naevaTheRat
@naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Despite all my rage I’m still a rat refreshing this page.
I use arch btw
- Comment on Can someone define "liberal" (in its use as an insult) for me? 2 months ago:
Look ultimately words mean what they mean in the context that they’re spoken but broadly neoliberalism is highly socially permissive. Provided, that is, one does this as a responsible member of the capitalist economy and doesn’t disrupt the market.
Like you can have neoliberals that love trans kids, celebrate pride, want more black female drone pilots etc. It is, however, not a neoliberal position say compare the number of vacant properties to the number of homeless people and suggest that perhaps we should just take the unused houses and give them to homeless people? That would violate the principles of private property and free markets. After all: what freedom does one have if you can’t watch someone freeze to death on the doorstep of your vacant investment?
If your friends think that freedom to do that is utterly absurd and a society which defends that is fundamentally rotten then they are not liberals in the academic sense, however their substantially more leftist stance may be called liberalism in the political context you find yourselves in.
- Comment on Can someone define "liberal" (in its use as an insult) for me? 2 months ago:
To clarify my question. What do you mean ‘actually liberal’ ideologies?
Like what are their thoughts on monetarism?private property? free association? private entities in markets? Debt and paying it, both private and state held?
If they think that the state should provide the means of subsistence of the entire populus, that property should in general be held in common and private property is not sacred, that government entities in a market are often more effective than private and/or that business should be heavily regulated to serve common good, that debts should be cancelled when it is not realistic or fair to pay them etc. Or perhaps even further afield positions like questioning nation States, police, militaries and boarders… well, then they are not in fact liberals haha.
- Comment on Can someone define "liberal" (in its use as an insult) for me? 2 months ago:
What do they see as different between neoliberalism and classical liberalism. Neoliberalism is mostly a post-Keynesian revitalisation of classical liberal economic positions updated with modern banking practices and globalisation.
- Comment on Can someone define "liberal" (in its use as an insult) for me? 2 months ago:
… everyone? hence my use of broadly? It has complete and utter ideological hegemony since like the 70s. If you study economics you study neoliberal economics and they don’t even bother specifying. All major political parties in the anglosphere and most of western Europe follow neoliberal ideology, even the green-left is largely neoliberal. There are basically no classical liberals left.
- Comment on Can someone define "liberal" (in its use as an insult) for me? 2 months ago:
I think I misunderstood you.
See my other comment for why I think freedom is sort of a useless thing to frame anything around. At least without further clarification.
- Comment on Can someone define "liberal" (in its use as an insult) for me? 2 months ago:
Reactionary ideologies are incoherent.
- Comment on The government is under pressure to ban gambling ads. History shows half-measures don’t work. 3 months ago:
In an age of neoliberalism governments are terrified of actually being a government.
The restriction of freedom of say association bans and move on orders is apparently fine. Restricting the freedom of a cesspit of an industry to hook millions of Aussies?
Gee idk. We have to weigh the pros and cons here.
What’s even the point of a life in politics if you want grasp big moments like this? Yeah a few are crooked as hell, but most backbenchers have a shitty enough job that is going nowhere they must have some motivation right?
- Comment on Can someone define "liberal" (in its use as an insult) for me? 3 months ago:
I think it’s tempting to try and be pithy but freedom is complicated. For some people freedom is an absolute, do what you want when you want. For some it is about theoretical possibilities, for example if you ask if people are free to quit there job the answer heavily depends on how someone balances theory vs practice. Others take a practical lens, freedom only counts if it’s plausible to do.
Sometimes freedom is about ideals. you are free to read all the political theory you like, you umm wont because it’s boring but if someone threatened that would you be upset? At other junctures freedom because pragmatic, “what use is freedom to read if I don’t have freedom to eat? I’ll trade one for the other” someone might say.
Some people rate permissions more than restrictions, some the opposite.
I don’t think it’s a concept we can really pin down. Everyone has their own interpretation and it’s not universally values: much as dominant ideologies often insist it is, the rise of fascism should hint that others care much less about it.
- Comment on Can someone define "liberal" (in its use as an insult) for me? 3 months ago:
Sigh, I’ll wade into this river of shit.
