#we need a robust social net

[medicinemane]

At least even when I was a teenager and identified as communist, I was still never a soviet apologist

(And as I got older I came to dislike the USSR more and more and more, also seeing that soviet apologism kinda tended to fuck things up for western communists cause they'd be so busy running defense for people who didn't like or care about them, that actually getting policies passed to help western workers came second to being a tankie)

(Straight up, while I was volunteering in Quebec, one of the people I stayed with had this book by her uncle about being a Canadian communist, and he basically pinned soviet apologism as the whole reason he left the party cause they were more interested is doing PR for the kremlin than they were interested in like... unionizing in Canada)

Anyway, tankies suck, soviet apologism suck, and I'm glad to be able to say that even when I was a communist I didn't fall into that trap... like thank fuck for that, you know?

[embervoices]

Two important things to read WRT why Harris lost, even when other Dems won on the same ticket.

Succinctly?

Across the world, people are voting for change.

Any change at all, from the way things have been since Covid began. Incumbents are being ousted across the world. People are overtly voting against their own interests - and are even somewhat aware of it, and voting mixed tickets accordingly - because they are exhausted and worried and angry, and any change seems better than the status quo, no matter what that change is.

Harris didn't lose because of what Biden did or didn't accomplish. It's mostly just that the Dems were in charge when the emergency measures instated for Covid happened to expire, and weren't in a position to make them permanent. Trump would not have made them permanent either, but people remember that they were better off by coincidence when he left office, and attribute the difference to Trump and Biden, when the difference was mostly Covid and timing.

We tend to buy into whichever analysis of why Harris lost confirms our existing worldview, and I'm just as guilty of it as anyone, suspecting that more support for the marginalized and workers rights must be needed, because that's what I see in my everyday life. But my everyday life is not the whole picture, and blame is not useful for getting stuff done, it's just a way to make ourselves feel righteous in retrospect.

The massive, almost overnight expansion of the social safety net and its rapid, almost overnight rollback are materially one of the biggest policy changes in American history. For a brief period, and for the first time in history, Americans had a robust safety net: strong protections for workers and tenants, extremely generous unemployment benefits, rent control and direct cash transfers from the American government. ... Biden wanted to continue many of these policies, but there wasn’t a political pathway. Instead, they quietly expired. To voters, however, the material reality is that when Trump left office, this safety net existed, and by the time of the 2024 election, it had evaporated. ... The political miscalculation the Biden administration made was that, lacking the political ability to implement these policies permanently, it was best to have them expire quietly and avoid the public backlash of gutting welfare programs and the black mark of taking a public political loss.

[newrww]

Holy shit, I didn't realize that the homeless were inhuman and didn't need material things! thanks, Einstein. It's very interesting how the most poverty stricken areas, esp those affected the most by the Auto industry essentially moving out or jobs being outsourced are also the same places that have the highest rates of addiction? It's almost like there's a correlation between poverty and a lack of hope for your future and getting addicted to drugs.

While I'm sure that there's schizophrenics and the like who are homeless and that's obviously an issue that needs to be addressed it is such a scrotey thing to assume that the homeless are just mentally ill for no reason and need to be I guess drugged up and put into an asylum or something.

The issue is that if you're vulnerable, poor and under a lot of stress (moids, who are notorious for having poor self-control can get violent and dangerous when stressed and give people around them PTSD) that could easily lead to your developing serious mental illnesses.

The issue is that we don't have a social safety net that's robust enough. There's not enough funds or even willingness to help people who may fall through the cracks or who are vulnerable.

See: the homelessness tag in my blog

@squirrelsan

[flameswallower]

the post where i piss everybody off

i'm anti-AI (crowd cheering)

i think it's a big labor issue and it's pretty wasteful/bad for the planet (crowd continues cheering)

though i think ultimately, practically, looking at history, people rarely or never win when they try to stop or strictly regulate a new technology to keep it from taking their jobs (muttering, mixed reaction) which is why it's imperative that we create an extremely wide and robust social safety net, and a system in which nobody is in danger of losing food/housing/medical care/access to culture if they don't get paid much for their work, everyone has free time and the ability/tools to partake in artmaking of their choice, and so forth (some muted cheering, a few boos, skeptical muttering)

i also think that, while it's good to oppose AI on environmentalist grounds, if you do that you need to be even *more* opposed to eg cars, you probably need to be debating whether it's environmentally/energetically acceptable for the internet itself to exist in its current form, etc. i'm definitely not saying you need to think all modern technology is bad and we need to go back to living like cavemen, or saying you personally should stop using any particular given technology that you need to navigate the world as it is, but you *do* need to be willing to *radically* interrogate the status quo of technology and energy use, not just oppose new things that are wasteful (more boos and muttering)

also, and i didn't always feel this way, but i've been talked around: i do think these LLMs have "a soul" insofar as i think they have "a consciousness" as i define consciousness in its most basic form (to have an experience of the world, a thing-it-is-like-to-be). i think they're owed the same consideration i owe something like an oyster, or a stone (boos, a LOT of muttering, some people clearing their throats and preparing to smugly ask me if i've ever heard of science)

that said, their art is imo usually ugly and boring, and you absolutely should not trust them to answer any question with factually accurate information (tentative cheers; am i coming back?!?)

THAT said, i think existing copyright law is too restrictive and i'm firmly against tightening it further; that will only be used to benefit corporations and harry small independent artists who do things like collage in the long run anyway (sighs, moans, booing)

[tanadrin]

one of the ways in which i am a very bad leftist, i suppose, is that i’m usually pretty agnostic about whether social democracy + robust social safety net or full-blown socialism is better--it feels pretty much like a distinction without a difference, and a program that’s actually politically possible is better than one which is out of reach. but i think the argument that could most convince me that no form of capitalism, no matter how shackled by redistributive policies like wealth taxes or LVT or income tax, is ultimately redeemable looks something like this:

“labor costs are a huge driving force in the economy. when you own capital (land, machines, resources, money) and you want return on that capital, saving money on labor is always going to be a foremost concern, especially in societies with higher standards of living, and thus higher labor costs. the incentive to keep labor costs down will tend to result in support for policies and ideas that have a primary or incidental effect on labor costs but which have serious negative consequences: everything from outsourcing to restrictive immigration policies, to vagrancy laws and (historically racial) caste systems. but even normal business competition will tend to be bad for workers, since labor is a major cost center.”

