farmgineer

I grew up on the edge of the rust belt in a small area. We were told from a young age about water conservation, the acid rain problem at the time from factories around the great lakes and that pollution from factories was causing it, etc. Later, when news about the hole in the ozone layer was coming out, it also felt at least somewhat hopeful because countries began to talk more about pollution and climate (though I think this began in the mid-to-late '90s not in the early part I mentioned) EDIT: Montreal protocol was all the way back in '87 and that’s what I was thinking of; time kinda blends together a bit 30-something years later. At the time, it looked like that might amount to something.

You’ll also note that I specifically said that things were not at all perfect. I also don’t actually remember the phrase “global warming” being a thing back then and certainly not the later ‘climate change’, but that’s not to say nothing was going on. (in a quick search, it looks like “global warming” as a phrase appeared in a scientific paper in 1975, but I don’t know when it gained traction in the news and common usage that I would have heard).

Further, I also said that the meme was accurate going further back than the stated date. It’s also possible to be hopeful about some things and not others. The actual state today for humanity as a whole is better than it was in 2016. Some places have backslid in some ways, but overall, it’s better. I suspect it will continue to backslide in some areas but improve more in others. Does that inspire me personally with a feeling of hope or joy? Not particularly, especially when we have AI/datacenter craze and whatever the hell the US is doing.

I’ve heard ‘take THE decision’ with the definite article in very narrow cases maybe twice. I don’t think I’ve heard it with the indefinite and it’s not common either way.

We’re just under 20, but that’s because it’s been raining. We’ve had more rainy days than not, and I’m not sure we’re even officially in rainy season yet. It’s making farming hard. I lost about 1/4 of my carrots to rot from all the water and had to harvest other things early. I’m dreading summer where we’ll probably get close to, or break, 40 again (and often with super-high humidity, yaaay).

They should send him a mirror.

The early '90s felt really hopeful to me growing up in the US. Berlin wall fell and Germany re-united, the USSR broke apart, technology was advancing, the promise of the internet, etc. I also wasn’t out on my own in the early part of the '90s, though, so there is certainly some things I wasn’t experiencing nor aware of. It’s not to say things were perfect at all. I don’t know that I ever felt that hope for the future again.

All that to say, this meme has basically always been around is generally accurate.

I don’t know why you got downvoted. My name is completely unpronouncable in Japanese (I’m from the US and have been in Japan over a decade), so it depends upon whom I’m talking to and their language ability. Most of the time, it’s the close-enough Japanese approximation of my name.

I’m pretty sure Chinese (at least HongKongers, but I think all) have an “English name” for going the other direction.

What, no fuel burning its way through his bottom? I guess that’s all I can expect from this universe.

I also don’t believe there is any such thing as auto-mosaic AI either in use on broadcast TV, FWIW, but I can’t prove that.

I left the US before the current idiot’s first term and have only set foot back there twice to see family. It still bothers and depresses me.

I still vote and being a US citizen still makes my financial life pain, but it otherwise doesn’t impact me directly. I suspect most of my family is generally happy with the direction of things (though not all). That makes it worse.

OMFG when is this guy going to get over 2020??!

He won’t. It’s also a pretext to get another term since it is owed to him in his view.

As someone who lives in Japan: no. I don’t think you actually want a fact check, but just in case.

Yeah, Japanese subtitles can have issues. Various broadcasters have been caught saying something else, though usually only when they overdub so one can barely hear the actual person.

My brain went to that first and I was super confused about the '50s cultural reference I was missing for way too long.

are you saying that elderly people (who often need care themselves) should take care of the children

I have no idea where you’re getting this. I guess because a lot of the population currently in the countryside is elderly? If the people and the jobs move there, that won’t be an issue. The people at the daycare/preschool in my village are middle-aged. EDIT: and more to the point, I meant increased availability in the megalopolises not where I am now.

it’s just a very bad idea to move around people to get more favorable taxation

That’s not the point I’m trying to make. There are people who move to the super-populated areas because they feel it’s their only chance of advancement and job security. I’ve met plenty that would rather be back where they came from or with more space. Without the job security there, without good futures, people are only coming back to visit family and not living even when they want to. If the people feel supported and secure in their opportunities and the opportunities for their children, they will come back which also brings tax revenue and improvements.

tax laws can be changed much faster

I don’t think it makes sense for the central government to directly start shifting large amounts of tax money that no one is going to use. Sure, they could start improving infrastructure and stuff in many rural areas, but if 50 people live there and that number is declining, it’s a waste of money. It only makes sense to help do anything other than basic upkeep if people are coming or it could concretely be shown to increase the chance of people coming. Again, with jobs and future outlook, that’s not happening.

we could just build more housing

This only goes so far. Look at how built out Tokyo is (including into Chiba, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Saitama, etc. I already know people who commute 1.5 hours or more to work. The more affordable housing is further away, and often of very poor quality with paper-thin walls, causing people to lose 3-4 hours of their day in commute. That’s insane. It’s also not like public transit can be increased quickly enough to do anything about this either.

You might argue that the answer is more highrises. The problem is that those tend to go for more and price people, dis-proportionally the elderly and those on fixed income. They also take a long time to build and create new logistics issue with garbage management and other things. Not unsolvable, but I still feel like it’s trying to force many people to live where they ultimately don’t want to.

I went further right and more religious than my already-fairly-right-wing and christian parents. Sometime in my 20s I boomeranged the opposite direction. Had I not had certain people in my life and had the internet been what it is now when I was young, I’m not sure I would have turned out the same way.

Re-populating smaller towns would give them more tax income to put money back into infrastructure and other programs. Having people move out of the megalopolises helps reduce demand on things like childcare and lower housing costs as demand cools.

Poland and Indonesia; Bahrain and Qatar; and Chad and Romania need to do something. The Bahrain/Qatar one isn’t the worst, but it is hard to recall which is which sometimes.

In the Japanese domestic market, consoles are king by far. It’s better than when I came a decade ago, but PC Gaming is still an expensive, niche hobby here. I don’t know what percentage of their market and revenue are domestic vs. foreign and if that matters, but I can’t help but think they looked at the domestic market a lot when deciding to do this.

Always plain black for me. My lock screen on my phone was for years as well, but now is a picture of my wife and I.

definitely not true of Japan. I think it depends a lot on where (and probably when) you’re looking.