The last two submissions I made to GoldandBlack was instantly removed. When I messages the mods asking why my posts were removed, I never got a reply. I also noticed that any comments I posted never got a single upvote or downvote, and had no replies to them.

So, I found the /r/CommentRemovalChecker/ subreddit. You just make a post and their bot checks your account and comes back with a report. Here is what mine showed:

​

https://preview.redd.it/jm78p12fo3g81.png?width=1358&format=png&auto=webp&s=731ede3785063b9f47d83083b5706e3c716bef2a

Very interesting stats.

You can also go to /r/shadowban to see if you've been shadowbanned.

Looks like I am not welcome in GoldandBlack any more.

Since I watch a lot of tech videos I often see ones talking about 'Right to Repair'. Apple is a major offender, designing components that don't work when swapped between phones, but do when returned to the original. Commenters and tech celebrities have made statements about R2R, often saying it should be illegal for Apple to make products that way.

Other examples include John Deere, who've been criticized for their handling of software updates, abusing license agreements to make it difficult for customers. Similar attempts to sue or promote legal action have been suggested in these cases.

So what do you guys think about right to repair?

Personally, I come down strongly against John Deere but mostly in favor of Apple.

With Apple, the reason is because they're the owners of their own products up until they're sold. If consumers don't like it, nobody's forcing them to buy. Third-party devices designed for repair like Fairphone or Pinephone exist. When you voluntarily buy a product, knowing what it was like (or having easy access to that information) you give up any right to demand compensation for its flaws. Apple gets away with this behavior because most consumers don't care enough about repair-ability to look elsewhere.

With John Deere its a little more complicated. I might've sided with them if the license agreements were written well. If you sign a contract that says "I will not do X thing with my product", its perfectly moral to enforce that. But you have to know what you're signing up for, which is where 'informed consent' comes from in medicine. The same is true for EULAs. If you make an honest attempt to understand what you're signing up for, and can't do it because its book-length and written in legalese, you shouldn't be held liable.

When you buy a product, the default assumption should be that you're the full owner of it, and can do whatever you want to it. This includes installing custom software, if you're able. While normally it wouldn't give you a right to force someone else to provide tools to install the software, John Deere agreed to make that available to farmers. The combination of their contract-violation and ownership-violation with EULA trolling puts them clearly in the wrong.

I posted this question on another subreddit and the post was removed.

This obviously applies to more than just COVID-19. If you have any disease that has an above average chance of killing someone such as:

1. The Flu
2. Ebola
3. SARS
4. MERS
5. Marburg Virus

would exposing yourself to other people be a NAP violation?

Here is a lists of things I have read "Libertarians" claim on various Libertarian subreddits:

1. Pharmaceutical companies are evil and we shouldn't give them any money
2. The vaccine was rushed and should not be taken.
3. The vaccine flat out doesn't work and the FDA is hiding the data that shows it doesn't
4. The vaccine not only doesn't work, but it's VERY DANGEROUS and kills people.
5. A lot of these people seem to equate vaccine with Pfizer, never mentioning the other vaccine.
6. Masks don't work. I'm not wearing a mask. End of story. And will walk into any business that requires a mask without a mask on.
7. COVID only kills old or fat people. It's not going to kill me. 100% sure of this.
8. You need to burn your vaccine card and destroy forever or you're part of the problem.
9. No company has a right to force me to get vaccinated, so, even though I am Libertarian, I fully support state laws that forbid a company from imposing a vaccine mandate.

Here is how I think Libertarians should respond:

1. Pharmaceutical companies are amoral. They're profit driven publicly traded companies. They're operating like any company should.
2. It's amazing that when the FDA gets out of the way, the private sector can produce a vaccine in a year.
3. I'm still reviewing the data on the COVID vaccine before I make my decision. That research takes time.
4. I'm still reviewing the data on the COVID vaccine before I make my decision. That research takes time.
5. It's great that the free market gives us choice and we can pick between an mRNA vaccine such as Pfizer or Moderna, or a virtal vector vaccine such as J&J and Astra-Zeneca
6. I did my homework and have learned that cloth and surgical masks don't really work and we should all be wearing N95 or better masks. I don't want to wear a mask, and if a business requires masks, then I will go shop somewhere else that doesn't require a mask.
7. Though it's pretty rare, perfectly healthy people have died of COVID. I chose to accept that risk.
8. You are free to do as you wan to do with your vaccine cards.
9. The free market is a wonderful thing. If my employer attempts to enforce a vaccine mandate, then I will use my time until the mandate goes into effect to find a new job that doesn't require proof of vaccination, because that's the free market soution to vaccine mandates.

And if you ask for a source for any of this, it's never an actual scientific source. It's always Project Veritas, or Breitbart, or some other far right website.

This is always a very heated topic, with most Republicans favoring Voter ID, and all Democrats being opposed to it.

I know where I live they tried to pass a Voter ID law that just required proof of residency. So, you just had to show up with a bill in your name with a local address. They'd even take a library card. And the Democrats in my area treated it like the worst form of voter suppression that exists.

I don't have a huge issue with Voter ID laws. I think voting is a bit lax these days. I just voted last week, and signed the book, and no one even checked the signature I wrote, with the one "on file" that was printed right in the book I signed.

