Anyone else around here been living a "meh" life lately?

[Eejit]

American in knows more about Africa than African dude does shocker. Better close that window, your credibility is blowing away...

Rather than relatively rich white kid living in walled enclosure in Africa possibly being ever so slightly sheltered?

 

[repiV]

Rather than relatively rich white kid living in walled enclosure in Africa possibly being ever so slightly sheltered?

He's certainly not an armchair expert. I wasn't aware he was white either, for that matter.

 

[Solaris]

Yeah I thought it was pretty ****ed up of that kid to blame the diseases on the people like that.

Good post btw RepriV

 

[Eejit]

I wasn't aware he was white either, for that matter.

I seem to remember him posting in that mugshots thread.

 

[barbarbarbarbar]

I got a big exam in June , I'm quite scared I'll fail ...

 

[repiV]

Yeah I thought it was pretty ****ed up of that kid to blame the diseases on the people like that.

Harsh perhaps, and not particularly diplomatic, but that doesn't mean there is not truth in what he says.

Everyone I've ever spoken to who's spent any real time living and working in Africa says the same thing - Africa's problems are caused by African attitudes (eg. in Nigeria ****ing other people over is something to be immensely proud of). There is in reality a hell of a lot of money in that country, it's not a poor nation by any means but the corruption and backstabbing there ensures that the money does not get used properly.

For that matter, did you see that program with Louis Theroux in South Africa? Those people are just so ****ed up I really can't get my head round it, even the "good" ones.

Good post btw RepriV

Cheers.

I seem to remember him posting in that mugshots thread.

Ah right.

 

[Dodo]

Mechanicallizard has a point, so does McHammer, dont know about repiV ... tl;dr

My life has been quite ok lately, i just need to find a GF, ive got too much love!! i wanna share it with a nice hot oiled up chick... : /

Im sorry, im getting desperate here

*lights up spliff*

-dodo

 

[Eejit]

Harsh perhaps, and not particularly diplomatic, but that doesn't mean there is not truth in what he says.

Everyone I've ever spoken to who's spent any real time living and working in Africa says the same thing - Africa's problems are caused by African attitudes (eg. in Nigeria ****ing other people over is something to be immensely proud of). There is in reality a hell of a lot of money in that country, it's not a poor nation by any means but the corruption and backstabbing there ensures that the money does not get used properly.

Yeah it's something of a vicious circle. They need effective education systems to progress more, but they can't easily progress more without good education infrastructure.

 

[mchammer75040]

"Abject" is a subjective term. I come from London so I've known more than a few people from third world countries in my time. Plenty of them preferred their home countries, and judging by this thread it's not only people I've met.

There are many peoples on this planet who continue to live a tribal existence, unconcerned with any of our "advances" in life. I don't suppose they're any less happy than your average Brit. I wouldn't be surprised if it was generally the other way around.

In fact I went out with a girl from Trinidad a couple of years ago. It might not be Somalia, but it's extremely poor, crime-ridden, corrupt and you can't rely on basic services. She found life over here very depressing and went back home after less than a year.



Like I said, "abject" is a subjective term.

I'm talking about people who can't support themselves, people who have to live in a shit hole not in a tribe. Yea I'll agree that there are plenty of people who live off the land alone and are perfectly happy, thats different than someone scratching by living in the slums. Did your lady friend live in a place like the pictures I posted? I assume not (not being an ass, seriously).

Hell lets look this up in the dictionary:
1 utterly hopeless, miserable, humiliating, or wretched: abject poverty.
2. contemptible; despicable; base-spirited: an abject coward.
3. shamelessly servile; slavish.
4. Obsolete. cast aside.

What?? This is subjective?? No sir I don't see anything that anyone could construe as any sort of living conditions someone would be happy to live in. Thats the definition of the word, rewrite the dictionary if you wish!
Believe me I envy the people who live in the villages hunting with very little material cares
and are self sufficient, but thats completely different than people who work slave wages in underdeveloped countries with shit water,..etc.

College poor is about as poor as you can actually get in Western society, so that's all that really matters..

Fair enough, thats not the case here.

