A 50-something French dude that’s old enough to think blogs are still cool, if not cooler than ever. Also, I like to write and to sketch.
https://thefoolwithapen.com/

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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: November 26th, 2023

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  • Indeed but, to me at least, this is not Trump/UNESCO-related issue. It’s a Western societies issue.

    We have very similar issues going here in France. For me, it all begun back in the 80s so, yeah, it’s not really something new. But things have been going worse since then. And it has been accelerating. Quickly. Badly.

    In France, our educative system (it’s called l’éducation nationale, aka a nation-wide highly centralized system deciding what kids are to learn and how they should be educated) and since the mid-80s the level has collapsed beyond belief. Kids aren’t being taught much anymore, and math as well as reading are vanishing skills. Let’s not mention history and civic education (which help in any working democracy). Things have become real worse in recent years. Like, a lot worse.

    Obviously, it’s not the kid’s fault. It’s us the adults, teachers, parents and elected representatives voting absurd laws who have failed. But it’s them kids who will pay dear for our mistakes (like with the climate crisis, btw).

    They already started paying.

    I mean, who has the best chance of getting a qualified job between say a lower or, nowadays, even a middle-class kid barely able to open a book and to understand what’s written in it (and barely able to spell their name correctly) and a kid from a family where knowledge and teaching are still considered valuable investments worthy of sending their kids into private schools in which, unlike public schools, they’re actually being taught how to read (and how to properly use books), and do math, and learn some history, philosophy and so on?

    Those wealthier and better-educated kids will get all the rewards, while all the others kids will be fucked up, for their entire life (but hey, they will know how to watch ads on YT and TikTok).

    They already are being fucked up btw, they just can’t realize it as we have not given them the basic tools required to understand what’s happening around them.

    But the real worse is yet to come. Here in France at least even our private schools are subjected to the dumbing-down of the entire educative system, as they also depend on nation-wide laws and controls… Controls that have been getting harsher and harsher and, unsurprisingly, even those private schools are witnessing a sharp decline. Sure, it’s less sharp than in public schools but still very worrying. So, what will happen? Well, I can’t predict the (very near) future but would I have school-age kids myself and would I have enough money to send them to a private school I would simply pack my things and move abroad in any other country but France, in a country that would not actively be trying to ruin our educative system.

    France was rightly regarded as a country of readers up until the late 70s to early 80s. Books (serious books, I mean) were a popular discussion topic, it was in the newspapers, magazines, radio and TV, it was discussed between people (the Internet and social media of back then). It was popular. Nowadays? It’s not rare at all to enter a house where there is not a single book to be found. A house where no one owns a library card either (or read ebooks). Kids are just not encouraged to read books. Even comics are starting to become a happy exception.

    Once again, this is a failure that will cost dearly to kids growing up in those families.

    Without any reading culture and habits, not only will they be at a disadvantage when competing against ‘reading kids’ but they’re also much more vulnerable to the stupidest ideas floating around… provided those already stupid ideas are simplified enough for them to instantly grasp them without much effort.

    What kind of adults and citizen will that create? I’d rather not imagine. That’s a fucking nightmare happening right in front of our eyes and nobody seems to care.


  • If a zombie loses blood, they aren’t going to keep walking, their muscles won’t work without blood.

    Isn’t that the whole idea behind zombies: they need no circulating blood nor an heart pumping it? Soulless and heartless bastards, you know.

    If you have a strong door, zombie arms will break before the door breaks.

    One zombie no doubt, but like we all know those assholes are often moving in hordes… Sure, the first zombies squashed against the door won’t like that very much but then neither will the door and once it breaks under the weight of all the other zombies… Or if it is not the zombie-proof door, they will inadvertently press too hard on one of those nice large windows we often see in the hollywood type of houses, a window that isn’t zombie-proof obviously and then… bon appétit, like we say in my country ;)

    The only kind of zombies I really worry about is the quickly and very much non-fictional ramping up illiteracy among younger generations. To me, this kind of cerebral death is much more worrying than hordes of dead people suddenly wanting to take a bite of my sorry ass. That said, maybe I should see that as the latest kind of zombification? Pure brain rot instead of flesh rot?

    So, what would I do if illiterate zombies were to try to eat me or turn me into one of them? I would be throwing all the books from my personal library at them, knocking them off one by one with some (not always that) serious knowledge I suppose :p

    Or maybe it’s time I learn how to pray? Because if those illiterate zombies become dominant we’ll all be screwed once and for all I’m afraid.







  • Libb@jlai.lutoBuy European@feddit.uk1 month without US tech giants
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    1 day ago

    I’ve not clicked the link (without any description or comment, I see no reason to follow a link to YT). That being said, I would agree with your comment if the video was also shared elsewhere than on YT since non-YT alternatives already exist. I insist: also shared elsewhere, not published elsewhere as I’m all for reaching people where they are, not where I would want them to be. But I’m also all for not bowing to simplicity, conformity and, but isn’t that linked, to laziness ;)





  • I will probably get a lot of flak for that but I would be tempted to say: any tattoo one can’t easily remove.

    Don’t get me wrong, there are some wonderful tattoos out there, there is no question about that but isn’t it a bit… presumptuous to think one will like a drawing or a some text inked under their skin… forever? That’s the reason why I never got tattooed.





  • I always had a thing for certain traits and features often associated with Asian women (no, not the Hollywood kind of Asian women). It doesn’t mean I 'm looking at Asian women with lust in my eyes nor that those traits are exclusive to ‘Asian women’… whatever that means. I mean, I’m French and there is no such thing as a French woman or man.

    For me, it just means that very early on (aka, I was still a little boy) I felt more attracted to those traits than to others and I could find them more frequently associated with ‘Asian women’. Where does this attraction comes from? No idea, it just is.

    And in case anyone is wondering, nope my spouse is not Asian and we’ve been doing fine for the 25 years and counting we’ve been together ;)



  • Not the OP but we have not owned a car since 2000 and don’t want to own any. We can live without one (public transit, walk, bike, Uber or even renting a car when it’s really needed… last time must have been 11 years ago). Why? It’s something my spouse and I decided to get rid of when we became aware of climate crisis we were heading into. Likewise, we also stopped using planes completely, I mean, not just for personal travels but also for business (we have not traveled by plane since 2001) and learned to consume less.


  • Libb@jlai.lutoLinux@lemmy.worldNuked my system [recovered]
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    2 days ago

    I have nothing to offer but some sympathy and one advice: I have two critical backups running: my personal files and the various folders containing my config files.

    As I learned more or less the exact same way you just did how critical it is to backup those files too as, losing them by formatting my drive, I instantly realized they’re as personal and important as my ‘real’ files are.


  • I want a serious answer, how should I find people online to talk to about anything really other than politics?

    You don’t.

    You don’t find people online (or IRL) waiting for strangers to start a discussion on some random topic you feel like talking about. Because people, unlike trolls, are busy with their live.

    What you can find is people willing to discuss with someone they find interesting or, with any luck, intriguing on whatever topic you both are interested in.

    So, what are you interested in? Have you any hobbies, interests, passions? Find small communities around those topics you’re interested in, and start posting. Do the work to show you’re there and that, maybe, you’re worth discussing with.