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Cake day: July 19th, 2023

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  • But again, how brain dead do you have to be to see a giant parade of people and think “I know, I’m going to try to drive right through that!”

    I’m not defending the person in video, she’s clearly a clown herself. I’m just pointing out that these events aren’t exactly helpful to the cause they’re trying to advance.

    How do I know? Because there’s thousands of people here. It has to be published somewhere if all these people are finding the route.

    That’s like playing go fish. Again there’s no central organization to these events by design, so it’s very difficult to actually track down where the information is. It could be on Facebook or Discord or Instagram or anywhere really. Good luck finding the right groups with the right info.

    You’re not trapped in your car. You can back up, do a u-turn, and go somewhere else.

    This easier said than done. If you’re a normal driver, then you’ll be stuck as they arrive. If there’s a car behind you and the cyclists are already swarming around your car then you can’t move else you’ll risk hitting them.

    If you are so stupid that you can’t realize you shouldn’t drive into such a crowd, you need to have your license suspended, as you are simply too stupid to drive.

    Sure, but that doesn’t justify these cyclists creating the dangerous situation in the first place.







  • They organize with the city (a date and path are set and publicized) to force their bike traffic through town with the ultimate goal of trying to improve safety for cyclists.

    A big part of the problem is that they DON’T do this. If they did then people can plan ahead of time to avoid running into them, and way less people would be annoyed with them. But that’s not how they operate, these events aren’t protests because they’re so disorganized. There’s no leadership, no organization, nothing. They also don’t give any notification to locals, law enforcement, the media, or their local governments. This why they’re considered dangerous, it’s because this disorganization puts the cyclists and drivers in harm’s way.

    Most people who run into them, like the woman in the video, do so without prior warning. They’re just going about their day when they’re met with a mob of cyclists who are ignoring the established safety laws and blocking traffic. You have no idea where they came from or where they’re going. Their unpredictable. Yes, this woman filming and driving is being reckless, but she’s not the only one in the video who is.


  • You have a very poor understanding of how these critical masses work, they do NOT function like normal protests, at least in the US.

    Most critical masses of cyclists are intentionally made to be spontaneous, barely organized, and they do not give prior warning to locals (through the local media or such), the government, or even the police. The whole point of the intentional disorganization to escape the authorities when they eventually come in to restore order. The reason why they’re called “critical masses” to begin with is because large turnouts is the only requirements of these events. There is no organization or leaders or hierarchy or anything to hold accountable.

    So what happens is unsuspecting locals going on about their day get met with a mob of cyclists who are blocking traffic, ignoring any and all established safety laws, and disrupting the flow of the city. The people who do come across them don’t know where they came from, where they’re headed, or what they’re going to do next.

    That’s why you can’t “go around them” like you’re suggesting. You’re basically trapped in your car until they go away. These events put the cyclists in danger and they put the drivers in danger. That’s why they’re considered dangerous. If they functioned like how you imagined they functioned, then way less people would have an issue with them.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass_(cycling)


  • That’s just false, civil rights weren’t achieved through intimidation. The movement succeeded because it achieved it’s objective through peaceful means. The movement organized peaceful protests to raise awareness and bring attention to the issues, they organized and fought legal battles challenging the status quo, they created institutions to help campaign for their causes, and disavowed violence to win over the general public. It is the prime example in history what peaceful protesting can achieve.

    The civil rights movement is not alone, other movements like the suffragette movements in the West, the Salt Marches in India, the Singing revolution in the Baltics, and so on all achieved momentous things peacefully.


  • I don’t like Elon, fuck him. My point is that what you’re asking for is setting a precedent we never had. We’ve always had complimentary system between the private and public sectors, most countries are like this as well. Nationalizing companies without a genuine justification is going to cause shock waves throughout the economy. Why would investors spend capital in the country if the government can snatch up their business the moment they’re deemed important? If that’s the only thing needed to nationalize companies, what’s stopping idiots in government like Trump from just weaponizing it by nationalizing any company that competes with his own businesses, political opponents, or his crony friends? Not to mention, where is confidence that our incompetent government is going to manage these companies better than they can manage themselves? These are all really big questions.

    There’s a reason why nationalization is left as a temporary last resort measure to rescue economic sectors from collapse. You could make an argument that this would apply for a publicly traded company like Boeing that’s quickly heading towards collapse. Considering how they’re only commercial plane manufacturer, that means they’re our entire industry. The company’s stability is a matter of national security. But SpaceX? None of this applies.

    SpaceX is a private business that’s stable, reliable, and competitive. They’re doing exactly what they’re supposed to. It’s easy to say that we should just nationalize companies without thinking about the consequences. I’m in favor of things like universal healthcare, public transit systems, and more power to our research agencies. But these things have to come to fruition through stronger regulations and government alternatives, not nationalization. If there are cases where a company has to be nationalized and there are no alternatives, then they should be bought out.

    I don’t think what I’m saying is controversial.




  • Gorilladrums@lemmy.worldtoPolitical Memes@lemmy.worldthats why
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    11 hours ago

    But your study proves my point though. The percentage was 13% across all demographics back in 2018 when the study was conducted. If you actually look at at the graphs, they all show a pretty significant and stead drop over the decades. Well, 2018 was 7 years ago, so if project the data to the modern day, it’s very likely that figure is in the single digits now.

    Even if we assume that the data remained steady since then, which it probably hasn’t, then that means at least 87% of the population don’t hold this view. That’s not just a majority, that’s an overwhelming majority. So while my experience is ancedotal, this shows that my experiences are actually unique but a part of much bigger societal trend.



  • Yes, that’s why no one in this entire thread suggested anything even remotely close to this. it’s stupid, and a stupid strawman.

    The guy that I replied said that we should nationalize any company that receives tax dollars if we depend on it… Buts that case for virtually the entire economy. Everything is touch by our tax dollars and everything in our economy is intertwined. It is a ridiculous suggestion.

    Nationalizing spaceX temporarily in order to restore confidence in it’s largest, most important customer, after that customer’s trust has been repeatedly violated by the executive and the board that keeps him in power, is NOT NATIONALIZING THE ENTIRE ECONOMY nor would it be untoward if Boeing or Lockheed’s CEO was dumb enough to engage in this bullshit.

    The government doesn’t nationalize on the behalf of companies, it only temporarily nationalizes when to protect the American economy at large. For example, in 2008 the government took hold of a bunch of auto companies to prevent a collapse of this sector. This is not happening here for SpaceX so it doesn’t make sense to do it.

    The thing is you would actually have a really good case to temporarily nationalize Boeing because it is basically our entire commercial plane manufacturing sector, and it’s quickly heading towards collapse. This is a case where it makes sense. Starlink and SpaceX don’t fall under this umbrella.