• ped_xing [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    7 months ago

    That was four-years-ago’s thing. The bazinga crowd won’t settle for less than an AI budget that creates whole new agencies like Alcohol, Tobacco and Human Services by allocating complex dollar amounts to them.

    • JayTwo [any]@hexbear.net
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      7 months ago

      Today we create the managed democracy from the hit videogame, don’t create managed democracy, two.

    • Leon_Frotsky [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      7 months ago

      marxists: we will create a planned economy
      Chatgpt: starts trying to make do with whatever it can and invents new bleach casseroles to be made en masse how did i do?
      marxists: how could you possibly think we meant that?
      chatGPT: As an AI assistant I’m programmed to follow instructions as well as I can, I’m sorry that you are unsatisfied with my solutions.

      • Leon_Frotsky [she/her]@hexbear.net
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        7 months ago
        chatgpt solution to running a planned economy:

        Assuming the mantle of Supreme President of North America with absolute power to improve the lives of its citizens is a tremendous responsibility. Here’s a comprehensive plan encompassing economic, social, and environmental reforms:

        1. Economic Reform:

          Universal Basic Income (UBI): Implement a universal basic income to ensure that every citizen has enough to cover their basic needs. This would provide a safety net for citizens and encourage entrepreneurship and risk-taking.

          Infrastructure Investment: Launch a massive infrastructure initiative, creating jobs and improving the country’s transportation, energy, and communication systems.

          Green Energy Transition: Invest heavily in renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power. This would create jobs, reduce carbon emissions, and promote sustainable development.

          Education Reform: Make education more affordable and accessible. Invest in schools, provide free college education, and promote vocational training programs to ensure citizens have the necessary skills for the job market.

        2. Social Reform:

          Healthcare Reform: Implement a universal healthcare system to ensure that all citizens have access to quality healthcare without financial hardship.

          Criminal Justice Reform: Overhaul the criminal justice system to focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment. Decriminalize drug use and invest in treatment programs. Additionally, work towards eliminating systemic biases.

          Equality and Inclusion: Promote equality and inclusion for all citizens, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status. Enforce strict anti-discrimination laws and provide support for marginalized communities.

          Affordable Housing: Address the housing crisis by investing in affordable housing initiatives and implementing rent controls in urban areas.

        3. Environmental Reform:

          Climate Change Mitigation: Take aggressive action to combat climate change by reducing carbon emissions and investing in renewable energy sources. Rejoin international climate agreements and work with other nations to combat this global threat.

          Conservation and Preservation: Implement policies to protect and preserve natural habitats and wildlife. Create more national parks and conservation areas, and enforce strict regulations on industries that harm the environment.

          Green Transportation: Incentivize the use of electric vehicles and public transportation. Expand public transit systems and invest in the development of green technologies.

        4. Governance Reform:

          Transparency and Accountability: Implement measures to increase transparency and accountability in government. Ensure that politicians are held accountable for their actions and that the government operates in the best interest of the people.

          Electoral Reform: Reform the electoral system to ensure fair representation and eliminate gerrymandering. Promote voter education and participation.

          International Relations: Foster positive relationships with neighboring countries and other nations around the world. Prioritize diplomacy and cooperation to address global challenges.

        5. Technological Advancement:

          Investment in Research and Development: Allocate resources to research and development in technology, medicine, and other fields to ensure North America remains at the forefront of innovation.

          Digital Infrastructure: Invest in digital infrastructure to provide high-speed internet access to all citizens, even in remote areas. Promote digital literacy and ensure everyone can participate in the digital economy.

          Cybersecurity: Strengthen cybersecurity measures to protect citizens’ privacy and secure critical infrastructure from cyber threats.

        6. Crisis Management:

          Pandemic Preparedness: Develop a comprehensive pandemic preparedness plan to ensure that the country is ready to respond to future health crises.

