If an OSS project wants to thrive, it would behoove them to implement things that people want. I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all solution there, but they shouldn’t be surprised if nobody wants to use their software because it doesn’t do what they want.

INFO: What is the case at hand?

Now that you mention it, I wouldn’t be surprised if Japanese companies manufacture more cars in the US than US-based companies.

Hard agree, as an American. Honda and Toyota destroy our local companies in pretty much every regard other than maybe regulation dodging.

I had this idea for a wizard who was kind of crazy and believed he was the king of a nation that doesn’t exist. He would see the rest of the party as his nobility and task them with enforcing laws he made up on the spot. In combat, he would use “control” type magic like paralysis and counterspells to lock down his enemies, pronounce guilty verdicts, and issue death sentences which his noble companions would carry out. I don’t know if the spell list in D&D would support this kind of gameplay, though.

I’ve only lived in one apartment my whole life, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Less need to interact means less interaction.

I live in a small building with few units. My neighbors and I get along great, although they’re much more eager to socialize than I am. I don’t really mind, but still.

I read a stronger implication that you have psychosis than anything else - which is still not cool, for what it’s worth.

I’d love to see insurance companies get taken down a notch, but what you’re saying isn’t nearly as simple as you think. People regularly get tens of thousands of dollars into debt for lifesaving care, even with insurance. Those without it can go hundreds of thousands or even millions in the hole - I’ve personally known people in that situation. I certainly agree that hospitals are partly to blame, but the whole healthcare system is built around insurance paying most of the cost. This never would have happened if insurance didn’t exist. It’s a captive market. The only way doctors, hospitals, and pharmacists would unite in not accepting insurance was if all insurance companies disappeared. There’s just too much money on the table otherwise.

Very true. There’s some benefit where the business can get a “package deal” of sorts which makes it cheaper than buying individual policies, but it’s still a shell game.

BattleBit captured the spirit of the older Battlefield games better than 2042 ever could. I had the same exhilarating adrenaline highs playing BattleBit as when I played Battlefield 3. There’s nothing like putting a bunch of C4 onto a car, throwing it at a tank, and blowing it up… and that was an everyday occurrence in previous titles.

In the communities I’ve seen, people wail in despair over the update that never was and desperately (satirically?) try to convince each other that the update will one day come. It’s funny to see as an outsider, but it hurts as someone who used to love the game.

Insurance companies make money by indirectly extorting customers, be they individuals or businesses, through pricing schemes with healthcare providers. The American healthcare system is designed and priced around people having insurance, as you’ve noticed. This leads to insanely high bills for what should be simple things. An ambulance ride often costs over $1,000 without insurance, for example. In a nutshell, they’ve created a system where they are both the problem and the solution. Why don’t they start behaving more ethically? Well, from a money standpoint, why would you become less corrupt when you can collect more money by being corrupt?

Changing insurance providers, or even just certain coverage choices, isn’t easy. We have what are called “enrollment periods” in the US when you can do this, and the only other times are under major life changes such as marriage or having a child. As another user noted, most people get insurance through their employer. The company (usually) pays the lion’s share of the premiums; otherwise, the plans would be completely out of reach to employees. My plan would be four times as expensive to me if I was paying for it out of pocket.

As a result, starting something like what you want on a national level would be extraordinarily expensive, hard to compete with established players, and likely legally troublesome. Don’t get me wrong, we need reform pretty badly, but those reasons are why it hasn’t really taken off.

I have several mental disorders that partially disable me, making daily life difficult. I can function, but I’m still at a considerable disadvantage compared to everyone else. One in particular is associated with a 20+ year reduction in life expectancy and drastically higher risk of dementia later in life.

It would have been better if Russia had abided by the Minsk II agreement. Better yet, if the Budapest memorandum had been enforced and Russia not invaded its sovereign neighbor to begin with. But power is the only language Russia speaks.

I used to have a college professor who would always laugh at his own jokes. Always. His class only laughed maybe half the time. I didn’t mind much because he was a cool guy in general.

If the problem is churches taking too much money from people, how is taxing them going to change that? Won’t that just encourage them to take more?

Talking like that could get you arrested, your friends and family detained, and your online communities shut down. Don’t do that to the people you care about.

We have a saying here: “When seconds count, the police are minutes away.”

This is what I tell myself every time I find out the hard way what documented parts of Visual Basic didn’t make it into VBScript.