In other news the forums are looking spiffy 
Bye Bye SD !
H0RSE
(H0RSE)
#122
[QUOTE=zenstar;371929]Amazing how an offhand, tongue-in-cheek quote causes such a debate. The major problems in the world can be put down to overpopulation, conflicting social contracts in a globalized society and lack of a good work ethic / social integration ethic of young people nowadays.
[/QUOTE]
I agree with this. Overpopulation is a big one. The resources of the planet can only support so many people. The problem is, when it comes to having children, most people are extremely selfish about it, with reasoning be something along the lines of “I want to start a family” or “I want (more) children.” It doesn’t matter what you want - why don’t you do the responsible thing and ask yourself questions like “Does the planet really need another human on it? Or another 100 or 1000 humans?” Remember, every child you have has the potential to go on and have his/her own family - and so on and so on. People (especially in the US) treat children like a commodity - just another thing they want.
My point of view is if you have more than 2 children, you are completely selfish in regards to the needs of the global population vs the planets resources to sustain them. There is absolutely no reason why somebody should ever have more than 2 children, unless we are facing extinction and we need to get our numbers up.
As for the lack of good work ethic - People don’t mind doing work, when it’s work they don’t mind doing. I do not blame people for this - I blame the system and the way it “locks” or “traps” people into working, and they way companies (or supervisors) treat their employees. I always hear people talking about “yeah, I saw so and so and work and he didn’t do this, this and this, he’s so lazy.” Is he lazy? He’s at a place that dictates when he must show up, when he can go on brake, and when he can go home. He is also told what to do, how to do, and criticized of his work when it’s not up to par. Chances are, he is not doing this because he likes it, but simply because he has bills to pay and wants to eat - he needs money. What I’m getting at is that it isn’t that he’s lazy that he’s not doing his work, it’s because he’s at a place engaged in activities that his body and mind just aren’t “feeling.” There’s a million other things he would rather be doing. This is completely normal. I know wen I don’t like doing something, I will usually stop doing it. If I don’t like a certain food, I won’t eat it. In the case of working, If I don’t like a job I will usually quit the job…oh wait, it’s not that simple, since quitting the job will cut off my lifelines - income, pension, benefits, etc. Essentially this means many people are “trapped” at their jobs - they do it because they must. It’s Economic slavery.
Approach it this way - If an employe at work is slacking off and being “lazy”, but after work, they go home and build an addition on their house, or rebuild the engine in their car or clean the house, make dinner, run errands, go to the gym, etc. is this person still “lazy?” They all sound like very non-lazy activities.
zenstar
(zenstar)
#124
@lobster: You’re a bit late with that pictuer. About 5-6 pages too late 
@Horse: Yeah. Overpopulation and lack of education. The 3rd world have massive issues because people breed like crazy, can’t afford to feed themselves or their families and then suddenly famine. Mostly due to lack of education. Civil wars and corrupt politics don’t help the situations either.
It always amazes me when environmentalists get all up in my face about “you didn’t recycle the cardboard from inside the plastic non-recyclable wrapper that was covered in mayonaise. Don’t you care about your carbon footprint?” and yet they have 5 kids. You know what the biggest carbon footprint anyone can ever leave behind is? Answer: a child.
I could drive a humvee that ran of a mixture of unrefined oil and trees fresh-cut from the amazon that never shut it’s engine down even when parked and spewed out raw garbage, pure lead and mercury and my impact on the environment over my entire lifetime will still be less than the environmentalist’s kids.
I agree with the 2 kids thing. Once you’ve replaced yourself there’s no reason to go on unless you’re building an army (long term plan army).
On the topic of work / money: yeah. The system has a lot of issues, but at the moment it’s the one we have. Until we have Star Trek style replicators that can convert matter into other matter we’re always going to need some sort of trading system. Personally I think there should be a monetary system amongst individual people and stores and another monetary system between countries. Debts of X billion dollars/pounds/whatever are just stupid numbers that noone really understands anymore. The human mind cannot actually comprehend numbers that big really. At that sort of level it’s far better to think in terms of contracts and resources than individual bills. But then international politics is messy and stupid.
But I’m not an accountant (thankfully). And It’s almost Friday night / the weekend so I suggest a monetary system based on beer and burgers. Think about it: you could survive on your money without actually having to go to the store That’ll be a burger and 2 beers… would you like your change in fries?
Oschino1907
(Oschino1907)
#125
@Horse - Your second and third paragraphs have a lot that could also be said about many educational systems especially the public ones throughout the U.S.
Jimmy_James
(Jimmy James)
#126
[QUOTE=zenstar;371929]Amazing how an offhand, tongue-in-cheek quote causes such a debate. The major problems in the world can be put down to overpopulation, conflicting social contracts in a globalized society and lack of a good work ethic / social integration ethic of young people nowadays.
