cykablyatbot

You can still follow useful links to those. And make any new ones in threads on other sites of your choice. Leaving Reddit as a regular -ish user a few years ago didn't mean I would never ever visit old.reddit.com again. It was just far less frequent and I signed in only once in a blue moon, when it seemed necessary or prudent to get info or interact that was unavailable elsewhere.

I agree and don't think everything boils down to individual responsibility. That said, unless you want some elites deciding what's best for all of us plebs, we have to make certain choices. And the people using services aren't going to vote in the people who will tell them they can't use them any more than people with low mpg cars and trucks are going to vote for people who will pass a carbon tax.

New communications tech is always disruptive. People rail against social media, for good reason. But the internet is far less disruptive, at least in the negative sense, than the printing press was. At least so far. Knock on wood. Not that Russia isn't trying.

I worked as a server and in coffee shops and yes, they most certainly are. Not all, but plenty. People generally fly to other countries much, much more than they used to. It's not just the wealthy any more, at all.

undefined> I can’t think of any other plausible explanation.

Housing is scarce and much more expensive for starters. Middle class people like using housing as an investment and vote to keep housing scarce because of that. It's not just the .1% that are voting for those policies.
China has a whole lot more income inequality too but much less poverty and a much larger middle class than before. The world as a whole does. Those two dynamics are not that related. Income inequality can grow whether the middle class is growing or not and can grow or decline whether there are more people in poverty or less.

It's the punch line to a Lone Ranger joke, when he and Tonto are surrounded by hostile Native Americans.
I realize lots of people use those services. And lots of people remain ignorant, eat junk food and fast food too. No one is forced to consume fast food or its media equivalents, at least not regularly.

You can't use your own router? That's insane anyway. Changing the security settings by app seems like the opposite of security.
I understand what you're saying but it doesn't negate what I said. I have email, internet connectivity, and access to information and services.
Having a smartphone doesn't mean you are forced to use it for Gmail and Facebook. I rarely use the internet features on my smartphone and manage quite well. I think people have allowed themselves to get accustomed to a lot of unnecessary shit.

Who's "we", white man? I've never had a Facebutt or Twitter account. Or any of the various Facebook sites.

It's true that is really much worse. It's also true that plenty of people didn't watch much tv then or now.
That's like saying the junk food, malt liquor, and fast food was better.

All the people who know will be there.

That's what cigarettes and books are for. Or booze, drugs. Origami.
Plus you usually met up at someone's house or work.
What you are talking about wasn't a big problem.

It wasn't that terrible but it was definitely slower. Some things for sure sucked. Now totally different things suck.

Yep. We remember breaking down in shitty unreliable cars, then walking to a payphone and putting up with whatever shit repair place was available. We remember it well.

undefined> if you do not check in for attendance with the university’s app, you automatically fail the course

That is completely fucked. I would refuse out of principle and demand an alternative based on my creed/religion. Linux is a religion, right?