It’s that whole frog analogy, where you can slowly boil a frog alive by gradually increasing the temperature by small increments.

1. Introduce cutting edge tech to the masses, claiming it will usher in a new era of connection, convenience and utility.

2. Firmly entrench that tech into every corner of modern society so that most day-to-day activities SUPPOSEDLY cannot be done without it.

3. Slowly tighten the screws by removing user agency and freedom while raising prices.

4. Become obscenely wealthy from an entire generation of locked-in consumers who think they have no choice but to submit to your control over their lives.

5. Wash, rinse and repeat.

Please allow me to clarify - I’m not talking about people who help and share with each other as the regular course of a friendship. That’s perfectly normal and should be encouraged - that’s how community is supposed to work. What I’m talking about are the people who are like…um…well, professional ‘gold-diggers’, if you will. Their ONLY interest lies in what they can get out of you. ‘Users’ might be a better term, I guess.

I’d immediately outlaw the buying or selling of goods and services. The internet should be a free repository of knowledge and a communication platform. Not a marketplace.

Uncomfortable? You’re supposed to put cushions on those chairs, you silly person. :P

Posteo is ridiculously cheap, secure (e2e encryption and the whole works) and just all-around great. Been using it for years without a single issue.

I found some scenes from the movie ‘Amistad’ (1997) deeply disturbing, and they haunt me to this day (as they should any sane human being).

Can you point me to an Amazon game that’s a runaway blockbuster success?

I mean, considering what a train-wreck Rings of Power is…yay?

30 years? It’s happening now. A significant portion of the homeless people that exist in this country are senior citizens who are too old to work and cannot afford housing. There are programs that are able to help some of them, but not all.

I’m guessing that the ‘pastor’ has some pretty heavy callouses on his knees that aren’t from praying.

Why the downvotes? Was something I said untrue?

Show me a period in American history when there wasn’t an even split between progress and atrocity.

To be honest, every decade has its share of ‘greatness’ and ‘terribleness’. Every generation has its heroes and villains. Sure, there weren’t kids on cellphones back in the 80’s but your kid would most likely be murdered if they came out as gay in high school. Yes, people weren’t digital shut-ins back in the 70’s, but cops were beating the living shit out of black people on the streets.

It’s all relative. There never was a ‘golden age’. That’s not to say we shouldn’t fight to make things better wherever and whenever we can, though.

“If you don’t profit from it, someone else will, so you might as well get yours.”

Don’t even get me started on how toxic and self-centered this is…

Fluxer appears to be the most promising, though it is still very new and they are working furiously to get it up to par with a tiny dev team that consists of two (three?) people. Most basic features are quite usable now, though.

I did pay for mine (which, admittedly, was quite some time ago), but it looks like library cards at my local library are now completely free of charge. That’s awesome! :)

My tax dollars fund my local library, as well. But I still had to pay a small fee for the card, as I recall. It’s been years though, so that policy may have changed.

I know. I’m just saying that going to your local library is exactly the same thing and is offered year-round on almost every day of the week. No need to bring it to anyone. It’s right there and offers everything you describe.

A library card costs…what? Five bucks? Ten? Maybe? And in return you can get your hands on just about any book you can think of. Not to mention music, e-books and movies. FREE. Hell, with sites like Kanopy, you don’t even need to pay for Netflix anymore. Libraries offer all sorts of classes and programs, too.

Libraries are the shit, and you should be supporting yours more.