          Emergency Response: Improve emergency response systems to better handle natural disasters, such as hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes.

          National Security: Strengthen national security while upholding civil liberties. Invest in intelligence gathering and counterterrorism efforts to keep citizens safe.

        7. International Cooperation:

          Global Leadership: Lead by example on the world stage, promoting democracy, human rights, and sustainable development. Work with other nations to address global challenges, such as poverty, disease, and conflict.

          Aid and Development: Provide aid to countries in need and support development projects to alleviate poverty and promote stability around the world.

        Implementing these reforms will require cooperation and collaboration across political lines, but with the mandate given, it’s possible to make significant strides toward improving the lives of citizens in North America.

        .

        ngl with the exception of “National Security: Strengthen national security while upholding civil liberties. Invest in intelligence gathering and counterterrorism efforts to keep citizens safe” the plan is pretty good, if a bit bazinga like.

  • ReadFanon [any, any]@hexbear.net
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    7 months ago

    This is actually a wonderful idea and it’s never going to happen, hear me out:

    Everything on the Blockchain is recorded permanently.

    Every single dollar of the US budget would be open to external auditing by anyone.

    There’s zero chance that agencies like the DoD and the State Department want to have a perfectly transparent ledger of where every red cent goes because it would blow the cover off of a ton of bullshit (although it would probably require years of data analysis and investigative journalism).

    The Panama Papers had people sweating. The entire US budget being on the Blockchain would make RFK the top candidate for the John F Kennedy award for excellence in presidential policy and I am here for it.

    • RyanGosling [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      7 months ago

      When Americans talk about “the budget,” they don’t include the CIA/DOD wunderwaffe/Epstein black projects. Those will never be listed no matter what any politician advocates for. When they say “budget” what they really mean is whether cops, companies, the military are funded and whether schools, healthcare, social security, etc. are defunded

      The Panama Papers had people sweating.

      No it didn’t lol. They bombed a journalist who was investigating it (or the other leak). Then what? We all moved on.

      • ReadFanon [any, any]@hexbear.net
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        7 months ago

        Fair enough re: the three letter agencies but I still think that having a huge chunk of the pie chart for the budget being left greyed out would be more of a reveal than they’d be comfortable with.

        The Panama Papers had people sweating.

        No it didn’t lol. They bombed a journalist who was investigating it (or the other leak). Then what? We all moved on.

        I was using past tense there intentionally and I’d argue that the fact that they had to assassinate people is evidence that they were sweating.

        I’d say the same thing about Epstein’s flight logs and his trial - that had people sweating (even Prince Andrew who, fortunately, recovered his ability to sweat after many years of intense therapy) then Epstein died under the absolute shadiest of circumstances and then what? The world moved on.

        If I wanted to say that the Panama Papers created any significant impact on the world I would have said as much.

    • FunkyStuff [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      7 months ago

      Crypto nonsense on Hexbear? Is this a bit? all-my-apes-gone

      The federal gov already has a million ways to “lose” money and turn it into dark money for ops. Blockchain makes it even easier, because it’s possible to set up networks of anonymous wallets that create a huge amount of transactions and cover up the destination of a transaction. This is something state actors have already used to siphon money using the blockchain (DPRK based as always). If this coked up plan ever went through, the 3 letter boys would obviously reserve the right to do transactions using obfuscation for national security purposes or whatever.

      • ReadFanon [any, any]@hexbear.net
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        7 months ago

        I’d say that my comment is pretty much the antithesis of crypto nonsense because I’m arguing that it’s basically the polar opposite of anonymous transactions and that it would be an avenue for government “overreach” or “tyranny”, or however they would refer to it.

        Don’t they usually claim that it’s super anonymous and that it’s the magic bullet for dealing with government tyranny?