“the degenerate form of this incentive structure is one of total employer power over labor, i.e., one where you don’t have to pay your laborers at all and they’re not free to choose their job, some form of serfdom or slavery. since this incentive structure is baked in to any economic system where ownership of capital and returns on capital are separate from labor and the conditions of labor (which includes capitalism, feudalism, and all your major axial age empires, and many other economic systems besides), you will always be fighting a rearguard action against capital owners. it’s not even their fault, really: it’s simply what is in their best interests, and it would be unfair to expect them to act in inhuman and irrational ways given the incentives at play. the only way to fix the problem in a way that will prevent future social and economic instability is to avoid those incentives entirely, and restructure the economy so that workers and capital owners are more-or-less synonymous.”

and obviously the persuasiveness of that argument hinges on a lot of details--how you propose to restructure the economy, i.e., gradually, through taxes, incentivizing worker ownership, and targeted buyouts by the government, or through rivers of blood; whether you think this can all be managed in a democratic framework or whether we need a Glorious Leader and gulags to get there; whether you think markets are fine for most goods or whether you favor a planned economy--not to mention whether you buy into fundamental assumptions like “serfdom is bad” and “everybody in society should be able to afford a place to live, medical care, and food to eat.” but that argument also sounds very plausible and neat and tidy and flatters my preconceptions, which is probably the main reason i’m suspicious of it.

[revlyncox]

You Are A Miracle (2024)

Let's explore nurturing, the inherent worth of every person, and practices of loving kindness. These practices may relate to, but are not limited to, parenting. Creating, as Pablo Casals said, “a world worthy of its children” benefits all of us and the people who will follow us in the song of life. 

It’s Mother’s Day. I wanted to just get that announcement out of the way. Today we’re talking about nurturing, and about how each person is a miracle, and that the gift of our attention to each other in the present moment helps us to sustain a practice of loving kindness. That’s not unrelated to Mother’s Day, but it’s also not limited to mothering or parenting. 

Yet I can’t let this day go by without saying that we have among us a very wide range of relationships with Mother’s Day. We have among us those who aren’t and never wanted to be parents. We have among us those for whom today is full of grief because of death or estrangement or abuse. We have among us people whose feelings about this day, whether joyful or otherwise, are related to their experience of adoption. We have among us people who have desperately wanted to be parents, but that didn’t or hasn’t yet come to pass. We have among us people whose relationship with their mothers is complicated, and people who were raised by parents or family members who aren’t mothers. We have among us people whose parenting or caregiving role isn’t recognized. And there are people like me, for whom a day that names a binary, gender-specific parenting role is personally kind of weird. All of that being said, I and many of us, celebrate and thank those for whom the label of “mother” fits, those who can enjoy today unironically, because goodness knows parents need recognition and support and a more robust social safety net. Felicitations to those who celebrate today. And, if today is hard, I see you. 

And then there is the experience we need to name about actually parenting in These Times. In recent years, there have been unnecessary and untimely deaths, economic strains, and all kinds of stresses on our families without the avenues of support we would have hoped to have before the pandemic. Some of us are more traumatized than others, and a great many of our families are not really OK. 

That stress is yet more multi-layered as the threats to reproductive justice keep piling up. This is more starkly true in some places than others, but with national elections coming up, this issue affects us all. When courts and legislatures treat anyone who can get pregnant as an object and not a subject, all of our freedoms are at stake and millions of lives will be lost. Those of us who can be joyful at being parents find our joy diminished as the future we hoped for our children appears less and less possible and we see their human rights disappearing before our eyes. I am specifically thinking of the right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, the right to have children or not to have children, and the right to parent in safe and sustainable communities (rights that are foundational to Reproductive Justice as defined by SisterSong). And this is on top of whatever anger and despair we’ve been feeling about war, about public health, about climate change, about immigration justice, about racism, about democracy, and any number of other things. 

Whether we are directly responsible for children or not, all of us are part of communities that are necessary for the rising generation’s wellbeing. We have to find a way to love, even when the world gives us reasons for anger and despair. We have to find a way to sustain ourselves and each other, even just for life’s sake, and certainly if we are going to find the energy for collective action. We have to find a way to stay connected, because isolation will not strengthen us for the days ahead. The challenges before us are complicated, but certain things remain true. Let’s focus on what will keep us on the path of love, the path of justice, the path of healing, the path of connection. Let’s remember these things as we think about how to be the community that nurtures the rising generation. 

I often think about a quote from Pablo Casals, the famous cellist. He said:

Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michaelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.

You are a marvel. You are amazing. You are a miracle. And so is your neighbor. And so is the person you are in conflict with. And so is the person who needs access to reproductive health care and/or gender affirming care in order to live. And so is the kid who can’t travel on the sidewalk without the threat of police violence. And so are the kids who have respiratory disorders made worse by pollution. We must all work to make the world worthy of its children. The inherent worth and dignity of every person seems like such a simple concept, and yet the implications are enormous. We can get caught up in all of the work we have to do, all of the challenges we have to face. When we return to the marvel of existence in the first place, when we come back to this new and unique moment, we might find some of the love and joy that will sustain us through the struggle. 

This is where Tolstoy and today’s story comes in. A lot of things have changed since 1885, but humans still wrestle with moral questions. These days, we might have more nuance or more angles on the ideas expressed in today’s story, but when we feel lost or overwhelmed, maybe it’s OK to go with some simple guidance until we get our bearings. If anger and despair has us spinning, let’s re-set our compass points by honoring the most important time, which is the present moment; the people we should pay attention to first, who are the people we are with; and the most important action, which is love. 

