Large fry over $5 at my local McDonald’s. Truly crazy margins.

Can’t even put it on the right direction, sheesh.

Very true and reigning in corporations has been nothing more than an afterthought for the last 40 years

Parents should be monitoring their children. I did and after some of the things I saw on Roblox (adult themes including simulated rape) I no longer allow my children to play.

Shouldn’t companies protect children from predators when they find out what is happening on their platform? I mean it is the law and all.

Trump is so weak, they should capitalize on this moment.

Keep in mind Trump was playing with the idea of nuking a fucking hurricane. Doesn’t seem so far fetched.

We didn’t name it the Department of War to defend ourselves.

Texas, the pedophile state. Don’t like it? Maybe get some new reps!

I have heard of supply-side Jesus, is this another new form of him? Fascist Jesus - He promoted hate and division and blaming acts on people who had nothing to do with it.

All hail Fascist Jesus and don’t forget to subscribe to the Anti-Woke Jesus Network for only $19.99 a month to ensure your soul is ready to purge your fellow Americans.

It is like asking is their a country that isn’t fascist. The answer is there is none.

When people start recognizing that countries are the problem and not the solution we will be one step closer to being free.

RIP all the innocents that are currently dying and will die from this administration of death and debauchery.

It is really hard not to let the oppressors lexicon invade yours and in that act change your message in subtle ways.

For instance, using a term like bleeding-heart. They also do their best to obscure words and change their meaning. Think of woke or feminism as examples.

I know several people who have died from firearms including family members. Gun obsessed morons have lead to more deaths than every single loss in every single war in US history in the last thirty years. The only person who should shut the fuck up is you.

Oh yeah of course. I was more speaking to the psychological factors of why we fall for the artificial hate.

Oh so like some kind of psychosis related to reading. I think there may be something like this related to religion. People who are obsessed with religious texts developing derangement.

Also, there are books that are anecdotally connected to crimes like catcher and the rye and count of monte Cristo.

It depends on the drug honestly. But yes, generally there is irreversible neural and physical damage caused to the body.

Take huffing for instance. It is a very powerful addiction that causes a lot of brain damage. But is it really the chemical being huffed or is it another mechanism like oxygen deprivation.

This is why I say it depends and once again I think most the damage would come from the results of addiction (which is just pathways being reinforced in the mind). A lot of time with drugs like meth most of the damage comes from people not taking care of themselves (not eating, sleeping, etc.).

The ruling class in that book make a very similar argument to your post. It also has some really cool elements like re-envisioning history.

The way I understand it the brain makes pathways that get reinforced through usage and time. In this respect if we do anything repeatedly it will reinforce those pathways. Reading lots of books would reinforce this type of pathway.

I think the element you are missing is the damage. What damage does reading do if it is not an addiction and only reinforces pathways in the mind. When you do drugs it reinforces other pathways but also does actual damage through a number mechanisms.

It is an interesting thought experiment for sure. Anything can be an addiction and I am sure people have been addicted to reading.

I like defining an addiction as a repetitive behavior that significantly disrupts your ability to function. I think the second part is most important. If you can lead a normal life and still read a lot of books, do drugs, gamble, etc. it isn’t a problem.

I have been looking into it. It is a combination of WIPO (which is a trade organization promoted by corporations that are against 3D printing in general) and Billionaire Bloomberg’s Everytown.

There are some other notable players as well but these are the two main forces. At first glance Everytown seems like a sensible organization. As I dig deeper it appears they want to counter balance the NRA, but they are not anti-gun at all.

This leads me to believe that they are just an alternative NRA (which has been used as a tool to increase gun sales for years).

I will keep on researching it.