• 6 Posts
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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: August 18th, 2023

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  • While it’s broadly accurate that private fire brigades were highly competitive and staunchly capitalist (and exploitative in nature), the idea that any of them would refuse to put out a fire without first being paid has been debunked.

    It’s not impossible that it happened on some occasion, but in general this would have been a horrifyingly terrible business decision: not only would they be lambasted by their competitors, but they usually covered at least some of the neighbors of any given burning property. It would have made their jobs infinitely more difficult when it came time to make good on protecting their clients if they let nearby fires grow (and grow they would, very quickly).

    See here for a retraction of a previous piece by Tom Scott on this topic as it relates to the UK, where these stories originated, including reference to a correction of his original source, the London Fire Brigade Museum’s webpage. https://youtu.be/Wif1EAgEQKI All of the points made in that video about the UK apply the same to the US, as far as I’m aware

    What DID actually happen was that brigades would send someone to prevent their competitors from putting out the fire before they could arrive (e.g. by blocking access to a hydrant/water main) in an effort to guarantee they would get the payout for putting it out. Similarly shitty, for sure, but not quite the same


  • Go pirate. That’s what I do when shit doesn’t work.

    I just don’t also fool myself into thinking they will ever change their ways so long as it’s profitable 🤷

    I’m not saying you’re wrong. Nor am I telling you to accept the shitty quality stream as the best you can get. I’m just saying this is how the system is set up right now and it’s not a Netflix problem. It’s a capitalism problem.


  • neatchee@lemmy.worldtoMildly Infuriating@lemmy.worldNetflix bad... Shocker, I know
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    15 days ago

    Big corps like Netflix only care about supporting the 90% of users to who operate in a bog-standard configuration. They really couldn’t care less about supporting things like reverse engineered AirPlay, debloated Windows, Linux running on a Mac, or anything else that’s not damn near configured exactly as it was when it was first removed from the box.

    It is not worth the engineering investment to make it work. They would spend more money maintaining these features than they would earn from it.

    You can have whatever opinions you want about that reality, but that’s just how it is. Blame capitalism.



  • Interestingly there is a body of research that suggests enjoyment of music comes from having exactly one of two things, never both:

    Familiarity and predictability

    If it’s neither familiar nor predictable, it is inscrutable and therefore discomforting to listen to

    If it is both familiar and predictable it is boring

    If it’s familiar but unpredictable, it feels like a journey through known emotions

    If it’s predictable but unfamiliar it feels like ‘logical discovery’ and is fun and satisfying

    A bit reductive but I love this idea




  • Lol you think because I don’t condone wanton theft and lawlessness, that because I’m not a psycho libertarian it means I support capitalism?

    Quite narrow minded. You lack vision and nuance.

    Sadly for you, existence is more complex than “capitalism bad”. Some things with really well as a capitalist venture (like trying to start any endeavor that takes large initial investment to get going because it’s only viable when produced at scale). Other things are fucking horrifying to manage as capitalist endeavors (like prison and healthcare and education).

    You’re like a puppy, easily distracted by the shiniest thing and unable to hold more than one concept at a time.

    I’m done. I’ve wasted enough time talking to you, you walking, talking, “is it me who’s wrong? No it’s them” principal skinner meme 😂


  • neatchee@lemmy.worldtoAntiwork@lemmy.worldSnitches get stitches.
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    1 month ago

    So you’re an anarchist. You get to decide who deserves to be treated fairly and who doesn’t. Cool. If I ever find out who you are I’ll rob you blind and say it’s all fair because something something wage theft and I don’t think you deserve what you have something something. If you get to pick and choose who to steal from then so do I. And we’ll all just kill each other over our disagreements. 😬