DefinitelyNotAFae's recent activity
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Comment on Italy reimposes border controls on Spain after Ceuta migrant surge in ~society
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Comment on California goat grazing faces crisis after wage change in ~enviro
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentThey're legally required to provide room and board for their employees because they're on those specific visas. It's not a kindness thing. My former job also had to provide me room and board and...They're legally required to provide room and board for their employees because they're on those specific visas. It's not a kindness thing. My former job also had to provide me room and board and not consider it compensation because I was required to live there and respond.
The goat herders were interviewed in said 93 page report.
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Comment on California goat grazing faces crisis after wage change in ~enviro
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentThere is a 93 page report that contains at least some of the answers to the questions you ask. It was interesting to skim through. I found it via Google very easily! And your second question is...There is a 93 page report that contains at least some of the answers to the questions you ask. It was interesting to skim through. I found it via Google very easily!
And your second question is context dependent and nonsensical when comparing modern commercial herding to "centuries" of herding but answered as asked, of course.
The answer would be "of course" to any group of employees over the course of centuries. Because you're not asking if all of them were abused, nor are you delineating the herders who worked for themselves or families vs for private commercial business, or who were immigrants vs in their home country.
But yeah, of course herders have been abused for centuries.
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Comment on California goat grazing faces crisis after wage change in ~enviro
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentAnd the point made by @vord stands. Maybe they don't need 24 hour goatherds, maybe they need a pen with some livestock guard dogs. But if they do need them, they need 3-4 shifts of them, to cover...And the point made by @vord stands.
Maybe they don't need 24 hour goatherds, maybe they need a pen with some livestock guard dogs. But if they do need them, they need 3-4 shifts of them, to cover weekends.
But I could as easily ask why not let them cut their costs in half and not pay their workers as much as they are? Why not let them abuse their employees more?
(Because generally we don't want employers to abuse their employees)
Plus they have literally not tried it. Might as well, since it's the law and see how it goes. They can "claim" what they want, whatever they actually think. Lets see.
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Comment on End of Series - Tildes Book Club discussion - July 2026 - A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers in ~books
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentRight up there with I feel you a lot. I want to do more things than I can. That's ok. I'm still just ok to exist. I don't need to find my purpose. That purpose is to be.Right up there with
What's the purpose of a robot, Sibling Dex?" Mosscap tapped its chest; the sound echoed lightly. "What's the purpose of me?"
"You're here to learn about people."
"That's something I'm doing. That's not my reason for being. When I am done with this, I will do other things. I do not have a purpose any more than a mouse or a slug or a thornbush does. Why do you have to have one in order to feel content?
I feel you a lot. I want to do more things than I can. That's ok. I'm still just ok to exist. I don't need to find my purpose. That purpose is to be.
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Comment on No data centers in my backyard in ~society
DefinitelyNotAFae (edited )LinkAh yes the daily issues of the common human. Well you could make it green space and give it back to the community. If only everything didn't have to have commercial value. Or let the concrete sit...or the more workaday concern of your startup running out of cash.
Ah yes the daily issues of the common human.
maybe this is a choice between a hyperscale data center and a concrete slab. And Alyssa, Cathy, and Kaycee would rather pick the slab.
Well you could make it green space and give it back to the community. If only everything didn't have to have commercial value. Or let the concrete sit another 30 years and the plants will do it on their own I suppose.
Foxconn taught many residents to never believe a tech company’s—or their local government’s—sweet-talking ever again.
That's probably right.
But not everyone is losing out from the data center boom. Just ask any of the earthmovers, HVAC engineers, electricians, or crane operators earning six-figure salaries working on data centers.
Which isn't sustainable income for the community. Jobs building the thing aren't jobs that stay in the community, especially if your contractors aren't local.
It’s not as much permanent employment as a factory, but a far cry from the “jobs myth” that opponents assert.
It's not permanent employment at all though. It's "number go up" logic.
Even from her footnotes:
They were all grateful for the work—but nobody knew how long it’d last.
Yeah because it's not any permanent employment.
Most workers in America today, and most who are vulnerable to AI displacement, don’t have organized representation. In an age of accelerating disruptions, it sure would be nice to have a guy like Terry on your side.
Yeah the AI companies really should support unions!
Every day people will be flying in from literally around the world to go to that data center. They will be in our hotels, they will be at our restaurants, they will hopefully fall in love with our community and move here,” Ted proclaimed.
That's... An interesting argument but where's that evidence? Even the reporter didn't claim tourism money just construction money.
“I don’t know that Teddy Roosevelt would have been able to do what he did if he was worried about what was said to him on Facebook,” he said.