Most people work at jobs they hate just to make it by, regardless of whether or not they are poor. The days of the aristocracy are somewhat behind us, I'd be homeless within a month or two of unemployment just like everyone else. Crime and drug abuse is a product of people being shitheads, and you can't excuse that by blaming it on poverty. People are responsible for their own behaviour, contrary to popular belief. Their shit living conditions were probably of their own making. Have you ever considered that it's not the poverty that causes the attitude, but the attitude that causes the poverty?

I'm not blaming people's personal responsibilities on poverty, you're right people should change their attitude but what about the people who are raised in these places? Poverty might be the result of crime, but you have to admit it also creates it. Here in America I know firsthand most people in poor communities have less education opportunities, this all feeds back onto itself so I assume its the same in Africa.
Here again we're just going to be talkin right past one another because you are from an entirely different society than I am.

Where did I say anything about rich, stuck up snobs? I've worked in high earning careers with high earning people, and they put on a brave face but most of them are miserable as sin, or constantly stressed because their work consumes their lives and to have to keep earning lots of money to sustain their financial commitments is a precarious perch to be sitting on. An old manager of mine gave up his sales job and took a massive paycut to become the sales manager because he was literally going insane from the amount of work he was doing.

I see absolutely no evidence to suggest that the richer people in my company now are any happier at all than those of us who are struggling a bit. My boss owns several properties, an enormous boat and he just bought a Ferrari F430, but he's obviously not that happy. He's also always pointing out how envious he is of my sportsbike, as his wife won't let him have one. Money can't buy you everything.

You posted this:

No, but I bet you'd rather be your younger self and skint than wealthy and working 80 hour weeks, your entire life crumbling around you as you don't have the time or energy to do anything except work.

As if there is only two choices, it sounds like a loaded question to me.

American in knows more about Africa than African dude does shocker. Better close that window, your credibility is blowing away...

Uhh..okay? If I'm wrong then educate me.

 

[repiV]

Yeah it's something of a vicious circle. They need effective education systems to progress more, but they can't easily progress more without good education infrastructure.

That's a large part of it, but I wonder if it's even a question of education. The root of the problem is a cultural one, how do you educate a different culture into a nation? And isn't that just a form of brainwashing?

Would you not be accused of racism or imperialism for trying to change their attitudes?

Take the slums on the outskirts of Johannesberg that Louis Theroux went to visit...crazy. If anyone got accused of stealing or anything else (ie. someone points a finger at them and calls them a thief), "the community" would beat them to a pulp, douse them in petrol and burn them to death. There was this woman who was really upset because this vigilante wanted to burn her friend for apparently being a criminal, and as she cried she claimed the vigilante should be burned instead. I mean, what do you DO about people like that? And these were the *nice* ones.

I don't see how anything we can do short of full scale cultural imperialism is ever going to change things in Africa. It's like trying to take the consumerism out of America. I'd suggest it might even be wrong to interfere, and that we have no place to pass judgement so long as their situation has no bearing on us. Perhaps we should just leave well alone.

 

[Raziaar]

This thread needs more examples of Raz's "meh" life, to cheer you all up about your own.

 

[mchammer75040]

Raz was once sexually molested by a cow. True story.:thumbs:

 

[Raziaar]

It wasn't a cow... it just looked like a cow.

 

[Rizzo]

 

[Raziaar]

<sobs softly>

 

[Solaris]

I'm all for cultural imperialism I think.

Not sure.

I'd like to see every western nation 'team up' with a poor African/south American/middle eastern countries. Each country take responcability for helping a poor country get to its feet. We could send over our student doctors, send teachers. Do a lot of exchange programs etc. Perhaps send troops to help with internal security. Make sure their elections are fair and free.

Of course it's idealistic but I don't know. If I was head of the EU it's certainly a campaign I'd love to spearhead. It's just not right how poor some countries are in comparrision to our own. If we had greater co-operation we could solve a lot of problems and all get something out of it.

Countries ruled by dictators or reactionary leaders should be invaded and a proper regime installed. Some countries aren't ready for democracy (afganistan) but that doesn't mean we should leave them to the forces of evil (the taliban).

