Allow me to pose a question to fellow travelers. My family, comprising two adults and children aged 5, 3, and almost 1, is seeking a tropical destination for the winter months, preferably around October to November. We reside in the northern part of Europe. We are fond of places like Thailand, with warm weather, inviting seas, and pristine white beaches. Here comes the question: Are there any destinations that offer a relatively high standard of living, not necessarily perfect but with good infrastructure, excellent hospitals in case of emergencies, cleanliness in terms of environment and water, low crime rates, a tranquil atmosphere, efficient public transportation, and, of course, a serene beach? Is there such a place? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

I've been thinking about this a lot since I first played the game.
Do you think Abby would have been as violent if she had never joined or even met the WLF?
Let me explain: of course anyone would want revenge on their dad's killer, and possibly want them to suffer as much as they can, but I can't help thinking that all that golf game wouldn't have happened if Abby had not been in the WLF.
In the flashbacks she's clearly more innocent and carefree, I mean yeah the death of your dad will definitely change you in unthinkable ways, but she generally looks like someone not inclined to violence. I don't know how to explain it, that's just my feeling. Hell, she's even hesitant to approach a wounded animal! Fast forward to the in-game events and she's lived for about 4 years in a very strict, very rough military group where torture and brutality are just normal, ie. shooting trespassers on sight, torturing the Scars held captives, or simply being in open war with them.
One particular sentence stuck with me: when Abby and Manny go talk to to Isaac on day 1 and pass through the cells with the Scars prisoners inside, Abby says something on the lines of "I would love a minute or two with these guys". I always thought it was a very harsh thing to say. Yes, those other psychos weren't being much nicer, and Abby and her group had just been assaulted by a bunch of them, but still... the idea that you'd enjoy torturing someone (even if for a... good reason?) gave me an uneasy feeling.
I just cannot not think that the environment Abby was living in influenced her to a certain extent. She went from the idealist "let's try to save the world" to being trained as a soldier. Yes, Fireflies were violent too, but I don't see them as gore as WLF.
Thoughts?

We all love a slow round of golf, but some are better than others.
Today was just impressive.
This course has 8 minute tee times, which isnt too bad for spacing. There was a 4 ball, followed by a 4 ball, 2 ball, then us a 3 ball.
It took 40 mins to get through first 2 holes (not great). At the 3rd tee, we joined the 2-ball to make a 5-ball.
We noticed the group ahead of the 4-ball had pulled away. It was a par 5 and they had the hole to themselves.
For the remaining 8 holes (we left after hole 11 since it was 3.5 hours in), us, a 5-ball of average golfers (10-30HCP) were consistently right up the 4-ball in front. We had average wait times of 3-10 mins per shot, whilst the group in front had to do no waiting.
How is it possible to play that slowly?? They werent looking for lost balls or anything either, it just seemed to be their standard pace...

Reddit has just increased their API pricing dramatically, driving third party apps out of the business as they can't afford to pay. What can be done about it?

If Reddit has significantly increased their API pricing, which has resulted in third-party apps being unable to afford the costs, there are a few potential courses of action that can be considered:

1. Engage in dialogue with Reddit: Reach out to Reddit's developer relations team or any appropriate contact within the company to express concerns about the pricing increase. Provide feedback on how this change affects third-party developers and the broader Reddit user base. It's possible that they may be open to reconsidering their pricing structure if they receive constructive feedback and understand the impact it has on the ecosystem.
   
2. Form a developer coalition: Collaborate with other affected third-party developers to form a unified voice and present a collective stance to Reddit. A coalition could amplify concerns, pool resources for negotiations, and potentially negotiate better terms with Reddit. Strength in numbers may help in advocating for a fairer pricing structure.
   
3. Explore alternative data sources: Investigate whether there are alternative data sources or APIs that can be used to gather similar information or replicate the functionality provided by Reddit's API. This could involve leveraging other platforms, scraping publicly available data, or utilizing data from related communities or forums. However, it's important to ensure that any alternative approaches comply with legal and ethical guidelines.
   
4. Consider alternative revenue streams: If it's not feasible to rely solely on Reddit's API or the pricing is prohibitively high, explore alternative revenue streams for your third-party app. This could include features or services that users are willing to pay for, such as enhanced functionality, premium content, or subscription-based models. Diversifying your revenue streams may help mitigate the impact of the API pricing changes.
   
5. Develop open-source alternatives: Explore the possibility of building open-source tools or libraries that provide similar functionality to the Reddit API. By developing and sharing open-source solutions, developers can collectively contribute to maintaining and improving the ecosystem, reducing reliance on proprietary APIs.
   
6. Promote community awareness and action: Raise awareness within the Reddit user community about the implications of the API pricing increase. Encourage users to voice their concerns to Reddit directly through various channels, such as social media, Reddit threads, or the official Reddit feedback channels. Engaging the community can put pressure on Reddit to reconsider their pricing decision.
   

Ultimately, the best approach will depend on the specific circumstances and the willingness of Reddit to engage in a dialogue. By collaborating, exploring alternatives, and advocating for fair pricing, there may be opportunities to find a solution that benefits both third-party developers and Reddit as a platform.

if neither of those is an option, what else can be done?

If direct dialogue with Reddit or alternative approaches are not feasible or effective, there are still a few other options to consider:

1. Evaluate the viability of the business: Assess the long-term sustainability of your third-party app in light of the increased API pricing. Consider the potential impact on user engagement, the financial viability of the app, and the overall value proposition it offers. It may be necessary to make difficult decisions, such as pivoting the app's focus, exploring new markets, or even winding down operations if the costs outweigh the benefits.
   
2. Seek investment or funding: If your app has demonstrated value and growth potential, you could explore securing investment or funding from external sources. This could help cover the increased API costs or enable you to explore alternative solutions. Investors or funding organizations who see the value in your app and its user base may be willing to support your efforts.
   