Ah, humility
DTE and Consumers Energy have assured us that your rates will not rise,’ which nobody trusts, because they’ve experienced DTE and Consumers raise rates repeatedly,”
From a PR lens this is the strongest case from opponents. Your rates will never fall anyway so the promise that they'll rise is believable and will be fulfilled and thus attested to the next town interested in fighting it. Plus people already hate getting asked to conserve electricity on power grids, doing so while the data center doesn't slow down? The grids failing because the power company didn't invest in infrastructure but still raised your rates? Winning case every time.
Especially when
The 1.4 GW data center is a 25 percent increase on top of DTE’s total demand—likely requiring new generators and gas plants to supply it.
Yeah. Why here? Because you can bully the town? (They did)
the audience booed even louder at the name Elon Musk.
Well he just said we'll get rid of source code and the AI will write directly into binary, and that Grok would make a better Odyssey with more white people, so guess that'll show them.
In San Francisco we see how desperate the industry is for compute—
And how the average person is worried about their startup! I'm sorry that line is just so out of touch.
And they have no data centers in SF apparently. Yeah it feels like they want to outsource their construction/land/noise/etc because they do.
being “pro-growth” in the generic has lost its sheen.
Because number doesn't only go up. When number goes down, these towns lose out, again.
A backroom data center deal, then, is the negation of thymos. It is corrosive not because it is uneconomical or will make residents worse off in every case, but because it suggests that the demos’s buy-in was never important at all.
What is perhaps the most frustrating thing is that this was apparently inconceivable until they went to Wisconsin. Is still inconceivable to the AI companies in SF. How deeply out of touch. Not just from the industry but from the journalists. It's great they did this, this should be the standard though and if we hadn't gutted local journalism out of a similar lack of value for thymos, we might get it more often.
Idk the journalist outside of this so it may just be how she comes off in the article. Maybe she's a vocal critic. Skimming her work she tries for some balance but seems fairly pro-industry
Someone else who shared her work was explaining patiently that there isn't "9/9/6" culture in Wisconsin. No there isn't because that's awful, please get a union! Like for real. That's half your life at work. Like that's literally illegal in better places. You'd make less money in WI but the cheese is better and the cost of living is lower and you won't have to worry about your start up because you can just like, work a job and live your life.
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Comment on End of Series - Tildes Book Club discussion - July 2026 - A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers in ~books
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentYou are allowed to just live. You don't need to justify that or earn it.You’re an animal, Sibling Dex. You are not separate or other. You’re an animal. And animals have no purpose. Nothing has a purpose. The world simply is. If you want to do things that are meaningful to others, fine! Good! So do I! But if I wanted to crawl into a cave and watch stalagmites with Frostfrog for the remainder of my days, that would also be both fine and good. You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do.
You are allowed to just live. You don't need to justify that or earn it.
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Comment on End of Series - Tildes Book Club discussion - July 2026 - A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers in ~books
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentAbsolutely felt this way during my first attempts at being a therapist, and I went to school for it! You make so many missteps when you're learning. I think Dex could have gotten more guidance but...Absolutely felt this way during my first attempts at being a therapist, and I went to school for it! You make so many missteps when you're learning. I think Dex could have gotten more guidance but was being stubborn in choosing not to. Been there too.
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Comment on End of Series - Tildes Book Club discussion - July 2026 - A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers in ~books
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentWhile it's also called a solar punk story, it's also called hopepunk. And the story fills me with hope. I think we need aspirational stories of humanity as much as we need grounded stories of how...While it's also called a solar punk story, it's also called hopepunk. And the story fills me with hope. I think we need aspirational stories of humanity as much as we need grounded stories of how to fight to make things better.
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Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society
DefinitelyNotAFae (edited )Link ParentI am not missing the point. I disagree with you. I am telling you that an "official language" means different things in different countries. It's not "twisting" anything to tell you that you're...I am not missing the point. I disagree with you.
I am telling you that an "official language" means different things in different countries. It's not "twisting" anything to tell you that you're wrong when you state all business must occur in Māori. Wales similarly has de facto English and de jure Welsh recognition and they haven't fallen apart any time recently.
That is just how "official language" - something many countries don't have and some are "officially multilingual" instead of having one or many "official languages" works as a term in various countries in various legal systems. Never mind when "official language" is only a translation.
You are arguing with the professor because you're contradicting his precise point. I don't know why as you've cited no sources, just insisted that your interpretation is correct and that the way other countries use it is "twisting" the term. That's not even an argument.
