Aesa
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Posts posted by Aesa
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I feel so dehumanised and empty lately.
In the last three to four months I've had more days where I have been on the brink of bursting into tears than ever before in my life.
Why?
I keep thinking: "God." But it just seems so impossible to know what God even is. -
That's the imperative of this system. The only way to keep the banks going, is to create more debt and thus inflation. Unfortunately, the tables have to turn sooner or later and nobody will take loans, because they wont be able to afford what they've already got.I really do not see how that will help, creating more debt?
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A big problem is the left-right paradigm that exists. It's liberty vs. tyranny, well, that's how it should be.
Democrats and Republicans are just two sides of the same coin.
Two wings of the same eagle.
Two hands of the same body.
Two headlights of the same car.
... you see where I'm going with this.
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I have been drawn the LDS Church for years. In-fact it was when I first attended a Christian church with a friend my father explicitly stated "Don't get mixed up with those Mormons."
It's funny how denigrating remarks will lead a curious person to question "What do you mean by that?"
In my experience, most people are wrong about the LDS Church. I myself even feel it is right to correct people when they espouse nonsense about it.
Just do what you feel you are lead to do.
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If/when America falls, that'd really be an almost 'hook, line and sinker' scenario for me. If the Church is what preserves Judeo-Christian culture in the Western World ... then that seems like a huge fulfillment of prophecy (i.e., the church is true) to me.Actually, the article talks about Mormons as the preservers of American Culture if some catastrophe strikes.
Aren't there a few places in Scripture where God says he'll preserve his people/his church?
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Personally I think the unemployment is above 10%. You have to take into account the people that have been out of work long-term, who only have access to part-time work, etc,...
In my part of the world, something favourable seems to be happening - part time jobs are on the rise and hours are dropping. Though, in saying that, I think the media is hyping it hugely as it doesn't seem to be widespread.
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Exactly what's going to happen as it keeps up (bankruptcy).This is all based on a horrendous misconception, that somehow, no matter how bad the economy may become, government will always manage to have a bottomless pile of money at hand, to pay for whatever we demand that government to to us.
Here in California, we've lately been getting a very vivid demonstration of just how false this belief is. We've passed all sorts of laws, over the years, requiring California to provide minimum levels of funding to various programs, and now we are finding that the state simply cannot afford to meet these obligations — it doesn't have the money to do so; and we are already overtaxed to the point that raising any taxes further only suppresses the economy further, reducing rather than increasing the revenue that is thus brought in.
The thing that I find frightening, at the federal level, is an abject lack of common sense. In tight economic times, many of us cannot afford to spend as freely as we'd like. We have to observe stricter discipline in how we spend out money. Yet, at the federal level, we've got a government that seems to think that the way to cope with this economy is to spend spend spend like a gang of drunken sailors, with no restraint or discipline at all. What would it to to any of us as individuals to take that approach with our own finances?
Thank-you for responding to the conjecture I made. I do admit it was not based off anything but a thought that just suddenly came to me. I don't necessarily agree with your response completely (though in a very different context that's not really relevant to the topic at hand) but it's a good one. :)
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This is very interesting me, because I just had this thought:If it doesn't--that, too, will be a result of having Socialists in charge for 30 years. And I suspect that, like California, the socialized nations of western Europe will be seeking bailouts from other state actors who have managed their affairs more (dare I say it?) conservatively.
If there's a depression or dip in the economy in the United States, and people don't have enough money to maintain their standard of living they cannot use things such as medical care.
Whereas, in a "socialised nation" the healthcare is a public service and generally not impending on you being able to directly afford it. Therefore, if there's a depression you should still have access to it.
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Not at all. I'm just not a position of having enough time to get into a drawn out discussion about the human being, and how much a product learning we are, etc, etc,.Aesa, the problem I see is that you are lightyears ahead of everybody. We haven't caught up to you yet...
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I think there are really bigger issues than phones ringing, really.
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I disagree with you on so many levels, based on experimental psychology alone, but I'm not going to turn this thread into a debate over that.
You are welcome to hold that the human being is fundamentally unchangeable as to the "way things are", but it is very wrong.
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I'm not going to turn this into a debate of why such an accusation against The Movement is so wrong, because that's totally off-topic. What you basically just said is "It's Marxism but everything is different!" Great antithesis to your own comment. The simplest argument (and I've said I can expand on these) is that we do not advocate a war of the classes, and Communism most certainly does. If you wish to have 'that' discussion start another thread or PM me.Of course you think that. I see that you're a supporter of The Venus Project and the Zeitgeist movement, which are basically Marxism, modernized and rebranded. It makes perfect sense, that you would support something that would be perceived as bringing us closer to Marxism, such as the Sovietization of the health care industry.
A country with a high standard of living and pretty much the highest age expectancy on the planet, has a healthcare system which is centralised (and which also happens to be the best in the world, by many comments), in the words of their government:
"All inhabitants of Iceland have the right of access to the best possible health service at any given time for the protection of their mental, social and physical health. The law ensures that there is no discrimination against patients on the grounds of sex, religion, beliefs, nationality, race, skin color, financial status, family relations or status in other respect.
