Haha, I was too lazy to zoom in on the picture but now I can see that the bottom unit was not a VCR like I initially thought. Point to you, internet stranger :)
I’ll take the bait. This is a classic AV rack setup which is a relic of the bygone era. Looks like a pretty typical configuration with a Receiver/amplifier, CD player, Laser disc player(?), double tape deck, and a VHS Cassette player. And of course you have to have the colossal speakers to accompany this technological tour de force from the early 90s. The little box may be a headphone amp but not sure.
Once you had all of this, you officially made it. I never quite did and this is one of my many regrets. I will go back to the nursing home now…
Thank you for clarifying and I don’t disagree at all with the points you raise. Unfortunately in application, the higher ideals seem to be lost on these red-hat troglodytes who are in the majority in my local area. I used to believe similarly that minds could be changed with rational and candid discussion, but my own experience has been that MAGA types just double down when presented with anything that doesn’t align with what they have come to believe; until they are negatively affected by one of the horrible things they support of course.
I haven’t given up entirely but active avoidance appears to be the simplest near-term solution. The problem is the currently dominant political party has done a very effective job of demonizing anything and anyone with an opposing viewpoint to their proponents. That alone makes open discourse almost impossible.
I can certainly appreciate the sentiment behind this comment but I would have to challenge its applicability in a deep red part of the US. The danger here is expressing incompatible beliefs to people who vocally and energetically talk about rounding up and “shooting all of the democrats” they can find. As much as I would like to accept the fact that they have the right to this opinion, I am also self-aware enough that I chose to keep my own politics (independent but left-leaning) to myself.
Would they really kill me? Probably not. Would I be immediately treated with hostility? Almost certainly.
I think there is a stark difference between “different” and “opposing” viewpoints and I imagine it would be nice living in a place where being open-minded was a common virtue. Unfortunately for me that isn’t really viable at the moment.
I have a school age child in a super red state and I am rather surprised we have had free school lunches and even breakfast for the last 4-5 years. Granted, poverty is really high around here and I am certain that this is most kids’ best meal of the day so it may not be high quality, but its better than an empty stomach. This is all paid for with tax money which is something I am totally in favor of. The bigger issue is summertime hunger since those same kids are out of school for about 3 months so they even offer a meal option during that time as well but I am not sure how it works since we don’t use that service.
100% agreed on the point made about how conservatives only seem to care about fetuses and consider them grease for the machinery once they get born but somehow this backward-ass state is doing the right thing…for now at least.