Jentu

My liberal arts classes always emphasized that it was neoliberalism that was bad because “Walmart”, but liberalism was great because “freedom”.

The defensiveness is such a difficult thing to break through IRL. Trying to convince liberals it isn’t just Trump and isn’t just republicans probably isn’t the best strategy for getting liberals to see the issues with America as a system (or at least the way I’m doing it). Though strangers tend to be a bit less willing to push back as much as family and friends of family it seems.

I burned a Blu-ray like 2 weeks ago. I also routinely burn CDs because my relatively new car still has a player built in (though I think in the last 3 years, Subaru got rid of it on newer models)

This is probably not exactly what you’re looking for, but I rode across the USA (4200 miles across 12 weeks) about a decade ago and this is what I did:

I used an ancient kindle to display my pdf route/cue sheet from a clear pouch on a handlebar bag that I could easily read and “flip through” while riding. (You can also just use paper) The battery life lasted long enough to get through every week of campsites where power isn’t promised. We’d stop at a hotel about once a week just to have a nice shower and charge our things. Of course I also had a full set of maps as well, but they are more difficult to read while you’re riding- thus route/cue sheet.

I had my phone and would use GPS if I feel like I got lost. I didn’t have great service in large patches of the route, but the gps works regardless, so as long as you have the GPX files, it should point you in the right direction.

I also have a SON hub dynamo that lead to a Sinewave Cycles Revolution USB charger (there’s probably more modern USB chargers you can buy nowadays). But with that I charged a usb power bank and was able to charge my phone every night.

I’d also be interested if there exists a singular device like that that is able to last a long time on a tour. Good luck and have fun on the road!!

Back in the day, Avid (the company that makes professional software like media composer and pro tools) sold a NAS system called ISIS (Infinitely Scalable Intelligent Storage). The studio I worked at had a different system, but the head of post production still called it “the ISIS” because he got used to calling the network storage that.

HonDashi. I add it to nearly all my soup stocks (unless I'm trying to make a dish vegetarian).

One month old joke not being extreme enough.

We might get 30cm of snow the next few days 😅

And now for the final question of our game which always pertains to real life skills. Buzz in if you can find the incorrect part of this statement: "Developing an accurate view of the world is difficult if you don't have a method to verify information. One surefire way to know what's going on thousands of miles away is to trust anonymous sources and NGOs at their word when they tell you through western mass media and without any proof that our adversaries are doing evil things."

Time to try to figure this game out again

But it’s because I know how much better things could be if humans could simply work together.

Yes, this is what socialism is going to achieve! Hop on board. If you know things could be better and this current system incentivizes destructive competition rather than working together, wouldn't it make sense to think that a system that incentivizes cooperation leads to more cooperation as a default?

I've seen, in times of great crisis, people work together and help each other out even without being prompted or rewarded. But when the system is working normally, when people are going about their day-to-day, they might ignore a stranger in need or participate in convenient routines like fast food that harm the environment. I'm not arguing for us to be in a great crisis constantly, but it shows that people are hungry for connection and cooperation; it's just the system that alienates people and ignores consequences caused by its existence. Capitalism isn't an inevitability just as the divine right of kings wasn't.

but I’ve seen time and time again that that’s not going to happen.

Yes, capitalists make sure to stop cooperation and self-reliance any chance they can get. They bomb and starve the solution to convince people that the solution doesn't exist or isn't viable. This doesn't make socialism less of a solution.