kreynen

So are Europeans just more honest and ethical than Americans? Or do all gas stations have better theft prevention systems? In the US, there is often 1 cashier managing 12 pumps AND ringing up vice sales (cigarettes, lottery tickets, junk food). In some states there a pumps with no human on site at all.

What’s to stop someone from driving off after filling up in the EU?

which shouldn’t be difficult as the “rest of his life” will likely be just a few days

The 13 Rules of a Roman Emperor: How to Stop Giving a Shit and Live a Fucking Good Life

Why bother with a book? What you’ve described was the structure of a dozen “documentaries” created for Netflix last year.

I appreciate the effort, but this version ends with…

took his children to protect them from the occupation’s missiles, but

But what?

I used eBay for years buying everything from computers to expensive bikes. I even helped a friend who bought a car from eBay.

Now? Full of knock offs and scams. My last transactions were garbage designed to last long enough for a product photo shoot. Using any of these products for their intended purpose is a real safety risk and returns require a back and forth with automated systems designed to try to make you give up before you get any $$ back.

I haven’t used eBay in ~8 and likely never will again. The thing about critical mass and network effect is it has as much (if not more) of an impact during a service’s decline.

The free market solution would allow communities to negotiate contracts that DID hold the provider liable and allow competitors to emerge that would focus on different aspects like reliability, renewable production or integration with other grids.

If you aren’t aware of the story of Central and Southwest Corporation (a Texas power company) and thr “midnight connection”, it’s the type of story that I’m sure is nearing the top of Netflix’s documentary todo list.

On May 4, 1976, a power company based in Texas sent electricity from a substation in Vernon, Texas, to Altus, Okla. By doing so, they were breaking a deal among power companies in Texas to keep electricity within state borders.

https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2022-09-08/texas-energy-island-the-disconnect-vernon-midnight-connection

If what Texas has with ERCOT is neither free market nor a public utility, what is it?