[Realityshift]

So anyway I tried to reply to a Nhilism posting, but it didn't work so I'll start a new one here. Before you can vote for or against the breakdown of modern society, you must first have a keen understanding of what you beleive your purpose is as a human being.

For example, I beleive my purpose to make myself more complete. To learn and grow as much as possible through experience, relationships, observations and internalization. I couldn't put into words exactly how I place my values, but a 10 word conversation with a stranger adds to my growth, while a new Mercedes does not. A story of someones childhood helps me learn, while a paycheck does not.

Our so called advancements have made our modern world much more comfortable I agree, but at what cost? What good is waking up in the morning to an alarm only to dress as your job dictates, work 8 hours for a company that most likely veiws you as a replacable number, and scurry home too tired to do anything other then watch a few hours of mind numbing, advertisment soaked television before retiring to bed for a repeat the next day?

Yes we have more ammenities nowadays, but ask yourself this. How many of them hold any real necessity, and how many of them are created soley to keep you busy tring to afford them and someone else comfortably surrounded by them?

Speaking personally, the only reason I would ever desire wealth is to buy time. Time to enjoy each day. Time to travel and see what's left of our earth, since man's destructive, self centered nature has already destroyed huge portions of it. The point is that slavery still exists in the U.S. today, it's simply more camoflauged now. Even those of us who don't want diamonds, or mansions must serve someone else so that we may eat, making our time someone else's.

So, in response to the other posting I say I agree. Burn it all down and let's try a diffren't approach. Sure we might miss out on which celebrity is sleeping with who, free porn sites, and instant burgers, but do you really give a shit anyway?

[elam]

Damn. First post. You don't be fuckin' around.

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Elam
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"Name? Loc Dog. Age? 19. Sex? Hell yeah, nigga!"

[Ragnarok]

Look, when my grandparents lived, there wasn't all that confort you talk about, no slavery jobs as you talk about them, but they lived worse than nowadays.
My grandfather waked up every morning at 5am to eat breakfast and go to the field, a field with an inclination of about 15% and worked all day. Isn't that slavery?
They lived in a village, where they didn't have medicines, the cold was everywhere, even in the beds they had to warm with a hot brick, and they're life wasn't very good.
Now we live in a city, we can sleep until 7 am to go to a work that last only for 8 hours, instead of the whole day, and you still think it's slavery. If you new what life was before that, you will discover how much freedom we do have.

[Realityshift]

I don't think you understand. Your Grandfathers time period is not what I'm talking about reverting to, it's way too modernized. I'm speaking of basic instincts and self reliance. Two things that make a person become. I'm speaking of a place where your thoughts are really your own, not what used to be yours mixed with years of contamination from advertising (T.V., Movies, Radio, Magazines, Etc.). I'm speaking of purity.

If you needed food, you'd find something to eat, if not you die, simple. If you're cold, you find something to warm you, or you freeze. Sure your lifespan would be shorter, but at least you'd have your own mind.

Think about the things you like and why you like them. Think about your feeling about things. Are these really yours? Or have you been so contaminated by your sale based surroundings that you have become someone else's mind? It's a conceptual thing here I know, and it's hard to nail it down cut and dry with concrete terms, but just think about it a little.

[Ragnarok]

Your mind would be nothing special, because you will have only one preocupation: survive. And it isn't fun to fight everyday to survive.

You won't have deeper thoughts than "It's cold" "I'm hungry" or "I'm going to die".

[Count Zero]

I say quit bitching.
My sympathy does not go out to the poor little upper-middle class twit who doesn't know what to do with his money or how to make himself a happier person...
People have this natural tendency to see their lives as miserable and bad, when in actuality they're on easy street. When money and other external factors stop being a problem, people tend to look inside themselves and thus create internal problems. Which, in my opinion, is just fucking dumb. Like Ragnarok says, we should be grateful for what we have. You'd think that by having money we could provide ourselves with more time to do things we really want to do with our lives. Like Realityshift says; time to better ourselves as human beings. If only people would not give in to the false ideals put out by society, TV and the media. Drop the false "materialism is happiness"-mantra. Instead of redecorating your apartment every month, buy a book and read it, or teach yourself a foreign language. Idealistic, maybe, but beats cynicism.
So, being a slave to your job is bullshit. Don't like it? Then quit. Get another job. And if that's not an option, stop wallowing in self pity, and do something that makes you feel better. I know people who don't like their jobs and enjoy their freetime all the more because of it.
*end rant*

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COUNT ZERO INTERRUPT-
On receiving an interrupt,
decrement the counter to zero.

