Over the next 100 years or so VR and haptic tech make it so people can become fully emersed in virtual reality. So pretty much everyone does. There are arguments on both sides, but eventually most people choose to live in their own world as a "god" with only VR interaction between one another. Everyone in VR stops having real kids, but thanks to AI improvements they can still have "kids". Technology eventually allows people to plug in permanently while their bodies are maintained by AI and robots systems. Eventually their bodies die, but their consciousness has been captured enough by the system that no one knows or notices when their VR friends bodies die in reality.
In the real world a very small segment of society refuses to join the VR universe and pledge to remain in the real world. Maybe there's some war in there because of this. Eventually though, the population of earth drops to maybe a few hundred thousand mostly wandering communal groups, while everyone else's consciousness is in VR systems. This is good for the planet.
After a few thousand years, the people in reality have multiplied and built a better more equitable world, but have completely forgotten about the people in VR, and the automated buildings containing the computers have become buried and lost to time. Until one day someone stumbles across one of these ruins and begins interacting with the VR people again despite a mythical belief system that such technology is all bad.
Some shit happens and there's a VR vs reality reckoning... Maybe some sort of Romeo and Juliet love story to keep it interesting.
I think an easier solution would be to expand section 8. The government should have tons of housing units built, and then families can "pay them off" with section 8 funding. Right now section 8 money just goes to slumlords. Instead that money could go to the people who actually need it. This would increase housing supply, so prices would come back down, plus allow people to build equity and ownership in their home allowing them to start raising themselves out of poverty.
This was vitamin D for me... When I finally got checked I was at a 6... The lowest you're supposed to go is like 40. I could hardly chew food I was so exhausted. Winter is still hard for me, but I take a crap load of vitamin D and it helps a bit
You're correct, pedophilia is a mental illness. A very tragic one since there is no hope and no cure. They can't even ask for help because everyone will automatically assume they are also child molesters. Which is what you're describing, but not all child molesters are pedophiles, and most pedophiles will never become child molesters... Like you said, some people just get off on exploiting the power dynamic and aren't necessarily sexually attracted to children. Those people are the real danger.
Assuming that's correct; instead of pretending they'll somehow magically all start understanding the "Trump threat" in the next 6 months, maybe Biden and the Dems should start actually giving them what they want. It's not even a big ask. Just don't do genocide. And definitely don't do genocide and then say it's not actual genocide. No one gives a fuck what you call it. Anyone with a conscience can see it's wrong.
Anything short of giving young people whatever it takes to get them to show up for Biden is basically supporting Trump for president.
Okay but seriously who's out there, wringing their hands, trying to figure out if they'll vote Trump or Biden? No one. If you're voting for Trump, there is absolutely nothing Biden (or Trump for that matter) could do to change your mind. All those centrist neolibs in the swing states are going to vote for Biden regardless, because there's no one else for them to vote for. The true "undecided voters" are undecided between showing up and just not showing up. And shit like this just pushes them closer to the not showing up position. Every time Biden panders to his already locked in centrist base, instead of trying to get progressives to show up for him, it should be considered a willful attempt to get Trump elected.
The reason the government is garbage is because most of them are working for the corporations. If we heavily regulated the corporations and made it so they couldn't interfere with politics, the government would be better... They'd actually be working for the people and our interests, like they're supposed to
The problem isn't government, it's corporate control of the government
Privatizing things will always cost more because then you need to account for profits as well. Publicly controlled=x cost, privately controlled=x costs+profit for the rich
Even the most corrupt government employee is only getting a pay check (no profits). They make their corruption money by colluding with corporations and rich people