USA

[SixZeroFou4]

Might be too late this time, but it would will be a good fit, if Clinton makes it..

After a long period of male white elite presidents, there is the first black, the first women.. so let's continue that with the first hippie. Would be really interesting to see US, ran by a flowerpower government :D

I don't think I can have the honor to be called a hippie. I'm a bad bad man. However, flower power works and I would certainly promote it

[Purple Sunray]

At least half of the posts here don't even make sense to me.

Excellent trolling

 

May I ask for some info on that? I always look for new trolling techniques :D

I wasn't trolling .. I honestly feel like that. If aliens would come here ask for volunteers to live with them on their planet, I would give it a try. Can't be worse than humans.

SixZeroFou4? Ofc he is trolling, but easy to figure out. Good, but not excellent.

the goa constrictor? I don't think so. Trolls don't write stuff like "I really enjoyed the chunk of time when Purple Sunray wasn't posting on here....". He must be happy about if there is fish on the line, not vice versa.

So .. who is it? :D

[Purple Sunray]

More money = more fun

Your Honda just turned into a ferrari!!! Fun!!!

Just out of interest, why is more money = more fun for you?

I have never understood this. After you have the ferrari you will meet people having a yacht. So you feel bad because you don't have one and so need to make more money yet again to feel good. Money (and salary) belongs to "extrinsic motivation". That never worked for me, or if it did, only for a very short period of time. I need "intrinsic motivation" to get something done and have fun on it. "Good work!! you getting more salary now" motivates for a day or two. "Good work!! You are my best employee, would need to shut down the company w/o you" last longer.

[Celaripo]

I know that this will piss of the next guy in here (waiting for the account ban), but it is just a perfect example of what I'm writing about.

If I'm involved on a discussion I'm listing to what the others say, because I want to understand how they are thinking and they want to explain to me. Maybe it could be interesting, maybe they could be right I'm am wrong (sry, I'm just a human)?

But better solution is to not listen to ppl when you do not agree - that way you can just keep your views forever and you never be in the awkward position to question yourself.

Cool approach, should adapt that too.

 

All respect to SixZeroFou4. I feel like we have completely different views, but I also feel like we could be good friends IRL because we both don't have a problem with that

he was talking about the guy on the photo with the sport car - not about you

[SixZeroFou4]

Just out of interest, why is more money = more fun for you?

I have never understood this. After you have the ferrari you will meet people having a yacht. So you feel bad because you don't have one and so need to make more money yet again to feel good. Money (and salary) belongs to "extrinsic motivation". That never worked for me, or if it did, only for a very short period of time. I need "intrinsic motivation" to get something done and have fun on it. "Good work!! you getting more salary now" motivates for a day or two. "Good work!! You are my best employee, would need to shut down the company w/o you" last longer.

More money = more fun

 

Your just developed a rare but beatable illness.

 

Less money = miserable, debt collecting experience

 

More money = best care, medicine, anything else available to beat the sickness and when it's over get back to life without owing money forever.

[Padmapani]

More money = more fun

 

Your just developed a rare but beatable illness.

 

Less money = miserable, debt collecting experience

 

More money = best care, medicine, anything else available to beat the sickness and when it's over get back to life without owing money forever.

only in america. let me introduce you to the world of free health care we have in europe. your money can buy you a one or two bed room in hospital instead of a four bed room and quicker access to procedures that aren't urgent at all, but not better medical care. and that's it more or less. in american healthcare terms we are all rich over here. no one has to pay, so no one goes into debt.

 

btw, i wouldn't exchange my honda (i really have one) for a ferrari if you paid me for it. i don't feel the need to compensate for some deficit with an overly pretentious car. i want my car to be able to take five people and have a spacious boot while not needing lots of repairs. the ferrari fails utterly while the honda excels.

 

most of the fun you can have cannot be bought. and even the counterexample that comes to my mind, a psy festival, is pretty affordable with 150€ for a week. you can go even if you live off your guaranteed minimum income.

[SixZeroFou4]

only in america. let me introduce you to the world of free health care we have in europe. your money can buy you a one or two bed room in hospital instead of a four bed room and quicker access to procedures that aren't urgent at all, but not better medical care. and that's it more or less. in american healthcare terms we are all rich over here. no one has to pay, so no one goes into debt.

 

btw, i wouldn't exchange my honda (i really have one) for a ferrari if you paid me for it. i don't feel the need to compensate for some deficit with an overly pretentious car. i want my car to be able to take five people and have a spacious boot while not needing lots of repairs. the ferrari fails utterly while the honda excels.

