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nickwitha_k (he/him) @ nickwitha_k @lemmy.sdf.org
Posts
18
Comments
2,639
Joined
2 yr. ago

  • Oh. It also gets better when it comes to literacy. Starting somewhere in the late 90s/early 00s, nationwide changes were made to the curriculum to use commercial systems that were developed to help people with developmental disabilities understand enough written language to function (street signs, fast food menus, etc).

    These changes have resulted in a distinct increase in functional iliteracy. As of last year, 54% of the US population was only capable of reading at the sixth grade level or lower, with 70% of children from low-income families (an income bracket that is consistently growing as upward mobility evaporates and downward mobility has become the norm).

    Reading is a fundamental skill from which ones ability to self-learn, explore new ideas, and critically analyze things relies on. These are schools necessary to succeed in life. Written language is something that our brains did not evolve for and must be coaxed into properly understanding. So, we have at least a generation of young people who lack very basic literacy skills that one in a modern society needs to compete and collaborate on a global stage.

    To be fair, I don't think that this was quite the intended result, as much as a byproduct of redirecting public education funds into already wealthy people's pockets. The result, however, is monsterous and, if we make it through the current shit, the people of the US are going to need a lot of help from the rest of the world to fix the educational deficiencies that have been inflicted upon us by Boomer politicians that have been robbing their children and children's children for a good half of a century.

  • First off I'm cis/het and AuADHD, so, this colors my views on things in a number of ways.

    I think that you ask a good question that has a few answers and other perspectives that are worth exploring. My "short-and-sweet" answer is:

    No, I do not think that there is anything wrong with drawing nudity and sexuality, where it comes from a place of appreciation (either from the artist or audience) and is not exploitative or non-consensually demeaning (ie. there are some who have fetishes for being consensually demeaned and while not my thing, I'm not going to yuck their yum).

    Some may argue that any depiction of women in a sexual context is objectification and immoral. I strongly disagree with those views and see them as a desire for puritanical sexual repression. That is not to say that the pornography industry does not have a history and present of exploitation - it does. However, I reject the notion that sexuality is inherently wrong/exploitative/violent as pure nonsense and, by all evidence, psychologically very unhealthy.

  • I honestly think it's kinda lame since you can't see who is just being a troll.

    That's exactly why it isn't a thing on Lemmy. Not because knowing who is a troll of a bad thing but because it is a terrible measure of that. Karma systems, like Reddit's are far too easy to game in order to lend a false sense of legitimacy to statements associated with an account (or try to make a legitimate account appear illegitimate) in order to manipulate people. Propagandists and other bad actors love karma systems because of this.

  • I'd say it's to embolden police and violent racists, in hope of helping encouraging their race war to destabilize the country so that they can divy it up.

    The interesting lack of forethought from the oligarchic billionaires is that their billions mean nothing without the US dollar and NYSE. The majority of their hoards of wealth are not backed by anything tangible that could be of use in the event that the US dollar ceases to be relevant. I suppose that this kind of thought isn't likely to occur to sociopaths that were born with platinum spoons in their mouths.

  • It is vitally important, not just in elections but also in life overall, to recognize that not all possibilities are equally likely and to use available data to evaluate them.

    For example, it is possible that a white rhinoceros might come down the hall and join me for a spot of tea and biscuits. I can, however, safely say that that is almost definitely not going to happen, based upon these data points:

    • I do not keep any white rhinoceros in my home.
    • White rhinoceros are not native to this continent and are classified as near-threatened (a major improvement from their previous near-extinction).
    • White rhinoceros average between 1700kg and 2300kg. My home was not designed and built to support that kind of moving mass. Any white rhinoceros walking down my hall would likely fall through the floor.
    • White rhinoceros, while generally docile and gregarious, are not known for enjoying tea and biscuits.

    Yes, this is a exaggerated caricature. However, data with even more clarity is available surrounding election outcomes. Betting on a possible outcome without any evidence to suggest that it is likely is foolish and betting on an outcome that one knows is unlikely, while increasing the likelihood of an outcome known to be harmful to vulnerable people is detestable.