this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2026
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[–] vane@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

money is credit ( debt )

[–] PillowD@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago

The asphalt pavement of roads must be 4 inches thick to last forever. 3 inches lasts 5 years, 2 inches lasts one year, 1 inch is crumbling before you finish. You constantly see crumbling roads in the third world because of corruption, they don't put as much pavement down as they charge for.

[–] Sineljora@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 hours ago

Among many other reasons, the biggest reason for me that the US stock market cannot be trusted is because market makers combine 3 techniques to create fraud and push risk to others to dilute unwitting companies and investors: borrow stocks, selling a borrowed stock to buy later, strategically failing to deliver stock.

Borrowing stocks doesn’t create a clean paper trail, can be done repeatedly, and steals shareholder votes.

Selling a borrowed stock to buy later can strategically intend to fail from the start where they don’t even have to locate (not even acquire as you might assume) a share to borrow, effectively creating new shares out of thin air. Market makers in the US can legally do this, even for the benefit of their hedge fund counterparts (sometimes under the same company).

Fails for stock delivery are allowed, so they’re a strategy. Cash in lieu is not the same as share ownership. Cash is fungible, stocks are not, and this gap can create technically infinite risk.

[–] dellish@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

The borders between countries in the Middle East including India/Pakistan were deliberately drawn to cause conflict. Of course when that conflict started to come back home everyone was shocked pikachu faced about it. I really don't understand why people of those countries don't just throw away the map and sort it out amongst themselves like adults, but I guess expecting world leaders of a majority of countries to act like adults is a bit much to ask most of the time.

[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 6 hours ago

You need to test your restore procedure all the way through & periodically to have confidence in your backups

[–] godsammitdam@lemmy.zip 6 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

Mechanisms are technical. And the fact that some will claim this isn't a fact is actively obscuring it.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 0 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

It's just helpful as in the picture, TBH.

Which capitalism? If you don't specify what you mean, you sound like you're selling something. And if you do, capitalism might be an extra word you don't need.

[–] godsammitdam@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 hours ago

What's being poured is the phrase "the problem is capitalism" which, in your description, would be the "helpful" salad dressing.

And to answer your question, capitalism.

The one in which the foundation is to grow capital which inherently means there must be devaluation or exploitation within a system to accrue an "excess" of capital.

The one that by its very mechanisms introduces a class strata based on hierarchy and inherently aligns itself to those who would.so division, entrenching the classes of the "haves" and the "have nots" appealing to the selfish nature of humanity and reinforcing other forms of "hierarchy" such as racial divides. (Aka, racism, if it would ever be solved, will never happen under capitalism.)

The one by which it exists in any form such that it aligns with the baser instincts of human selfishness and greed and will inherently reward those of narcissistic or unempathetic tendencies more as they are most willing to exploit both the planet and other humans.

The one that no matter how it is implemented, following its foundational principle of the "freedom to grow capital," that will seek to remove any guardrails or regulations put in place to limit it as those limit the growth of capital.

That one. That capitalism. The only one.

[–] svcg@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 10 hours ago
[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 5 points 9 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Stormy@thelemmy.club 4 points 8 hours ago
[–] 18107@aussie.zone 34 points 19 hours ago (5 children)

Adding an extra lane to a congested road will always cause that road to be more congested, and will also increase traffic on nearby roads.

When China removed a highway, it reduced car traffic thought the entire city while not reducing the number of people travelling to and around the city.

The only solution to car traffic is viable alternatives to driving.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Probably not always. You build a 12 lane road entirely within a random small town, and it will stay empty and stupid. But, in the range of what actually might be built, yes, there's pretty strong empirical evidence that cars fill any available space.

[–] phineas1134@reddthat.com 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)
[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (1 children)

Which this actually isn't a straight example of, exactly. Jevon's paradox says more and better roads, will mean more cars operating, not less. That happens, but in this case the increase is so great, that it leads to the same level of congestion on the roads all over again.

The wiki uses the example of coal. Better boilers and engines increased the use of coal, but it's fair to say industrial Europe had better coal powered equipment afterwards, not the same or worse. (Although, to be fair, congestion is only one metric of traffic performance)

[–] phineas1134@reddthat.com 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I agree, Jevon's is not the perfect way to describe this affect. Is there a better way to classify this? It's bugged me for a bit as I've had good debates about adding biking lanes and better sidewalks instead of just more lanes for cars. But Jevon's is the best I could come up with.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 2 hours ago

No, it's relevant enough, thanks for bringing it up.

You could say something about the elasticity of road usage being 1, but if you're not a wonk that means nothing. Induced traffic is another technical term you might see around. Saying "research suggests another lane means an equal number of additional cars, eventually" is about what gets the best comprehension.

[–] DisasterTransport@startrek.website 8 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Tangential but nobody seems to know how to drive in traffic. Pick a lane and stay in it, leave extra following distance, and try to change speed as smoothly as possible. If everyone did these three things, traffic congestion would be significantly less severe.

[–] SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Don't forget zipper merging. I lived in an area where hundreds of hours spent commuting allowed me to observe the inability to merge was the primary driver of freeway congestion.

The main problem I've observed with zipper merging is nobody can seem to agree on what it is. People get aggressive when you try to use the available space on the road, and in discussions online it seems people think you're trying to queue jump if you don't merge as early as possible.

[–] dogdeanafternoon@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

This is definitely not always true. They added a lane in my city a few years ago and my commute went from 45 minutes to 30 minutes.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 6 hours ago

IIRC the trend is observed over longer periods, where it feeds into people's decisions about whether to have a car or second car, and how far to commute. And even then, congestion and travel time are two different things - an extra lane probably makes no difference, but a new route or higher speed limit will get you there faster regardless.

[–] Smoogs@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

this logic asssumes more road == population growth

sure, and telescopes created all the stars in the sky.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 6 hours ago

The number of car-hours per person per year isn't even close to fixed over the long run. The trend is basically that in the past, people might have carpooled, taken a bus or even hitchhiked, and usually lived close to their job. If the roads get better, they drive more.

[–] Nastybutler@lemmy.world 72 points 1 day ago

There's no way to make a backdoor for encryption that keeps the encryption secure. Politicians and government flunkies can't seem to wrap their pea brains around that concept.

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 37 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The longevity of concrete isn't just tied to the cylinder break strength.

Also, concrete with certain aggregates end up creating silica gel, which is bad for concrete.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Which aggregates?

What are some other tests you can use to decide which concrete is best for you?

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Aggregates with a lot of unstable silica like strained quartz can cause the creation of silica gel when exposed to cement. The aggregate supplier should be the one running tests to prove they don't have reactive silica.

Other tests include air entrainment and the slump test. The concrete mix requirements should be chosen by the engineer or architect.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 3 hours ago

Good to know, thank you!

[–] r0ertel@lemmy.world 32 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This is indeed a concrete technical fact!

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