fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
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User ID: 3415
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
2d ago
Yes but they also import 60% of their calories which means they can focus on growing the 40% that's easiest to mechanize.
I will also note that Japan has some of the highest food costs in the OCED, at an index (avg=100, USA is at 94) of 126 in 2025.
Japan also doesn't seem to have great farm labor wages either
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
2d ago
It seems like we agree on the knock on effects more than I initially thought
If you're all for redistributing wealth from the middle class down then we are brothers in arms
I think that would end up being very unpopular, but c'est la vie
fmac
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3d ago
There is no free lunch. If this was as pure EV-positive as you imply, why isn't any country doing this and reaping the rewards as opposed to this current sub-optimal status quo?
This would redistribute surplus from consumers and farm owners to farm laborers. As someone who's generally in favor of economically redistributive policies, I guess I don't have it, although it's a pretty blunt instrument.
Also your argument implies that minimum wage increases are a pure upside policy too btw
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
3d ago
Well only the fruit pickers wage would go up. The mechanics wage would not, and the price of their food would.
If everyone's wage goes up equally you're just describing inflation.
fmac
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3d ago
Because if caught in the act, the perpetrator would be rather unceremoniously beaten to a pulp, both by whoever caught them, and any civic minded individuals present. You can get a nice crowd going, it's fun for the whole family.
I think the issue is that societies that do a good job at dis-incentivising petty crime via societal beatdowns also come along with nasty side effects like tons of rape/sexual assault, which India does a much worse (better?) job at.
I'm not sure if this tradeoff is worth it.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
3d ago
either Trump's powerless to implement his vision of reshaping global trade, or he doesn't actually want to, or this IS the agenda as he envisioned it and this is the extent of the impact.
The fun part, all of these are somewhat true
fmac
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3d ago
Because they're not paying the tariffs.
Foreigners don't pay tariffs, they're an import TAX
Interesting thread though, very predictable consequence lol
fmac
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3d ago
the wages for agriculture go up
Americans famously love when the price of consumer goods go up
Also Japan imports 60% of its calories
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
3d ago
we could send them back to Honduras or Oaxaca or wherever to enjoy their pay in a much lower cost of living locale when the season is over
We make up for it by importing infinitely Indian """students""" but in Canada we actually do a great job at this with migrant harvest workers
They're actually super dialled, farmers will compete to hire back the most productive squads of Ecuadorian peach harvesters, etc. They basically noodle around NA/SA following the various harvest seasons.
fmac
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3d ago
Picking fruit is so Edenic that it’s the first recorded activity of humanity
Brother if this is your imagination of piecework farm labor you should go on YouTube and see what it's like
fmac
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3d ago
against those who want to make it great?
Rhetorical question, if someone kept saying they wanted to be a good runner, but then repeatedly shot themselves in their foot with a gun (this is a fun mixed metaphor) despite insisting they were going to crush a marathon, what would you think about them?
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
3d ago
Then farmers will get some Made-in-America machine to scoop the tomatoes out of the ground.
If these existed then farmers would already be using them. Unless the argument is "illegals are so cheap no one bothers to invent them" but then why doesn't any other nation without infinite underpaid Guatemalans invent one?
And then if the logic is "american kids will be so expensive to hire it'll incentivise someone to invent a tomato scooping machine" 1) why hasn't anyone else already done this where labor is expensive and 2) is the price of food going up due to large wage increases just being handwaved away as "worth it"
Also my autism demands I point out that tomato's do not grow in the ground (sorry)
fmac
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4d ago
Like are they seriously of the opinion that right wingers don't cop bans on this site?
I assume so? I used to think this, but have come around to agreeing this isn't true.
However, when many left-leaning people are saying this over and over again, what do you do? If you listen to them, I guess you end up banning more righties and making them mad.
If you don't, lefties will continue to drift away and you'll evaporatively cool the community into a right wing cesspit.
It's hard, it's very hard. At the bare minimum, I think we should triple the jannies salaries for all their hard work
fmac
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5d ago
Meanwhile you could compare that to any large corporation. let's say, Citigroup:
You picked the 99th biggest company in the world, that's not just "any large" corporation, that's a mega-bank behemoth.
Insane how small Hollywood is though, I had no idea
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
5d ago
I dunno. A lot of people (including the mods) think the Motte is ultimately a doomed project and it's just a matter of how long we can keep it going. So far we've lasted longer than most expected.
Eternal September comes for us all, lets all just be happy we get to enjoy as long as we can. Do not go gentle into that good night.
Speaking for myself, I really do try to apply the same moderation principles to the shit-stirring libtards and the Joo-posters, and unsurprisingly, they both think I am clearly out to get them and run cover for the other guys.
You do a great job, and the fact they both think this supports your great job.
fmac
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5d ago
For example, I go long periods between officially donning the mod hat
I love your writing and read most things you write and didn't know you were a mod until now
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
5d ago
Zorba banning the legendary TrannyPorno
Please tell me more, I tried to look up their account but it 404'd so I can't even see the context.
fmac
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5d ago
Instead European Jewry was first encouraged to leave, then pushed toward other countries as refugees, then massively conscripted as a slave labor force with zero compassion or concern about their wellbeing, then basically liquidated as convenient when resources ran low so as to conserve resources for Germans and the war effort in general.
Is this a controversial take amongst the left/zionists? Isn't this what happened, who pushes for a more extreme "industrialized" story than this? I'm pretty sure this is exactly what I learned in my extremely leftist primary school (we watched Schindler's list in grade 7).
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
5d ago
Eh, you can't have a forum dedicated to political discussion and complain when people hold opinions you disagree with.
I think he's complaining that the people he disagrees with get free reign, and the people he doesn't disagree with (no idea what he agrees with) get shit on by both the community and occasionally mods.
I'm pretty sure this is about the AlexanderTurok ban slapfight last week
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
5d ago
"immense pain in the ass" this is referring to AlexanderTurok's most recent ban
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
5d ago
It's taken me a few reads (and realizing that AlexanderTurok posted below) to figure out what's being said here, I think.
I think what he's saying is kind of another spin on "you moderate the libs who annoy you for fairly inconsequential things, but not the rightoids who annoy me for the same"
I don't think he's that mad about jew-posting (I've personally never seen it, but I skip all the conversations I find boring, which is a lot of them), more so that if he has to deal with Jew-posting, which makes him unhappy, he'd like to also enjoy posting that makes others unhappy too. But if they're getting banned for being annoying what is the point.
This is my favorite type of Banana, I also stagger my Banana purchases, so I can have more of these. They ripen so fast though :(
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