#Globalism vs Localism

[tmarshconnors]

Romanian Presidential Election So Predictable

The headlines are ablaze: "Far-Right Candidate Takes Shock Lead in Romania's Presidential Election!" Pundits gasp, commentators wring their hands, and politicians scramble to understand how this "could have happened." Yet, for those of us paying attention, this isn't shocking at all. This is what happens when the political elite force so-called "progressive" policies onto populations without ever asking if the people actually want them. 

The Romanian Context 

Romania, like many nations in Central and Eastern Europe, has been at odds with the relentless push from the EU and global institutions to adopt social policies that often feel disconnected from the cultural and historical fabric of these nations. This includes everything from controversial stances on gender ideology to immigration policies that many Romanians perceive as threats to their national identity. 

It’s not that Romania—or any other nation—wants to exist in a bubble of isolation. It's that they want change to reflect their values, not to be dictated from outside or imposed top-down by self-appointed technocrats. 

The Rise of the Far-Right: A Reaction, Not an Anomaly 

When people feel ignored, they react. The far-right’s surge isn’t a cause; it’s a symptom. Across Europe, we see this pattern over and over again. Hungary, Poland, and Italy have all experienced pushes towards nationalism and conservatism in response to heavy-handed progressive policies. Romania’s current "shock" should have been anticipated.

For years, the mainstream political establishment has ignored concerns about national sovereignty, family values, and traditional culture in favor of advancing their vision of what Romania should be, rather than listening to what Romanians want it to be. Whether it’s the EU’s rigid stance on “wokeness” or an elite class dismissing legitimate concerns as “backwards,” the end result is the same: voters turning to the only candidates who promise to defend their way of life.

The Lesson for Western Elites 

The Romanian election is a cautionary tale for Western elites who stubbornly refuse to heed the warning signs. This is what happens when globalism is forced on proud, independent nations. It’s not the people who are being unreasonable; it’s the political class that fails to understand that identity, culture, and tradition matter. 

What’s ironic is the disdain these leaders show when faced with such electoral results. Instead of asking why people vote for these candidates, they double down, demonizing anyone who resists their agenda as uneducated or intolerant. This strategy is not only ineffective—it’s dangerous. 

The Path Forward: Respect vs. Imposition 

The rise of far-right candidates like this one in Romania will not be a one-off event. It’s part of a broader wave of resistance sweeping across nations that feel patronized and disregarded. If the EU and other global institutions truly want to foster unity, they need to adopt a policy of respect rather than imposition. Sovereignty should not be treated as a dirty word, and values deeply held by millions should not be dismissed as relics of the past.

In the end, the people have the final say. Romania’s election is a wake-up call. Let’s hope the political elites start listening before they lose the trust of even more of their citizens.

[dabookgoblin]

I don't say this to start fights or anything, but I've been watching a lot of booktube videos lately by creators I'm new to and I've been hearing a lot of the same complaints-- and MAYBE this is bc I honestly haven't been on top of the latest releases (in my niche or outside) the past two-ish years-- but every time I hear people talking about how samey publishing is, in particular for the romantasy and romance genres... I feel like it's bc none of y'all complaining are actively reading as diversely as you pretend to be.

I read queer fiction/sci-fi/fantasy almost exclusively and there is a lot of diversity in that genre (tho it is a niche not without its own criticisms) I see people who read a lot of these 'book-tok darlings' that are all these cis-het allo-normative books by (predominantly) cis white women and then complain how everybody is "using the same tropes" "every romantasy is just a SJM clone" "romance books are just thinly veiled erotica anymore" and how even the online book community/creators all fall into the same ruts and like, BABES. YOU ARE LITERALLY READING ALL FROM THE SAME POT.

I'm in the community, I read a lot and often, I was even on (queer) booktok and my experience could not be any different. If you just went out of your way to follow people that promoted and read things that are different LO AND BEHOLD they often don't fall into a lot of these issues and complaints???? Like at all?

I'll be listening to these people vent and even tho they talking about books and the community I feel like I'm only allegedly in at this point, it always feels like finding one of those rant/gossip videos from some niche potting hobbyist community you've never even heard of.

IDK, I want to hear what other people think.