 

[Raziaar]

Countries ruled by dictators or reactionary leaders should be invaded and a proper regime installed. Some countries aren't ready for democracy (afganistan) but that doesn't mean we should leave them to the forces of evil (the taliban).

Prohibitively expensive. And incredible time investment. It shouldn't be done unless it's going to be seen to the end. If you just go in, kill some bad guys, prop up a government hastily, it'll quickly fall and be replaced by other evil dudes.

 

[repiV]

I'm talking about people who can't support themselves, people who have to live in a shit hole not in a tribe. Yea I'll agree that there are plenty of people who live off the land alone and are perfectly happy, thats different than someone scratching by living in the slums.

Yes it is, but technically the person scratching a living in the slums is wealthier. They inhabit a far more developed infrastructure, possess and earn a level of income. Currency is irrelevant to a tribe. They have nothing at all beyond that which they scavenge each day.

Did your lady friend live in a place like the pictures I posted? I assume not (not being an ass, seriously).

No, nothing like the pictures you posted - but then the lives of most people in poverty bear no relation to that either. She lives in Port of Spain, which isn't really a very nice place. Very high crime and poverty, and despite being a capital city, rolling blackouts apparently are an everyday occurence at times. The point is that a high level of development of a place does not necessarily make it a happier place to be. She likes the culture, the climate and of course the family & home thing.

I mean, supposedly the Scandinavian countries are the most developed and "best" places to live in the world. You wouldn't catch me in Norway. £9 for a pint of beer, mandatory jail sentences for 86mph(!!!), extortionate tax rates and so overly regulated. Not to mention the climate. I'd rather live in somewhere like Spain or Greece, with their more relaxed attitudes to life and the law. Even though they're a lot poorer and supposedly a lot less developed. If the law is stupid, they ignore the law and it gets repealed. If only we had that attitude here.

It's all a sliding scale at the end of the day. You can't just hold up the worst example of poverty imaginable and say "would you prefer this?" because that's not the point. The point is that wealth does not necessarily equate to happiness, and after certain needs are met there is seemingly no correlation at all between happiness and wealth. We are no happier now than we were in the 1960s, despite being far, far richer.

Hell lets look this up in the dictionary:
1 utterly hopeless, miserable, humiliating, or wretched: abject poverty.
2. contemptible; despicable; base-spirited: an abject coward.
3. shamelessly servile; slavish.
4. Obsolete. cast aside.

What?? This is subjective?? No sir I don't see anything that anyone could construe as any sort of living conditions someone would be happy to live in. Thats the definition of the word, rewrite the dictionary if you wish!

Fair enough.

Believe me I envy the people who live in the villages hunting with very little material cares
and are self sufficient, but thats completely different than people who work slave wages in underdeveloped countries with shit water,..etc.

Well, it kind of is. They still "have" less than the people on 'slave wages' that you describe, it's just that they make more use of the things they do have, and the people in the slums rely on the little that is on offer. Theoretically, there is nothing to stop the slum dwellers from becoming nomadic hunters themselves.

I'm not blaming people's personal responsibilities on poverty, you're right people should change their attitude but what about the people who are raised in these places? Poverty might be the result of crime, but you have to admit it also creates it. Here in America I know firsthand most people in poor communities have less education opportunities, this all feeds back onto itself so I assume its the same in Africa.
Here again we're just going to be talkin right past one another because you are from an entirely different society than I am.

Well, yes, it is a circular process. But at the end of the day, we are not born equal - and no amount of idealism is going to change that. It's up to each individual to make the most of the hand they were dealt. And to adopt that attitude is to give everyone their best chance of success. Rather than the welfare state approach, which far from dragging people out of poverty, traps them in it.

As if there is only two choices, it sounds like a loaded question to me.

If you want to be rich, you have to work for it. Let's forget this "abject poverty" stuff for the moment, with a few exceptions it does not exist in any developed country. And in the cases where it does exist, in the vast majority of cases it's self-inflicted. There is no excuse for any able-bodied person in the West to be in true poverty. Others have the benefit system to provide for their needs. Granted, some slip through the net as we see with mentally handicapped people who end up homeless, but this is a rare failure of the system. It's entirely fair to generalise here - under normal circumstances, as an adult, if you are in poverty it's your own fault. There are plenty of opportunities out there.

