The way towards centre from left is to the right.

Switching from WhatsApp to any other messaging service isn't a realistic option for quite many places. I'd be more than willing to switch but of all the people in my contacts (including my entire customer base) there's like 3 people using Signal but every single one of them has WhatsApp. Even the 60+ year olds.

Mandatory military service doesn't generally mean being sent to conflict zones. This is done by active military members, not conscripts.

It's called Finnish Defence Forces and its purpose is just that; to defend Finland. We have a 1400km border with Russia.

Most conscripts are around 18 to 20 years old and the service is something between 6 to 12 months depending on your position. In general you spend weekdays at the barracks and weekends at home - with some exceptions. You don't generally see people in military uniforms outside the military areas except for when they're traveling to and from the barracks.

The service is mandatory for men but recently there has been some discussion on expanding that to apply to women as well. I think it's a good system. Even if not military, then atleast some sort of community service. It acts as a sort of rite of passage.

I don’t see what’s controversial here. This just seems like an independent thinker who evaluates issues on a case-by-case basis rather than blindly adopting the views of any one group as a package deal.

Concluding that someone is a lesser human because of their skin color seems just as illogical to me as calling someone a racist because they drive a lifted truck. These things are completely unrelated.

Not including your pronouns on emails / online profiles.

You seem to be assuming that people would keep driving as they currently do if we removed speed limits entirely. I'd be willing to bet that this is not the case. Most drivers have a number in mind on how much they're willing to exceed the speed limit. For me that is 5 - 10kph, so if the limit is 60kph, then you're not going to catch me going 80. Without speed limits I probably would.

So why do we have such laws? Because they work. Not perfectly but to some extent.

I hope you atleast see the irony in suggesting people are racist based on the kind of vehicle they drive.

I don't even know what he has said.

I agree with the sentiment but I wouldn't go as far as banning it. I'm for free speech even when I think it's stupid. I do admit of having preconceptions of people who do this though.

Also, feels like such a pointless thing to debate about as someone whose native language doesn't have gendered pronouns to begin with. Here everyone is they/them.

I was going to say liquidate my investments but to be honest I'm not sure I could even spend all the money in my bank account in 31 days. I don't even know what to buy. Beef Jerky and RedBull? I'd probably get my hands on some psychedelics though, maybe even hard drugs. One thing I would do is much more urban offroading with my truck since I no longer need to be worried about my license - or the truck. I'd probably go have a thai massage with a happy ending and try gay sex too because why not.

All in all I don't think I'd be living that much differently. I already know I'm going to die. I just don't know when.

I'd love my fatbike to have both, belt drive and a gearbox. I barely even bother to adjust the derailleur anymore since I'm constantly banging it everywhere anyway. Gearbox would also give more clearance for 6 inch tire on the rear. Some innovation on the brakes section would be in place too since disc brakes don't seem to like water and mud but mine are getting plenty of both.

You don’t offer your services and prices easily

That’s a strange assumption. My pricing and services are listed on the flyer they likely first heard about me from, as well as on my website. You can also just call, email, or text and ask.

If you have a job for me but don’t want to "waste your time" by reaching out, I’m not too concerned about losing you as a customer. Virtually all of my previous clients seem to appreciate not just a job well done, but the one-on-one human connection as well. In fact, some of them seem to just want someone to talk to - the work itself feels almost secondary.

That's quite the number of assumptions you made there

Reddit is more diverse. The same kind of cynicism exists there too but it's dilluted by all the other content so it's easier to ignore. Here that is less the case as majority of the content is news articles - granted that I haven't been to reddit for over a year so I don't know what it's like today.

Agreed. This is the most cynical corner of the internet I've ever been to, yet here I'm.

There's plenty of censorship here though. Some instances are worse than others but even on a community basis, your average moderator is just some random dude who is free to remove your posts/comments and ban you just because they don't like something you said and there's not really anything you can do about it.

Fediverse as a technology yes but the userbase here does the opposite. By definition someone commenting on a message board is not a normal person because normal people don't do that, but to be commenting on a niche platform like this makes you hyper not-normal, and yes, that applies to me as well and I'm well aware of that.

Wolves don't indiscriminate between invasive and endangered species though.