3. Collaborate with other affected developers: Connect with other third-party developers who are facing similar challenges due to the API pricing increase. Explore potential partnerships, mergers, or acquisitions that can pool resources, share costs, and collectively navigate the situation. Collaborating with others facing the same issue can increase your chances of finding a viable solution.
   
4. Explore legal or regulatory avenues: Consult with legal professionals to assess whether the API pricing increase violates any laws or regulations, such as antitrust or competition laws. If there are grounds for legal action, you might consider pursuing a legal challenge to address the issue. However, this can be a complex and costly process, so it should be pursued only after careful consideration and legal advice.
   
5. Transition to other platforms: Evaluate alternative platforms or communities that may offer similar functionality or a comparable user base. While it may require significant effort to transition your app to a new platform, it could provide an opportunity to continue serving your user base and potentially mitigate the impact of the API pricing increase.
   

Remember, these options should be considered in the context of your specific circumstances, resources, and objectives. It's crucial to carefully assess the risks, costs, and potential outcomes of each option before making any decisions.

Any recommendations for public golf courses? I haven’t played out here and my son is getting more into it.

Not the Chinese kind but the kind proposed by C.H. Douglas. For those that need a quick explanation, please see the "^" paragraph at the bottom.
I may have missed the argument on this point for social credit but alas, I do not recall. One major criticism that I have with the idea of Social Credit is the desire for business profit and debt elimination. In the schema of issuing debt free credit, businesses would inevitably compete for that credit in order to pay down debt. With competition comes higher prices (not lower as many will claim) meaning a bigger gap. So now the gap payment is bigger. Businesses now have more to compete for so they raise prices again. Now the gap is bigger and... Without a mechanism that prevents a business from raising prices too aggressively there will be an increase in the gap over time as businesses gather up credit with higher margins to pay down bank debt and get higher margins. What business would willingly lower prices or avoid raising prices? They want profit.
So now we find that businesses are paying down their debts and not lowering prices while still maintaining low wages (because remember, they can keep wages as low as they want and the government will fill the gap). With the ability to maintain those prices while driving wages into the ground AND lowering costs through debt payoff, the gap explodes. People are being loaded with credit every month and it's being directed towards living expenses instead of debts, so the average person still has a potential shortage in their income needs versus available products so they take out more debt. This skews the system further as workers need more in wages and credit to fill the gap caused by their borrowing. Assuming they're being paid, of course.
In a social credit schema, I could very easily operate as a business that relies on the gap to pay my workers as I offer a wage of $0 per hour. Now every paycheck my workers earn is government credit instead of out of my reserve. I then have the ability to set the price of my goods to my heart's content and make pure profits beyond the remaining non-wage costs of production. With these profits I can eliminate my debt to the point of being debt free thus leaving only the final costs of production such as materials, land, and tax. Suddenly we live in a world where everyone is paid the same paycheck in ever increasing monthly amounts and we have ever increasing discounts on prices because prices will go up anyways to capture more profits, thus offsetting the force of the discount to begin with. Our personal debts keep growing as businesses collect more and more debt-free government credit in their reserves... Then start lending out notes for those credits to their most loyal customers who shop only at that one business. And then they lend out more than they have in reserve with interest. Hello private fractional reserve bank that produces a debt fiat-currency! Nice to meet you again! The very problem Social Credit seeks to solve with a public monetary creation system will inevitably be used by private entities to perpetuate the next era of that very same problem.
^{^} Social Credit is a monetary-economic theory from early to mid 20th century Scotland based on workers' rights and public interests. The basic idea behind C.H. Douglas' Social Credit theory is that in modern markets based on debt-fiat, prices and wages simply cannot be matched; in order for the business to cover the costs of operation they must cover both the workers' wages and the other capital costs of production. If P is the total Price of a finished good and P is equal to A (the cost of wage) plus B (the cost of other capital) then it's impossible for A to equal A + B (the total price). Thus the solution to the problem is to calculate the gap between wages and the cost of goods as a social credit that is created debt free from the government and issued either as a direct payment to the population (this is NOT the same as a UBI but I won't dive into that here) or as a government discount on prices sold by businesses. In theory, this debt free social credit issued from the government instead of the bank would cover the precise cost of the gap in wages and prices while also slowly eliminating the debts owed to the bank.

To prime you all, I would like to mention that I am an undergraduate student going into my 4th year and started a summer volunteer role in a lab on my University campus.
For this role I was asked to do a digital image analysis (colour coding objects in certain images based on their area range) using a method of my choice (R, python, Fiji, etc). The digital image analysis expert of the lab left a few months ago and has partially worked on the project. Using Fiji he had measured the areas of each object. The rest of members of the lab are not proficient in digital image analysis and were not sure how to do the colour coding portion. Since I have 0 background experience in digital image analysis and no coding experience outside of performing basic stat analysis on R, my supervisor just told me to research online, try a bunch of different methods out and not stress too much about time.
I saw various methods online using python and R to complete image segmentation and colour coding. However, this process would produce novel “area” values which might not match up with the ones already measured.
So, I assumed I would have to build on top of the work already done on Fiji (those macro files were made available to me). However, I have never used Fiji and despite hours of searching on stackoverflow and YouTube I was not able to find a method to accomplish my task.
Then, I resorted to ChatGTP to help me out, and it gave me a script to add to the macro file given to me by the lab to accomplish my task (because apparently the colour coding cannot be performed in an automated way using the Fiji GUI). After some modifications it worked like a charm and gave me the desired output image which my supervisor was happy with. But, I do not fully understand each and every function of the script and am trying to do so at the moment so that I am able to communicate it in layman’s terms.
However, after some thinking I am a bit concerned regarding the academic dishonesty in this situation as these images will be used for a publication. I did not previously consider the plagiarism aspect of this situation as it is quite different from the writing based plagiarism associated with basic biological science courses that I am familiar with.
Could someone please suggest to me what I should do from this onwards?

