acdw's recent activity
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Comment on What Rural America Has to Teach Us in ~life
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Comment on Campaigners hail 'seismic shift' in diversity of US children's books in ~books
acdw Link This is great! I work in a library in the states doing story-times, and it's really noticeable how few books featuring main characters of color there are. We're building a more diverse collection...This is great! I work in a library in the states doing story-times, and it's really noticeable how few books featuring main characters of color there are. We're building a more diverse collection and it's great to see publishers care about this issue. It's so important for kids to see people that look like them in literature.
2 votes -
Comment on Share Your Mastodon IDs! in ~talk
acdw Link Parent That sounds like a great idea! I write on my personal site about the books I read right now, but maybe I could post their covers on pixelfed and hotlink em from there to save bandwidth. Though...That sounds like a great idea! I write on my personal site about the books I read right now, but maybe I could post their covers on pixelfed and hotlink em from there to save bandwidth. Though that's probably a dick move... So maybe I'll just cross-post.
1 vote -
Comment on What Rural America Has to Teach Us in ~life
acdw Link Parent I think you're right -- just look at how cities work in Europe, for example. It's really only a matter of investment.A lot of these are addressable though, we just choose not to address them because, until recently, the inner city was for poor people of color and consequently, not a priority for public investment.
I think you're right -- just look at how cities work in Europe, for example. It's really only a matter of investment.
2 votes -
Comment on What Rural America Has to Teach Us in ~life
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Comment on What Rural America Has to Teach Us in ~life
acdw Link Parent To (3), thank you for putting to words a vague feeling I've been having for a while about this type of article. If anything, I'm exactly the type of person who should be moving back to my small...To (3), thank you for putting to words a vague feeling I've been having for a while about this type of article. If anything, I'm exactly the type of person who should be moving back to my small hometown and educating people: I'm white, male, cis, etc. I check all those boxes. But I don't want to deal with it either, just on an annoyance/mental health level. I can't even imagine what the situation's like for people who are in actual marginalized groups, who could legitimately have their safety risked by moving to some places in the US.
3 votes -
Comment on What Rural America Has to Teach Us in ~life
acdw Link Parent To that, this article by Michele Anderson speaks much more eloquently, I think. She agrees that small towns have more going for them than the standard narrative says, but reckons with their...just saying "the community project is to find ways to lure them back" isn't really much of a description of a solution and kind of downplays how these places are draining
To that, this article by Michele Anderson speaks much more eloquently, I think. She agrees that small towns have more going for them than the standard narrative says, but reckons with their decline as well.
2 votes -
Comment on What Rural America Has to Teach Us in ~life
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Comment on What Rural America Has to Teach Us in ~life
acdw Link Parent This is 100% my experience growing up in a small tourist town. We lived about a half-hour away from all of our friends, so we had to drive everywhere to hang out with anyone. The only restaurants...I needed to drive 15 minutes to see anyone. There was nothing to do.
Here there is always something to do.
This is 100% my experience growing up in a small tourist town. We lived about a half-hour away from all of our friends, so we had to drive everywhere to hang out with anyone. The only restaurants were chains. The only things to do were bowling (which is a lot of fun, don't get me wrong) or going to the minigolf courses again. I much prefer living in a city; in fact, the 250K-pop one I live in now isn't quite big enough for me. I'd love to live in a million+ pop city because everything happens there.
6 votes -
Comment on What Rural America Has to Teach Us in ~life
acdw Link I came across this opinion piece by David Brooks through Mastodon and was struck by how patronizing it was. I'm from the rural South, and this article felt almost like a "noble savage" treatment...I came across this opinion piece by David Brooks through Mastodon and was struck by how patronizing it was. I'm from the rural South, and this article felt almost like a "noble savage" treatment of rural towns in America. It's like, "Oh, look at these kind peoples who have something we've lost in our grimey, crime-ridden cities! If only we could steer America back to this Edenic time where we didn't have to lock our doors, and really participated in our communities, O how wonderful it'd be!"
It's just like, David, you know you can move to a small town, right? I'm sure NYT will let you write from home.
I wonder what my fellow tilderinos think about it.
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11 votes
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Comment on Share Your Mastodon IDs! in ~talk
acdw Link Parent Hey I'm on pixelfed too! I haven't posted anything yet because I don't do photography much, but anyway I'm at @acdw@pixelfed.social.Hey I'm on pixelfed too! I haven't posted anything yet because I don't do photography much, but anyway I'm at @acdw@pixelfed.social.
1 vote -
Comment on Share Your Mastodon IDs! in ~talk
acdw Link I'm @acdw@writing.exchange. I usually shit-post; that's what I see on my feed. Sometimes I ask questions or am real.I'm @acdw@writing.exchange. I usually shit-post; that's what I see on my feed. Sometimes I ask questions or am real.
2 votes -
Comment on The role of mastodon.social in the Mastodon ecosystem in ~tech
acdw Link If Mastodon really focused on account migration, then maybe mastodon.social could be like a "beginner's server," where most people could sign up and learn the ropes of Mastodon, the network, and...If Mastodon really focused on account migration, then maybe mastodon.social could be like a "beginner's server," where most people could sign up and learn the ropes of Mastodon, the network, and the Fediverse. Then when they know what's going on and know what they want to focus on, they could choose another server and migrate their account there. Then mastodon.social wouldn't be too big a player, but there'd still be one main "entry point" into the network for people used to siloed social media.
