Post: #901

(04-19-2019 11:22 AM)Kid Twist Wrote:  ...He is too honest and straight forward for this party as well, as I've described before. I'll maybe up his chance from zero to 1%.

Post: #902

I have a feeling we'll be stuck with Bernie simply because the boomers are still alive and they seem to have a total mental block against UBI in any form. Obviously because they worked so hard when they were young and lived in a time when yould get a high-paying white collar job with a bachelor's degree and buy a house for $10k, that takes gumption.

Post: #903

The real key, as those who have been following the likes of Helmut Norpoth know, is that there remains enough dissent and disagreement in the ranks of who their guy is in the primary. If they aren't totally sold on a single candidate, Trump is a lock, even more than he already is right now.

Post: #904

(04-18-2019 10:20 PM)The Black Knight Wrote:  

(04-18-2019 09:38 PM)Transsimian Wrote:  Why is Gabbard up there though? She's a bigger threat to the status quo then Yang, and is polling even worse.

She's not a threat because she has no real chance of winning.

She's is also an elected official and she hasn't really gained much in the way of a following. That's not surprising since she doesn't have much of a comprehensive platform except being anti-war and anti-corruption. That sort of stuff doesn't get people too excited even though it's very important to society. To me, she is more of an issue candidate trying to raise awareness for something in particular while also boosting her profile so she can have more influence elsewhere; probably for a senate run down the line. That vile Hawaiian senator Mazie (the men should "shut up and stand up" crazy one from the Kavanaugh/Ford witch hunt) is 71 and due for re-election in 2024. Tulsi is probably taking her seat whenever she retires. Hopefully at least.

Look at Herman Cain as an example of what I mean. No one knew who that guy was before he ran in 2012. Now, he is being considered for a board seat with the Federal Reserve.

Yang is a real deal threat because he is selling optimism, hope, rational policies, and 1000 bucks for everyone. That shit gets people motivated. From what I understand, he is also the first serious democrat candidate to run for POTUS who isn't an elected official since Jesse Jackson in the 80s. That makes Yang an unknown (no voting record) and that scares the shit out of the establishment.

FYI Knight, Herman Cain is a Koch brother, literally. Half brother from another mother, in his own words. He'd be a terrible Fed board members, his nomination is no surprise given his deep state oligarch kinship.

Post: #905

This made me laugh and I don't have a good place to put it but here.

Post: #906

(04-19-2019 06:14 PM)911 Wrote:  

(04-18-2019 10:20 PM)The Black Knight Wrote:  

(04-18-2019 09:38 PM)Transsimian Wrote:  Why is Gabbard up there though? She's a bigger threat to the status quo then Yang, and is polling even worse.

She's not a threat because she has no real chance of winning.

She's is also an elected official and she hasn't really gained much in the way of a following. That's not surprising since she doesn't have much of a comprehensive platform except being anti-war and anti-corruption. That sort of stuff doesn't get people too excited even though it's very important to society. To me, she is more of an issue candidate trying to raise awareness for something in particular while also boosting her profile so she can have more influence elsewhere; probably for a senate run down the line. That vile Hawaiian senator Mazie (the men should "shut up and stand up" crazy one from the Kavanaugh/Ford witch hunt) is 71 and due for re-election in 2024. Tulsi is probably taking her seat whenever she retires. Hopefully at least.

Look at Herman Cain as an example of what I mean. No one knew who that guy was before he ran in 2012. Now, he is being considered for a board seat with the Federal Reserve.

Yang is a real deal threat because he is selling optimism, hope, rational policies, and 1000 bucks for everyone. That shit gets people motivated. From what I understand, he is also the first serious democrat candidate to run for POTUS who isn't an elected official since Jesse Jackson in the 80s. That makes Yang an unknown (no voting record) and that scares the shit out of the establishment.

FYI Knight, Herman Cain is a Koch brother, literally. Half brother from another mother, in his own words. He'd be a terrible Fed board members, his nomination is no surprise given his deep state oligarch kinship.

Never was a fan of Cain. Only his oddball political ad.





Anyhow... so Trump made another bonehead employee pick?

It must be a day that ends in "Y".