 

most of the fun you can have cannot be bought. and even the counterexample that comes to my mind, a psy festival, is pretty affordable with 150€ for a week. you can go even if you live off your guaranteed minimum income.

OR you could have the Honda AND the ferrari

[Starkraver]

Ouch! Limping pony.

Ferrari , Honda example is exactly reverse in F1 with Honda literally breaking down every other race.

 

The point you made is absolutely right. With money may be you can increase the frequency of sensations that you experience in life but you know as with any other stuff. Over time one needs to increase the intensity to keep up the same level of sensation until you can't feel them no more.

 

You guys are lucky to have a guaranteed healthcare & fixed income Padmapani.

[SixZeroFou4]

Ouch! Limping pony.

Ferrari , Honda example is exactly reverse in F1 with Honda literally breaking down every other race.

The point you made is absolutely right. With money may be you can increase the frequency of sensations that you experience in life but you know as with any other stuff. Over time one needs to increase the intensity to keep up the same level of sensation until you can't feel them no more.

You guys are lucky to have a guaranteed healthcare & fixed income Padmapani.

If you don't think you are capable of achieving above average and being rewarded for it, then that sounds like your thing.

 

But if the sky is the limit.. come get rewarded for it in the capitalist society

[Starkraver]

It's funny how you look at it. What you are pointing here that you think I am not capable of, in my experience the easy things are the hardest and that's where my complete energy will be focussed at , enjoy your capitalist society and life.

 

I gave up that easy life for good.

[SixZeroFou4]

It's funny how you look at it. What you are pointing here that you think I am not capable of, in my experience the easy things are the hardest and that's where my complete energy will be focussed at , enjoy your capitalist society and life.

I gave up that easy life for good.

Who said I was directly implying you?!

 

Our common bond is goa. Anyone who understands goa is already ahead in life. We are all the same on these forums we just took different paths.

 

Furthermore I also believe if you were in a capitalist society you would do well.

[Padmapani]

You guys are lucky to have a guaranteed healthcare & fixed income Padmapani.

we really are. on the other hand we pay (at least those of us with a decent jobs) more than 50% tax for that .

still, the comparatively high equality and social peace are priceless and i'll gladly pay the price when that means that everyone has access to healthcare, education, pensions and a basic income if they are less fortunate.

 

OR you could have the Honda AND the ferrari

what should i do with the ferrari? my honda goes as fast as i want and gets me everywhere i want. there's no point to the ferrari. the biggest difference i see is that the ferrari uses way more fuel, so i'd have to stop at the petrol station more often, which is a nuisance rather than an advantage. it would accellerate faster, sure, but i can already accelerate faster than other cars will actually do if i push the pedal all the way down, so i don't see the point here either.

if you say a ferrari will impress the girls, then i'll answer that girls who are so materialistic to be impressed by a car are not those whose opinion is of interest to me

it might be different in america, but materialism is pretty unpopular by the majority of educated people in my age or younger (the typical university students from a few years ago ). it's mostly a thing of those coming from a lower social class who actually know scarcity very well from their own experience and (over)compensate once they have the funds (and even here many have other priorities) or the conformists, who'll eagerly do what society wants them to do (those are typically not people who'll tolerate goa trance or psy culture).

[SixZeroFou4]

we really are. on the other hand we pay (at least those of us with a decent jobs) more than 50% tax for that .

still, the comparatively high equality and social peace are priceless and i'll gladly pay the price when that means that everyone has access to healthcare, education, pensions and a basic income if they are less fortunate.

 

 

 

what should i do with the ferrari? my honda goes as fast as i want and gets me everywhere i want. there's no point to the ferrari. the biggest difference i see is that the ferrari uses way more fuel, so i'd have to stop at the petrol station more often, which is a nuisance rather than an advantage. it would accellerate faster, sure, but i can already accelerate faster than other cars will actually do if i push the pedal all the way down, so i don't see the point here either.

if you say a ferrari will impress the girls, then i'll answer that girls who are so materialistic to be impressed by a car are not those whose opinion is of interest to me

it might be different in america, but materialism is pretty unpopular by the majority of educated people in my age or younger (the typical university students from a few years ago ). it's mostly a thing of those coming from a lower social class who actually know scarcity very well from their own experience and (over)compensate once they have the funds (and even here many have other priorities) or the conformists, who'll eagerly do what society wants them to do (those are typically not people who'll tolerate goa trance or psy culture).

