Bauxite is the obvious one. Bringing bauxite to Australia. How could you forget about bauxite?

Think of them as 2 methods for determining policy

They’re not though.

Democracy is a strategy some states use to achieve legitimacy in the eyes of the populace. Science is a method for producing knowledge.

Policy is determined by the financial interests of our elites, our global imperial interests, and the form of our bureaucratic institutions.

Democracy, science and policy are three very distinct domains.

Civilization is one of those great words (like Innovation) where if you’re using it, you’re definitely using it wrong.

When you say civilization, do you mean: The State, Justified Violence, Official Oppression, Bureaucracy, A Standing Army, Cultures you Agree with, or just Table Manners?

if politicians would grow a backbone, most of the problems we have would be solved

Politicians aren’t scared to do what’s right. Their job is to act in the interest of their fellow elites. The most successful at empowering their fellows are given more power. Solving society’s problems isn’t remotely on the agenda.

If anything, we want more cowardly and timid elites. Politicians with a backbone are just more dangerous predators.

For those who are truly into etiquette, we understand that it is a gift we give to others and hope they will choose to return in kind.

What well-wrought words!

I feel like there’s a picture of etiquette where it’s always stuffy and exists only to reinforce unjust hierarchies. Etiquette as a gift given freely with hope but no expectation of return is a great alternate model.

I love this comment so much, but it feels hypocritical for a supporter of Canadian cricket to be lecturing people about doing it wrong.

**Except for allergies or ARFID or something

You take the automatic RFID chip out of your food? How else will the app know when you’ve finished digesting?

One of the many things I loved about Taiwan was that people leave the left side of the escalator free for those who want to walk up or down.

There’s one single file line of people standing on the escalator. Even during the evening commute, there’s a single file line snaking back down into the station. But then as you get close there’s a much smaller line to the left moving much quicker of every who plans to walk up.

It’s so civilized.

Medicine existed in some form as long as humanity has

Probably longer. Most or all primates eat or rub plants with anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. Some monkeys, bears too I think. So medicine probably predates the emergence of homo.

A lot of archaeological dicks are apotropaic - they ward off evil. Some are for fertility of course. Today I feel like it’s often seen as a minorly transgressive act, drawing something ‘rude’. It’s so fascinating that we keep doing the same thing and just change what we say it means.

There’s a minor fortification somewhere, I think it was roman. Outside the walls they found a fawn skeleton, fully articulated, with no butchery marks and a broken leg that had healed a bit before death. Nearby is the fully articulated skeleton of a cat.

The thinking is that a soft hearted soldier, child or spouse found a fawn with a broken leg. They tried to nurse it back to health and when it died they buried it near their cat.

Cover the product in camo, retweet some racists from your official account then just grift your way to retirement.

I found that reading The Zhuangzi really helped me get perspective on the state of the world.

With cheese inside its a sloppy mess and often requires the full 10. Though tbh I haven’t lived in Australia for 10 years or eaten meat in 20, so I wouldn’t listen to anything I have to say about pies.

Chilli beef and cheese from a servo or gtfo.

I find this comment absolutely hilarious.

I recognize your profile pic from a comment months back that was also a short, deadpan reinterpretation of the question that I found hilarious. I can’t for the life of me remember what it was of course.

Thanks for making me laugh!

Something old, like a name from Sumer, Akkad, Elam, maybe something Hittite.

Epirmupi, Shamsaki, Puzur-Inshushinak, Ninurta, Lugalzagasi, Tiglath-Pileser, Hattusili, Suppiluliuma.

“Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt”. Kurt Vonnegut had some great words!

I’m sorry. We just got back from taking a cat we loved to be cremated.

Do we just live and suffer and die?

Yep, that’s pretty much it as far as I can tell.

The living part can be good sometimes. There’s cheese and purring. But living suffering and dieing pretty much covers it.

If you find comfort in words and ideas, I found the chinese text called the Zhuangzi helped me come to accept the world with less bitterness. It’s quite funny and thoughtful, silly and logical.

I cannot understand why there’s no modern sequel in the works. A well loved classic RPG with steam punk elements and union themes seems like a no-brainer in the current environment.