The present moment is the most important time. We can be informed by the past. We can have goals for the future. Yet the only time when we can actually make ethical choices is the present. The information we have now is what we have. There are a lot of activities in this congregation to help us to cultivate mindfulness, so we can be brief here, yet there is no time like the present to remind each other of the present moment. 

Being in the present might mean letting go of blame for others and recriminations for ourselves. There is a point at which the utility of learning from our mistakes is fulfilled, and there is nothing more to be gained by wishing we had been smarter, or stronger, or faster, or had different information available to us at the time. When the question, “What did I learn? How can I make better choices in the future?” turns into rehearsing insults and name calling against ourselves, stop. You are a miracle. You are a wonder. You were, at that time, a miracle. And so is the person or people or institution with whom you are in relationship, even if you wish they had made different choices. The present moment might be painful. There has been a lot of pain as of late. As Brené Brown has pointed out, people don’t like being in pain, and shame and blame are two of the ways people try to get out of pain. We know in our hearts that neither one really solves the problem. Both shame and blame lead to disconnection. Let’s make a choice that connects rather than isolates. 

We cannot go back in time to prevent the pandemic, or achieve a different outcome in a previous election, or to change the national history in our own or any other country, or somehow not be in crisis ourselves so that we could have cared for others differently at some point in the past. Let’s choose to love ourselves and each other. It’s OK to have hard conversations and name feelings and make requests for different behavior in the future. Direct conversion is loving, and does require us to be fully present. What I’m asking that we guard against is being unable to stay present because we are stuck in perseverating on things we can’t change. Shame for ourselves and grudges against other people or against the communities of which we are a part will not help us to heal or to take collective action. Let’s be present, and marvel that we are here with the ability to practice love. Let’s be present, notice that there are hard things, and know that we are people who can do hard things. “Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again.” This is a moment of possibility. Let us turn to wonder. 

The people we are with are the most important people. The people we are with get our attention first. People we aren’t with can also be in our circle of concern, and I’ll get to that in a moment. For Tolstoy, he was saying that the profession or social status of the person in front of you is not what makes them important. That they are a human being makes them important. I have heard it said of extremely kind people that, if you were speaking with them in a crowded room, you felt like they were present with you, that they weren’t in a hurry to speak to someone else. That’s the loving attention that I think Tolstoy evokes in his story. 

For us in the modern world, what it means to be with someone, to be in connection with them, to be in conversation with them, has changed. We understand that we are connected with people all over the world, that we are tied in a single garment of destiny with people we don’t know. Our actions affect other people, and we want to take responsibility for that. Our thriving is bound up together. All of that being said, because we are all connected, kindness ripples out in all directions when we can be compassionate with the people with whom we are in closest contact. There are a lot of crises happening at the same time. There are a lot of loved ones in pain. It can be overwhelming to figure out where to begin. If we don’t know what to do, practicing kindness with the person in front of you is a great way to start. It’s OK to do one, small, right thing to make the world better. You don’t have to save the world alone, and you definitely don’t have to save the world all at once this minute. 

Maybe things haven’t changed all that much after all. In 1902, Edward Everett Hale wrote:

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” 

If the something you can do is to give the gift of your attention to someone in the present moment, it matters. If the something you can do is to show kindness, or to take one action for justice, or to appreciate the marvel of someone else’s existence, it matters. 

Maybe the person you are showing compassion to is yourself. You are also one of the people present with you in this moment. As it is said in the Buckaroo Banzai movie, “wherever you go, there you are.” We are part of an interdependent web, and our compassion for all beings includes and is not limited to ourselves. 

Developmental psychologist Carol Gilligan pointed out that studies of moral development up until she began her work were based on the choices of men and boys, and they tended toward an individualistic framework of ethical choices. In her 1982 book, In A Different Voice, Gilligan suggested another way of approaching moral development. These days, that book comes off as being more binary than makes sense for the current world, but at the time it was revolutionary to think that there may be more than one right way of understanding and making ethical choices. Gilligan elevated an ethical framework of relationships and responsibilities as being just as mature and developed as an ethical framework of rights and independence. She also said that, within that framework, people can eventually come to an integration of responsibility to both self and others. The person making ethical choices does take into consideration their relationships and their impact on others, and also gives weight to their own wellbeing. It’s not an either/or framework. 

In the present moment, the people who are impacted by our ethical choices are important. We are some of those people. Certainly, it is also incumbent on us to try to consider the people to whom we are responsible and who will be impacted by our choices, even if privilege or distance try to obscure those relationships. We are responsible to ourselves, but not only to ourselves. And we can’t know everything, so we stay curious and do the best we can.

When we’re at the point of deciding on our next move–the next place where we will attend to justice and kindness–consider acting locally. Invest in the communities and institutions right here and right now that are helping people to connect and to bring positive change. The Unitarian Society right here in East Brunswick is one of those. Local mutual aid, local work with coalitions like UU Faith Action and Interfaith RISE, local organizing partners like the North Brunswick Area NAACP, local funds that help people to access healthcare– small, local actions make a difference. So do personal gestures like cards, text messages, and phone calls to the people you care about. The people in your immediate circle of impact are important people. 

The most important action is love. Love can take many forms. As we have discussed before, bell hooks taught us that love is defined by its positive impact on the wellbeing of the beloved, not by sentiment. Love can look like appreciation and affirmation. Love can look like setting compassionate boundaries. Love can look like respecting someone enough to have difficult, direct, vulnerable conversations. Love can look like asking someone about what they need, or just bringing them water. Love can look like rising up in solidarity when your beloved’s human rights are being threatened. Love can look like staying in the conversation, being fully present and not turning away or trying to fix it when your loved one needs you to stay with them in their pain. Love can be coming back to the table, trying again after a disruption or an absence or a setback. When we can see other people for the miracles they are, when we act out of our best selves, to let those miracles shine in others and thereby in ourselves, we are acting with love. 

Communities like this one exist to nurture people, to nurture the interdependent network of life, to nurture the rising generation into being the compassionate, thoughtful miracles that they are meant to be. As members and friends and families reconnect and recommit to that work, remember that the most important time is the present moment, the most important people are the ones with whom you are present, and the most important action is love.

