R3qn65's recent activity
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Comment on South of Spain / Northern Africa travel recs in ~travel
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Comment on South of Spain / Northern Africa travel recs in ~travel
R3qn65 Link ParentCool. Morocco may not be for you guys then, actually. There are a couple of old Roman forts and one or two other similar things you could look at, but they're not in great condition and it's not...Cool. Morocco may not be for you guys then, actually. There are a couple of old Roman forts and one or two other similar things you could look at, but they're not in great condition and it's not like, say, Europe, where you can walk around inside ancient buildings in basically every major city. There's an incredible (non-ancient) mosque in Casablanca that allows non-Muslims to tour it, but I wouldn't go just for that.
Re: nature, Morocco has incredible landscapes, and that's a big part of the appeal, but not a lot of actual nature in terms of wildlife and little to no wilderness. Sort of depends on what you mean there. You could do some hiking in the Atlas mountains and/or do an overnight on the edges of the Sahara if that sounds appealing, but again both are more like seeing landscapes than seeing animals.
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Comment on South of Spain / Northern Africa travel recs in ~travel
R3qn65 LinkWhat kind of stuff do you guys like to do? Morocco is fantastic, and offers both high-end luxury (>$2000/night for a single room) and grittier hostel-style stuff (like...$20/night). There are also...What kind of stuff do you guys like to do? Morocco is fantastic, and offers both high-end luxury (>$2000/night for a single room) and grittier hostel-style stuff (like...$20/night). There are also cruises launching out of Casablanca, if you wanted to be on the water.
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Comment on We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way in ~finance
R3qn65 Link ParentYeah, I think you're right. The problem isn't any specific ideology per se, it's researchers coming in with the goal to prove X instead of see whats's true about X, if that makes sense .Yeah, I think you're right. The problem isn't any specific ideology per se, it's researchers coming in with the goal to prove X instead of see whats's true about X, if that makes sense .
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Comment on We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way in ~finance
R3qn65 Link ParentIt’s pretty case-dependent, I think. I also don’t want to claim that I’m familiar enough with the various distinctions to have a really coherent opinion on all of them.I don't want to derail this thread but how do you feel about other branches of anthropology? No need to answer if its basically indifference.
It’s pretty case-dependent, I think. I also don’t want to claim that I’m familiar enough with the various distinctions to have a really coherent opinion on all of them.
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Comment on We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way in ~finance
R3qn65 Link ParentExcept, of course, for: — The USSR itself, from 1945 to about 1960 — China until about 2001 (when they joined the WTO) — India throughout the 90s — Venezuela until the 1980s — The gulf states...And since pretty much every economic success case since 1945 has been "Economy only boosts when trading with USA under favorable conditions"
Except, of course, for:
— The USSR itself, from 1945 to about 1960
— China until about 2001 (when they joined the WTO)
— India throughout the 90s
— Venezuela until the 1980s
— The gulf states (secured by the US, but primarily exporting elsewhere)
— Norway
— BotswanaAnd I’m sure there are more. The Asian Tigers, however, generally match your statement here.
And if we had our modern weather predicting power and agricultural science in 1915, odds are the USSR wouldn't have ever had that famine that kinda broke the horse's leg at the start of the race, if you will.
I 100% recognize that this was not your intention, but for your awareness a Ukrainian would probably consider this comment fairly offensive. Scholarly consensus is that the Holodomor was man-made due to short-sighted Soviet agricultural policy, though whether it was intentionally orchestrated to weaken the Ukrainians is still quite disputed (my money is on that it was not). Whether intentional or an accident of collectivization and dekulakization, what’s not under dispute is that it had nothing to do with weather prediction technology.
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Comment on We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way in ~finance
R3qn65 Link ParentThere’s no doubt that those factors mattered - a lot, probably - but it’s important to point out that mainstream economists - even socialist economists, and even marxist economists in most cases -...There’s no doubt that those factors mattered - a lot, probably - but it’s important to point out that mainstream economists - even socialist economists, and even marxist economists in most cases - do not share the view that external factors were the primary cause of the USSR’s economic woes. The economic consensus (again, even among sympathetic economists) is that the planned economy failed due to internal factors.
The authors of Towards a New Socialism also primarily blame internal factors, not external factors. That’s why they wrote their whole book, after all.