The health service in Iceland is primarily financed by central government. Financing is mainly based on taxes or 85% and 15% is fee for service.
The country is divided into health care regions, each with their own primary health care centres, some of which are run jointly with the local community hospital. The primary health care centers have the responsibility for general treatment and care, examination, home nursing as well as preventive measures such as family planning, maternity care and child health care and school health care.
Hospitals in Iceland may be ranked as specialized teaching hospitals, general hospitals and community hospitals. Hospitalization is free of charge. The specialized hospitals perform most operations and procedures in all specialist medical fields. The health service is staffed by trained and qualified professional groups.
Life expectancy in Iceland (2005) is among the highest in the world. Average life expectancy at birth for females is 83,1 years and for males 79,2 years. Infant mortality is among the lowest in the world - 2,3 per 1000 live births."
Fancy that, that dirty-filthy Marxist nation!
Australia's healthcare system (like any) has it's shortcomings. There have been issues with waiting at times, but generally it's fairly good. The only thing which causes some degree of consistent issue with our healthcare system is that 85% of the population lives in the urban areas, and with it constantly growing there is sometimes disparity in surgery waiting lists and so forth. However, if one wants to get their surgery done quicker they can go to a country hospital where the waiting lists are generally nowhere near as long.
Our biggest problem is a shortage of personnel (Australian's always seem to want a pay rise!).
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This is one disagreement I have with the free-market ideology verrrry strongly.
Australia's healthcare is mostly government owned, and it's generally very good healthcare with access to all people. If you don't want the socialised healthcare, there are church-owned (or other private) hospitals in many towns and cities.
Socialisation of healthcare is a very good thing, and I'm all too happy to have to pay for the betterment and availability of healthcare to fellow members of society.
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I'd be careful to vehemently express something as an absolute. Only the Sith deals in absolutes...
I should explain the point-of-reference I'm coming from, I'm talking of the ideal. In other words, what we should as a sane society hope/aim for.
Ofcourse, we have admissions that there are shortcomings and that these things "do happen." Yet at the same time, we work towards personally and socially eliminating the propensity for the conscious killing of other human beings as far as we possibly can at the time.
This "ideal" is much the same as self-improvement. We are always trying to perfect ourselves in our essay writing, in our understanding of a text, in our methods of relating to this with different opinions, etc,. Yet, at the same time we realise that in all things we will never reach a point of absolution where we cannot improve any further.
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It is murder. Capital punishment is just the state doing murder "for the public" and murder of tyrants is a sick way to solve a problem, and a very outmoded one at that.So you have no opinion on the issue since neither capitol punishment nor defending the innocent against people who mean them harm with deadly force are considered murder.
I'm talking about a conscious effort, deliberate, killing. Of anyone. Ever. Period.Are you speaking just about capital punishment here, or are you also talking about defending innocents against bad guys who mean them harm?
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Well then I have no basis in addressing anything you have said, because I agree with you. There is no large scale harnessing of abundant energies in practice, there is (and I'm sure you'll agree, and would be surprised if you didn't) a very big difference between the potential for technological development and it's actual application - there is a reason for that.- I am simply saying there are no successful large scale uses of any energy source you are betting the farm on.
Exactly, I don't disagree. And in our society we'd rather contaminate the environment because it's cheaper, as opposed to working towards solutions that can actually be sustained for long periods of time without any worry of shortage at it's highest, present, possible optimisation.the reason there is less potential for profit is because those oh so abundant energy sources are more expensive to harvest compared to fossil fuel
I don't think we'll ever see a shift to these sorts of energies until we don't have a system based on profit, but that is another discussion altogether. In the long run, alternative energies will save you a lot of money -- and by that I mean installing small-scale wind turbines/solar panels/etc at your home. That way, you aren't relying on a very unstable energy grid.here are many arguments for things like Solar or Wind energy, that cost wise (monetary) its cheaper or the same cost oil or even better coal isn't one of them, and until that changes or the costs are hidden (subsidies) you aren't going to see a massive switch to those alternative energy sources
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You absolutely ignored my points on the abundance on geothermal energy (and ofcourse I could provide many other examples) -- wind power is only a piece of the puzzle. And just because you have worked in an inefficient environment (ref post above), doesn't mean that the source is.
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Murder. Ever.Are you speaking just about capital punishment here, or are you also talking about defending innocents against bad guys who mean them harm?
LM
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I support it based on the scientific method, which I am not afraid to say I hold far above scripture.From where I'm standing, you can't have free will unless you are "subject to influences". The scriptures tell me we've all got the Light of Christ, and know good from evil. If there's a scripture out there that says culture, media, or video games can indoctrinate the Light of Christ out of you, I haven't seen it yet.
