I worry that for 3rd parties to put forth any effort, there needs to be incentives… which would be in the form of demand… which isn’t there yet because they don’t put any effort into it.

MS is playing a dangerous game (for them). If they turn the screws on users hard enough then Linux might gain enough market share for there to be real demand. I’m trying to get people to switch but the lack of third party support makes it a minefield sometimes.

The war of drugs, and most other similar initiatives, mainly exist as tools for “law enforcement”. In reality , “law enforcement” is primarily aimed at the lower classes when they step out of line.

It’s extremely important to recognize that “laws” are enforced selectively. Those with power, money, and influence rarely suffer anything more than performative punishment, and only when not doing so might cause a substantial public backlash.

At the start of the war on drugs with Nixon, it was recognized (openly in conversations made public thanks to Watergate) as an extremely convenient way for cops to target and control blacks and anti-war protesters.

This continues today. Cop pulls you over and gets suspicious because you aren’t white… “Is that marijuana I smell? I’m going to have to search your vehicle to find or, maybe even plant, something I can use to charge you with a crime.” … “You don’t consent? That’s sounds really suspicious. What are you hiding? Nothing? Well then it’d be easier if you just consent. It’s really in your best interest.” … “Still no? Well, I hope you don’t have somewhere to be, I’m going to have to call a K-9 in while I take 30 minutes to write up your ticket…”

Their union has done a decent job of documenting some of their behavior. This wasn’t an anomaly.

Don’t forget that when it crashes, they’ll get to try to rebuild the system so that it’s more stable for the capitalist class and workers have fewer rights and options.

It’ll also help to underfund the system so that Republicans can pretend they need to cut more shit, like “entitlements” (Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid).

It uh… actually doesn’t.

Thanks for being so detailed!

I use caddy for straightforward https, but every time I try to use it for a service that isn’t just a reverse_proxy entry, I really struggle to find resources I understand… and most of the time the “solutions” I find are outdated and don’t seem to work. The most recent example of this for me would be Baikal.

Do you have any recommendations for where I might get good examples and learn more about how do troubleshoot and improve my Caddyfile entries?

Thanks!

the problem is the human element

I absolutely agree. The difference is that the incentives of capitalism virtually guarantee exploitation and inequality. It’s a system that encourages the concentration of wealth and power. Antisocial and anticompetitive tactics maximize returns and ensure that bad actors willing to put profit above anything else benefit the most and rise to the top as leaders and bosses. It relies on competition and, assumes “market forces” will self correct an imbalanced system… eventually.

Unless you want a brutal, unstable system where power and wealth accumulate and get concentrated until a violent shift (hopefully) collapses that power and eventually market forces pick a new “winner” you need regulation to keep the profit motive in check and competition fair. Still, the rules of the system encourage regulatory capture as competitive actors try to gain advantage however they can, regardless of the impact on the general population.

Socialism, honestly, has become a weird catch-all term for critiques of capitalism looking to align the goals of society toward democracy and equality. There is a ton of theory and different methods of achieving or implementing such a society but that’s kind of where I see things.

Within that eventual ideal society there is still the ability for people to exploit each other for power. The human element doesn’t disappear. The idea is that it is harder when the goal of the system is to ensure everyone has what they need and everyone gets a say in how things are done. The system needs to be built and tweaked with checks and balances to ensure that power doesn’t get concentrated without the ability for the greater population to redistribute that power.

Basically, unless you are a proponent of laissez-faire capitalism (no government involvement) then you recognize the danger posed by unfettered capitalism. Socialism attempts to change the incentives so that society can be designed, fundamentally, to minimize the danger posed by that human element. It recognizes that a democratic and fair capitalist society is an oxymoron.

I have a challenge for you. Again, assuming you are not a proponent of laissez-faire capitalism, think about the ways that our capitalist society could be improved by new regulation or the removal or adjusting of existing bad regulation (Edit: regulation is meant to include laws, taxes, etc). How many of those regulations don’t exist - were proposed and shot down - because those empowered by capitalism (Edit: **who have achieved disproportionate wealth and power via capitalism and wish to maintain their status) have fought tooth and tail to prevent them? How many of those bad, restrictive, existing regulations were implemented, or twisted, by those empowered by capitalism?

Edit: Look around the world at the questionable actions performed by the United States and ask why did the US do that? What was their incentive? More often than not, it involves preserving and furthering the power of those who already hold a disproportionate amount of power in that capitalist society.

It isn’t mixed messages. It isn’t even hypocrisy. It is so very far beyond that. There is no inconsistent morality or ideals to depart from. Words, categories, definitions… these things mean what they need them to mean in the moment. Whatever serves their interests becomes the reality they pretend exists.