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Comment on We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way in ~finance
R3qn65 Link ParentInitial warning: This is a personal opinion, not a statement on how the world works. I’m happy to debate this opinion, but I’m not trying to conclusively, objectively prove that the field is...Initial warning: This is a personal opinion, not a statement on how the world works. I’m happy to debate this opinion, but I’m not trying to conclusively, objectively prove that the field is compromised or anything like that.
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Some cultural anthropology is okay. My primary issue is that in the beginning, anthropology (including cultural anthropology) was about trying to understand completely foreign systems. It’s impossible to do that completely objectively, of course; any human can’t help but view new things through the framing of information and beliefs we already have. But as the field matured, the more modern strands of cultural anthropology seem to be far more focused on explicitly applying pre-existing political lenses to whatever it is they’re studying. It’s not “I’m going to go see how it is,” anymore, so much as “I’m going to go see how [X] theory (typically something Marx-adjacent) explains how it is.”
The pre-existing bias became the feature, not something to try to control for.
Again, I’m not saying that the field should be shut down or is objectively bad or anything like that. Just saying that’s not how I think research should be done.
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Comment on We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way in ~finance
R3qn65 Link ParentThanks for digging this up. They seem like fairly standard socialist/socialist-adjacent policies.Thanks for digging this up. They seem like fairly standard socialist/socialist-adjacent policies.
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Comment on We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way in ~finance
R3qn65 Link ParentSort of minor, but he’s actually an economic anthropologist, not an economist. Economic anthropology, such as it is, is a more politically-flavored field that’s critical of mainstream economics....Hes an economist who is sort of an unofficial spokesperson for the Degrowth economic philosophy.
Sort of minor, but he’s actually an economic anthropologist, not an economist. Economic anthropology, such as it is, is a more politically-flavored field that’s critical of mainstream economics. Point being that Hickel’s degrees are in anthropology, not a quantitative or math-related field.
I really don’t like Hickel or cultural anthropology (though I’m trying to keep that bias out of this comment), but co-authors Stiglitz and Piketty are serious economists, so it’s not fair to throw the whole article out based just on that.
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Comment on We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way in ~finance
R3qn65 Link ParentAs far as I know, the most canonical argument here is Towards a New Socialism, written in 1993 by a scottish computer scientist — that may even be what @vord had in mind. The basic thesis is...It seems to me that simply "powerful computers" isn't quite the magic sauce that would make those systems work. But I'm certainly intrigued of the possibility of a deeply planned economy working in the future with the help of LLMs and other new computing things.
As far as I know, the most canonical argument here is Towards a New Socialism, written in 1993 by a scottish computer scientist — that may even be what @vord had in mind. The basic thesis is exactly that: that computers will enable a planned economy where it was previously impossible.
Personally I think there are a huge number of issues that computers cannot solve, and I think planned economies are a mistake. The problem with the Soviet Union’s economy (which is the primary example Towards a New Socialism reacts to) wasn’t insufficient processing power. But if you’re interested in reading the opposing view, that’s a good place to start.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
R3qn65 Link ParentNo man. Go do politics, I think that's great. Just don't go murder.I don't think all rich people are bad. But they are powerful, the very rich tremendously so, and that power is unchecked. What do we do when they use that power for selfish but legal reasons to the severe detriment of most others? Must we accept that just because they would be found innocent in the court of law?
No man. Go do politics, I think that's great. Just don't go murder.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
R3qn65 Link ParentAs I said explicitly:But saying that he didn't break the law and so that's the end of the story is missing the point
As I said explicitly:
More broadly, I'm not saying "suck it up and accept it," I'm pointing out that it's hugely important whether something is illegal, immoral, or just distasteful. It is a good thing to fight immoral (but not criminal) actions by voting, protesting, doing politics in general, etc. It's much harder to justify carrying out crimes (to say nothing of murder) to fight those immoral actions.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
R3qn65 Link ParentAgain, the context is that we're talking about murder as deterrence. More broadly, I'm not saying "suck it up and accept it," I'm pointing out that it's hugely important whether something is...Again, the context is that we're talking about murder as deterrence.
