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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 24th, 2023

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  • Lemmy is still relatively new, and you grow the audience you nurture.

    A lack of moderation means that racists, bigots, general assholes, etc, will find an easier time settling on this platform.
    And I’ll be honest, if that would be where Lemmy is headed I’m not sticking around to see it turn into that cesspool

    I’m personally quite happy with the level of moderation I’m seeing on lemmy.world. It’s not overly heavy handed, but it seems to generally be applied where it makes sense to apply. Essentially the “don’t be a dick” rules of the forum days of old.




  • My read on this is not as much of a cynical one. I believe the point of surveillance is simply to protect the institution of the state.

    The goal of the state is ultimately the continued existence of that state. Otherwise there really is not that much purpose to the state. Surveillance is a tool to suppress actors (read: terrorists) who might want to undermine that institution.

    In order to determine who benefits from the continued existence of the state, it mostly depends which state you are talking about.
    A state like China exists almost solely to benefit those in power, and thus the surveillance state is used to suppress the citizenry. But a Western democracy, while it also to a certain extent protects money and power, also exists to to benefit the general population.





  • So I’m not overly familiar, but I can try to summarize what I know.

    Steven van de Velde is a Dutchman who went to the UK and raped a 12 year-old. He was sentenced to four years in prison for this by a UK court. Later he was extradited to the Netherlands, so he could sit out his sentence in the NL. However in the Netherlands, unlike the UK, sex with a minor is not automatically considered rape and needs to be proven in court. (Note: That is my understanding of the difference in interpretation) Because of this his conviction was reduced to “ontucht”, meaning sexual misconduct. (Even though what he did would probably also be considered rape in Dutch court).
    As a result, he was out of prison after 13 months.

    Now, Dutch attitude to these kinds of things, in my experience, is generally (but not always) that if you have paid your time, and have shown remorse for your actions, then it should probably not affect your future career prospects. The justice system is supposed to rehabilitate after all. (That is my experience though, and my experience may be biased, so don’t take this as gospel)

    Hart van Nederland did a survey, and apparently only 27% of respondents think he should not be allowed to compete. 63% of respondents think he should be allowed to compete, and 10% don’t have an opinion either way. (Note that Hart van Nederland is not the most reliable of sources, but it gives an indication)

    From what I have seen in Dutch circles this controversy is a lot less pronounced than it is in other countries. That’s not to say it is entirely uncontroversial, but it’s not quite to the same degree as I’m seeing internationally.

    Personal opinion:

    I don’t think his sentence should have been lowered to “ontucht”. I think what he did is morally reprehensible, and he should have sat out the full sentence for raping a minor. That is a failure on behalf of the justice system though, and van de Velde is not personally to blame for that.

    That said, given that he has shown remorse for his actions, and has finished the sentence that the legal system imposed on him, I don’t think he should have been barred from competing in the Olympics on behalf of the Dutch team.

    Edit: As Flying Squid mentioned I might be mistaken that he has shown genuine remorse.
    If he hasn’t that changes my opinion on the matter.









  • To me the idea of “fuck cars” is not so much about cars as a concept, but rather the scurge of car dependency.
    You don’t want a society built around cars to the point that you cannot reasonably live your life without one.

    That said, even in a perfect situation with ample public transit and walkable/cyclable cities everywhere, there will still be people in situations who need a car to get around. And for those people I’d prefer it if they would be driving around in compacts like this or smaller, rather than some of the cross-overs, SUVs and pickups you see today.

    Some people will always need a car, and practical compacts like this would be perfect for that role.