Liberalism is broadly understood as neoliberalism, which is an ideological descendant from classical liberalism. This ideology positions itself as being broadly in favour of individual freedom within a rather tight definition of freedom. Namely liberals are concerned with the ability of people to read what they like, own what they like, marry whomever they like and so on provided they do this inside of a system of capitalist free market exchange.
Modern liberalism tends to frown on heavy government intervention in market affairs, which they see as representing the free (and thus good) exchange of goods between individuals. They also tend to be broadly in favour of the militaristic western global hegemony.
Criticism of this attitude comes from 2 places.
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too much freedom.
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not enough freedom.
(1) is people that want women bound up in the kitchen and walk around with an odd gate that makes you remember Indiana Jones films
(2) are people (I’m in this camp) who see liberalism as a weak ideological position that favours stability over justice and, in so doing, ignores the suffering of billions.
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- Comment on Young Australians falling down a 'rabbit hole of hate', ASIO boss warns 3 months ago:
ASIO director-general Mike Burgess says Australia’s terror-level threat has been raised to “probable” due to a rising mix of ideologies where more people think “violence is permissible”.
What an asinine phrasing. Basically everyone except the Jains think that violence is permissible. Mike Burgess certainly thinks it is.
Where people disagree is over when, the degree, by whom, and to whom. This gross liberal idea what when the cops throw a climate protestor to the ground and pepper spray them, that is wholesome non violence. But if a climate protestor throws a brick through a window that is scary, evil, bad violence is part of how society stays so broken and alienating.
I’m probably much more towards the non violence spectrum than your average person. For instance it absolutely disgusts me that we permit police torture implements that would be illegal in war. Your average person is quite bullshit on those, and that police are allowed to escalate violence by upgrading charges through resisting arrest. So don’t take this as an endorsement of violence against people. Just that if we ignore how violent the status quo is we don’t get to act surprised when it produced violent resistance, even if most of those people want something much worse.
- Comment on There is a cheaper alternative to supermarkets, but most people don't know it exists [It's shopping cooperatives] 3 months ago:
I feel like I’m missing out…
- Comment on There is a cheaper alternative to supermarkets, but most people don't know it exists [It's shopping cooperatives] 3 months ago:
Maybe, space and rental costs for the shop are pretty limited and pretty high. I sort of want to start my own but I’m a human garbage fire between the nerve pain and the depression making the fucking hard yards of getting started extra hard.
Idk what to really do. With the death of community hubs it’s really difficult to get enough of a group together it’s not a heroic effort generating interest and that sort of organising is not anything I’m good at or even really know how to approach :(
- Comment on There is a cheaper alternative to supermarkets, but most people don't know it exists [It's shopping cooperatives] 3 months ago:
Coops are so powerful. I tried to get involved in our local ones however they’re dying for (imo) really frustrating reasons.
Instead of leveraging their core strength, namely allowing poor people to collectively negotiate for fair prices while cutting out middle men, they are focused on everything to the max ethical hippy shit (amusingly the same busybodies pushing this also voted to make it not vegan anymore… wtf do you believe in?) so the result is they’ve become super bougie.
Instead of being a place where you can buy beans and rice etc at below supermarket prices while still giving the farmers a better deal it’s all organic biodynamic gluten free almonds and luxury teas. Don’t get me wrong, I love my fancy tea, but first and foremost it needs to be a place where you get your bulk calories/macros cheaper than the supermarket or at least comparable (obvs supermarkets loss lead on some stuff like bread you’ll never match).
Also fuck me for this opinion but putting food on the table of some working class people and taking power back from supermarkets and giant farming conglomerates does more good than serving organic teas to the 50 wealthy people in the area that can afford them. Survive first, improve from a position of strength.
- Comment on A person's home may be their castle but if they leave it vacant can they really complain if it gets taken away? 4 months ago:
Nah, private propery is a silly concept, especially when it’s essential resources.
We were all shocked and appalled at people hording masks, sanitiser, TP, food etc not so long ago. Sitting on TP you aren’t using while someone else goes without is absolutely trivial compared to a house/land.
Using a thing is part of what grants you rights to it. People deserve a chance to explain why something is unused, and if it is temporary they shouldn’t lose rights (e.g. medium term contract away from home, pending works, social obligations etc) but multiple homes and one vacant? Sitting on something to try make cash? Nah not yours anymore.
