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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   37412 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025

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The stultifying status competition struck me when my girlfriend lived in the DMV — it just seems so insane to me to care about things that are so trivial, like your bureaucrat code or whether you live in Bethesda or Rockville “North Bethesda.” I just don’t get it. The sort of raw, fruitless ambition, disconnected from anything that ambition might actually reward, like a more enjoyable job or more flexibility for your family.

I can grok the love of status and I can grok the love of money, but for me those things are always concretely connected to their ability to relieve stress, provide for loved ones, and increase slack. To love them for their own sake is just strange… though it perhaps shouldn’t be so strange, as I’m fascinated by network switches and could stare at blinkenlights all day, and those are just tools to many people.

increase slack

We've found the Sub-genius. All glory to Bob!

Alas, that was presumably in reference to Zvi and not the Church.

The stultifying status competition struck me when my girlfriend lived in the DMV

I've heard that the lineups can be long, but this is ridiculous!

(Although I must say that a ragged group of people living in the DMV, scrabbling for status, survival, and (perhaps) the opportunity to exit does sound like a nice setup for a postmodernist horror movie -- or maybe a reality show?)

Man Survives 78 Days On Wild Berries Looking For Shinjuku Station Exit 27K

"DMV" can stand for "DC/Maryland/Virginia area" as well as for "Department of Motor Vehicles".

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