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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: February 27th, 2025

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  • I love Blorp and it’s my default interface/Piefed app on mobile. It looks very polished and thought out.

    That said, I am not happy with typography that modifies contrast for emphasis. It works alright in dim conditions and / or dark mode, but in bright environments the low contrast portions of text become completely invisible, not just unreadable. That’s not Blorp in particular, it seems to be a design trend ATM.


  • Modern capitalism is anchored on the free and frictionless flow of capital - another one of those wonderful ideas stemming from the Reagan Revolution. As a result of it, capital doesn’t care about what happens to the market in a meaningful time frame, only what is happening today. If the economy collapses, that’s totally fine, as long as there is still something with an upward potential. And there is always something with an upward potential, even if it’s just investing in carrion feeders like pawn shops or subprime lending.

    In fact, because it’s so much easier and faster to destroy than to build, modern capitalism probably prefers the former. You take something that works, load up on shorts, wreck it into the ground, profit. That is definitely the lesson I learned from the hostile takeover of RJR Nabisco in the 80s.

    Like a great many features of modern capitalism (aka Late Stage Capitalism), this is a direct consequence of frictionless capital flows. This could be entirely avoided by restoring taxes on stock sales within a certain amount of time. You sell after five years, no taxes; before then, regular sales tax. That simple change stops the spiral of doom.





  • That’s not the drugs I was thinking of. More Ozempic than meth, more Lipitor than cocaine. :-)

    Many Americans seem to think they should be taking some form of drug for every single ailment, malady, or discomfort they feel. And sometimes their lifestyle is only possible because of the drugs. So many foods, for instance, are almost meant to give you heartburn, you have a hard time living without heartburn pills or liquids.



  • There are definitely cultural differences: a stronger emphasis on education, disdain for violence as a means of conflict resolution, social solidarity and an emphasis on togetherness.

    Europe also doesn’t share uniquely American traits like cultural monoculture, a fondness of chemicals (whether drugs, additives, or coloring agents), the desire to ignore the natural environment (strawberries in January and 15 degrees inside in the summer), and a declarative loudness and brashness.