        I did give mention that it would take years of work and investigative journalism to uncover stuff so I was referring to the ways that the government would obscure its spending without going right into the weeds on this but if we’re going there either:

        • The government disperses money across an immense array of wallets (?? Idk the term) or accounts and there’s a huge churn as all the money gets moved around, each dollar changing hands a thousand times before it lands where it’s supposed to go. That’s pretty scandalous in itself and it would be a good emperor-has-no-clothes moment for the blockchain and for the public who are advocating for naive reformist ideas like “transparency in government” and “getting lobbying out of the government” because it will reveal power for what it is.

        • Governments will have a single point where money goes from the budget to the particular department or agency, so everyone can see the government sent the department of education x million. And then the trail ends. This would also reveal how any measures to establish transparency are going to be strangled at birth so same as above.

        • The government actually allows full transparency and there’s no attempts to obscure where the money goes (lol), which would be its own disaster.

        Whatever happens it seems like it would be a real poison pill and having the three letter agencies demanding an exclusion would also definitely happen but it would draw a lot of unwanted attention to the dark/semi-dark money and you would get another uncomfortable moment of revealing the true power and demonstrating these reforms as being wholly ineffectual (as mentioned above).

        I’m not saying that it’s a good thing or that the plan would ever have a chance of working - what I’m saying is that if someone actually tried to implement it (which in itself is very speculative and exceedingly unlikely) then every foreseeable consequence of it would be an absolute win, going by my own political objectives.

    • notthenameiwant [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      7 months ago

      If there’s anything that you should have learned from Snowden and Assange, it’s that exposure is not enough. Websites like Open secrets have not made a dent in how dark money is tossed around.

      • ReadFanon [any, any]@hexbear.net
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        7 months ago

        Yeah, I’m not saying that it would achieve any change - hence why the most impact I could see it having would be to make people sweat and possibly get them to take RFK out.

        I’m just saying that if it was going to happen (it won’t) then however the government chose manage it would be a good outcome.

  • InevitableSwing [none/use name]@hexbear.netOP
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    7 months ago

    “I’m going to put the entire U.S. budget on blockchain so that any American — every American can look at every budget item in the entire budget anytime they want 24 hours a day. […] We’re gonna have 300 million eyeballs on our budget, and if somebody is spending $16,000 for a toilet seat, everybody’s gonna know about it.”

    I edited the quote for clarity to be just him speaking.

    • BountifulEggnog [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      7 months ago

      You don’t need a blockchain for this, you need open accounting. Someone could just tell the blockchain they spent 16k on “fixtures for the Whitehouse”.

      Oh also what happens when someone makes a mistake?

      Crypto bros are deeply unserious.

    • Rojo27 [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      7 months ago

      And he wants to do this on the blockchain because???

      Like I get he wants to grift all the little techbro piggies, but at least put some effort into making it seem like you are solving an unsolvable problem using technojargon.

    • Evilsandwichman [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      7 months ago

      You know, @ReadFanon@hexbear.net mentioned RFK Jr. was gonna get a JFK award and I was going to say most people in government agencies are too stupid/too old to know how modern tech works and won’t suss it out until it’s too late, but him spelling it out so specifically is definitely going to get him that award.

    • RyanGosling [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      7 months ago

      Lol the US is lucky if it has 100 non political, non contractor eyes on the budget. And then what? What are they gonna do when they see outrageous spending on bullshit? They’re gonna tweet about it and vote for their politician again anyway

  • context [fae/faer, fae/faer]@hexbear.net
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    7 months ago

    anakin-padme-2 this was the beginning of a high concept bit in which he listed all of the reasons it’s a terrible idea and then ended with “but it’s still better than leaving it to congress!” right?

  • bobs_guns@lemmygrad.ml
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    7 months ago

    Just make a database, bro. It’ll take a fraction of the space, a fraction of the energy, and a fraction of the development time. Just make a database.

  • Snackuleata [any]@hexbear.net
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    7 months ago

    I look forward to taking out a loan to afford the gas fees that’ll come with everyone trying to file their taxes at the last minute.