[jcterminal]

quote:

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Originally posted by Realityshift:
So anyway I tried to reply to a Nhilism posting, but it didn't work so I'll start a new one here. Before you can vote for or against the breakdown of modern society, you must first have a keen understanding of what you beleive your purpose is as a human being.

---

nice. someone else who feels the same way i do about materialism. refreshing really.

yes i do think the purpose of man is personal and species evolution and refinement, and it's pretty hard to have any sort of growth when you wake up, work all day, then go to sleep, and repeat.

see, the thing you need to realise tho, is that while the system *is* shit, it's the best we have.

i don't like corporate america, i don't like a materialistic viewpoint on life.

But dammit, i like having the ability to pay my bills, and i like my 19" monitor and my collection of random crap.

is everything i own going to make me a better person. depends. my computer sure will. i can use that for research, and for my craft. my sword collection? well, maybe. i can get exercise when i use them, and it's very calming and meditative to clean them...

but what about my comic books, and action figures, and my extensive collection of crappy movies.

naah, i don't really need them. except for one thing... they make me happy.

and in a negative environment such as society is today, being happy is damned important.

face it, you're just as unamerican as me, but compared to everything else out there, it's pretty damned good.

my plans? get the fuck out of corporate living, and start doing what i LIKE doing for a living. as long as i can pay my bills, and i can smile the entire time i'm earning a paycheck... *that's* what matters.

as for society, american indians seem to know the right way to do things, but someone showed up and kinda screwed things up.

but what do i know? the more money i have, the more i need, and it pissed me off.

but damn, that chinese broad-sword i saw the other day would look SO neat on my wall...

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j.c.terminal
mind
body
soul

[This message has been edited by jcterminal (edited February 04, 2001).]

[jcterminal]

hahah. there was no need for me to quote the entire post. woops. pardon me.

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j.c.terminal
mind
body
soul

[Count Zero]

That's where the EDIT function comes in handy.

[jcterminal]

quote:

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Originally posted by Count Zero:
That's where the EDIT function comes in handy.

---

yeah. i'd use it, but... umm... i'm too busy focusing on survival.

:P

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j.c.terminal
mind
body
soul

[Impaler]

quote

Quote:

Speaking personally, the only reason I would ever desire wealth is to buy time.

And to buy a house so you can buy the electricity to power your computer so you can buy the internet so you can spend your non-important money posting useless crap on Dhab's forums, i guess.. . ..

Look. Humans aren't evil slave-drivers. We all control each other, and we're all working towards a common goal: SEX. We were fluked here to procreate, to create more of me and you. We do that so we can create more and more and more until we poof out of existence. That's the entire meaning of life; to multiply as fast and as far and as quickly as possible. And once we've accomplished that, there's no need for us, so we die. All the enlightenment in the world isn't gonna mean anything when your heart decides that it's time to sleep.

And don't think that owning a Mercedes doesn't add anything. If anything, it adds everything. Heck. I don't know one person that wouldn't want to own a luxury sedan. Owning a big fancy German car impresses the ladies, they get in the car, you further the species. Not only that, but on the philosophical level, it enlightens you onto how it feels to be artificially transcendent above everybody else that's driving a '81 Sentra. It gives you happiness, and that's the philosophical meaning of life.

And humans are not evil because they employ other humans to do their bidding. Read the Leviathan by Hobbes. If anything, it's GOOD that we all have jobs. (i rhymed!) Money is the ONLY thing that keeps us from climbing up trees and flinging our feces at each other. Civilization means giving yourself a useless purpose in life, be it money or self-enlightenment. Civilization is good, we're civilization, therefore, we're good.

