I think ideally there would be no nukes in the world, because they are dangerous. But nukes do exist. If western countries got rid of their nukes, then the remaining nuclear countries would be able to do what they like. “Surrender to our demands or we will nuke your cities.”
Exactly. If Ukraine had their own nukes by the time of 2014, or if they had been part of NATO, then maybe Russia wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine.
This reminds me of a discussion I was having with Hexbear members on Lemmy recently.
I was suggesting that perhaps it makes sense for the UK to have nukes, for self-defence against other nuclear countries like Russia, China, and potentially even the US, given their unpredictable behaviour. People from Hexbear got angry at this suggestion. One of them suggested that it’s immoral to have nukes because nukes are “threatening civilians”.
Maybe the OP image of this thread is right though: megalomaniacs are not deterred by words, but they are deterred by weapons (such as nukes). Ukraine was invaded because they didn’t have enough deterrents. Iran is currently being bombed because I suppose they also didn’t have enough deterrents.
The “”“protests”“” were deeply unpopular among the majority of the residents of Hong Kong
I don’t think I ever read that when I read about the topic. Perhaps it could be true, but it could also not be true.
writing their protest signs in English (the most obvious tell that a “”“protest”“” is actually for the benefit of foreign audiences rather than being an organic movement of local people)
Just because they want to get the attention of English speakers, I don’t think that means it’s not an “organic movement of local people”. In Spain there are anti-tourism protests and they write “tourists go home” in English, because they want English speakers to receive the message. That doesn’t mean the protests are organised by some shadowy English speaking cabal, rather than Spaniards themselves.
In the first three days of the George Floyd uprisings, US police arrested more people than HK police had in six months.
Okay… I didn’t mention the US though and I don’t believe the US is a perfect country. I just think it’s plausible that some people in China (whether in Hong Kong or on the mainland) want to live in a democracy. Maybe not all of them want a democracy. But some may well do.
persecuting Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the Donbas region
Is this true? I know that Russia has alleged that Ukraine did such things. Maybe there are some Ukrainians who have done such things. Russia suggests that the Ukrainian state is responsible for such persecution though, and I haven’t come across anything suggesting the truth of that.
your white chauvinistic ass
You don’t know what my ethnicity is. You’re obviously upset about the UK for whatever reason, but that doesn’t automatically mean that your views are correct or moral. All you’re showing is that you’re very emotional.
Do you have evidence to support the idea that pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong were “CIA-backed stooges”? Maybe they were just ordinary citizens who wanted to live in a democratic society?
I think it’s a good idea. People wear backpacks like that when they go hiking or running, so keeping one by your bed seems okay. But yeah you’d have to clean it out somewhat regularly. Or just have a glass of water somewhere near your bed like a lot of people do.
OBS has a techy following though, rather than an audience of mainstream people who aren’t especially tech-savvy.
I suppose perhaps the best example of a successful open source social media platform is Bluesky. Some people on Lemmy don’t like Bluesky (and I don’t use Bluesky myself) but it’s getting at least some mainstream traction.
If Bluesky continues to grow then maybe a European open source social media platform could work. In fact maybe some European government or company could set up a Bluesky server.
I definitely want people to have control over their data. And I like open source platforms, which is why I’m using Lemmy. But I just think if we want a European social media platform that sees widespread adoption among normal people, then such a platform would probably have proprietary elements. Surely if it was completely open source then some company could come along, take the open source stuff, bolt on some proprietary novelties, and start grabbing market share.
Most people want to use a service which is big and popular and just works, and I don’t think they care about code licensing…
It would be cool if Europe could make a really successful, open source social media platform which most Europeans want to use, but if it was open source then I expect some company (maybe a foreign one) would take the code, bolt on some proprietary features, and start stealing users.
Realistically though, proprietary tech services tend to be more successful. Whether it’s Facebook, or Windows, or the most successful European tech service: Spotify.
I like open source, but realistically if we want a successful European social media platform, it would probably be largely proprietary.
Yeah maybe there’s stuff I’m not aware of. I’ve seen some people on Lemmy point out that Bill Gates lobbied for the University of Oxford to not open source their Covid vaccine. I suppose that seems shitty on the face of it.
I got downvoted on Lemmy the other day because I said that I prefer Bill Gates to Musk.
Maybe there are things about Gates I don’t know. Maybe he is actually quite an evil person; I don’t know. But he does at least spend billions of dollars helping vulnerable people, right? And Bill’s stances on global politics are far more sensible than those of Musk.
True, it’s a long time until the next UK general election. Maybe Reform’s vote will suffer before then. Alternatively the local elections and by-elections could be a boost for them, I dunno.
Anyway, maybe we should have proportional representation in the UK. Even if Reform had 25% of the vote and therefore 25% of the seats in parliament, that would mean that 75% of parliamentarians wouldn’t be Reform members.
Our current system allows a party with minority support (potentially Reform in the future) to win a majority of parliamentary seats. In 2019, the Conservatives won 44% of the vote, which gave them 56% of seats. Last year, Labour won 34% of the vote, which gave them 63% of seats.
It’s similar in the UK currently. The UK’s equivalent of AfD is Reform UK who are apparently the leading party in the polls (source):
Reform UK in front on 25%, Labour on 23% and the Conservatives on 20%, with the Lib Dems on 16% and Greens on 10%
I know Brits like to joke about the French but I like France. And they’re a pretty similar country to the UK from a geopolitical standpoint. Both countries have their own nukes, both are permanent members of the UN Security Council, and both have very similarly sized populations and economies (both have about 68 million people, while Germany has 83 million people).
So maybe France is a natural European ally for the UK. And of course France is right next to the UK.
Maybe we need a new special relationship…
They do those things to some degree, but those things remain banned for under 18s, which I suppose reduces harm, even if it doesn’t fully eliminate harm.
I think it’s an interesting idea, but it’s just a concept right? And it’s intended for public sector use, rather than consumer use.
Average people who want to try a European Linux distro on their home computer could try Ubuntu (British) or OpenSUSE (German). Or whatever you like really. Debian is not really European but it is a global FOSS project so you could use that if you want.
My Linux experience is mainly with Debian and Ubuntu so I’m biased towards those I guess. Use what you like though.
I read this BBC article about it
Obviously if this turns out to be life that would be interesting, but it could turn out to be nothing.
If it turns out to be some moss or bacteria or other basic life, that would be pretty cool. If it’s humanoid aliens then maybe we’re screwed.
Potentially. I think it depends on how they’re used. If a country decides to completely disarm itself though, then it’s entirely possible that other countries will seek to invade and subjugate.