[lipstickontheglass1985]

might get eaten for this but honestly i find it kind of suprising how similar in general british vs american english actually are to each other? like yeah sure the accents can be very distinct depending on the specific region and there are some words which differ completely depending on the variant (like i dunno lift vs elevator pavement vs sidewalk etc) and a bunch of slang terms which only occure in one of the variants (though, again, seems like they are more region dependent rather than american vs british english thing) but as a whole its like. if you are, say, a child who has been taught english by a bunch of purists who are insistent on only teaching the british variant as correct, and then once you grow up enough for unrestricted internet access go online onto english speaking spaces which are predominately american, you won't really struggle with understanding them if your "british" english was alright in the first place. like there is a difference but its far from enough to cause any sort of gap in comprehension. and i find this personally fascinating cause supposedly those two variants have been developing an ocean apart from each other for like three centuries

[transcriptioncity]

Translation Services vs. Localization Services

Translation Services vs. Localization Services What’s the Difference and Why It Matters Effective communication across languages is essential. Translation and localization services have become crucial for businesses, governments, and individuals. Although often used interchangeably, these services have distinct purposes and applications. Understanding the differences can help you choose the right…

[darlingkeyzblog]

Local vs. Global Business: Key Considerations for Immigrants and Women in Japan

Starting a business is a leap of faith anywhere, but in Japan, the dynamics for immigrants and women can be especially intricate. Whether you’re an expat looking to plant roots in this vibrant country or a woman breaking through traditional norms, the decision between launching a local or global business carries unique implications. Let’s dive into the considerations that can help shape this…

[passion8alot]

when i was originally thinking about this I didn't like the angles on a curve because it might be a right angle at one point but move left a little and it no longer works

I was thinking though that if I got a ruler, for example, and bent the ends, does that change it from being 180⁰? No, so then, at what point would it change?

Then that lead me to recognise that angles would be measured at various points.

And for me, viewing a curve as just a whole bunch of points to calculate an angle from is good enough.

I have a question for mathblr. A friend has sent me this following image that I am in disagreement with.

My specific point of disagreement is the 'right angles'. I do not think they are valid right angles due to being against a curved surface.

Thoughts?

[translationwala]

Localization and globalization are two essential business principles. Localization refers to the process of tailoring a product or service to a specific location or culture, whereas globalization refers to the process of making a product or service available to a worldwide audience.

[gallusrostromegalus]

If you please; what is your Tolberone theory of knowledge?

My theory, which I thought up a few weeks ago while sick with covid, is that all knowledge is a form of art, and that there are very broadly three basic types of knowledge arts: physical arts, philosophical arts, and scientific arts, and that pretty much all academic, artistic and practical disciplines exist somewhere in that triangle spectrum.

Physical arts are knowledges of how to actually, physically do things. The purest front of physical arts are things like dance and navigation.

Scientific arts are knowledges of things that can be tested and proven. Computer programming and Quilting are both scientific arts: they work, or they don't.

Philosophical Arts are knowledges of things which while not objectively provable, are still very real. History and Being A Good Listener are philosophical arts.

Nearly every discipline of knowledge is some combination of all three. Cooking is largely applied chemistry, a scientific art, but it's also a philosophical art because flavor is extremely cultural and contextual, and a physical art because you have to know how to hold the damn knife and heat when it's done.

The first part of toblerone theory is that, like how each piece has three sides, any given project needs at least one person who has a good grasp of each of the underlying arts involved or it's going to go sideways at best. For example:

Physical and Scientific arts, no philosophy: Jurassic Park. They need someone to point out that, while very possible, it's not necessarily a good idea.

Philosophy and Science, no physical: that dril tweet about the forum debate locked by a mod after 12,000 pages of heated debate. They need someone to drag them away from the keyboard and actually do something.

Philosophy and Physical, no science: that cult in midsommar that put a guy in a bearsuit. Without the ability to engage measurably with the world, they give into fear and behave like reactive animals. Also the "rare chicken steak" phenomenon.

You can have differing ratios of each type- Jurassic Park really only needed two philosophers: one animal behaviorist and an OSHA inspector, and 98% of the issues would have been avoided- but you do need at least ONE of each underlying art to check each other's work.

The second part of toblerone theory is that, like how the toblerone is made of many triangle pieces, there are poles to the triangle spectrum. Practical vs Esoteric arts. Short term and long term arts. High stakes vs for funsies arts.

While you have have different ratios and levels of expertise in each of the arts, you do all need them to be on the same piece of the bar, or they won't take each other seriously. A UN Diplomat and a climate scientist aren't going to take the advice of physical artist my uncle Bobby the plumber re: global warming, but they will take the advice of physical artist my Aunt Cheryl the civil engineer, a world expert in getting shit done.

The same applies for the other end of the spectrum. Aunt Cheryl the civil engineer isn't going to get much milage with the local high school student council and principal Waley when the problem at hand is "what are we going to do for this year's prom theme?"

