@ranthacc.bsky.social
I genuinely dislike social media. I know I'm using it wrong. I don't believe using it right is healthy. I wish we hadn't done this to ourselves. I'd rather just talk.
It builds no actual support for the hard work of reform, because they don't think it is hard. Government programs still have to ration care. Taxes will outweigh savings for far more than just the super rich. Transition could be disastrous if it's rushed. It's not an easy fix!
December 8, 2025 at 4:58 AM
It builds no actual support for the hard work of reform, because they don't think it is hard. Government programs still have to ration care. Taxes will outweigh savings for far more than just the super rich. Transition could be disastrous if it's rushed. It's not an easy fix!
Important not to conflate universal healthcare with Bernie's extremely unserious MFA proposal. European systems usually have a role for private insurance, sometimes a large one, and given where we're starting from that's obviously the only path we could take. Reform does not mean single payer.
December 8, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Important not to conflate universal healthcare with Bernie's extremely unserious MFA proposal. European systems usually have a role for private insurance, sometimes a large one, and given where we're starting from that's obviously the only path we could take. Reform does not mean single payer.
The non-presidential party doesn't have a leader in our system, and if that was ever a disadvantage it's not anymore. Our media environment is TOXIC, politicians are far less popular than they used to be, and there's no reason we want to put someone out there to soak up that hate.
December 8, 2025 at 12:41 AM
The non-presidential party doesn't have a leader in our system, and if that was ever a disadvantage it's not anymore. Our media environment is TOXIC, politicians are far less popular than they used to be, and there's no reason we want to put someone out there to soak up that hate.
To be incredibly fair, "Disease" is probably a bad term for what is mostly a positive phenomenon. But it has fuck all to do with greedy billionaires, and Matt Stoller is pretending to be an idiot as a way to hide his otherwise completely forgettable mediocrity.
December 7, 2025 at 9:09 PM
To be incredibly fair, "Disease" is probably a bad term for what is mostly a positive phenomenon. But it has fuck all to do with greedy billionaires, and Matt Stoller is pretending to be an idiot as a way to hide his otherwise completely forgettable mediocrity.
Oh yeah, very sympathetic to sorting. I'm not even PMC, but it's not lost on me who I more often share social values with. I don't expect people to do anything else. But it does make it harder for people to understand each other, and I don't know what we do with that.
December 6, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Oh yeah, very sympathetic to sorting. I'm not even PMC, but it's not lost on me who I more often share social values with. I don't expect people to do anything else. But it does make it harder for people to understand each other, and I don't know what we do with that.
I think one underrated issue is how aggressively we've sorted in the last decades. Physical spaces, virtual spaces, cultural consumption. It's always a thing, but when it gets more extreme it starts getting harder to imagine lifestyles outside your social circle (hence "$150k is poor").
December 5, 2025 at 11:46 PM
I think one underrated issue is how aggressively we've sorted in the last decades. Physical spaces, virtual spaces, cultural consumption. It's always a thing, but when it gets more extreme it starts getting harder to imagine lifestyles outside your social circle (hence "$150k is poor").
Pretending the wellfare state can be paid for by the 1% is like pretending the US incarceration epidemic is about nonviolent drug offenders. It's a great way to get people very angry about a cause that they don't actually support fixing.
December 5, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Pretending the wellfare state can be paid for by the 1% is like pretending the US incarceration epidemic is about nonviolent drug offenders. It's a great way to get people very angry about a cause that they don't actually support fixing.
Even for the 90s it's delusional cope. The country moved to the right because voters elected politician after politician who promised to move us to the right. There was no ratchet, voters could have moved left at any time, they quite emphatically didn't want to. Sometimes people suck.
December 5, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Even for the 90s it's delusional cope. The country moved to the right because voters elected politician after politician who promised to move us to the right. There was no ratchet, voters could have moved left at any time, they quite emphatically didn't want to. Sometimes people suck.
You put absurd exaggerated fascists in an absurd exaggerated movie, you end up with a "lol nothing matters" action romp.
December 5, 2025 at 5:26 PM
You put absurd exaggerated fascists in an absurd exaggerated movie, you end up with a "lol nothing matters" action romp.
There's a reason broad measures of SES predict well-being better than income alone. Turns out you actually can eat social capital.
December 5, 2025 at 3:03 AM
There's a reason broad measures of SES predict well-being better than income alone. Turns out you actually can eat social capital.
We have a two party FPTP system. Even a reformed DSA has no real purpose. The cranks are the ones who actually belong there, they thrive in inherently pointless groups. It's everyone else who's in denial!