May it be so. 

[classicalliberalleague]

fuck capitalism

Well, sadly I fear that is the depth of your intellect.

Capitalism is one of the single greatest accomplishments in history. It not only had reduced the number of people in poverty to one of it’s lowest levels in human history

But has created the most prosperity and growth in the standard of living.

Now is it a perfect system? No, nothing is, as long as people are involved nothing is perfect, but it is the situation with the least amount of suffering.

Are there problems like cronyism? Certainly, but such rent seeking behavior is seen in all other systems that have ever been tried and the exploitation and corruption seen there is always more harmful. (As you will find that there is loose relationship between corruption https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index# and economic freedom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_economic_freedom)

Now, it’s hard to say that what you’re exact complaints are given the long and detailed nature of your complaint…but let’s go over some popular one:

1. You hate Trump and Trump=Capitalism…except no. An ideal form of capitalism (which like an ideal form of communism, I will admit will never exist) would be a place of absolute free trade. That is zero tariffs, open borders, few regulations, impartial government that does not seek to benefit your donors (and certainly not the executive’s pocketbook), and, my favorite very open borders. None of that is Trump. Trump is an eternal enemy of capitalism and I would be more than happy to see him tried for all his crimes against humanity and given a very final punishment.

2. You think there should be a bigger safety net to help the poor. The problem is that while there is some societal correlation in the past between those who advocated for lesser entitlement and capitalism and those advocated for greater entitlement and socialism there is no real reason these have to be correlated. The Gods of Capitalism F.A. Hayek (https://www.amazon.com/Constitution-Liberty-Friedrich-Hayek/dp/0226320847/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2RZQHLL2MN920&keywords=Constitution+of+Liberty&qid=1689567479&sprefix=constitution+of+liberty%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-3) and Milton Friedman (https://youtu.be/xtpgkX588nM) advocated for robust safety nets. Most recently Charles Muarry of AEI has advocated for the best option currently a strong UBI attached to universal health care voucher that would ensure all citizens are covered under the safety net (https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/-in-our-hands_105549266790.pdf). The problem is that when we talk about entitlement programs we need to look at them as to how large they are, how effective they are at helping people, and how efficient they are at moving dollars from tax revenue to dollars to help those who need it. Regrettably both he right and the left have focused their arguments mainly on size which has allowed for safety nets to become ineffective and inefficient…any educated reasonable capitalist (I can’t help moron how think capitalism means their bigotry even if it doesn’t) would want a highly effective and efficient medium sized safety net because it helps many people.

Now I could go on a lot of other things…but as you eloquent post has only two words, I feel you only deserve two points. Would you like to give a more detailed objection which I’m sure I can also refute?

Capitalism doesn’t solve every problem of humanity. No system will. But it has created vastly more prosperity than any other system ever conceived ever could, it has ended poverty for billions not created it, and until someone comes up with better variations it’s still the best option.

[f1]

F1 expects to slash paddock carbon emissions by 90% in Austrian GP power supply trial | 2023 Austrian Grand Prix

Formula 1 will trial a new energy generation system for teams at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix which it expects will significantly reduce carbon emissions. Teams ordinarily handle their own energy generation needs in order to power their motorhomes, garages, pit walls and other facilities. They do this to avoid the risk of their performance being compromised by local power outages. However F1 has identified a significant opportunity to improve the efficiency of that power use by centralising it and supplying it to the teams. It will trial a new paddock power supply at the Red Bull Ring this weekend. F1 says its power supply will be produced by more sustainable sources, including a 600 square metre array of solar panels on the inside of the final corner and generators running on hydrotreated vegetable oil biofuel (HVO). The trial will allow F1 to assess how easily the concept could be rolled out to other circuits. It is part of a series of changes the world championship is making as it aims to reduce its carbon emissions to net zero by 2030. F1 teams will have their generators available as a back-up if needed this weekend, but if the paddock power supply concept proves successful the series hopes it will be able to phase old generators out. Ellen Jones, F1’s head of environment, social and governance, said cutting the teams’ dependence on their own power supplies will ultimately allow them to reduce the amount of equipment they take to races, delivering a further cut in F1’s emissions. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free “When you look at what does ‘net zero by 2030’ make up, it has three components, which is the energy from our factories, there is our travel and logistics, and then there’s our energy at events,” said Jones. “When we look at event energy, you’re actually hitting on two pillars. You’re not only hitting on how do we reduce our carbon emissions from hosting an event, but you’re also looking at how do we ship less? Because we don’t need those generators to ship in the first place and those duplicates. “So projects like this one are trialling new ways of working so that we can get our teams to collaborate and reduce carbon emissions, but have the potential to reduce not only energy at events, but also hit that critical travelling logistics piece of how do we use less kit, how do we make sure we’re doing it in a more efficient manner?” The first real-world test of the power supply will help the series judge how easily it could be introduced at more challenging venues, such as street circuits, where there is less room available to set up power generation equipment. “We have to look at every circuit individually but until we understand what that overall requirement is, it’s very difficult for us to look at that going forward in terms of scale,” said F1’s logistics director Ian Stone. “Obviously some places have got good space, some have got no space. Temporary circuits could obviously be more challenging. And I think one easy way to produce a more sustainable event is to work with the promoters and the circuits to have a sustainable power supply available that’s robust enough to support the pace and demands of F1 and the teams.” Stone indicated the emissions cut could be in excess of 90%. “Our estimation is 2022 there was around 200 tonnes of CO2 produced and we’re looking, again subject to receiving that data, to reduce that to around 10 tonnes of CO2.” Become a RaceFans Supporter RaceFans is run thanks in part to the generous support of its readers. By contributing £1 per month or £12 per year (or the same in whichever currency you use) you can help cover the costs of creating, hosting and developing RaceFans today and in the future. Become a RaceFans Supporter today and browse the site ad-free. Sign up or find out more via the links below: Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free 2023 Austrian Grand Prix Browse all 2023 Austrian Grand Prix articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

[digital-crusader]

Ageing India: Unveiling the Social Challenges Faced by Elderly Citizens

Introduction: India, a country with a rich cultural heritage and a rapidly growing population, is currently witnessing a significant demographic shift. The ageing population in India is increasing at an unprecedented rate, bringing forth numerous social challenges for retired individuals and elderly parents. It is imperative to shed light on these issues to create awareness and work towards finding sustainable solutions that ensure the well-being and dignity of our senior citizens.

