Which is why I look at it as a Plutocracy, a government run by money and the wealthy … rather than a democracy, a government run by the people.

It’s democratic (which is still a stretch) during an election.

But for the rest of the time, which is all the time, it’s Plutocratic

We like to play with definitions and we easily are critical of other nations but we never want to admit what our own systems actually represent. We are so blinded by our own status that we never consider that we don’t live in a democratic system ourselves.

It’s not “Gmail can read your emails” … Gmail has been reading your emails for years.

I think they’re programming the ketamine into the LLM at this point

It’s a quote often attributed to Carl Sagan but I think it was around, or a quote like it has been around far longer.

I love the quote too and often remind people about it especially when they want to share information or knowledge that is extreme or not well known.

We do have to question the world and everything and everyone in it … but not to the point where we abandon reality.

I have sat and met with some mid level regional politicians and provincial politicians in the past. They’re all the same. There is something pathological with wanting to achieve a high office and then regardless of your political affiliation (I’m socially left and I always vote and support the New Democratic Party, left of the top Liberal left party in Canada) they all act in the best interests or influence of money and monied interests. I know they have to survive politically to do anything but at the same time, they’ll support monied interests even if it means the suffering of hundreds or thousands of people.

There is something fundamentally wrong with our modern mentality and social conditioning if our world is entirely based on the accumulation of wealth against everything including human comfort or even the right to life.

And that’s not even talking about the political figures who are conservative, very conservative or ultra conservative … they would rather dump entire segments of society if it meant it would advance their agenda.

It’s not fully evil … but it is a lot closer to evil than anything.

In Vexillology (the study of flags), when you change the colour, symbols or any image of a flag, it’s a sign to everyone else that you’ve changed your allegiance from the first flag and now stand with the new flag.

This is the problem with the idea of the Thin Blue Line flag … it shows that they no longer stand with America, it shows they now only stand for themselves and their cop friends and not America.

Flags are important because they convey an idea without words which is important for those people who are illiterate … symbols and flags are easily understood by everyone regardless of their education.

So I think delivery drivers in America would be better served if they flew the flag that they would be most proud to stand by … which is …

Not trusting anyone based on feelings or emotions rather than through knowledge, experience and unbiased information is also a very dangerous thing.

It can lead people down a path towards cults, religions, and authoritarian leaders and movements that have all the “answers” for you.

There is no greater power for an individual to have than a broad range of knowledge and information from reliable vetted, openly available, openly shared and universally accepted sources. If your guru has secret knowledge that no one knows about, chances are that information is either no good or it is unacceptable for a reason.

And also remember “keep an open mind, but not so open that your brain falls out”

I see American and Canadian politicians on TV news every day (I’m Canadian by the way)

The epitome of evil to me is in watching a group of wealthy affluent, influential people doing their absolute best day in and day out to keep their money and the money of those with way too much away from those who need it just to have a little bit of a life. They work to make us all miserable in order for them to keep having everything and to take even more from everyone else who have little or nothing.

and just like Doritos, every once in a while you gorge on a bunch of doritos until you get totally sick of them and swear you don’t like them any more. A month goes by and you start snacking on them again because you hopelessly like them.

From barbarism to civilization requires a century; from civilization to barbarism needs but a day.

Will Durant

… by our nature we are dumb, frightened, superstitious animals but given enough time, effort, energy and dedication we can overcome our natural instincts of fear and ignorance.

Unfortunately, it is so easy for us to fall back into our old animalistic ways.

A tech bro CEO cranking as hard and as fast as he can on that AI wedge apparatus … while telling everyone ‘THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT!’

… and loop the cycle through two … or more … people

Why not just wait for the spaghetti to come out the other end?

It’s just a conversation and discussion at this point … you are right, survival out there is very questionable as it is very difficult without the right knowledge.

But I grew up learning how to do it all from my father who was a life long hunter and trapper. When he was in his prime, in his 20s and 30s, as well as other men like him … they were famous for leaving the community (or family group) with nothing but an axe, a knife and some basic warm clothing (meaning a jacket and a few layers or pants and shirts and coverings for the head, hands and feet) (you have to imagine them being dirt poor in the 1950s and 1960s). Dad would often comment to me about modern parkas and warm clothing - he never had anything like it when he was young and survived with nothing but a thin jacket and many layers of clothing, furs and hides. They would leave in the fall just before freeze up and the start of winter and be on their own. Then arrive mid winter back to main camp with a supply of furs and frozen food. Furs and hides they prepared themselves, food from the animals they killed, snowshoes they made themselves from trees from the land and sinew from animals, sleds they built themselves and then later in the summer birch bark canoes they built with nothing but what was available on the land.

Like I said … none of this means surviving is guaranteed … it just means that with knowledge, capability and plenty of hard work … the chances are higher than for most.

That’s a horrible story … my condolences to you and your family.

There is always peace in the end. I’m not fatalistic or nihilistic, I plan on just lasting as long as possible just to spite eternity. Personally, I’ve always enjoyed this poem by Dylan Thomas and as I grow older, the more I understand and appreciate it.

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
By Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46569/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night

You are right on many of your points but the land we are talking about is the swamp lands of northern Ontario where my family were born and raised off of. My parents were born there in the wilderness and they learned to live on their own without much else. I was taught how to live there myself and I can be comfortable doing that again because I know how.

You are right about food scarcity. The land I’m talking about will only be sustainable to a small group of people that know how to live and follow the seasonal cycle of this part of the world. Extreme cold in the winter and clouds of biting insects in the summer. Food will be cyclical so one has to know how to prepare for every period of the year and how, when, where animals, fish and birds will be available and how to prepare and store them for times of shortages. My parents do have stories of being out there and having to live through famine when animals just disappeared from one reason or another.

All this doesn’t guarantee my survival in this scenario … it just means my chances would be higher than most other people.

I don’t like thinking about this stuff but as the world gets more and more crazy, the more I plan. Over the years, I consciously kept good maintenance of my truck, keep it full of fuel at all times and make sure it’s ready when I need it. I also bought a shot gun and hope to get a rifle in the future. I’ve also kept track of my tools and equipment and I have a mental list of everything I would need to pack up to live in the wilderness on my own and abandon everything else if the need arises.

I am married but my wife is ill and we are both older. So my thought is that she’ll be gone soon (or will be gone if the world does end) and I’ll be on my own.

Like the other responder said … I’m Indigenous Canadian and my parents were born and raised in the wilderness. I grew up learning how to hunt, trap and fish to live off the land. It doesn’t mean I’ll be comfortable or happy about it … it just means I’ll be more capable of surviving. My extreme ‘end of the world’ plan (which I do hope never happens) … is to just pack up my truck, fill up with gas, food, equipment, tools and firearms and head north into the wilderness until the road ends and then just start from there. Then abandon the truck and the road and head further into the wilderness. I know how to live on my own out there to build and manage my own shelter using traditional methods and I doubt many or any people will end up anywhere near me in far northern Ontario.

If the world falls apart, my first plan of action is to just go into the wilderness and stay the hell out of everyone’s way. I’m not joining any community or group anywhere. The gun will be there to keep anyone else that comes near to stay away.

When society breaks down, our greatest hope for survival will be each other … unfortunately, our greatest danger will also be ourselves.

True … but my thinking is that they will go after those people without guns first before turning their attention to me … I might not last long but at least I’ll last a while with a gun as opposed to not having one.