Now that aside, money is fairly tight for most of us. That's just a fact of life. But we still manage to afford many luxuries that we take for granted on top of everything else. If you want to earn substantially more, it's going to cost you - in time, health, freedom, etc. It's extremely rare to be born into money these days, and you have to be seriously rich to be able to give up work - in that sense even the wealthy are "working class" these days.

So I ask you, is being wealthy worth the sacrifice? I don't believe it is. Apart from anything, until you get to "successful businessman" levels of wealth, the more you earn the more trapped you are. There are very, very few £100,000 jobs out there, but £15,000 jobs are everywhere. The higher you climb, the more stuck you become into a certain career path, specialisation and company. You end up with absolutely no choices.

I wouldn't want to give away my freedom like that.

Uhh..okay? If I'm wrong then educate me.

I didn't claim that you were either right or wrong. I'm just saying that it's a little outrageous to confront someone who has vast firsthand experience of the subject in hand in such a way, when you have none.

 

[repiV]

I'm all for cultural imperialism I think.

Not sure.

I'd like to see every western nation 'team up' with a poor African/south American/middle eastern countries. Each country take responcability for helping a poor country get to its feet. We could send over our student doctors, send teachers. Do a lot of exchange programs etc. Perhaps send troops to help with internal security. Make sure their elections are fair and free.

Of course it's idealistic but I don't know. If I was head of the EU it's certainly a campaign I'd love to spearhead. It's just not right how poor some countries are in comparrision to our own. If we had greater co-operation we could solve a lot of problems and all get something out of it.

Countries ruled by dictators or reactionary leaders should be invaded and a proper regime installed. Some countries aren't ready for democracy (afganistan) but that doesn't mean we should leave them to the forces of evil (the taliban).

I'm sure they don't really want our help, and would find the concept highly insulting.

Moreover, I don't think the success of the West is in any way unfair, it's a result of our culture, our people and our processes coming together to create something remarkable over the centuries. That Africa finds itself unable to progress beyond (or even up to) feudal levels of development is not our fault. The reason for that is Africans themselves. How on earth can we change that, given that the problem lies in the very core of their belief systems, attitudes and ways of life? You might as well be talking about mass religious conversion.

I don't think you can really lump Africa, the Middle East and South America together to be fair. South America and the Middle East are very developed in comparison, they both suffer from high levels of corruption and the Middle East from the problems of Islam. Mexico for example could be rich and prosperous, the problem is the system is riddled with inefficiences as you need to bribe countless people to get anything done, nothing functions as it should, it's corrupt and that bleeds the economy dry.

Most of Africa, on the other hand, is probably about a millennia behind us.

 

[CrazyHarij]

Moreover, I don't think the success of the West is in any way unfair, it's a result of our culture, our people and our processes coming together to create something remarkable over the centuries.

Yes, mostly by abusing other "inferior" countries.

South America and the Middle East are very developed in comparison, they both suffer from high levels of corruption and the Middle East from the problems of Islam. Mexico for example could be rich and prosperous, the problem is the system is riddled with inefficiences as you need to bribe countless people to get anything done, nothing functions as it should, it's corrupt and that bleeds the economy dry.

Most of Africa, on the other hand, is probably about a millennia behind us.

Above i just thought you slipped up, but jesus, your lack of insight is surprising.

Well, yes, it is a circular process. But at the end of the day, we are not born equal - and no amount of idealism is going to change that. It's up to each individual to make the most of the hand they were dealt. And to adopt that attitude is to give everyone their best chance of success. Rather than the welfare state approach, which far from dragging people out of poverty, traps them in it.

Go capitalism. I'd love to see you adopt the same attitude if your "hand" didn't involve the wealth to own a computer or the freedom to use it however the hell you want. Welfare hurts the poor, because it keeps them there, and proposes an illusion that the system works, which is ridiculous.

 

[repiV]

Yes, mostly by abusing other "inferior" countries.

