Is it possible for culture/economics/sociology etc. to simultaneously spin it's wheels and get worse at the same time? Because that's what it's starting to feel like.

Whenever people say things like 'barely anything has changed culturally since the 2000's', I laugh. A lot of the stuff about our politics (and how no IP seems to 'go away' anymore, but that's a different discussion) would seem like a joke 20-30 years ago.

Is this 'smart features in everything' an American thing? I bought a lot of kitchen stuff recently (UK) and it was only the most expensive stuff that was filled with smart/AI crap. I do understand that if you rent, you're stuck with what the landlord bought, though.

Absolutely. I also loved how striking some scenes were. That scene of Mulder seeing a possible UFO (probably simply achieved a really bright light off screen) for the first time really stuck in my mind. I'd rank it alongside actual film scenes.

I do remember some of the acting being a bit 'off' in earlier seasons. Not sure if this was the actors gradually 'settling in' to the characters or a weird quirk of early 90's TV production?

I eat a full sized sandwich because that's how Calvin eats them in Calvin and Hobbes.

I genuinely want to know if the people ordering the filthy poors to do increasingly more with increasingly less are genuine evil or genuinely thick. Even ignoring the ethics, how is it sound economics? The end goal genuinely seems to be 'slaves that somehow still spend money'.

...this is going to reach a breaking point one day, surely? And not necessarily in a 'things get better' way, either.

I swear capitalism's reaching a point where the only way for it to 'work' is for increasingly worn-out and atomised people to somehow meet each other, somehow spend more than they earn and then somehow have 3 kids while 65% of their income goes on renting a shoebox in some city...

Centre-Left Dad Syndrome.

Suddenly just remembered the LCD Soundsystem song “North American Scum”

youtu.be/gJ2np7R-Uwg?...

Helvetica block capitals as a tribute to Adam Curtis

Agreed 100% Do the Germans have a word for this feeling of 'nothing means anything anymore'?

Maggie May by Rod Stewart. I've always liked it.

Are we sure there's no village somewhere in England that says 'horse', 'heese' or 'horsen'?

Reminds me of the Kier Starmer fans we get in the UK. Wouldn't be surprised if they're getting their talking points from the same sources, TBH.

Psycho. Or if I'm being a bit too clever, how about 'First Reformed'? Apparently Paul Schrader at least considered filming it in black and white? I recommend trying it out using your TV settings, I think it works well.

You see that's the worry. Are the usual centrists missing this difference, *or* do they genuinely think that leftists are naive babies for wanting more from people in power than military 'intervention' and performative social progressiveness?