More broadly, I'm not saying "suck it up and accept it," I'm pointing out that it's hugely important whether something is illegal, immoral, or just distasteful. It is a good thing to fight immoral (but not criminal) actions by voting, protesting, doing politics in general, etc. It's much harder to justify carrying out crimes (to say nothing of murder) to fight those immoral actions.
I specifically asked about what crime disco thought Thompson committed because disco's entire frame was that the rich are not held accountable by the law. That frame doesn't make sense if Thompson hasn't actually committed a crime.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
R3qn65 Link ParentWell the core question is what actual crime you think Brian Thompson (or other healthcare CEOs) is getting away with? What behavior is the law failing to deter? I'm being fully serious. That's a...Well the core question is what actual crime you think Brian Thompson (or other healthcare CEOs) is getting away with? What behavior is the law failing to deter?
I'm being fully serious. That's a very key point that often gets glossed into "rich people bad." And that's what I was getting at earlier with my distinction between criminal behavior and stuff we just don't like -- the former could reasonably impel action, whereas the latter is just... Life.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
R3qn65 Link ParentWe're going pretty far afield. Even if I grant every single point you've made above, that doesn't really mean much of anything for my core assertion that personal outrage is not a legitimate basis...We're going pretty far afield. Even if I grant every single point you've made above, that doesn't really mean much of anything for my core assertion that personal outrage is not a legitimate basis for vigilante violence.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
R3qn65 Link ParentBy this logic, any sufficiently zealous person would be just in murdering the target of their ire, as long as that target was rich. You're touching on a reasonable point about how the...If I truly believed that abortion was as horrible as profiteering off of denying people lifesaving treatments, if it was just as harmful, then I would also find it just and maybe necessary that violence found a very rich person that actively worked for increasing access to abortion. Again, the core problem is that a rich person lacks the checks that apply to the common people, not that they are necessarily less moral and therefore more deserving of violence.
By this logic, any sufficiently zealous person would be just in murdering the target of their ire, as long as that target was rich.
You're touching on a reasonable point about how the ultra-wealthy generally face fewer consequences. But there are about 20 steps between that and "therefore murder as deterrence," and we've skipped right over them.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
R3qn65 Link ParentLook, nobody serious disputes that the law is a social construct. My point wasn't "the law is completely perfect and impartial," my point was that there's a crucial difference between "defined as...Look, nobody serious disputes that the law is a social construct. My point wasn't "the law is completely perfect and impartial," my point was that there's a crucial difference between "defined as criminal according to our mutually-agreed upon framework" and "I, personally, think it's bad."
We still very much can - and do - disagree on what a crime is, on what us legal. Between countries, between states, between judges, between lawyers, between people.
I don't really need to append "as per the legal code of the United States, as interpreted and executed by the US criminal justice system" to my earlier comment, right?
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
R3qn65 (edited )Link ParentThat's sort of a bug, not a feature. Basically, hospitals expect that patients without insurance generally cannot pay much at all, so they write down the bill below their own cost in an effort to...That's sort of a bug, not a feature. Basically, hospitals expect that patients without insurance generally cannot pay much at all, so they write down the bill below their own cost in an effort to at least get something. And they have to make up the shortfall by billing insurances more.
I'm not saying don't do it, of course. But it's not like you've discovered that hospitals are secretly marking up by 4000% or whatever -- they lose money on the care when you do this.
(That's assuming you're talking about catastrophic care. For stuff like routine lab tests, yeah, it's usually just cheaper because it's easier and faster for the hospital to get cash from you than go through the billing process, risk nonpayment, etc).
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Comment on A simple fix for exemplary tags - only give it to posts you disagree with in ~tildes
R3qn65 Link ParentMy whole post was about fostering better disagreements. I'm not going to get upset at you for disagreeing with me. The Jefferson example is evocative. I get that your point is that erudition does...- Exemplary
I'm sorry if this comes across as contentious or rude, that's not something I like and it's not my intention
My whole post was about fostering better disagreements. I'm not going to get upset at you for disagreeing with me.
The Jefferson example is evocative. I get that your point is that erudition does not equate to rightness -- but things are so very, very rarely that black-and-white.
You should do as you like, of course. Just didn't want to leave a comment of that effort unreplied to.
Haha, this is awesome, but a self described "complete travel noob" should under no circumstances go to Lebanon, Pakistan, or Syria. That's a completely unhinged recommendation ;)