That's independent of you caring, or not, about what NZ does, a thing irrelevant to the unsourced, inaccurate claims you keep making. If you would like to cite sources that say I'm wrong about my interpretation of NZ law and this process, I'm open to learning. I'm using Wikipedia and while I'm acknowledging that there is certainly more complexity than I can glean just from there, it's pretty clear about official languages varying worldwide.
But this:
Normally I'd say "who cares if the languages have the 'incorrect' status? Just be reasonable." But I mean...it's the government. If they want to make sure the rule of law is upheld, they should be following the law.
Is false. Not only was the government upholding the law from the 80s to the present, but nothing was incorrect previously.
So no, I'm not missing your point, I don't agree with your point, or your premises. I also don't agree with the conclusion that one shouldn't fight the thing the "fascists" do (your word) because you think it's silly. You said similar about other topics and we fundamentally disagree that giving ground is productive.
New Zealand coalition votes to make English an official language as critics decry ‘cynical’ bill | New Zealand politics | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/04/new-zealand-english-official-language-bill
Languages of New Zealand - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_New_Zealand
English Language Bill - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Language_Bill
Official language - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_language
National language - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_language
Languages of the United Kingdom - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_Kingdom
Languages of Australia - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Australia
Officials warned English-first logo change could harm Crown–Māori ties
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/officials-warned-english-first-logo-change-could-harm-crownmaori-ties/6N2GHTVCLVAHVJ2H24FP4LQTKM/A prior briefing to then-Public Service Minister Judith Collins in early April stated Collins had previously instructed the Public Service Commission to reverse the ordering of te reo Māori and English names in its branding “quickly and at minimal cost”.
The Public Service Commission advised that the changes could be viewed negatively by some, given a Waitangi Tribunal inquiry on the use of te reo in the public sector.
“Given the tribunal’s findings, the proposed changes are likely to be seen as inherently detrimental and a de-prioritisation of the promotion of te reo Māori (as the language in need of revitalisation in order to survive), and as diminishing Crown efforts to meet its duties of active protection and partnership, thus doing material harm to the Crown-Māori relationship,” officials said.
Why does it matter? (Emphasis mine)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nzs-official-languages-what-you-need-to-know/YJDVQ6SKLBDLZCMBITR75V53UY/“It doesn’t make much sense on the face of it that English is so widely used [but isn’t an official language like Māori and NZSL],” says Dr Julia de Bres, a sociolinguist and senior lecturer at Massey University.
“If it was just about tidying the legislation, I wouldn’t have a problem with the proposal,” she says. But in the context of the Government’s promised changes to Te Tiriti o Waitangi relations and co-governance, “I don’t think that’s what it’s about”.
If it isn’t needed for practical reasons, we can infer it’s being done for symbolic or other reasons, she adds.
“Dominant social groups work to maintain their power. And it’s possible some people feel if more Māori is being used, that means English is losing its power. So it’s a move to maintain the linguistic status quo.
“It can be framed as a tidying up exercise, but if English is named as ‘official’, that’ll be used by people to impose English in places where otherwise te reo Māori might have had a chance.”
And a dozen more news articles and links I clicked through.
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Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentI linked a professor making the point of why te reo and NZSL were made official - to provide protections not otherwise granted in a de facto English system - that English doesn't need because it's...I linked a professor making the point of why te reo and NZSL were made official - to provide protections not otherwise granted in a de facto English system - that English doesn't need because it's the de facto English system.
Official language doesn't mean the same thing in each country and recognizing minority languages to protect them doesn't mean you have to recognize English out of some odd "fairness" or something unless you assume that the languages exist in opposition to each other.
As noted by someone else that they really wanted to control some other aspects of language in the government by requiring it to be in English instead of Māori which again suggests this is not a "neutral" act done to even things up.
Which is why the "who" is doing it and their intentions matter in the first place.
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Comment on Ariana Grande is ‘taking a step back from visibility’ after tour as public scrutiny intensifies in ~music
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentI love intuitive eating as a structure for thinking about food! I'm glad you've found something that works for you. I "joke" that ADHD saved me from hitting an actual ED diagnosis but I still run...I love intuitive eating as a structure for thinking about food! I'm glad you've found something that works for you. I "joke" that ADHD saved me from hitting an actual ED diagnosis but I still run into "well I could just skip the meal anyway" thoughts on a semi-regular basis. Counting calories or carbs or whatever makes me miserable and I'd rather not be miserable as a rule. So I try to keep that healthier relationship around.
