The Current State of the World thread

General Discussion
1041

If any meaningful discussion is going to take place about the state of the world we are in and especially of events happening in the US, people have to be willing to do some basic, but necessary research. There’s a framework that many genuine intellectuals and authors have established in which lies and misinformation are clearly shown so a true view of the state of world and its dynamics become evident.

People like Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Edward Herman, Ilian Pappe, Norman Finkelstein, etc are a small example of those who are transmitting the truth to those who want to listen. It only takes an interest and a little bit of work… unfortunately, most people don’t want to do this. Why?

Most people aren’t willing to do their research because most of us have been taught to be passive, obedient and a highly individualistic… worst of all, we have been indoctrinated to desire created wants and needs… so instead of, say after a long day of work, coming home to do our own research to try to figure out why is the world so screwed up, we rather sit in front of a tv because we “need” to find out if Leonard will hook up with Penny again, or if our current (e) sports hero will take our current favorite team to the top, or if X item we bought off amazon has arrived yet (an item that the advertizement industry has told us it will make us more happy), etc, etc. It is also a very easy way to momentarily escape from the problems that face us… we like to comfort ourselves with the idea that if we don’t think about it it will go away.

This also has the added effect of making us lead very compartmentalized and highly incompassionate lives where we don’t go out often to become involved with others and learn from others because we see them as stupid or uneducated or not “successful” or what have you. We criticize and even demonize parts of our communities we have been brainwashed into thinking are undesirable, lazy, “unamerican” (a ridiculous term), uneducated, poor, entitlement egotists like the old or the working class people whose benefits are being cut off for instance, or the poor, the homeless, welfare recipients, immigrants, Afro-american, homosexuals, etc.

These attitudes have been drilled into our heads; we have been manipulated to think this way and it has nothing to do with intelligence or lack of thereof or even human nature. We have been taught these attitudes since we were little, but we are not prisoners to our conditioning. We can change. How do we change?

With knowledge.

We didn’t have a choice, when we were born, as to the manipulation we were going to endure, but given the knowledge we have access to now, to remain manipulated and to believe the lies that we are being fed every single day is a choice.

To recap, to find the truth, you just need to be interested in finding it and you need some form of referential background (framework) so that everything you read or hear has a context to be judged against. This helps when a discussion of such matters is taking place like in this thread. Genuine truth seekers like Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and those other guys that I mentioned provide you with such a background. This will enable you to go beyond the indoctrination and manipulation we all have been subjugated since our birth.

1042

Remember, I made a thread dealing with this exact issue? Wallstreet and corporations are hives for these parasites.

1043

I can say for sure the people at the top could be considered psychopaths, but it’s interesting how much the other corporate masters of America get a free pass. The finance guys grovel for their business like you wouldn’t believe and bend to their will.

Mostly people in the industry work in very compartmentalized teams. You do your hammer to nail tasks and assume that the 389127 teams that are assigned to handle underlying metrics of the securities you move/sell are doing their jobs. The whole system is slow and resistant to change.

1044

By making each worker fixated on productivity, they fail to see or flat-out ignore the the absurdities of their environment.

It’s like seeing retail workers at a department store. Three sales employees get a stand with 1, maybe 2 registers and are forced to meet and exceed sales quotas in order to make commission. The result? They end up growing contempt and try to undermine each other because of the impossible work environment they’ve been given. They can’t rationalize that the dept. store is the one giving them the short end of the stick, and corporations feel like this strategy will provide them with more profit in the long run.

1045

@Arjuna,
Yes, it’s hard work to become educated. The age of information has made it easier than ever and it’s still very difficult to become educated or to use information to one’s advantage (or for the betterment of society).

1046

Hey man, it’s just people “doing their jobs.”

Really though, as long as people keep worshiping the almighty dollar, things will not change. Bankers still get respect up here because they bring home the bucks other people were wishing that they made. Moreover, these guys are the absolute best and the brightest being churned out of top tier schools. They give 0 fucks because they’re still at the top income wise.

No one will speak up for what’s right because of fear of being blacklisted. It’s just a huge clusterfuck and I really see no outs other than implosion.

1047

It’s going to happen one way or another. The sad part is, there seems to be no other way “we” can ever learn. Oh well…

1048

It is probably necessary to remind people on occasion of just what this means.

One of the chief characteristics of humanity is empathy. We can envision ourselves in other people’s shoes, come to care about their adversities, and work together for our mutual advantage.

One of the chief characteristics of sociopathy is the lack of empathy–an inability to care about the troubles of other people or to understand working for anything but personal advantage.

The worst part is that people who aren’t sociopaths are conditioned to view empathy as a weakness by people who are. They could come to your house with guns, force you into a van, and lock you in a room, but you haven’t truly lost your freedom until they’ve overwritten your values with theirs.

1049

For fuck’s sake, you guys realize it is a mental illness right? That people do not choose to be sociopaths, that they are born that way?

