They’re making it harder and harder to do so apparently and to download the books that you buy from their store.

I don’t trust that they won’t make a strong push to lock you into the Amazon ecosystem.

And, bluntly, I don’t trust Bezos, especially after all of this election bullshit he pulled with WaPo where he personally got involved. The chances are now non-zero that Kindle could censor books. If a tyrannical regime told Bezos to remove a list of books from Kindle devices I think he’d roll over and do it. And that’s not right. They’re the customer’s books - they bought them and they get to decide what they read without censorship. And to be clear, I don’t care which way the censorship goes. We shouldn’t be censoring books - full stop.

I used to be such a kindle Stan but I don’t think they will let me have full control over an expensive device that I buy and books that I buy on their platform.

I de-drm every book I buy and side load it onto my devices because no company in the future should be able to tell me what books I can read. I’m currently using a Kobo but if they start fucking around too (no signs of this yet…) I’ll find a device that will respect my freedom.

If you want to sideload your own books and continue to be able to do so, steer clear of any Amazon device.

Canadian commentary:

I know it’s difficult with corporate greed and price gouging right now, I’m not debating that.

I’m worried that the food that people gravitate toward is unhealthy, ultra processed and cheaper on purpose. You need to buy MORE of this kind of food to stay full.

The US has, in my understanding, a lot of food deserts where healthier options are not available and people are pushed to eat empty calories.

The late-stage capitalist system wears people so thin that the effort to find and cook cheap healthy meals can be overwhelming if you don’t usually do this.

Portions in North America are HUGE.

There are ways to eat for cheaper but I understand that takes effort. For example, I order a $23 CDN all in produce box to my door of oddly shaped/sized produce that feeds two adults for a week. The largest box at $49 easily feeds a family of 4. It takes effort to find and locate services like this. Only available in big cities too.

I guess what I’m trying to say is it seems like the structure of society and capitalism makes the impact of corporate greed RE: groceries SO much worse.

Not to mention the wars, gas, and housing prices.

I know a lot of people are low information but since this issue in my perspective is aggravated and accelerated by so many factors, it still baffles me that people accept the solution is more Republican trickle down economics and tariffs which seem like they’re just going to make the problem worse for everyone.

Not trying to fight you but I think people should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.

Abortion isn’t a culture war it’s literally my life at risk as a woman.

The campaign was just not explicit enough and America is ill educated by design on the topic of reproduction.

And I’ve come to the realization that most people don’t want to grapple with horrific things until it happens to them and it’s too late. See the pandemic - all the people who were boasting on fb about not protecting themselves and not getting the vaccine until their families were posting about those same people being dead.

Dropping this here - no woman wants to tell that story.

Well and like… all women were just confirmed to be second class citizens.

If we accept the premise that God doesn’t condone abortion care even in instances where women miscarry or the baby dies then surely dick pills aren’t natural either.

It seems to be that the popular vote in America is saying that women are whores who can die and everything men do gets a pass including sexual assault and cheating on their wives.

Timothy Snyder - On Tyrrany

For my friends in America who did not want this or deserve this.

The ones who supported this can reap the karma that they gave sewn.

Bracing for impact in Canada.

Americans don’t realize we have our own lil JD primed and ready to take over here as well, funded and helped by Republican strategists and think tanks oh boy.

I’m being a little snide but yeah supply and demand right? If the population reduces it impacts the demand for products and also the supply of workers.

Capitalists aren’t going to stop ruining the earth out of the goodness of their hearts or anything.

More like yes those are the problems and children are not the answer to those problems.

The capitalists would extract less if they had fewer workers and not as many people to sell stuff to.

I’d say you can find things that make life worth living if you’re already here. But if someone’s not “here”, why drag someone you’re supposed to love the most into this mess when we can’t even properly look after the children that are already here.

I’m not anti-child - I’d consider adopting if it didn’t cost like $20k. I’m anti-new child for myself, and yeah I get sad when I see other people have kids, especially now. It’s like having another kid when you lived in the middle of the dust bowl and people were actively dying from starvation and the dust. Probably not the best time to have kids, similar to now. They just couldn’t easily make the choice to not have kids back then.

There are tons of arguments in favour of having kids like what if they cure cancer etc.

However, for myself, I truly believe there will be an ecological collapse due to climate change if not during my lifetime, in the immediate next generation. And we’re still not doing enough. I don’t want to flee natural disasters with a child in tow. One of best things you can do for the climate is not have kids. I’m privileged enough to make that choice so I did, but it’s not my only reason. You got late stage capitalism and the accelerating concentration of resources with the hyper wealthy, war / nuclear war, and the fact that pregnancy is one of most risky things I can medically do. Social media, the toxic drug supply, the rise of fascism (again), microplastics in literally fucking everything. I don’t even think we’ll have social healthcare or social security in Canada by the time I die because they’re gutting our programs so badly.

I get that people have a strong reaction to their choices being called immoral. Morality looks different for everyone. However, the counterargument of “Well I have children and they’re great and bring me so much joy etc” falls on deaf ears, because it truly does not sound like joy to me and when I say I am anti-child for myself I am telling you that. It’s like trying to convince someone skydiving is the greatest thing - some people love it, but not my cup of tea. It is so foreign to me that whenever I hear parents say this it feels like they are trying to convince themselves that they made the right choice.

It’s a lot of processed bread / carb products and very little protein.