Caffeinated_Sloth

This is very common, but was not the reason for my worldview change.

You do see that quite a bit in “ex” subreddits. Personal experience can shake anyone’s views, not just “that crowd.” Spiritual abuse played a role in pushing me away from religious fundamentalism, but there were other factors that laid the groundwork. The process took years and key elements involved a mind-expanding book, two compassionate friends, a podcast, and a local news story that showed me God was quite a bit different than I thought he was. I’ll write the book about it under another comment.

Just for some perspective: in 2009 I was a Christian nationalist and I thought Obama was going to use FEMA to imprison conservative dissenters and would turn the US into a communist dictatorship. I hoped and prayed for an explicitly Christian government and an end to most federal programs. If I had the same worldview now, I would be orgasmically happy with the way things are going.

Thanks for the great list! I found several neat communities I wouldn’t have otherwise.

I appreciate your view and I think I probably agree with you. I work a manual labor job and I’m alone most of the time. I listen to many audiobooks on Libby and many podcasts. I’ve noticed over the past several months my thinking getting more muddled, almost like there’s just too much information in my skull. I’ve started to build audio breaks in my week where I go a day or two without consuming anything with earbuds. I feel better. On info diet days my mind wanders, I’m able to think about things more carefully, my workflow is more organized, and I think more about the people in my life.

I held a similar view many years ago, applied to all media and religiously motivated. I believed pleasure was sinful. My views and beliefs have since changed. Why do you make this recommendation?

I know what it’s like to depend on the food bank. The ones in my area suck, but it’s something. These people now have nothing.

Plutocracy: Destroy Capitol? Ok. Destroy Capital? Not on my watch!

I thought of Lost. They’re not all villains, but they’re all kind of shitty.

I call universities white collar vocational schools because that’s what they’ve become.

The “studies” degrees and other liberal arts programs hearken to an earlier understanding of the university as being a place of higher learning. In the US, our view of post-secondary education has changed in recent decades and we now look at university degree programs largely as white collar vocational training. The old higher learning paradigms still exist, but now there is a societal expectation that they prove their economic value. Knowledge and wisdom no longer have inherent value, only that which can be exploited by capital. Higher learning in its traditional modality is a luxury.

I agree. I changed my mind about a lot of things in my 30s. My views on politics, religion, and social issues all changed.

I agree. However, I would enjoy watching the leader of the free world metaphorically spit in the eye of the reality TV star.

He should now offer rare earth minerals to the EU.

I think changing the verbiage from “server” to “village” or “herd” or “neighborhood,” or just something more familiar to the non-techie, combined with your proposal of displaying a full welcome feed of suggested material would go a long way to improving retention and marketability. Other fediverse portals can learn this lesson too.

I’ve encouraged my teenage children to seek employment outside of the States after college, and even attend college abroad if possible. Since the news information ecosystem is compromised, I have no hope for a future USA that is free and equitable.