I hate Diggers

I have really strong opinions on 17th century proto-communist movements

[unaffiliatedpangolin]

California high speed rail is the much touted infrastructure project that is supposed to be an example the country should look to.

It was approved for construction in 2008. It’s currently 2026 and it isn’t opened. Service is expected to begin in 2031-2033 (don’t hold your breath). It’s supposed to have over 700 miles of rail when completed.

Just for a point of comparison: the first transcontinental railroad started construction in 1863, at the height of the US Civil War mind you, and was completed in 1869.

It took 6 years to build 1911 miles of rail, through wilderness, by people who mostly couldn’t read beginning at a time when the country was engaged in the most destructive war we’ve ever had, and California is taking more than 20 to do less than half that distance within their own state in peace time with an educated population, when we’re the wealthiest country in the world.

[winterphile]

I only disagree with the illiteracy point.

[tributary]

many things going on here, not least of which is the chosen designation of One Person In The Room Who Doesn’t Have Her Head Up Her Ass. anyways we should be ‘regressive’ (decide what kinks esteemed historical communists mao and lenin had and then shame them in OOP’s presence)

[tributary]

OOP is the same person as this btw. if you even care

[susanoos-wife]

As always, communists remain unserious people.

[robin-hood-for-freedom]

If hating mass murderers who permanently fucked up their countries is fascist, then I'm a fascist.

[making-you-in-mtg]

[fatehbaz]

[queer-as-city-folk]

Anti-city people are just plain fascinating to me

[fractally]

There's quite literally a grocery store two doors down from me. A round trip for milk takes less than 10.

[madgastronomer]

Great. Able-bodied people can make an entire store trip in 15 minutes. Bully for them.

I live on the outskirts of a city -- technically within the city limits, but a somewhat suburban neighborhood (common in a lot of parts of my city). I have a grocery store a block from me. I cannot walk to it or home from it. There are no good sidewalks between me and it, either, and the roads all have slopes that would be dangerous for me if I took my scooter. Furthermore, even if I had flat, even sidewalks between me and it (which most parts of my city, even the downtown areas, don't have; it's a hilly place), the most often I could shop would be twice a week, and then only some weeks. I don't have the spoons to do it every day. It takes a lot longer than 15 minutes, and it is exhausting. And the basket on my scooter is not built to carry groceries home.

City living can be great for a lot of people! That's fantastic! But city living is not going to make it possible for everybody to go car-free.

[sleepydumpling]

It's possible to have multiple people's needs met in a 15-minute-city. It's possible to have a walkable city that also caters to disabled people's needs. Wellington and it's inner suburbs are pretty close to a 15 minute, walkable city. We also have dairies in most places (corner stores) that cover things like the basics plus snacks and drinks etc. But I can't walk anywhere anymore due to chronic pain. I can however get groceries delivered in either large or small amounts. It should be cheaper than it is, but it's not too rough for me - a fortnightly shop gets delivered to my door for $9. A small top-up delivery is $7 or less. I do think if your big grocery shop is over a certain amount they should deliver it to you for free - they're making enough profits off us to factor that small amount in. If I had a mobility scooter, I could get to my local dairy, down to my doctor's surgery, to my local library, to a cinema, to most things I need. The only thing I struggle with is getting to and from work, but I work on the far side of town to where I live, and it's up in a very hilly suburb. I can't walk to the bus stop near home any more, but I can get to a bus stop in town in a rideshare for less than $10, and then catch a bus that drops me at the door of my workplace. I catch the bus down into town after work and then rideshare home for around $6-$7. I'm lucky enough to be able to afford this cost because I have a free bus pass. To catch the bus without a bus pass from the closest stop to my house would cost me $$60-$70 per week. To use rideshare to and from an accessible bus stop usually costs me another $20ish per week on top of what paying for the bus would cost, maximum. I'm good at playing discount codes between apps, sometimes I can get my weekly transport spend under $70. I looked at using a disability driving service but it was more than double the price of rideshare apps, even with a Total Mobility card! It's not impossible for 15 minute cities to be accessible. Low public transport costs, low delivery costs, accessible footpaths and crossings, affordable rideshare costs, plenty of drop off/pick up spots in busy areas, public toilets, etc etc are all doable. It just needs the community to demand it and those in power to put it into place.

