May Day is the perfect day to educate one’s self about the history of union suppression. If you think you see a pattern, you’re right, but the reasons for the pattern have nothing to do with the workers’ abilities and everything to do with powerful people using everything in their arsenal to prevent collective action.

Wish I could just be lazy and have the troubles go away, but that isn’t how it works.

I feel this so hard. I’ve been more active this year than ever, and it takes so much out of me to socialize. But I’ve been giving talks, canvassing, and attending protests because we really don’t have a choice anymore. This government sure as hell isn’t interested in helping anyone, so it’s all on us.

I’d respond back that a person stuck walking on a narrow ledge seems fine, too. Nevermind that the slightest push could destroy everything. Nevermind that the wind can be pretty strong up there and it never seems to stop. Nevermind that the person may have only just now realized that not everybody lives their whole lives fighting to keep their balance, and that they actually can reach out for help.

Imagine if rescuers finally arrived and said, “They’ve made it this far. They must be fine,” and left. How heartless would that be considered?

I wish I were surprised to hear that a woman’s experiences were dismissed by medical professionals. Unfortunately, I understand it all too well. I’ve developed an annoying habit of explaining things that nobody asked about, in anticipation of being treated with mistrust. It’s yet another habit on the long list of things I have to be perpetually mindful of whenever I’m interacting with anybody (except my closest friends, who by and large are fellow ADHD/autists.)

Any advice on getting your money converted to Euros? I’ve been trying to figure that out, but online searches for information are complete garbage now.

Those fucking candy shops in London. You know the ones.

I’m sorry, I’m an ignorant American who’s never been across the pond. I’m also confused by further comments calling these shops “American.”

Could anyone explain?

There’s a gas station just outside of town where the price is always ridiculous. It’s not uncommon for it to be over a dollar more per gallon (about 36¢ CAD/€0,23 more per litre) than the gas station just one block away. I don’t know how it stays in business if they’re not doing something sketchy.

You make great points, especially the fact that people are often pushing some kind of bias. However, there definitely is a skill to determining the reliability of a source, it’s called Information Literacy. You’re also right that each person has to develop this skill for themselves.

For those who truly want to strengthen their Information Literacy, I’d recommend starting by learning to recognize various common cognitive biases and logical fallacies. Simply being familiar with how these things work gives you a leg up on identifying nonsense, even if you can’t recall the exact name of the bias or fallacy that may be occurring.

Skepticism will get you far in determining accurate from inaccurate, and it’s important to apply it universally - question everything - instead of simply applying skepticism toward things you don’t like. Similarly, be open to changing your mind when presented with new information, because the more you learn how to see through the misinformation, the more you may find the world around you is different from what you’d been told.

It is amazing to witness a nation learning from another nation’s mistake. It’s such a smart, sensible thing to do. Voters in Canada were able to identify a pattern, imagine the consequences happening to themselves, and make a decision to not do the same failed thing as the U.S.

That’s gotta be a crucial distinction between Canada and the U.S.

Here in the U.S., people ignore and downplay patterns (especially if the patterns hurt their feelings.) When pressed to explain an identical set of patterns, we’re more likely to blame whoever is experiencing the patterns for causing them than to critically analyze the cause and effect surrounding them. [Examples I’ve heard through my life: “Poor people suffer because they’re drug addicts.” “Women don’t get paid as much as men do because women are worse workers than men.” “Black people live in violent neighborhoods because they’re inherently violent.”]

Too many of us are entrenched in the propaganda-sphere; we are too arrogant, vocal, and either unwilling or unable to engage in critical thought against our zeitgeist. I imagine that if the situation were flipped and Canada had been the first to fall to fascism, the U.S. would still follow. After all, if another country messed up, it’s because they did it wrong. But we’re too special, too important, Too Big to Fail™, so we could do the exact same thing and be confident that [consequence] could never happen to us.

