# Forget the Future! Fuck Our Actual Current Dystopia Today! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 29, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302 "2023-06-29T18:10:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/81 "2023-07-11T18:14:52Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I really like my own kid, but most others are a big meh When I’m out and a kid starts talking to me I generally ignore them. When the parent observes this, a common thing is for her (it’s always a woman) to say, “Oh, don’t you like kids?” (As if this will bring me great shame) My reply is something along the lines of,”I love my kids more than I can express. Your little bastard, not so much”. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/82 "2023-07-11T18:15:37Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > When someone listens / watches a lot of professional propaganda where the presenters are simply spewing _at_ the world, pretty soon they learn that the way to communicate is to spew at the world. > > The problem is that those professional propagandists are mostly talking to people who share their beliefs as a direct result of the propaganda. So the audience is lapping up this spew. It’s a positive feedback loop. > > So now when one of the True Believers in the audience wants in turn to communicate their Truth to the world, one-way spew mode is all they know. The difference now is that the rest of the world (or even the rest of your e.g. NextDoor community) is not quite so self-selected as to listen in rapt attention to all her spew and agree with it whole-heartedly. I just now happened to open this thread and read this post, and it strikes me as very astute, and a good explanation of why some people communicate the way they do. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/83 "2023-07-11T18:17:46Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > I poured a can of Bud Light into my dog’s bowl, and the next thing I knew he was on my couch licking his balls. Our first Halloween with our beagle puppy fifty+ years ago, we hadn’t known she’d react badly to the fireworks (we gotten used to our previous dachshund who wasn’t fazed by _any_thing), and our vet said to give her something alcoholic to drink. All we had was beer, and she lapped it right up. She _was_ a beagle. Then, she came into the den and belched at us. My dad took me to a bar when I was four. He was a letter carrier, and this was a bar on his regular route. I don’t remember exactly why I was with him that day, and I don’t think he was working, but we hit his regular customers (the lumber yard, the Richfield station, and, best of all, the hardware store). I can’t remember if my dad drank anything (it was mid-day), but the bartender made me a Shirley Temple, and I was _thrilled_. I still carry a vivid memory of that bar. It was the quintessential 1950s bar with leatherette banquets and starburst light fixtures. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Undeposable\_Hand](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_undeposable_hand/32/8502_2.png) [@The\_Undeposable\_Hand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Undeposable_Hand)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/84 "2023-07-11T21:08:59Z")
Seems like an invitation for adults to bring their kids, park them at the party, drink a bunch of beer, and drive the kids home. Great idea! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/85 "2023-07-11T21:50:06Z")
Darwin may be thorough, but he is cruel. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/86 "2023-07-12T18:52:59Z")
Got another tech-related complaint: my cheap-ass Android phone needs to be connected by cable to my PC to transfer files to the PC, because I don’t email from the phone, and am not too phone-savvy so that’s all I know to do – and here are the steps: 1. Plug phone into USB slot on PC (no prob) 2. Unlock the phone with the pattern (OK) 3. REMEMBER HOW THE HELL TO SET THE PHONE UP TO ALLOW FILE TRANSFER. This has to be done every single time; the setting does not persist. To wit: a. click Settings (OK) b. click Connected Devices (uh… this is non-intuive but it’s a connected device so sure) c. click USB Preferences d. Select “File Transfer” from a list that includes MIDI, PTP, and No Data Transfer. I’m a stupe with phones, sure, but I feel like someone is trying to make this harder than it needs to be. If I wanted to transfer a MIDI file specifically, it would be a different setting? WTF? My last phone, also a cheap Android from the **same freaking manufacturer,** required none of this. It somehow magically knew that if I connected it to a computer via a USB cable, I might, just MIGHT, want to transfer files! Who’da thunk it. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/87 "2023-07-20T11:55:22Z")
> [@Dandan](#): > > Is their AI…um…sorry, can’t think of a P C way to phrase the question. Phrase it anyway! 😈 ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/88 "2023-07-20T13:41:38Z")
Actually, China OVERcounted (my mistake) the population by 100 million, which makes their demographics worse than everyone thought, so fewer youngsters to care for the huge aging segment of the population, fewer to work and produce, fewer doing domestic consumption, and worst of all, less junk for westerners to buy. Add on their recent retreat from the world and their general nastiness toward their own people (including their 56 ethnicitys) and they won’t be able to attract outside labor to keep them afloat. (Indians? Tibetans) Vietnamese?) Not that that part of the equation will matter much - Xi has pissed off enough of the world that companies are pulling out and cutting income, which will make it even more difficult for China to buy food, fertilizer, and fuel, so keeping body and soul together. So my smart-ass post probably had to do with China’s early attempt at AI going the way of all China’s big ideas - thuis one was “Slam the door and kick the westerners out: it’s the only way they’ll respect you.” After all, their AI was trained using Mao’s, and Xi’s, little red books. Lately, I understand, China has been attempting to present a friendlier face to the rest of us - perhaps their AI has been sneaking looks at the Internet! That is all! Well, prob not… Dan ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/89 "2023-07-20T16:52:32Z")
> [@Dandan](#): > > including their 56 ethnicitys Which is only 56 because they’ve declared that to be the case—a lot of unrecognized groups in that mix. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/90 "2023-07-20T17:40:10Z")
Not surprising, but give 'em time and they’ll whittle the reality down to below…well, maybe not, they’re going to be pressed for manpower in the agricultural sector. Start a pool on the last Uyghur sighting? Dan ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/91 "2023-07-21T03:26:11Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Which is only 56 because they’ve declared that to be the case—a lot of unrecognized groups in that mix. I have no idea what an appropriate number would be, but any time you are dividing things into groups, at some point you have to decide you’ve reached the appropriate level of granularity. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/92 "2023-07-21T04:03:37Z")
China considers Tibetans to be one of China’s ethnicities, or recognized ethnic minorities (to use the official term). Another issue is nobody knows how many “ghost people” are in China’s population. These are those whom the Chinese call [Haihaizi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heihaizi). Such people are not elibile for education, medical care, or quite a number of other things necessary for daily life as a human. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/93 "2023-07-21T10:49:09Z")
Well, if the US has about a third of China’s population, the equivalent would be about 19 ethnic groups, including both indigenous peoples and immigrant groups. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302/94 "2023-07-21T12:34:28Z")
I did the math per worldometer—the US would have 13.35 (so, say 14) ethnic groups if we had the same proportion as China. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forget-the-future-fuck-our-actual-current-dystopia-today/986302.md?page=4)