iguy

48 ms·

391.
by iguy 7y ago
I'm not sure these connections are as clear as you seem to take them to be. I guess I should cite PG instead of re-typing... maybe we're still unwinding the world of WWII, which produces lots of correlated changes [1]. Maybe inequ
392.
by iguy 7y ago
> Relative wealth buys you status, position > pecking order Some of this can't really be fixed: the top 10% of status only has room for 10% of the people, by definition. The pecking order, by definition, orders people. > and p
393.
by iguy 7y ago
> Blue collar jobs are easier to put a number on But still very far from easy. The standard story here involves a shoe factory in a communist country of your choice, who met their quota by making only left-foot size-3 shoes... You can pl
394.
by iguy 7y ago
For the purpose of Africa vs Europe, they can't really be positioned to have a better view of Europe than of Africa.
395.
by iguy 7y ago
Thanks, nice to see a map. But all those lines which stop at the mediterranean coast... those satellites surely cross north africa at almost the same time of day, it's just not marked because they are turned off? As you say, perhaps li
396.
by iguy 7y ago
But is this true? Sure if you want coverage of Siberia you may need your own, but doesn't every orbit cross the equator? I would have thought plenty of satellites cross Ethiopia every hour, although perhaps not bothering to run all the
397.
by iguy 7y ago
To be clear I don't have a position on this, I don't know enough about NL. The now-invisible top-level comment was being taken to task for stressing the Moroccans' involvement, which the BBC also focused on. I'm sure the
398.
by iguy 7y ago
To be fair, TFA's take stresses these connections: "Young Moroccans call each other 'Mocro'...", and "... West Africa. The drugs then went north over old smuggling lines from Morocco, and young Moroccans whose
399.
by iguy 7y ago
I made no such assumption. I only offered a counterexample to the idea that there is no difference between materialism and capitalism. Half the world was ruled by people who loved the former and hated the latter. So they certainly saw a dif
400.
by iguy 7y ago
Yea I bet those don't have 70% margins. I also bet you know which size to buy when you go back the next year, instead of having to figure out again what shape everybody is making jeans this year.
401.
by iguy 7y ago
This would be a step forward, but IMO would be far from solving this problem. Being rich enough to afford many things (like new shoes not being something you have to plan your budget around) means that you are rich enough to throw things aw
402.
by iguy 7y ago
> Is there a difference between the two? Sure: Capitalism is basically the term invented by the socialist movement for the things they wished to replace. But the idea that they could do a better job at delivering material progress (to th
403.
by iguy 7y ago
Yup. Clothing has been a famously high-margin business since long before the internet, though. Like > 70% margins being normal for department stores, IIRC. Which does not imply the rest is profit, of course (since all the competing store
404.
by iguy 7y ago
Many American houses indeed have terrible sound-proofing. But placing a higher value on that surely isn't why people in poor countries build of concrete blocks. Wood is plentiful in the US, and labor is expensive, this is mostly what d
405.
by iguy 7y ago
Yes exactly. This seems to be replacing the part that was never a problem (building walls) with something high-tech and surely expensive. The nozzle that deposits that concrete is just guaranteed to be much more fussy about quality control
406.
by iguy 7y ago
Well one argument is the same as for patents -- the prospect of having sole use of something for a while is an incentive for its creation.
407.
by iguy 7y ago
The most solid argument in this direction (IMHO) is that quite a lot of the extra spending seems to have gone on positional goods, like housing. It's mostly a bidding war, and once every family has two earners, the winning bid is much
408.
by iguy 7y ago
It's also possible they care more about some hours than others -- everyone needs some downtime, so hiring a professional knitter it wouldn't help at all. Whereas saving hours on the crunch day when you're chasing a deal is wo
409.
by iguy 7y ago
IIRC the argument in Albion's Seed (which is an earlier and more academic book which overlaps this one) is that many things we think of as particular to african americans are aspects of the surrounding culture that were dropped later b
410.
by iguy 7y ago
Although IIRC they can be thought of as the end of a long tradition of mob justice being the system, or at least a large part of the system for keeping order. And directed against (supposed) criminals of all colors.
411.
by iguy 7y ago
> non-free people (slaves) do not have freedom Yes, that's what being a slave is. > The tautology is I still don't know what you're trying to say here. Do you think that all slave-holding states had a strong belief in i
412.
by iguy 7y ago
There's no conflict here. In a world where people were perfectly blank slates, and all such patterns were purely culturally transmitted, you would still expect a giant Yankee blob on the map just because they mostly came from East Angl
413.
by iguy 7y ago
No, it's far from a tautology. A strong belief in individual liberty was a distinguishing characteristic of that society. And especially of that political society, which meant landowners. Having lots of slaves was another characteristi
414.
by iguy 7y ago
I'd argue the problem is endemic to large stationary organizations, but some do a better job than others at keeping it at bay. It's interesting to wonder why. I think one aspect is the degree to which politically powerful are will
415.
by iguy 7y ago
And in things without a stock price, like the MTA. Isn't the second avenue subway exactly what you get when there's exactly one player in the game?
416.
by iguy 7y ago
Is this such a gray area? Sure unions are political, but they are politics directly relevant to the relationship of employees and their employer. Whereas your views on foreign policy or abortion laws or the existence of god, these are what
417.
by iguy 7y ago
Agree that rational isn't it. But "reproducing the existing quirks" seems like an accurate description. If you want to pay 7% APR on month-end balances, then that's a real-number calculation, but to match what customers
418.
by iguy 7y ago
Thanks, yes I'd heard it was more mixed. If you had to guess the proportion of construction which was new floor area (not just building 3 stories, but replacing a 1-story thing, etc.) would this be 10%, 50%, 90%? (I would blindly guess
419.
by iguy 7y ago
Does anyone know how much of such construction is re-construction, and how much new stock? I have heard (but am not sure) that the pattern is more to buy some land, knock down the previous guy's house, and build your own. On a time-sca
420.
by iguy 7y ago
I wonder how this happened... do you know if it's known? Could it be one of the relics of Buddhism adopted by the ~ Gupta revival, and never made it down south?

More ›