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If CFCs were banned today you would see people spraying them in the air to own the libs, also spraying their children with DDTs because RFK Jr told them to
worth giving it a try....do NOT, I repeat do NOT spray RFK Jr with DDT every time you see him. I am a liberal and this would really make me cry. Don't do it!
"When we had asbestos there was less autism. Big pharma teamed up with big construction to screw us up"
Because Russia, the number one exporter of asbestoes and the number one disinformation capital of the world.
Maybe not the number one asbestoes exporter, but that wouldn't stop them from spreading misinformation if it means aweakening the rest of us.
When seatbelts were introduced to cars, there was a big movement against them. Some by car manufacturers to keep costs down, but a lot of backlash was from good ol' natural born idiots so contrarian and averse to change they'd let themselves die just to give a smug look about not doing what someone asked of them. The sort of dumbass who during the height of pre-vaccine Covid would drown in the fluid buildup in their lungs and refuse treatment because doing so would be an admission of fault.
These past 9 years have made me DEEPLY cynical about my fellow man. There is no bottom. No level of malicious stupidity is low enough. It's not even disappointment anymore, I'm resigned to it. Some people are so beyond hope, so beyond redemption, it's like trying to get a fucking deer to recognize itself in a mirror. Just ZERO awareness, no theory of mind, object permanence is a fucking coin flip. If it weren't for my principles, my absolute refusal to engage in dehumanization, I'd be tempted to write them off as another species just to cope with the dissonance that comes from seeing people acting that self destructive. Like it doesn't make sense. You'd expect at some point some form of pattern recognition and harm avoidance to develop. "Hey, putting my hand on the stove hurt. It hurt every time I did it. It hurt everyone I saw someone else do it too. I'm gonna put my hand on the stove and it won't hurt this time.".
I think there is a growing divide between the most and least intelligent in society, and it has been growing with tech advancement (the gap wouldn't have been that big in the middle ages). If we ever develop superintelligent AI, I can see that becoming an inflection point in this divide because we (Lemmy dwellers) will become as fallible to that AI as the people you mentioned are today in what is still a human-dominated society. Introducing AGI will vastly exasperate the gap between the most and least intelligent and I can't see society surviving that in its current form.
I was annoyed about the seatbelt laws, but I was a little kid at the time. I came from an era of riding in the back of dad's truck and enjoying the breeze. Hell, I went from New England to Canada in the back of a capped truck. I was eight years old and never thought anything of it.
However, as I got older into my teens I got more adamant about using a seat belt, even when the laws were still sorta gray here (you were let off with no warning most times). Now its second nature, even if I'm heading 3 mins to the store. Some people still don't because they think that they're only endangering themselves. Thing is, I have a brother in law that's a first responder. He's seen people torpedo out of windows in head-on collisions and into the other car, injuring the other driver/passengers.
Honestly, I don't get what the whole problem is. You barely even notice them on you. Most people who don't put on a simple and comfortable safety belt are just being fucking stubborn children who don't like being told what to do. I'm glad I grew out of that way of thinking. Some my family are those "good ol' natural borns". They'll tell me I don't have to put my seatbelt on and every time I adamantly say, "I always do". My other brother in law will literally crank the radio so he can't hear the seatbelt alarm. Drives me insane, but I love the idiot.
I hated them as a kid because they were uncomfortable and didn't fit right. My mom made is wear it but I used to put the chest belt behind my back as soon as she turned around because it dug into my neck. I probably should have been in a car seat for way longer than I was. As an adult I don't even notice it.
There are still people that buy "belt silencers" or sit on their seatbelts to drive without. Newer cars will alarm, and mine even shuts down if you drive without a seatbelt
I think those are mostly for super obese people because seat belts are really uncomfortable if you're really, really fat. At least that's what I always assumed because everyone I know who has one is really fat.
My sister's boyfriend bought an oldtimer with no seatbelt. The previous owner installed some and he took them out again. I think there is nothing that brings him more joy than to tell people how he doesn't need a seatbelt. He also drives his children around in this deathtrap. But he also refuses to wear a helmet when they ride their ebike. My sister nagged so long about it that he now takes the helmet with him, but he doesn't wear it, that's the compromise they reached. Some people are just fucking weird.
Seen bumper sticker: No air bags, we die like men.