Yes, obviously our engineers, scientists and philosophers were bestowed their intelligence by the blood of slain Africans.

Western civilisation goes all the way back to Roman ingenuity. Which is in no way related to the way they treated their rivals, either. It has **** all to do with exploiting or abusing anyone.

Above i just thought you slipped up, but jesus, your lack of insight is surprising.

Don't confuse your white man's guilt with insight. Just because it's trendy doesn't make it true.

 

[CrazyHarij]

Western civilisation goes all the way back to Roman ingenuity. Which is in no way related to the way they treated their rivals, either. It has **** all to do with exploiting or abusing anyone.

lol. where were you in history class?

Don't confuse your white man's guilt with insight. Just because it's trendy doesn't make it true.

I think my point has sailed clear over your head.

This whole "africa is at least a millennium behind us", and that it has nothing to do with western civilisation is ****ing ridiculous.
The british rule, apartheid, putting different tribes together and basically ****ing over their whole hierarchy of established countries and land is the sole reason why they are behind us (in terms of technology and economy). I don't even have to go into the slavery bit. It's the same thing with the Israel/Palestine-conflict, only abit further down the equator. Somewhere along the line some guys (The U.N in the Israel case) came there and decided to divide the countries arbitrarily and without much thought. And the result's decades of war. I have never heard of any country flourishing during wartime.
The only difference is the U.N did it because of guilt after the holocaust, this was done because it was a British free-for-all.

 

[mchammer75040]

nice post repiV, I'll restrain myself from trolling you from this point on ...BUT...

Yes it is, but technically the person scratching a living in the slums is wealthier. They inhabit a far more developed infrastructure, possess and earn a level of income. Currency is irrelevant to a tribe. They have nothing at all beyond that which they scavenge each day..

Which is exactly what I said....

No, nothing like the pictures you posted - but then the lives of most people in poverty bear no relation to that either. She lives in Port of Spain, which isn't really a very nice place. Very high crime and poverty, and despite being a capital city, rolling blackouts apparently are an everyday occurence at times. The point is that a high level of development of a place does not necessarily make it a happier place to be. She likes the culture, the climate and of course the family & home thing.

I mean, supposedly the Scandinavian countries are the most developed and "best" places to live in the world. You wouldn't catch me in Norway. £9 for a pint of beer, mandatory jail sentences for 86mph(!!!), extortionate tax rates and so overly regulated. Not to mention the climate. I'd rather live in somewhere like Spain or Greece, with their more relaxed attitudes to life and the law. Even though they're a lot poorer and supposedly a lot less developed. If the law is stupid, they ignore the law and it gets repealed. If only we had that attitude here.

It's all a sliding scale at the end of the day. You can't just hold up the worst example of poverty imaginable and say "would you prefer this?" because that's not the point. The point is that wealth does not necessarily equate to happiness, and after certain needs are met there is seemingly no correlation at all between happiness and wealth. We are no happier now than we were in the 1960s, despite being far, far richer.

You realize that at the end of the day we are essentially saying the samething? I'm not claiming that wealth=happiness. My beef with your post is you said abject poverty...which we have now just dismissed. I wasn't holding up the worst example and saying 'would you prefer this?' that would be a loaded question..I took it directly from your post. You did say abject poverty, right?

Well, it kind of is. They still "have" less than the people on 'slave wages' that you describe, it's just that they make more use of the things they do have, and the people in the slums rely on the little that is on offer. Theoretically, there is nothing to stop the slum dwellers from becoming nomadic hunters themselves.

Then why haven't they(again, not being an ass)? There must be a good reason for it, because yes you're right and while I was posting that it struck me too..but technically I could say the samething for all the poor people in America, why not just go camping?

If you want to be rich, you have to work for it. Let's forget this "abject poverty" stuff for the moment, with a few exceptions it does not exist in any developed country. And in the cases where it does exist, in the vast majority of cases it's self-inflicted. There is no excuse for any able-bodied person in the West to be in true poverty. Others have the benefit system to provide for their needs. Granted, some slip through the net as we see with mentally handicapped people who end up homeless, but this is a rare failure of the system. It's entirely fair to generalise here - under normal circumstances, as an adult, if you are in poverty it's your own fault. There are plenty of opportunities out there.

