i can only speak for my experience. growing up autistic, i was targeted due to my different ways of thinking and acting for bullying, using the r-word to belittle and demean me, far too many times, for hearing it used to mean 'bad' to feel like anything but an attack on me or those like me. when someone uses the r-word casually, it hurts, and a fully automatic system, borne of hard experience, files that person away as a probable threat. i don't understand why people want to use the word so badly, knowing it hurts people, and knowing it's not necessary or even all that useful of a word.
same for the others honestly. 'i was just following orders' is just what one says when you get called out for doing heinous shit so you can pass the buck to someone else in your organization.
this has been my only bike for probably five years or so, and i haven't had to do anything with the belt. so far as i can tell, it really is basically maintenance free.
i don't really know much about belt drives beyond the basics and my own specific bike. i didn't even know there were different types until ya'll started bringing them up.
the internally geared hub is a bit of a PITA, but idk if that's normal, or if mine is just janky. i also have no idea how old my bike is originally, since i got it used from a community bike shop. my hub though has an annoying habit of 'skipping' if you apply too much torque, and slipping out of the low gear unexpectedly. i wish it had something like a schlumpf drive with some variety of single speed hub instead.
my bike is a used Priority. i haven't needed to replace the belt yet, but it should be fairly simple. the frame has a little piece to remove to get it out. as for comparing with a single speed, i can't really say, as i haven't had a single speed bike since i was a wee lass, and that was ages ago.
edit: it looks like a new version of my bike uses a gates drive, but idk the difference.
i got mine used a fair few years ago, but i think it's this bike from Priority, except mine has a basket on front, and a rack with a file crate in the back. it has 3 gear hub, and honestly i think that makes a way bigger difference to pedalling than the belt, as it skips if i apply too much torque (idk if that's normal for shimano hubs, or if mine is just janky though).
there's some niche communities i occasionally check in on on reddit, but i've basically abandoned the site ever since the api debacle killed my preferred app. i mostly just browse on mobile so a decent app was important to me.
allow me to introduce you to misotheism. my favourite take is that of famed mathematician Paul Erdös, who referred to god as the 'SF', which stood for 'supreme fascist', who he said horded all the best mathematical proofs for himself.
i'm in my mid 30s, live in the US, and get one or two points. i am pretty sure i've never recorded music off the radio onto a tape. i am not sure if i've ever sent or received a fax. i did record songs off of the radio directly onto my first mp3 player though.
closer to 25%, actually. about a million voted for trump, out of about 4 million total oklahomans. regardless, this article isn't about trump voters specifically getting fucked over, and rueing their own stupid actions and choices, this is about elderly and disabled people throughout the country, regardless of their voting history, getting fucked over. seems off topic for the sub.
this doesn't really strike me as a 'leopards ate my face' moment, unless we're just meant to assume everyone living off of social security voted for cheeto hitler. or is this community just becoming a place for laughing at the misfortunes of united statesians in general?
but you were certainly thinking it loudly. or how else was one to interpret 'people from the 18th century wouldn't be able to do something if it was technically challenging'?
a noose or an axe both put much more need on the skill of the executioner, while the guillotine puts more need on the skill of the engineer. both the axe and the noose are materially simpler, but still very fuckupable without special skills or training, while the guillotine, once built, is much more simply operated by one with less expertise. the guillotine is a tool of mass execution, and its apparent mechanical complexity is there to facilitate that, via ease of operation and resetability.
i can only speak for my experience. growing up autistic, i was targeted due to my different ways of thinking and acting for bullying, using the r-word to belittle and demean me, far too many times, for hearing it used to mean 'bad' to feel like anything but an attack on me or those like me. when someone uses the r-word casually, it hurts, and a fully automatic system, borne of hard experience, files that person away as a probable threat. i don't understand why people want to use the word so badly, knowing it hurts people, and knowing it's not necessary or even all that useful of a word.