New blog entry: More in Sadness than in Anger: https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2026/02/more-in-sadness-than-in-anger.html
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@trademark @cstross And as Labour is so far to the right, why aren't there more parties to the left, besides the Greens maybe? Are voters more conservative than on the continent, despite apparent deprivation in large parts of the country?
@jsl @trademark @cstross I do not declare myself an expert on UK politics, but the first past the post voting system, and one candidate per election area, makes it very hard for new parties to get started since people rightfully worry about “wasting” their vote.
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@jsl @trademark @cstross I do not declare myself an expert on UK politics, but the first past the post voting system, and one candidate per election area, makes it very hard for new parties to get started since people rightfully worry about “wasting” their vote.
@samantha42 @jsl @cstross The issue is not unique to the UK. In all countries the left is always prone to fragmenting into internecine war. In particular the Weimar republic had proportional representation when Hitler got elected. I wish people would care to actually study history and learn from the places that has avoided this(so far)...
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@darwinwoodka @MedeaVanamonde @cstross
Well let's be fair about this: a national lottery. One person a week is to be sacrificed, drawn by lot; but the number of entries in the lottery is the number of <£$¥€> one has, & that wealth will be returned to the national pot. It could be you, but statistically it's much more likely to be a billionaire.@HighlandLawyer @darwinwoodka @MedeaVanamonde That's going to reap an awful lot of middle-aged/middle-class skulls, though: 3000 middle-aged folks who own average homes (£0.3M each) = one billionaire-equivalent. Might be best to omit the family home from the notional wealth.
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@cstross @GinevraCat In the county in which I live, I’m theoretically “rich” because I’m in the upper quartile of income here, but people from places like the SF bay area scoff and describe anyone not making multiple millions per year as “poor.”
@cstross @GinevraCat And by “in the upper quartile,” I mean “just barely in it.” So I’m probably around the 75-80%, not the 99%, in a mostly rural county primarily depending upon being a commuter country for Reno.
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@HighlandLawyer @darwinwoodka @MedeaVanamonde That's going to reap an awful lot of middle-aged/middle-class skulls, though: 3000 middle-aged folks who own average homes (£0.3M each) = one billionaire-equivalent. Might be best to omit the family home from the notional wealth.
@cstross @darwinwoodka @MedeaVanamonde
Counterpoint- great method to reduce prices in the housing market. -
@darwinwoodka @MedeaVanamonde @cstross
Well let's be fair about this: a national lottery. One person a week is to be sacrificed, drawn by lot; but the number of entries in the lottery is the number of <£$¥€> one has, & that wealth will be returned to the national pot. It could be you, but statistically it's much more likely to be a billionaire.@HighlandLawyer @darwinwoodka @MedeaVanamonde @cstross Well, that’s a better basis for Omelas than the original …
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J Jürgen Hubert shared this topic
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The fact that Gates wanted to give his wife STD medication without her knowledge tells you everything you need to know about Microsoft's and the tech industry's approach to consent.
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@skua @svavar @cstross Nothing we didn't already know since - oh, 1977.
Sorry for the source
When billionaire geeks fall out: Bill, was the big meanie of Microsoft, claims co-founder who says Gates 'tried to cut him out when he got sick with cancer'
Paul Allen claims Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, pictured, wanted to dilute his share in the firm in 1982 because he didn’t think he was working hard enough.
Mail Online (www.dailymail.co.uk)
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New blog entry: More in Sadness than in Anger: https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2026/02/more-in-sadness-than-in-anger.html
@cstross I’m repeatedly struck by how incredibly, mind-numbingly stupid these people are. Really just brain achingly dumb despite the appearance of, in some cases remarkable intellect. There’s some incredible brain rot going on but also perhaps it betrays something fundamental about the “success” of these folk, that they are really good at manipulating others.
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Footnote: the outcome of the Epstein/Gates email itself is immaterial—what's interesting is the mind set underlying it, which seems to have strong explanatory power for our current mess: there are too many poor people, and Epstein and his mates would like to get rid of us.
@cstross Reminiscent of discourse of the London intelligensia at the time of the Irish Famine (Nassau Senior, Economist magazine): the projected population decline was spoken of as highly desirable but likely too small.
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The fact that Gates wanted to give his wife STD medication without her knowledge tells you everything you need to know about Microsoft's and the tech industry's approach to consent.
@svavar @BrianSmith950 @cstross is that a fact? We've only Epstein's word for it, in drafts not sent to anyone else, haven't we?
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@trademark @jsl @cstross If you're characterizing Biden as "left" you're confirming what I said about the left in the USA not existing.
Biden was a much more progressive President than he campaigned on, that's for sure. Many people, myself included, were pleasantly surprised by his pro-labor appointments. But he was a center right President.
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@trademark @jsl @cstross If you're characterizing Biden as "left" you're confirming what I said about the left in the USA not existing.
Biden was a much more progressive President than he campaigned on, that's for sure. Many people, myself included, were pleasantly surprised by his pro-labor appointments. But he was a center right President.
@callisto @jsl @cstross I am characterizing him as the president whose policies were the most to the left of any US president ever. I think the hate he got from the left was a massive own-goal. Doubly so since the left blamed him when the courts struck down the student loan cancellations. Are you saying that you prefer the current orange disaster? Are you an accelerationist?
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@cstross @GinevraCat And by “in the upper quartile,” I mean “just barely in it.” So I’m probably around the 75-80%, not the 99%, in a mostly rural county primarily depending upon being a commuter country for Reno.
@KaylaAllen @cstross I wish more people realised how far away they are from billionaires and pushed for better tax on them!
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@KaylaAllen @cstross I wish more people realised how far away they are from billionaires and pushed for better tax on them!
I wish more people realized that if you have to work for a salary—if you can't just decide to retire tomorrow and still have an income in the top 1%—then you are not "rich".
"Rich" is like being Steve Jobs keeping a Gulfstream jet fueled up on the ramp, with crew ready and waiting 24x7 *for nine months*, in case a histocompatible liver came up for transplant at short notice in a neighboring state (they only last a few hours out of the donor body).