To be fair, I find that funny.
I assume it's sarcastic, but you never know
I enjoyed reading this. Well put. I also share this recent realization. It's made me feel a bit less imposter syndrome. Among other things.
Old car guys are still bitter over unleaded gas. Some will drive to airports to buy the leaded stuff.
Old car drivers drive cars that need additives in the gas. The lead was a lubricant, and old engines ran better, and longer, on leaded gas.
They didn't just add lead because it made the gas prettier; there was a reason. I would suppose that today there are other additives that can reproduce the lubricating effects for those old cars, but old car hobbyists are niche and you're not going to find those products at Walmart, whereas there's always a local airport somewhere nearby.
I'm not defending leaded gas, but I think vintage car enthusiasts do it not because they're being stupididly misinformed and contrarian, but because they're trying to keep their engines running well.
I ones I know are putting it in new generators.
While putting in a new generator is absolutely a better idea, that means it's not the original car. Plenty of classic car (and computing and video game and music and any hobby) enthusiasts run original hardware on purpose. Where's the fun in building an Apple IIe if you use a flash drive instead of the hard drive? Where's the soul in listening to The Four Tops on a digital recording instead of the vinyl master? Why play Sega on a flash cart instead of the original cartridges? Why drive a classic Civic if you're trying to drop a K20 in there?
New stuff is objectively better. A 4Cyl Mustang makes more power these days than a V8 from the 90s, more so for older models. You have to be a little irrational to put that amount of time into running something just because it's older.
LOL, libs are trying to ban asbestos! They want us all to catch fire! Asbestos causing cancer is a conspiracy, do your own research. Besides, Ivermectin will cure any cancer caused by asbestos.
/s (because the USA is crazy and someone would really post this and mean it)
I can see them railing a line of asbestos just to own the libs. Better than vaccine denial I suppose, at least it limits the damage.
Here in Australia we just banned engineered stone because it tends to cause silicosis
And yep, lots of shitty business owners whined and a few shit customers on Facebook
Silicosis is what's killing people at the moment, and business owners in particular don't seem to care, despite the fact there's is alternatives
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People are just going to have to re-learn just how fucking scary the measles and polio are, I guess.
I'm curious if America children dying will weaken the anti vax movement in other countries.
God I hope so. Don't hope for the US to learn.
We didn't on guns after Sandy Hook so get some popcorn for the horror show to come for us.
People would be making TikTok videos eating asbestos and cramming it up their bums claiming it cures COVID
There's still some pro-asbestos people, so it didn't go away 100%. I remember reading a completely mental Conservapedia article blaming 9/11 on not using asbestos.
That was Rush Limbaugh, may he rot in piss.
If it didn't cause cancer, asbestos is a fucking miracle material, there are people TODAY who are hugely pro-asbestos
People have been pro-asbestos dating back to Roman times, and even back then it is said they knew it was harmful as well. But used it anyway. 😆
I mean you do have to wright in thr pros and cons. Like asbestos is crazy good in what it does. if you have it in your building and don't fuck with it, it doesn't matter. I'm not some pro asbestos nut or anything, but they banned asbestos because of health concers, but smoking and alvohol is still fine, which has absolutely no positive side effects
I’m in a comment war with a nicotine denialist on here now!
In the 90s, there were still tons of people angry about seat belt laws. It’s every American’s God Given Right to fly out of the windshield and probably kill someone else.
There is this meme about:
Don't forget airbags have also killed people.
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In fact, the industry did sue and win a lawsuit in 1991 narrowing the range of asbestos compounds banned by the EPA. There have always been huge waves of resistance to every harmful compound banned by the government, from leaded gas to cigarettes to chlorofluorocarbons that harmed the ozone layer. The difference is that the present consolidation of wealth in the hands of a small group of billionaires, who control a consolidating group of media corporations, allows for unprecedented ability to control public opinion. Meanwhile, the amount of junk information floating around in social media, and failing public education, has disordered our systems of discourse. There is much more limited ability to vet quality sources of information, leaving people to worry more about fictional chemtrails than about the very real pesticides in their food
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Hate to break it to you: https://www.archpaper.com/2018/08/epa-asbestos-manufacturing/
Russia has a town named after asbestos and lobbies for asbestos.
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this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2025
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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- A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
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