Now that aside, money is fairly tight for most of us. That's just a fact of life. But we still manage to afford many luxuries that we take for granted on top of everything else. If you want to earn substantially more, it's going to cost you - in time, health, freedom, etc. It's extremely rare to be born into money these days, and you have to be seriously rich to be able to give up work - in that sense even the wealthy are "working class" these days.

So I ask you, is being wealthy worth the sacrifice? I don't believe it is. Apart from anything, until you get to "successful businessman" levels of wealth, the more you earn the more trapped you are. There are very, very few £100,000 jobs out there, but £15,000 jobs are everywhere. The higher you climb, the more stuck you become into a certain career path, specialisation and company. You end up with absolutely no choices.

I wouldn't want to give away my freedom like that.

Are you assuming that I am saying its worth the sacrifice? I'm not, my point is that with your post you asked a clearly loaded question.
As if people who have worked hard for their millions are less happy than the rest of us.
You're missing what I am saying, my point was the same as below:

I didn't claim that you were either right or wrong. I'm just saying that it's a little outrageous to confront someone who has vast firsthand experience of the subject in hand in such a way, when you have none.

har har:

I don't see how anything we can do short of full scale cultural imperialism is ever going to change things in Africa. It's like trying to take the consumerism out of America.

Oh yea and what makes you think you know anything about America? Stinkin brits

I'm assuming you don't have first hand experience of America of course, but I don't see how thats any different than what I suggested about Africa. You're right at the end of the day, I have no first hand account of anything going on in Africa but you're also assuming alot of credibility on one person vs. just about anything you can find on BBC or any other news source on the situation in Africa. Hey they have just as much first hand experience don't they?

 

[CrazyHarij]

I didn't claim that you were either right or wrong. I'm just saying that it's a little outrageous to confront someone who has vast firsthand experience of the subject in hand in such a way, when you have none.

My family's spent 8 years in Liberia, one of my current teachers (with which I've debated this subject extensively) has spent 6 in Kenya and south Africa. Where were you, and for how long?

 

[Seppo]

One thing's for certain: when I entered this thread, a multi quote war was the last thing I expected to witness.

 

[Raziaar]

Wrong thread for this... but I'm just gonna toss it in here anyway... as an interesting story in my "meh" life!

I just squashed a tiny spider running across my wall, and I feel terrible about it. Poor little guy... all excited and running about enjoying life and then the next moment he's stuck between a wall and my thumb, and his life ends in a smear.

<sigh> Why am I so empathetic sometimes!? I'm not normally caring about spiders. Other less harmful insects yes, but not spiders... at least not spiders in my personal space.

 

[Diesel_Power]

Very "meh" right now in my life. I don't have many friends left from high school and I've dropped out of college 3 times. I'm still living with my mom and brothers and I'm 22.

I'm basically just working temp jobs at different warehouse's and then I come home and spend the rest of my night in front of my computer surfing the net or playing games.

I'm going to make an effort to go back to the gym and I'm desperate to meet some friends who like to go out on Friday and Saturday nights and party. All the friends I have left are not the party type and it annoys the hell outta me.

I'm going to go back to school in January and hopefully get a job after a couple years of studying and move into my own place in downtown Toronto with some cool room mates. Hopefully moving to the city will spice my life up.

It seems trying to make friends after high school is very hard. People seem more reluctant to want to meet new people after high school. I make friends at work, but I only see them at work. I made friends in College, but they're too busy with school work to do anything.

 

[repiV]

lol. where were you in history class?

Read what I said. Roman barbarity is not relevant to Roman ingenuity.

I think my point has sailed clear over your head.

This whole "africa is at least a millennium behind us", and that it has nothing to do with western civilisation is ****ing ridiculous.
The british rule, apartheid, putting different tribes together and basically ****ing over their whole hierarchy of established countries and land is the sole reason why they are behind us (in terms of technology and economy). I don't even have to go into the slavery bit. It's the same thing with the Israel/Palestine-conflict, only abit further down the equator. Somewhere along the line some guys (The U.N in the Israel case) came there and decided to divide the countries arbitrarily and without much thought. And the result's decades of war. I have never heard of any country flourishing during wartime.
The only difference is the U.N did it because of guilt after the holocaust, this was done because it was a British free-for-all.

