Add to this the nuclear family.

The nuclear family is an other depressant to birth rates. Previous configurations were multi-generational homes where grandparents were right there and could look after the kids. Society has changed. We went from packs of free ranging kids who were allowed to be bored to scheduling kids lives.

Humans had evolved to live in groups where the group would take care of the children. Now its parents pretty much only taking care of their own, duplicating that effort. No wonder everyone is exhausted. Something's gotta give.

| And they get to do it because the FTC has been totally defanged. It has nothing to do with Trump or oil. Sheeple indeed.

In March 2025, Mr. Trump fired the two remaining Democratic commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, basically consolidating executive control over the agency. This action effectively ended the agency’s longstanding statutory and bipartisan independence.

So, basically, Mr. Trump defanged the FTC. Who's the sheeple now?

Depending on the study, from 30% to 44% of Vietnam vets came back with PTSD. The stereotype of the unhinged 'Nam vet was thus not just a leftist conspiracy. Today, Vietnam-era veterans remain disproportionately represented in the homeless population.

If we have a draft today the level of resistance will cripple the country. Nobody will tolerate the Government pulling that. That move could break the country.

We've come full circle to the tech community deciding what's proper for our neighbors. ChatGPT is free to decide not to include adult stuff, and celebrity/CSAM should totally be illegal, but "The proper use of AI is as a tool, not as a friend, lover or therapist, and especially not as an addiction" is how we get the government regulating how adults use the tools at their disposal.

Aside from CSAM and defamatory stuff we don't have the right to decide what's proper for someone else.

Eventually peer to peer training (Petals using Hivemind, etc.) will lead the way.

At least they didn't do a Tumblr and have the feature put in, then wait for millions to be using it... and then yank the rug out from under them.

We saw how that ended.

Fortunately there are alternatives.

The Founding Fathers made a slave country where women, minorities and non-landowners couldn't vote. We already changed what the founding slaveowners made.

I hope you're willing to pay more for food and see food shortages which Trump has already caused after running on "but muh bidenflation" platform where he said food prices will go down (hint: they didn't).

As civilizations mature, entropy advances like a cancer and eventually rots the country from within. America's the oldest continuous governmental system around. We're well past our expiration date if you factor in how fast history moves nowadays.

We should have kept Biden. He might have died and still been more mentally here than Trump. Biden at least remembered what the Declaration of Independence and never declared a trade war with Mattel. He never tried to posture about conquering Greenland and was not going to invade Venezuela. Or a hundred other batshit / dementia inspired things Trump has done.

Most importantly: he didn't treat minorities or women like second class citizens.

No Child Left Behind - teach test taking, rather than subject matter or how to think.

Continually being told "all you have to do is believe" - and similar fake encouragements.

If you look attractive, you'll get into hollywood - why study anything?

If you are strong, you'll be in professional sports - why study anything?

Teachers' hands being tied in how they customize their lesson plans for the students they have.

Attention spans are __gone__.

I'm probably missing half a dozen.

They usually say the opposite of what winds up happening.

Holy crap, that wasn't something I looked forward to reading this morning...

They're not hurting anyone.
Leave them alone.

Why does every business need a copy of my Social Security Number?