1050

Israel, Iran, Palestine. All squabbling like children over useless dead land that can’t grow anything.

1051

I for once would like to hear a legitimate reason against homosexuality besides “The Bible says it’s wrong/Leviticus 18:22”.

The Bible doesn’t count for shit.

1052

Completely irrelevant. The point is that we make these people our arbiters of success. We allow them to define what it means to be a contributing citizen, and, by extension, we allow ourselves to think that their behavior is more deserving of reward.

I’m also not going to lose much sleep over anti-sociopath prejudice directed at wealthy movers and shakers. As it currently stands, their shortcomings have certainly not impeded them.

1053

yeah, that’s really cool and all. But what im talking about is the way the article was written. It was written in a way where the focus wasn’t the actions that he took, or the action that should have been taken in the first place. The whole focus of the article imo (because I saw that it stood out the most) was the focus on winning back voters who quickly turned their backs on Obama, and more importantly the influx of voter drawn to the Democratic party. It wasn’t about doing the right thing (constitutianality), but it was about party. Its sickening really.

What’s new. They have been at it since pre 2500 BC.

I actually heard one on the NPR, and I though it was an extremely valid point. Who is the female, and who is the male in the relationship? Because only certain laws apply to the female partner, and other’s to males. So the question is? How do you establish those boundaries, after all one of the main points made by these groups is that they want to have the same perks that come with marriage. Until they can establish a doctrine, and a way to do this, marriage shouldn’t be an issue because its then going to spill onto divorce. Who is the man, who is the female? It creates a whole new of problems.

Until they can establish some ground work for these issues, marriage shouldn’t be a big deal and they should just do with modified civil unions.

Although the irony of this is that, if marriage is established, before these arguments are even addressed, it could create a situation where the law is forced to declare the partners are simply equal. Taht is, no law specifically for males and or females. So in a way, if gay marriage becomes legal and this becomes this scenario happens, it can and will provide the groundwork equal marriage in male/female unions.A.

1054

Common misconception. Sociopathy isn’t a mental illness like a psychotic, psychopaths (people born without empathy) and sociopaths (people who lack empathy due to childhood neglect/trauma) are completely in control of their actions and understand morality/ethics quite well.

They simply lack the ability to care for another person or put themselves in their shoes. Every motive and step they take is simply based strict material and psychological gain. They are completely aware of this, but simply don’t care.

Essentially, by not caring they can act in antisocial ways that tends to make people think that they are “go-getters” or ambitious, when they’re only doing what comes natural to someone without conscience. They are the reason the world is such a disarray because attaining power and influence above all the “stupid” people is their only concern. Psychopaths make up about 2% of the population yet collectively make up 10% of the corporate/financial world, and 1% of the world holds 90% of the wealth. The math speaks for itself.

Worst of all, they use fervently-held ideologies to push their agendas, warping our moral views of “capitalism”, “god”, and “patriotism” to maintain the social stratification that feeds into superiority complex. It’s a game we’re all playing into, and it will probably be our downfall as a species in the very near future.

Their land can grow poppies. Lots and lots of poppies…

1055

The Asian banks/economic zones are rife with these kinds of lunatics. It won’t get any better when they get the reins.

Sociopaths have what it takes to succeed in general given that they’re also intelligent. I don’t know what’s worse though, the sociopaths or the masses which enable them. We have no human value except money anymore. Things may be different in your small pocket of the woods but in the big scheme of things you’re nothing but a number.

I’ve seen these guys claw their way to the top, it’s sickening what they do. But in the end you just feel like the odd-man out in a yes-man environment. It’s driving me nuts as I get older because everyone I know (literally) conforms and praises these cocksuckers.

Also, The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson is a great read.

1056

This isn’t an argument against gay marriage, so much as an argument for rooting out the deeper systemic presumption that those getting married will be male and female.

1057

that’s a good point there. So what do we do then? Create a whole new set of laws that apply to them only?

1058

Create a new set of laws that apply to both or modify the old set so that there’s no longer an implicit presumption. It might take time and it might take money. Those are not excuses.

If we diverted a fraction of the money that we spend on bullets for soldiers to shoot into the sand when they’re bored, this shit could be fixed, lickety split.

1059

sort of like the scenario I touched briefly. I do wonder if people will have the will to do it in the next 10-15 years.

on a nother note, I was listening to talk radio (right wing), and this 80 year old man was saying that if Obama became president of this country again, we wouldn’t be a constitutional republic in the next 30 years. I couldn’t help but laugh, it doesn’t matter who we elect, I personally don’t think we are one anymore. Fool needs to stop living in 1959

1060

Was it Limbaugh? LOL

People need to drop that old Constitution and create a new one, without the ones writing it having a corporate cock up their asses.

You can keep a few of the amendments like Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, and get rid of the stuff that no longer applies to the modern world like the Right to Bare Arms.