Post: #907

I don't know why, maybe because the biggest anti-Yang peeps here seem to be Gen X'ers, but this cracked me up

Post: #908

So it looks like Biden is getting in the race this week. I think this good for Yang.

Biden does several things:

1. He wipes out all the shit establishment guys (Booker, Harris, Castro, Beto, etc) by sucking up all the establishment money and attention. In the lower number poll range (sub-10%), Biden should push the shit establishment guys down and give an opening for Yang to rise up and separate himself into the tier above. From fringe candidate to a contender in the running but not leading.

2. He will do the dirty work of knocking Bernie down in a way and fashion that Yang cannot. Yang has to tread a very careful line when going after Bernie since he still needs his supporters; especially at the primary level. Biden and the establishment don't give a fuck and will use every mudslinging tactic in the book to knock Bernie down. Bernie is Yang's biggest threat since if Bernie wasn't in the race, many of his supporters would be Yang supporters. If Bernie died this fall for example, Yang could possibly see a instant 20% boost in his poll numbers. If Biden bites it, Yang would only see a marginal increase at best.

3. Since Biden will be focused on Bernie, Bernie will be focused on Biden. That means, Bernie can't waste time and energy on Yang while he is in a weaken state.This allows Yang to cruise largely uninterrupted towards building a more formidable base that can eventually withstand a battle against Biden and/or Bernie down the line.

4. Biden and Bernie being the top two does not sit well with many democrats. I just had dinner this past weekend with relatives who are more traditional democrats of various shades and NONE liked Biden or Bernie. The fact that both of them are almost 80 didn't sit well with them at all as well. When I described Yang's policies, they were very receptive to them and wanted to learn more. Yang doesn't have a platform problem, he has an exposure problem right now. Relatively speaking, he is doing very well given what little exposure he has gotten.

The point is: there are MANY democrats not thrilled with Biden or Bernie being the front runners. Be it age or policy, they are not excited about them at all. Biden is "been there, done that" and Bernie is too much "finish the revolution" crazy mad scientist vibe. And again, their age and health is not just a serious concern but a major deal breaker. If your goal to get Trump out of office, do you really want to bet the farm on someone who has a decent chance of becoming suddenly too ill or even die right before the election? And even if they win, do you want your guy to end up as a 2nd term Reagan who wasn't all their in the head?

On a somewhat different note:

One disturbing thing that did come up from my dinner this past weekend was how much love Pete Buttgig was getting. No one could describe a single policy of his; there was just this perception that because he was a veteran from the midwest, he could "talk" to the blue collar voters in a way other democrats couldn't. That and he was "very smart" and "well-spoken."

I made it quite clear that A LOT of people are not going to vote for a faggot on that point alone. And even then, I said he has no policies and he is an empty suit Obama clone. Despite that, whatever propaganda magic that was deployed in the last month with regards to Buttgig, it has certainly been effective to some degree. Really scary to see Buttgig's rise play out in real life as oppose to just in the polls. In contrast, Yang is VERY well spoken and it is quite clear that while they might have heard something about him, they certainly haven't seen clips and fluff news pieces of him speaking (which Buttgig has gotten plenty of over the past month).

Anyway, I'm not worried about it too much but if you have non-internet savvy friends and family, it might be worth having the "Yang Talk" to ease them into Yang and his platform. It's not a bad idea to do it before they solidify an opinion about Yang or someone else like that faggot Buttgig.

Until the debates, I doubt we will see Yang get the sort of free positive press like Buttgig has gotten and therefore, we will be pushing uphill until then. Who knows, maybe both Biden AND Bernie get sick and have to quit and/or pass away. In the internet age, it will be very hard for them to hide any issues they are having; both of these guys are in that age range where medical issues can come out of left field real fast. Remember, the first primary season vote isn't until Feb 3 NEXT YEAR in Iowa. A lot can happen between now and then on the health front.

Post: #909

Remember, Bernie already fell in the shower once a month or so ago, it would only take one more accident before everyone starts asking, "Wait, how old is he again?" IMO Bernie even running at this point is hubris; he's obviously way too fucking old, and I wonder if its regret for him not fighting harder against Clinton in 2016.

