Yeah, but it usually won’t get as much engagement. The good things that are happening to this day don’t really get much coverage, so it can be easy to despair and become pessimistic. There are certainly some awful things happening in the world, but that’s basically always been true. We’re not helpless to overcome the systems of oppression that hold us down/back. It’s in our nature as humans to work together and there are plenty of movements out there already working tirelessly to make the world a better place. Did you know we can pretty safely say we’ve avoided the absolute worst possible scenario of climate change? As in, it’s still getting worse right now and we’ve still got a hell of a fight right in front of us, but we’ve made actual real progress despite all the current bullshit. Fighting the systems creating climate change and winning is possible. Not only is a better world possible, but people are actively coming together to make it happen. People are being pulled out of poverty, plastic in the oceans are getting cleaned up, harm reduction programs are popping up everywhere, malnutrition is still on the decline, there are plenty of good things happening in the world. It being the nature of humans to work together and it generally being in the best interest of everyone for us to all to work together, I see no reason to believe the work for good will even slow down.

Ha! I have yet to play cyberpunk, but it’s definitely on my list. As for anarchism, I think my move to Linux recently has been more of a solidification of my radicalization that was seeded by my love for punk and strongly cultivated by my time in the Marine Corps. I think the general public would be shocked by how many of us become Communist/Anarchist/Socialist because of our time in the US military.

Okay, tbf, I’m using cachyos as opposed to raw dogging Arch from the start. I’ve also used some Linux distros in the distant past, though I can’t remember the few outside of one of the early Ubuntu releases. Also, I’ve done a good smattering of IT work and programming throughout my life, so while I’m already fine with jumping into something having no idea what’s going on, I already had enough experience to not be too worried about things.

Well, for one there’s the increased skin cancer risk.

Certainly feels like a doomer windows user to hopeful anarchist pipeline to me as well.

Went from Windows directly to Arch and I just became an anarchist and (I’d argue) more masculine. Guess it’s less about Trans and more about becoming more true to yourself.

The same way the trump admin “liberated” Maduro from Venezuela? Ah yes, good ol imperialist bullshit.

Yeah, I feel this sentiment very strongly. Complacency is what they want, because then you just mindlessly participate in the system. It’s difficult to not participate in the system by default since it’s like “hey man, I just work live here”. So not only do you need to be educated in wtf these systems even are, why they’re bad, and how to best engage/disengage with them, you have to actively make an effort to change with energy not a whole lot of people have these days. Some may see this reaction to Microsoft as silly and overblown, but people getting rid of windows could literally save their life due to the systems of surveillance built by Microsoft aiding increasingly dangerous and malicious political actors.

Haha, thanks man. For me personally, I’m a socialist and punk to my very soul, so the hate for Microsoft runs ultra deep. In addition to everything I mentioned before, I’ve become much more wary of the software running in my house due to an increase in political risk. There’s no longer just a privacy consideration for general security, but now a heightened existential risk involved. Microsoft is part of the problem in perpetuating the existing system of oppression, so absolutely fuck em.

I’ve been absolutely seething over Microsoft’s bullshit for years. Over the years of having less and less control over my own fucking computer, the parasitic privacy invasion, the dumbfuck constant bloat, the cartoon level evil of Microsoft in general, the constant degradation, forcing unnecessary features and ads, and generally just the sheer audacity. Honestly, I’ve just kinda been putting up with it for not much more than “it works for now and I’m just tired, man”. However, then Microsoft started pushing ai and some updates that were literally bricking systems so I could no longer justify having a switch from windows being such a low priority; it was now a liability. I’m now running CachyOS and I’m quite happy with the switch. Everything just fucking works, not to mention the very noticeable performance boost. Fuck Microsoft.

Oh, your English is great and legitimately feels natural, because I think you’ve communicated your point quite well. I can’t really dispute much of anything without sounding like I fundamentally agree with you, but I do have a seemingly small/semantic distinction that I think is important; I don’t think America’s primary core issue has been education or overbearing religious douchebaggery, but this weird extreme epistemological weight given to every individual’s opinion. It’s similar to the bullshit fuzzy philosophy the nazis would use to justify their ideology by insisting everyone should respect their deeply held beliefs. While I don’t think your assessment is perfectly accurate, I do very much believe it shows you’re paying way more attention than the average American.

It really is just simplistic bullshit that seems to trip them up, isn’t it? As a passionate lover of philosophy, I’ve come to a pretty good understanding of the sheer magnitude of what it takes to be considered an “expert” in any subject. And, hoo boy, my radical commitment to what is true has only served to illustrate to myself how much I lack in understanding… pretty much anything. I’m not one of those jackholes who do that smarmy-ass “I know nothing”, so I’ll admit that I understand a hell of a lot more than the average person in political theory and general pragmatic governance. So it’s both infuriating and baffling to me how often the average ‘right-winger’ decisively demonstrates how little they understand any political subject they have no business holding such a strong and certain opinion on. And really, that also applies for most people willing to talk politics in America. Like, how the fuck are people’s opinions so fucking strong for how shallow their position is???

Right, climate change, the thing that boomers caused and definitely not these huge corporations perpetuating a system making humanity dependent on fossil fuels. It was a generation defined by generally common experiences and not some dickheads on the boards of fossil fuel corporations covering up and then spinning up a disinformation campaign against the overwhelming evidence of anthropogenic climate change. No war but class war; know your enemy.