I am definitely not advocating for the current dialogue as it stands, I've seen some outliers who post really good, educational, non-shaming videos using the previous Wicked round of speculation about Ariana and Cynthia as the jumping off point. I mostly avoid celebrity gossip creators so I don't get the more harmful ones, but it's still insidious. (I also follow decent food/exercise creators who defend women, advocate for eating good stuff and not demonizing candy (or seed oils ಠ_ಠ) or people for eating how they like and will point out how unhealthy thinspiration is to consume... It helps!)
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Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentTake it up with the UK. Official language doesn't mean the same thing in every country. And de facto and de jure languages exist in different ways in different countries.Take it up with the UK.
Official language doesn't mean the same thing in every country. And de facto and de jure languages exist in different ways in different countries.
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Comment on As Reddit stock falls, CEO questions value of Google’s AI Overviews in ~tech
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentSure having the ability to subgroup is also key! But yeah it's less complacency and more a lack of options (or too many) and having to convince enough people to just pick (the same) one and then...Sure having the ability to subgroup is also key! But yeah it's less complacency and more a lack of options (or too many) and having to convince enough people to just pick (the same) one and then hope that one doesn't go under in 3 months. Especially with people at varying levels of tech competency.
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Comment on Ariana Grande is ‘taking a step back from visibility’ after tour as public scrutiny intensifies in ~music
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentYeah I wasn't disagreeing, so much as acknowledging the bigger societal picture. I agree that "this" is some repetition of that past with some parasocial "I'm so worried about her" tagged on. But...Yeah I wasn't disagreeing, so much as acknowledging the bigger societal picture. I agree that "this" is some repetition of that past with some parasocial "I'm so worried about her" tagged on. But also celebs being the jumping off point for bigger conversations isn't entirely unusual either - whether it's about health or domestic violence or any number of things.
But there's still a person under all that.
As part of the population that would be more likely to be praised for an eating disorder than get concern for it, I have a lot of feelings about the whole thing. Plus I work with college students whose own disordered eating is a whole other tangle I can't actually ever unravel with them due to not being a clinical professional.
I don't know how to just promote "healthy relationship to food" without having to deal with "skinnylicious" menus and plenty of concern trolling about bodies in general.
Thanks for your reply!
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Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society
DefinitelyNotAFae (edited )Link ParentThere don't seem to be more substantive arguments in favor of this change shared in this article. either. I don't understand why you're only skeptical of the opposition rather than equally...There don't seem to be more substantive arguments in favor of this change shared in this article. either. I don't understand why you're only skeptical of the opposition rather than equally critical of the proponents if you think the whole thing is "stupid" not just the opposition to it. I found the summary in the article to demonstrate the arguments made as reasonable and valid criticism of the concept.
This is what feels like the whole Just Asking Questions phenomenon where your criticism is originally that they're doing it "wrong" by not making substantive arguments while now admitting you have no idea what the strength of their arguments actually was. And you're "just asking" whether they did a good job, but actually you seem to be assuming it.
I don't think that's reasonable criticism as it's based only on a hypothetical framed as judgement of the opposition for doing a poor job despite lacking the evidence. Maybe they didn't do well and despite the summaries. But I won't start from the assumption that they're being stupid while fighting this stupid policy as even though I've done a decent amount of reading on this and still know I don't understand the intricacies. Nor will I assume they're in reflexive opposition rather than reasonable one.
So you're free to assume and do your own research or not as you like but I don't think any of your posts here are making cogent points given the assumptions they're making. Perhaps another article will provide you with more detail.
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Comment on Ariana Grande is ‘taking a step back from visibility’ after tour as public scrutiny intensifies in ~music
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentI don't think public call outs are helpful and they're definitely part of the parasocial relationship between fans and celebrities. Harassing someone about their body does not lead to them being...I don't think public call outs are helpful and they're definitely part of the parasocial relationship between fans and celebrities. Harassing someone about their body does not lead to them being healthier or safer.
And also... celebrities function in this public space often as role models, even unwillingly. Having lived through the era where the slightest stomach pooch would lead to Jessica Simpson or Britney Spears being called fat or pregnant in all of the tabloids and the impact of this on girls and women, especially the teenage girls I knew at the time... There is some space for societal concern about this trend returning, worsened by access to things like ozempic.
And this is why nothing about celebrity is particularly healthy, or positive for society IMO.
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Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society
DefinitelyNotAFae (edited )Link ParentThat's not true and certainly hasn't been the case since te reo/Māori was named official in 1987. Also it's NZSL not ESL (which is English as a Second Language). Also weird that you wouldn't have...The issue to me is that with only Maori and ESL as official languages, that technically means that all government business needs to be conducted in Maori.