Bullshit, sorry. Your argument makes absolutely no sense. I especially like where you say "putting different tribes together". Developed countries don't have tribes in the first place, so they weren't doing particularly well to start with then.

Your precious Liberia was founded by freed American slaves. Since then it's turned into a hellhole enslaved by one brutal dictator after another. Nothing whatsoever to do with anyone else.

They're obviously forced to fight pointless wars because of their land boundaries. They can't sort that out themselves.

The very fact that such barbarity occurs on such a scale proves my point. Most of Africa isn't at war anyway. It's still a millennia behind us.

 

[VirusType2]

Wrong thread for this... but I'm just gonna toss it in here anyway... as an interesting story in my "meh" life!

I just squashed a tiny spider running across my wall, and I feel terrible about it. Poor little guy... all excited and running about enjoying life and then the next moment he's stuck between a wall and my thumb, and his life ends in a smear.

<sigh> Why am I so empathetic sometimes!? I'm not normally caring about spiders. Other less harmful insects yes, but not spiders... at least not spiders in my personal space.

I'm the same way.

I often ask myself, why couldn't I just use the same effort in another manner, and put the creature outside. And I sometimes do this.

The only things I kill without guilt are houseflies, poisonous things, mosquitoes, and other creatures that may be harmful directly or by the spread of disease.

However, to be most effective, stop eating meat as well. The alternatives are much better for you, and in my opinion taste better. I eat two vegetarian burgers nearly every day. I see no good reason for murdering animals since there are alternatives for gaining a protein rich diet.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

You have my gratitude brother.

 

[Eejit]

Moreover, I don't think the success of the West is in any way unfair, it's a result of our culture, our people and our processes coming together to create something remarkable over the centuries. That Africa finds itself unable to progress beyond (or even up to) feudal levels of development is not our fault. The reason for that is Africans themselves. How on earth can we change that, given that the problem lies in the very core of their belief systems, attitudes and ways of life? You might as well be talking about mass religious conversion.

It's also very much the result of, prevalence of diseases, the availability of domesticatable animal species, availability of fresh water, lack of predators and other deadly animals, our natural mineral resources, our terrain, our climate and whole host of other things relating far more to our location than any inherent superiority.

 

[VirusType2]

From what I hear, Africans were sold into financial slavery to The World Bank by Africa's leaders.

I hear that this is what the World Bank does to all 3rd world countries.

 

[repiV]

It's also very much the result of, prevalence of diseases, the availability of domesticatable animal species, availability of fresh water, lack of predators and other deadly animals, our natural mineral resources, our terrain, our climate and whole host of other things relating far more to our location than any inherent superiority.

Africa is our natural habitat. Even our mild climate is fairly inhospitable to us, and places like northern Canada are downright hostile environments but they manage.

Africa also has an abundance of natural resources. There a lot of wealthy places (or at least, far more developed/civilised) in very arid climates - India is leagues ahead, as are Kuwait and most of the Middle East, Australia, South Africa in many respects, then try Arizona, Nevada, Spain, amongst others.

You can't just blame a complete lack of progress or civilisation on the location and climate, especially as that location and climate is our natural habitat anyway. Name one contribution African civilisation has made to modern society.

There isn't one. Not a single thing. Nothing to do with the climate. They were centuries behind us when we discovered them, and they're centuries behind us now. It's cultural and sociological. Just check out some of the crazy superstitions that are still perpetuated.

 

[Solaris]

repiV hates darkies lol

 

[repiV]

I couldn't give a shit if they were black, white, green or yellow. The fact remains that African problems are due to the fact that African culture is very, very backwards. The only progess that has ever been made on that continent beyond feudal levels of development, aside from the ancient Egyptians of course, has come from Western imports. I would go so far as to say that it doesn't even count as civilisation at all, not as we know it.

