Honestly I would consider that being a self-employed small business owner.
- 0 Posts
- 137 Comments
- Whatever a “Kroger” might be - Kroger is a supermarket chain in much of the US, but some of their stores use different branding. I just meant it to be a recognizable example of somewhere you might get your groceries. - And I’m not frustrated, it’s not about the money, it’s the principle. - When I said frustrated, I meant in a general sense about the economy, as in higher grocery prices. But I guess I did misunderstand your motivation for this. So it’s not about how much suppliers/stores are actually charging, just that they raised prices at all? And you view that as stealing? - Someone in the chain did raise prices for items I can’t boycott, I don’t care who. - And I guess that’s the problem in my eyes. If you intend to punish someone, it should be focussed on whoever is responsible. I’m sure you would agree it is unreasonable to yell at a cashier when your card gets declined for example. I’m also skeptical that you can’t boycott, but without specifics I’ll have to take your word for it. - Also I don’t need justification. To whom should I justity? to you? lol. - I judged you because you shared this with other people on the thread, which I view as inviting feedback. But you are right that my opinion isn’t important. What matters is that you can justify your actions to yourself. Whatever your morals are, I doubt it includes indiscriminate punishment. Maybe ask yourself things like, “What would it be like if everyone acted the way I do?” or “Will this lead to things getting better or worse?”. 
- Well said. To be clear, I agree with your outlook on human nature, but I try to check myself on not being optimistic to the point of ignoring people’s history. People do change, but we can’t presume in which direction that will be. We must remember improvement is a hope and a genuine possibility, but not an expectation. On the other hand, Orwell is regarded as insightful for good reason but of course he is also very cynical about people and the future. - A catspaw is just a term for someone who is used as a tool of another to their detriment. It comes from a French fable where a monkey convinces a cat to grab some roasting chestnuts for them to eat, but the monkey eats them all while the cat ends up burning its paw. - Edit: This is the fable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey_and_the_Cat 
- People tend to approve of their own representatives, and blame others in Congress for unsolved issues. We have become good at identifying problems while minimizing our own contributions to them. And in general, as a country we are very divided on the way things should be changing. - For presidential candidates especially, I’ve found people tend to latch on to reasons to dislike someone and ignore positive things, except perhaps for their favorite candidate. It’s a form of tribalism. But from what I remember Trump and Hilary were both considered distinctly weak candidates at the time. 
- Yeah, I view them as catspaws. They are assisting someone working against their interests without understanding how they are being used. You can show sympathy for them while nonetheless opposing them. - And you’re right that everyone should have the humility to accept they also sabotage themselves sometimes. But electing who will lead the country is high stakes and some accountability is fair. 
- You were correct in the first half then you fell right off. - I was going to comment that as well. They’ve identified the problem correctly, but rather than trying to fix it they decide to cement it in. We want people to be able to accept they were wrong and think (and vote) differently going forward. That sort of growth is how things get better. This vindictiveness just makes people defensive and want to double down on mistakes when doubt and regret could have lead to character development. - By all means, hold people accountable, but if you don’t allow them to change you are giving up hope entirely. 
- Your local Kroger isn’t robbing you. Neither are their suppliers in general, but even so you are not punishing them by shoplifting. The store already paid the producer for it regardless of whether the item is sold or stolen, meaning they don’t care either way. - If you want to steal, that’s your prerogative, but don’t pretend that you’re morally justified to take out your frustrations on someone unrelated. 
  5·15 days ago 5·15 days ago- I shop at Aldi for about half of my groceries, and I spend around $250 total a month for 1 person. That includes buying some pricier brands at Pick n Save. Inflation is certainly real, but if they are spending that much for groceries they are not being frugal. 
- Probably best to start contributing to an IRA after exhausting the employer match on a 401k. You have more flexibility with it and don’t have to worry about later rollovers. If you can max that out, then go back to the 401k until that is maxed, but most people aren’t able to do both each year. - Here’s a flowchart of the best order to spend money from one of the financial subreddits. The best yields are on the earlier investment types each year, so if you are reading this please try to save at least a little regularly. It will save you so much later on. If you don’t know what to invest in, historically an index fund like SPY or Vanguard will get you good returns with lower variance than individual stocks and doesn’t need to be closely managed. A 401k will have more limited options but I would still try to look for a wide market index fund.  
