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Many people in other countries know only of Johannesburg.

That said, Pretoria is just north of it, and the two cities have expanded so much that no clear line can be drawn between the two. If you were to look at it from the sky, you would think we were one city if you didn't know better. We are the two largest cities in Gauteng, South Africa's smallest, yet most densely populated province. Johannesburg is South Africa's business capital, while Pretoria is the political one.

My ignorance is probably going to show now, but New York and Washington D.C. have a similar dynamic?

Kinda.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_megalopolis

Many people in other countries know only of Johannesburg.

That said, Pretoria is just north of it, and the two cities have expanded so much that no clear line can be drawn between the two. If you were to look at it from the sky, you would think we were one city if you didn't know better. We are the two largest cities in Gauteng, South Africa's smallest, yet most densely populated province. Johannesburg is South Africa's business capital, while Pretoria is the political one.

My ignorance is probably going to show now, but New York and Washington D.C. have a similar dynamic?

Kinda.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_megalopolis

Canada has an equivalent:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_City%E2%80%93Windsor_Corridor

Many people in other countries know only of Johannesburg.

That said, Pretoria is just north of it, and the two cities have expanded so much that no clear line can be drawn between the two. If you were to look at it from the sky, you would think we were one city if you didn't know better. We are the two largest cities in Gauteng, South Africa's smallest, yet most densely populated province. Johannesburg is South Africa's business capital, while Pretoria is the political one.

My ignorance is probably going to show now, but New York and Washington D.C. have a similar dynamic?

Kinda.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_megalopolis

Canada has an equivalent:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_City%E2%80%93Windsor_Corridor

Living in Quebec City, I know very well the space between that city and Montreal is rural at best and empty at worst, so that's not really a good comparison.

So....Seroim....what's going on in your life, you piece of wanna-be french-toast drowned in Maple Syrup?

As heavily influenced by commerce as New York is, it is not an official capital of any sort (it used to be the capital before about 1800 or so, but not since then). For all practical purposes, Washington D.C. is the federal capital of administration, the judiciary, taxation, the military, foreign embassies, and most other purposes. (Some of these government agencies are located in the suburbs immediately surrounding D.C., but that is only because the actual district itself is too small to house everything.)

Heh.  All the real decisions happen behind closed doors in New York. Wall Street is basically the capital of the United States, at least in terms of policy these days. It used to be offset by big oil down south in Dallas/Houston, but that's been comparatively silent since the end of the 20th century...

Oh yeah and we're also controlled by wherever the headquarters of the NRA is here in the US...

Heh.  All the real decisions happen behind closed doors in New York. Wall Street is basically the capital of the United States, at least in terms of policy these days. It used to be offset by big oil down south in Dallas/Houston, but that's been comparatively silent since the end of the 20th century...

Oh yeah and we're also controlled by wherever the headquarters of the NRA is here in the US...

I can only hope you're being sarcastic.

Eh, he's not too far off.

Here's an interesting video I saw awhile back on the topic.

http://businesstech.co.za/news/general/127489/this-is-whats-driving-angry-south-africans-to-violet-protest/

Heh.  All the real decisions happen behind closed doors in New York. Wall Street is basically the capital of the United States, at least in terms of policy these days. It used to be offset by big oil down south in Dallas/Houston, but that's been comparatively silent since the end of the 20th century...

Oh yeah and we're also controlled by wherever the headquarters of the NRA is here in the US...

I can only hope you're being sarcastic.

  Yes, I'm exaggerating a bit, but not by much, unfortunately... :/

A few years back a study out of Princeton University actually determined that America was no longer a democracy, but an oligarchy which is controlled by the wealthy. Article here. A practical example of this is gun control, where polls have consistently shown widespread support for various gun control measures, but they have all failed in large part due to lobbying by the NRA.

In any case, on a more personal note, our furlough/20% pay cut are being lifted. Starting next week I'll be working full time again.

A few years back a study out of Princeton University actually determined that America was no longer a democracy, but an oligarchy which is controlled by the wealthy. Article here. A practical example of this is gun control, where polls have consistently shown widespread support for various gun control measures, but they have all failed in large part due to lobbying by the NRA.

In any case, on a more personal note, our furlough/20% pay cut are being lifted. Starting next week I'll be working full time again.

Most of the wealthy want gun control, so I'm not sure where you're going with this. Guns are the single biggest threat to their power, so they want to keep them for themselves (private security/mercenaries/"national" armed forces) but deny them to us.

Don't you think America would be a better place today if Occupy Wall Street had been named Slaughter Wall Street and a bunch of banker fucks and career politicians got shot in the face?

Instead we got a movement that was promising as long as it was really grassroots, then got hijacked by George Soros and idpol bullshit and petered out and ultimately accomplished nothing of value.

As long as Americans are armed, the possibility of an uprising exists. Unfortunately, Americans (and Europeans and Canadians...) are spineless cunts, so they still hesitate to use them for the reason they were meant to be used.

I'm hoping that one day the establishment grows overconfident and goes a bit too far, like by getting caught rigging elections red-handed, so they get what they've been deserving since the 80s.

You want anything to change, you'll want a French Revolution 2.0. Anything less is bound to fail.

We need to cull some population soon anyway to avoid a Malthusian catastrophe. Why not start with those who ruined it all for us?

I'm not sure that wealth influencing policy and democracy are mutually exclusive.

Going back to Wintermoot's happy news (because I will respectfully disagree with much of the politics expressed in the preceding), I'm happy that you're able to have your old hours back at your job. Hopefully that will ease up a lot of the pressures on both your department and your finances.

Fuck, it's all over one way or another tomorrow. In or out, we'll have to live with the consequences.

Goddamn these last two weeks.

Going back to Wintermoot's happy news (because I will respectfully disagree with much of the politics expressed in the preceding), I'm happy that you're able to have your old hours back at your job. Hopefully that will ease up a lot of the pressures on both your department and your finances.

Thanks! It will take some time to recover from the debt that it put me in, but unless something happens I should be fine in a few months.

Pigeons ^0^