Financial Insecurity: One of the most pressing concerns faced by the elderly in India is financial insecurity. Many retired individuals lack sufficient savings or pension plans to meet their daily needs, let alone cover medical expenses or unexpected emergencies. This vulnerability highlights the need for comprehensive social security systems and pension reforms that can provide a safety net for our ageing population.

Healthcare Concerns: Access to quality healthcare is another significant challenge faced by older individuals, particularly in rural areas where medical facilities are limited. As health issues become more prevalent with age, the lack of affordable and accessible healthcare services poses a grave risk to the well-being of the elderly. There is a critical need to prioritize geriatric healthcare and establish robust healthcare infrastructure to cater to the specific needs of older citizens.

Loneliness and Isolation: In a rapidly changing society, traditional family structures are evolving, leading to increasing instances of elderly parents living alone or being geographically separated from their adult children. This isolation and loneliness can have severe repercussions on their mental health and overall quality of life. We must focus on building support systems that foster intergenerational connectivity and address the emotional well-being of our elderly citizens.

Elder Abuse Awareness: A distressing reality faced by some elderly individuals in India is the occurrence of elder abuse. Physical, emotional, and financial mistreatment leaves the elderly feeling vulnerable and victimized. It is crucial to create awareness about this issue and establish legal frameworks that protect the rights and dignity of our senior citizens. Additionally, community engagement and education can help prevent elder abuse and encourage a culture of respect and care for the elderly.

Strengthening Social Support: To address the social challenges faced by elderly citizens, we need to strengthen and expand social support systems. Community-based programs, volunteer initiatives, and support groups can provide a sense of belonging and assistance to older individuals. Collaboration between the government, NGOs, and local communities is crucial in ensuring that the elderly have access to support networks that address their unique needs.

Enhancing Retirement Infrastructure: India’s retirement infrastructure is currently inadequate to cater to the needs of the growing elderly population. There is a need for comprehensive retirement planning mechanisms, including affordable housing, assisted living facilities, and geriatric care centers. By investing in infrastructure that promotes ageing with dignity, we can create an environment where older citizens can lead fulfilling lives and receive the care and support they deserve.

Ageism and Age Discrimination: Ageism and age discrimination are pervasive issues faced by older individuals in various aspects of life, including employment, social interactions, and healthcare. Changing societal attitudes and promoting intergenerational understanding can help combat these biases and create an inclusive society that values the contributions of the elderly.

Promoting Active Ageing: Active ageing is a concept that encourages older individuals to lead healthy, engaged, and productive lives. Through physical exercise, lifelong learning, and participation in social activities, older citizens can maintain their physical and mental well-being. It is essential to promote active ageing by creating opportunities for seniors to engage in meaningful activities and have access to lifelong learning programs.

Conclusion: Aumorto offers NRIs a powerful solution to the challenges they face in ensuring the well-being of their aging parents residing in Kolkata. By providing a nurturing environment, trustworthy care, cultural integration, comprehensive medical support and a serene retirement living experience, Aumorto empowers NRIs to offer their parents longer, healthier and more meaningful life. With Aumoto, NRIs can find solace, knowing that their parents are in the hands of a dedicated and compassionate society.

[webhibe123]

Digital Marketing Services: A Cost-Effective Solution for Small Businesses

In today's highly competitive business landscape, small businesses often struggle to gain visibility and attract customers without breaking the bank. However, with the rapid growth of the digital world, there is a cost-effective solution at their fingertips: digital marketing services. These services provide small businesses with a powerful platform to reach their target audience, increase brand awareness, and drive revenue growth. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of digital marketing services and how they can be a game-changer for small businesses with limited resources.

Leveling the Playing Field:

One of the significant advantages of digital marketing services is that they level the playing field for small businesses, allowing them to compete with larger corporations. Traditional advertising methods, such as television or print media, often come with exorbitant costs that small businesses simply cannot afford. Digital marketing, on the other hand, offers cost-effective alternatives such as social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, and content marketing. These tactics allow small businesses to target their audience precisely and achieve a higher return on investment (ROI) within their budget constraints.

Targeted Advertising:

Digital marketing services enable small businesses to reach their target audience with precision and efficiency. Unlike traditional marketing methods that cast a wide net and hope for the best, digital marketing allows businesses to tailor their marketing efforts to specific demographics, interests, and geographic locations. This targeted approach ensures that marketing efforts are focused on the people who are most likely to be interested in their products or services, increasing the chances of converting leads into customers. By avoiding wasted advertising spend on irrelevant audiences, small businesses can optimize their marketing budgets and achieve better results.

Cost-Effective Channels:

Digital marketing services encompass a wide range of channels, each with its unique benefits and costs. For example, social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter offer highly cost-effective advertising options that allow businesses to reach a large audience at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising. Additionally, email marketing enables businesses to engage with their existing customer base, nurture leads, and drive repeat business—all without breaking the bank. By leveraging these affordable channels, small businesses can maximize their marketing efforts and generate significant results without a hefty financial investment.

Measurable Results and Analytics:

One of the most significant advantages of digital marketing services is the ability to track and measure the effectiveness of campaigns in real time. Unlike traditional advertising, where it's challenging to measure the precise impact of each marketing initiative, digital marketing offers robust analytics tools that provide detailed insights into consumer behavior, campaign performance, website traffic, conversion rates, and more. This data allows small businesses to make data-driven decisions, optimize their marketing strategies, and allocate resources to the most effective channels. By continually analyzing and refining their digital marketing campaigns, small businesses can achieve better results over time and maximize their ROI.