I think we'll have to agree to disagree. I believe if you are successful enough to own a ferrari for the sheer fun of racing around in personal satisfaction - nothing more, not impressing or compensating - but enjoying the fruits of your labor is ok.

 

I guess it's hard to dream big when you are socialist. Even the guaranteed peace part you mentioned is untrue. At any moment the USA could change whatever they wanted, period - the end. I wouldn't be happy knowing I'm paying for a lie

[Celaripo]

usually people saying money is not important are the ones living in countries offering a good welfare

that is something i noticed when travelling - having friends from france and sweden they have a very different opinion on money than mine and my family/family in law

 

but i where i am from (brazil) and where i live now (taiwan) money is like a religion especially in taiwan

people go to temples and ask for more money in their prayers - of course here there is no welfare so this is understandable

and by having a lot of money you will always be able to help your family when they are in trouble

that is why people here work so hard

 

the popular sentence money does not buy happiness is mostly true for people living in western countries with a good welfare and usually living in individualists societies

[SixZeroFou4]

usually people saying money is not important are the ones living in countries offering a good welfarethat is something i noticed when travelling - having friends from france and sweden they have a very different opinion on money than mine and my family/family in lawbut i where i am from (brazil) and where i live now (taiwan) money is like a religion especially in taiwanpeople go to temples and ask for more money in their prayers - of course here there is no welfare so this is understandableand by having a lot of money you will always be able to help your family when they are in troublethat is why people here work so hardthe popular sentence money does not buy happiness is mostly true for people living in western countries with a good welfare and usually living in individualists societies

Good points. I think depending on the part of Venezuela you live in you would be happy to just have food, forget about money.

 

You added a good perspective on this

[Padmapani]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree. I believe if you are successful enough to own a ferrari for the sheer fun of racing around in personal satisfaction - nothing more, not impressing or compensating - but enjoying the fruits of your labor is ok.

 

I guess it's hard to dream big when you are socialist. Even the guaranteed peace part you mentioned is untrue. At any moment the USA could change whatever they wanted, period - the end. I wouldn't be happy knowing I'm paying for a lie

of course enjoying the fruits of your labour is ok. who in their right mind would say something else? i enjoy good monitors, nice softsynths, good food... but i don't see any point in having a ferrari. if you're into fancy cars your priorities are different. where we'll disagree is that i don't think anyones labour is worth 10 times or as it is now thousands of times as much as the labour of a hard working cleaning woman. if you have a ferrari a yacht and a large villa,... i'll speak out against you not because i don't think you shouldn't enjoy your car (or whatever) or because i want everyone to get the same (i don't); it's rather because i think you take a much bigger piece of the cake than your labour entitles you to and make everyone else poorer than they should be. besides, by far the largest proportion of the rich/"successful" people (a recent study i've seen in a local newspaper put the figure at 90%) became rich/successful by inheriting rather than work.

 

quite to the contrary. thinking beyond capitalism makes visions of freer societies, landmark projects that aren't financeable now and huge scientific advances seem more realistic than they are now. lots of our resources are cought up in bullshit jobs, jobs all about managing money, patent layers, advertising, ...

imagine the rise in productivity and the amount of free time everyone could have if all those people actually did useful work.

i don't get what you're saying about the usa could change whatever they wanted.

 

@celaripo

exactly. that's why i said that the poorer people (even over here; our social safety net is not perfect and the conservatives constantly try to erode it further) are generally more materialistic. if you know scarcity and feel the risk of falling into debt you'll value money/things totally different than someone whose needs have never been at risk.

[SixZeroFou4]

of course enjoying the fruits of your labour is ok. who in their right mind would say something else? i enjoy good monitors, nice softsynths, good food... but i don't see any point in having a ferrari. if you're into fancy cars your priorities are different. where we'll disagree is that i don't think anyones labour is worth 10 times or as it is now thousands of times as much as the labour of a hard working cleaning woman. if you have a ferrari a yacht and a large villa,... i'll speak out against you not because i don't think you shouldn't enjoy your car (or whatever) or because i want everyone to get the same (i don't); it's rather because i think you take a much bigger piece of the cake than your labour entitles you to and make everyone else poorer than they should be. besides, by far the largest proportion of the rich/"successful" people (a recent study i've seen in a local newspaper put the figure at 90%) became rich/successful by inheriting rather than work.

 

quite to the contrary. thinking beyond capitalism makes visions of freer societies, landmark projects that aren't financeable now and huge scientific advances seem more realistic than they are now. lots of our resources are cought up in bullshit jobs, jobs all about managing money, patent layers, advertising, ...

imagine the rise in productivity and the amount of free time everyone could have if all those people actually did useful work.

i don't get what you're saying about the usa could change whatever they wanted.

