@PeterMeijer @EricBoehm87 Does it cost more to defend a rich country than a poor one?
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Brett Slagh
1.7K posts
Brett Slagh
@BrettSlagh
@UMich alum in Atlanta. BS, computer science, working in IT. Interested in politics, economics, philosophy, data, sports, and culture.
Atlanta, GA เข้าร่วม Haziran 2011
289 กำลังติดตาม226 ผู้ติดตาม
@EricBoehm87 Inflation-adjusted real numbers are a terrible metric to use when looking at government services! Percent of GDP is actually useful to understand perspective
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Quite literally insane. What threat does America face that requires a larger military budget than the one it had during the height of World War II?
Stephen Semler@stephensemler
The military budget Trump proposed today is $1.5 trillion. Adjusted for inflation, that's $260 billion higher than the largest military budget on record. It's not WWII-level military spending; it's parody-level.
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@SamBuntz Handwaving is what you get when you ask Searle how "semantics" (as he's using it here) is not reducible to the mechanical processes happening inside our brains, or how a computer could not in principle reproduce those same processes
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Why is this so hard for people to understand? I've made this point to tech bros on various occasions, and it does nothing to sway them. They tune it out or do a bunch of handwaving.
Big Brain Philosophy@BigBrainPhiloso
John Searle: "The computer has syntax, not semantics." It can rearrange symbols perfectly. It has no idea what they mean.
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@tomfgoodwin @Davelikesdisc What matters more: what people feel is true, or the objective reality of the situation?
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@Davelikesdisc @BrettSlagh The problem is that no one has an average life.
No one buys an average basket.
There are some people that feel like they have more money than ever.
But the majority feel the opposite.
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Not to be boring.
But it seems like most things are about double what they cost in 2019, often more
And pretty much nobody in the real world got a 100% pay rise
So how is it that everything still seems ok
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@Davelikesdisc @tomfgoodwin I personally have more than 7x more money in my bank account than what I had in 2019.
But I don't pretend that my experience is representative of the average person. That's why we use objective and comprehensive data to find out the truth.
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@BrettSlagh @tomfgoodwin there is absolutely no way wages have gone up more than $5-10 hr for the average normal trade worker ... wages have not kept up with the cost of living. reality is your bank account not some manipulated chart
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@sweatinbets @CWilliamson44 As Jay says in this clip, the NCAA has been crying "unsustainable" for 40 years. Wasn't true in '85, isn't true now. The viewership and revenue keeps going up
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@CWilliamson44 Biggest takeaway is college sports is not sustainable. Athletic departments will crumble. Universities will dismantle every o athletic program besides Football, Basketball, and maybe Baseball. There will soon be 50 “pro” programs (P4). Rest will be in another amateur league
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Jay Bilas put up a 40 piece during this discussion.
College GameDay@CollegeGameDay
The College GameDay crew discuss the current state of college basketball.
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@JakeLandauTO He was 55 years old when the median American got their first home computer. Woe unto the poor helpless 55 year old
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Let's be clear, this has nothing to do with age. Plenty of seniors are adept with modern technology, it has everything to do with personal motivation and stubbornness. Computers have been normal in the workplace for more than half this man's life.
Suzie rizzio@Suzierizzo1
This 81 year old man is a lifelong Dodgers fan & has been a season pass holder for over 50 years & was just told that he would no longer be allowed to get printed tickets only digital from now on & he’s barely able to navigate a computer & phone.Dodgers aren’t replying to anyone.
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@arthur_m1968 @TTomTToro Even without a y-axis label, the chart shows that if you invested in a sample of large American company stocks at any point in the past 200 years, you would see a consistently exponential return thereafter.
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@arthur_m1968 @TTomTToro A total return index shows what return you would get if you invested in those companies, with dividends reinvested. Since it is a log scale, a linear line means that the index is increasing at a stable exponential rate. About 10% per year.
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@vile32 @TTomTToro People have been saying that for the past 200 years as well.
They have always been wrong, and they're still wrong
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@BrettSlagh @TTomTToro Youre a retard if you believe these markets or the dollar in general will exist by the time people in their 20s today reach retirement. Wake up.
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@TinaAzureM @TTomTToro Wrong. 62% of American adults own stocks, even if only in their retirement account
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@BrettSlagh @TTomTToro that is true because 99.9% of people don't have unrealized gains and savings
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@TinaAzureM @TTomTToro Not going to happen for 99.9% of people. And probably 100%.
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@BrettSlagh @TTomTToro until you are taxed on your unrealized gains and the government confiscates your savings
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@TTomTToro In fact, U.S. stock returns in the past ten years have been unusually good. 10.5% per year total real return. Higher than the historical average of 7%.
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@TTomTToro Not sure what you're referring to in particular, but investing in a diversified portfolio of stocks has been consistently good advice for over 200 years. Not just for one generation.
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@Ungovernab1e @contramordor No. But that's not what I said. I am not arguing that the will of the majority is absolute. I'm not even saying that it should be respected in this city's data center approval. I'm only pointing out that OP's video doesn't show what he thinks it shows
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@BrettSlagh @contramordor Is the will of the majority valid in cases of gang rape?
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One of the funniest things about our system is that people describe it as a democracy
Wall Street Apes@WallStreetApes
This is literally insane So many people showed up to oppose a $6 billion dollar data center in Missouri they had to use bleachers The whole crowd yells and chants they don’t want the data center Festus City Council voted to approve the data center anyway right in their faces
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@Dystop1anFvtvre @varrock Elon spent 3 months with unlimited access to government systems searching for fraud and found approximately none
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@JasonSSmith1 @Phil_Lewis_ Ok. Indiana's net domestic migration rate was better in 2025 than in years past. Does that fact support the claim that "The Midwest has become the place to move to"?
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@BrettSlagh @Phil_Lewis_ Those are the best numbers for Indiana in a while and that’s just through mid-2025
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"In growing numbers, [people are] flying to the Midwest to find a place to live.
In the past couple of years, the region has become a popular place to relocate; three of the country’s five fastest-growing metro areas are there." theatlantic.com/family/2026/03…
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@BrettSlagh @Phil_Lewis_ What’s happened in the two years since mid-2024?
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