http://under-these-restless-skies.blogspot.com/2014/02/was-anne-boleyn-victim-of-sexual.html
Karen Lindsey, author of Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII puts forth a very interesting opinion on the way we should view Anne Boleyn's time at court:

I was doing an article for Ms. about sexual harassment on the job and reading about Henry's wives in my free time, but it took a while to put together the fact that Ann Boleyn's position as lady-in-waiting to Henry's wife Catherine of Aragon was her job, and that, far from trying to lure Henry away from Catherine, she had spent over a year tactfully trying to repel his sexual advances.
Today, Henry’s approach to Ann would be instantly identifiable as sexual harassment. Ann however, had no social or legal recourse against a the man who ruled the country. She continued, as so many women before and since have done, to dodge her pursuer’s advances while sparing his feelings. It didn’t work.
[...]
It was a hellish position. Could she really tell the king to his face that she had no interest in him? She could reiterate her desire to keep her chastity and her honor, but clearly he didn’t respect that. She could ignore his letters and stay away from court, but he refused to take the hint. To offer him the outright insult he asked for would be to risk not only her own but her father’s and brother’s careers at court. She undoubtedly kept hoping he would tire of the chase and transfer his attentions to some newer lady-in-waiting.

​

But he didn't and she was trapped; there was no chance of her making a good marriage when every eligible nobleman knew the king wanted her.

Lindsey is correct that Katharine of Aragon's court was Anne's workplace. Service in a noble court was the 16th century's version of the corporate ladder. The world of the nobility was a system of intricate social stratification where everyone sought employment from the rank above. The Babee's Book laid out this chain of service in example:

Even the duke's son preferred page to the prince, the earl's second son attendant upon the duke, the knight's second son the earl's servant, the esquire's son to wear the knight's livery, and the gentleman's son the esquire's serving-man.

Those who were charming, talented, clever, or amusing, could be promoted with additional job duties and income, or move up to the household of a noble higher in rank.
The duty of service to one's betters was bound up in religious faith. The Tudors believed that God had ordained the social order of the world. A person's status was the position to which God had called them, and so service to their superiors was as service to God.
Only those of the highest pedigree and social connections could hope to find a job serving the king or queen. Anne Boleyn was not titled, but she was the granddaughter of a duke. Her father was a very wealthy and well-connected man who had served as the king's ambassador, and Anne's mother had served Elizabeth of York. Securing Anne a job as a lady in waiting to Queen Katharine was a boon for their family.
Anne was employed in a series of royal households from the time she was a very young child, learning the social graces that would entertain those who employed her. She could dance, play instruments, engage in witty conversation, and was well-read enough to debate on intellectual topics. She was the consummate professional in her work, and remained chaste while she waited for her father to arrange a good marriage for her.
At one point, Anne took the bull by the horns and tried to arrange her own marriage with the son of the Earl of Northumberland. The results were disastrous, as far as her career was concerned. Once it was discovered what she was doing, she was banned from seeing the young man again and sent home to Hever in disgrace. She was fired, in other words.
Her family must have been livid. The match her father had been working on - perhaps unbeknownst to Anne - fell apart. Some scholars believe it might have had something to do with Anne's failed betrothal, but no records exist to explain it. The Butler family may not have wanted the union in the first place, which might have been engineered by Cardinal Wolsey to resolve an inheritance dispute. In any case, Anne now had no job, and no prospects for a husband.
Anne returned to court about a year later. We know nothing of the next two years or so, except what fragments can be deduced from the memories of Thomas Wyatt, as related by his grandson.

There was, at this present, presented to the eye of the court the rare and admirable beauty of the fresh and young Lady Anne Boleigna, to be attending upon the queen. In this noble imp, the graces of nature graced by gracious education, seemed even at the first to have promised bliss unto her aftertimes. She was taken at that time to have a beauty not so whitely as clear and fresh above all we may esteem, which appeared much more excellent by her favour passing sweet and cheerful; and these, both also increased by her noble presence of shape and fashion, representing both mildness and majesty more than can be expressed.

She seems to have been very popular at court. Northumberland's son wasn't the only man who was attracted to Anne. Thomas Wyatt fell in love with her, according to his grandson's book, and several of Wyatt's poems seem to refer to Anne and his unrequited passion for her. But Anne was cautious of her reputation, and rejected Wyatt's advances.
King Henry seems to have noticed Anne in late 1525/early 1526. His favor came with a "promotion" offer for her: an appointment to serve his wife, Katharine of Aragon. Anne wrote the king a letter, thanking him for the appointment. But this promotion came with some drawbacks.
As Karen Lindsey notes, Anne was in a very delicate situation with Henry's favor. Having his interest meant her family's advancement, and indeed, her father and brother received a steady series of gifts, grants, properties and titles, including his long-desired title of Earl of Ormond. Anne herself was showered with gowns and jewels, and fawned over by the court, seeking her favor so she might help advance them as well. Rejecting the king outright would have cut off this flow, and perhaps even set the Boleyn family back to being worse off, if the king became angry about it.
In February 1526, Henry made a public declaration of his interest in Anne, hoping the fawning attention of the court would pressure her into giving into his advances. Anne was suddenly thrust into the international spotlight as Henry's love interest, and suddenly had dozens of new "friends" seeking her favor and trying to use her for their own advancement. And, of course, they encouraged her to accede to the king's wishes. But Anne held firm to her principles. She would not sleep with any man outside the bonds of holy matrimony.
Henry now spent more time in his wife’s quarters than he had in years, but it was to visit Anne where she couldn’t escape his attentions.
In May, it got so bad that Anne actually quit her job as a lady in waiting and retreated to Hever, where she refused to answer Henry’s letters and sent back his gifts. Henry’s letters to her at this point are full of pouting complaints that she won’t write back to him. He claims not to understand it.

