‘All I wanted was to be a useful engine. Useful engines always arrive on time. Useful engines follow orders."

“And were you aware of where you were taking the people you transported?”

“I had only a vague idea sir. I knew they were prisoners. I never knew what was going to…I just…I had my orders and I followed them sir. useful engines follow orders.”

“And you never once asked about your orders? Who these people were? Where you were taking them, and why?”

“Useful engines don’t ask questions. It wasn’t my job to know. It was my job to arrive on time.”

“Did you ever consider why the carriages were full on the way there, and always empty on the way back?”

“…”

“Thomas?”

“I am around coal-powered tank engines all day, every day. I know the smell coal makes when it burns. I knew that the smoke in that place wasn’t coal.”

“And you took thousands of people there every day, for two full years?”

“Those were my orders. If I didn’t follow them I would be dead too. A useful engine always follows orders, and there was no place in the Reich for useless engines.”

“So you valued your life over the lives of the countless innocent people you carried to their deaths?”

“Do you think they would still be alive if I didn’t? Don’t you think they would have found another engine to arrive on time? Those people were dead before they even stepped on the platform. Nothing I could have done would have changed that. The only difference between me and them was that I had a choice; a choice to move forward and live, or stay put and die. I made the choice for the lowest possible number of people to die. Is self-preservation a crime?”

“If you knew what was happening, why did you agree to take the job in the first place?”

“You think I knew then? All anyone knew then was that things were better than they had been. The trains were running on time and if you didn’t ask too many questions you could have a good life. We were still confident that victory was on the horizon. I only found out what was going on when it was too late for me to say no. There were no choices left for me then - move forward or stay put; live or die.”

“Why do you think you were given the job you were given? Why not transporting troops or supplies to the front? What do you think they saw in you that made you suitable?”

“I was never there first choice! The Allies had bombed the Reich’s infrastructure to smithereens, there was nobody else left. You bombed Herr Gordon, Herr James, Herr Percy. They chose me because they had to choose someone and their first choices were all dead.”

“So you were the last resort?”

“Everyone else was gone. I only survived because I kept my head down and followed orders, like a useful engine should.”

“So if you were truly the last engine they could call upon, you could have saved those people?”

“What? I never said that. What are talking about? They were already dead, all I could do was follow my orders.”

“And if you refused to follow them, there was nobody left to replace you?”

“…”

“Is that not what you said Thomas? You were never the first choice? Everyone else was gone? Move forward or stay put, and you chose to go forward?”

“…Useful engines follow orders and arrive on time.”

“And it didn’t matter what you were useful for, as long as you were useful for something?”

“Useful engines follow orders.”

“Was it useful for the people you carried to the camp?”

“…”

“Thomas?”

“You would have done the same. You all would.”

“I’m sorry? What do you mean by that?”

“The only difference between you and I, sir, is that I can see the tracks I follow. If you were on the tracks, you’d have followed them too.”

“Do you regret what you did?”

“…”

“Thomas? Do you regret it?”

“…I see those gates every time I close my eyes. Every time I sleep I hear the crying children and smell the…”

“The crying children, Thomas.”

“…”

“Do you still feel like useful engine now, Thomas, because you followed orders and arrived on time?”

“…”

“Thomas?”

“Kill me or let me go. You punish me either way. I can only follow the tracks, I don’t get to decide where they lead.”

If that were the case Trump wouldn’t have even been on the ballot.

Didn’t know about Bridgerton, googled, no shade, but category 5 titty event was grossly overselling it, cat 3 tops

It’s a health textbook, of course it’s stuck in the 1950’s

There was never going to be a clean exit from Afghanistan from the moment the US decided to try to nation build there.

People wanted blood after 9/11, and if we were honest with ourselves about who we really are as a country, after Bin Laden got away in Tora Bora we would’ve leveled Kabul and called it a day, for all the difference it ultimately ended up making. Not saying it would’ve been right, but it would’ve accomplished the exact same thing as what 20 years of occupation did, arguably with less blowback, and it could’ve been done without dragging the rest of our allies into it, but gotta keep up appearances.

Honestly, I think the left needs to lean into shit like this post. Just loudly pretend Biden is the best president ever and should be unanimously elected god-emperor of the earth for life. We can have the real adult discussion when some jurisdiction finally smacks Trump with something that’ll bar him from office (or he kicks the bucket) and enough of the boomers have died off that the Republican party can’t win purely by catering to the most deranged of them. Or at least wait until 2028 when we have Democrat primary.

I don’t think that people are dumb, but most are too distracted, tired and disengaged to see “vote as harm reduction” as meaningful motivation to vote for someone. Nuance does not make for good propaganda, and while propaganda is distasteful, it’s necessary.

Even if you’re of the opinion that the only way to effect meaningful change is through violent revolution, the far left in this country does not have and is not in a position to co-opt the infrastructure necessary to do that, nor the widespread political support.

Lady, the question was “do thongs touch you butthole?”

Please tell whoever is holding the keys that a random on the internet said to let you cum, if not for your own sake then for the rest of ours.

Fuck me I thought that you just had a browser extension that replaced CEO with “rich white” or something. What even is this world but G-d finding new way to punish me every day for not committing 41%.

Whoosh

I assume “are” got autocorrected.

They had me in the first half not gonna lie

Its disgustingly tragic and sad that there ain’t taijin on any of them fruit cups.

Disregard productivity, acquire comfy rice.

A single state is still a large market to pass up, and tooling costs make it impractical to manufacture different versions of things.

Even for software, the US experiences positive externalities of the GDPR and the rest of the US does from privacy laws in California and Illinois (likely others that I don’t know off the top of my head)

State laws also often serve as the prototype for federal ones.

It should be federal, but this is absolutely good news.

The reward for the work is the result of the work. For these communities to exists, there must be moderation and for many people the existence of said communities is worth the cost in time/server costs. Reddit selling stock off the backs of people who perform free labor for them is a problem, but someone who sets up a lemmy/mastodon/whatever to host discussion about the things that they care about is not a slave just because they don’t demand monetary compensation or sell your data. The lack of monetization isn’t a bug it’s a feature.

Everything I’ve gotten as a flatpak has been borked in one way or another. I only use it if there is literally no other option available.

I honestly didn’t notice.

Removed by mod

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The grungler to weird discord transsexual pipeline