I gotta go to therapy now, pictures later.

[willowalmondstar]

buying from the global store feels like buying from amazon vs supporting local jorvik business

[miralyk]

2024 interest check results for both assassin's creed and tron merch...!

WOW, thank you for the unexpectedly huge turnout for charms in both franchises! the interest check's now finished and these are the resulting characters i'm working on based on the requests.

due to the huge list of characters, a total of 34 new designs, being way more than anticipated (especially for assassin's creed) along with the conflict of ac fans wanting 2 weeks vs tron fans wanting 4 weeks for a pre-order period, i'll take an extra week (thus making the pre-order period an "inbetween" of 3 weeks) to finish all the tron shaker charm designs and making better refined preview sketches for the ac charms!

for comparison, the "refined sketch preview" i can finish for 22 fullbody charms will look like the left but colored, you can easily picture how it'll look like when complete in the right 🫡 again, thank you so much for your overwhelming support, and i appreciate the patience and kindness to work things out with the huge output!

answers for questions i got in the interest checks below:

international shipping will be possible for the charms and assassin's creed stickers!! if you're only purchasing stickers though, a flat rate letter will be untracked due to how forever global stamps work, so please keep in touch to inform me of updates if you're not purchasing any charms that'll give you a tracked postage label.

i'll purchase extra stock more than the pre-ordered amounts in anticipation of B-grade manufacturing, selling charms for local marketplace if i choose to table one day, giveaways, etc, but only a modestly small quantity!!

i'll consider doing custom oc charm commissions for fullbody chibis and/or shakeable tamagotchi charms! it depends on if there's enough interest to fulfill vograce fees though, due to how expensive shipping can be across the globe from china (where vograce operates) to america (where i live).

you can purchase multiple charms at once!

due to the VERY large amount of characters for two huge franchises i'm ordering, i'll see if i can split the ac chibi charms and tron shakeable + candy bag charms to be their own separate orders. in the past though, with orders of huge quantities, production can take many weeks and then more weeks through overseas shipping; i'll be sure to regularly post updates on tumblr then to be transparent about the production process!

[machine-saint]

6/10 confidence on this one

the thing to me about posts like "it's okay to want to shave your leg hair" is that you usually see people saying "wow thank you it's not like All Of Society is telling us this, you're so brave!!!"

but, like, if you're a leftist and exist in leftist spaces you're also going to believe "societal messages about beauty standards are bad, i should listen to my leftist friends who have better takes", and your leftist friends are going to be sharing things along the lines of "not shaving your leg hair is good and feminist" or whatever. local vs. global imbalance. same sort of problem i have with the "smith college problems" post. ultimately the worldview here is that all complaints are perceived as addressed at the entire world unless explicitly stated otherwise and that's... not really how many people use social media

[transgenderer]

related to the local vs global agriculture debate: transport is a very small part of the carbon footprint of food! (except for cane sugar and bananas). oh and here's an interactive one, the results are basically the same if you consider calories or grams protein instead, except tomatoes are super high in those (i guess cuz theyre mostly water and not calorie or protein dense). also, sustainable meat is still more carbon intensive than plant protein

[liesmyth]

Asking because I don’t know how to tag properly/don’t have enough tlt brainrot followers on my own blog: I had this revelation that New Rho Could be short for “New Rhodesia” which would say a LOT about the original colonists of the planet (the trillionaires(?))

ooh this is juicy! For context: "Rhodesia" was the name given to Zimbabwe and Zambia by the British, after Cecil Rhodes (you may know him from the Rhodes scholarship. also the imperialism)

I started replying to this and it went horribly long so I'm gonna put it under a cut. My tldr is that I don't think it's a direct reference, both because of naming patterns in TLT and because I don't think the trillionaires who escaped earth would be referencing Cecil Rhodes on purpose, but I also don't think it's a wild leap to make.

I'm throwing this in the tags and I'm 👀 to know what people think.

On the name

I always assumed that New Rho was a reference to the greek word / letter Rho (ρ). This would fit both the naming patterns of the Houses (which are partly inspired by classical mythology) AND what little we see of the naming patterns of BoE, who apparently like to name places after ancient or mythological locations on Earth — see also: Lemuria, Ctesiphon wing, Troia cell.

