That's like saying nothing that comes out of people's mouths is new or different because it's all been uttered before.

A fish in an aquarium doesn't see water.

True, but it goes the other way around as well - the Taliban had absolutely no way to infiltrate the ranks and do damage to the military operations from within.

Was that a significant problem during the civil war?

Excellent question. Perhaps someone knowledgeable on that subject can tell us more.

I'm confused... How do young families coordinate where and when to buy a house with their cohort?

Subdivisions of starter homes (defined both by size and price) tend to attract young families

I think it’s more that that cohort is very likely to be looking at houses at the same time, and value the same kinds of things, so naturally they end up in the same place.

Our place is ‘far’ (10m walk, this is Tokyo) from the nearest supermarket, a bit small, but it’s also connected to a tiny street that allows kids to play safely, 20s walk to the kindergarden, 5m walk to elementary school, and there’s parks around everywhere. Apparently those are things that a lot of young parents value ;)

I agree. My country was plundered for hundreds of years. And some now have the gall to say these invaders brought progress to a backward country. However, that is orthogonal to the point being discussed

Democracy is the opium for the masses.

I won't try to evaluate that.

For me, as a born eccentric, aspects of the concept terrify me. I tend to favor the principles of a Republic, with unassailable foundations impervious to popular fervors and whims. Ideally with heavy democratic principles fortifying the Republic. I don't see either.

I look at recent affairs with FTC for example, and too many things to list. I don't even know what to call what I see. Recipe for nightmares comes to mind, but I know the flaws of emotions well enough.

Personally I find myself retreating into a quasi spiritual state, remotely bordering asceticism. Fading into an in but not of it.

I'm convinced it's a brutally complicated situation. Evey day, though, I think it could be drastically simplified with kindness, but that's a subject where I'm inclined to go full macabre and will hush now.

We should try sortition.

Absolutely. Asocial behaviour in the West comes at far too low of a price. For example, here's how NIMBYs are dealt with in places like Serbia: https://n1info.rs/vesti/porodici-iz-kragujevca-investitor-za...

If you're gonna be anti-progress, fine, but it should cost you, not others

I personally love the look of wind turbines so am happy for them to be visible from my back yard.

One should be careful not to conflate "worthless" with "things that hold no value to me personally".

The inverse would be to use the monopoly on violence to punish those who wish to use property for their self-interest at the expense of the common good.

Basically imagine police throwing in jail people who declare a plot of land as belonging to them, or someone who has seized the means of production and is now pocketing all the profits.

So basically bandit kings who declare greed is the ultimate sin because it denies them their "rightful" earnings?

The official doctrine of Israel is to nuke the whole region [1] rather than accept anything similar to what has been proposed above.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_Option