How does the World view America these days?

[Zephyr_Nova]

17 minutes ago, dingformung said:

Usually in places where one sort of social phenomenon is prevalent there is a counter phenomenon to it.  

True.  Doesn't seem to be the case where I am (super progressive, super polite, and no one seems to want to interfere with that.  Even the most desperate among us seem pretty considerate).  I don't even remember the last time I witnessed someone espousing overtly racist/homophobic views here.  So it's especially weird seeing what the climate's like in the US.  Seems like another planet to me.

[J3FF3R00]

 

[ambermonk]

God damn. Things haven't been easy for Michigan lately have they.

[sweepstakes]

Just now, timbre monke said:

God damn. Things haven't been easy for Michigan lately have they.

Yeah for like 50 years.

 

[dingformung]

7 hours ago, Zephyr_Nova said:

True.  Doesn't seem to be the case where I am (super progressive, super polite, and no one seems to want to interfere with that.  Even the most desperate among us seem pretty considerate).  I don't even remember the last time I witnessed someone espousing overtly racist/homophobic views here.  So it's especially weird seeing what the climate's like in the US.  Seems like another planet to me.

All Canadians I've met in Europe were intelligent, super (almost disturbingly) friendly and chatty and you meet disproportionally many of them here, considering there are only ~40 million of them, you meet many more of them than US Americans for some reason, but of course only my personal impression. Used to have a Canadian neighbour for a while. Seems they like to travel and have the money and vacation to do that, US Americans unfortunately often have very little vacation, I think, maybe that's part of the reason. Lots of things make sense in Canada and I'm sure the world can learn a lot from this place. Where I live, even though it's a rather left liberal place, there are still all sorts of nutjobs. Maybe not the kind of hillbillies that protest against lockdowns and carry weapons, but definitely lots of right wingers or simply people that view politeness as fake & dishonest. The difference here is that they actually lived under a dictatorship (GDR) and know the difference. Usually when you talk to them like you understand and value them and don't view them as some sort of degenerates they are surprisingly willing think and to add nuance to their opinions and backpedal from their populist statements. Not all, of course, some people are lost unfortunately and I don't wanna downplay the new right-wing/neo-Nazi movement that has emerged and grown especially since the refugee waves of 2015, a problem Canada doesn't have to deal with. Lots of them just didn't grow up with people from other cultures and as a result are extremely fearful, something that can be overcome.

A problem the US has is that the nation is basically held hostage by gangs of capitalist criminals that influence all sectors of public life including the education system and media environment which are basic requirements for a democratic discourse. I'm not saying that other countries are free from this, in fact most developing and threshold countries are victim of a similar situation to even greater extend (with lesser impact on the rest of the world, mind you) but in the US turbo predator capitalism (lol) definitely escalated, producing mobs of cosplay terrorists.

[Rubin Farr]

9 hours ago, timbre monke said:

God damn. Things haven't been easy for Michigan lately have they.

At least there haven't been any mass shooting in the US lately.

[Rubin Farr]

You can listen to the Supreme Court live for the first time ever, but I bet it's hella boring:

https://www.courttv.com/scotus/

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/03/848317039/listen-live-supreme-court-arguments-begin-monday

[ignatius]

[ignatius]

 

[Nebraska]

capitalism in times of a pandemic. can't knock the hustle

[ignatius]

6 minutes ago, Nebraska said:

capitalism in times of a pandemic. can't knock the hustle

that's crazy for so many reasons. 

several local places here in PDX set up their own on line ordering portal w/slimmed down menu. pick up only for some and others use various services. other places taking call in orders for pick up. it's really _easy_ to get take out and be safe. everything is timed so there's not a crowd. no walk up orders. order on line or phone. 

i know in other places it's possibly more difficult because of density or not having transportation so ymmv.. but it's doable. 

[dcom]

For a long time I've thought of the US as Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights - it's breathtaking, beautifully colourful and a cornucopia of wonder - but when you zoom in on the myriad of details a different picture emerges: it's weird, messy, things are not as they appear at first and the longer you stare at it the less sense it makes (there's a guy with a flute up his ass). It's Up With People mixed with William S. Burroughs' Thanksgiving Prayer. It's like watching a super slow motion bullet time highway pileup animation drawn by Geoff Darrow. It's an utopian dystopia, 1984, Brave New World, Judge Dredd's Mega-City, Robocop's Detroit... it's a place of rampant capitalism and commercialism where any notion of privacy is sacrificed on the altar of making money, where you can actually fake it without ever making it and still get ahead, where Television is the Drug of The Nation and pharmaceutical companies are pushing medical-grade opiates to fatten the bottom line and for-profit prison industrial complex is an actual thing. It's a Chuck Palahniuk novel and an instance of Baudrillard's hyperreality.

[goDel]

So, the lesson is to not order through grubhub? And restaurants shouldn't be working with grubhub either?

thank god for capitalism...i mean, choice. 