I don't know how other states work, but here in PA, when you register to vote, they send you a voter registration card with your name, address, political party and precinct location. I see no harm in requiring people to present that. Every registered voter has one.

The other thing I find exhausting is the way a lot of progressives talk about these laws like they're going to suppress votes by their very existence. From all the laws I read, they shorten registration timelines, and do other things that might make it inconvenient for some people, but they suppress nothing. The best thing Progressives could do to combat these laws is to educate people on the laws and help them make sure they don't miss their chance to vote.

They could also make election day a mandatory paid federal holiday, but for some reason no one ever discusses that.

I think they could reach a compromise. Give the Republicans their Voter ID. But extend election registration and get rid of this concept of "election day" and go to an "election week." Keep polling place open Sunday to Sunday 8 AM to midnight.

There is a LOT of outrage on various Libertarian subreddits about Biden's newest executive order that requires companies over 100 employees to either have them vaccinated, or test them weekly.

The outrage is definitely founded, and I agree that this is HUGE government overreach. But just as I will criticize Biden for this, I also criticize DeSantis for NOT ALLOWING companies to ask for proof of vaccination.

I can't believe how many people will support DeSantis, even though he's just tyranny on the other end of the spectrum.

There are calls on the other subreddits to burn your vaccine card and say NO. I refuse to do that. I use my vaccine card with private businesses all the time. A local game store my family goes to does not require masks if you show proof of vaccination. Since the average D&D game is 4 hours long, I am more than happy to show them my vaccine card and not wear a mask for 4 hours.

My boss asked for proof of vaccination when I got my shot back in May. And I was happy to provide it. They gave me 2 paid days off, which I thought was nice.

When I mentioned this on other subreddits, and told them I would not burn my vaccine card, I got various comments saying "I knew we couldn't count on you" and sheep emojis.

People are also calling me an idiot because I won't support DeSantis.

I feel my take on this mess is the very libertarian one. Both Biden and DeSantis are wrong. You should not force a company to require vaccination for their employees, and you should not tell a company that they're not allowed to inquire about an employees vaccination status.

If your employer wants your vaccination status and you won't provide it, then leave and find a place that doesn't ask.

This is not something the government should get involved with, in either direction. This is a private matter between the employee and the employer.

I find it very annoying that everyone is in outrage over Biden, but there were a lot of DeSantis supporters in libertarian groups.

Abbot in Texas isn't much better. If a company requires proof of vaccination, they're not allowed to do business with the state. So a state government is now discriminating against companies that require proof of vaccination. At least it doesn't compel all businesses to not check for vaccination status. But it compels any government contractors. If those companies can't do business with the states, I think they should stop paying their state tax. Paying taxes is doing business with the state, after all.

There's a vast difference between passing an executive order stating that we cannot compel a corporation to require proof of vaccination, and one that says a corporation may not ask for proof of vaccination.

The first would be the libertarian way to do it. The second it the statist way to do it.

My employer is letting us return to work in October, with some restrictions.

If you can prove you're vaccinated, then you can come back in, and they will require you to wear a mask when interacting with other people, and will not need it to eat lunch.

If you will not offer proof of vaccination, then they require you to wear a mask all day, and cannot take it off to eat or drink. If you want to eat or drink, you need to leave the building. And you'll need to take monthly 1 hour training on the benefits of vaccination.

Now, they are requiring no one to provide proof of vaccination. You can not show your card, and just wear a mask and go out for lunch.

EVERYONE on my team got vaccinated, and I don't give a crap if anyone knows whether I am vaccinated. I will happily provide a copy of my vaccine card to avoid the masks and training.

As a Libertarian, I believe in at-will employment. If I don't like my company's policy about COVID-19, then I need to leave and find another job.

What's interesting to me, is that I am seeing clear political divisions on my team:

1. The Democrats on the team complain unvaccinated individuals shouldn't even enter the building.
2. The Republicans on the team claim asking for proof of vaccination is a HIPPA violation, and even though they're vaccinated, they will not tell the employer they're vaccinated and will just wear the mask and take the training.
3. I don't work with any Libertarians, so I don't know what other Libertarians in my company think.

I totally disagree with the Democrats, since I don't feel we need to kick out unvaccinated individuals. If you're vaccinated, you're reasonably protected. And if unvaccinated individuals scare you, because of the risk of a break-through infection, then you can just continue to work from home and just not come into the office.

And I just don't understand the Republicans. They're within their rights to not show their vaccine card. I just don't understand WHY they don't want to and why they're annoyed at our employer for asking.

My wife is seeing similar things where she works. Her employer will give anyone who gets vaccinated 2 days off on the company: one to get the shot, and one recovery day. But to get the time off, you need to show proof of vaccination, which I think is totally fair. And the same thing is happening there. The Republicans at work will not show proof of vaccinated and are using vacation time instead to go get vaccinated. The Democrats happily show their vaccine card and take the extra two days off.

If you're a COVID-19 vaccinated Libertarian, do you care if your employer knows you're vaccinated? And if you don't want your employer to know your vaccination status, why?