Scalability and Flexibility:

Digital marketing services offer small businesses the flexibility to scale their marketing efforts based on their needs and budget. Whether it's a startup looking to establish a digital presence or a growing business aiming to expand its customer base, digital marketing allows businesses to start small and gradually scale their campaigns as they see positive results. This scalability ensures that small businesses can adapt their marketing strategies to changing market conditions, consumer preferences, and budgetary constraints while maintaining a cost-effective approach.

Digital marketing services have revolutionized the way small businesses can reach their target audience, build brand awareness, and drive growth without incurring significant costs. By leveraging targeted advertising, cost-effective channels, measurable results, and scalability, small businesses can compete with larger competitors and achieve remarkable outcomes within their budget constraints. Investing in digital marketing services can be a game-changer for small businesses, providing them with a cost-effective solution to boost their online presence, attract customers, and thrive in today's digital age.

[localloser]

“This invaluable research tool will hugely expand, update, and perhaps even revolutionize the feminist discourse. It might even be considered a work of conceptual art in itself." —Lucy R. Lippard, author of Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object from 1966 to 1972

“This book served as my doorway to cyberfeminism and I now see what an energetic continent awaits me. Anywhere I stepped it burned my hair off, it’s that brilliantly intense." —Kevin Kelly, founding editor Wired magazine 

In Cyberfeminism Index, hackers, scholars, artists, and activists of all regions, races and sexual orientations consider how humans might reconstruct themselves by way of technology. When learning about internet history, we are taught to focus on engineering, the military-industrial complex, and the grandfathers who created the architecture and protocol, but the internet is not only a network of cables, servers, and computers. It is an environment that shapes and is shaped by its inhabitants and their use.

The creation and use of the Cyberfeminism Index is a social and political act. It takes the name cyberfeminism as an umbrella, complicates it, and pushes it into plain sight. Edited by designer, professor, and researcher Mindy Seu, it includes more than 700 short entries of radical techno-critical activism in a variety of media, including excerpts from academic articles and scholarly texts; descriptions of hackerspaces, digital rights activist groups, and bio-hacktivism; and depictions of feminist net art and new media art. 

Both a vital introduction for laypeople and a robust resource guide for educators, Cyberfeminism Index—an anti-canon, of sorts—celebrates the multiplicity of practices that fall under this imperfect categorization and makes visible cyberfeminism’s long-ignored origins and its expansive legacy. 

“You can use it as a reference, follow a thread, or just access it at random and it delivers wit and wisdom from over three decades of one of the most politically and intellectually challenging movements of our era. What happens between sexed flesh and gendered tech? More than ever we all need to know." —McKenzie Wark, author of A Hacker Manifesto

“This is an archive perfectly suited to its material: at ease with impermanence, richly appreciative of contradiction, and expansive in scope. Mindy Seu and her cohort of collaborators celebrate the polyrhythmic chorus of voices that have made cyberfeminist thought so delightfully difficult to define—and invite new, kaleidoscopic reinterpretations of our last three decades of life online." —Claire L. Evans, author of Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet

“The Cyberfeminism Index celebrates, troubles, and critiques the histories and futures of struggle against networked patriarchy—from its first libidinous eruptions to tenacious tactical disruptions and mutations. For theorists and hegemony hackers alike the Index offers an inspirational and educational resource for the urgent work of glitching and decolonizing intersectional internets now." —Ruth Catlow, founder of Furtherfield 

[wisewastelandbluebird]

Embracing San Jose's Online Marketing Innovations for Business Growth

Introduction

In latest electronic age, on line advertising and marketing has develop into an primary instrument for organisations to thrive and grow. With the increasing pageant inside the industry, it truly is critical for carriers to embrace online advertising ideas to live beforehand of the game. San Jose, known as the center of Silicon Valley, has been at the vanguard of seo san jose technological developments, making it a hub for on line advertising concepts. In this text, we will discover the varied methods San Jose's on-line advertising and marketing options can gasoline enterprise progress and guide establishments succeed in their full achievable.

Embracing San Jose's Online Marketing Innovations for Business Growth The Importance of Online Marketing in San Jose

San Jose is a metropolis that breathes innovation and generation. As such, companies on this place need to leverage on line marketing innovations to face out from the group. With most of the people of clients now hoping on the information superhighway to look up products and services, having a stable on line presence is primary for success. By embracing San Jose's on line marketing thoughts, establishments can tap into a massive pool of workable clients and enlarge their reach like on no account until now.

Leveraging Search Engine Optimization (web optimization)

Search engine optimization (search engine optimisation) performs a valuable role in riding organic and natural visitors to internet sites. By optimizing their online pages with applicable keyword phrases and offering efficient content material, groups can enhance their visibility on search engine outcomes pages. San Jose's on line advertising concepts have paved the approach for improved website positioning innovations which can radically advance a employer's online presence and draw in more capability clientele.

How Can Businesses Optimize Their Websites? Conduct thorough key phrase investigation: Identify key terms which are proper for your business and include them clearly into your webpage content material. Create superb content: Develop informative and interesting content that provides cost for your target market. Optimize meta tags: Craft compelling meta titles and outlines that competently describe your net pages. Build a strong oneway link profile: Seek possibilities to purchase exquisite inbound links from reliable web pages. Enhance internet site loading velocity: Optimize your web content's functionality to be certain that immediate loading occasions, as here's a an important point in search engine ratings. Embracing Social Media Marketing

With the rise of social media structures, corporations have received exceptional entry to a immense viewers. San Jose's on-line advertising and marketing thoughts have reworked social media right into a robust device for firms to connect to their target market. By growing attractive and shareable content material, firms can build brand cognizance, foster client loyalty, and force site visitors to their websites.

