# The Washington Post: Democracy Dies With Us **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [October 25, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210 "2024-10-25T17:30:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 34
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/661 "2026-02-18T22:36:16Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I should probably read the essay before critiquing it. You should. It’s quite powerful. It’s also obviously a hypothetical written in the second-person. Only an idiot would read it and think to themselves “Wait a minute, I’m not a stay-at-home mom with a 5-year-old and an infant! The Atlantic lied to me!” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/662 "2026-02-18T23:43:43Z")
Having read a little bit of the criticism of it, it sounds like some people interpreted the second-person narrative as a stylized first-person narrative: that when she said [paraphrased] “Your daughter appears to improve before she dies,” she really was saying, “Imagine you’re me, because my daughter appeared to improve before she died.” That at least makes their misunderstanding not delusional, but it does mean it’s not really the author’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/663 "2026-02-19T01:07:00Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > that when she said [paraphrased] “Your daughter appears to improve before she dies,” she really was saying, “Imagine you’re me, because my daughter appeared to improve before she died.” Nitpick: the scenario is that the woman’s infant initially makes a full recovery, only for doctors to discover eight years later that the virus gave him an irreversible neurological condititon which is causing early-onset dementia and gives him about another 2-3 years to live. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/664 "2026-02-19T01:18:19Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/665 "2026-03-14T18:56:54Z")
The Post is now using data they’ve mined from your browsing habits to decide whether to charge you more. > **[The Washington Post Is Using Reader Data to Set Subscription Prices. How Does...](https://washingtonian.com/2026/03/12/the-washington-post-is-using-reader-data-to-set-subscription-prices-how-does-that-work/)** > > If recent events have not compelled you to cancel your Washington Post subscription, then you might have been in for sticker shock at the dawn of your latest billing cycle. Many readers have been notified via email that their subscription rates are... ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/666 "2026-03-14T19:52:59Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The Post is now using data they’ve mined from your browsing habits to decide whether to charge you more Because people love airline pricing so much. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/667 "2026-03-14T20:56:47Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The Post is now using data they’ve mined from your browsing habits to decide whether to charge you more. Unsurprising coming from the shameless WaPo. But this is going to be the norm, not the exception, in a fairly short period of time. AI makes it possible, of course. I’ve heard retailers drooling over the prospect of having electronic ‘price displays’ on every shelf, where the price changes based on the passing customer’s history. That can of soup that costs you $2.89 may cost someone else $1.99, and a third person $3.47. Multiply that by every purchasing situation the average person experiences, day in and day out. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2026, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/668 "2026-03-14T22:02:41Z")
We’ll each have our own personal inflation rate. Hooray for progress. 🤬 😡 ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/669 "2026-03-14T22:17:16Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I’ve heard retailers drooling over the prospect of having electronic ‘price displays’ on every shelf, where the price changes based on the passing customer’s history. That might work in a store where only one customer is passing by a product at a time. It’d never be workable on the scale of, say, Walmart or the chain I work for. (And until facial recognition gets good enough that they can be aware of who you are and match you to your data the second you step into the store, putting your phone in airplane mode would foil it.) ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/670 "2026-03-14T23:23:18Z")
Would be odd to look back and see an electronic price suddenly cut in half as an indigent person walks up behind. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/671 "2026-03-14T23:26:33Z")
You really think they’ll charge poor people _less?_ ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/672 "2026-03-15T01:25:51Z")
Agreed. All the prices would quadruple to get them to leave. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2026, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/673 "2026-03-15T10:32:11Z")
Or if it’s the only store in the 'hood / impoverished dying small town, the prices would quadruple just to rip them off even better than before. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/674 "2026-03-15T22:00:35Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > That might work in a store where only one customer is passing by a product at a time. It’d never be workable on the scale of, say, Walmart or the chain I work for. (And until facial recognition gets good enough that they can be aware of who you are and match you to your data the second you step into the store, putting your phone in airplane mode would foil it.) Top. Men. are working to solve these problems as we speak (or read). ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/675 "2026-03-15T22:19:20Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Top. Men. are working to solve these problems as we speak I don’t think it’s gonna be feasible any time soon. Amazon promised something similar to this with their “Just Walk Out” stores, but they couldn’t make it work without having human operators watch the cameras to verify purchases, and they’ve since closed all of them down. And those stores were exclusively open to Prime members who already had their data on file with Amazon and with fixed prices with a limited stock. Building a demographic+financial profile on any random schmo who walks into a Safeway, coupled with flawless facial ID and the ability to track them perfectly through the store, customize display prices on the fly, and match it to them at the register? I don’t see how the amount of processing power you’d need for that would make enough money off charging certain people an extra 50 cents for a Pepsi to be profitable (which is the underlying problem behind the AI bubble in the first place - it costs too much to operate and isn’t sustainable unless gullible investors keep pumping an ever-increasing amount of venture capital into it forever). > **[Amazon's Just Walk Out technology relies on hundreds of workers in India...](https://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-just-walk-out-actually-1-000-people-in-india-2024-4)** > > Amazon promoted Just Walk Out as AI-powered cashierless technology. But the tech reportedly relied on workers in India for accuracy. > **[Amazon is closing its Fresh and Go locations | CNN Business](https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/27/food/amazon-fresh-go-closures)** > > Amazon is closing its branded brick-and-mortar grocery stores, with the company consolidating its strategy under the Whole Foods name. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/676 "2026-03-15T22:55:10Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > coupled with flawless facial ID and the ability to track them perfectly through the store, You track their phone, not their face. Much easier. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/677 "2026-03-15T23:02:52Z")
…and if their phone is in airplane mode? ---
**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:** [March 16, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/678 "2026-03-16T00:07:46Z")
If they’re trying to defeat the store they might do that. But the vast majority of Americans won’t bother. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/679 "2026-03-16T00:23:28Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > And those stores were exclusively open to Prime members who already had their data on file with Amazon and with fixed prices with a limited stock. The stores were open to everyone. But the walk-out without paying feature was only Prime members. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/680 "2026-03-16T00:25:38Z")
The only time I ever experienced Just Walk Out myself was at Climate Pledge Arena (stupid name) in Seattle, which Amazon is a major sponsor of. They were using it in their concession stands when they opened up after being rebuilt from the inside in the shell of the old Key Arena/Seattle Coliseum. You swiped your debit card in a turnstile on the way in. They’ve replaced it with self-checkout kiosks now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210.md?page=33) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210.md?page=35)