Hacker News: stfp

New comment by stfp in "U.S. Debt Tops 100% of GDP"

stfp — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:23:44 +0000

Same observation. I’m beginning to think that it’s not about “spending” like if money was a finite resource. It’s really about the outcome of the policy: more power for elites and more access to energy and resources; vs more power and independence for regular people (and thus less for elites relatively speaking). From a “spending” perspective you could really do both and in the real economy they don’t even compete for the same resources.

New comment by stfp in "U.S. Debt Tops 100% of GDP"

stfp — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:16:52 +0000

I’m not economist but my impression when I learned about MMT is that it’s predicated on the idea that money isn’t like bridges at all. And is actually at this point of history a purely abstract model where “we said so” works. Meanwhile lots of people really believe a country can “run out of money” or whatever. You run out of trees, teachers and nurses, not money. Anyway what’s clear to me is that the metrics we picked like gdp or debt ratio or whatever aren’t helping us make good choices.

New comment by stfp in "Meta in row after workers who saw smart glasses users having sex lose jobs"

stfp — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:09:38 +0000

Because they will be popular and lots of people will buy them and use them all the time, leading to much more generalized surveillance than the concealed options that only a tiny tiny fraction of people would buy or use (and that we should also regulate)

New comment by stfp in "Trump administration orders dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service"

stfp — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 03:43:51 +0000

Also, attempts to undo the damage will be painted as extreme, whether it’s rehiring / recreating the agencies that were destroyed or prosecuting the crazy corruption and seizing funds.

New comment by stfp in "Global warming has accelerated significantly"

stfp — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 15:30:09 +0000

Anecdotally, as I spend time between the US and the EU, the divide is large and clear now. It feels like folks in the US sort of just gave up (me included to an extent), whereas in Europe there seems to be a stronger resolve at a personal level and institutional level, to keep reducing energy use, plastics, driving, waste, etc. The US on the other hand is accelerating overconsumption in all directions.

It's especially depressing for me when it comes to younger folks. In Seattle where I live (not the suburbs, actual Seattle) some teenagers drive to school in 6 seater SUVs and spend their lunch time in there, with the engine on. A minority of students of course but that's still a mindfuck... in Europe they would get so much shit from other kids and neighbors. Drop in the bucket in terms of actual emissions but a very strong symbol of the lack of awareness/motivation.

New comment by stfp in "Ex-GitHub CEO launches a new developer platform for AI agents"

stfp — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 14:40:57 +0000

Yes, much harsher

> This thread is extremely negative - if you can't see the value in this, I don't know what to tell you.

Just an opinion and not ridiculing or attacking someone specifically

New comment by stfp in "Apple to soon take up to 30% cut from all Patreon creators in iOS app"

stfp — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 18:41:13 +0000

Fair, but duopoly then, not much better

New comment by stfp in "Is liberal democracy in terminal decline?"

stfp — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 16:11:18 +0000

Unfortunately I think the social media thing is key. At this point I'm convinced that we need a ban, at least before elections. That probably seems unrealistic but these novel entertainment options have proven to be so toxic to democracy that I don't think there's an alternative.

New comment by stfp in "Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'"

stfp — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 14:14:07 +0000

I don’t know if that’s meaningfully true. When a candidate lies and the information distribution industries are by and large just repeating the lies, on top of decades of voter suppression measures, can we say that the popular vote really represents what people want? I don’t think so. So yeah one candidate will win by a razor-thin margin but I don’t think that actually gives legitimacy to what is happening.

New comment by stfp in "French supermarket's Christmas advert is worldwide hit (without AI) [video]"

stfp — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 14:11:58 +0000

True the vast majority of the time. This ad though doesn’t promote anything malicious. It’s a cute story with the message “eat healthy stuff like vegetables and fish”, with a brand name/ logo at the very end.

New comment by stfp in "US could ask foreign tourists for five-year social media history before entry"

stfp — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 13:56:59 +0000

Criticizing fascists isn’t “speaking badly” of the US or of american people. A vast majority of people aren’t happy about what’s going on.

New comment by stfp in "Physicists prove the Universe isn't a simulation after all"

stfp — Sat, 06 Dec 2025 13:49:40 +0000

Let’s assume it’s simulations all the way down and we exist in plane P=n. The question is are we at n=0.

Looks like this result says we can’t simulate our plane in a computer. But the stuff in that simulation exists in P=n+1. So maybe the conclusion is “you can’t simulate n from within n+1” which means we can’t simulate our own plane, let alone our potential parent, and doesn’t mean we don’t have one

New comment by stfp in "Just let me select text"

stfp — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 15:11:20 +0000

Maybe but it happens in many many other contexts. Especially apps - right now for example in Hipcamp I cannot copy the detailed instructions for my trip. In Airbnb I can copy the entire “house rules” doc but not just an arbitrary paragraph or sentence.

New comment by stfp in "President says broadcasters should lose licenses for criticizing him"

stfp — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 20:29:08 +0000

It’s just a tool, a weapon im their arsenal. They are still pushing the free speech narrative in other places, eg. Europe, when people try to stop candidates and pundits from lying. But then obviously once they succeed lying their way into power that tool isn’t necessary anymore, and controlling speech becomes important.

New comment by stfp in "Zoox robotaxi launches in Las Vegas"

stfp — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 20:50:19 +0000

You're talking about long highway trips? Parent is probably talking local trips, where 200+ mph is never going to be safe, and would not even be useful.

New comment by stfp in "US to rewrite its past national climate reports"

stfp — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 12:33:58 +0000

It was also a lot of gerrymandering and disinformation and complacency

New comment by stfp in "U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Brazilian Judge Overseeing Bolsonaro Coup Case"

stfp — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 19:29:11 +0000

Paraphrasing: “I like actual dictator wannabe A and actual dictator wannabe B and I’m glad they’re working together to punish people who are trying to fighting them”

New comment by stfp in "Cars' Forward Blind Zones Are Worse Now Than 25 Years Ago"

stfp — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 12:54:06 +0000

A few years ago the solution to that would have been a van, which apparently are more practical and roomy than suvs. But they are not cool, so people don’t buy them anymore. (Not saying I know why you specifically made this particular decision, talking about the general trend)

New comment by stfp in "France's new high-speed train has Americans asking: Why can't we have that?"

stfp — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 11:23:22 +0000

Clearly the USA could therefore never build, for example, a network of interstate highways

New comment by stfp in "Marine Le Pen banned from running in 2027 and given four-year sentence"

stfp — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 13:24:04 +0000

So if someone is proven to be corrupt we should just let them run in elections and trust that they won’t use corruption or other immoral or illegal means to get elected? Or that they won’t do more of that if they do get elected. Maybe we should never convict any politician of any crime, what could go wrong