[dingformung]

4 hours ago, dcom said:

For a long time I've thought of the US as Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights - it's breathtaking, beautifully colourful and a cornucopia of wonder - but when you zoom in on the myriad of details a different picture emerges: it's weird, messy, things are not as they appear at first and the longer you stare at it the less sense it makes (there's a guy with a flute up his ass). It's Up With People mixed with William S. Burroughs' Thanksgiving Prayer. It's like watching a super slow motion bullet time highway pileup animation drawn by Geoff Darrow. It's an utopian dystopia, 1984, Brave New World, Judge Dredd's Mega-City, Robocop's Detroit... it's a place of rampant capitalism and commercialism where any notion of privacy is sacrificed on the altar of making money, where you can actually fake it without ever making it and still get ahead, where Television is the Drug of The Nation and pharmaceutical companies are pushing medical-grade opiates to fatten the bottom line and for-profit prison industrial complex is an actual thing. It's a Chuck Palahniuk novel and an instance of Baudrillard's hyperreality.

I love your posting style

[prdctvsm]

Biggest Fast Food Chains in the World 1971 - 2019   infographic animation

[goDel]

1 hour ago, prdctvsm said:

Biggest Fast Food Chains in the World 1971 - 2019   infographic animation

Jezus. At the end I had a tiny sense of relief seeing the numbers of McDonalds stores shrink. But from 2017 onwards the number exploded again. Crap...

Lets hope the corona crisis destroys entire franchises...

[zero]

11 hours ago, dcom said:

For a long time I've thought of the US as Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights - it's breathtaking, beautifully colourful and a cornucopia of wonder - but when you zoom in on the myriad of details a different picture emerges: it's weird, messy, things are not as they appear at first and the longer you stare at it the less sense it makes (there's a guy with a flute up his ass). It's Up With People mixed with William S. Burroughs' Thanksgiving Prayer. It's like watching a super slow motion bullet time highway pileup animation drawn by Geoff Darrow. It's an utopian dystopia, 1984, Brave New World, Judge Dredd's Mega-City, Robocop's Detroit... it's a place of rampant capitalism and commercialism where any notion of privacy is sacrificed on the altar of making money, where you can actually fake it without ever making it and still get ahead, where Television is the Drug of The Nation and pharmaceutical companies are pushing medical-grade opiates to fatten the bottom line and for-profit prison industrial complex is an actual thing. It's a Chuck Palahniuk novel and an instance of Baudrillard's hyperreality.

you actually make the US sound pretty attractive in that exciting sci-fi description you've got going there...

[ignatius]

13 hours ago, dcom said:

For a long time I've thought of the US as Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights - it's breathtaking, beautifully colourful and a cornucopia of wonder - but when you zoom in on the myriad of details a different picture emerges: it's weird, messy, things are not as they appear at first and the longer you stare at it the less sense it makes (there's a guy with a flute up his ass). It's Up With People mixed with William S. Burroughs' Thanksgiving Prayer. It's like watching a super slow motion bullet time highway pileup animation drawn by Geoff Darrow. It's an utopian dystopia, 1984, Brave New World, Judge Dredd's Mega-City, Robocop's Detroit... it's a place of rampant capitalism and commercialism where any notion of privacy is sacrificed on the altar of making money, where you can actually fake it without ever making it and still get ahead, where Television is the Drug of The Nation and pharmaceutical companies are pushing medical-grade opiates to fatten the bottom line and for-profit prison industrial complex is an actual thing. It's a Chuck Palahniuk novel and an instance of Baudrillard's hyperreality.

tangent.. Garden of Earthly Deilights is often misunderstood. interesting older little doc about him and his work. 

 

[dcom]

9 hours ago, zero said:

you actually make the US sound pretty attractive in that exciting sci-fi description you've got going there...

It's like William Gibson said in an interview in 2003 (I'm paraphrasing) - the future is already there, it's just not very evenly distributed.

Edited May 7, 2020 by dcom

[dcom]

US wealth shown to scale.

[ignatius]

13 minutes ago, dcom said:

US wealth shown to scale.

that's a good way to make a point. nice visualization and brings it home w/the scrolling

[goDel]

Thats a lot of scrolling. I passed out somewhere in the 3trillion part. Probably just the beginning of it. Fuck thats insane. Also drives home the point the the filthy rich, the millionaires, probably haven't got a clue they're not even near the focus point of this problem. Even though they think they are. They're less than a rounding error.

[ignatius]

fucking hell. i hope they catch the asshole. portland is a small town. i've ridden all over it and had my share of interactions w/cars. fuck. wtf. 

Man hospitalized after being shot while biking in southeast Portland road rage

https://bikeportland.org/2020/05/06/man-hospitalized-after-being-shot-while-biking-in-southeast-portland-road-rage-314594

“Guy in a SUV rolled up on me at Ankeny and 13th, said “i’m gonna fucking shoot you…” and then he did,” 

[dcom]

5 hours ago, dcom said:

It's like William Gibson said in an interview in 2003 (I'm paraphrasing) - the future is already there, it's just not very evenly distributed.

We're on the Brink of Cyberpunk (Slate): "It’s not just the technology, surveillance, and dystopian vibes—it’s the culmination of decades of deliberate governmental erosion."

Edited May 7, 2020 by dcom

[ambermonk]

Just now, ignatius said:

fucking hell. i hope they catch the asshole. portland is a small town. i've ridden all over it and had my share of interactions w/cars. fuck. wtf. 

Man hospitalized after being shot while biking in southeast Portland road rage

https://bikeportland.org/2020/05/06/man-hospitalized-after-being-shot-while-biking-in-southeast-portland-road-rage-314594

“Guy in a SUV rolled up on me at Ankeny and 13th, said “i’m gonna fucking shoot you…” and then he did,” 

If there were an "angry" reaction for WATMM, I'd certainly use it in this instance.