all those merger partners have vanished. I am now past 80. Pretty sure I think I get it.
When was the last time politicians "steered" something for "public benefit" ? It will always be steered for personal benefit in the name of the public.
One good thing about AI is that china is right on the heels of US companies. Hopefully if Americans create EU like regulations Kimi and Deepseek will still be available for the rest of the world.
"Social media is a pervasive danger to mental health. And 'big corporations' knew this all along and conspired to lie about it."
For what it's worth, Facebook absolutely did suppress their own research showing exactly that. It isn't even a conspiracy. It's well-documented.
And food is a pervasive threat to physical health, since most of us are too fat.
I'm not even sure what your point is, or if you even have one. Fact is, John was mocking this accusation made against Facebook, even though it is exactly what Facebook did. No need to be such an antagonistic and dismissive dickbag about it.
God John, doesn't it feel at least a little bit *off* to have an audience that is almost 100% unflinching echo chamber and sycophancy?
You being the all-wise 1%, I suppose.
What you missed was Eric's joking comparison of your hyperbole to people who blame the food industry for gaining weight.
Stop blaming everyone else for your poor individual choices. Do you blame oceans for people who drown in them? Do you blame blizzards for the Donner Party's troubles?
You have agency, you can stop blaming everybody else and start taking some personal responsibility. So does everybody else.
If you had the insight to see Facebook's addictive nature and avoid getting sucked in, then so does everybody else. Relying on politicians to solve problems does not work.
Yes, I noticed the hyperbole and complete lack of citations.
Dickbag??? Where is the civility? To limited intellectually such that your recourse is ad hominem??
Thanks Chart!
"absolutely", "isn't even", "well-documented"
Those keywords always set off my alarm bells, especially when accompanied by no references.
Yes, you are the kind of idiot who would invent stupid bullshit reasons to continue living in your cowardly little fantasyland.
"idiot", "stupid", "bullshit", "cowardly", "fantasyland".
You've got more adjectives than the dictionary!
Please see my response. I suspect he might have eaten gun powder as a kid! Lol!
I'll be pedantic and point out that there are three nouns, one adverb and one adjective, but Mr. Unimpressive does have a sadly unimpressive vocabulary.
John,
I’m fired up!
Do you want to take a crack at drafting our Declaration of Independence or should I? Of course, we will workshop it into its final form.
I’m sure David Henderson will help with our cause.
Daniel, grand idea! Remember, we were at war when The Declaration was issued. We free thinkers are already in conflict with the statists. How do we resist the "Stasi" when they send their Jackboots? Underground resistance? empty armories? It's here. Be prepared!
David,
I am ready! I am prepared to hang—together or separately.
Live Free or Die!
Yup! Hopefully we hang together or we will hang separately. Something of a bon mot from BF!
David,
I am ready! I am prepared to hang—together or separately.
It’s great when you’re grumpy, John.
Outstanding!
Californians are unbelievably idiotic about their politics. What makes it even worse is that, as an attorney working in LA, I'm surrounded by highly-intelligent and friendly people who know better on everyone single one of these issues, and would say so if you asked. Yet these same people are democrats and will not vote for a republican (or even an independent) no matter what. Our politics is no longer about policy preferences (if indeed it ever was). If Bass's blatant incompetence couldn't get her ousted, much less knocked to third-place or worse in the primary, it's hard to see what would get the majority of Californians to change their votes.
No doubt the converse is true in many red states. Indeed, Trump himself shows that politics-as-entertainment is a universal phenomenon.
P.S. -- thanks for posting. I generally read and don't listen. It's much faster that way.
I think it started (recently) with Obama, and the promise of a post-racial society betrayed by race-mongering. But Trump splayed it wide open. Like him or hate him, his frankness and unwillingness to hem and haw and speak in political tongues flummoxed everybody.
The post-2028 world is a mystery. All I hope for is that TDS dies down on both sides.
I was with you until your “balancing” 2nd paragraph (“No doubt the converse…”).
Whatever used to be the case, on almost every single objective measure elephants run government far less worse than do donkeys now.
I generally agree with you (though not including many of Trump's worst excesses). I thought it important to point out that republicans are not immune from the problem. I grew up in Idaho, so I've lived in both extreme red states and extreme blue states, and I've seen both sides.
A good observation concerning the problems of regulation based on hypotheticals. The flip side also is a concern - exemption from normal legal requirements to promote technology with unknown possible applications does nothing but grant privileges and immunities that create significant diseconomies. At times it seems we have a difficult time allowing costs to be allocated to those responsible for creating those burdens.
As you say, Meta is accused of "maximizing profits". It goes further. It is also attacked for studying how to make a product that the consumers really like.
I have boundaries
Profit makes me feel unsafe
Say what?!? Do you work for free? That paycheck is your personal profit, or to flip it, profit is investors' paycheck.
my error
I should have signaled somehow that I am being sarcastic
the "boundaries" and "feel unsafe" lingo are ubiquitous now
they're favored terms of the kind of people who are drawn to socialism, communism, leftism, totalitarianism and psychobabble bafflegab
people who say things for attention, rather than because they actually believe what they say or even understand what they are saying
they can make a person despair
that's where I am
Dang. I better take my sarcasm meter back to the shop. It's been acting up lately.
I hope you will take a good long look in the mirror. You cannot claim ignorance or stupidity. Do you really think it is worth taking this kind of risk of our country becoming like Putin’s Russia, because it is so terrible that billionaires have to pay progressive taxes and that we have a social safety net. You think probably something in the ballpark of freedom will survive? You do nothing to fight to stop us from becoming Putin‘s Russia because it’s only a substantial chance, and not an overwhelming likelihood. You know better than to think like that. I don’t know how you can do this having the intelligence and knowledge to know what you’re doing.
antitrust is a scam from the word "go" and it always has been
utter bs