- Comment on Life expectancy in Australia has fallen for the first time in about 30 years 4 months ago:
Depression, anxiety, dementia and chronic liver disease are emerging as some of the fastest-growing chronic conditions.
Woooh yeah deaths of despair baby!
Society is going strooooong
All we’ve done is massively increase inequality, poisoned the world, taken an axe to social services, and let everyone get infected with a virus that causes cumulative brain and heart damage. Who could have predicted this?
I’m shocked, shocked and appalled I tell you.
I miss thinking the future was gonna get better but neoliberalism had entrenched itself so firmly in politics/APS/economics most people don’t even realise it’s an ideology and not fact, most of the contamination (plastics, pfas, agrichems) are long lived and we’re also dependant on them, and climate change is about to get mega spicy if the models are correct and Indonesian, Indian, and islander people are gonna be (rightly) demanding some of this continent’s habitable land.
interesting times ahead for us!
- Comment on Policy banning vape sales outside of pharmacies to go before Senate, health minister says 4 months ago:
The giant corps are the ones massively involved in the black market :(
It’s probably not realistic to say no upside, as people usually do stuff for reasons even if it’s terrible overall. Like a bizarrely high proportion of people with schitzophrenia take nicotine so there probably is something it’s doing that helps in the moment.
There’s gonna be a market one way or the other. IMHO the government should step in to make it tightly controlled and low profit (if not nationalised). Also we should lynch everyone who’s ever taken a dollar of tobacco money but idk how broad support for that is.
- Comment on Policy banning vape sales outside of pharmacies to go before Senate, health minister says 4 months ago:
Oh you’re that dipshit. Makes sense that you’re pearlclutching
- Comment on Policy banning vape sales outside of pharmacies to go before Senate, health minister says 4 months ago:
This is completely off topic from what I was talking about with the other person, I really don’t know what you’re chiming in here for.
- Comment on Policy banning vape sales outside of pharmacies to go before Senate, health minister says 4 months ago:
That is a separate issue. I’m trying to understand what their specific health concerns are, why it is they feel any amount of vaping represents an antisocial immediate health hazard distinct from say driving while unhealthy, tired or whatever or taking drugs known to increase violent tendencies like alcohol.
There is something they feel is different and I’m trying to unpick what it is. Like is there a specific chemical they believe even trace vaping exceeds safe limits of? a class like VOCs but are they also afraid to be around a stove etc? Is it fear of lack of regulations meaning unknown contamination could be present? Is it lack of precedent of characterised harms? (e.g. standing next to a stove while cooking seems about as unhealthy as being near most* vapes but we tend to be comfortable with poorly ventilated stoves and not with vapes because stoves are boring).
They unfortunately seem to thing my curiosity represents some hostility, despite having stated that I am in favour of regulation and basically just have a couple of quibbles with this law ¯_(ツ)_/¯
- Comment on Policy banning vape sales outside of pharmacies to go before Senate, health minister says 4 months ago:
I will could you answer my question about fog machines though?
- Comment on Policy banning vape sales outside of pharmacies to go before Senate, health minister says 4 months ago:
For both of our convenience I would really appreciate it if you just listed the specific concerns you had in mind, along with a primary source.
If a primary source is too much because you believe something is “common knowledge” (e.g. asking for a primary source on why to look both ways before crossing the road is a bit pedantic) a relevant Wikipedia page about the immediate health concern would be fine.
Let’s exclude popcorn lung (diacetyl damage) for aforementioned reasons.
I’d also like to ask, are you concerned about fog machines which also make a vapour of vegetable glycerine? Or are your concerns limited to flavour compounds and trace nicotine exposure?
- Comment on Policy banning vape sales outside of pharmacies to go before Senate, health minister says 4 months ago:
What is the immediate health effect of a nearby vaper? Like seriously I actually don’t know of any solid evidence. In it’s most basic formulation it is literally just a fog machine.
- Comment on Policy banning vape sales outside of pharmacies to go before Senate, health minister says 4 months ago:
Oh but don’t they?
People who don’t do cardio might be more likely to have a heart attack while driving, or otherwise drive at a lower level of alertness (cardio improved cognitive performance and slows decline) hence increasing their chances of hitting someone.
Or perhaps they cost the state more in health (tbh probably like smokers they cost less but this is the common justification for the sin tax on smoking) which damages your ability to get your health issues attended too.