Andrew has more enthusiasm fans than anyone else running, he just doesn't have the exposure. If he had even half the media exposure of Bernie, he'd be much much further ahead in a lot of different metrics. Ultimately, once you get past the "There's no way that can happen...right?" scarcity mindset, a guy giving you a K a month is really fucking appealing.

I don't think Buttigieg being gay will be as detrimental as people here think. You could have easily said the same thing about a black man with the name Obama in 2008, but here we are. People may not necessarily want homo propoganda forced on them or their children, but I don't think this country in 2019 hates gays. Also he's a veteran from the midwest, that'll count for a lot. His policies being vague right now is great marketing--note the heat that Andrew gets from his detailed policies, which work for Andrew because he's transparent because he's smart as fuck and can defend his positions in a rational way. Butt is so far ahead in the same that, and might not be as on point in using facts and logic, so putting forward actual policies might hurt him more than help. Not saying I like it, but I'm saying I get it and given his position it's sound strategy.

It's hard to see how Biden entering the race could make things worse for Andrew. I mean, what, is he going to get *even less* media attention than he's already gotten? I do't know if that's possible at this point. And there's no overlap between Biden and Yang's core bases. I think BK's analysis as to why Biden entering is good for Yang is strong.

Post: #910

Some of these fossils are pretty arrogant thinking that they can outlast the job for 4-8 years. I'm sure being a "go-along" president is hard enough but being a "fight the system" president would have to be one of the toughest jobs in the world. Guys like Bernie "slips'n'falls" Sanders are compromising the US just by running. Imagine trying to wake that guy up at 3am 6 long years from now because there's a nuclear crisis. You'd just about have to stab him in the heart with an adrenaline shot just to make him coherent.

Post: #911

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/busines...707258.php

Quote:Self-driving 18-wheelers will soon cruise next to you down Interstate 10 and other major Texas freeways.

TuSimple, a California-based autonomous truck start-up, has been mapping routes and plans to haul commercial loads from Arizona to San Antonio, Houston and other Texas cities. The company will likely make a major announcement next month, Chief Product Officer Chuck Price told me.

Safety drivers will initially sit behind the wheel, but Price hopes to take them out by the end of next year. The age of autonomy has arrived.

“We’re probably going to spend $1 billion to make this happen, and we have investors that are committed to deliver the funds over time,” he said before showing off his technology at the recent SXSW Interactive Conference in Austin.

Price’s confidence comes in stark contrast to most of the news about self-driving technology over the past year. Uber, Waymo and independent analysts have adopted a more pessimistic tone about how soon autonomous passenger cars will hit the road.

The trucking business, though, is different. Companies dispatch thousands of loads a day along the same fixed routes, from one distribution center to another. Big trucks spend most of their time on the highway, not negotiating tight urban intersections. That makes training the algorithms easier.

Most importantly, the trucking industry is motivated. The age of the average driver keeps rising and finding new ones willing to spend lonely nights on the road is difficult.

Price said autonomous trucks would also increase utilization by 50 percent because robot drivers are not required to take breaks.

“The business argument for cars, to me, has always been weak. The business argument for trucks has always been strong,” Price said. “I find buyers right now who say that if you can make this happen, then I’m buying them by the gross.”

So, what happens to the truckers? Do they learn to code?

Post: #912

(04-22-2019 12:55 AM)Sumanguru Wrote:  I don't think Buttigieg being gay will be as detrimental as people here think. You could have easily said the same thing about a black man with the name Obama in 2008, but here we are. People may not necessarily want homo propoganda forced on them or their children, but I don't think this country in 2019 hates gays. Also he's a veteran from the midwest, that'll count for a lot.

Disagree with the two points I bolded.

On the gay issue:

Quote:About seven-in-ten (73%) Democrats and independents (70%) favor same-sex marriage.

A smaller share of Republicans favor same-sex marriage (40%), although they also have become more supportive in recent years.

source: https://www.pewforum.org/fact-sheet/chan...-marriage/

The gay thing isn't an issue in the primary but he will get murdered in the general. Obama isn't a good comparison; I don't think 60% of the GOP was anti-black in 2008.

