A socialist society lacks private ownership of the means of production (the things that make society functional), the opposite being social ownership. You can still start a business and make money, but wealth is shared among the workers rather than being hoarded by a single private entity at the top (think co-op)

A communist society is much stricter, lacking private property and social classes. The state owns everything and allocates it based on need

Just for comparison, a capitalist society like the one we (unfortunately) live in is a rat race. Wealth goes to whoever can exploit the system the most, which is usually whoever has the most money to start. It is the Ultimate Deathmatch of society.

I hate having to deal with the canisters but the spicy water definitely makes my partner and I both happier (no syrups/sugars) as well. I got my sodastream used for around $25 so the most expensive part for me were the canisters.

I’d love to one day hook it up to a bigger CO2 tank but I need a place with a bigger kitchen first

Water tastes better with a few grains of salt or a slice of lemon in it (it’s got what plants crave)

If it’s not greasy it’s 50% sugar

When a product is so absolutely terrible that uncommented code is the best it can do…

You make the billionaires proud, such a good lil capitalist

Because no one ever believes them (women victims)

Chili didn’t even have meat to begin with, hence chili con carne. Black beans are in the original version

I recommend adding garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and squash as well

And why was this war started, again?

Renewable energy would remedy much of this situation, but some CEOs somewhere might not be able to afford a fifth superyacht

Why is Houston “hew-stown” while Houston is “house-ton”

My best pair of sunglasses are a pair of dark lenses with a snake motif that I got at a thrift shop for like $15. Keep them in a glasses case and they won’t get scratched.

Fwiw, if I see someone wearing fancy looking thick black rectangular lenses nowadays I assume they’re a predator thanks to Meta

I plan to book/get a tattoo that reads “I outlived the clown” under a cute clown face. I’m a circus performer so it’ll be a fun talking point

Emoji réactions

My first language is Spanish, and I also speak French. Both are gendered heavily. I hate gendered languages but it is what it is. You can call a car “une voiture” (f) or “un char” (m). Hell, you can call a thing “une chose” (f) or “un truc” (m). I do love language studies though and find them fascinating

Unironically, good chat.

It’s not as simple as that, at least for humans.

Firstly, you’re not generally going around looking at people’s genitals, and even if you were you wouldn’t be able to tell if someone’s had surgery. A lot of trans folk pass well enough that you wouldn’t be able to tell we were trans unless we told you, at which point you look crazy insisting that a guy with a full beard and pecs is a woman.

Secondly, while sex and gender are separate, the distinction is often brought up without nuance. Sex is not a simple concept, and it’s impossible to define generally in a way that doesn’t misrepresent some class of cis folk. A trans woman has neither the hormonal levels, body fat distribution, strength, brain mapping, medical risks, nor (necessarily) sexual function of a cis man. Defining it fully by some metric such as chromosomes or the ability to reproduce erases all sorts of human experiences, like intersexuality or menopause.

We assign pets genders because of our human experience, but they almost certainly lack the concept. A dog doesn’t care what you call it. Hell, a dog rarely cares what it’s fucking.

Thanks for asking! Getting misgendered is different for everyone and heavily influenced by factors like age, weight, how far into transition someone is, how much they pass, etc. I’ve been trans for a long time I’m in a pretty comfortable place, but I still get misgendered on occasion.

How “bad” it is mainly depends on whether there is malice behind the misgendering. An honest mistake is excusable (until it becomes a pattern), an asshole is not. In fact, I unintentionally get misgendered the most by allies (ironically) but it’s never out of malice. I’d say overall it’s similar to your example of misnaming someone, especially since the two often go hand in hand. If it happens once or twice it’s not an issue, but if someone purposefully calls you by a different name (presumably one of the opposite gender) then there’s a problem. In some states your name and gender are protected, in other states it’s legally mandated to be a complete and utter asshole.

Regarding my original comment, it’s mainly frustration at the hypocrisy some people have who make every excuse to avoid using someone’s preferred name or pronouns, but then have no problem switching when it’s someone else’s pet.

There’s also this meme:

While I have you here: this is tough to hear but please believe us when we say the US is trying to genocide us. The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention has already issued its third warning , but getting people to pay attention has been a huge struggle for us. We’re literally just regular people trying to live regular lives.

It’s more obvious with some breeds than others. Female shibas tend to be slightly smaller and slimmer, for instance. But it’s rarely obvious unless a dog turns its butt to you. That said, people have never struggled to switch pronouns with a dog. It generally goes like this:

“Oh he’s so cute!”

“Thanks, she’s x years old”

“Oh she’s a girl? She’s lovely, can I pet her”

(As a trans person, I have more to say on how easily people pronoun switch for animals but that’s a different topic for another time)

Assister in French means to attend in English

They specifically don’t require a free hand