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Cake day: March 2nd, 2024

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  • I’m a risk averse person. I don’t see “in other countries they do X,” rather I think “if this happens and a government gets in whose interests are unaligned with my own, what could they do with this new power I let them have.”

    In the case of the UK, the far right is on the rise. Today if a digital ID card is introduced, then probably no one will force me to use it. However in the future that can change.

    Let me give you an example: the UK allowed the government to change the law so that it gets to determine who is a terrorist and who isn’t. They don’t need to go to court, or have a judge sign off. They use these powers to silence legitimate protest against a number of issues that inconvenienced the billionaire class.

    Imagine attending a protest to call for the government to be held to account for a bad decision it made, and the next day your digital ID no longer allows you to travel to work by train. We are giving them the legal power to do this, if we stand by and do not resist.

    Also, I’m lucky enough to be a citizen of the country I live in. Will enforcing some addition “digital proof of citizenship” make the country a better place? Will it make undocumented people decide to leave or simply more desperate/vulnerable? If they get sick, will they be afraid to seek medical care - spreading illness rather than getting treatment.


  • it’s a slippery slope:

    • want to buy alcohol? must scan your digital ID. Now the government knows how much you drink.
    • want entry to this nightclub? must scan your digital ID. Now the government knows you go to G.A.Y on Fridays.
    • want to withdraw cash from the bank? yeah, you need a valid digital ID scan.

    The next government could massively curtail freedom of movement, protest and expression with the tools this government are intent on forging. Remember, they already tried to make porn subject to age checks, and everyone installed a VPN. Want to use a VPN? we’re going to need a digital ID scan please.










  • Trump is putting tariffs on things Americans buy from overseas that he believes should be made in America. The gamble is that companies that makes those products will choose to open factories/production in the US in response to the tariffs, which will create new jobs and growth in the country.

    In comparison, retaliatory tariffs suggested by Trudeau and Sheinbaum are going to impact high demand goods that Americans import that would be very difficult to source in the US (or elsewhere in the world) in the short term. There is unlikely to be significant impact to the Canadian or Mexican economies because Americans must purchase those items and absorb the extra costs.

    An example is cars, which can move back and forth across the border many times during assembly. Car manufacturers must simply absorb those extra costs due to the tariffs now.