I cannot sufficiently marvel at, because I am sure that I have since never done any thing to offend you, and it seems a very poor return for the great love which I bear you to keep me at a distance both from the speech and the person of the woman that I esteem most in the world...

Henry still wouldn’t take “no” for an answer and chased after her. He went to stay with a cousin of Anne, Nicholas Carew, whose house was a convenient distance from Hever so he could ride over at his leisure. Anne could not refuse to receive him at the house. She refused wherever she had agency, but in this she did not. No one could refuse the king admittance.
When Anne did return to court, she had to face a great deal of hostility. Those still loyal to Katharine of Aragon despised Anne for "luring" the king away from his wife. Anne had enemies she'd never even met, people who hated her for everything she represented, who twisted her words and spread malicious gossip about her throughout Europe. Courtiers who smiled at her and bowed whispered behind their hands. Families were divided as religious reformers sided with the Boleyn faction, and the conservatives sided with Katharine.
But the greatest problem was that no man would seek Anne's hand in marriage while the king was pursuing her, certainly, and not after he lost interest, either. Few people believed Anne was still a virgin, and her reputation was in tatters around Europe. Around the time the king decided he wanted to marry her, Anne may have realized herself that she would marry the king, or have to remain unwed, a burden on her family.
Thomas Boleyn has been portrayed as grasping and heartless, selling his daughters like a common pimp, but truthfully, he had little say in the matter, either. It wasn't only his fortunes at stake, but the entire future of the Boleyn family. If he'd had a choice, he probably would have wished Anne would give in and become the king's mistress, because Henry tended to find respectable husbands for the women he bedded once he was done. But Anne's religious convictions were too strong for that.
Anne was, indeed, trapped. She could not risk offending her "boss" and losing her job with her entire family's future at stake. Whether she liked it or not, she had to keep the king's favor. It was upward toward the throne or utter ruin. Anne Boleyn never really had a choice.

I fucking hate golf now. It’s all my parents want to do, and though I didn’t care at first, it’s starting to effect me. A while back they were really excited to do a family trip, and of course I was looking forward to it. It turned it i a massive disappointment when it was 7 days of them leaving me in the hotel to go golf for over 10 hours, EVERY. DAMM. DAY. They told me I’m not allowed to leave the room, because they don’t know anyone there, so I was pretty much sitting there the whole time. On day 6, they promised me we could do something I wanted on day 7, and that they wouldn’t go golfing at all. Well guess what? They changed their stupid minds, because “it’s our last day, we want to spend it on the golf course!” Honestly fuck that. Now here’s where it’s even more infuriating. I’m 17, and they’re refusing to let me learn to drive. My dad realized I should start soon after 2 years, and promised I could learn this summer. When I brought it up, he said no, because “I don’t want to take away your summer.” SHUT THE FUCK UP, what you really mean is “I want to golf instead.” When I mentioned that it’s not fair that they get to have a fun summer, and I don’t, since all I’m allowed to do while they golf in sit in the stupid house, he got mad, and told me I’ll be grounded for a month if I ever mention driving again. Before you mention it, Yes, I have tried golfing before, and don’t find it fun. And now doing that stupid family vacation is a stupid family tradition that happens 4 times a year, and my parents refuse to let me stay home, or at least do something fun while they do it. Even last year, they made me stay home to take care of my grandpa who had cancer, so they could golf, and then got mad at me every time I did something wrong. (As in I put dinner in the oven 5 minutes late, and somehow they found out, and accused me of trying to starve my grandpa to death) I’m not even looking forward to summer anymore, I won’t even get one, because they want it all to themselves.

*first video*
"we didnt get to see enough of the course, i wanna see more golf"
*second video*
"omg you got me fucked up thinking im gonna watch a 5.5 hour video!!"
​
put it on in the background while your doing something else and treat it like a pga event. watch a couple shots here and there, and check up on the score. its not that hard of a concept.
​
s/o the editors cause you guys are fucking nuts and deserve a fat raise.

Im a 22 year old woman, and I confidently say that the past three years have influenced my decision to no longer be a girls girl.For anyone who doesn’t know, a ‘girls girl’ is typically a girl who puts female friendships before relationships, will help a random girl out in the bathroom, will message a girl to tell her that her boyfriend sent me a flirtatious message etc. All acts which result in empowering other women, instead of being in competition with them.I was thinking to myself the other day, that most of my ‘downfalls’ have happened in the presence of another woman. For example:

1. Every job interview I have failed, the interviewer was female. Every interview in which I got a job offer, the interviewer was male. I just feel like my experience with female interviewers can’t be a coincidence. Especially when it includes condescending comments, cattiness, and little feedback.
2. All the drama I have had in the past few years, where I have gotten really upset, evolved around female friendships. That includes ghosting, bullying, being alienated and essentially kicked out of friendships. I haven’t had this type of upset with men (in terms of dating or speaking to) which either went really well or dissolved respectfully.
3. Finally, I have had awful interactions with other women in public. I use to work at a bar, and the worst interactions I had was with older women. That includes being screamed at, filmed, threatened, objects thrown at me, and being made fun of by a group of Karens. Don’t get me wrong, men have been rude too, but it never escalated further than a huff and puff, before they walk away and return with an apology on their next round (and sometimes a tip).