Note that we actually don't know for sure whether "New Rho" is the name given to the planet by the locals or by the Houses — the only person who actually uses that name is Ianthe during her speech, so it may very well be the case that the Empire renamed New Rho unilaterally, and the name doesn't reflect what its actual inhabitants call it. I don't believe that's the case (because, again, it fits with other naming patterns BoE seem to have + to a lesser extent, I think there would have been hints in the text if that had been the case, extra jeerings from the crowd or whatever if they felt strongly that their planet had another name) I'm just bringing this up here for completion's sake.

About the trillionaires:

I've given a lot of thought to the demographic of the TLT fleet. Although IDK how widespread of an opinion this is in the fandom but, personally, I feel pretty strongly that the bunch of ultra-rich people who would have fleed Earth leaving everyone to die would NOT have been the kind of demographic keen to reference British colonialism.

Like, I think it's important to note that the "first wave" of ships that launched from Earth didn't seem to include ANY major politician from a Western country that we know of — they managed until the last moment to keep up the pretence that it was "just" the first of many trips, and to me the lack of panic points to the fact that many public figures weren't on board. The world leader John puppeteers is heavily implied to be the US president, and even he wouldn't have been on board. John's flashback arc pits him very strongly against the global north, but more than that — imo, it's telling that the only sympathetic governments he could get to listen to him were the NZ government and parts of Oceania. It wasn't just John vs. the West, or John vs. OECD countries. It was John vs. the uber-wealthy, and those exist all over the world.

What I'm getting at is: that the trillionaires weren't overwhelmingly white. Many of them would have been USamerican or British or European, but so many people on board those ships would have been Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern, Russian, Thai etc. I'm thinking about 2024 data on List of countries by share of income of the richest one percent and List of cities by # of billionaires (keeping in mind also that in the NtN flashback arc, the stock market has crashed and the economy is in shambles. I would also assume that many Silicon Valley / tech fortunes have dramatically shrunk, and most "trillionaires" would be people who materially control access to resources.)

Basically what I'm getting at is that, TO ME, the TFL fleet was an escape pod put together by a group of people who had the means to decide they should save themselves and fuck everyone else, rather than a colonising project, and that most of them wouldn't be in a rush to identify themselves with the British empire. Many of them, maybe even a majority, wouldn't be white. They're the scifi equivalent of French noblemen fleeing the revolution. Uber-privileged people who became refugees.

Anyway. This is a book.

Everything I've written above explains why, TO ME, whoever on those ships made it out alive + successfully colonised a plane wouldn't be thinking about the British Empire in an especially positive light. However! TLT as a story doesn't exist in a vacuum, and Taz Muir (who exists in the world, and lives in Oxford) would 100% know who Cecil Rhodes is. I can absolutely believe that she settled on a Greek-mythology-inspired naming pattern and then, out of all the available options, decided to reference the colonialist whose statue got removed while she was writing the book.

[clessiennethms]

State Control vs Creative Freedom in Music

Hi everyone :)

In today's blog I'm going to discuss about the implications of state control and its impacts on creative freedom in the music industry.

As you all know, music isn’t just about entertainment, it is powerful enough to shape identities and challenge authority. Throughout history, governments have tried to control this power, but musicians have always found ways to resist.

Here's a poster from 1930s Germany, where we can read 'Degenerate Music' in the middle. It referred to any kind of artistic work that was performed by black people (jazz, swing...).

In Nazi Germany for example or also in the Soviet Union, music was tightly regulated to fit state ideology. Jazz was, seen as “degenerate,” which was why it was banned in Nazi Germany. On the Soviets’ side, artists had to align with socialist ideals. However, underground scenes emerged, where musicians played forbidden music as acts of rebellions.

Here's a poster from 1930s Germany, where we can read 'Degenerate Music' in the middle. It referred to any kind of artistic work that was performed by black people (jazz, swing...).

According to Vladimir Lenin: 'Every artist, everyone who considers himself an artist, has the right to create freely according to his ideal, independently of everything. However, we are communists and we must not stand with folded hands and let chaos develop as it pleases. We must systemically guide this process and form its result.' Even though he acknowledged the rights of artists to create freely, the belief that art should serve the collective and align with revolutionary ideals is still prominent.

Today, control is subtler, ‘softer’ in a way. Democratic states may fund music that aligns with national values or establish quotas favoring local content, like in France, where there has to be at least 40% of French songs on the radio. While intended to protect the national culture of a given country, these measures can shape creative expressions by favoring certain voices over others.

The balance between state influence and creative freedom can raise questions: should the state play a role in promoting certain types of music? When does support actually become an attempt of control? 

Nowadays, this question is even more complicated than it used to be, because of globalization. Music crosses borders more than ever, but local musicians are often challenged by global trends. This is why state support can be seen as a buffer, helping and protecting local musicians, but it can also kill innovation and diversity. 