[robin-hood-for-freedom]

The other thing is: I just straight up dont want to go grocery shopping every day. Even if the trip only took 15 minuets(which I dont buy btw), thats still 15 minuets I have to plan my day around. I still have to take that time out of my limited time after work, instead of coming home and relaxing.

[fredmakesbread]

I was about to say that there's a lot of talking past each other in these discussions, since walkable city advocate seem to be saying "it's possible to design cities this way" and the opponents say "my city isn't currently designed this way."

but then I saw the last paragraph from sleepydumpling and they literally want the government to enforce where you can pick up groceries and how much it costs. screw that.

[robin-hood-for-freedom]

My thing with this is that I feel like a lot of walkable city advocates aren't just pushing for better infrastructure, but for a specific lifestyle. The 'oh just buy a few groceries every day' is a good example of this. Good for you if you dont mind that. But some people (myself included) would rather take an hour or two out of one of our days and not think about it for the rest of the week

Also there's a strong tendency to just...handwave away real practical concerns people have

[mademoiseli]

I really think that one of the reasons recent movies are like that now, is that a lot of secular filmmakers have taken a page out of the playbook of bad Christian filmmakers by putting the message before the story. I say this as a Christian.

[queer-as-city-folk]

Anti-city people are just plain fascinating to me

[fractally]

There's quite literally a grocery store two doors down from me. A round trip for milk takes less than 10.

[madgastronomer]

Great. Able-bodied people can make an entire store trip in 15 minutes. Bully for them.

I live on the outskirts of a city -- technically within the city limits, but a somewhat suburban neighborhood (common in a lot of parts of my city). I have a grocery store a block from me. I cannot walk to it or home from it. There are no good sidewalks between me and it, either, and the roads all have slopes that would be dangerous for me if I took my scooter. Furthermore, even if I had flat, even sidewalks between me and it (which most parts of my city, even the downtown areas, don't have; it's a hilly place), the most often I could shop would be twice a week, and then only some weeks. I don't have the spoons to do it every day. It takes a lot longer than 15 minutes, and it is exhausting. And the basket on my scooter is not built to carry groceries home.

City living can be great for a lot of people! That's fantastic! But city living is not going to make it possible for everybody to go car-free.

[sleepydumpling]

It's possible to have multiple people's needs met in a 15-minute-city. It's possible to have a walkable city that also caters to disabled people's needs. Wellington and it's inner suburbs are pretty close to a 15 minute, walkable city. We also have dairies in most places (corner stores) that cover things like the basics plus snacks and drinks etc. But I can't walk anywhere anymore due to chronic pain. I can however get groceries delivered in either large or small amounts. It should be cheaper than it is, but it's not too rough for me - a fortnightly shop gets delivered to my door for $9. A small top-up delivery is $7 or less. I do think if your big grocery shop is over a certain amount they should deliver it to you for free - they're making enough profits off us to factor that small amount in. If I had a mobility scooter, I could get to my local dairy, down to my doctor's surgery, to my local library, to a cinema, to most things I need. The only thing I struggle with is getting to and from work, but I work on the far side of town to where I live, and it's up in a very hilly suburb. I can't walk to the bus stop near home any more, but I can get to a bus stop in town in a rideshare for less than $10, and then catch a bus that drops me at the door of my workplace. I catch the bus down into town after work and then rideshare home for around $6-$7. I'm lucky enough to be able to afford this cost because I have a free bus pass. To catch the bus without a bus pass from the closest stop to my house would cost me $$60-$70 per week. To use rideshare to and from an accessible bus stop usually costs me another $20ish per week on top of what paying for the bus would cost, maximum. I'm good at playing discount codes between apps, sometimes I can get my weekly transport spend under $70. I looked at using a disability driving service but it was more than double the price of rideshare apps, even with a Total Mobility card! It's not impossible for 15 minute cities to be accessible. Low public transport costs, low delivery costs, accessible footpaths and crossings, affordable rideshare costs, plenty of drop off/pick up spots in busy areas, public toilets, etc etc are all doable. It just needs the community to demand it and those in power to put it into place.