  2·23 days ago 2·23 days ago- Yeah, I’m not sure how those would be affected overall. Housing unfortunately has been going up in price quickly for a long time despite largely stagnant wages. But I expect having a reliable stream of income would be a significant benefit for low income people to be able to afford at least what they would have otherwise. It’s an area that really warrants more attention regardless of whether UBI is implemented. 
  2·24 days ago 2·24 days ago- Liberals and neo-Nazis opposing Russia doesn’t imply they have much else in common. In the run up to WW2, part of what made fascism seem tolerable to moderates is that it would be a strong check against the spread of Marxism, making it appear as a lesser evil. But that common enemy wasn’t enough for liberal and fascist nations to get along for very long. 
  1·24 days ago 1·24 days ago- Increasing the money supply does lead to inflation, but it’s not as simple as you make it seem. It’s worth pointing out that generally people intend UBI to redistribute money rather than add to the current supply. If necessary, there’s no reason that you can’t have stronger price regulation for any destabilized industry. - Because even if there is inflation, that doesn’t mean prices go up evenly. For example, staple foods are fairly insulated from inflation because of steady demand and low barriers to entry. If it seems noticeably profitable, a lot of people can start producing it and undercutting each other. Industry collusion is very hard to achieve the more players there are that can sabotage the group. - If UBI covers only basic needs (implied by the B) that are purchased at steady amounts regardless, that opens up the lower classes to a lot more optional spending. So you would probably see the most price increases on things that are currently bought by the upper middle class. Expensive hobbies, premium brands of things with cheaper alternatives, and services in general would probably become more expensive from induced demand. 
  2·24 days ago 2·24 days ago- What I meant was, it’s generally legal for someone to do this. The tweet was discussing getting some sort of reimbursement for avoiding costly accidents. Having an investment account you can withdraw from when necessary is a way to do this, and is legal. I understand many people wouldn’t be able to afford it. 
  6·25 days ago 6·25 days ago- In the US, most states only require some variation of liability-only auto insurance, which basically says if you cause an accident that is terrible for another person, someone will pony up some money to give them financial restitution. This is practically necessary to avoid situations where drivers risk facing financial ruin for other people’s mistakes when the at-fault driver can’t pay. Expecting every driver to have a reserve of cash sufficient to cover potentially multiple totaled cars in an accident they cause from the moment they start driving is not feasible. - Beyond that, you can generally use your own savings to cover your personal financial loss from accidents. If you don’t already have a decently sized reserve, it’s probably best to have some more comprehensive insurance until you’ve built up enough to mitigate early risk. I think most people would choose to just use comprehensive insurance indefinitely and not worry about it rather than needing to pay for insurance while also building up their personal reserve. But if you can afford to build your personal savings and aren’t prone to accidents, self funding would likely save you a lot in the long term. - Insurance is basically a way of spreading out risk. It or some similar system is basically required when people are constantly risking a huge amount of personal wealth, not to mention death or permanent disability. 
- fed the chimney => fettuccini - all fraid hoe => alfredo - bone smack the teeth => bon appétit 
- He doubled down on it when it wasn’t really acknowledged. After he said he wasn’t paying, she responded with an explanation for why her friend was coming. I mean she did say ok, but that might be agreement or just a way to move on the conversation. Like, “Ok, but what if I told you…” - It’s not clear if the new explanation was meant to change his mind, but the only change between that and the fake explanation before is his statement that he wasn’t paying under the first situation. So it may have been a negotiation tactic. Either way, if this was real she should explicitly agree that he isn’t expected to pay for her friend and he should obviously not be so crass about it. 
- Yes. He is able to reason as a man does, and so he is held to a similar standard. 
- In the book, Frankenstein’s monster is a tragic character but also kills several people without real justification or remorse. He shouldn’t be romanticized either. Both he and his creator are villains. - Then again, the movie doesn’t sound like it’s going for a faithful adaptation, so maybe this version is strictly a victim. 





Breath of the Wild is generally pretty good about letting you explore your own way. For example, the exposition ghost at the start explicitly acknowledges you could go straight to the final boss after leaving the tutorial area if you want, and there are plenty of ways a determined player can reach areas faster than the typical progression routes would take them.
But my goodness the pitiful weapon durability made me want to avoid combat. I distinctly remember coming across a white lionel relatively early and determining I shouldn’t bother trying to fight simply because I didn’t have enough weapons to get through its health bar.