Back in the day it did because people could keep their lights off for longer. But now they need to keep their AC on more.

True, I’d expect pretty wild conspiracies like flat earth and chemtrails to be laughed at here, but a disturbing number of lemmings and even progressives in general follow a set of less outlandish - but more insidious - conspiracies that usually fall into the “collusion and malice” type. I could say that General Motors et al. killed most of the US passenger rail and streetcar systems, and most people here would accept that as a fact. Case closed, capitalism is evil and should be abolished, every bad thing is cause by someone with I’ll intentions making it worse.

I, however, tend to be suspicious of those sorts of takes in general. Returning to the alleged “streetcar conspiracy”I’ve actually done quite a lot of research into this and can decidedly say that the primary cause of the decline of mass transit in the US was… There were at least 5 primary causes, none of which were shadowy groups deliberately working to destroy it. Rather it was killed by a changing urban environment, failures to adapt to modal shifts, legacy streetcar systems just generally sucking, and local governments taking transit for granted and assuming that they can hold streetcar companies to exacting standards while expecting them to remain solvent, all while not considering it their problem.

I could go on, and can send some sources and references (maybe not direct links though) if you’d like to learn more. But my main point is that far too many people assume there’s a nefarious actor pulling the strings the whole time when it’s usually several factors lining up all the holes in the Swiss cheese and creating a negative externality we still talk about to this day.

There (usually) isn’t a conspiracy, and if there is it’s unlikely to be anywhere near as all-encompassing as you think. People say there is because it gives them someone to blame, helps channel their anger at something tangible, and just makes a good story.

I exist in several categories of people who’s right to exist have been threatened many, many times throughout history, I agree that everything is political, or rather, that politics encompasses everything.

However, not every discussion should become politically oriented, as it’s not particularly the most productive in many cases. This is most prominent on the internet, where nuance, which is ESSENTIAL for productive political discourse, is often absent. I find much political discussion. This is especially true in dialogues where it is either discussed on a broad scale, or where it is discussed in a reactionary manner. When my answers to political topics are so often “it depends”, this stuff tends to be quite straining, especially when my attempts to create dialogue are shot down.

In short “not everything is political” exists because you’re either detailing a discussion to talk about how horrible everything is, or you’re on the internet and internet politics just suck.

Friendly reminder that rowhouses exist and essentially break reality with how they provide the best of both worlds.

I, for one, think that it is rather mentally healthy to engage in the occasional constructive debate with those whom I disagree.

My latter comment has more to do with my belief that this community is not necessarily the best place for such content or discussion to be hosted.

That might technically work, but in the real world, it wouldn’t make much sense. Sure you could set something on fire to commit a robbery nearby, but that’s a lot of effort to do what you were already doing.

Regarding OPs argument, it doesn’t strike me as making that much sense, and considering the lack of evidence, Hanlon’s Razor dictates that it’s unlikely.

I’m afraid I don’t get this meme, is it a commentary on the arbitrary nature of racism?

I consider bigotry very real and very much a threat, and as such, respectfully disagree.

I will go ahead and question whether this has a place in !memes however. It’s not funny in the slightest and it’s only purpose is to express a strongly held political belief of the poster.

I came here to laugh, not to argue, please stop posting these.

Being phased out in DC too. That said, the transition period has been rough, many places are now using service fees to cover the costs, which makes sense but the fact that it’s still so inconsistent causes great annoyance.

Then again, so do tipping expectations, what exactly am I paying for? Can I opt out? What legally constitutes a tipped employee? WHY ARE THERE TIPPING OPTIONS AT FAST FOOD PLACES NOW!?

Overall, a clusterfuck that I’m happy to see is dying out, (I’ve also heard that it’s racially and sexually unjust.)

What you seems to be describing is Single-Family Housing. True medium density is actually really compact, using lots for more efficient housing and including public green space.

Pretty sure that’s just NIMBYs.

“There’s nothing illegal about getting the lads together to go resonate a bridge.”

I think it may be referring to the people who blame all social ills on “corporate greed” and think that belong leftist is exclusively being anti-capitalist. I think this may go along with some pro-Putin/pro-Xi viewpoints, possibly because they believe that “the west” is bad and capitalist, Andy anyone who opposes it is anti-capitalist and good.

I’m glad I know who these people are, so I can be more careful of them. Both here and on Reddit it felt like I was trapped in a bubble with these guys.