That and gangsta rap.
Aaaaaand discuss![/QUOTE]
They say a good belly laugh adds 5 minutes to your life. I swear I owe you for a couple extra years. (Though, as Denis Leary once said: “It’s the wheelchair, kidney dialysis, adult diaper ****ing years.”)
[QUOTE=dazman76;371964]That’s a little deep for me on a Friday. How about…
I LIEK CHEEZS[/QUOTE]
What a strangely relevant reply. In some parts of the world people work on Sunday and take Friday off. It’s a real pain in the ass for international companies.
-JJ
thesuzukimethod
(thesuzukimethod)
#127
a couple quick things to make sure this thread stays completely OT. that’s off topic, not on topic, btw…
-average # kids is the issue - i.e. it’s a social issue not an individual one. no need to demonize someone with 3-4. the 0 the wifey and I have (and plan to have) balances it out.
-the real issue is ecological footprint. you can have no kids or 1 kid, and if you travel the world by plane, drive everywhere, eat meat for every meal, etc etc…your footprint will be a lot larger and the world cant sustain 500 million people living at your standard of living, much less 7 billion. some of the global south (the least offensive word it seems academics can come up with) has an incredibly small (per capita) ecological footprint, despite large family size.
so the question is - do those who are already there (or are mostly there), look down on the rest and say - well, we did it and have it, but unfortunately, if you lived the way we did, the planet couldn’t support all of us, so…well…sorry?
zenstar
(zenstar)
#129
[QUOTE=thesuzukimethod;372092]a couple quick things to make sure this thread stays completely OT. that’s off topic, not on topic, btw…
-average # kids is the issue - i.e. it’s a social issue not an individual one. no need to demonize someone with 3-4. the 0 the wifey and I have (and plan to have) balances it out.
-the real issue is ecological footprint. you can have no kids or 1 kid, and if you travel the world by plane, drive everywhere, eat meat for every meal, etc etc…your footprint will be a lot larger and the world cant sustain 500 million people living at your standard of living, much less 7 billion. some of the global south (the least offensive word it seems academics can come up with) has an incredibly small (per capita) ecological footprint, despite large family size.
so the question is - do those who are already there (or are mostly there), look down on the rest and say - well, we did it and have it, but unfortunately, if you lived the way we did, the planet couldn’t support all of us, so…well…sorry?[/QUOTE]
So what you’re saying is I should do whatever I want and the people concerned with the environment can balance me out?
Perfect!
(We all hear what we want to hear don’t we… that’s how real politics works)
thesuzukimethod
(thesuzukimethod)
#130
i’m definitely saying this (#notsarcastic)
(my cynicism/libertarianism does frequent battle with my progressivism/idealism…given the current state of global affairs, you can probably guess which side wins)
Jimmy_James
(Jimmy James)
#131
Hmm that reminds me… Goes to Hulu to catch up on missed episodes of “The Daily Show”.
-JJ
thesuzukimethod
(thesuzukimethod)
#132
optional reading for our next support group meeting: The Accursed Share 
Cep
(Cep)
#135
Ok well I can top the C64!
I used to play on a welsh made Dragon 32! And that has a built in console port!
I thank you!
SinDonor
(SinDonor)
#136
[QUOTE=Cep;372176]Ok well I can top the C64!
I used to play on a welsh made Dragon 32! And that has a built in console port!
I thank you![/QUOTE]
Cep
(Cep)
#137
Oh SinDonor I would rep you up again if the board would let me, that video was awesome!
Ah memories…
SinDonor
(SinDonor)
#138
[QUOTE=Cep;372183]Oh SinDonor I would rep you up again if the board would let me, that video was awesome!
Ah memories…[/QUOTE]
Knew you’d get a kick out of it.
Stormchild
(Stormchild)
#139
Money is one thing. A society driven only by monetary profit is another (hardcore capitalism, to amass capital).
One thing is certain : overpopulation is the root of almost, if not all, the problems. And what is the logical/natural way to counter overpopulation ? It’s war. War over resources has been going on for a long time. And building up a society based on ammassing, collecting, and greed, will only accelerate the moment where we are millions standing over the last bread crumb.
Then it will be a gigantic deathmatch. I have my Gotlung ready.
3 possibilities :
- We manage to get in the stars and find new resources and space to expand, but most likely without chancing much the core of our ways : fleeing forward.
- We manage to control our population growth (this might be a ugly match against ethics) and our resources management, all the cycle of any object or food, from creation to recycling.
- We manage to nuke/starve/poison/irradiate/infect ourselves and significantly reduce our numbers. Maybe even instinction ! Cool !!!
thesuzukimethod
(thesuzukimethod)
#140
i always imagined fallout3 was a particularly prescient vision… better start saving caps now…