You say "people tend to get cause and effect confused" and then unironically follow that up with:

> What makes the dollar strong? The US military

The US military and the dollar are strong because the US economy is strong.

I’ve developed a simple heuristic: If someone unironically invokes petrodollar as an explanation for anything in 2026, they’re probably not worth taking seriously.

Financial Times: "There’s no such thing as the petrodollar"

https://www.ft.com/content/be345914-7b4b-4264-bcbd-6e5e33b79...

https://archive.is/4rn8t

I am personally convinced that there are many more people pretending to understand geopolitics than people who actually understand. It could be that no one truly understands due to the amount of fractal complexity and emergence.

seriously. instant indicator that their world view is irreversibly warped by tiktok politics.

I don't think NIMBY capture and restrictive zoning regulations are popular distopian SciFi tropes.

> lots of paperbacks with glossy covers etc.

Glossy cover lamination is actually cheaper than matte lamination.

If you meant more fancier finishing like spot UV or foil-stamping, ignore what I said.

yeah I was thinking of the foil stamping etc... maybe it just looks fancier to me (and hence why they do it I guess??)

Japanese paperbacks tend to use dust covers instead. Dunno if that's cheaper or not, but it seems like it.

I don't see how people using a work computer exclusively for work would lead to a shitty work culture, let alone lowered productivity.

> Most job offers now come with statements about how you don't have right to your likeness

[citation needed]

It's pretty common, Google it. Here is a website that will help your ai draft job offers with example clauses for it

https://www.lawinsider.com/clause/right-to-use-employees-nam...

I recall that being in my employment contract.

> I presume other Commonwealth countries) default to paracetamol (acetaminophen) before ibuprofen

Can confirm this is true in India.

Paracetamol is widely used. Paracetamol + Ibuprofen is more common than Ibuprofen by itself.

> US would then report financial activities of non-Americans to their home tax authorities. The answer was "lol, no, that would be too much effort".

I know for a fact that the US reports financial information about non-US residents to their home countries.

People get into trouble with Indian tax authorities all the time because they neglected reporting their US income and/or holdings.