How Can Businesses Leverage Social Media? Identify the excellent systems: Determine which social media platforms are most widespread among your target market and concentrate your efforts on these. Develop a content material strategy: Create compelling and correct content material that resonates together with y

[hoursofreading]

My goal here is to write these principles down at an adequate level of abstraction such that they don’t become a policy laundry list. They’re also not supposed to be a straitjacket. Different people have different views and different priorities, and principles need to be loose enough to accommodate some differences. But I also don’t want these to be total platitudes; I want some people to read them and think, “Fuck this, I don’t agree.” Over the next few weeks, I’ll share posts elaborating on each one individually, but in the meantime, these are the principles I’d like to see the Democratic party embrace: Economic self-interest for the working class includes both robust economic growth and a robust social safety net. The government should prioritize maintaining functional public systems and spaces over tolerating anti-social behavior. Climate change — and pollution more broadly — is a reality to manage, not a hard limit to obey. We should, in fact, judge people by the content of their character rather than by the color of their skin, rejecting discrimination and racial profiling without embracing views that elevate anyone’s identity groups over their individuality. Race is a social construct, but biological sex is not. Policy must acknowledge that reality and uphold people’s basic freedom to live as they choose. Academic and nonprofit work does not occupy a unique position of virtue relative to private business or any other jobs. Politeness is a virtue, but obsessive language policing alienates most people and degrades the quality of thinking. Public services and institutions like schools deserve adequate funding, and they must prioritize the interests of their users, not their workforce or abstract ideological projects. All people have equal moral worth, but democratic self-government requires the American government to prioritize the interests of American citizens. This is a slight tweak of the nine principles that I floated last week on Twitter. I heard from Democrats in the Bay Area asking me to explicitly call out some of the controversies around advanced math coursework and magnet schools that have been playing out in California and a few other places. That’s obviously very important to the impacted parents, but I thought it was too specific to be a plank of its own. I instead tried to modify (9) to be clearer that schools are the most important case here. And of course, part of the point of (4) is precisely to block the kind of analysis that leads to the demise of excellence-oriented education. I’m not going to go into greater detail even though I, an urban public school parent, am also quite concerned with this specific issue, because I think it’s important not to over-index on the specific issues that impact me.

Matty Y

[ebelal56-blog]

I Discovered the SECRET to Boosting Economic Growth!

Imagine a world where every individual is not just a number on a census form but a vibrant thread in the fabric of society, contributing to a tapestry of innovation, growth, and resilience. This vision is particularly relevant in today's context, where the dynamics of population can shift from a liability to an asset through strategic planning and execution. It’s not just a game; it’s about transforming lives and futures. So, how do we turn this vision into reality? Let's break it down. First, let’s talk about education. Picture this: schools buzzing with eager minds, where quality education is not just a privilege but a right for everyone, from the bustling cities to the quietest villages. We need to invest in infrastructure, training teachers who inspire, and updating curricula to meet the demands of a fast-evolving world. Imagine a classroom where STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—aren’t just buzzwords but the foundation of learning. By emphasizing these areas, we prepare our youth for the technological advancements that will shape their futures. But education doesn’t stop at the classroom door. We need to embrace upskilling and reskilling. Think about vocational training programs that are directly aligned with market needs. It’s about giving people practical skills so they can thrive in various industries. And let’s not forget the importance of lifelong learning. In a world that’s constantly changing, we must cultivate a culture where individuals are encouraged to continuously upgrade their skills. This is where public-private partnerships come in, creating a bridge between educational institutions and the job market, ensuring that what students learn is what employers are looking for. Now, let’s pivot to technology. In this digital age, robust digital infrastructure is non-negotiable. We need widespread internet access so that everyone can participate in the digital economy. Imagine fostering an innovation ecosystem where startups flourish, backed by research and development incentives. By integrating automation and artificial intelligence into various sectors, we not only boost efficiency but also prepare our workforce for the future. It’s about creating a landscape where technology enhances our capabilities rather than replaces them. Healthcare is another pillar in this transformation. Universal healthcare is essential. We need a system that ensures everyone has access to affordable medical services. Preventive care should be our focus, reducing the burden of diseases before they become crises. And let’s leverage technology in healthcare delivery—think telemedicine and health monitoring apps that make health services accessible to all, especially those in remote areas. Next, let’s dive into economic policies. Job creation must be at the forefront. We need to stimulate growth across various sectors, particularly in emerging industries like renewable energy and biotechnology. Supporting entrepreneurship is crucial too. Imagine a world where aspiring business owners have access to grants and low-interest loans to turn their ideas into reality. Social safety nets are vital in this equation. Strengthening social security systems ensures that individuals have support during unemployment, illness, or retirement. Affordable housing is another critical aspect; everyone deserves a safe place to call home without crippling financial stress. Good governance ties everything together. Transparent, accountable governance builds trust and ensures effective policy implementation. By using data-driven decisions, we can allocate resources wisely and make informed choices that benefit everyone.

[opinions-about-tiaras]

I've been struggling with this myself a lot. I'm absolutely on board with hatred of using these tools to make art with from an economic perspective; destroying the devil machines that are going to put you out of work has been a defensible stance to take ever since the Luddites. (The Luddites were both misunderstood and absolutely correct.)

But then people go off into the weeds making arguments that seem logically, if not morally and ethically... dubious. There's a lot of doublethink going on; people will say in one second "AI isn't AI, it isn't a person, it can't think, it isn't creative" and in the next second talk about these algorithms like they're literal Skynet.

And there seems to be a lot of fetishization of labor for labor's sake going on. If you collect a bunch of art, look at it, and deliberately make something that mimics its style, that's considered to make you an Artist; if you make or use a tool that gets that same result but minimizes your input to a certain degree, suddenly you're a thief? To what degree is that degree?

I'm old enough to remember some of this same sort of thing happening at the dawn of the age of digital and electronic art. Doing image and photo manipulation was called plagiarism and theft; now photo manipulation is a genuine art form. You got stuff like "you didn't color that; you drew a shitty digital image with your stylus and clicked a button to fill it with colors. That's not art, the machine did 99% of the work, you're a fraud." "Sampling doesn't make you a musician, it makes you a thief." "Electronic music isn't music; playing with buttons to produce tones is just you wanking off, learn to be a REAL musician."

