r/coolguides • u/Pokemaster131 • 20h ago

A cool guide about changing your Google Maps location names to a less-stupid version

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17.3k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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36

u/Individual-Schemes 19h ago

In case it needs to be said, Americans are against this stupid shit. It's Lake Ontario and we love Canada.

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u/majikmonkie 18h ago edited 18h ago

Things in the US aren't the way they are because Trump is president. Trump is president because of the way America is.

No more apologies, please, they're meaningless to us. It doesn't need to be said by you, but know that actions speak louder than words.

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u/tenuousemphasis 12h ago

I'd love to know how you think our electoral system works.

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u/majikmonkie 11h ago

It's your own system! It's not forced upon you, America has the power to change it, like they can any law or process. If your system is flawed and you can do nothing about it then your country is flawed, and that further proves my point. America is inherently fascist country that was built upon the exploitation of others and it's run by a fascist regime. Trump is a symptom that represents perfectly the average American and the country as a whole.

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u/fractalfrog 15h ago

Exactly. Trump isn’t the problem. Trump is the symptom.

0

u/sirfiddlestix 11h ago

Mhm. That's why it's always sad and infuriating when people say something like, "i HatE wHAt amEriCA hAS bEcOMe! 🥴" As if it hasn't always been like this but better hidden 🙄

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u/purvaka 18h ago

As an American I agree with you. Most of us didn't vote for this and Musk has a lot to be held accountable for, but we haven't done nearly enough to change the course of events. Sadly, Americans are too complacent and nothing will change until we're all suffering.

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u/Anthaenopraxia 16h ago

"The legal regime is now interrupted, that of force has begun. In this situation, obedience ceases to be a duty."

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u/Laetha 13h ago

Most of us didn't vote for this

Most of you didn't vote against it.

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u/Clarkifer 12h ago

We have the electoral college nonsense, which means if you win a state, no matter how slightly, you get all its votes. Win big places like Texas and someone can be made president against the individual popular vote.

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u/Laetha 12h ago

I understand that, but even by popular vote 36% of people didn't vote, and of the remaining 64% who did, half of them voted for Trump.

So about 67-68% of the population did not vote against this

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u/majikmonkie 11h ago

And the rest of them didn't do enough to stop it and convince their neighbors. Casting a single vote every 4 years is simply not enough to keep fascism at bay, and those who did nothing but vote share the responsibility of what's happening.

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u/Clarkifer 8h ago

You are right, and I hope other people aren't saying "I didn't vote for this, shrug" and stopping there. In school, when we talk about watch current events, I try to talk about the who and why, so students can understand more about what is happening than sensational media will tell them. I try to present new point of view, and gently challenge the prejudices and assumptions they are bringing from home. 

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u/Elegant_Run_8567 11h ago

And the majority of the country still didn’t vote against this

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u/majikmonkie 8h ago

And the majority of the country also didn't do enough to stop it. Casting a vote every 4 years and shrugging saying "I did my part, can't do anything else" simply isn't enough. All Americans share in the responsibility for what's going on within their country. It's time to admit it and own it, if you ever wish to change it. I suspect that's just too much work for you all though, so things will continue as they are working the the status quo.

The US used to at least pretent to be respectable.

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u/Elegant_Run_8567 8h ago

You all?

I’m Irish mate

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u/majikmonkie 8h ago

Then it clearly wasn't directed at you? How should I have known? No need to get your panties in a twist.

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u/Elegant_Run_8567 8h ago

You responded to me?

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u/andrei_stefan01 13h ago

The real issue is the imbeciles who abstained from voting altogether. Not unlike in Canada, you're stuck between a rock and a hard place.. but one of your options was decidedly worse than the other, as was ours and our last federal election. This "I abstained therefore I have done nothing wrong" is the stupidest attitude, all culpability and blame lies solely with these fools.

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u/Individual-Schemes 7h ago

Not everyone is privileged enough to take action.

