Random chance actually means it is very likely there are random clusters of users even in small groups who are closer together than others who could do more locally together. Some kind of mechanism to help figure out if we have a critical mass of protestors/mutual aiders/whatever (without giving away those protestor's names) for a project would be a good idea, and wouldn't necessarily have to be very complicated. Maybe a single page that just asks for location and what kind of project you are interested in?
There are also some forms of work that lend themselves really well to being online. Coding, writing, news, encouraging people to vote, sending money to workers on strike. I firmly believe the most effective way to combat unethical companies is simply to start and support worker owned companies where every employee gets a vote on their wages, and 'starve' the big companies. I found myself looking at the massive amounts of money raised and wasted in political campaigns by single dollar donations and found myself thinking - damn, with a million dollars, you could start a really small company with that. The second most effective way is probably striking, which, yes, you need people on the ground for that.
We could use an ethical version of Amazon, with a collective of shops that people can visit (the offline side of warehousing is a whole other bundle of issues), and an ethical Paypal. I know that credit unions exist, but I don't know of any credit union that has a Paypal-like API and easy convenience of simply clicking to pay for things. Uber and other apps. There is a huge amount of labor that we could 'take back' simply by providing another venue for people to practice it. Unfortunately, I don't think the fediverse way of doing things is quite appropriate when it comes to systems dealing with money. It's one thing to duplicate posts or ads for content for sale, but you don't want to duplicate credit card information. Open source it maybe and use 'semi centralization'; the Paypal-esque site can handle logins and money, and the Amazon-esque sites can perhaps do some form of federation and handle actual showing of items.
TLDR: it is definitely possible to do quite a bit online, and I think work reform has some avenues via it that have been severely under-utilized and neglected in the information age, as we tend to think of action as just being about protest. Protests can certainly be useful, but should not be our sole course of action if we want a paradigm shift. I find it extremely striking that when most people talk about action, they almost always mention protests and strikes first, if they mention anything else at all.
I actually had a much longer post, but it complained it was too long. So I think I will make my own thread.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday, but private employers donāt have to observe it. Mine sure doesnāt. I have never heard of any employer observing Motherās or Fatherās day with a paid holiday.
Holy crap thatās awesome! Iād be lucky to get 1 minute out of my trash Cyberpower UPS once the power goes out. Thanks for the informative post OP! And for the inspiration!
Thatās a good question. If you donāt mind, Iām going to use the āSpeak as moderatorā button here (although i donāt really know what that does).
I see a few things necessary to reform the current economic system - letās call it Awareness, Advocacy and Action:
Awareness means getting people to realise that the corporate propaganda theyāre hearing isnāt the whole truth.
Advocacy means going out and telling people to join the cause, form a local union, etc.
Action means taking organized action - writing to politicians, organising dialogues and strikes, etc.
Iām completely open to using this community for any and all of the above. When we have a good critical mass of users, we can all vote on this, and Iāll abide by the consensus.
In the meantime, however, we need to get more people to rally behind the cause. We have ~500 subscribers here from all over the world in a variety of jobs. Thatās not nearly enough to do any sort of Action. All we can do in the meantime is Awareness and Advocacy. That means posting memes and screenshots, that means posting news that counters corporate propaganda, that means posting news about organised action taking place elsewhere that we can celebrate or contribute to.
If anyone disagrees, please share your opinions here, Iām totally open to suggestions, criticisms, insults even.
I think āspeak as modā adds a red āmodā logo (kinda looks like a shield) next to your username. Thatās it, as far as I can tell - it doesnāt pin the post or highlight it or do anything else.
The other day I was planning a trip from the RGV to Austin. I was not quite in the mood for driving so my options were an expensive flight or an expensive and long bus drive.
Iāve really enjoyed āInto Thin Airā by Jon Krakauer. Itās about an Everest expedition that ended in disaster - itās really well written and compelling!
As a child in Houston I grew up hearing about a bullet train in Texas. Also dragons. Iām more likely to ride the dragon than the train.
But optimistically, I would say that weāve now neglected our roads so badly that soon the train is going to be cheaper than repairing our roads and bridges would be.
It will never happen in my opinion. Americaās is completely controlled by oil, and Texas is the heart of the American oil industry. Having a bullet train would undermine their profit margins.
Then there are NIMBYs who would tie up projects on a city level.
It seems like the current Texas government is more concerned about identity politics than actual progress.
I love how the gray one is occupying your lap. Had a little dog who did that and for her, we were at her service. We werenāt holding her, she was sitting on us. You and your fur babies look ver cozy!
How does a Star Trek virgin go about losing oneās card? There must be a generally agreed order of approach to all the series and films by now. (The breadth and longevity of it has kept me wary.)
There actually isnāt a generally agreed order of approach, and many folks tend to assume what worked for them will be whatās best for others.
Most of the shows were designed to stand alone if need be, and can provide an entry point. Theyāll fill you in on the essential lore along the way.
At this point, your own tolerances for 60s and 90s styles of television and visual effects might be a deciding point. If you want to jump right in with something new, Strange New Worlds is designed as the new live action entry to the franchise - but others have started recently with the animated comedy Lower Decks or the family show Prodigy.
There was a sidebar āWhere do I start?ā FAQ on the subreddit that listed options (release date; in-universe chronological; by personal preferences for serialization or not).
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