Ultimately, every song we hear is shaped by complex elements, some in the artist’s control, some not. This context gives a deeper connection to the music we love.

Thanks for reading my post,

Have a nice week,

Thomas.

[alexanderwales]

Disclaimer: this is a very long ask. Please feel free to ignore it if you're busy, or for any other reason - 'I love your work!' is a decent summary. Hello Mr. Wales! And belated welcome to tumblr from someone else who also spent years seeing tumblr screenshots on reddit and twitter before joining.

I read Significant Digits a while back (immediately after reading HPMoR) and enjoyed it a lot, so thank you for that! More recently, I've tried doing some writing myself, with middling success (a HPMoR, Delve, Mother of Learning and Mage Errant crossover).

One of my readers left a long and fascinating comment on my fic, in which they quoted your review of HPMoR at length: https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/a-call-to-the-dark-city-delve-mother-of-learning-hpmor-mage-errant-multicross.127432/post-30801851

I found that I disagreed with your thoughts quite a bit, which surprised me! My response is in the next post in that chain, but the gist (ignoring context specific to my fic) is this exchange:

Harry does not win the climax of the fic by having overcome his flaws, he wins it through brutal murder. The biggest organic change he undergoes is from believing in the value of truth to advocating for multiple conspiracies against both the wizarding and muggle worlds, and if that's character growth, I find it ugly.

My (shortened) response:

As Alexander Wales notes, Harry *does* change in HPMOR: he becomes less open, less willing to share information widely, and shifts focus from local issues (people and ethics near him) to what he considers global risks and outcomes. As a reader, I'm not too interested in whether or not the change in Harry's character is in a 'good' direction, or whether or not he becomes a better person, or whether or not his views over time gradually approach my own. For me, the most important thing in a story is that it is *interesting* - and I find Harry's arc in HPMOR very interesting.

I'm curious about if you have thoughts on the general debate there - to what extent do you think writers should prioritise faithful simulation of characters and setting vs. giving the characters an arc with an emotionally satisfying conclusion? Or is deciding initial conditions such that accurate simulation leads to a satisfying character arc and emotional conclusion *the real puzzle*?

Thanks again - I've enjoyed your writing a lot over the years, and expect to enjoy it more soon! (About 10 of my readers have independently recommended that I read Worth the Candle based on the stories I've included in my fic, so it's pretty close to the top of my reading list :p )

(I am obligated to point out that Significant Digits was not mine. I wrote a very short epilogue here, but nothing of the length or complexity of any of the notable fan sequels.)

I've been thinking about how to answer this for a bit, but I think what it comes down to for me is that I want a story to have a clear thematic, emotional, or intellectual through line. I want a story to be about some specific thing, and then take that thing through its paces, and to have us come out the other end having explored that thing in its fullness.

To some extent, I like stories best when they're driving at some singular vision, which I know as a sprawling webfic author probably seems insane. So if the ultimate conclusion is "yes, we should commit conspiracies against people for their own good" then I would like for the early parts of the story to show us why that's the case, ideally by having some truth be put out into the world that causes damage, or by showing how a lesser conspiracy worked to protect something, or whatever else. Or contrarily, if it's the work's position that conspiracies are bad things, then it should show us how and why they're bad, and why this character is making that decision anyway. Or if the work isn't sure how it feels about this thing, I still want them to explore it, to see the different scenarios and thoughts.

I'm an avowed fan of HPMOR, and I am unfortunately the sort of fan that has a lot of critical takes about the things that I enjoy. My biggest problem with HPMOR is that it's not thematically "whole": the individual parts don't feel like they mesh that well together (in my opinion). With that said, I haven't reread HPMOR in a very long time, and my arguments are rusty, so I don't want to give them here.

I think my desire for thematic cohesion is probably work-dependent, but even so, is also probably at the far end of reader preferences. Some people are perfectly happy to read things that are more simulationist in nature: a character does things because that's what they would do, and if this doesn't build up to some grand theme or climactic showdown, so be it. I do think a lot of the trick of writing is making character stuff work in harmony with plot stuff, because you don't want people to feel like "oh, he just did that because the plot demanded it" (though they will say that about almost anything, in my experience).

I don't think that HPMOR is fatally flawed for its thematic wanderings, and I do think there's some sense in which it's best read as a you'd read a TV show with multiple "seasons" which are individually about something but don't necessarily have as solid of a through line. It's just a personal preference thing, I guess.