I have nothing against people getting rich - even grotesquely rich

Well, I have a problem with it, but that’s beside the point.

My intent wasn’t to take a moral position on wealth accumulation itself, or the accumulation of “real” wealth versus speculative wealth, only to point out that much of the incredible wealth of the people at the very top isn’t what I would consider to be fully “real.” That’s all.

I didn’t say all of their wealth is fake. Much of their wealth is very “real.”

Yes, even if the numbers are at least partly fictitious (or even mostly), it is still true that a very large percentage of real wealth is owned and controlled by a relatively small number of people. The way we understand and measure value needs to change, because it is very skewed and not based in reality (our current system is apparently operating on the premise that we can create a seemingly infinite amount of value, but that’s not physically possible on a planet with finite resources), but the wealth that has “real” value is very unequally distributed and that needs to change, as well.

Billionaire wealth surges to ‘unimaginable’ levels in 2024 as Oxfam predicts emergence of five trillionaires within a decade

It’s less impressive when you realize that much, if not most, of that wealth isn’t “real.” The vast majority of that wealth is in corporate stock, and the value of the stock is based on a lot of speculation. How much of that trillions of dollars in corporate stock will ever be converted to cash? Who knows, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up being only a small portion, and well less than a trillion dollars.

I, personally, will never buy a Tesla. I would consider buying an EV, but never a Tesla.

It’s one reason his first administration was so ineffective.

They were ineffective because they’re incompetent.

Jesus, Trump thinks he’s Walter White. I mean, Trump is a malignant narcissist, egomaniac, who is simultaneously a pathetic loser and a dangerous, power hungry, psychopath, but at least Heisenberg knew chemistry. Mr. White was at least educated, and he could run a successful business. Does Trump even know what chemistry is?

Occidental says the captured carbon will be stored in rock deep underground, but its website also refers to the company’s use of captured carbon in a process called “enhanced oil recovery.” This involves pushing carbon into wells to force out the hard-to-reach remnants of oil — allowing fossil fuel companies to extract even more from aging oil fields.

Well, they have to sell the carbon they capture to make money. If you suck up carbon and put it underground, where’s your revenue stream? The ground ain’t paying you to stuff it full of carbon. These big vacuums ain’t free, they have to pay for them somehow.

"Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy

Taking shape? Like it’s new? Like it’s only now just emerging? Jesus Christ, Biden…

Fucking neoliberal trash.

The biggest factor pushing up egg prices is a wave of avian flu, which began in early 2022 and led to the culling of millions of egg-laying hens. With demand remaining steady, the reduced supply has caused prices to rise.

Supply and demand, folks. Supply and demand. Demand high, supply low? Price goes up. Supply high, demand low, prices goes down.

While prices are expected to ease from late 2024 highs, they will likely stay above pre-outbreak levels through 2025.

Or indefinitely. Once people get used to paying a higher price for eggs, what’s to stop the stores from keeping the prices relatively high, even if the wholesale price goes down? If a store can increase their profit margins on eggs, why wouldn’t they? Especially if the store is a large corporation, always looking to maximize profit and return for shareholders.

Some people might say, “competition will bring the price down. Once one store lowers their price to gain a competitive edge, other stores will have to follow or risk losing customers.” To this I say: who the hell comparison shops for eggs? Look, I’m sure some people do, but, if most people are like me, they’re not going to multiple stores to see who has the lowest price for a dozen eggs. I go to one store, my favorite store, and I just get the same eggs I’m used to getting. Even if I did want to comparison shop, not all stores are going to sell my preferred eggs (I know a lot of people will say, eggs are eggs, but I like cage free eggs even though it’s probably bullshit I like to think my eggs aren’t coming from chickens who are stuffed into those little wire cages all day), so it would be hard to do an apples to apples comparison.

Plus, as more and more stores become consolidated into fewer and fewer major retailer chains, even the theoretical idea of price regulation through competition goes out the window.

Probably jobs that didn’t need to exist in the first place. Unfortunately, people need the money, even if the jobs themselves aren’t necessary. It’s like in the Soviet Union where they would create superfluous jobs so that everyone could have a job, and an income.

His only comment on grocery prices was during his interview with Time magazine for his man of the year article in which he admitted that there isn’t much he can do to bring grocery prices back down to the levels of 2019. Economically, the only thing that will do that is a strong recession that no one wants.

This is what folks don’t seem to understand: prices only go back to where they were five or six years ago if there’s a recession, and a severe one at that. The Fed is trying to get inflation under control, but even if they’re successful, that doesn’t mean prices will come down, that only means prices won’t go up as quickly. Getting inflation under control means prices go up 2% per year instead of 2.5% or 3%. Trump can’t change any of this, and many of the policies he says he plans to implement would likely make it more difficult to get inflation down to the Fed’s 2% target.

TLDR, shit ain’t getting any less expensive unless there’s a pretty bad recession, and Trump can’t change that.

All I’m saying is I don’t think the age verification requirement, in and of itself, is unreasonable. I’m not necessarily in opposition to better, more privacy-respecting verification methods, nor am I necessarily opposed to, for instance the age verification requirement being lifted until better age verification technology can be developed. All I’m saying is I personally do not find the age verification requirement itself to be unreasonable. That’s it.

I understand that you all want to believe that we live in a system where the rules are rigidly applied to everyone equally, regardless of circumstances, without exception, but that’s not the case.

Trump broke the law, that’s a conclusive fact, and he should suffer the appropriate legal consequences for that, but that became really complicated when he was ELECTED PRESIDENT… AGAIN! The president of the United States has a considerable amount of power and influence. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is. Ideally, the president of the United States wouldn’t have nearly as much power, ideally a president would be held to the same legal standards as everyone else, ideally the American people wouldn’t reelect a convicted felon, but clearly we don’t live in an ideal world.

I never said that it could.

Are you suggesting that it should be legal to sell alcohol to children so long as it’s not a lethal amount? Should a kid be able to buy a single beer? It’s not like it’s going to kill them.

What about selling physical media pornography in a store to children? Should that be legal? It’s not going to kill them. Should a kid be able to walk into a porn store and slap down his allowance for a copy of Hardcore Anal Superstars 2?

The judge thought it was relevant. You disagree, I get that, but I don’t know what to tell you. Send the judge a strongly worded letter, I guess.

might want to get the fuck out of the USA pronto

Probably not a bad idea in general.

Several U.S. states have enacted laws requiring pornography sites, such as PornHub, to implement age verification to prevent minors’ access

Doesn’t seem too unreasonable. When I buy alcohol I have to provide verification that I’m over 21.

The thing is, how do they enforce it? People in those states can still access pornhub through a VPN. Plus, what about all the other many, many porn sites?

I get what they’re trying to do, but I think there are some logistics that haven’t really been thought out.

I don’t know why you think they give a rats ass about morality or democracy. I suppose because they say they value those things? I guess you’ve never heard of this thing people do called lying.

It would not collapse.

I don’t know how you can be so certain, but you could be right. It doesn’t make any difference, though, because that’s not what’s happening. Trump isn’t going to prison. If there’s something you think you can do to change that, go for it.