On the veteran issue:

Firstly just so you know where I'm coming from, I'm an ex-active duty post 9/11 veteran. I've lived in flyover country for years and I know the people and their mindset very well.

He was a Navy intel reservist. He did a tour in the middle east but he's not some combat veteran bad ass nor is he some distinguished active duty officer with a long record of leadership. Plenty of people with a military history (mostly GOP voters) know that he just pushed paper and aren't going to fall for the "I'm an Afghan War veteran and you should respect me" shtick. In short, he won't be able to play the military card effectively. John Kerry in 2004 got made fun of and he had two purple hearts and a combat medal or two. The GOP has ZERO issue shitting on veterans if they bat for the other team. Remember this?



Pete has two things going for him vs Bernie and Biden:

He's a faggot and he's younger (but too young to seriously be considered for POTUS).

He is also a white male in a party that has a vocal anti-white segment to it. Buttgig might have Rainbow Gay Armor but he is still white as hell and that isn't a positive (neutral at best) with the democrats in 2020.

Edit: One last thing I just found out... he wants do a "national service" program; like 1 year mandatory military service. Get this... a fucking paper pushing post-college reservist who played weekend warrior for political points wants to force EVERYONE at 18 years old to go into the military full-time against their will. What a giant faggot! The last thing the current military (mostly GOP voters) wants is a bunch of people FORCED into the military against their will. We did that already with the draft and it was a disaster. And you think the typical 2020 democrat voter is gonna vote for a guy who wants to, by force, force people to fight in stupid wars right out of high school?

I hope he keeps pushing the national service idea...that shit will sink his campaign so fast from universal hate across the political spectrum.

Source: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/1...am-1277274

Post: #913

(04-22-2019 02:03 AM)The Black Knight Wrote:  Edit: One last thing I just found out... he wants do a "national service" program; like 1 year mandatory military service. Get this... a fucking paper pushing post-college reservist who played weekend warrior for political points wants to force EVERYONE at 18 years old to go into the military full-time against their will. What a giant faggot! The last thing the current military (mostly GOP voters) wants is a bunch of people FORCED into the military against their will. We did that already with the draft and it was a disaster. And you think the typical 2020 democrat voter is gonna vote for a guy who wants to, by force, force people to fight in stupid wars right out of high school?

I hope he keeps pushing the national service idea...that shit will sink his campaign so fast from universal hate across the political spectrum.

Ugh, I can just see how this would end up. They'd have to put in a non-combat option just to stop the civil unrest that would otherwise result, and probably some kind of college loan forgiveness bribe. Which then exacerbates the problem of retards getting undergrad degrees and making those credentials equivalent to what a high school diploma once was along with spiking the tuition costs even further from the government pork. So basically the public school system would morph into having a mandatory year of slavery to graduate and qualify as a starbucks barista.

Post: #914

BK-

Thanks for your posts. I've said about all I have to say regarding Yang, at least until the first debate, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy reading your intelligent and well-thought out updates.

I'm very surprised to hear that your relatives didn't like Biden, it's actually the first I've heard of anybody on the democratic side expressing strong negative feelings for him. (I haven't seen any Biden fans, the way there are Bernie fans, but I haven't seen any haters either.) Can you tell me more about what they didn't like about him?

Post: #915

(04-22-2019 05:11 AM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  I'm very surprised to hear that your relatives didn't like Biden, it's actually the first I've heard of anybody on the democratic side expressing strong negative feelings for him. (I haven't seen any Biden fans, the way there are Bernie fans, but I haven't seen any haters either.) Can you tell me more about what they didn't like about him?

We are talking about age 45-50+ relatives just for reference.

I think they understand how fragile life is and having a guy that would be near 80 when sworn in doesn't sit well with them.

They are also not big fans of the Obama administration. The word "disappointment" comes up quite frequently. They don't want Obama 2.0.

Post: #916

Yang just finished at his LA rally. Looks to be his largest crowd yet, I'd guess almost 3,000. Not bad at all considering he gets almost no media attention and is competing against a CNN town hall at the same time. See the whole thing here:

(04-22-2019 02:03 AM)The Black Knight Wrote:  

(04-22-2019 12:55 AM)Sumanguru Wrote:  I don't think Buttigieg being gay will be as detrimental as people here think. You could have easily said the same thing about a black man with the name Obama in 2008, but here we are. People may not necessarily want homo propoganda forced on them or their children, but I don't think this country in 2019 hates gays. Also he's a veteran from the midwest, that'll count for a lot.

