Notices by Thorwegian ❄️ (thor@berserker.town), page 26

if you saw something else than a pussy, you're going to hell

if they made it so that people with a low income got fully compensated for this through welfare benefits, well, you've just invented socialism.

people who have a high income tend to hate that, because they have to pay more taxes just because they worked smarter and harder, and this doesn't seem fair at all.

but it doesn't seem fair to people with a low income that they get left with pennies because of circumstances outside of their control either.

it's not like anyone *wants* a low income. if you ask people with a low income if that's something they feel they can change, most of them would say no. there are people who are very anti-money and live an alternative lifestyle but they're a tiny minority.

@engravecavedave what is "good" social welfare?

most people on disability benefits cannot afford what their working friends can.

recently talked to a working friend of mine who knows someone on disability benefits, and she complained to him that "i appreciate that you invite me to socialise, but everything you want to do costs money. i can't afford that so i have to decline."

@engravecavedave the benefits you get will get the bills paid and food on the table, but if you actually want to live, there's usually nothing left over for that.

"here, we will keep you alive, but you have to stay home all the time."

@engravecavedave single mothers on such benefits can usually not afford to buy much for their children either, and if the school decides to arrange something where the parents have to chuck in a bit, they can't afford it. you're constantly in situations where people are taking for granted that you have money to spare.

@engravecavedave the base benefit you get here if you're not entitled to anything else through past earned income is 1/2 of the average income. so you must live on 1/2 of what the next guy lives on. if i named a sum, it would probably sound generous to you, but prices for everything are also high here.

@engravecavedave what this 1/2 income will get you is rent for a one-room apartment, some utility bills and ordinary food at the grocery store. so you survive. but not much else.

it's refreshing when people get real. self-deception and thus deceiving others with the lies that you believe in is a popular sport.

if the welfare systems in the Nordic countries are so good, why do food banks still exist here? you tell me that.

gave the cat his usual food and he ate a little but i think the whole ordeal of not finding his usual food in the bowl twice in a row got him upset.

i went to the bathroom and heard him complaining somewhere. walked out. he was standing right behind the door so it smacked into him and he scurried under the bed.

he's not the smartest thing. he's a grown cat, yet the fact that doors can open is still news to him.

he also assumes that anytime i get up, it's because he did something wrong. if he is eating and i get up, he runs away from the food bowl. he has never ever been punished for eating, but he's just so simpleminded that he can't figure out how things are connected. he never pieced out "when i do that, this will happen" and has instead simply learned that "when the human moves while i do anything that i enjoy, i need to go away."

the world must be an extremely confusing and unpredictable place to him. he just doesn't have the brain power to understand it.

some things just take a while before they happen to you for the first time

such as food that isn't expired spoiling too early. it doesn't happen very often, so you might be waiting a few years for that.

it never happened to me as a kid, because my parents probably threw it out before i could see it.

@samloonie there's been an information campaign about that recently. "see, smell, taste"

i must admit it's a little late in life for me, so i'm having trouble fully accepting the concept in my heart

@samloonie "what do you mean i can just ignore the expiry date? you've been telling me to religiously check it all my life!"

@samloonie when you've lived for more than a couple of decades, you start noticing that the experts keep changing their minds, so you stop trusting what they say...

feels like expenses just get higher and higher as you get older, and you're less and less keen on paying for them. this is how retired people end up eating cat food isn't it...

watched a history video about the US invasion of Afghanistan and it's just not the same when it's not someone like Napoleon, Caesar or Djengis Khan going to war. there's no story there. just a series of troop movements. maybe future historians will dare to be more opinionated about who did what.

history works about current events probably can't do narrative justice to what really happened. many if not most of the figures are still alive, so you have to watch your words. papers are still classified. the nations may still be at war. you sort of have to wait until they're all dead until you can start publishing anything saucy.

countless significant events and details around them have been lost to history because the people involved didn't want anyone to know the truth. it was like that centuries ago and it continues to be the case today.

early morning in #Oslo

ultra-HD video and audio

i don't think Mastodon is the best ActivityPub implementation but i kind of do.

i don't know what Eugen and the Mastodon team was thinking at times.

here at berserker.town, i apply patches when i think Mastodon makes no sense. it's a hassle to maintain. i wish @Gargron would just get to his senses and permit stuff like more than 4 attachments (shockingly, 5 pictures might be needed to convey an idea), more than 4 poll options (gasp, more than 4 opinions exist) and maybe, to express yourself, you need to pair a video with an image (gasp).