Oh no, who could’ve guessed!

Yes, average healthcare costs per year in the US was $ 13,432 per capita and in Germany was $ 8,441 per capita in 2023 (PPP adjusted). Germany is the third most expensive comparable country, second most expensive was Switzerland with $ 9,688.

UK national healthcare btw. was $ 6,023, so less than half of US costs.

compared to the average healthcare costs in all US-comparable countries of $ 7,393, the US manages to spend nearly double.

Source

This gives so much perspective, and feels like not being alone, thank you.

Sometimes I struggle with my own, internalized expectations of masculinity and that the world expects a 6’8" guy who also has 0 external feminine traits to behave “like a man” doesn’t make it easier.

I’m so incredibly fortunate to have found a strong woman who will hold me when I cry and loves me for my sensitivity and empathy.

None of this means I’m gender fluid, I’m… okay, relaxed, not unhappy with my masculinity, sometimes I can even revel in it. But modern sentiments that deconstruct social expectations of gender roles have made it sooooo much easier to just exist, even as a cis man for all the times that I strongly deviate from them. It’s only that societal expectations have been internalized hard by my generation and it can still be such a struggle.

Comments like yours make it easier, because I know I’m not alone in this. Thank you.

I don’t speak Spanish, but when I heard Colores by Ska-P (“Por la libertad es fundamental la diversidad”) I was instantly in love. The music is great and the lyrics seemed straight up fire.

Then I translated their songs and now they are my second favourite band, after RATM.

A Chitón - On repression and censorship in the name of security

El Vals del Obrero - The Workers Waltz, on unity of the working class

I feel called out, you even got an image of me.

Study after study has shown that the ROI for foreign aid is positive and indicative of an overall positive effect for the country giving the aid.

I’m only writing that to express that there are no moral and no economical reasons to reduce foreign aid. Even the right should be in favour of aid, as it lessens the amount of immigration and asylum and has a positive effect on GDP.

The only reasons to reduce foreign aid are populism, a change in political culture of the receiver (for example giving less money to Israel) and to shuffle it around in the budget, for example what Germany did with its infrastructure costs… declaring them a military necessity to be able to increase the military budget to appease Trump while still repairing our roadways.

But that is afaik not happening here… this is stupid populism.

Oh goodness, 24 years ago I was uninformed, narrowminded and had been brought up sheltered and rather conservative. So I used to be hugely trans- and homophobic. I wasn’t actively hurting or confronting anyone, but I was definitely a big part of the problem.

It actually was webcomics that deprogrammed me. That showed me a world I simply did not know but quickly felt empathy for. Those were normal, lovely people who simply existed differently from me, they weren’t a threat and they had so many struggles pushed on them only for being different.

Today I’m far-left, progressive, super empathetic, happy that a lesbian friend calls me “one of the good ones” and that I, as a huuuuuge white cis guy, can be an ally and create a safe space around me for everyone who needs it.

Uhhh, strong or agnostic atheism? And what’s your take on Buddhism?

I’m a huge guy, 6’8" and immensely heavy, people do a double take when I tell them I can and do windsurf.

AfD already has a track record of russian support/money and chinese spies.

Here’s an article about it.

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Thank you very much

Oh, that sounds awesome, can you point me in the right direction?

Thanks for letting us know that you escaped.

And just so you know: I love my girlfriend, because she is the adventurer between us. She climbs mountains and explores exotic countries, she’s rugged and confident and the coolest person I know. She is my knight and although I’m no princess, she is very much loved for wanting adventure.

That’s hardly an interpretation, it’s pretty much in there word for word.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+20%3A9&version=KJV

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deuteronomy+21%3A18-21&version=KJV

Maybe they mixed it up with magnetism? Because our magnetic field is due to the rotation of the earth’s iron-nickle core.

Holy shit I’m so sorry

Oh hey, you’re the LadyButterfly from the WomensStuff Community! You’re cool.

Wouldn’t comment there, so I’ll do it here, that Pedro Pascal meme was funny and the discussion around it interesting.

Yeah, well the DMA wasn’t going to cost most EU politicians much of their good ol’ corporate lobbying monies. But switching the EU off of Micro$oft would definitely not only lose those funds, but also introduce way more vigorous counter-lobbying.

One pro of the EU’s glacial pace is that they frog-boil the shareholders, meaning most counter-lobbying activities are relatively tame.

But damn, do I wish they would just give the finger to all those american corporations and start a 4-year transition to OSS.

Gotta LOVE the EU, they’re working at a glacial pace but sooner or later (most likely later) it changes the landscape for the better.

If only enshittification would happen slow enough for the EU to catch up to.