You can't expect to build parliamentary democracy and skyscrapers if you still worship the sun god, slaughter your neighbours for being a slightly darker shade of black and sacrifice your children. When the average intelliegence level in many central and southern African nations is technically retarded, how the hell do you ever expect to see any sort of development.

150 years since slavery was abolished (ignoring the fact that they enslaved each other anyway and also sold their own to the Western slave trade for personal gain). In 150 years, America went from nothing to being one of the most important world powers with a massive infrastructure. In 150 years, nothing has changed in Africa, despite huge amounts of aid from developed nations. In 2150, Africa will be exactly the same. It's not a case of Africa being simply behind us, as you would say in the case of somewhere like Saudi Arabia or Indonesia, there is no development there at all and no impetus for it or understanding of the required concepts.

 

[Dinkleberry]

Wrong thread for this... but I'm just gonna toss it in here anyway... as an interesting story in my "meh" life!

I just squashed a tiny spider running across my wall, and I feel terrible about it. Poor little guy... all excited and running about enjoying life and then the next moment he's stuck between a wall and my thumb, and his life ends in a smear.

<sigh> Why am I so empathetic sometimes!? I'm not normally caring about spiders. Other less harmful insects yes, but not spiders... at least not spiders in my personal space.

You think he/she was running about enjoying life, but perhaps the spider was running aimlessly, in the grip of an existential crisis, which you just helped resolve.

EDIT: <sigh> Why am I so sympathetic sometimes!? (and use so many commas?)

 

[Eejit]

Africa is our natural habitat. Even our mild climate is fairly inhospitable to us, and places like northern Canada are downright hostile environments but they manage.

Africa also has an abundance of natural resources. There a lot of wealthy places (or at least, far more developed/civilised) in very arid climates - India is leagues ahead, as are Kuwait and most of the Middle East, Australia, South Africa in many respects, then try Arizona, Nevada, Spain, amongst others.

You can't just blame a complete lack of progress or civilisation on the location and climate, especially as that location and climate is our natural habitat anyway. Name one contribution African civilisation has made to modern society.

There isn't one. Not a single thing. Nothing to do with the climate. They were centuries behind us when we discovered them, and they're centuries behind us now. It's cultural and sociological. Just check out some of the crazy superstitions that are still perpetuated.

Don't be intentionally dense. Obviously the climate doesn't affect us much directly, we're bloody mammals. However its effects on food supply, primarily the dependability of it is very important. Much of Africa has a rather poor climate for food crops with good yields.

Abundant, reliable food supplies are essential for advancement of civilisation.

As for resources, Europe is a mish-mash of terranes, resulting in useful minerals in proximity to each other. Having abundant coal and iron reserves less than 3000 miles apart is quite a bonus when it came to the industrial revolution. Africa has resources sure, but they're not as concentrated into relatively small areas.

 

[Dinkleberry]

Repi, have you been drinking petrol?

 

[Sparta]

Wrong thread for this... but I'm just gonna toss it in here anyway... as an interesting story in my "meh" life!

I just squashed a tiny spider running across my wall, and I feel terrible about it. Poor little guy... all excited and running about enjoying life and then the next moment he's stuck between a wall and my thumb, and his life ends in a smear.

<sigh> Why am I so empathetic sometimes!? I'm not normally caring about spiders. Other less harmful insects yes, but not spiders... at least not spiders in my personal space.

I've been doing that a lot lately as well. The other day i was trying to shoo a moth out of my room and i figured if i open the door he'll fly out. He was sitting in a space where, if the door was opened, it might sweep him and ultimately kill him if he's too tall to fit in between the gap between the bottom of the door and the carpet beneath him. I figured he'd be small enough and opened the door. He wasn't .

fortunately, he did get up and fly away a few minutes later but I felt terrible about harming the little guy who was just going about and enjoying his life as a moth, munching on clothes. I think its all because i don't believe in an afterlife and being smushed by a door is a pointless and inglorious way to die.

 

[NeptuneUK]

The alternatives are much better for you, and in my opinion taste better. I eat two vegetarian burgers nearly every day. I see no good reason for murdering animals since there are alternatives for gaining a protein rich diet.

There are no alternatives to meat.
EVER.