That's not true and certainly hasn't been the case since te reo/Māori was named official in 1987. Also it's NZSL not ESL (which is English as a Second Language). Also weird that you wouldn't have to conduct all business in NZSL too under this false assumption.
Fwiw, Australia and the UK also do not list English as an official language and still do business daily.Official languages only give a requirement like thatif that is written into the law. From a law professor from the wiki:
English is already a de facto official language, which may be used in any or all public or official contexts. (...) [W]e legislated te reo [Māori] and sign language as being "official languages", in order to affirmatively grant the right to use them in particular, specified situations where they otherwise could not be used. This is not the case with English. It's simply a general, background cultural presumption in our particular society that this is the language of our government. (...) English is so much an "official language" that our law actually specifies in various places it must be used in place of any other.[4]
But I mean...it's the government. If they want to make sure the rule of law is upheld, they should be following the law.
So the government has been following the law the entire time. It seems like you're making a lot of assumptions using perhaps an American paradigm. The "rights" of an official language vary depending on what has been put into law. And NZ law does not, to the best of my ability to search, have any of the provisions you're claiming. So if you have a citation I'm open to being wrong, but otherwise afaict this is just factually incorrect
ETA it is genuinely upsetting to see outright falsehoods upvoted.
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Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentThey did. Also why Maori and NZ sign language are given special status (mirroring Welsh being recognized regionally in the UK but English being given no de jure status) And this is just a sample...They did.
In a report presented to the House in June, the country’s Justice Committee said it received written submissions from 1,601 people and groups regarding the bill, and almost two-thirds of these opposed it.
According to the report, opponents of the move argued that making English an official language would be “an unnecessary use of resources,” create “unnecessary division within society,” and would be “undermining the two other official languages” and their legislation, which gave those minority languages stronger rights and supported their use in legal proceedings.
Also why Maori and NZ sign language are given special status (mirroring Welsh being recognized regionally in the UK but English being given no de jure status)
Paul added that the Māori language has protected status “because it was beaten out of Māori systematically. We had to march our asses to parliament demanding that the indigenous first language of this country be recognized and not beaten out of the mouths of its native speakers.”
And this is just a sample of them, so they did make these arguments, and did believe it was worth standing up for. I don't think telling them not to care would be useful or effective political advice from a country with a very different system.
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Comment on Babylon 5 S01E21: "The Quality of Mercy" - Discussion Thread in ~tv
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentSome part of me is numb to it, I have also worked with people who were incarcerated in a secure mental facility and who were found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity and so I agree the portrayals...Some part of me is numb to it, I have also worked with people who were incarcerated in a secure mental facility and who were found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity and so I agree the portrayals are, though very 90s, not very accurate.
JMS asking more questions than answers about the idea
There are actually many issues to get into in all of this. Which is really the "person," the mind, the soul, or the body? If a person has an accident, getting amnesia, which wipes out his entire personality, is that person as good as dead? Is there no difference between amnesia and death? If not, why not just kill the amnesiac? But obviously there is a difference. So what is the person? What constitutes death?
We consider the actual death of the brain through the cessation of brain activity to be the test for death. But what if you simply rearrange those patterns?There is also the question of justice. If the person is dead, then that person cannot do much to correct the ills he visited upon society. It is simply a waste of material. So why not take someone who, in any decent society, would be executed or forced to live in a 6x9 cage the rest of his life, and give the soul, and the body, a new chance by giving the person a new personality and letting him, as the Ombuds says, "serve the community harmed by his actions"?
Finally, if the person is dead, he's dead; let's say 5 years down the road somebody finds evidence that proves the person was innocent. There is at least the chance to reconstruct some of the original memories and personality profile.
All of this, again, has to be considered in light of the fact that we are talking about a space station with limited space and resources. You cannot warehouse every person who kill somebody in a station that small; you would run out of space almost immediately. (If you also include basic felons and near-killings.) So what do you do with them? As was noted, Earth doesn't want them and won't pay to have them shipped back...what's left?
I think JMS very much wanted to raise these questions without saying this is the best or right thing to do, but also to acknowledge the harm of lifetime, especially solitary, confinement and basically all of our existing options.
Both the concept of giving ones "life force" to others and the concept of whether erased personalities leave the new personality to carry the blame will come back in future episodes.
I also agree in feeling great, deep, sadness over the realities of our ability to help these people before or after they go down these paths. And to keep the focus on them being people. I don't think you're thinking too deeply, I just think the reality of it is as messy as the questions the show raises.
The Far Right Is Distorting Ceuta