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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 8th, 2023

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  • Doesn’t pay the mortgage, my man.

    Although I would pay a single cent, but I also grew up on a farm, and know hunters… so I’m not exactly PETA material. I do hate wasting meat, a creature died so that I may eat, and one day we all shall be food for others (classic worm meat). Still, the sheer scale of industrial agriculture when it comes to the meat industry is staggering.

    Overall though, we are all cogs in this machine, and we need to recognize the levers and control inputs of this machine and use them. Just like “carbon footprint”, good feelings for consumers is something that can be sold at a premium. This is why I reject the premise of your question. I shouldn’t have to pay an extra cent to reduce suffering, We should structure our markets so that there is less suffering.

    This concept is one of the reason why meat substitutes probably aren’t widespread, because by using it as some virtue signal it is able to be sold at a premium. Beyond Meat and Impossible burgers should be cheaper because the fundamental inputs are cheaper and we haven’t skewed the market to make them more expensive.



  • Colloquially referred to as “Tankies”. America = Bad, therefore Not America = Good mostly sums up Tankie takes, but more properly Tankies is a pejorative for authoritarian communists, usually apologists for China and the CCP nowadays. IIRC originally it referred to communist parties in Western countries that excused Soviet actions during the Prague Spring and such, although I’d say that is an obsolete term.


  • You’re absolutely right. Next time someone says DST exists “because farmers”, point out that they don’t milk cows and hour earlier or later based on the clock on the wall.

    Also, in seasonal “touristy” towns, lots of shops have seasonal hours. We don’t need to muck around with the clocks on the walls (and all the devices with internal clocks) for everyone because we want to start school or office hours earlier or later. Just have seasonal hours for businesses that care.


  • They also have a delicious Masala burger they introduced for a limited time.

    I am not vegetarian or vegan, but will happily sub a Beyond/Impossible patty for a meat patty, I just resent it when that’s an upcharge (I have a whole rant on that).

    The Masala burger is not a meat substitute patty, it’s a vegetable patty that doesn’t pretend to be anything else. I think it also has paneer and other toppings. It’s delicious, it’s a decent size, and it’s $6.

    As someone who will happily eat a meat burger. The Masala burger is just a plain good burger that happens to be vegetarian (maybe Vegan).


  • I would happily eat an Impossible Burger or Beyond Burger, they’re pretty decent burgers! I’m also a cheapskate, and don’t like paying extra for essentially the same thing.

    Considering that the inherent resources it takes to make a meat patty are in theory greater than resources it takes to make a vegetable based patty, why am I expected to pay a premium for the vegetable based patty?

    There are some factors such as scaling and capital costs, but fundamentally, I think they charge more the vegetable based patties because it’s some sort of “virtue”. Be that as it may, virtue doesn’t pay my mortgage.

    If vegetable based patties were even 10¢ cheaper than an equivalent meat patty, I’m thinking they’d be much much more popular. Times are tough, people got to pay rent, these Impossible Meat/Beyond Meat burgers are delicious, and less resource intensive. Let’s get this sorted! Do we really need some government interference in the market?




  • The connection would be secondary. In FPTP, the blue team and red team play for “all the marbles”, so more divisive language and negative campaigning are effective. In RCV/AV systems, being second choice on lots of ballots is a valid tactic, so in theory less negative campaigning.

    Although this effect is likely as described, I can’t help to think that in recent years the divisive effects of social media have far outweighed it.

    I’ll also point out that RCV/AV eliminated the spoiler effect. It also can lead to a “gateway voting system” to STV, which is probably my favourite.

    IMO, FPTP << RCV/AV/IRV << MMP < STV.



  • I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting by “Values of the Fediverse”, but I was pleasantly surprised! It focuses on what over the decades seem to be the core values of Open Source software movements, such as openness, independence, and freedom to use the software how you choose to use it. Just applied to the concept of social media. Which makes sense.

    My main home account is on Lemmy.ca not Lemmy.ml ( or another Lemmy instance) because that is how I’ve chosen to associate, and I can. And I could spin up my own instance, and federate or de-federate with whomever I choose.

    This isn’t a novel concept, OpenSource.com has a page on “The Open Source Way” which espouses transparency, collaboration, “Release early and often”, inclusive meritocracy, and community. I remember reading “The Cathedral and the Bazaar” back in the day, and Eric Raymond seemed to extrapolate several values or principle from the open source model.

    The free software movement does implicitly have positions on “political” topics. Right to repair, DRM, and privacy come to mind immediately. These shouldn’t be seen as being “Left” or “Right”,