People drinking alcohol are more likely to engage in violence, and do actually pose a risk to people around them statistically.
Obvs this stuff is reaching, but so is most of the health stuff on vaping so far (most harm demonstrated is due to ‘popcorn lung’ which is basically a result of lack of regulation meaning a certain flavour got used despite this known side effect) and the point is we need to consider degrees.
We live in a society and there aren’t super clear boundaries on what we ought to be able to do. The current proposed law, which again I’m broadly in favour of, does massively fuck up by placing vapes under the TGA. That means they need to be regulated as medical devices which means unless you can show a vape has a medical reason to be on the market it wont be approved.
Since that will never happen (except, maybe as a cessation tool but the TGA will have high standards of evidence) this is still a ban on vaping, just the long way round. Note how CBD is legal and OTC except there are no approved CBD products for OTC.
- Comment on Policy banning vape sales outside of pharmacies to go before Senate, health minister says 4 months ago:
The problem is this applies equally well to stuff like eating fast food or not doing cardio 3x a week.
I’m an ex smoker for context, I hate this fucking shit but we don’t offer any real support to prevent addiction and just punish people for it.
I’m 100% plain packaging and selling behind counter (for all drugs, all products really ought to have advertising bans and plain packaging but I’ll never win that one). I’m also in favour of making addicting stuff boring. But after that people are ultimately free to make bad choices (I write, sprawled with terrible posture, a glass of wine, and some chips) and leaving the TGA to authorise these will mean none get approved and a black market will be created anyway.
- Comment on Unpopular opinion 4 months ago:
- Comment on Unpopular opinion 4 months ago:
I have legit lost sleep over the first quote from “they thought they were free” listed here:
- Comment on So is Israel just going to finish Palestine off? 4 months ago:
Yeah but you understand the difference between the state and the people who lived there right? Like Jewish settlers came from Europe, to the place Palestinian people were and had been living in.
They have a connection to the state of Palestinian (inasmuch as it exists given differing degrees of recognition) by way of having moral rights to continue living on the land they live on regardless of what some lines on a map call it.
- Comment on Making ends meat: Australians can save up to $20 a kg [on meat] by changing where they shop 4 months ago:
Eh iron isn’t very meaningfull. Most beans and lentils and stuff are pretty rich in it. Anemia is usually caused by bleeding or iron malabsorption over diet. Stuff like eating cheese with meals inhibits iron absorption because of calcium amounts.
kJ are but mostly because meats and seeds are very fatty which for everyone not starving makes them even worse sources.
- Comment on Making ends meat: Australians can save up to $20 a kg [on meat] by changing where they shop 4 months ago:
Probs worth comparing kJ energy too as raw mass isn’t the whole picture. Like trying to get your rdi from peanuts will be interesting…
It is also worth some thoughts about complete protein combos and digestibility but unless you are literally trying to avoid starvation and accidentally just eat lentils and rice for all your meals you will be fine.
In general, unless you’re a professional athlete a budget diet that meets your needs will look something like oat or baked bean breakfast (BBs you’ll want some extra energy from bread or whatever), leftovers from last night for lunch, a dinner rotating through beans and lentils. Daal, curries, stews and so on. Random reasonal veg and some greens to get variety. Greens can be pricey, but if you have a garden or a patch of ground you know isn’t poisoned warrigal greens grow like a weed, dandelion greens taste pretty nice, and so does milk thistle actually! just learn to ID them and never pick from roadside.
That’s how I’ve avoided starvation while also eating well in the past.
- Comment on Making ends meat: Australians can save up to $20 a kg [on meat] by changing where they shop 4 months ago:
Oooh that’s a tricky one. May as well ask what’s the best curry!
I actually favour tvp (don’t buy in colesworth, more than 8 bucks a kilo is criminal extortion, get it in 10 kg bags online) or black bean burgers.
Try these:
Also colesworth/aldis etc will extort you on the price of lentils/legumes/pulses. I’ve seen dried beans costing as much as 10 bucks a kilo lmfao. Check out Indian and chinese catering grocers or bulk sellers online (shipping varies, keep that on mind). Pre recession my price was 2 bucks a kilo for most of my bulk protein sources, now 4 to 8 but that’s capitalism baby.