3 votes -
Comment on The role of mastodon.social in the Mastodon ecosystem in ~tech
acdw Link Parent For an end-user, I think it is just as simple as a "decentralized twitter." The mechanics are all the same -- you post short messages, and reply to, favorite, and boost others' messages. You...For an end-user, I think it is just as simple as a "decentralized twitter." The mechanics are all the same -- you post short messages, and reply to, favorite, and boost others' messages. You follow people and they follow you in a non-symmetrical way (like twitter, versus facebook). That's it as far as I can tell. I don't really know if it wants to go mainstream, but the admins are proud when user number milestones are hit (I think we just got 2 million? I could be very wrong).
As far as whether social networks are supposed to be centralized, I'm not so sure. I think of it kind of like towns: there are a lot of neighborhoods that are closer-knit, but anyone from any neighborhood can talk to anyone from any other neighborhood, too. That's decentralized. There's some centralization, for example, everyone speaks the same "language" (here, ActivityPub, the federation protocol), and there's shared roads and infrastructure (Mastodon's software and the Internet), but as far as people are concerned, it doesn't matter "where you're from," in terms of conversations. I think the metaphor kind of fell apart there, but it mostly holds together. I feel like federated social networks are more "natural," or more similar to actual communities, than the current siloed paradigm.
3 votes -
Comment on What's your opinion on Accelerationism? in ~talk
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Comment on What's your opinion on Accelerationism? in ~talk
acdw Link Parent This is me. I'd never heard of it until someone on another thread in Tildes accused someone else of accelerationism. I'm still not 100% sure I understand what it is.This is me. I'd never heard of it until someone on another thread in Tildes accused someone else of accelerationism. I'm still not 100% sure I understand what it is.
7 votes -
Comment on Both sides of the abortion debate want to defend and protect in ~talk
acdw Link Parent No, that's not what I was saying at all. I'm saying that the Evangelical Christian leadership have a rhetorical disconnect between what they say they believe in (the teachings of a rabbi who was...Do you think that people who disagree with you politically are inherently evil?
No, that's not what I was saying at all. I'm saying that the Evangelical Christian leadership have a rhetorical disconnect between what they say they believe in (the teachings of a rabbi who was killed for saying we should love one another and work to end injustice) and how they act (calling for the harming or death of doctors performing abortions, refusing service to homosexuals, engaging in xenophobia around immigrants, etc.).
both sides intend to do what is best for the most people.
In a functioning society, I'd agree with you. However, we're outside of that realm. People are calling for the death or imprisonment of immigrants for no other reason than that they're immigrants. There's been a ramping-up of hate speech and terrorism perpetrated by one side of this "debate" (which I put in scare quotes because I don't think a bad-faith actor can participate in a debate, and I think that many of the religious right are bad actors). Tell me, in what way is the Westboro Baptist Church intending to do what is best for the most people? In what way are evangelical mega-church preachers like Joel Osteen, who preach a prosperity gospel while lining their pockets with money conned from their congregations, intending to do what is best for the most people? I'm sorry if this is a little scattered, by the way. I haven't cited any of my arguments because I don't really want to spend all day on this.
There is no one political system at the moment which sees the best for everyone - only attempts at such, which inevitably have consequences for small groups of people.
I absolutely agree with you on this. I just think we should be looking for a more equitable system, that minimizes the consequences as much as possible. I think most would agree that our current political system is utterly broken in that regard.
I have one question for you. Why do you detest when people suggest that if Christians were really serious about following the teachings of Jesus, then they'd be about social welfare and social justice and loving their neighbor and helping the poor? What do you read as Jesus' teachings in the Bible, and how do you think Christians should express their faith in a secular nation?
5 votes -
Comment on Both sides of the abortion debate want to defend and protect in ~talk
acdw Link Parent Absolutely agree. I think that Singer fails to account for (maybe purposefully, to make a point) the biological imperative to propagate the species. We have complex brain chemistry that screams at...I find that I agree with him in theory, because his argument is reasonable, but I disagree with him emotionally and would never be able to actually recommend killing a baby.
Absolutely agree. I think that Singer fails to account for (maybe purposefully, to make a point) the biological imperative to propagate the species. We have complex brain chemistry that screams at us not to harm human children, and that's going to trump any argument to the contrary, no matter how well-reasoned.
2 votes -
Comment on Both sides of the abortion debate want to defend and protect in ~talk
acdw Link Parent YEP. That's my main clue that conservative American Christianity isn't actually about following Jesus (because then they'd be all about welfare programs, social justice, etc.), but about...the main message that I've gotten from Jesus' teachings is that we're supposed to take care of and love everyone
YEP. That's my main clue that conservative American Christianity isn't actually about following Jesus (because then they'd be all about welfare programs, social justice, etc.), but about consolidating power into the hands of one in-group and running the country as they see fit.
6 votes
Yes, or they do what Brooks does here: romanticize the life as a callback to a "Simpler time," which is just as patronizing. Country life is just life, at least in my experience: it's just less connected, more independent, and a little slower (because it physically takes longer to get places).