If people were like lions and remained content with having enough for now instead of planning for the future and being able to think ahead, we wouldn’t be where we are at today. All these “unfavorable traits” people have are inherited because these are the traits that kept us existing all this time. Lying, stealing, killing, etc. are what allowed most to stay alive long enough to reproduce. It’s in our DNA, hardcoded.
But they’re just doing they’re job. Chucking grenades and firing weapons at all of these hostile people who are obviously lunatics.
/sarcasm.
But seriously, veterans? Firing on veterans, that’s like pissing on the flag man. And they’re the ones who actually care about respect and shit. The protestors are out there trying to help everybody, and meanwhile the people are too busy forcing themselves not to agree or relate to their fellow human beings.
Everybody has potential for corruption. The reverse is also true: everybody has the potential to accomplish great things if they’re not focused on how best to fuck over the next guy.
The proof is in the pudding. We, a species with no natural advantages in the wild, managed to survive by cooperating and pooling our intellects. We now dominate the planet. If human beings were fundamentally corrupt and self-interested, I doubt that could have happened.
Dude like i hear you man. I thought the same exact thing. Just watch the first part of the movie. It talks about all of these “traits” that are in our DNA like cancer, and mental illness and shit. But it’s crazy because some people who have genetic predispositions to these diseases don’t get them, and people who have no predisposition get them all the time. It’s all related to our environment (our surroundings, our life experience, which is affected by a multitude of factors), everything is connected.
From the very beginning you are affected by your environment. Even mothers who are stressed a lot when they are pregnant will have children who are in like “danger mode” and they tend to store more energy in their bodies as they grow older, higher rates of obesity and related diseases. And our minds are all impressioned by the world around us, starting from birth and even sooner.
I’m telling you. I was the worst fucking cynic. I thought the world was bs, and that I’m just a victim. That we’re all just victims. I hated everything, the whole messed up situation.
But there is hope. Completely aside from any propaganda, or any political view. Just like me to you.
Our need for self preservation overrules all.
For the vast majority of us, self-preservation necessitates cooperation.
Duh, that was my point. We need a mate to reproduce, we need other people to help us achieve what we can’t by ourselves, etc.
As apparently by the current world, nobody gives two fucks about something until it effects them.
And for everyone in the immediate future. You know as well as I do that things aren’t going to be pretty when the economies fail a lot of people, and we have done too much irreversable damage to the planet and the atmosphere.
such Idealism
You know I have given a lot of thought, to inherent issues.
And its not the system, its not money or power.
Its our mortallity.
Why would an artist work for the sake of art or satisfaction of creation? How much is his time worth. One thing I think many of us forget is that time is the most valuable commodity of all. How much is time worth? HOw much is your time worth to you?
With our mortality such idealism will never take off, because people have to use their time to provide not only for themselves, but for those they are responsible to. For your system to work, people would either have to
a) accept death and the reality of life and all work to achieve to make the best out of life (we currently only do the very last part of the statement)
b) become immortals, and effectively make time irrelevant and useless.
That’s why I’m starting to think why money is such a enticing stimulant for people. Because its direct compensation for time spent doing things for others. How else would somebody compensate you for spending your valuable and scarce time doing services for somebody else. This also directly influences our economic ideals, because any system is based on the ultimate commodity and resource. Time
Capitalism was an ideal once upon a time in a land ruled by kings. I like you and everything, but that’s a weak argument sir. Don’t give me that.
The scientific method is neutral on the scale of pessimism and idealism.
This optimism is nauseating.
All I hear in my head when I go out to my local movement is the Kanye West - All of the lights instrumental. That shit gives me power :rock:
No words just the beat.
read the last half. I elaborated on it. Multiquoting for makes a lot of my posts incomplete
“Optimism” in this context is the acceptance that humankind has a responsibility to look after its own future.
Wow that letter comes across so douchbaggy.
The short response: It is the system.
The individual is influenced by their family, influenced by their environment from birth, influenced by their peers. They are influenced by their socio economic status, and they are affected psychologically.
Everyone is affected psychologically, that is why our current circumstances are widely accepted. It is what we are lead to believe.
We have been lead to believe that there is not enough food/water/energy/etc. for everyone, and we have to “get it while it’s hot” to put it into layman’s terms.
We now have the information and technology to realize that this notion is false, and that there is in fact enough for everyone. Enough food, enough clean water, enough renewable energy to power all of the nations of the earth at their current energy outputs for thousands of years.
If it weren’t for the capitalist system we would be able to provide for everyone, but resources are controlled through scarcity. We can’t give food to everybody because it would waste too much of our money, even though there’s enough food.
And not only is it hindering humanitarian efforts, it is also hindering technological advances as well. Things that could allow a sustainable Earth, and handle our energy and resource needs in a way that doesn’t have an adverse effect on the environment.