Do you have any scriptural support for the notion that only book smart people have "true free-will"? That just seems, well, totally wrongheaded and false to me.
Does anyone else on this board support the notion that "to have true free-will you'd have to be very well read"?
LM
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I disagree with the notion that citizens have the responsibility to uphold their government. They have the responsibility to direct the social system in the best possible direction. Upholding the government could sometimes be the exact opposite.
What citizens do have the responsibility to do is uphold the rule of law, in this system, and the judiciary absolutely must be independent from the executive and the legislature or else it becomes corrupt. Maybe this is what you meant by the term "government," you meant judiciary? I don't think it's right to call the judiciary government.
There's no need to kill people, even if they kill others, though. It's not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, that is so terrible (thank goodness Jesus agrees with me on that one!).
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Your posts are grossly misleading. As far back as the 60’s the hippy movement touted alternate energy for living. The “Whole Earth Catalog” outlined several methods of building wind turbines as well as other sources. Some of the designs are amazingly efficient. Now, 50 years later, the one thing we have learned is that the so-called alternate energy sources are not reliable.
In a modern society utilizing supply chain technologies sporadic energy sources are economic and systematic suicide forcing those that rely on such sources into failed third world situations.
Just because there is energy does not mean that it can be successfully utilized. Nuclear fusion reactions on the sun create EMP with enough electrical energy transmitted directly to earth to satisfy 600,000 times as much as our current entire energy consumption – as of now we do not use a single watt from that source. This is 100% clean electrical environmental safe power – more than we could ever use all going to waste. So should we spend billions of dollars to convert this power? What could be more promising? Well there are just two small little problems with this energy source. But we can ignore the problem and tell the world to spend billions to convert to this source.
The reason that certain sources have not been exploited is because in the final analysis no one knows how to actually make it work better than present solutions. When someone can demonstrate a viable solution – it will not require government intervention to get it going and anyone that does not convert will soon be as left behind as our early primate relatives that did not covert to fire.
The Traveler
The reality is that we don't use abundant energies because there is much less potential for profit, because they're so abundant.
Some examples:
The US Department of Energy has admitted that if wind was harnessed officially in only three states of America, that alone could power the entire nation? Why isn't that happening? Because it'd destroy a huge energy industry, that uses fossil fuels and maintains huge market share because of the wide opportunity for profits in using fossil fuels -- as opposed to something that could make energy available to every person on the planet with ease.
The Michigan Institute of Technology, through an extensive study, has concluded that if Geothermal Energy were properly harnessed that it could power the entire planet with ease -- with the Earth's heat being constantly regenerated, and not damaged as in the earlier geothermal plants -- without any thought of energy shortage.
Your post above reads like the political rhetoric, the same stuff that allows for patents on battery technology which if it weren't patented could be advanced to power our cars for great distances. The old arguments to try and hold back true efficiency, because it's downright detrimental to the bottom-line (and I've only used two of many abundant energy examples). Energy is nothing but abundant on this planet, and the only place there is a shortage is in the brains of our elected leaders.
We could have energy abundance right now, if we were not held back by this profit-structure. A great example of this paralysing of technology is the introduction of hydrogen power, which establishment enterprises want to use because they can maintain the same infrastructure. Yet of ofcourse, it doesn't matter that it's totally inefficient and generally dangerous! Not at all!
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It's never acceptable for a nation to kill it's own citizens. A government should never have that much power. How can people exercise personal sovereignty?
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I know some US soldiers that agree with me, Loudmouth! I have many friends who are in the military (not only the US military) and have realised what a corrupt, manipulative establishment it is -- and plan to get out as soon as is possible!Why did I just get the image in my head of those PETA kids who got mauled trying to "free" the mountain lions from captivity?
I strongly disagree that people exercising their free will, just automatically all become victims.
LM
(Oh - that's right - the image came right after I thought of replying to this comment with a suggestion that Aesa go find some US soldiers and tell them that.)
The majority who join the military are not exercising their free-will at all, because they're subject to influences (some of which I think I mentioned earlier in the thread -- such as patriotic manipulation, financial incentives, advertising being in the military like a war computer game, an adventure, etc,.) and on free-will -- to have true free-will you'd have to be very well read because your ability to make an unbiased decision is based on what you've been exposed to. If a person has only been exposed to the status-quo for the most part all of their lives -- you know, support the troops, love your president/prime-minister, do it because it's godly (which is especially ridiculous), etc,. -- they do not have the intellectual basis to make a decision that would even slightly resemble free-will. Instead, they are subject to the wishes of another (whether that be a single person, political ideology, institution, etc,).
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As they say, with "free-will" comes the consequences of it.The people who committed these acts were war criminals. This should be investigated and prosecuted.
Something I'm thinking about:
in General Discussion
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Thanks for your advice everyone. But going to see a psychologist will have to wait until next year..
My father will not pay for that.
It's a long story, but I really should've stayed with my mother. I moved with him just for this year.
Mistake.