The non-voters had nothing to do with this. They literally did not participate.
Any real democracy would count the non-voters as part of the results. 20M not voting? OK then, any policies that affect everyone can no longer be enacted. No new laws. No new wars. Government can then maintain plumbing and provide public services, that's it.
Why isn't that the case? Why is it not a requirement for people to vote for government to have power?
Democracy...? Sure. Whatever hope you need to feel, friend, see you in the streets I hope.
Thank you. Wow. I was basing that on something I saw or thought I saw in Cosmos (the 1980s version with Carl Sagan). Perhaps I was stoned when watching it. There is little better than to watch one of the Cosmos series while stoned - or the autotuned versions by Melodysheep (on YouTube).
For anyone who wants a quicker read on the above: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_greenhouse_effect
I shall have to revise my world view now. 🤯🤯🤯 Wow. I feel optimistic.
Tardigrades - they will likely survive then. And cockroaches, and other life. So even if we all + most animals die out, we will be like the dinosaurs, and life may indeed bounce back.
I mean... A shadow has been lifted from my soul.
Goddamn. I know it seems like I am joking but I am not.
Good news.
Yes... and what good it did everyone to reduce the distance of objects... Sometimes distance is good. Gives me time to think about why I'm really going there in the first place.
Actually there is a serious risk that Earth turns into Venus. Perpetually self-reinforcing green house effect. All life on Earth, fried, for all eternity.
Edit: Well, until the sun blows.
FTP?
From an evolutionary perspective, only the ones who survive matter.
So in that spirit, the only way to create a society resistant to power consolidations is one that actively recognizes, seeks out and annihilates said power consolidations.
As otherwise, they will annihilate everything opposing them -- as history tells us.
There are gentler social traditions to distribute wealth and power so as to avoid consolidation. Probably the post-colonial world is beyond that point.
A scary prospect, to be sure, but in the grand scheme of things.. "The secrets of evolution are time and death" as Carl Sagan said in Cosmos.
His argument is that if you vote, then you carry responsibility for the outcome.
This is what I think.
We all know the game is rigged. So what do I tell myself by, yet again, participating in a game I know is rigged?
It's not a matter of effort. It's a psychological statement to vote -- and by voting I give my authority to this system. I say that I believe in it enough to vote. So, on some level, I think voting matters.
Personally I don't think it does. Not on any level.
If you had the choice between clapping for a dictator or not, what would you do? It's so easy to clap! Just clap, and perhaps the dictator will be in a better mood for the next four years.
What does dictatorship have to do with democracy? Democracy is an oppressive system that is easily gamed. Our model historical example of it is Greece -- a slave society.
THERE ARE BETTER WAYS. Let the turnout be 10% and let's have a discussion about legitimacy. Voters give legitimacy to a corrupt system. STOP IT.
I go with Njalla for torrents until I hear anything weird about them
Also, the bell curve does not have a single bottom.
A bell curve counts the frequencies of a single parameter. A person, such as a teenager, does not fit on it.
I think you underestimate the impact of technological progress.
Back in the day, you needed an army who could betray you. Tomorrow, you can deploy a fleet of self-governing robots to kill thousands. Of course, only accessible to the rich.
For ordinary folk, the future is looking grim indeed.
My school teacher taught me I should be surprised at things like this.
Luckily, I am no longer 12.
Hmm hmm. I'd recommend reading this: https://crimethinc.com/2019/04/08/against-the-logic-of-the-guillotine-why-the-paris-commune-burned-the-guillotine-and-we-should-too
It argues for why capital punishment is not necessarily a good route to go.
In 1962 there were no "lethal autonomous weapons".
Only if other people can't hear you or you'll be a disturber of the peace.
The issue is the extreme power imbalance. My 'cloud' will be a small space, surrounded by capitalism on all fronts. Like an oil field that's not drilled, but all fields around it are drilled. It's emptied anyway.
You cannot be 'apart' from capitalism as even if you are, or try to be, outside - your position is still going to be defined as an outsider to capitalism and all the hardships that entails.
And if you get a 'cloud' big or powerful enough - let's look at history, what would happen?
Genocide. That's what happens. Every time.
I believe in personal relationships. Trying to be in good relationships makes this mess endurable and, I believe, safest.
Yes. My guess is that, soon enough, just wearing a police uniform will be enough to end up on kill lists.
Kind of like Colombia during narco wars, except it's going to be everywhere, no matter what kind of cop.
Cops will need to watch their backs even more when people have less and less to lose, and believe less and less in the 'rule of law' that constantly fucks them over.