meep_launcher
My conservative dad won’t stop harping on Venuzuela, I think he’s about to get a taste of his own medicine.
So talk to any conservative and they will talk your ear off on anything and everything bad about socialist Venuzuela.
To say life in Venuzuela is great is overlooking some major issues that the country faces. My old coworker at the school I taught in Chicago was a Venuzuelan refugee who escaped in 2020, and gave me some insight. Venuzuela has been marred in political unrest, they have gangs that the police use to disappear people so they don’t have to get their hands dirty, and Maduro has not been a democratic leader. His old coworkers at the university he taught at began to disappear at faster and faster rates which is why he chose to leave. I don’t want to be debating the state of Venuzuela on this thread, but I think it’s important to note even the best laid policies can be ruined with a poor administration.
More to the point- conservatives will always find ways to blow it out of proportion in the US with “single payer healthcare = socialism = Venuzuela = end of times” or “debt relief = socialism = Venuzuela = end of times” or “Barbie = socialism = Venuzuela = end of times”
With the Milei administration, the way US conservatives have asked us to defend what Chavez and Maduro have done to Venuzuela will be turned around to where they have to defend what Melei does Argentina.
Oof we are missing the point. Talking to conservatives is kind of a part of daily life for most people, and actually pretty healthy imo, even if you don’t agree with them. If you don’t you’re just playing into the hands of everyone who wants to see the death of our country.
Yes, the Barbie thing is a joke, it has nothing to do with Venuzuela, but conservatives could always find a way.
I think at this point discounting the words of people who I’ve shaken hands and shared beers with as them “taking a vacation” just means you are talking in bad faith and ultimately this conversation can’t go forward from there. Have a nice evening, but I can’t talk to you like this.
I think what has helped me is watching John Green/ Hank Green’s YouTube channels. The fact is bad news happens fast, but good news happens slow.
A maternity ward was built in Sierra Leone thanks to the coordinated effort of thousands of people across the world. Patents for Tuberculosis tests and treatments have been released in the countries that need it the most. This is a disease that takes millions of lives every year, not because we don’t have the technology, but because people don’t have access to the treatments. Of course this was something that should have been taken care of decades ago, but the fact we can pressure pharmaceutical companies to release their patents for the good of humanity must mean something.
Despair is seductive, it asks nothing but to feel sad, and you can always find reasons to despair. But the correct answer to consciousness is hope.
I work in Chicago with non profits that are dedicated to building safe communities, to saving local and global ecosystems, to public health access, to helping house the homeless.
I fully believe that there isn’t anything wrong with the world that can’t be solved with what is right with the world. And when I feel despair, which I am oft to do, I look at my friends, my community, those that roll up their sleeves, shake hands, and do what they can with what they have.
If it’s a nice day it gives the employee in charge of rounding up carts a chance to go outside and no longer be under the direct eye of management, and maybe even get to see a beautiful sunset in the evening.
When I worked at Whole Foods I loved when a cart was way in the outfield. I got some fresh air and I didn’t have to deal with angry customers.
Haha thanks!
I don’t know the word for this argument, but I would say the “not everyone likes collecting carts” is kinda not the best argument only because you could say the same thing the other way. Like there are people who like collecting the carts and are sad to see them put away (like me).
I worked in the PNW when I was at whole foods, and summer in Seattle is phenomenal but I know it’s not always like that elsewhere.
So the new rule is “put the cart away unless you live in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, parts of Idaho and northern California, and southern Alaska, given that it is between the dates of June 1 through September 31st, and the weather is nice to help combat the Seasonal Affect Disorder”
This is the perfect rule of morality and I will not be taking questions.