Disagree with the two points I bolded.

On the gay issue:

Quote:About seven-in-ten (73%) Democrats and independents (70%) favor same-sex marriage.

A smaller share of Republicans favor same-sex marriage (40%), although they also have become more supportive in recent years.

source: https://www.pewforum.org/fact-sheet/chan...-marriage/

The gay thing isn't an issue in the primary but he will get murdered in the general. Obama isn't a good comparison; I don't think 60% of the GOP was anti-black in 2008.

I'm not convinced that lack of support for same-sex marriage is the same as being anti-gay or hating gay people. I think that's the mistaken perspective that a lot of the liberal gay community has and why so many of them are reflexively anti-conservative. One can wish to preserve the sanctity of marriage as defined between a man and woman and not hate gays.

My pure gut anecdotal opinion is that most Americans don't want their children indoctrinated with gay shit, so transexuals doing story hour at kindergarden isn't cool, but a seemingly reasonable straight-laced gay dude is probably fine. I don't know bro, I'm black, and I knew a lot of black people from around the way who SWORE that mid-western and southern whites, tainted by generations of the southern strategy and steeped in an Us-Vs-Them culture, would never vote for a black dude named Obama.

Not so ninja edit:

None of the Yang skeptics that troll this thread answered my question about the automated trucking from my last post, so I'll try again: when there's a million autonomous Tesla taxi fleet on the road in a few years, and Uber and Lyft finally make progress on automating their fleet, and automated trucking is perfected, what happens to the millions of professional drivers out there? Do they learn to code, too? I'm guessing they study SQL while eating cake...

Post: #917

^ Isn't it something like 10% of the jobs in the States are driving related?

Post: #918

(04-22-2019 10:12 PM)Sumanguru Wrote:  

(04-22-2019 02:03 AM)The Black Knight Wrote:  

(04-22-2019 12:55 AM)Sumanguru Wrote:  I don't think Buttigieg being gay will be as detrimental as people here think. You could have easily said the same thing about a black man with the name Obama in 2008, but here we are. People may not necessarily want homo propoganda forced on them or their children, but I don't think this country in 2019 hates gays. Also he's a veteran from the midwest, that'll count for a lot.

Disagree with the two points I bolded.

On the gay issue:

Quote:About seven-in-ten (73%) Democrats and independents (70%) favor same-sex marriage.

A smaller share of Republicans favor same-sex marriage (40%), although they also have become more supportive in recent years.

source: https://www.pewforum.org/fact-sheet/chan...-marriage/

The gay thing isn't an issue in the primary but he will get murdered in the general. Obama isn't a good comparison; I don't think 60% of the GOP was anti-black in 2008.

I'm not convinced that lack of support for same-sex marriage is the same as being anti-gay or hating gay people. I think that's the mistaken perspective that a lot of the liberal gay community has and why so many of them are reflexively anti-conservative. One can wish to preserve the sanctity of marriage as defined between a man and woman and not hate gays.

My pure gut anecdotal opinion is that most Americans don't want their children indoctrinated with gay shit, so transexuals doing story hour at kindergarden isn't cool, but a seemingly reasonable straight-laced gay dude is probably fine. I don't know bro, I'm black, and I knew a lot of black people from around the way who SWORE that mid-western and southern whites, tainted by generations of the southern strategy and steeped in an Us-Vs-Them culture, would never vote for a black dude named Obama.

"Straight laced gay dude" is basically an oxymoron in my view.

I think a lot of people on the right have a live and let live mindset. Keep it private and out of my face. Making a gay guy your leader isn't exactly keeping it private.

Unless there are decent polls out there asking GOP people if they would vote for a gay person, we'll never know until an actual vote goes down. I'll leave it there since this is the Yang thread and I don't want to gay it up with more Buttgig talk than necessary.

