andros_rex

That kind of categorization just seems to lead to a kind of elitism. (Victoria 2 players are of course the most elite gamers)

I think it’s time to recognize that “video game” is a medium. Being a “gamer” is the same as being a “reader” or “someone who likes watching movies.” Specifying genre is what might make things more clear.

Like I’m a “gamer” that plays mostly obscure indie art games, isometric CRPGs, Bethesda RPGs, and will try an FPS/adventure game if the story looks compelling enough. I’m not the same kind of “gamer” as someone who plays the Ubisoft releases, or sports games, or hero shooters.

Like ultimately all of this is shit we do for fun - why do we need to categorize and judge people?

I think a big difference between then and now might be the lack of community organizations.

When I look at US history pre-1980 or so, it seems like there were a lot more little clubs and organizations. Things like Kiwanis or Lions Club would be sort of backbones of the community (also involved in one’s route to political success - my grandpa’s plan before his mysterious/very controversial death was military -> lead the Kiwanis -> get into politics), or even tiny ass small towns might have a organizations for the local immigrant populations - like Krebs, OK used to have an Italian organization large enough to do parades.

These organizations would provide support to their members. They’d do fundraisers for the sick, they’d organize meal trains. Unions also did a lot of that.

(The second Klan, ie 1920s, was primarily one of these types of social organizations. Some folks joined for the baseball matches and parades).

Like keep in mind most of us are a paycheck or two away from eviction. And once you drop out of the system it’s difficult to get back in. We don’t have support networks (even the way the nuclear family atomizes individuals - parents aren’t expected to support you after 18). Those were support networks that could step in if you lost your job after an unfair imprisonment or if you needed to find someone to babysit during a rally.

Also goes with the lack of third spaces - these kinds of meetings or events were places to meet others in the flesh. I think the political discussion of a chautauqua was probably less vulnerable to foreign bad agents (although certainly not domestic ones).

We just have a lack of community in general - I guess a “lack of class consciousness” ensues. We view our struggles against our landlord/boss/grocery stores as individual and still somewhat of our own fault, that we are still “temporarily embarrassed millionaires” who haven’t worked hard enough to earn it yet.

I’ve known (rich) people who think people without health insurance who can’t afford their treatment deserve to die. When you don’t know poor people, they aren’t human to you. When you don’t know other people, their struggles don’t matter.

We’re too exhausted from working to socialize, organize or really being able to give a shit about anything.

Yeah - there are a shit ton of Joker’s epic boners.

Also a lot of funny stuff with Superman and Jimmy Olsen. The Bronze Age is… something.

DRMless digital is great - I have a calibre library of thousands - but still more vulnerable.

Canticle of Lebowitz is a great post apocalyptic novel. After the nukes, Catholic monasteries preserve the ancient tradition of copying down manuscripts. Text doesn’t require any form of infrastructure.

There are also many texts/other media that are not available in any digital format. Obscure or older. For as much of an Information Age we are in, a lot of knowledge is being lost through neglect.

The best true crime podcast will always be Criminal. Very little sex/murder, more like a This American Life for crime.

I think in part it’s hyper vigilance and some bits of “Just World” falllacy. When you are raised female, you’re constantly taught shit like always keeping a key ready between your knuckles when you’re walking outside at night, or where best to kick someone, or the debates on whether to shout “help” or something else - to be female is to be taught you are in danger. My mom was fucked up but the shit where she would obsessively show me where all the sex criminals in our neighborhood were wasn’t maybe that unusual.

The “Just World” aspect is maybe if you learn enough you can protect yourself. Listen to enough true crime podcasts and you’ll crack the pattern and protect yourself. Look at all the weird women on Facebook who post about their “close calls” with human trafficking - or even how police departments will feed into that shit.

Then perhaps a more complicated aspect - the most awful crimes are committed by those closest to us. Stranger danger is very appealing as an alternative.

I think there’s also something to be said about fascism as a comfort. There are many people I’ve seen argue that it’s somewhat of a happy ending for Florence Pugh’s character. These also seem to be the types of TERF radical feminists who are more likely to be in lockstep with the current administration based on its treatment of transgender people.

When you have been hurt in that way, burning it all down can make sense. The movie does make you feel comfortable with the deaths of the characters I think - they all very much come across as more “deserving” of what happens to them than is typical in most horror films. I think that’s another amazing aspect of that movie - you don’t feel bad about them dying and maybe that should concern you?

Hereditary is another movie that has so many layers to it. The problem there is that it’s basically impossible to watch more than once to form a proper analysis of it lol

Historically, it was open borders - as long as you had the correct skin color.

Ellis Island didn’t send anyone away - unless they had like TB or something.

In the 50’s - many Mexican Americans who were legally citizens were deported in “Operation Wetback.” Based on skin color/appearance - which matches with the reports of what ICE is doing now harassing Native Americans.

It’s never been about following rules, it’s always been about being the right kind of person

It was fun, but vim ultimately made more sense and is what I used for note taking most of the time now.

There’s a reason why the US refused to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Seeing the way DHS and foster works has been a “black pill” for me. There’s a wider attitude that children are the property of their parents in their states (see the endless conversations about “parent rights” - eg, denying children education and medical care). Children whose parents have rejected them are basically dumped into a lost and found, have no value, have no voice.

I’ve talked to social workers where they had to place kids in homeless shelters because there were no available beds. Kids sleep in DHS offices. DHS can’t be assed to make sure kids’ shit gets from place to place - I’ve bought multiple children clothes because they went inpatient with basically nothing.

At one point in college I decided to make myself take notes in ed for a semester for the lulz

Amazon’s ebook store front (as well as the internet in general) is flooded with AI slop. The internet is a place where the signal to noise ratio is dropping rapidly.

Physical media is necessary. Especially books. Especially the kinds of books regimes might want to ban. When it’s time to rebuild, we’ll need firm ground to stand on, and physical books work as long as you can hold them.

Well yeah, that’s kind of the problem right now isn’t it? It actually doesn’t matter what the Constitution says, because the current Supreme Court is a partisan organ that exists to rubber stamp everything Trump whatever Trump does.