And don't think that humans are forking up the earth because we all drive awful '75 Cadillacs. We're just stinky apes. Do you really think that we could mess up the earth this bad? Look at ants. Their combined weight is more than all of the fish, bird and mammals combined. You think that they don't fuck the earth over more than we do? Come on..

And I rock.

So, for all of you who read the first paragraph of a post and the last sentence to sum it up, go read the entire thing. It's not really that long. :P

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My signature is slightly better than yours.

[A.Buttle]

Blah blah blah, let's go buy fur coats!

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Joe Dillingham
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by your mutha (edited April 15, 197-deuce).]

[Impaler]

Amen, brotha. We can drive to the store in my Mercedes. :P

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My signature is slightly better than yours.

[sacrelicious]

I want a walk-in humidor!

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Weaseling out of things is what separates us from the animals... except the weasel.

[Count Zero]

Impaler is a die-hard behaviourist. I can tell.

So, we're just driven by a necessity to breed? I say that is more depressing than being a slave to your job. Being a slave to genetics and biology.

I personally give humans more free will and intellect than that. I don't think we became self-aware just procreate more efficiently. If we are all driven by our sex drive, as you say, why do many people refrain from sex altogether or have sex but do everything in their power to avoid having children? Life has more meaning than that. At least I believe it does. I'm not saying there is a complex "fate" and destiny for everyone. We might not all be beautiful and unique snowflakes (pardon the Durdenism), but I say we have ascended our monkey ancestry.

And I do believe we are heading towards an apocalypse of our own creation. We do make a larger impact on the globe than ants. So what if they weigh more, or if they outnumber us a trillion to one? Humans, with the help of complex brains and opposable thumbs, have modified the world to fit their needs unlike the rest of the animals. Ants don't reorganize their surroundings on a massive (global) scale; they maintain a balance with nature. We humans just say "fuck nature, gimme gimme gimme". With darwinistic evolution, we lost our connection with nature. And this is why we are dying and taking the planet with us.
EDIT: Son of Retard Boy strikes again!

[This message has been edited by Count Zero (edited February 05, 2001).]

[Realityshift]

Well now that all the witty white people from Orange County have spoken their final word, here's one last thing. My real name is Jesse Garcia. I live in Lincoln Heights Los Angeles, and to have my own computer would be lovely, but some of us less fortunate then you low headed snobby bastards have to use the one at the library, which is incidentally a 9 block walk from home, not that matters to the Mercedes owner.

But, out of fairness, I expected this type of response, actually a little worse.

I guess people like me have one thing over people like you. In the end, we wont miss this place as much as you, we never had enough here to make us really like it that much.

Which is probably why most of us turn to Liquor or drugs, or in my case reading to absorb other people's ideas.

Well, Goodnight all, sleep well in your warm beds tonight, and may your dreams be filled with all the worldly desires that support your coma.

Peace

[Realityshift]

P.S.
That last part was just to set the record straight as to who I am, the last thing I feel is sorry for myself. I like the way I think, and I also like the fact that all the cars and shit you have that I don't really won't matter when slumber comes.

Keep that blindfold on tight y'all !

[sacrelicious]

Somebody sounds a little bitter. I guess being a nihilist destroys your sense of humor. Maybe I should grab my fur coat out of the humidor, take Impaler's Mercedes to the airport, jump in my Lear jet with it's jewel-encrusted cupholders, fly down to Lincoln Heights and tell you to lighten up. But then, you probably couldn't hear me from your seat atop that pedestal of superiority. You join a forum just to accuse "us" of being (white) materialistic zombies? I would think that someone as intelligent as you would have better uses for your time than making such inflammatory, racist statements. There's so much more to say... but I might start making accusations and calling names. And then I'd be as bad as you, wouldn't I?

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Weaseling out of things is what separates us from the animals... except the weasel.

[Ragnarok]

It's interesting to see how you have pictured all our life with a couple of posts and you have inmediatly thought you are superior.
Well, that's what nazi's thought, did you know?
Intolerance.