In the past, I would go above and beyond in my female friendships, and would be the first to help and befriend another girl. But this has really bitten me in the back multiple times. I just think that people are so insecure in society, no matter how much you support them, they’ll always see you as competition.Im done with being expected to prioritise and support other girls just because we have the same gender identity. Particularly when most female friendships I’ve had have ended really bitterly.
The final straw was when one of my best friends messaged me to tell me that I was not invited to her birthday ‘because there isn’t room on the table’. I had been there for that girl emotionally and financially for two years. I remembered getting two buses across town to take care of my other close friend, after she was distraught upon finding out that her boyfriend cheated. I ended up stranded at her house, having to pay for an expensive taxi to take me home, but I didn’t care because of course I would be there for my best friend at a time of need. A month later, she texts me to admit that she matched with a guy I was in an on/off relationship with on tinder and proceeded to message him. Knowing far well that I would never do that to her. Other examples include being ghosted, alienated out of friendship groups, blocked out of nowhere by my previous female ‘friends’.
Why should I adhere to the expectation to put other women first when this is the reality of female relationships?

**He is planning on applying through questbridge national college match - Demographics: Mexican, Low-income, First Generation, Public School in Dallas TX - Intended Major(s): Public Health or Biology Major, w/ minor in neuro (pre med track) - Test Optional - UW GPA and Rank: 94.5419/100, Top 10% of Class - Coursework: Most rigorous course load offered (10 AP classes, 5 dual credit, rest are honors) - Senior course load: AP Physics C Mech AP Calc BC AP Stats AP French AP Lit AP Psych/Gym Medical Laboratory II - Extracurriculars, most are circulated around either health science or equity, which are the 2 biggest aspects of public health (his prospective major): - Neuroscience Research at t25 med school, going to try to get it published Hospital Intern at a neurologic hospital for children in the clinical lab, radiology clinic, and phlebotomy Lab Clinical Lab intern at a different hospital/ER Shadowing Teaching assistant at a weekly program for elementary students teaching core subjects, helped raise avg staar scores from approaches to meets through diversifying curriculum Education Reform Associate, working with a non profit to reform the disd student code of conduct to make it more equitable Cohort Leader for a national non profit where i fundraised $2k through webinars to fund a trip to state board of education and testified against inequitable practices in education system HOSA Future Health Professionals President National Honor Society Vice President Senator’s Advisory Council - Awards: - College Board’s National Hispanic Honor Questbridge College Prep Scholar Griptape $500 Grant Recipient Finalist in HOSA State Competition for Clinical Lab Science and Winner at regionals Lion’s pride award (highest honor at his school) district’s scholar award

