I can understand why governments would push for something like this after 9/11, though it of course goes without saying that this is a totally unacceptable violation of someone’s basic rights. It also goes without saying that governments always want more control over their citizens, but what exactly are they so worried might happen, right now, in 2025 or the near future?

  • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    21 hours ago

    I feel it’s the same vibe with return to office policy in Canada.

    These things seem like they come from absolutely no where with no legitimate reason and then all of these executives are on board making it happen.

    Like what the fuck is going on

    • HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      16 hours ago

      If you’re talking about Toronto and Ottawa, as far as I heard, a huge part of the reason is Downtown businesses are struggling now that way fewer people are commuting Downtown.

      But the solution to this is not RTO. If your DOWNTOWN of all places isn’t self sufficient I don’t know what to tell you other than your municipal policies are failing. Just let people live in the office buildings. “Oh they’re too wide and you’ll have to make the units narrow strips that only have a tiny sliver of window on one side” Do that then. Tons of people would still live in those because Downtown should be the most desirable place to live.

      • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        12 hours ago

        “Oh they’re too wide and you’ll have to make the units narrow strips that only have a tiny sliver of window on one side” Do that then.

        Some people would be willing to live like that. But the rents per ft^2 or m^2 would be abysmally low. And renovating the buildings would still be very expensive. It may be physically possible to turn those deep floor plate cube farm skyscrapers into housing, but it isn’t financially possible. The money would be better spent tearing the buildings down entirely and just building entirely new residential buildings from scratch.

      • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        14 hours ago

        Ok so how exactly have all these companies all agreed to do this at the same time. That’s not strange to you?

          • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            edit-2
            4 hours ago

            I don’t want to just dismiss this as “business as usual.” What stands out to me is how coordinated the return-to-work push was. Sure, we know there’s a “big club” of elites who share similar goals. But sharing goals isn’t the same as acting in lockstep.

            Think about it: I can join a fitness club, but that doesn’t mean all of us show up on Wednesday wearing the same outfit. There’s a difference between belonging to a group and receiving instructions that lead everyone to move together.

            That’s why I think this deserves more attention. The inference here isn’t just that the wealthy share values or face the same incentives it’s that they communicate and coordinate globally in ways that go far beyond coincidence. And that, to me, is a much bigger story than just “rich people doing rich people stuff.”

            • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              4 hours ago

              Do you think the ultra wealthy don’t associate and communicate with each other? Why wouldn’t there be private Signal chats composed only of billionaires? It’s not about shared incentives. The “club” part is very literal.

      • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        19 hours ago

        We always use to like say it but holy fuck it seems like a whole new thing. The way these things spread it is freaky.