I’d say yes… except he does it to smart and digital watches too.

My snake likes to wrap around and ‘strangle’ watches. Not bracelets, just watches.

The question I get asked by religious people all the time is, without God, what’s to stop me from raping all I want?

And my answer is: I do rape all I want. And the amount I want is zero. And I do murder all I want, and the amount I want is zero.

The fact that these people think that if they didn’t have this person watching over them that they would go on killing, raping rampages is the most self-damning thing I can imagine.

I don’t want to do that. Right now, without any god, I don’t want to jump across this table and strangle you. I have no desire to strangle you. I have no desire to flip you over and rape you.

-Penn Jillette

And it is work, by, again, both definitions.

All right, honey. What would you call the constant care an infant needs, if it isn’t work?

American Heritage Dictionary; Work, definition:

Physical or mental effort or activity directed toward the production or accomplishment of something. ”Cleaning the basement was a lot of work."

Such effort or activity by which one makes a living; employment. ”looking for work."

Again, kids are work. And since, as another lemming pointed out, some people do it as an actual job, it counts under both definitions.

And if you do hie off to the Bahamas, you still have to bring that work along. You can’t just leave it behind and just have a relaxing vacation with nothing to do. (Unless you find a babysitter, but then you’re not doing the work of childcare anymore; now you’re using maternal leave for something that isn’t work).

Yeah, but you couldn’t just hall off to the Bahamas or whatever; you were still glued to the kid. Still looking after them 24/7.

Yes, it becomes routine, but It’s still a routine, you still have a lot to do, and again, no call-outs, you’re on-call all day. It may not be a ‘job’, but it is still work.

Babies are work. They are constant, screaming, pooping, work. Not even 9-5 work, because a very young infant requires around-the-clock care, so really it’s worse than work.

At least in a regular job you can punch out and leave work at the office and go home and relax, or call in sick if you don’t feel good. None of that with a baby. You have to always be there for them, all day, all night, no matter what, no matter how you feel.

I think we’re also running into an issue of language, however. ‘Time Off’, as in, not being in the office for an extended period of time, yes, maternity leave is that. ‘Time Off’ as in, a rest, relaxation, vacation, no. Maternity leave is most definitely not that.

I first saw it as ‘coop’ and immediately thought, ‘hell yes, I’d support a community-owned coop, but only if there were lots of fluffy chickens and a 24/7 camera on them’.

Then I realized what you really meant. Which I’m also not opposed to, if it was set up well.

But odds are it won’t be the military. At least, not at first. It will most likely start with all those right-wing punisher-worshipping nutters who want an excuse to shoot ‘the liburlz’, with local cops either helping out or staying out of the way, and the government conveniently ignoring everything. Or at least, that’s how it’s tended to go in the past.

(See kristallnacht, Tulsa race massacre, Wilmington massacre, Rosewood massacre, Ocoee massacre…)

And those local assholes can be repelled with guns.

Hear, hear.

This is why I loved the Nero Wolfe tv show so much; they taught valuable lessons (like don’t let a cop in without a warrant and be wary of the FBI) and the cops were much more realistic, even if still more or less good guys.

Because greedy, selfish assholes are very, very good at abusing and ruining a society for their own benefit. Keeping them out of the way and from making trouble is the only way the kind of society OP posted about would have any chance to survive long-term.

We really need to find a way to do that. Maybe entice them away with a kingship on Mars, or something?

My trick for gnocchi? Ziplock with the corner cut off.

Given how far the Grinch’s cave was from the town, that must have been some prestigious noise.