[This is a translated excerpt from Clemens Traub’s “Future for Fridays?”. It’s a reflection about his time as an activist in “Fridays for Future” – the German branch of “School Strike for Climate”. The specific problems of western environmentalism adressed therein is germane to the issue of dysfunctional leftism often discussed on stupidpol and as far as I can tell nothing of this unique to Germany. The book is from 2020 and by now the movement “Fridays for Future” basically defunct. Meanwhile, the preferred tactic of current activists is it to glue themselves on main roads during rush hour. This protest method obviously affects working class people most, who usually have to physically show up at work (and often have to use cars to do so), and is less disruptive for the WFH email caste. The result of this is, surprisingly, a staggering 80+% disapproval rating for the climate organization “Last Generation” which is doing this.]
------------------------------
I know the typical milieu of most “Fridays for Future” protesters well. In a way, it's my own and that of my current circle of friends: metropolitan, left-liberal, hip. A space for the daughters of doctors to meet the sons of lawyers. Gin tasting and discussions about plastic-free shopping and zero waste are equally high on the agenda. Veganism is as much part of the unspoken code of being trendy as frequenting second-hand shops. And the organic grocery store around the corner naturally enhances the location of your own home.
The offspring of the professional class keep to themselves. Does the climate movement represent a cross-section of society? Not even close! Fridays for Future is the rebellion of the privileged, and the movement offers them the perfect opportunity to flaunt their own cosmopolitan lifestyle and talent.
Many of my climate-concerned friends are questioning whether the social background of the demonstrators matters at all. Isn't that absolutely unimportant? The main thing, they are convinced, is that the earth is saved. It doesn't matter by whom. The population has been silent for long enough, and now it is finally time to stand up.
I admit that the consistency of this chain of thought was extremely appealing to me and that using social origin as an argument against a group is of course nonsensical. The outlined combative spirit also enthralled me at first. At the beginning of my participation in "Fridays for Future", saving the world was the only thing that counted for me. It didn’t matter who stood by my side. And it still wouldn’t matter for me today.
But what matters to me is the behavior and reasoning of the people protesting with me. And here the circle closes, because the social background reveals more about the movement than the demonstrators would like to admit.
In fact, I take the view that the exclusive social background of the young protesters is the actual birth defect of "Fridays for Future". But because the movement was far too homogeneous, far too elitist and correspondingly far too aloof right from the start, its members remained oblivious to it. Ultimately, only those who are doing well in material terms have the time and leisure to consider climate protection as the most important and also the only political issue of our time and to subordinate everything else to it.
Located in its ivory tower, the movement doesn't even notice that its criticism is leveled at the lifestyle of many economically disadvantaged people, who for financial reasons do not always have a choice. They are denounced as climate sinners because they don't shop in health food stores but at discounters. It never occurs to the demonstrators that there are people whose worries about ever-increasing electricity bills and rental charges make a discussion about forgoing air travel irrelevant from the outset.
And how could they? In their sheltered world, all of that is very far away. But that is exactly what makes the movement a risk, because it jeopardizes the already fragile cohesion of our society. For a large part of the population, however, other, more pressing everyday concerns prevail. For those who are afraid of being affected by job cuts in view of the announcements by the industry, the slashing and burning of tropical rain forest is currently of secondary importance.
Likewise, the extinction of exotic animal species is very far away for someone who worries every day about their tenuous retirement arrangements. That doesn't mean that everyday worries should completely obscure the problems of climate change, but it does explain why climate change is not the first priority for people with existential concerns.
It also explains why measures to save the climate must take economic concerns into account. And it explains why more and more people are wondering whether protesters will finally also take to the streets to deal with their everyday distress: lack affordable housing, declining pensions... plenty of issues exist.
The entire political discourse, both between the parties and outside of parliament, on the street, completely ignores the reality of life for many people in Germany! And I can well imagine that that's not a good feeling for many. The public discussions, which are often far removed from everyday life, exclude less privileged people. The result: we are all sitting on a social powder keg.
I don't originally hail from this metropolitan milieu, but grew up in a region that is often dismissed as "rural backwater". Publications such as "Landlust" and "Landleben" [trendy magazines promoting life in the country side] fulfill the longing of city dwellers for pure nature, but this dream only seems to apply to those people who consciously decide to have a weekend house in the forest. However, anyone who grew up in a rural environment will hardly benefit from this.
My parents live in the Palatinate. I grew up there too. My heart clings to the region, it is scenically beautiful with rows of wine-growing villages. But for an urbanite in pursuit of self-actualization it has to be the worst nightmare. In case your are unfamiliar with Palatinate’s culture: Schlachtfest instead of whiskey tasting. Very few apartments are actually furnished in this “country style” featured in the magazines. My home village isn’t shooting location for documentaries about gentrification. Maybe a camera team will get lost in one of our many hamlets at a Saumagen-centered village festival. But that would be pretty rare.
Drowsy villages provide the perfect backdrop while growing up. An ideal, idyllic world. But the older I got, the more I was drawn to the big city. I longed for a place that was more vibrant than the Palatinate and which could offer me more adventures and opportunities on the way to adulthood. Precisely this big, wide world I longed for. And I today I indeed enjoy its advantages. Whenever I drive home today, I have a feeling that two worlds that don't really have much to do with each other are colliding.
Shortly after attending my first Fridays for Future rallies, I paid another visit to my old homeland – these are becoming less and less frequent. When I enthusiastically told my acquaintances there about my experiences at the recent "Fridays for Future" demonstrations, I quickly realized how little they were interested. Out of pure friendship and politeness, they listened to me with half an ear.
I was quite surprised by that. What was the most hotly debated topic of recent weeks in my university town was met with absolute indifference among my old school friends here. They were more interested in the last day of the Bundesliga match or their last Tinder date than in the great climate revolution.
To be honest, I was initially disappointed and then increasingly angry at this lack of interest. While we young people in the big cities are trying to save our planet, the people in my home village are letting us down, I thought. Don't they understand that they too only have one planet at their disposal, just like us from "Fridays for Future"? Luckily, out of politeness, I kept those thoughts to myself.
In the days that followed, I started hearing disparaging comments about Fridays for Future with increasing frequency. In the eyes of my old friends, the movement was an "eco-sect", the self-promotion of big-city, left-wing weirdos. Someone called Greta Thunberg a "deranged menace". In addition to insults, they appeared to become increasingly bothered by the patronizing demeanor of many Fridays for Future protesters, who seem to perceive ICE-car drivers and meat eaters as second-class citizens.
The more often this happened, the deeper the wedge was driven between my current city life and my origins in my home village in the Palatinate. Between my old and my new world. For the first time in my life, I was just happy when I was able to drive back to the big city: finally the ideal world again, even if it was on the verge of collapse.
Ever since that visit, I've been quite hypersensitive whenever my enthusiasm for "Fridays for Future" wasn't shared 100 percent. In my eyes, there were simply only climate heroes on the one hand and climate sinners on the other. The absolute good or absolute bad – and nothing in between! It was only later that I realized how much I was already influenced by the “Fridays for Future” movement.
At first I could only offer my my old acquaintances reproaches. I accused them of being apolitical and uninformed about the world anyway. A mechanism of exclusion that is very common in "Fridays for Future", as I later realized. After all, at university I even mocked my old acquaintances as provincials, something I had always hated myself when my new metropolitan friends teased me about it.
But it was so much easier to just dismiss them as uninformed "provincials" than to argue with them and take them seriously. I didn't ask why my friends from my old home country saw "Fridays for Future" as arrogant or aloof, I didn't care at the time. Possible self-doubts could not arise in the first place.
I didn't anticipate, that this would actually fiercely play up in me over the coming weeks! I thought more and more about the experiences in my home country. It just wouldn't let me go. Where does the rejection of “Fridays for Future” come from, I asked myself. Where does the indifference in the face of urgent global climate problems come from? How could it be that my friends didn't see those and that they didn't comprehend the seriousness of the situation? I looked for answers but couldn't find any.
For several weeks, every Friday, there was no longer any plastic dishware in the university cafeteria. This gesture, following the "Fridays for Future" demonstrations, was intended to set an example for environmental protection. What should have caused storms of enthusiasm in theory, however, meant a very special kind of chaos in practice: balancing a piece of raspberry cake on your bare hand without a plate is more difficult than it might sound. Once the first piece of cake hit the floor, a discussion about the plastic boycott quickly broke out in the canteen.
It immediately turned out that the cashiers could only laugh at what they considered to be an idiotic ban on plastic. Their statements shocked many of my fellow students, who are big "FfF" fans. Instead of relaxed humorous small talk, my fellow students reacted with deadly seriousness. In the heat of the moment, the cashiers were even treated with extremely condescending insults. I will never forget how my fellow students lost all human decency that day in the supposed fight for climate protection. For the first time I noticed how fanatical and arrogant many of my "FfF" acquaintances had long since become.
