I realize I just essentially said to tell people to vote while you were asking for something more. I wanted to share that because some people think that posting “vote” is the same as having a conversation about voting. Posting is not nearly as effective.

Another thing that might help is directly asking elected officials to intervene. Staffers for politicians keep a tally of calls and letters they receive for/against a given issue. So while your words may not move an elected, you and some friends can get them to act on an issue. If you have a group you can also request a meeting to discuss your issue which is even more effective. Politicians take notice of organized groups of constituents since that’s a block of votes for/against them and possible a group knocking doors for/against them.

The trouble is I don’t know what the ask is. There should be a specific action you’re demanding: “introduce this bill” “cosponsor this bill” “vote for/against this bill”. And it has to be something they’re able to do. I don’t know what that thing would be.

Pack the supreme court (but there’s not time for that or majority in the house).

Long term I think building true power means growing communities, joining unions and cooperatives. Most of us aren’t rich or powerful enough to be heard, which is why organizing is so important. None of this is fair or easy to do.

They say your time is much better spent guaranteeing people who already will vote blue show up to polls than trying to change the opinion of people who will vote red.

So that looks like asking people “do you have a plan to vote?” And perhaps in a less nosy phrasing: “When will you vote?” “How will you get there?”

People verbalizing a plan makes them more likely to follow through.

There are many places you can sign up to go canvassing, which is great. I would suggest in addition to and maybe before that, make a list of everyone you know and would feel comfortable talking to, and talk to them about voting. You will get much more mileage from existing relationships. (It’s like how sales differentiates a warm lead and a cold lead)

Once you’ve exhausted that list then every little bit still helps. I do think high density events like farmers markets, community gatherings, concerts, games, etc have better rate of contact than door to door.

An important thought. What we tell ourselves needs to be true, or at least be believable, in order for us to take action. I tell myself that whether we reach such and such a goal in my lifetime, I want to have contributed to moving whatever tiny amount closer to the goal. It would be disappointing to me to not have tried to contribute something.

I like the Le Guin quote because it touches on that mental block to action, “Is trying to make change pointless?” On the one hand it is pointless, because we all die. On the other hand, it’s possible to contribute to a multigenerational project.

What point are you trying to make? That it would have been better if the divine right of kings ended sooner? I’m sure Ursula K. Le Guin would agree.

Or are you trying to say we shouldn’t be complacent in working to end capitalism? Because I’m sure Ursula K. Le Guin would agree as well.

The point of even saying this is to rally people who might feel there’s no point in trying, because the current system seems unstoppable.

Would love to hear an expert talk be about this more. It’s an interesting idea, but seems like it would be limited in usefulness to small adjustments.

I don’t know about all the information, but I’d rather read Wikipedia about a historical event than watch a YouTube about it

That’s an interesting take. What about a scenario where the nation as it stands doesn’t meet the requirements you outlined, but there’s clear indication the invading country would be worse?

Thanks for your thought. What about a situation where you know everyone won’t be killed, but the defeated country will no longer be democratic/open? In other words, you’ll live, but the quality of life will be much worse for the foreseeable future

So if for example every person’s name goes in the hat, and then conscripts are drawn at random? I only clarify because in a situation where every able body is fighting you’ve already lost, there needs to be logistics, maintaining utilities, growing food, etc

?

The article I shared is about how solar is now the cheapest form of power. So that is what’s happening.

Seems all but impossible they’ll switch candidates now. There’s not a mechanism for it. It would have to be something like Biden having a major medical issue or dying.

I’m saying it does matter. When you go to a business and say you can buy a widget for $1000, or for $500, and they both do the same thing, the business will choose the cheaper one. Sure, lobbying will get businesses some favors, loosen some regulation, get some subsidies, but at a certain point it’s not enough, the economics take over.

You’re right that people have been thinking about and working on renewable energy for a long time. However what’s only become true very recently is that it’s cheaper to generate energy using renewable sources than to use fossil fuels. That’s a massive milestone because when a new power source is built it will more likely than not be renewable.

People making sacrifices is important, but what if you weren’t only giving people the opportunity to help the environment, but also to improve their bottom line? Makes the pitch a lot easier and helps us to build momentum in the right direction.

Lol their joke is that the layout doesn’t actually match a piano. Normally there are seven white keys and five black keys. So E# isn’t a thing, that’s just F. And B# isn’t a thing, that’s C.

It might not even speak english

What if it’s an immigrant computer

00101000 00101110 00101001 00101000 00101110 00101001

You’re right, we’ve got to get rid of fossil fuel. As one example, the article talks about how energy storage has reduced the need for gas peaker plants. In California in April the power required from those plants was half what it’s been in April the prior three years.

Still plenty of progress that needs to be made, but what’s notable is that it’s now cheaper for a business to turn to green energy and storage to solve a problem. There’s not an incentive to build new polluting tech. So while the impact of climate change is going to get worse (because those emissions and warming are already baked in) the business argument for fossil fuel is no longer viable.

Funny enough this reads more like spam from a person where English is their second language than as AI spam

I’m a hobbyist, but I’ve found it to be pretty helpful. Seems like main thing is chunking requests down.

If it’s a domain I’m completely unfamiliar with then it’s not a good fit because I’m no longer able to identify where it’s gone off the rails.