That’s the thing… They don’t want you to produce a better than average member of society. Better than average members are less likely to accept low wages in crap jobs without complaining. There are only a handful of good paying jobs in the future and those are for nepo-babies. Merit no longer matters.

Don’t forget that if you dare take any of that knowledge and use it to exercise your free speech, the university can just deny the degree you earned and paid for at the behest of the government.

I mean, that’s what OP is saying, but I’m saying it’s too late. The Democrats COULD have prevented what’s happening now, if for no other reason than they wouldn’t have had the balls to attempt it, but that boat has not only sailed, it’s been canonballed, torpedoed, sunk, and converted into a coral reef. There’s absolutely no sense whatsoever in talking to non-voters about it anymore. It’s done. There’s no convincing to be done. If every one of the non-voters said today, “Hey, we’ll vote for the Democrats next time”? Doesn’t matter. We’re still EXACTLY as screwed. So no, I don’t care why someone didn’t vote and I’m not wasting my breath trying to convince them they were wrong. Nobody should. If there is any path forward, it isn’t at the ballot box and it won’t involve people who are happy to sit on the fence. Non-voters are completely irrelevant now. They had power in November and now they don’t. If they want to help in whatever asymmetric BS we’re going to have to pull to just save a modicum of civilization over the next decade, they can choose to do that or not. But their political power as a group, and with it, the value of talking to them? That evaporated half a year ago.

…I found it. You left it in Antarctica.

I mean, I’m over it. Do what you feel like. It’s clear whatever the future is, this argument we’re having now? Has no part in it. Vote or don’t vote for whoever you want. Feel or don’t feel guilt. I don’t particularly care about the details of how you see it. The time when it might have mattered either way? Is over. Sure, maybe pre-election it was like trying to convince you not to kill the hostage - but the hostage is dead now. Not arguing that battle anymore. It’s irrelevant. You do whatever it is you like, but I’m never, ever, ever going to see the action in any other way, and at this point there’s absolutely ZERO point in discussing otherwise. It’s all academic. The trolley problem stops being a moral quandry when everyone is dead already. If you feel good? Great! You get my unironic and genuine thumbs up. Live your best life, my friend.

“How dare you be such a jerk? Guess I have no choice but to make innocent people suffer over it. That’ll show you!”

Oh, I’m not saying it’s okay. I would never say it’s okay. I AM saying that they’re a stubborn distraction, and engaging with them is a waste of time. It took us a good long time for people to finally realize that the MAGAs and Republicans were unreachable, and by then, how many millions of collective man-hours were wasted? The stakes in 2024 could NOT have been clearer, and these non-voters STILL rejected the logic. We don’t have the time or energy to waste now pursuing THEM either. Now is the time to engage in asymmetric warfare of various kinds, including not only protests, but ensuring continued access to “subversive” information despite the tightening noose of control by setting up reliable hosting for it outside of the US government’s control, and otherwise generally trying to preserve what we can in the face of what’s going to become an ever worsening environment. We simply don’t have the time to waste on these people.

There’s a third, less pleasant option that you’re avoiding. I understand why - I don’t relish it. But the ballot box has failed. Even if it hasn’t COMPLETELY yet, we are not even 5 months into this term, and look where we are. Harping on getting non-voters to vote is the 2025 equivalent of the reactionary generals running cavalry charges across no-man’s land in WW1. It is fighting the last war. But that war is lost.

Look, I really appreciate the sentiment, but it’s time to acknowledge that those non-voters are not “misinformed future allies” any more than the MAGAs are. They are either accelerationists or fundamentally broken logically, and which form their indecision takes makes no difference -they are enemies of progress all the same, and to the extent there is ANY hope for the future, it relies on building a path AROUND them, not WITH them.

This could almost come off as genuine if it weren’t a blatant, tactless commercial for the two LLMs that are either owned by or financially attached to Microsoft. What a prick.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_That_Owns_Itself

Oh, also… have a long term plan. Just being in your adopted country is not enough long term. Research details of getting a permanent residence or a citizenship BEFORE you decide on a country, and when you find out the requirements, take them seriously. The last thing you want is to spend longer than you have to on a work visa, because that’s a precarious position to be in. If you think having your health insurance tied to your job is a hassle, try having your very presence in the country tied to it. Some countries will have language requirements for both citizenship and permanent residency, and you should get on that right away if that’s the case. Getting the permanent residence or the citizenship is, to use a metaphor, sitting at a bonfire. It gives you a beachhead and takes the pressure off. Target one and push towards it.

As someone who did it, my advice is, don’t wait for a great work opportunity… Take whatever you can to get out and try to move up once you’re already established. Of course, it depends on the country you’re targeting, so ymmv.

I feel like a major issue is a lot of people feel like they want to get into another country at an equivalent level of where they would be in the US, but unless you’re world-class in a high demand field, it’s very hard to start above the first rung in your new country, especially if you’re not fluent in the native language. You might have to put pride aside and take what you can get to start. Personally, especially for younger people, I feel like it’s worth it. It’s a trial by fire but the satisfaction at the other end is second to none.

Is this loss?

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