Close-minded.

[strata]

What I don't quite get about all this, especially the "we won't miss this place as much" comment is: Why not just try to enjoy yourself as much as possible ALL the time?
What's the point of having little now so's not to be sad later when it's all lost?
Why not just try to have EVERYTHING all the time and worry about what you're going to have or not later? I mean your thesis sort of dictates that there is something after this, and that we won't be able to draw from what we had here there.

If your opinion is that everything we do here is irrelevant in where we go after this, except for what's in our heads, and even that's no good caus it's been spoiled by media and impressions by impure factors other then other people with whom the dialogue you carry can't be counted either since their minds are as polluted, then why aren't we killing of our newborns? They're totally pure aren't they? No outside stimulation! Sure, they don't have a wealth of experience or growth on them, but they're not polluted, greedy or materialists either!

Oh wait! The child gets impressions from it's mother! Oh woest me!

What I believe in is the carpe diem philosophy, live every day as if it were your last and sieze it. By that I'm not saying that you don't take into account what todays actions might do for tomorrow.

But what's the point of going through life having it rough and tough just because it's 'pure' when you can enjoy yourself? Sure we might not live up to YOUR standards, but those standards are set from what you believe comes after this, and who's to say what that is?

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Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?

[Impaler]

I don't even know who the fuck Realityshift is talking to?

"You"?

"Us"?

"The"?

?

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My signature is slightly better than yours.

[Waldo]

I'm disappointed. This thread took off with some interesting thoughts and observations and then...

Oh well, the Witty White Boy from O.C. has spoken. Off to accumulate more wealth and rape the environment.

...and I believe I'm the only WWBfOC in this thread.

[Duckman2]

Well I do happen to think that in a sense we are a slave to society, but it takes alot less time and energy for us to sit down and work for eight hours than it does to gather up a bunch of guys grab some spears and hunt Kodiak brown bears.

[Count Zero]

Realityshift is obviously bettering himself as a person... Hope resorting to immature name-calling will make you "more complete".
Can you say hypocrite?

I like the way you pass judgement claiming moral highground because you don't own a car and have to walk (omg!) to the library. Big fucking deal. Our family has never owned a car, I have to walk a kilometer to the nearest busstop every day and I don't even have the luxury of living in sunny California. Last week it was -25C degrees outside, with the wind, it felt like -40C. So fucking what? I don't whine about it, I live my life happily with what I have.

You claim you don't feel sorry for yourself. If that was true, why would you need to support your ego by insulting other people for their beliefs. Does this make you feel more superiour? Live what you preach. Coward.

Power to the people, yo! If its people like you, forget it.

[Realityshift]

...and I'm the insulting one who thinks he's superior? Try re-reading this thing start to finish. If almost every other post here isn't someone trying to allude to their superiority with little tidbits of trivial pursuit answers, I don't know what is.

The last thing I feel is superior. Hell, I never even knew about the ant thing, simply fascinating.

Just sharing what I think and I apologize for not being as open minded as yourselves. That's the first thing I thought when I read the responses to my first post ever, now here's a bunch of open minded, friendly people.

Cheers

[Freddio]

Umm like dudes its a free world I can do wateva I want ...

[Dean Welsh]

too much reading... uh.. uhm... Joe Pesci!

-Dean

[eureka]

Slaves receive no compensation for their labor while people with jobs are compensated with paychecks and company health benefits.

The thought just occured to me that if a person who owned some land decided to grow his own food, make his own clothes, and live totally on his own. Making no money, only producing what he needs to survive. He would still have to find a way to pay government taxes. Wouldn't that make him a slave?

[klaivu]

Some expert on the matter said, that there is more slavery now in the world than ever has been: childlabour and slavery make us clothes, happy meal toys and electronic appliances. Isn't todays world much like it was back in the days of ancient Rome ? Rome in the middle, conquered areas all around it, supplying rome with raw materials and slaves - much like the western countries and the third world.

[eureka]

Who was the expert so I can check out the quote?

There are a lot of experts who have a political agenda and though they a may not lie the do tend to re-weave the tapestry of truth.