After that event, something actually changed in me. But I didn't want to admit it to myself at first. But the more often I demonstrated at "Fridays for Future", the more alien the movement became to me. Today I know: It took an event like the one in the university canteen or a stay in my old home country to open my eyes and to realize how important sincerely attempting to understand other realms of experience before applying crude labels to people. Due to its exclusionary megalomania, “Fridays for Future” is incapable of this realization. But only a person who approaches other people, takes them seriously and wants to understand their everyday lives will be listened to. Only those people can actually affect something. They might even, in the best case scenario, save our planet!
While "Fridays for Future" was unable to make inroads my home village’s community, the media was showed more interest. Interviews with activists became more and more frequent on television. The talk shows couldn't get enough of them. "Markus Lanz", "Anne Will" or "Hart aber Fair": All of them had at least one "FfF" activist to visit. The more I saw them there, the more their arrogant demeanor bothered me. I suddenly switched off people who I still saw as inspiring personalities a few months ago. They kept raising their index fingers admonishingly. Looking down from the ivory tower at anyone who disagreed.
Finger wagging was slowly but surely becoming the hallmark of the movement. Their image of the enemy was crystal clear. Their worldview is dangerously one-dimensional. My big city friends suddenly fought everyone they saw as being complicit in the misery of the world: the meat eaters, the plastic bag carriers, the ICE-car drivers, the short-haul fliers, the long-haul fliers, the cruise tourists, the farmers, and of course the evil SUV owners. But honestly, don't we all belong to one of these groups from time to time?
Once they suddenly started cursing anyone who accidentally commits a tiny climate sin, even if it's just incorrect sorting of trash, I felt like they were in the ultimate battle against the rest of humanity. Elitist hubris everywhere I looked. In their moral arrogance they were (and still are) completely unaware of how many "normal" people they alienated by doing so. My assessment that "Fridays for Future" is primarily a movement of socially privileged young people has now been backed up by corresponding figures. The Berlin “Institute for Protest and Movement Research” got to the bottom of the social composition of the climate movement. On March 15, 2019, it surveyed “Fridays for Future” protesters at rallies in Berlin and Bremen. The study was financed by the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen-affiliated "Heinrich Böll Foundation".
The study’s results were illuminating: More than 90 percent of those surveyed stated that they had at least completed their Abitur (or advanced technical college entrance qualification) or were currently striving to do so. An overwhelming majority of 90 percent! Not even 1 percent of the demonstrators attended secondary schools [which prepare pupils for non-academic vocational training]. Almost two-thirds of the students considered themselves to be in the upper-middle class. Even before that, I had no doubt that "Fridays for Future" is a movement of the affluent. But what I read in this study surpassed my estimated. "Fridays for Future" does not in any way represent a cross-section of society, as has often been claimed.
I was surprised how little the sobering result of the study was then discussed. Society had to be informed about the privileged background and the resulting aloofness of the young protesters. Doesn't this change the entire perspective on the defining social debate of the last few months?
The figureheads of the movement in particular all come from the “most bourgeois” background. For example, we have Luisa Neubauer, the best-known German "Fridays for Future" activist. She grew up in the relatively expensive Elbe suburb of Iserbrook in Hamburg. Everyone in Hamburg knows: Not exactly a residential area that is known for its social housing. She did her Abitur in Hamburg-Blankenese. It is Hamburg's villa district par excellence. Sightseeing buses now offer tours through the district to present the magnificent villas to curious tourists. She is a scholarship holder of the party-affiliated foundation Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and is also a member of the party. So nothing stands in the way of a career in politics, she says so herself. "I don't want to rule out a career in politics," she told Zeit Campus, for example. [Neubauer is, in fact, a scion of the oligarchical Reemtsma clan; so is her cousin, another figurehead of the movement]
It’s less a rebellion from below and more a case of perfect self-marketing. But now cracks do appear in this underdog stage production. Today Luisa Neubauer can only be reached via her management. Demonstrators as pop stars! And of course you can't just talk to them on the street when you're demonstrating together. At least not with “Fridays for Future”. Please, what a naive notion! Although there are also critics of the excessive portrayal of people within the "Fridays for Future" movement, there is no real change in sight.
In the meantime, the climate movement has become one thing in particular: a career springboard for ambitious young elites. "Fridays for Future" is the perfect stage to make a name for yourself. Many of the educated offspring of academics are of course aware of this. The more media attention, the more attractive it is to be in the front row. Supposedly idealistic activism can now be marketed very well.
But not only the figureheads like Luisa Neubauer want to get some of the public spotlight. More and more "Neubauer disciples" are trying their luck in the "Fridays for Future" profiling machine. There we have, to name just a few examples, Linus Steinmetz, Carla Reemtsma or Sebastian Grieme.
Getting an appearance on a talk show or at least being able to read your name in the newspaper - all of this can become an opportunity of a lifetime. Being in the front row not only feels incredibly good, it is also a kind of free ticket for later professional life. And as if that wasn't enough: A flood of new Instagram followers is of course also a fantastic side effect. With this in mind: full speed ahead!
Who could object? Everyone is looking for recognition. Doesn't everyone want to take advantage of the opportunities in their life? And finally, every society needs ambitious young people who will later enrich politics, business and culture.
At best, people who want to be the center of attention also bear responsibility for themselves and others. So far no problem, you might think at first.
But how will many people with limited financial resources feel when those rebels who constantly lash out at the lifestyles of others take advantage of it for themselves? While many citizens have to accept new climate costs in their everyday lives, they also experience how Luisa Neubauer is offered a position on the supervisory board at Siemens. In view of this, the suspicion of many people that climate activists are making careers at the expense of other citizens is all too understandable.
I have other concerns as well. In our time, the frustration with the elites is growing. The "enraged citizen phenomenon" has become one of the most discussed topics of this decade. Intellectuals around the world are concerned about the cause of this worrying development. Our society is currently experiencing a "rift" between two major population groups. In an anthology they edited, the political and social scientists Wolfgang Merkel, Ruud Koopmans and Michael Zürn differentiate between “cosmopolitans” and “communitarians”.
There are those who benefit from the future and are therefore relaxed about it. Above all, they see opportunities in it and view the globalization of our world with optimism. This group is referred to as cosmopolitans. But many people are also afraid of change. They believe that the future will not hold anything good and, potentially, only the ever-possible economic decline. Given the "opening" of the world, communitarians see the dangers in particular. They often have the feeling that they are not really noticed by society's elite.
The well-known distinction between “anywheres” and “somewheres” by the British journalist and author David Goodhart supports this finding. Goodhart distinguishes "anywheres" who are educated, wealthy and will feel at home in their circles around the world, and "somewheres". They belong to completely different social milieus and are relegated to a specific place where they work, live, have their friends and struggle to assert their status.
Most "Fridays for Future" activists know: the future belongs to them. Many have the classic biography of a cosmopolitan. Because of their social background, they were born with everything they needed to benefit from our system. Everything is just right: the appearance, the social environment and of course the education.
Although they face the end of the world as a constant threat, their future does not scare them. Why? The doors are wide open for them. They master the complicated rules of our individualized knowledge society very well. You will do your internship in Brussels and not in Bottrop. Better the EU Commission than retail, a sector without future anyway. And also: cultivate connections! Your English vocabulary is usually larger than German. Perfectly prepared for the future, come what may - because they are the elite of tomorrow. The dangerous thing about it: most of the demonstrators are not even aware of this.
The well-trained "Fridays for Future" activists prefer to see themselves as misunderstood outsiders in society. Being an outsider is what makes rebellion sexy. At the same time I say to myself: What must a socially disadvantaged person think when suddenly wealthy cosmopolitans like to play the role of the outsider! And they don't just like it the role. No, they are really putting effort into staging it.
The classic distribution of roles between "perpetrator" and "victim" in the social context is thus turned upside down in a negligent manner: no longer the single mother and multi-jobber is seen as a victim of the existing social conditions, but the climate-conscious scholarship holder who has to experience how the consumption of affordable meat endangers our environment.
But that's not all: instead of listening to the concerns of hard-working people, they blame them for their environmentally unfriendly diesel car, which they need for their daily commute to work.
Instead of considering questions of justice with "Fridays for Future", the movement reduced itself from the start to questions of lifestyle. In my circle of friends, too, the extinction of species is simply cooler than poverty in old age and the issue of gender is hipper than low basic pension.
Above all, the privileged know the social code of the new “morally good” life. The new green-bourgeois bearing regulates the friend-foe scheme of the climate debate. A mechanism of exclusion that often pushes fellow citizens who are already worse off even further aside. A good person has long been only someone who can show an ecologically sound certificate of good conduct. The existential feeling of many that they just have to somehow make ends meet does not exist in the living environment of the (upper) bourgeois offspring. In the climate debate of the last few months, worlds have collided that couldn't be more different. Worlds that are moving further and further apart.
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[The author doesn’t mention it, but the social milieu that makes up the bulk of the climate movement is also very fond of importing Anglo-inspired race discourse. Towards the end of its decline, they were increasingly caught in purity spirals. For example: should white musicians with dreadlocks be allowed to play during happenings?
The study from “Institute for Protest and Movement Research” also examined ethnicity of the protesters: they are predominantly of ethnic German stock, much more so than the average German citizen. Who could have known?]