You're a Nato ally. Trump said Nato needs to pay their share and stop leeching from us. I'm sure things will change a bit for starters

[Padmapani]

we're not. austria is neutral. being part of a military alliance or doing anything military outside our own borders without a u.n. mandate is forbidden by our constitution (and no austrian in his right mind would want to change that). we've learnt our lessons from being in the middle of two world wars. have you?

[SixZeroFou4]

we're not. austria is neutral. being part of a military alliance or doing anything military outside our own borders without a u.n. mandate is forbidden by our constitution (and no austrian in his right mind would want to change that). we've learnt our lessons from being in the middle of two world wars. have you?

????

[Padmapani]

????

you said we are a nato ally. we are not. we're not part of nato nor allied to anyone, nor are we allowed to because we are a neutral country. we're like switzerland in this respect.

[SixZeroFou4]

you said we are a nato ally. we are not. we're not part of nato nor allied to anyone, nor are we allowed to because we are a neutral country. we're like switzerland in this respect.

Germany is telling people to stock up

 

Russia is getting closer by the day

 

Any collateral damage from neutrality is pure loss.

 

The EU might just crumble after the brexit.

 

Lots of uncertain futures out there - so calling yourself not a Nato ally might be speaking too soon.

 

I would love nothing more than to be wrong.

[recursion loop]

On 8/29/2016 at 5:09 PM, SixZeroFou4 said:

Russia is getting closer by the day

del

[Padmapani]

i really find the stylisation of russia as a villain to be feared completely ridiculous. putin is an autocratic wanna-be dictator, but he's not an expansionist lunatic like erdogan. any russion "aggression" we see is just a reaction to nato-expansionism. of course i wouldn't want putin to be in power here or our politicians to copy any of his domestic policies, but i really find his foreign policy pretty logical and reasonable most of the time, especially compared to the u.s. foreign policy which often seems to have a wild-west touch.

 

being neutral we have always had good relations with the soviet union/russia. when the sanctions began putin got standing ovations after a speech here in austria. no one fears the russians. we have a lot in common regarding mentality and culture.

we want to profit throm their natural resources and share our industrial/technological products and know how in return. it is american think tanks like stratfor, which have often been very influential in the u.s. government, that see this as their greatest problem and i have no doubt that they would have no qualms spreading fear and lies or creating instability/conflict in the region to ensure the economic supremacy of the usa.

[SixZeroFou4]

i really find the stylisation of russia as a villain to be feared completely ridiculous. putin is an autocratic wanna-be dictator, but he's not an expansionist lunatic like erdogan. any russion "aggression" we see is just a reaction to nato-expansionism. of course i wouldn't want putin to be in power here or our politicians to copy any of his domestic policies, but i really find his foreign policy pretty logical and reasonable most of the time, especially compared to the u.s. foreign policy which often seems to have a wild-west touch.

 

being neutral we have always had good relations with the soviet union/russia. when the sanctions began putin got standing ovations after a speech here in austria. no one fears the russians. we have a lot in common regarding mentality and culture.

we want to profit throm their natural resources and share our industrial/technological products and know how in return. it is american think tanks like stratfor, which have often been very influential in the u.s. government, that see this as their greatest problem and i have no doubt that they would have no qualms spreading fear and lies or creating instability/conflict in the region to ensure the economic supremacy of the usa.

Regardless, you're caught in the middle. Neutral is nice, but when push comes to shove, someone will encroach without question- you offer no opposition.

 

You gave putin a back handed compliment. You see if the grass is truly greener on the other side as a result of the brexit, instability will be at an all time high for those who also want a piece of that pie.

 

Why is putin flexing on ukraine if he is the teddy bear you say..

[Anu Katariina]

Finland has the longest border with Russia within the EU.

 

Russia has been watching us since the world war II and Finland is licking Russia's ass out of fear.

 

I would join Nato any minute: so would my family but Finland is never going to. Some day we will be a part of Russia.

 

The situation is the same here as it is in BiH: Russia dictates our inner policy.

 

This is not even a matter of Mr. Putin because we have been Russia's puppet much much longer than the era of Putin.

 

Today Russia does not even see any need to wrap their threats to a nice package: the verbal threats have become direct: if you do this then we do that. Illegal immigrant flow last winter from Russia stopped in one day when Putin wanted to. He plays us to show his power.

 

Still, I love Russian culture and my friends over there. Nothing's gonna change that ever.