Post: #919

https://vitalvegas.com/mgm-resorts-to-re...no-really/

Quote:Several sources inside MGM Resorts have confirmed the company will soon roll out automated cocktail dispensing machines in its service bars (also called “well bars”) in Las Vegas and across the country.

MGM Resorts has quietly been testing automated cocktail machines at casinos in other markets (specifically, MGM Springfield in Massachusetts and MGM National Harbor in Maryland). Now, MGM Resorts is bringing those automated bartenders to Las Vegas.

As you may have heard, MGM Resorts is in the first phase of a massive cost-cutting initiative, MGM 2020. The goal is to save $300 million, with $100 million of that coming from savings on labor costs.

MGM 2020 is a “company-wide, business-optimization initiative aimed to leverage a more centralized organization to maximize profitability and, through key investments in technology, lay the groundwork for the company’s digital transformation to drive revenue growth.”

To be fair, given all the benefits to a business, it would be hard to fault MGM Resorts for making this move.

Among the benefits of these machines: They reduce “overpours” and waste, they’re accurate within 1/20th of an ounce, drinks are recorded in a database and there’s “total accountability” because a company knows precisely who served what and how often.

Also, the company will assert, these machines provide guests a consistent experience across all venues.

Team #learntocode can honestly go fuck themselves. Come down from your ivory towers and face the reality. Automation will disproportionately affect straight males who make this civilization function. All the office fags may keep their jobs for a while but they are not safe either. We are entering uncharted territory and a crappy idea like #learntocode won't save anyone from being forever unemployed and dependent on some form of assistance. The main question that everyone should ask themselves should be, "Why should they let me live in 20 years?"

Post: #920

Asking for a friend, if I do learntocode which language is best to start with? Python?

Post: #921

(04-23-2019 12:38 AM)The Black Knight Wrote:  

(04-22-2019 10:12 PM)Sumanguru Wrote:  

(04-22-2019 02:03 AM)The Black Knight Wrote:  

(04-22-2019 12:55 AM)Sumanguru Wrote:  I don't think Buttigieg being gay will be as detrimental as people here think. You could have easily said the same thing about a black man with the name Obama in 2008, but here we are. People may not necessarily want homo propoganda forced on them or their children, but I don't think this country in 2019 hates gays. Also he's a veteran from the midwest, that'll count for a lot.

Disagree with the two points I bolded.

On the gay issue:

Quote:About seven-in-ten (73%) Democrats and independents (70%) favor same-sex marriage.

A smaller share of Republicans favor same-sex marriage (40%), although they also have become more supportive in recent years.

source: https://www.pewforum.org/fact-sheet/chan...-marriage/

The gay thing isn't an issue in the primary but he will get murdered in the general. Obama isn't a good comparison; I don't think 60% of the GOP was anti-black in 2008.

I'm not convinced that lack of support for same-sex marriage is the same as being anti-gay or hating gay people. I think that's the mistaken perspective that a lot of the liberal gay community has and why so many of them are reflexively anti-conservative. One can wish to preserve the sanctity of marriage as defined between a man and woman and not hate gays.

My pure gut anecdotal opinion is that most Americans don't want their children indoctrinated with gay shit, so transexuals doing story hour at kindergarden isn't cool, but a seemingly reasonable straight-laced gay dude is probably fine. I don't know bro, I'm black, and I knew a lot of black people from around the way who SWORE that mid-western and southern whites, tainted by generations of the southern strategy and steeped in an Us-Vs-Them culture, would never vote for a black dude named Obama.

"Straight laced gay dude" is basically an oxymoron in my view.

I think a lot of people on the right have a live and let live mindset. Keep it private and out of my face. Making a gay guy your leader isn't exactly keeping it private.

Unless there are decent polls out there asking GOP people if they would vote for a gay person, we'll never know until an actual vote goes down. I'll leave it there since this is the Yang thread and I don't want to gay it up with more Buttgig talk than necessary.

I don't think its even that complicated.

Butt-gig wouldn't bring out anybody new who wouldn't already be voting Dem, but a lot of people (I'm thinking mainly minority men) would simply stay home on Election Day (where they went out to support a recognizable minority in Obama in '08 and '12). Even with Hilary in '16, there were some days of yore connections with the golden age of the "first Black president" (Bill Clinton) that probably prompted a lot of minority men to get out to vote.