Lotsa shocked Pikachu faces going around these days…

Seriously. I’m sick of this let’s-beg-for-an-itty-bitty-change nonsense. If rent near me is $2000/month, and that’s supposed to be 1/3 of my pay, then I should be making $6000 per month ($72k per year!)

Assuming I worked a full 40 hours every week, with 4 full weeks in a month, that means I’d need to make $1,500 per week, which breaks down to $37.50 per hour (before taxes, as well as before payments for employee benefits, garnishments, etc.)

I don’t live anywhere fancy. This place is an average apartment with too little parking and too many centipedes. Thankfully, I am not paying the entire rent by myself at this time, because I don’t make anywhere near $37.50/hour.

If $13.75 was the wage of somebody who worked a full 40 hours/week, for 4 weeks, they’d only make $2,200. Total. That’s it. For the entire month.

If your fight for a new minimum wage is starting with a number less than 30, you’ve already lost.

Oh uh hey, andros_rex, wanna go out? We can take a nice, romantic drive to a Habitat for Humanity’s interview.

Also add in: education, health care, and prisons.

It’s appalling the things people are able to make money off of and still sleep well at night.

“Tapping me along” made me imagine someone tapping a golf ball. Nudging it, but not making a big swing, it could be indicative of a subtle influence.

Trump may not know a lot about a lot, but he spends enough time golfing to potentially use a metaphor from it. On the other hand, I’ve never golfed (except the mini kind), so I could be way off.

I just keep watching this. It’s fascinating to see how the “eye” of the herd forms, strengthens, and moves. The individual actions of dozens, if not hundreds, of reindeer coalesce into the same pattern as a hurricane… Fucking beautiful. Thank you for sharing this.

I’m disgusted by how many therapist and counselor offices I see on there.

Basically: if request, then reject.

Sounds like they were inspired by U.S. health insurance companies.

Yes, this professor reacted well. That’s not relevant to my point. There are tons of people who would not react well if ambushed by a room full of people who may or may not be making fun of their psychological issue.

These students are also having this behavior reinforced by this positive attention. Is it truly “reading way too much into it” to consider what unintended harm this can cause down the road?

Is it too much to consider how people who struggle with serious mental health issues, such as phobias, could react disastrously poorly to even a “cutesy” stunt like this?

Is it too much to think how lucky these students were to have a professor that DID react positively?

If looking at this situation through an ethical lens is “reading too much into” it, then I guess I read too much.

Let me get this straight. A bunch of college kids learned their professor’s phobia, and they thought they could … try exposure therapy on him, I’m guessing?

Without his consent?

Or the guidance of a licensed professional?

Or are they making fun of him, for some reason?

… and that is “wholesome”?

They are lucky their professor was a good sport about it. For some people, this could be dangerous, no matter how cute the costumes are. And now these students are going to walk away from this thinking it was a good idea.

How many might reference this moment in the future while downplaying somebody else’s fear?

How many will think that because this went over well with this professor, that they can pull a similar stunt with someone else who has a phobia?

I’m glad everything worked out well here, but I fail to see what’s supposed to be wholesome about this. Not everyone is capable of tolerating something related to their phobia, and doing this at his workplace without any prior warning is cruel. But mostly, I worry about the message this sends to the students.

There are enough “armchair psychologists” out there with no training, who think they know how to cure random strangers. People with mental health issues, including phobias, already have to deal with people who downplay their experiences all the time. This stunt carries the same energy as “Everyone makes up allergies just to feel special, so I’m adding peanuts anyway.” Like this guy’s phobia can’t be serious, so it’s okay to casually force him to face it.

And I know I might get downvoted for it, but I just can’t agree with that idea.

A smile? It looks like a wince or a grimace to me. As a teacher, he has to keep his composure around his students, and sometimes that means sucking up one’s discomfort and playing along.

Though maybe he looks happier in a better resolution and it’s just potato quality on my phone?

Something looks off, pal.