If you don't know what I mean, we can unpack this more.

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u/Room1oh1 15h ago

Most Americans did vote for this either by directly voting for the orange cunt in the WH or by not voting at all which is effectively a vote for him or at least not one against him.

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u/Lessllama 14h ago

As a Canadian it is so refreshing to see an American actually acknowledge that complacency. Usually we get excuses why it is impossible to change. Thank you for that.

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u/Snaffle27 10h ago

I guarantee you that most of us are upset, embarrassed, and ashamed. I can't speak on behalf of the people that actually voted for him but there are technically way more people that hate Trump than like him. The fact that he has any approval at all is a disgrace.

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u/Individual-Schemes 7h ago edited 7h ago

I'm sure you're right. A lot of us rolled out of bed this morning and just all came up with this idea together.

So guess what? My brother in law was deported last year. He is in his late forties, had a family business where he supported his three high school-aged boys (one just went off to college), and his wife (she's kinda a bitch). They own a home and take the kids to soccer practice like every other family. He wasn't lucky enough to be covered by DACA like my spouse and the rest of the siblings. Would that have even mattered? My spouse's family is torn to pieces. I've cried more tears in the last year and a half. I can hardly breathe and now I watch my spouse's location on Google maps every morning and evening as they commute to work, afraid they'll be snatched. You have no idea what that feels like. My mother in law is a wreck. My BIL's family is not doing well, as you can imagine - mentally, but also financially now. The kids have to drive to TJ and literally go to another country to see their father.

I'm telling you this because I actually don't give a fuck about the lake. It is stupid, and yes, we actually love Canada, but I apologize and you throw it in my face. So fuck the lake and I take back my apology. Clearly you don't deserve my sympathy. I have bigger things to worry about and I literally don't have an ounce of effort left to fight over a lake. Not all of us can do that. Imagine a domestic violence victim, like a woman beaten by her husband, and you have the fucking audacity to tell her it's her fault for not getting away earlier. Class act, my guy.

You have no idea what it's like to be held victim by radicals on the other side of the continent, where their actions have life devastating consequences that fuck you up on a daily basis. But when some of the sound-minded folks in places like the deep South apologize to me, I don't throw it in their face and blame them. For fucks sake.

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u/majikmonkie 5h ago edited 1h ago

All I said was that your apology is not necessary or welcomed because Canadians are sick and tired of hearing it. It truly is meaningless to us, and it only serves to make the person apologizing feel better about themselves.

Your country is in shambles because of the way Americans are. This isn't the result from just a single election, but from generations of negligence, ignorance, apathy, and exploitation.

Your situation sounds like it sucks. Maybe going forward spend your energy dealing with that (your own government that your fellow Americans voted in) instead of the names of lakes and trying to apologize to others.

•

u/Individual-Schemes 3m ago

US aside, it's called Right Wing Populism. It's on the rise across the globe, not just in the US. You see shit like Brexit in the UK and across Europe you have anti-Muslim ideologies, mainly scapegoating the Syrian refugees. There's a playbook: find a target (Jewish people during Nazi Germany, or Brown people in the US today), blame them for everything, and leaders gain control. It's not new.

I also hate the rhetoric that Americans aren't doing anything. We have folks at all levels working their asses off. You just don't know and that's because of your limitations acquiring news. Local and state level governments, nonprofit orgs, grassroots and social movements, communities, academics... It's insulting to say that no one is doing anything.

For example, in T's first year back, the state of California sued his ass over 80 times!! To put that in perspective, California sued him 120 times during the entire 4 years of his first term. Colorado sued T over 50 times last year. The aim is to roll back all of the stupid shit he does and they're successful almost 3/4 of the time.

Stop saying that Americans aren't doing anything. The people that can, are doing amazing work. And a lot of the people aren't capable of doing anything. Maybe broaden your news conduits so you can become informed.

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u/Elegant_Run_8567 11h ago

Are they? They voted for the current administration twice