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Cake day: December 31st, 2023

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  • I remember when I was a teenager and starting to question religion I talked to my sister about it a little. She was certain that if we didn’t have Christianity that everyone would just be going around raping and killing each other. I was super confused at the time (cause I was a child) but a little later realized oh, she has no empathy or morals, no internal sense of right and wrong…and she doesn’t know that other people actually do. The convo was confusing because at the time I didn’t understand her at all when she asked things like ‘without hell what would stop you from killing people?’. A little later I started thinking about how many people thought this way and if it was possibly enough to f up a democracy. Anyway here we are



  • When I meet magas one of the questions I like to ask is something along the lines of describe your ideal healthcare system. 90% basically describe Medicare for all. I clarify, get more detail (basically make them really think about it as much as possible), and then ask which candidates or party they believe is in line with them. Obvs I want to avoid backing them in a corner so don’t say ‘Aha you’re a socialist!’. Rather, I work though it with them, google candidates and see what their policy is. Bonus points when half the R websites don’t even have policy so they can see that. Anyway we generally get to the point that they think they might be left of both parties on that issue. And then I try to plant a seed that this is a totally normal process for figuring out who to support and get out of there while they feel some mutual respect between us. It’s harder these days when the fascism is so blatant but I don’t know what else to do when I find myself living in a democracy with a bunch of insane people


  • I recognize you’re doing some form or devils advocate and I appreciate that. I grew up in the ruins of one of those cities and it really helped define my political beliefs. I think it’s important to not suddenly frame NAFTA as this wonderful thing just because trump opposes it. There is a real reckoning we need to have as a country when it comes to rebuilding our industrial base. Are tariffs the answer? Almost certainly not, but that doesn’t mean that the people asking for them are completely delusional. Trump is capitalizing on a real pain that people are feeling, and have felt for a generation now. I wish we had a proper progressive to reframe the debate. It’s not about us vs Canada, it’s about the disgustingly wealthy vs everyone else. You don’t want people to support tariffs? Then we need real left wing populist arguments.

    I know it’s stupid. Being right should be good enough. But it’s not. We need to be convincing. And not ‘republican lite’ convincing - more like teddy Roosevelt f’ing come at me unabashed progressivism convincing.




  • This is interesting because I very deliberately try the opposite. My top priority is always making time for helping colleagues. Most of my industry is super green and the young staff require a lot of training/attention if you want them to develop well/quickly. It means when I first started my team things were a bit hectic, but years later it basically runs itself. I always prioritize investing in individuals so that when things pile up I’ve got 20 people I can delegate to. What’s more, this is cultural at this point so they all do the same. It’s basically a positive feedback loop at this point where things just sort of work cause everyone knows what they’re doing.

    There is another team next to mine that is run a lot like how you’re describing and they are constantly missing schedules/going over budget/having quality issues cause the lead ‘doesnt have time right now’. Except right now is all the time and none of the staff seem to know what they’re doing and are all super frustrated.

    Anyway, all that to say I think how you structure these kinds of things depends a lot on what kind of work you do, what kind of team environment you have, and what your overall goals are. Could I be individually more productive if I told everyone else to go away? Absolutely yes, I’d get 3 times as much done, but the team overall would be less efficient.

    I also don’t work outside work hours, and neither does anyone else on my team because we’re efficient enough at work to plan out and execute 40 hours of work per person per week. The same can’t be said for that other team where the lead goes home and everyone else is left confused working crazy OT.

    Your way seems to work for you, but I think it is important to note that there is no ‘right’ approach for all situations. One needs to define the objectives and then determine what the best approach for accomplishing those might be for that particular role. In short, it’s complicated. And anyone who says it’s not is generally trying to sell something