December 4, 2025 at 6:38 PM
We have a two party FPTP system. Even a reformed DSA has no real purpose. The cranks are the ones who actually belong there, they thrive in inherently pointless groups. It's everyone else who's in denial!
The largest most well financed prediction markets in the world are devoted to answering the relatively simple question "how much is this company worth", and they only kind of work.
December 2, 2025 at 12:47 AM
The largest most well financed prediction markets in the world are devoted to answering the relatively simple question "how much is this company worth", and they only kind of work.
It's literally just the Green Lantern theory of politics. And honestly, the sort of educated political obsessives who hang out on Bluesky have mostly heard of that theory, they should know better.
November 30, 2025 at 9:22 PM
It's literally just the Green Lantern theory of politics. And honestly, the sort of educated political obsessives who hang out on Bluesky have mostly heard of that theory, they should know better.
You know, if I didn't know better I'd almost think you like spreadsheets an abnormal amount.
November 27, 2025 at 12:04 PM
You know, if I didn't know better I'd almost think you like spreadsheets an abnormal amount.
If it's a really glaring one, we'll joke about it on Wormhole X-Treme.
November 27, 2025 at 1:18 AM
If it's a really glaring one, we'll joke about it on Wormhole X-Treme.
God the working class are invisible in our culture. There's just no other way to invent such an absurd delusion. He can't imagine how much of the country lives, they don't exist in his world.
November 27, 2025 at 12:45 AM
God the working class are invisible in our culture. There's just no other way to invent such an absurd delusion. He can't imagine how much of the country lives, they don't exist in his world.
I don't even like AI. I get ML is probably vital to advancing human well-being longterm, but it looks likely to be a net negative for quite some time, and this is a BAD time for another society disrupting net negative. But people are 100% going to use the addictive frictionless new toy, be real!
November 26, 2025 at 5:57 PM
I don't even like AI. I get ML is probably vital to advancing human well-being longterm, but it looks likely to be a net negative for quite some time, and this is a BAD time for another society disrupting net negative. But people are 100% going to use the addictive frictionless new toy, be real!
Noted social media addict argues people will reject completely frictionless brain hacking machine. No irony there.
November 26, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Noted social media addict argues people will reject completely frictionless brain hacking machine. No irony there.
I really resisted considering myself disabled, and it's striking what a difference accepting that has made. I mean relatively, I'm severely disabled and being unable to finish the 10th grade kind of ruins your life. But accepting I'm disabled has ironically made me a little more functional.
November 26, 2025 at 11:20 AM
I really resisted considering myself disabled, and it's striking what a difference accepting that has made. I mean relatively, I'm severely disabled and being unable to finish the 10th grade kind of ruins your life. But accepting I'm disabled has ironically made me a little more functional.
I always appreciate people sharing this stuff. Makes the world feel less alien, you know?
November 25, 2025 at 7:35 PM
I always appreciate people sharing this stuff. Makes the world feel less alien, you know?
Huh, so Senators throw a tantrum when their caucus leader tries to exert authority? Almost makes you think maybe the president or presidential nomimee are the only ones with the clout to assume leadership, and that's just a feature of our system that can't be wished away.
November 25, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Huh, so Senators throw a tantrum when their caucus leader tries to exert authority? Almost makes you think maybe the president or presidential nomimee are the only ones with the clout to assume leadership, and that's just a feature of our system that can't be wished away.
The problem is the public said very loudly that they hated Obama for much of his presidency, and now you're citing him as one of the good examples. So you absolutely have to acquiesce to the public mood, but it's not always obvious how to do that.
November 25, 2025 at 12:19 PM
The problem is the public said very loudly that they hated Obama for much of his presidency, and now you're citing him as one of the good examples. So you absolutely have to acquiesce to the public mood, but it's not always obvious how to do that.
Discourse on the niche microblogging site's even more niche offshoot is how you assess candidates. Waiting for voters to start paying attention is for chumps.
November 24, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Discourse on the niche microblogging site's even more niche offshoot is how you assess candidates. Waiting for voters to start paying attention is for chumps.
Back in 2016 there was a whole industry of Macedonian entrepreneurs churning out fake news for profit. They had no political agenda, they produced right wing slop because that's where the market was. Turns out conservatives have an endless appetite for toxic garbage.
November 24, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Back in 2016 there was a whole industry of Macedonian entrepreneurs churning out fake news for profit. They had no political agenda, they produced right wing slop because that's where the market was. Turns out conservatives have an endless appetite for toxic garbage.
I've had exactly one of those, which seems somehow like the weirdest number to have had.
November 24, 2025 at 4:14 PM
I've had exactly one of those, which seems somehow like the weirdest number to have had.