How is a school going to regulate what kids do outside of school property? They could ban cell phones on campus but that’s not going to change what happens after hours.

I have come to understand that this is the explanation but it still doesn’t make sense in a way that I can internalize. I don’t get the mechanics of stupidity because having what I would have called average intelligence seems like such an easy bar to clear. A+B=C comes so naturally to me that I literally can’t force my brain to do anything different and yet I know people personally who obviously don’t do that at all on their own and it amazes me. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to figure out what they’re actually doing with their thoughts. All I know for sure is that logic doesn’t exist until someone else starts the process and that is baffling.

The way a stupid persons brain works is a mystery. Understanding that is my struggle even though I know that it is the answer to the original question.

I am convinced I will go to my grave with this being the most frustrating piece of knowledge missing from my life. It defies logic to the point that I’ve had to adjust my perspective on humanity to account for it.

If a deity exists, he probably says the same thing about humans. Both are annoying to a more advanced being for similar reasons.

18 months ago Hegseth wouldn’t have been allowed inside the DoD.

Funny how that kind of thing only works for rich people

I don’t know you or your situation at all so specific advice is difficult to give but since you asked I will share a few things.

1. Don’t make him feel bad about having a life outside of your relationship.

This can be tricky as any relationship should entail a fair amount of time spent with your partner but I know far too many men who feel like their SO starts a fight with them anytime they want to hang out with their friends or even do something alone. Obviously they shouldn’t be regularly canceling plans with you to do these things but assuming there is a reasonable amount of joint activity going on you should be supportive of and even encouraging him to go do stuff without you from time to time. Occasional time apart is good for everyone.

2. Express yourself clearly and out loud.

One of the most common complaints I hear from men in relationships with women is that they feel like they get in trouble for things that they didn’t know were important to their partners. Men are not generally as in tune with the subtle side of communication. You may think you communicated indirectly but very clearly but often times the signals get missed. If you find yourself frustrated with something he’s done or not done ask yourself if you actually said out loud what you wanted or expected to happen. If not, try to tell him calmly and directly what you want and see what happens before you get upset with him.

3. Find something he likes or enjoys and do it for / with him regularly.

This is a simple way to ensure your partner knows you care about them. It doesn’t really matter what the thing is. It could be cooking a meal, playing a game together, something sexual, going to the park, etc. Find at least one thing that gives him joy and make that thing happen consistently. Once a week seems like a reasonable frequency to shoot for but that’s heavily dependent on the specific context.

Clearly this is not an exhaustive list but I think anyone who has a partner that thinks about ways to improve their life / relationship in a similar fashion to the suggestions above is going to have a pretty solid foundation to build on. At their core, those suggestions are about trust, communication, and appreciation. Those are some of the most important aspects of any relationship. If you can find a way to let your partner know that you value those things you’ll be in good shape.

Yes, agreed. I wasn’t sure if we were talking about old fashioned autonomy as you referenced or in the context of the modern world. I don’t think a 1st world nation can be autonomous unless we advance to they point where we can mine most of the metals and minerals we need in space. And even then they might have issues with things like water.

The US has more natural resources than just about any country on the planet could possibly have. If we can’t achieve autonomy as you’ve defined it then that kind of autonomy is a fictional concept that is out of reach for any modern nation.

Why would capitalists give a fuck about any constraint? We’ve conditioned them for a century to believe they can do anything they want with impunity.

LLMs work in some limited use cases with good data to draw from. Most companies, especially large corporations, have shit data. Current AI cannot fix bad data. They will never do what these guys are promising they will do.

That paragraph combined with this one is truly baffling:

I can think of a hundred issues more pressing to the American public than the existence of same-sex marriage: inflation, the cost of healthcare, national security, the war in Gaza — the list goes on.

I was fine with centering the core of my political philosophy on issues that only impact a small amount of people until the party I aligned myself with started targeting a group I belong to. Now I want to talk about how there are more important things to focus on.

Bitch please, there were always more important things to focus on but you didn’t care until the hate stopped primarily originating from you and started being directed at you.

Nobody likes the system but it’s all politicized in one way another depending on your preferred media bubble’s spin method, just like anything else.

In many cases there isn’t something better anywhere near where you live.

we’re at a point in labor dynamics where they need employees more than we need employers.

What makes your say that?

Sure, but most of the time you don’t have a lot of time to shop around for a job you like. You have to pay rent and “we didn’t vibe well” is not an acceptable reason to give your dependents when they ask why you didn’t take a job and are now being evicted.

You don’t have to have a total lack of self control to be prone to overconsumption. That’s a caricature you have in your mind that’s main function is to make you feel better about your own habits which keeps many from examining their habits in any detail.

No you’re not. Advertising, propaganda, and overconsumption impacts everyone.

That is true. It can be enjoyable in some cases but burnout is always on the horizon. Some people are unhappy with whatever decision you make and after a while their complaints start to seem petty and not worth addressing even when you probably should.

Some percentage of any population can’t help but be insufferable pricks for no reason at all. Content moderation especially is a thankless, unwinnable, eternal war that really takes its toll on you over time.