[robin-hood-for-freedom]

The other thing is: I just straight up dont want to go grocery shopping every day. Even if the trip only took 15 minuets(which I dont buy btw), thats still 15 minuets I have to plan my day around. I still have to take that time out of my limited time after work, instead of coming home and relaxing.

[damnfandomproblems]

Fandom Problem #13,593:

I'm tired of fandom people who say that fandom was a sanctuary for the weirdos until the pandemic happened and the normies ruined everything. It shows that they have little understanding of fandom culture.

[irishironclad]

>"this books has been banned in the US!!!!"

>looks inside

>just removed from a few high school libraries. Fully available in public libraries, book stores, and online.

[darkmaga-returns]

[darkmaga-returns]

[robin-hood-for-freedom]

You were right about Christopher Nolan's Odyssey. It's a good Christopher Nolan movie but not that good of an adaptation of the Odyssey.

See? I know what I'm talking about...most of the time.

[sayhelloanimalfriends]

[thebaconsandwichofregret]

This has been hysterical because people are mad that a guy who we knew was from Somerset and who has been making art for the last 35 years is a 50 something white man.

I've seen multiple "he's just some middle aged dude!"

And like, yeah! Of course he fucking is! His whole thing for the last 25 years was getting away with tagging in broad daylight in official looking places because he was Just Some Guy in a high-vis jacket. So he looks exactly like every other Just Some Guy in a high-vis jacket!

[wittyno]

I think part of the problem is that because he espouses left-leaning views people assumed him to be younger, not white, and not a man. They forget that there is nothing in the rule book that stops him from being a white middle aged guy from sommerset. White middle aged white men from sommerset can also be left-leaning.

[thebaconsandwichofregret]

Oh absolutely! Which is also hysterical because his espoused views are some of the most stereotypically white middle aged leftist dad views!

[romanceyourdemons]

whenever i look into a historical monarch who doesn’t get talked about much and is just kind of a blank spot in my understanding of the historical narrative, 95% of the time what i find is pure white hot blistering capability. a pencil pusher for the ages. a 39 year reign with no more than three hours of sleep a night. there aren’t any good stories from his reign because he systematically caught and stopped all catastrophic good stories before they could start. you shrimply must respect it

[robin-hood-for-freedom]

And then theres basil ii. Who we know spent the majority of his long reign on campaign. But somehow still managed to keep things peaceful at home

[celticcanon]

Can't get invaded if you're the one doing all of the invading.

[robin-hood-for-freedom]

I was thinking more like like rebellions or attempted coups. Which were a near constant problem for the medieval Romans. Especially when the emperor was on campaign a lot

[romanceyourdemons]

whenever i look into a historical monarch who doesn’t get talked about much and is just kind of a blank spot in my understanding of the historical narrative, 95% of the time what i find is pure white hot blistering capability. a pencil pusher for the ages. a 39 year reign with no more than three hours of sleep a night. there aren’t any good stories from his reign because he systematically caught and stopped all catastrophic good stories before they could start. you shrimply must respect it

[robin-hood-for-freedom]

And then theres basil ii. Who we know spent the majority of his long reign on campaign. But somehow still managed to keep things peaceful at home

[vomitdodger]

Based

[skulki-d]

It also makes the rest of the room more useful. Multiple small spaces are less accommodating than large spaces.

[robin-hood-for-freedom]

If you're single the bed goes in the corner. More space, and you are less likely to roll off the side

For couples the bed goes with the headboard against a wall and space on either side, so each partner can get out of bed without disturbing the other

[fuckmarrykillpolls]

so my sister's dog is named communist gun, but we call him red. right? and every once in a while when she wants him to jump on someone she goes "red scare!" and recently ive been trying to get him to jump on people when i go "mccarthyism!" but it's not working yet

[fuckmarrykillpolls]

oh this is absolutely the wrong blog. please ignore

[dat-physics-gal]

i literally couldn't ignore this if i tried

[worldheritagepostorganization]

World Heritage Post