This excuse always baffled me. You know they don’t HAVE to raise their prices, right? They could simply eat the cost and still be rolling in obscene amounts money. Let’s stop making excuses for corporate greed.

I assumed she was taking a selfie.

Texas generally has gas prices cheaper than the national average. It always shocks me when I go to other states.

The one Republican Senator, Ted Cruz, was not up for reelection. Hopefully we’ll be rid of him soon too.

The insecurity is so palpable. What a baby.

As usual, his priorities are:

1. Himself.

That’s the list.

Unfortunately, my Republican Congressperson won his election. And we’re still stuck with Ted Cruz until he’s up for reelection. But for sure, I am so thrilled with the election results.

With respect, I think you’re wildly underestimating the ignorance and obstinance of Republican voters in the US. Have you ever interacted directly with a MAGA, evangelical Christian? Their hatred, arrogance and ignorance are genuinely baffling to behold. They live all around me, I interact with them every day, and not even I understand why they are the way they are. Despite all the valid issues you raised, still millions of them voted down party lines yesterday. A couple of Democrat wins would have been shocking, but the full sweep we got is just… there’s no word to describe how incredible it is.

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Why?

If it’s any consolation; we get Democrat presidents. But a blue Texas? We haven’t had that in over thirty years. We’re allowed to be optimistic, hell my mental health needs it at this point. That doesn’t mean we should become docile and naive, there is still lots of work to be done. But for now, I’m going to take a break and celebrate.

Thank you! Bunch of cynical armchair analysts in here. I’m a Texan. Anyone who’s downplaying these election results don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. This is huge for us. No, it’s not full-blown anarcho-communism, but God damn let us celebrate our much-needed, long overdue W!

As a Texan, I don’t fully agree. Talarico isn’t perfect, but I’ve not in my lifetime ever seen a pro choice, pro LGBTQ, pro workers rights Republican. Texas, fucking finally, just voted for all three. This IS a sign of progress, and hopefully some healing.

The movie is absolutely a bunch of dumb fun.

Beautiful.

Genuine question, what reason do we have to think Trump’s administration didn’t just destroy them all? They have every incentive to do so, and it seems like they have the means. So what am I missing?

Fun thing about Capitalism though, dollars = votes. So the minority with all the dollars get to make all the decisions, and the poor masses are forced to live with them.

I’ll offer one more reply, then I’ll let you have the last word, since I see we’re already arguing in a circle.

Yes. Human greed is a problem no matter what system we live under. You’re correct when you say that. But what I’m saying is only capitalism incentivises and rewards greed in the way we see today. I have explained how it does so in my comments above. Greed is a problem, capitalism exacerbates that problem in a unique and profoundly destructive way.

The root cause is capitalism. Everyone being materialistic, billionaires ruling the world, the climate on the brink of collapse- all of OP’s concerns are caused directly by capitalism. Under capitalism, the only thing that matters is the endless accumulation of wealth. Human wellbeing and environmental sustainability both take a backseat to the profit motive.

“To look at people in capitalist society and conclude that human nature is egoism, is like looking at people in a factory where pollution is destroying their lungs and saying that it is human nature to cough.” -Andrew Collier.

You’re operating from a known bias called capitalist realism, in which capitalism is assumed to be a natural, organically arising system. It’s not. It’s a constructed system, deliberately crafted by greedy people, for greedy people. And it’s not a “random” observation on my part, people have been saying this basically since capitalism was invented. The profit motive of capitalism rewards those who are willing to be the most relentlessly greedy, and the mechanism of competition means that those greedy people eventually will own everything. More greed equals more expenses cut on safety, quality, and wages, expenses cut means more profit, more profit means more power in capitalism, more power means you are more capable of winning in the marketplace, winning in the marketplace means it’s even easier to win again, and again and again until it snowballs out of control and we’re stuck with a monstrous monopoly and the enslavement of the working class. Capitalism is the problem.