Addfwyn

will just continue to indoctrinate its population with propaganda.

Oh yes, definitely that doesn't happen in any of those "civilized" western countries right? Nobody making up things like "North Koreans have no word for love" or "We push trains to work every day".

Why would the people of North Korea tolerate the current government other than to resist invasion?

The Kim family has done a lot for the people in the DPRK, and is generally very well liked. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, but a lot of the problems stem not from the current DPRK leadership but the international (read: US) sanctions placed on them. Compared to the hypercapitalist hellscape of SK, the work-life balance in the DPRK seems downright utopian. Prior to the US invasion, the Korean peninsula was fairly unified in their support of socialism.

The people would certainly welcome peace, I just don't know how that is possible while the threat of the USA looms. People like to portray them as an aggressive country, but they have never done anything to another coountry except threaten to defend themselves.

The South's current government is ridiculously conservative. Rolling back labour laws and women's rights were pillars of their election run. They'll do whatever the US tells them to. It shouldn't come as a surprise that peaceful diplomacy is not at the forefront of their mind.

It's honestly pretty cyclical, they bounce back and forth between more diplomatic minded leadership and more warhungry. They are much more in the antagonistic phase of their cycle right now.

Basically yes.

The generous interpretation is that she was confused by the rules, as during the pandemic there was a suspension of handshakes in competition. I feel that could have been quickly resolved with an apology and a belated handshake though.

Their point is the double standard. Either apply it consistently or not at all. If athletes are representing their country in all aspects when competing internationally, all athletes should be held to that standard.

If an athlete refused to shake a USian athletes hand because of the war crimes of their country, including ones ongoing at this very moment, you would be on board with it then? There would be precious few handshakes that could be given out on international sporting stages, that is for sure.

That comparison makes no sense at all. Her opponent didn't assault her, nor is she responsible for the actions of any of the government involved. She's an athlete, not a head of state. She wasn't fencing against Putin.

A more apt comparison would be to refuse to shake hands with anyone from France because you were assaulted by a French person once. You would be widely, and rightfully, decried as racist for such a position.

Some prefectures offer free childcare services, but it depends a lot on where you live. Historically they aren't services that have been used a lot, there is something of a cultural expectation that you or your family watch kids. As an example, babysitters/nannies are basically unheard of unless it is a relative. My girlfriend's sister has a child and either the sister is home all day with the kid or her parents watch it; she even leaves in an prefecture with free daycare services.

There is a fairly decent maternity leave that most new mothers do end up using. There's an initial lump sum payment plus you get about 2/3 your salary for up to a year (I think those times are right). Paternity leave technically exists as well but I have never met anyone who has used it.

My brother had ferrets. I loved them, awesome personalities and adorable, but ferret-proofing your flat seems like more work than child-proofing. Even then they can and would get absolutely anywhere they weren't supposed to be. They'd always get out again, but not after making you stress for fifteen minutes trying to figure out how to extricate them.

The smell was omnipresent too.

I used to keep snakes, they are so misunderstood. The couple times I was bit (non-venomous) over several years of having snakes were honestly both my fault; once I had fed her and didn't wash my hands properly afterwards, and once I didn't notice she had started shedding and so was a bit more defensive than usual. They're not typically aggressive at all and are usually content to just chill with you as much as anything else. Humans are way too large for a snake to ever consider you food, so they're not really going to be trying to hurt you except as a last resort in self-defense.

I especially hate the slimy stereotypes because I always found my snakes super pleasant to hold, snakeskin feels great. I'd like to get one again, it has been a long time.

which by some weird thought process becomes a pro-Russian position.

I am a communist and the prevailing attitude in most circles I am in is not an explicitly pro-Russian one, it's just not explicitly pro-Ukraine either. There is a also an underlying understanding of the reasons why the war started. Just because you don't support one side does not mean you have to 100% uncritically support the opposing side. The sooner we stop thinking of everything in black/white terms of Team A vs Team B, we will be a lot better off.

Now there are those who have nostalgia for the USSR, which is not the modern Russian Federation, but it's fairly niche. Usually people understand that modern Russia is not the soviet union. There are the patsocs too, but we don't really claim them.

I am not the Official Spokesman of Communism, but those are generally the attitudes I have seen in most of my circles.

Obviously you run into a lot of other issues with a sudden change but we are frankly pretty overpopulated and could use a decrease. It turns out that a system predicated on infinite population growth with finite resources can't be sustained forever. Especially with how finite they are in our case.

I think even worse than our population issues is the overcentralization though. SO much is based around Tokyo, the vast majority of jobs are located there, especially if you want any upwards mobility. It's even worse if you include areas like Chiba and Saitama as part of the greater Tokyo area. Even the other cities pale in comparison to opportunities in Tokyo. If people could spread out a bit more, it wouldn't be nearly as bad as it is now.

I was lucky enough to be able to move out of Tokyo last year thanks to my work. I am not in a super rural area but I definitely never want to go back to Tokyo if I can help it. I am in the mountains around Mt. Fuji, and get to work overlooking a spectacular view of the mountain. Don't have to deal with packing into crowded trains in the summer when everyone is dripping with sweat.

Maybe an unpopular take, but I honestly don't think private jets should even exist. When does a private citizen actually need one; if you want to fly in luxury that is what first class on commercial airlines is for, you shouldn't need more than that. I get that people operating in a government capacity might need, but that's not really the same as a private citizen owning one.

Then again, I don't think anyone should be rich enough to be buying private jets to begin with.