Instead:

"You're telling me, a gay, white dude named Butt-gig is who I have to get out and vote for today? Nah, I'm good."

It's really as simple as people staying home because they don't have any special interest or particular affinity for the candidate.

Post: #922

(04-23-2019 02:37 AM)TigerMandingo Wrote:  Asking for a friend, if I do learntocode which language is best to start with? Python?

The real joke about #learntocode is that people seem to think they'll become employable just by doing some online courses where they learn how to write a for loop or how to make the nice pretty object oriented crap that they jerked off to in the design patterns book.

There's 50 million pajeets with that same level of programming ability, and they're willing to be paid in chickpeas. You might as well encourage unemployed people to take up landscaping and compete with the illegal Mexicans while you're at it. The engineering jobs that still have high demand are senior positions where you either need massive prior experience or Ph.D level mathematical and algorithm design skills. Anyone that doesn't have Good Will Hunting levels of auto-didactic ability is fucked.

Also, C is the best language to start with because it's the closest you get to what the computer is actually doing without being Assembly. Python is just going to teach you to ignore variable types and expect the garbage-collecting memory fairy to fix all your sloppy code. When it comes down to it all you're doing is moving around numbers and numbers that tell you where other numbers are.

Post: #923

I've used this analogy before. It's apt for modern dating, modern marriage and now automation of jobs.

We've all heard the phrase "you don't have to be faster than the lion, you just have to be faster than the guy next to you." As cut-throat as it is we all understand that without a lion there's no drive to run. The lion is a necessary part of the equation.

Unfortunately what were seeing is a dramatic increase in the lion population. Now, instead of a lion per ten men you've got two lions, and soon there will be three or four or five. So guys saying "you can still succeed" are of course correct but that's not the point. At some stage it's not about whether you can beat the rest of the runners but about the sheer number of people you're leaving behind you to die.

At some point you have to ask whether you're going to turn around and stand with the guys facing the lions. Guys that used to outpace the fat, lazy guy but who now through no real fault of their own are just getting swamped by lions they can never outrun.

Now if you want to leave the 4 or 5 or 6 guys to die then that's your choice, but don't dress it up in fancy bullshit about the unimpeachable ethics of the free market. One guy going to the lion keeps the tribe on its toes. Five guys out of ten going to the lions just fucks your tribe.

Post: #924

Fighting automation is like fighting the tide. At some point in the foreseeable future the western world won't need to work. That's where UBI comes in, and perhaps some genocidal culling of the population, or a pressure-release like off-planet colonies.

There's a whole shitty process to come to get us there, and lots of risks along the way (singularity being one of them) - but I expect we'll get there.

It may seem a long way off but at some point the only "jobs" are going to be for the creative types, and maybe not even them.

Post: #925

I don’t buy into the inevitability of Automation and UBI, but let’s assume automation is indeed inevitable, that we’ll reach The Singularity and therefore something like UBI will happen in one way or another.

So what?

Does that change the fact that modern living is unnatural, that intersexual relations NEED traditional settings (and this includes technological constraints) to be healthy, that mass produced food and mass produced entertainment poison your body and mind – not to mention your soul?

Should we just go with the flow, collect our UBI, get money and bitches and then what? Because, if it is so inevitable, it won’t stop there. Oh no, no, no. Physical humans still take space up, especially with all the miracle crap that will come, so the next step will eventually be taken. Should we join the march towards cyborg enhancements further extending our physical life? Well, then they will push mind uploading to the cloud so you can ‘live’ forever without taking any space. Should we do that too? All the “cool kids” are doing it – or will be anyway. Is this the kind of life you want, where nothing separates you from anyone else? There’s no such thing as community, family or even individuality in this equation.

So even if it is inevitable, we should still fight against it, if nowhere else in our own lives. Death may be inevitable but I’m not jumping into a volcano tomorrow. I’d rather die fighting than give in to the globohomo 2.0 – now with enhanced graphics and sound effects. Fuck that.

It’s better to die as a man than live as an automaton. Death is not the worse that can happen to you.