Let’s just say you can’t put a price on it 
Time is just a constant, it’s the decisions you make during the time you’re given that matters. So let’s see
Why would any artist chose to make art for the sake of creation? Why is an artist and artist, man? It’s a form of expression, it’s how they choose to live their life.
They know the way things are, and they know what they love. It’s a beautiful thing. Their cause is more valiant than mine, but that’s just my opinion. They do it because they love it. I will help people, because they give me money.
Let’s ask ourselves why don’t we have time? Because we are working these jobs we need in order to get the resources and necessities we need to survive (and anything extra as well). The reason for this is because there is only a certain amount of resources and necessities, and in order to be eligible to access them we need to use our money. Well some people don’t have enough, there’s a problem. And a bigger concern of mine is why are there people not getting enough whenever we know now that we have the capability to provide for everyone, at least the basic food, clean water, energy (clean energy which is available in abundance and is replenishable).
Let’s say you could have your basic necessities provided for, and you were able to choose your own path in life. Would you go out and steal for the basic necessities to survive? No you wouldn’t need to, and you wouldn’t continue unless you were preconditioned to do it. Would you try and gain power for yourself and amass an excess of goods? No, unless you were preconditioned to do it. Hmm preconditioning? That doesn’t sound like a time problem, it sounds like a psychological problem.
But let’s go back to the time thing. Say you have everything you need to survive because it is provided for you by the system. What would you do with your time then? Basically what I’m trying to say is there’s no correct way to use your time, it is up to the individual. And the individual’s decision making process is directly influenced by their environment, and their past experiences.
When you don’t have to worry about those things you have time for leisure activities like those among us with a very high standard of living. Imagine that but for everybody, where all of the self-inflicted stresses of our modern society wouldn’t even matter. And you could make an argument that when there is no direct motivation to work (like for example money), people would become lazy. But this isn’t the case. An example would be how children are naturally curious, but if they are affected psychologically by their environment they will lose this curiosity. Like how children with a lower standard of living often do not become as educated as children growing up in a better environment. It all goes back to psychology. Working for money for necessities, and working towards goals are two separate things. When your only gauge of your progress is the progress itself, and you remove currency from the equation then it changes everything.
Me, what I would do in a situation where I didn’t have to worry about obtaining the basic needs for myself, is I focus on more loftier goals than making money. I would do what I value. Maybe I’d be a musician. Maybe I’d become an engineer to try and create cleaner more efficient ways of producing energy. This is me personally speaking. But I’m not doing those things? Why? because I need money. Why? Because my parents didn’t have much growing up, and they tried their best so that I can one day be successful. So what am I going to do? Just play my part, in the job force, and work with my spare time to create something better than we have right now (the capitalist system).
And in response to the last thing you said. I agree partly, only because in our current state there is not an exceedingly better option yet. But one day in our life time there will be. Capitalism would be tolerable if it were a direct compensation for doing things you do. But what do large banks and investment firms do? What goods do they produce? How do they help the people? Truth is, they don’t really. They help themselves, they are in it for profit which is what Capitalism promotes. But this is perfectly normal and fine in a capitalist system… What does the military sector do in our day age, not much else but generate profit for the corporatocracy by fighting undeclared wars, and shadow wars, and trying to police the world (but in reality they are oppressing it).
Capitalism works at an entry level, but as we can all see 200 years down the line, the distribution of wealth is astonishing, and the families that have acquired much wealth (through moral avenues or otherwise), are set for life, for generations even. They don’t have to use their TIME anymore to generate money, they just invest and use their money to make more money. That doesn’t seem like an “earn your lifestyle” kind of system to me. It seems like it benefits those with money and power, who continually use their money and power to stay in those “elite” positions.
Sorry if I went off on a tangent, but I was really trying to respond to your ideas. I put a lot of thought into it, but it might sound dumb though haha.
It sounds fucking stupid is what is sounds like.
Look at me I’m a slave to money. I can sit still and hold my urine, and allow myself to be taken advantage of for a job that serves no purpose.
Wow he’s so confused, he thinks that the democrats are the enemy. Brainwashed I swear. It’s not about party allegiance fool. It’s about creating a better world for the people. One where our lives aren’t gambled in some market, so that the fat cats can make more money. And a nation that can be heard by the people, not bought out by the corporatocracy.
that letter looks like some useless hippy tried to make a letter that would make the bankers seem like douches, only they have no creativity and the latter just comes across as stupid.
Is there any history behind that letter?
Someone posted it on facebook from my friend list who thinks the Occupy thing is just a bunch of angry liberal arts majors mad they can’t get jobs and nothing will happen from these protest because nothings changed so far.