Do I suffer when I offend people with my speech? Respect the first amendment! Free speech! Government oppression! Tyranny! Anti-American!

Do I suffer when someone else says it? Well, that’s hate speech. Damages our children. It’s basically a call to violence - terrorism really, when you get right down to it. Anti-American!

Name a value and I promise you they’ll flip on a dime given the right situation.

2nd amendment? Not if minorities start carrying! Freedom of religion? Only as long as it’s their religion… Every life is sacred? Nah, only the lives they care about, like cute little white babies.

Nothing means anything anymore and that’s just how they like it.

While I like the idea of credit unions, I opened a bank account with one for my first credit card - I was traveling overseas and it was recommended to have a card for that. I put $500 in a new savings account but the card arrived too late for my trip so I kind of let it sit and never really used the card or account. Checked back a year or two later and the account lost money due to an inactivity fee. Closed my accounts instantly. Shit like that really sticks with you and I’m still hesitant to try them again.

When I was a kid my mother’s boyfriend bragged of doing exactly this. He heard them having a conversation in another language at a gas station, approached them, and started speaking to them in German. When they were confused he allegedly said exactly the phrase. You are in America, speak English. He thought it was hysterical.

He may have been full of shit, but the fact that he felt it worth bragging about said enough about him.

I replied to the following statement:

I could look up my dad’s name and all I get are articles about a serial killer who just happened to have the same name

I countered this dismissal by quoting the article, which explains that it was more than just a coincidental name mix up.

You response is not really relevant to my response, unless you are assuming I’m arguing for one side or the other. I’m just informing someone who dismissed the article’s headline using an explanation that demonstrated that they didn’t bother to read the article.

Nothing is wrong with the tech (except it doesn’t seem very useful when you firmly know what it can’t do), but everything is wrong with that tech being called artificial intelligence.

If the owners of the technology call it artificial intelligence and hype or sell it as a potential replacement for intelligent human decision making then it should be absolutely be judged on those grounds.

ChatGPT’s “made-up horror story” not only hallucinated events that never happened, but it also mixed “clearly identifiable personal data”—such as the actual number and gender of Holmen’s children and the name of his hometown—with the “fake information,” Noyb’s press release said.

Don’t know about getting money back, but it is something of a coop. My link includes a recommendation to vote “withhold” in the current election, why they recommend the action, and how to do so.

REI. Just another corporation in a “Good Guy” costume. https://www.ourrei.com/2025-rei-board-elections

Union busting, problematic supply chains, pulling PPE from staff. Hell, officially supporting Trump’s pick for Secretary of the Interior because I guess they can’t help themselves.

I try to spend consciously and it’s fucking depressing. The list of companies I avoid grows and grows and grows. If it isn’t some antisocial billionaires throwing their weight around trying to get more money or change the world to better fit their vision with complete and utter disregard for normal people, it’s pressure from the millionaires to increase share value so they can try to get their turn.

The need to increase profit, or more recently increase the rate of growth (the line that shows how fast the line goes up has been discovered so now that line needs to go up), has ruined everything.

If the company isn’t completely, directly captured by these antisocial forces they are indirectly captured by the environment that is dominated by those same forces. Monopolies, anticompetitive business practices, hostile takeovers, vulture capitalists, ladder pulling, or just people strapped for cash that just buy whatever is cheaper regardless of the human cost involved.

Now everyone else is being squeezed and struggle to live a decent life or find dignity. Those responsible for this environment just use those struggling people. They’ll redirect them to squeezing each other - scams, pyramid schemes, MLMs. They’ll keep us fighting amongst ourselves - blame immigrants, minorities, DEI.

Now “AI” is continuing to get hyped and pushed even if it sucks at its job and demands insane amount of energy. It’s way cheaper than people, or at least the cost is easier to pass on to others and it might be even cheaper eventually… so everyone is investing in it.

From an American perspective, it’s just so much and I feel like things are only getting worse and fast.

There is also the corpo verified id route. In order to avoid the onslaught of AI bots and all that comes with them you’ll need to sacrifice freedom, anonymity, and privacy like a good little peasant to prove you aren’t a bot… and so will everyone else. You’ll likely be forced to deal with whatever AI bots are forced upon you while within the walls but better an enemy you know I guess?

he may not have expected such a strong response

I feel that’s rapidly become a neoliberal democrat feeling. Not that they’ll ever learn from it.

Why didn’t they win with a landslide? Was it because they stopped talking about relevant issues, capitulated on issues like transgender rights and immigration, ignored outcry about literally paying for a genocide, and preferred to associate themselves with centrists and “upset Republicans” instead of progressives?

It’s not MAGA. There isn’t some “extreme wing”. It’s the whole fucking Republican Party.