YouTube and Instagram have features that are in direct competition with TikTok. YouTube has even been more aggressive in promoting themselves as the TikTok alternative. On top of that the US government has an incentive to keep them (Google and Meta) happy; since the US routinely spies on its own (and other countries) citizens through these companies.

I’d love to see any evidence of TikTok acting on behalf of any country (especially China) as a hostile actor, or even any evidence of legitimate election interference. If anything banning TikTok is a significantly more hostile response from the US since it silences another forum for free speech.

Social media is a cancer, but this ban is such obvious propaganda. The only reason TikTok was banned because the US government doesn’t have free reign to spy on its users like it does with Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.

If the US government truly cared about social media and it’s affects they would be regulating all of it. Instead they’re trying to ban TikTok while screaming their heads off about China every chance they get. And that’s before mentioning the extremely shady way they passed this; attaching it as a rider through a government ‘aid’ bill.

Drugs in general are still illegal to possess and use under Finnish law. You need to decriminalize drug use before you can actually tackle it since it’s a health/psychology issue when it comes to the individual.

It’s hard to seek out proper help when you’re worried that you’ll be arrested/fined just for being an addict.

Grocery stores dump hundred of pound of still edible food into the garbage each and every day. And no one is eating less because of thefts from the grocery store. The main reason people are starving right now is because their grocery bill spiked and extra $100-200 for absolutely no reason other than pure greed that they were able to blame on “inflation”.

Your problem isn’t with the addicts, its with the system that is ever antagonistic towards its people. Addicts can be hard people to deal with, but they’re still people. Now obviously if they’re acting violently there’s no excuse for action like that. But if they’re just taking food why should I care?

If people are stealing for drugs then it means that the system in place isn’t meeting their current needs. The problem for a lot of addicts is that they either steal and cheat for drugs or die. Withdrawals literally have the capability to kill addicts. I don’t believe in any circumstance we should be holding money ahead of human lives.

It’s a shame when people are stolen from, but it’s a tragedy when people die. And a system that doesn’t allow an avenue for actual recovery is a failed system.

junkies

What a disgusting dehumanizing term. Drug addiction is a much greater issue that needs more than reactionary remarks and actions to solve. A good number are literally that desperate for money because they’ll literally die from withdrawals without whatever it is they’re addicted to. And so long as they’re being non-violent then I empathize with their struggle.

Again, I don’t at all care about some large corporate store getting stolen from. Actions like banning bags and whatnot mean little in the face of human suffering.

Don’t really care about some corporations losing out on their margins after nickel and diming everyone as high as they possibly can. Especially if the end result is someone or multiple people eating.

I’m actively watching the rights of my loved one literally be stripped away while Biden does fuck all. You can call me whatever you want, but the point remains that Biden has done fuck all and is actively promoting genocide.

You don’t know the first thing about me; so don’t condescend to me while ignoring everything else I’ve said.

Yes, it is still objectively right. Anyone deciding not to vote for Biden isn’t automatically culpable for any Trump victory unless they voted for him personally.

Again, Biden has had plenty of time to prove that he’s against genocide. To take any sort of major action to try and stop this genocide from continuing the way that it has. Or at the very least taking away all US military funding from Israel. He has done none of that while approving additional military funding for Israel.

This is of course before bringing up the electoral college and how the majority of states don’t even get a say in the presidential election outside of their states predetermined answer.

I will not vote for anyone funding genocide. Again, if Trump wins that’s entirely on Biden and the Democrats for failing to do anything. The signs have been here for months if not years in terms of voter disatisfaction: and they continue to do fuck all.

I wouldn’t water opposing genocide down to “ideological purity”. It’s opposing genocide, and that’s objectively right every time.

And that’s before getting into Joe’s inaction on pretty much any important issues during his term. If Trump wins the 2024 election then outside of the GOP that’s entirely on Joe Biden for failing to oppose genocide and run any sort of compelling administration.

That Christian Nationalist USA is already present. It’s emboldening is inevitable due to the inaction from Democrats and especially Biden: the alleged “moderate” president.

Biden is also actively arming a genocide in Gaza. A move I would say is extremely far from moderate in any position. Trump is a horrible choice for president. It was true in 2016 and it’s true now. But if Biden refuses to do even the barest of minimums to defeat him in an election what does that say about Biden?

So sure, call it smugness, call it idiotic or whatever bullshit; continue to vilify those tired of voting for bullshit candidates and inaction. I’m sure that will help prove your point; as Biden does literally nothing to combat any of increasingly tense situations rising in the US under his tenure.

Atheists be like “look at all the things my real and not made up methodology can do” and then post science fiction.

Your comment is at odds with your other comments. And you’d think a scientist would know about the scientific measurements of the placebo effect rather than boiling it down to faith: which is asinine.

No it isn’t lol. You can tangibly observe, experiment, and interact with the placebo effect/pharmaceuticals. There is a literal method that is used to prove things like the placebo effect.

Faith (from the religious understanding) is for that which can’t be proven, thus antithetical to science. And before I hear something bogus like “faith in the method”: that method has proven itself millions of times over with physical tangible proof.

Hell if you Google the definition of faith the second one is literally “strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.”

I’m from the US, and I can tell you the biggest threat to the US are billionaires and their special interests.

Someone of the billionaire class like Taylor Swift does more environmental damage in a year than the average US citizen does through their entire lifetime. It is completely valid to call her out on this.

But please, continue to disingenuously call all those critical of Swift a right wing troll. Always easier than acknowledging the nuance of a topic.

I appreciate the reply. I feel like a lot of people in this thread are failing to articulate themselves properly. Though there are clearly some commenters that have (very) misogynistic views that need to be checked.

*By simply hating a billionaire.

Some of the criticism levied against Taylor Swift is definitely rooted in sexism, misogyny, and political bias: but not all of it.

To lump everyone criticizing Taylor Swift into the same group as the misogynists and sexists is disingenuous. She deserves criticism and is not free of it just because she’s a woman.

She’s also one of the most famous people in the world. So of course she’s going to get more flack from her visibility alone.

Thus the following can be true: Taylor Swift isn’t the only one that deserves criticism from her private jet usage. And there are those that would criticize her in bad faith because of her political alignments/because she’s a woman. But even then the criticism she has received is still completely valid.

No billionaire deserves or needs special treatment.

Both deserve jail time for the rest of their lives. And even that’s too good for them. What’s your point?

Ahh yes, the ня department

For full context, there was an event where several YouTubers/Online personalities met the pope. I couldn’t say the specific reason for doing so, but during their visit each of the groups presented a gift. In MatPats case he gave the Pope a copy of Undertale.

Then a lot of people started to clown on MatPat for giving the Pope a copy of Undertale. He made a response defending his gift choice, and honestly it wasn’t that weird of a gift. It’s just funny to me personally because the situation is so low stakes but became a meme because of MatPat’s response.

Everybody repeat after me: Thank you MatPat