"A world out of time" by Larry Niven. None of the usual "kill your grandfather" paradoxes, but a well-thought-out and entertaining story about a man catapulted a L O N G way into the future.
Alternatively, the "Rainbow Mars" collection by the same author.
You don't need much "goodwill" when you are the biggest player in the game and have a captive user base.
Considering that communism in practice is restricted to Leninism and below, I'd say it's irrelevant if Marx wanted democracy or not.
Not so.
The fact that the only systems calling themselves "communist" that managed to gain power were reprehensible should not be an excuse for a blanket dismissal of anything with "communism" in its name.
communism tends to be aggressive towards you.
That would be Leninism et al. There are other versions of Communism, you know. Hell, even Marx's "dictatorship of the proletariat" was intended to be democratic.
your average monarchist totalitarian couldn't care less, as long as he lives as king and you don't piss him off.
Such monarchs usually have very short life spans.
The more forward thinking ones make sure that you do not have the means nor the opportunity to "piss them off", even if you wanted to.
If performance is your priority then don't use A/V.
How about: "If security is your priority then keep your computer powered off."
Obviously there are various trade-offs between these two extremes.
How much longer are we going to take this fucking bullshit?
Forever, basically.
Because nobody wants to take a personal responsibility for doing something about it.
1. When a non-corrupt political party comes into existence with a chance of winning.
In order to get a chance of winning, a party needs traction. In order to get traction, it needs a non-trivial amount of votes. If you refuse to vote for a party that "does not have a chance of winning", you deny them the opportunity of getting that chance.
2. When those who commit serious crimes in official capacities are charged, prosecuted, and jailed for them.
3. When those who fund the politicians are charged, prosecuted, and jailed for their serious crimes.
For #2 and #3 to become reality, you need to take care of #1 first.
I have hopes, but I have to get back to improving porcine aerodynamics first.
How about spending your time helping the non-corrupt get more influence? The next generation will appreciate it.
Mod. Parent. Up!
Look ma, I've smoked over THIRTY POUNDS of weed and I can still calculated [sic] how much I've smoked without a calculator.
Headline: Heavy marijuana use impairs linguistic abilities.
It will never stop until police "officers" are personally criminally responsible for their criminal actions, and are actively prosecuted for them.
Since that will never happen, the abuse will never stop.
There are some [young people] who act on principal
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
"The judge disagreed. In a 25-page ruling, he wrote that the Hernandez's refusal to wear the badge even without the tracking chip undermined her claims that the district was violating her religious freedom. "Plaintiff's objection to wearing the Smart ID badge without a chip is clearly a secular choice, rather than a religious concern," Garcia wrote."
And why would that be less valid?
Showcasing the latest advancements in silicon, no doubt.
Copyright was meant to feed the auhors, not their heirs.
Copyright was meant to feed the publishers.
By those criteria, just using recent news stories:
Catholicism is a cult.
Church of England is a cult.
Islam is a cult.
A cult is a small, unpopular religion. A religion is a large, popular cult.
"Money is the root of all money." -- the moving finger