9 PM last fri I went to pick up my girlfriend from work, and we decided to drop by grocery store on the way home. So it’s around 9:30 PM on a Friday night, every single checkout counter was very crowded. At least 7 to 8 people in line in front of us. it turns out it’s gonna be my weekend to work so I have work the next day early on Saturday which I have to wake up early for because of the long commute (so that it’ll be six days work for me that week). So I suggest to my girlfriend, “let’s go to the self checkout counter because there’s only two or three people in line there, so we will be out much faster.”
She then said to me “why do I have to do their work for them? We’re not getting a discount or anything, and this is the big corporation scheme to not hire more workers and save money for themselves. They hire a cashier for a reason.!”
I simply replied it’s only because it’s faster. I don’t mind doing the extra work scanning. She can sit and watch me if she wants. I can do all the work.
She then said “this was a very sheeplike mentality. And I am helping putting people out of work and helping those big greedy corporations by doing their own work for them while they save money”
She keep saying that I am part of the reason why cashier people are losing their jobs in the future and just repeatedly asking me why I would do a company’s job for them for free.
I was really tired already stuck waiting in a grocery line at 9:30 at night and I have to wake up early tomorrow morning for another day of work. So I really don’t care if I have to scan a few extra items do a little bit more work but I get the heck out of there for an extra 10 - 20 minutes earlier to getting home earlier to go to sleep.
I was pretty irritated at this point so under my breath I just whispered “why the heck are you so entitled?”
Lo and behold, of course she heard it, and she just blew up on me asking me “how would I feel if one day machines take over my own job? Or am I such a sheep stupid enough to do peoples work for free? Then what the heck are cashiers supposed to do?”
So…… commences a whole argument about this…..
But here’s the thing….. even if tomorrow is a day off, even if I have nothing planned, even if I’m not tired, I would probably still use the self check out line just to get out of there another 10 to 20 minutes faster. Simply because I don’t wanna wait in line…..
So if my girlfriend reasoning is correct, then why does this mentality not also apply to ordering on line and picking up your food later? Or using the self order kiosk? Heck, you can go as far as buying a parking permit from a machine versus going up to a real person in a kiosk in a public parking lot? Arent these the same type of mentality?
I can see why this would push for the idea that machines will replace people’s job in the future.… so am I really the AH for contributing to someone potentially being put out of a job in the future, even if it’s so simple as using a self checkout counter?