Did they mention race at all? I might’ve missed it. Bet that would yield more “surprising” results

I can only do the same. I pretty much exclusively read non-fiction but I’m about as far from toxic masculinity as you can be at this point

2015 Honda Civic SI - best sports car I could get for the price. Great value car; still running perfectly almost 10 yrs later (afaikct). The interior was also much better compared to others.

Probably not getting a new car ever due to all the “smart” features cars come with that I really don’t like.

C’mon dude, the great depression? I’m obviously talking about our lifetimes. Was that a joke? Are you over 100 (and using Lemmy! wow)? More relevant to our chat, do you think the average dumbass American voter compares their life to people living 100 years ago or smth?

Sure, I’m totally the one nitpicking here.

Ok, let’s take a step back. I said Dems messaging on the economy sucked. Then, you shilled for brought up Harris and said her messaging was fine or maybe great - it obviously wasn’t since she lost and most voters cited the economy and/or inflation as their biggest concern (key data we should maybe consider here). You then linked an article quoting her. Let me know if I missed what you wanted me to see. Are you trying to say you believe that most Americans would’ve been swayed, or convinced she would really fix the economy?

We should try to understand the people we’re talking to in a conversation. It’s not productive to converse if you misunderstand or misrepresent their statements. So far this doesn’t seem very productive

You’ll note that’s very relevant here where what economists mean when they say economy (inflation rate/unemployment) is very different from what most working class Americans mean when they use the word (inflation impact/social mobility/monthly budget). Let me know if that’s not clear. It’s similar to how scientists use theory very differently to most laymen.

Sorry for the super slow response. Just got saw ur link.

I believe we have an extraordinary opportunity to make our middle class the engine of America’s prosperity, to build a stronger economy where everyone, everywhere has a chance to pursue their dreams an aspirations, and to ensure that the United States of America continues to out-innovate and out-compete the world,” said Harris

Imo, this is a silly and ridiculous thing to say. The economy is absolute shit, it’s not strong it’s worse than it’s ever been. She should’ve said, “to fix this absolutely broken, failed system that serves only the very wealthy” or something like that.

Also, I said Dems - I never even specified Harris. I had literal conversations with libs on Lemmy downvoting me for saying the economy was shit despite inflation being down and unemployment supposedly being low like I was going against the accepted talking point. The metrics economists use seem purposefully irrelevant,;most Americans don’t really give a shit about those things. This is how you have most Americans cheering for a CEO’s murderer.

I mean, really, a “strong economy”? What a joke at best, but what a backhanded insult to anyone struggling in the working class at worst.

That said, happy holidays!! We’ll figure this out together!

Yeah, Dems really have a lot of work to do to earn back the trust of most Americans.

Literally no one I know believes anything they say (or I say about them) or at best they’ll think it’s all performative (which they’re mostly right about). Most folks just don’t really care about news/politics and live normal American lives and feel the struggle. It’s mind blowing to me that our messaging was about how great the economy is and how much better is. Literal insane shit to most working class people.

Instead of saying the economy is great, they should use another word for what they mean, which is specifically like the rate of inflation/cost of very specific things or like a very specific unemployment rate. Whereas when regular people hear economy, they think of more abstract things like money in their pocket/savings, the cost of groceries, their ability to plan for the future based on stable finances, or even the increasing APR on the credit cards they owe (something we choose to ignore but many struggle with) - none of that shit is great, it’s literally worse than ever. lol

If we’re just pulling shit out of our ass, maybe this will encourage conspiracy nuts to actually learn about political organizing and the rich history of well-documented movements from the last 100+ yrs that have resulted in real change/benefits for the working class

Hell, maybe people will even start reading more! Like, stuff written by authors and shit. lol. Now, that’d be some crazy. lol. I wonder if Musk “and his friends” could ever pull that one off - getting Americans to read/learn - even with their infinite money hacks

Crazy stuff. Now, hurry up and pass that shit! You’re hoggin it

She’s such a badass!

You’d think there’d be tons of memes crediting her with fixing the McDonald’s ice cream machines since she helped make it so franchises can fix their own machines (i.e. right to repair)

Yo, if anyone’s interested, Hasanabi just posted a great video on YouTube interviewing Lina Kahn, the FTC commissioner. Very timely and relevant and super informative

Link: https://youtu.be/ZaTs4V2BUdo?si=a9atSQ8TS-DcKDAx

Yo, if anyone’s interested, Hasanabi just posted a great video on YouTube interviewing Lina Kahn, the FTC commissioner. Very timely and relevant and super informative

Edit: oops, accidentally replied twice

I get what you’re saying, there’s been way too much consolidation in way too many industries.

That said, there have been quite a few mergers that have been blocked in the last 4ish years or so, to my surprise and pleasure. Albertsons-Kroger is the recent big one that in the news. JetBlue + Spirit were also blocked, and so was Penguin Random House + Simon & Schuster. Apparently, UnitedHealth wanted to merge with another insurance company and that was blocked as well

Granted, it’s worth remembering: any examples of things they don’t like will always be blown out of proportion, by the right, and made to seem as though the sky is falling.

Found this quote, which seems legit, tho the website seems a bit sketchy.

This year, regulatory bodies, particularly the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), have been actively scrutinizing merger deals to maintain market competition. Albertsons’ $25 billion merger with Kroger was halted, underscoring the FTC’s commitment to prevent monopolistic behaviors. Similarly, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines pulled back their $3.8 billion deal following a judicial decision highlighting anti-competitive issues. In the luxury sector, Tapestry’s attempt to acquire Capri was nixed by a court decision driven by an FTC lawsuit. Meanwhile, Avangrid’s acquisition of PNM Resources hit a dead end without regulatory approval, and UnitedHealth Group’s planned $3.3 billion takeover of Amedisys is facing DOJ lawsuits over competition concerns in home health services.

Source: https://finimize.com/content/regulators-put-brakes-on-major-merger-deals-in-2024

I see this being repeated, and while I wholeheartedly agree with it (given my interest in seeing low prices for American consumers), anyone wanna comment on the potential outcome of allowing, and financially supporting, China in their strategy to control the EV market? Any merit to those concerned?

Similarly, any thoughts on Trump making sure they didn’t control 5G?

Reactionaries gonna react

Reactionaries suck and I’d hate to date one

Meanwhile… other huge companies like intel are laying off 15k workers

Yeah I’ll believe it when I see it

I salute you good sir! That’s plenty of space to squeeze past if necessary 😁 Just maintain a constant speed and you’re a hero

Well the second question’s easy. The goal always seems to be to cut all forms of federal spending

Now, the regular poor people that believe and support this stuff, no idea

All 10 of us here stand united on this most exquisite and elevated of horses!

It’s so weird to be content with/amused by this situation. Feels like Alexandria was just built nextdoor, fisherman have started to arrived with massive boats and high-quality nets, and here we are, the old fishermen pushed off our original fishing site yet full of glee that we don’t have to pay taxes in Alexandria. It’s like, this isn’t really a successful venture, right? We’re not really thriving like we were in the past, are we? We’re likely never going to get anything like that back either, huh

Idk, maybe my values just don’t give me enough internal validation yet, to feel good about it or something. The only consolation I see really is that I don’t think the time spent online is very worthwhile anyway. What I liked most was the community but it’s become clear most of that was never real

It’s cheap