I suppose there's an argument to be made that things like Stable Diffusion are fundamentally different, and that prompt engineering shouldn't be considered art, but like the OP, I have trouble assembling a coherent moral and legal framework there.

The transparency idea isn't just a good one for these algorithmic datasets, its a good idea period. All software should be held to that standard; there should be no such thing as black-box software at all.

The public domain thing is interesting, especially in the context of our grotesquely abhorrent copyright regime, but it raises specific legal questions that would have to be answered, as people will argue, in good faith, "the machine didn't make this -I- made this. Me! I used the machine to do it, but so do music samplers and so does a guy using photoshop." Courts and lawmakers will need to establish a specific standard here, if that's a route taking.

Economic pressure of course is entirely correct; not just in this regard, but in general. In a world without a far more robust social safety net, taking efficiency steps to remove labor from the process is always to be fought. "We could do this job with ten people, now we can do it with two" is generally speaking a scummy position to take for the eight people made redundant no matter what, regardless of if they're artists or ditch-diggers.

the most frustrating thing about AI Art from a Discourse perspective is that the actual violation involved is pretty nebulous

like, the guys "laundering" specific artists' styles through AI models to mimic them for profit know exactly what they're doing, and it's extremely gross

but we cannot establish "my work was scraped from the public internet and used as part of a dataset for teaching a program what a painting of a tree looks like, without anyone asking or paying me" as, legally, Theft with a capital T. not only is this DMCA Logic which would be a nightmare for 99% of artists if enforced to its conclusion, it's not the right word for what's happening

the actual Violation here is that previously, "I can post my artwork to share with others for free, with minimal risk" was a safe assumption, which created a pretty generous culture of sharing artwork online. most (noteworthy) potential abuses of this digital commons were straightforwardly plagiarism in a way anyone could understand

but the way that generative AI uses its training data is significantly more complicated - there is a clear violation of trust involved, and often malicious intent, but most of the common arguments used to describe this fall short and end up in worse territory

by which I mean, it's hard to put forward an actual moral/legal solution unless you're willing to argue:

Potential sales "lost" count as Theft (so you should in fact stop sharing your Netflix password)

No amount of alteration makes it acceptable to use someone else's art in the production of other art without permission and/or compensation (this would kill entire artistic mediums and benefit nobody but Disney)

Art Styles should be considered Intellectual Property in an enforceable way (impossibly bad, are you kidding me)

it's extremely annoying to talk about, because you'll see people straight up gloating about their Intent To Plagiarize, but it's hard to stick them with any specific crime beyond Generally Scummy Behavior unless you want to create some truly horrible precedents and usher in The Thousand Year Reign of Intellectual Property Law

[webdevelopmentagencyindubai]

Find the Best Social Media Agency in Dubai for Your Business

In digital media, Branding success solely depends on working with a leading social media marketing agency. With the internet now meant to serve commercial purposes, making the right decision between a good and bad choice can be the difference between success and failure.

Why Choose a Social Media Marketing Agency?

Social media is far more than just posting updates on various platforms; it's a tool that brings people together, elevates the visibility of brands, and translates to sales. A good Dubai social media marketing agency understands differences and nuances from platform to platform and develops specific strategies that will be able to reach your target audience. They analyze trends, engage users, and determine the effectiveness of a campaign to maintain your brand relativity and impact.

Services Provided

A robust social media marketing agency generally provides the following range of services that cater to the business's specific requirements:

Social media strategy: This customized strategy targets the right audience with clearly defined objectives. The plan spells out your brand's voice and the appropriate platforms for involving your target audience.

Channel design and management: Even the best-designed channels require periodic updates with quality content for maintaining interesting social media profiles.

Social Media Ads: You could scale your coverage and sales through paid ads. A good agency will also make those campaigns ROI-optimized.

Content: Whether innovative graphics, informative videos, or powerful copy, engaging content is the key to attracting your audience.

Influencer Marketing: Influencer marketing is becoming increasingly important in your work to build credibility in your brand. An agency with good influencer relations can help partners achieve successful influencer partnerships.

Selecting the Right Partner

Selecting a fitting social media marketing agency continues beyond a mere check-up of services. Rather, it is about the selection of a business partner who can understand your thoughts and work towards translating them into an action plan for an attractive online presence.

Consider these tips to help guide you through the process:

Research and Reviews

Start by researching available agencies. Review their case studies and testimonials from clients to measure their effectiveness.

Questioning

In the first meeting, ask them how they approach strategy development, content creation, and performance measurement.

Cultural Fit

The agency should align with your brand values. A good cultural fit will foster collaboration and mutual understanding.

Transparency

You will be trusted in the partnership if a good agency is transparent in its processes, pricing, and strategies.

Mighty Warners: The Top Social Media Marketing Agency in Dubai

Mighty Warners prides itself on being one of the greatest social media marketing company in Dubai. Our close-knit team works collaboratively to enhance your brand's presence on the net. From strategy development to crisis management, everything will be taken care of holistically to help our agency meet your needs.

We realize that each business operation is unique. For this reason, we provide our services in forms that cater to your requirements and goals. The measurable results achieved with our help have made us a reliable partner for many brands striving to succeed in the digital world.

Conclusion

A Dubai social media marketing agency can be the entry to transforming your brand's online presence. Proper strategy, interesting content, and effective community management can be the start for engendering connections for growth. Understanding needs as you go on this quest will help you ascertain whether a particular agency will benefit your activity in achieving what you want. Strong partnerships will catapult your brand forward to even greater heights. Mighty Warners is here when you are ready to scale up your social media efforts.

FAQs

Q1. What services do social media marketing agencies provide?

A social media marketing agency would provide services like policy development, content creation, and channel management. Additionally, advertising, community management, and performance Reporting would be included in the list of services they would provide.

Q2. What signs can be used to measure the success of social media campaigns?

Success can be measured using a long list including engagement rates, reach, impressions, conversions. Agencies should be able to provide detailed reports.

Q3. How can I select the best social media marketing agency?

Find agencies with strong portfolios, great review ratings, and cultural alignment with your brand. Ask for strategies and approaches to see if they apply to you.

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