Found this question on an Instagram reel as dating advice for girls if they don’t know what to talk about and that men have a lot of opinions about this. Let’s see if she’s right.

    • skulblaka@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      Forgot to mention the part where that democratic society is upheld by the fact that you can (and will, if you’re an asshole) be stabbed dead by nearly anyone you interact with. Your own crew, your “customers”, the law, rival pirates, all of them have a will and a way of removing you if you don’t play fair. This is great for ensuring a fair society, only at the constant imminent risk of death.

      Although to be fair I suppose cowboys and samurai were also pretty frequently in deadly dangerous conditions.

      • spaxxor@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Most of the the time cowboys and ranch hands were in danger from their herd stampeding, or the occasional cattle thief. It’s very hard work, and not nearly as romantic as Hollywood makes it out to be.

        Though if you like camping you might like an old school cattle drive.

  • Rottcodd@kbin.social
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    11 months ago

    Cowboy, no contest.

    Samurai’s lives belong to their masters. I couldn’t live that way.

    Pirates live by killing and stealing. I couldn’t live that way.

    That leaves cowboys. Certainly not the glorious and romantic life Hollywood makes it out to be, but generally honest work toward specific goals and freedom otherwise, which’d be fine.

      • Rottcodd@kbin.social
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        11 months ago

        Reminds me of a neighbor I had years ago who was an archaeologist.

        He said once that archaeologists are basically cowboys with degrees - that the work they do is often just sort of a way to get out into the middle of nowhere and camp for weeks at a time and get paid for it.

        And yeah - I can see the appeal.

  • wanderingmagus@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Samurai. Literal nobility, regular baths, nice clothes, fitted armor, regular training, and at least during the Edo period, low risk of actually having to go into battle (doesn’t apply during the prior periods of course). Good food, good rice wine, poetry and music, good literature, intellectually stimulating conversations.

    Contrast a cowboy - saddle sores, dust, caked sweat from weeks without baths, cholera, gangrene, bandits, native raids, long hours, and the blazing desert sun.

    And the pirate: nothing to eat but hardtack and freeze-dried cod until you make port or board a merchantman, hunted by the Royal Navy, surrounded by fellow pirates who haven’t bathed since the last port call, constantly alternating between seasickness and landsickness, cramped quarters belowdecks, constant risk of drowning, and when you finally go on a raid, you’re getting shot at by grapeshot and 16-pounder roundshot at effectively point-blank range.

    Samurai, any day. raises cup of green tea

    • DarthYoshiBoy@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      Joke’s on you. Anyone can be a literal pirate right now, no boat required. Just grab a BitTorrent client and off you go. 🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️

      Honestly, I’d choose that technically correct option because it’s probably the one that makes it easiest to get and maintain insulin, which I need to live.

    • PyroNeurosis@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Late in the Edo period, you’d be a poorly paid menial bureaucrat, but that’s still a good gig compared to the others.

    • Butters@lemmywinks.com
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      11 months ago

      Cowboys still exist today, and they have running water, medical care, etc. so if we are talking modern cowboy I’ll go with that. But otherwise yeah I bet samurai had the best amenities.

  • shadesdk@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Cowboy.

    I want to sit at a campfire, eat my bowl of chili, then curl up in my blanket under the stars and in the morning boil myself a nice pot of coffee.

    You can keep the cow stuff though.

    • LewistrickOP
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      11 months ago

      All right, I’ll throw hedge fund manager in there.

  • 👍Maximum Derek👍@discuss.tchncs.de
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    11 months ago

    Can I be Hasekura Tsunenaga, the samurai who went to Mexico? That way I could be a cowboy samurai. Plus I could be a pirate during the journey from Japan to Mexico. ✓ ✓ ✓

  • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
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    11 months ago

    Cowboy literally just means rancher. It was not a particularly good job in the wild west and it’s only marginally better now.

    Samurai were well respected, well paid, and had social status. The downside is that they needed to kill people or die trying when their boss said to, which doesn’t sound like fun to me.

    Pirates also have the problem of having to do violence on a regular basis, but without the glamour and respect of being Samurai.

    All in all, I’d probably choose samurai.

  • Invites0@lemm.ee
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    11 months ago

    Cowboy - Pros: lowest chance of death, honest work for honest pay. Cons: hard work for low pay

    Pirate - Does internet piracy count? I get seasick to easily to be the boat kind. Also the death.

    Samurai - Maybe an Edo period samurai, when they were mostly bureaucrats.

  • Mane25@feddit.uk
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    11 months ago

    I’m a man and don’t have strong opinions about this, so count this as one vote against it.

    • LewistrickOP
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      11 months ago

      Lol I was thinking the same, neither sounded really appealing to me but it’s not like I’d start a fight over it.

  • justhach@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Yes I am a pirate, 200 years too late. The cannon don’t thunder, there’s nothing to plunder. I’m an over 40 victim of fate arriving too late.

    Arriving too late.