Many years ago I visited some lava tube caves in Hawaii. I had to call and get directions, write them down and follow them... No address I could out into a navigation device, no coordinates.
It seemed strange and I thought they could surely modernize their operations and get more business.
Nope. The friction was intentional, they told us later. Before visiting the cave you had to prove it was worth it by calling, and that you could follow directions and instructions.
They previously didn't filter customers so well and those people would touch and break sensitive pieces of the cave.
While I like the article and agree with the sentiment, I do feel it would have been nice to at least mention the GNU project and not leave the impression that we have free software only thanks to Linus Torvalds.
No. I do not flag or censor things at all under regular circumstances because I actually practice the belief that it is in fact a human right to free expression unless it is aggressively abusive or actually threatening. I will also tolerate regular harsh and abusive words and in most cases if I don’t tolerate it I will just not read it or look away or even just block. I’m not vindictive like most people seem to be today where an ideological mob forms to suppress heretical ideas that their herding instincts compel them to suppress in order to be a good member of the herd.
I totally agree with this! So much of what we've come to think as American culture emerged from the political success of the car.
It's the main thing I notice that aggravates me when I return to visit the USA: cars, cars everywhere, and few places that allow walking as a reasonable means of transport.
I'm curious how the author has much experience with the American mindset, since he didn't mention living in America when describing his background.
Having said that, as an American living in Germany, I lately agree with his description of the difference. And, frankly, I cannot currently see myself ever returning to my home country other than shorter visits.
So you will be relinquishing your citizenship and won’t run back to the USA when things go sideways over there? I’m not sure if you have the historical or political context, but Europe is staring down a hurricane on the horizon, regardless of the pleasant weather right now.
Europe as you know it, the things you like about it is fundamentally doomed because the system is designed to doom it. The EU that was a bait and switch, is now basically being run by a central committee called the EU Commission. Is fundamentally authoritarian and prone to the same failures as all hubristic central committees of know it alls.
It’s the iron triangle and the EU central committee is not only trying to pick all three while lying about it, they’re also trying to pick things outside of the triangle. It cannot and will not work because it is impossible for any amount of time.
You may enjoy it in Europe/Germany, freeloading on all the “social services” that are “free” (even though you will have surely noticed how that is changing quickly) due to the exploitation of what the indigenous people built over decades and centuries, but that’s really what it is, a fraud, even if you don’t realize it.
For example, you very likely make far beyond what the average person in Germany makes. You are living a nice life, based on what those old ethnically German people you see here and there did to rebuild the country after the war, and now get a mere €1000 per month to live on. That’s why you have “free and safe and efficient public transportation” and “free education” because they were exploited all their lives.
It is not a personal thing, it’s an issue with immigration in general as immigration is inherently freeloading when it is into a country that is more advanced or better. At the very least immigration to better countries should come with massive freeloader taxes, and immigration to worse countries should come with low-tax incentives. Just keep it in mind as you benefit from what you enjoy but did not contribute to, and quite likely also support politics of imposition from your island of exclusivity; the same politics that destroyed America.
You may not realize it, but the very same things and people that destroyed the rather nice America of the past are also now destroying Europe. You’re just riding the wave at the moment and get to enjoy the tail end of the oasis. I know this because, as unlikely and weird as it sounds, I know the people whose fathers and grandfathers, their families destroyed America and who are destroying Europe today.
So many assumptions here that it's hard to know where to start. The fact that I prefer a mindset which prioritizes time with friends and family is extrapolated into a caricature of me as a freeloader. It's a bit of a stretch.
On that note, you seem to be saying that immigration is a form of freeloading in general. But the expense of my upbringing all happened in America, and I basically arrived ready to contribute right away in Germany. And I've paid plenty of taxes along the way.
At the end you make wild assumptions about my political support for which you have no evidence. I'm aware that Germany faces serious issues surrounding immigration, but I didn't think rhetoric which paints the current picture as a catastrophe and inevitable decline into chaos is very helpful.
There are so many other points... It's hard to know what set you off by my mere remark that the author is largely correct in his observations and I prefer living in a country that values free time as well as work!
I’m a bit disappointed that you resorted to deflection. You’re being defensive. It implies to me that you really know what I’m talking about and your subconscious is trying to ward it off.
Reality simply is that freeloading is a condition, not something you need to take personal. If you are equally benefiting from things you did not contribute to at the same total cost as those previously invested, then you are freeloading.
Should you be able to buy Bitcoin today at the original offering price? Should you have equal control as heirs of a company you did not build?
I fail to see why you and seemingly a few other people find that challenging to understand. If you pay the same price to, e.g., ride the “cheap and effective” public transportation in Europe that Europeans have been taxed hundreds of millions in capital costs over several decades to build up, how is that not freeloading?
Sure, you can’t even not freeload if you wanted to by paying higher prices and the real issue are the abusive and toxic governments in Europe in my example, but explain to me how a little old lady that gets €1000/month in pension after a life of turning Europe into what it was until recently, being taxed 40% all get life should pay the same price for a rail ticket as an American making double the European salary and paying around 25% taxes?
These are not challenging concepts. It’s a bit disheartening that presumably technical/dev type people do not understand basic systems.
Yes, but you are missing the point. It is the issue of riding in at the last minute to benefit from the product of others’ work.
Don’t get me wrong, you’re not the only one that misses this whole issue. It is a gargantuan elephant in the room that very few people seem to be able to even get even when it is pointed out for some reason. It is fundamentally also the very core issue of “communism” and “capitalism” for that matter, albeit in different ways; wanting to exploit the dries of others’ labor.
This reminds me of the discover and defend modes from Jonathan Haidt's latest book The Anxious Generation.
On taking a break, I've often found it difficult to stick to the pomodoro technique because the breaks seem too frequent. But those breaks help avoid going down an unfruitful path for too long.
I ended up just converting to a method where instead of running the pomodoro on a timer, I run a stopwatch instead.
Then concept is still the same, in terms of focusing on the topic at hand. I no longer count down to my breaks, I just count up until I want/need to take a break.
It's basically just a glorified time tracker, I guess, but it was my solution to the pomodoro "break" problem, i.e. sometimes I don't want to take a break.
