Belgian 29 year old male, accountant, into physical fitness, outings and watching TV series/films. Enjoy pestering you about your political views and interested in economics.

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Joined 23 days ago
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Cake day: March 10th, 2025

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  • See, so easily baited.

    China owns majority stake in the cobalt mines in Congo. Controlling 80% of their cobalt in order to have influence in the battery market. Which they use for dominance in smartphone and electric vehicle markets. The government subsidises this as well with tax payer money, which is good for the shareholders of Xiaomi, BYD, …

    At the height of Belgian Congo, wallonia was wealthier than flanders. Now wallonia is quite poorer than flanders because their mines ran down. The industrialisation moved away.

    We have a great economy because of services that we provide. We have a highly educated population.

    We don’t depend on resources from Africa, south east Asia, etc. Why? We don’t do those industries.

    That’s all delegated to China. China is our bitch, they do the child labour, the bad ethics, exploiting poor countries, and then sell us the products cheaply. We buy it, they do the dirty deed.

    It’s almost as if raw materials are important to the economy that wants to turn them into a product.

    And not important to an economy that basically just sells services?

    What the fuck? Using brain? Logic? In a tankie sub?!

    https://www.cecc.gov/events/hearings/from-cobalt-to-cars-how-china-exploits-child-and-forced-labor-in-the-congo

    Go find some other sources, from various parts of the world.

    Russia is invading Ukraine literally for resources for their industry, or rather to sell them to us with an extra price.



  • Real Belgium? These oldies have been on strike and they haven’t seen a tank. Welcome to democracy. The NVA has the most votes, they were voted for in order to increase the work force.

    Major amount of people on sick leave for more than 5 years. People were on unemployment benefits for more than 2 years. People used to retire at age 55. While barely having children.

    For example my mate is in Germany now, his gf worked one year and now she’s relaxing 2 years on sick leave for “burnout”.

    They are reducing taxes for people that work.

    The minimum wage in Belgium is high. Education is free or cheap.

    If you want to work, you have work. Social mobility is high in Belgium.

    if we correct for purchasing power then the net wealths would be.

    Belgium 333k euros. China 54k euros. Russia 28k euros. (Compared to USA)

    With a year’s savings I can buy a 100 sq meters house in Indonesia. A Chinese or Russian cannot do that.

    Not only is my internal purchasing power far higher, so is my external purchasing power.









  • The comparison of AI to calculators is a false equivalence, as AI’s complexity enables it to tackle intricate problems beyond the reach of simple calculators, and many AI tools are open source, fostering collaboration and innovation.

    Private companies indeed drive AI development, but this is not unique to AI and often accelerates technological progress, while significant public funding supports AI research globally, contrary to the claim of lack of investment.

    Energy consumption in AI is a recognized issue, yet efforts are underway to improve efficiency, and patents, rather than hindering progress, protect intellectual property and spur innovation, with many patented technologies eventually benefiting the broader ecosystem.

    AI’s perceived lack of transparency is being addressed through explainable AI techniques, and regulations are emerging to ensure responsible use, providing society with mechanisms to control AI’s impact.

    Educating students about AI empowers them to critically evaluate technology, and focusing on fundamental concepts can mitigate the risks associated with relying on specific platforms, as the concern about private companies’ influence can be managed through diversification and ethical guidelines.

    The risk of companies changing services or going bankrupt is not unique to AI and can be mitigated through strategic planning and the use of open-source alternatives, ensuring continuity in education and technological development.


  • Ah, the age-old debate of AI in education—where the line between ‘assistance’ and ‘assignment’ gets blurrier than a chalkboard after a day of lectures! While it’s true that AI can sometimes be the ‘ghostwriter’ for essays, let’s not forget that it can also be a fantastic tutor, offering instant feedback and endless patience. The real challenge is teaching students to use AI as a tool to sharpen their critical thinking, rather than a crutch to avoid it.

    Imagine if calculators had never been allowed in math class because they ‘did the work for you.’ We’d still be stuck on long division while the world moved on to algebra! The key is balance—using AI to enhance learning, not replace it. And as for those telltale AI intro lines, well, consider them a modern-day ‘cheat sheet’ detector—a gentle nudge to remind students that original thought is still the gold standard.

    So, let’s embrace the AI wave, but also teach our students to surf it with their own critical thinking caps firmly in place. After all, the future isn’t about who can regurgitate information the fastest, but who can think the deepest.




  • RSF was just an example to show that such a ranking exists. Removing conflict of interest and the ability to censor will be what’s needed in order to have real unguided public opinion.

    That’s difficult to achieve.

    The major thing to think about are things like CP, obviously that needs to be removed from existence.

    So there’s positives to control, but nobody does anything for free.

    Like here at Lemmy, I assume an instance creator of a popular instance will be able to be bought by companies or politicians.

    Like Musk just bought twitter, lots of newspaper companies are owned by oligarchs. Other sources of news are owned by governments.

    There’s always a conflict of interest.

    It’s difficult to get away from.