That’s just because they live in the 21st century.

I’ve certainly seen an uptick in anti-social behavior since Covid. Whether or not it’s because of the economic situation or being cooped up inside, it really seems to have done a number on some people.

If it costs the NYT money and buys the workers some bargaining power, I’m all for it.

You’re not wrong. We have a representative democracy because the Founders thought the same way. I guess I prefer not to believe that it’s impossible for people to be well-informed enough to make a good decision on these things. I’ve certainly seen some new lows in the past 10 years.

I’m asking for the individual candidates to lay out their specific political goals. The party can continue to publish its platform and planks.

Then people vote based on whether they want to see those goals met. When those politicians are up for re-election, it’s fairly easy for someone to tabulate whether or not those goals were met. If there are extenuating circumstances (overwhelming opposition, for example), then they can use that to defend themselves. This would help hold their feet to the fire.

As for voting ideologically, I attribute that mostly to FPTP - people feel as though they cannot do anything but vote ideologically because there are no real alternatives. That’s why RCV is extremely important.

shrug Where I live, cars feel (and know) that they’re invincible and likely to suffer no punishment if they kill someone.

Drivers like to think that they can do no wrong all the time, not just when it suits their purpose.

An ex-coworker of mine recommended Mango Languages, which is supposed to be much better and also if you have a library card, you can usually get a subscription for free through them! The lessons are probably a little longer than 30 seconds, but not too much longer. I’d say a minute tops.

This might be survivorship bias. If you get hit by a cyclist, you might - worst case Ontario - break a limb or something if they send you flying into something else. If you get hit by a driver, you are definitely going to break something and you will most likely die.

As for how likely it is that you actually get hit - do you think it’s easier to avoid a 2’ x 6’ object moving at 15 mph or a 8’ x 16’ object moving at 45 mph?

You’ve waited years for this moment, haven’t you?

Moving away from FPTP is, for democracy, the crucial first step that very few seem to have taken.

Hard disagree. It’s really easy for candidates to talk the talk on the campaign trail, and then do a 180 once they’re in office.

That being said, this doesn’t work if you let them use flowery speech and vague promises. If you had parties submit a platform of actually actionable decisions they would make (e.g. “decrease the federal minimum wage”), you’d be able to suss out what they actually want to do. It would also provide a rubric for re-election - how many of the things you wanted to do did you accomplish? Are there good reasons why you weren’t able to?

It’s extremely disappointing to me (admittedly in the US) that Covid seems to have obliterated any chance for a large-scale investigation on payment processors’ stranglehold on our financial systems. The fees that Visa/Mastercard/etc. charge, especially for tiny merchants with insanely low transaction numbers, are criminal.

Reserving judgment, but “unfiltered” places on the internet usually tend to veer one way.

Usually RCV is an initiative or referendum depending on how your state does it. In mine, it’s just a separate issue on the back that we have to vote for, alongside things like “should we institute a tax for schools” or “should we approve building a new park”. Entirely separate from voting for candidates for any position.

Don’t forget a little note saying "Think this is stupid? Vote for Ranked-Choice Voting!’

It’s a fair argument, especially given how much… entertainment he seems to derive from owning it.

Hey, everyone deserves two or three back and forths before I write them off as not really wanting to have a debate on a thing

A cable subscription isn’t a depreciating asset, though.

The cultural victory, if you will.

Currently the earth is overpopulated and many parts of the world are only just starting to slow their population growth. The problem of crowding is going to be here for awhile. Eventually it would be great if we could reduce our population to the point where there’s plenty of space for all, if that sounds utopian to you, but for the time being we’re going to have to live in denser areas if we want to deliver amenities and services to all (and we do).