My life.

[my ill will]

Ok, so I got to smoking some dope and thinking.

This is my life. My one life. The only one I will ever have. My one chance at walking this earth and doing things. The only one forever and ever all throughout eternity.

I'm going to use my natural human abilities. I want to create. To explore. To agree with others and to have things work. To enjoy. That's it. Enjoy and explore.

I think deep down- this is what we all truly want. At the heart of all human beings, this is the true desire, we just have not realized it yet. When we see all of our brothers and sisters dying to protect some divine cause... AKA spilling blood for oil... it's just sad. They thought they were fighting to protect their country, their brothers, so that we could live and explore our human world.

But what do we do? We partake in the economy, the cycle of life. Work your little ass off, have a family, die... I know people that worked in gas stations all their lives. Just so they could survive. What a waste... their only life throughout eternity wasted.. sitting in a gas station all day. Pressing a button. Over. And over. And over.

I want to break free. I want the entire human race to break free of their tendencies. I can't accept the war and the corruption and crime, the ignoring of the diseases that are killing us. I only wish humanity could wake up and adopt some kind of external conscience... work as one race, rather than hundreds of countries and religions and social classes. Work together to promote things that help the human race as a whole, rather than turn their backs on each other and destroy themselves.

Your only life. Gone... just like that. Will it all have been worth it to protect the system... pretending it all means something, when you know what you really want to do. I only wish people would stand up... really stand up for themselves. And show everyone that if we only try we can all agree and everyone really can be happy.

That.. is the only thing I ever want to see. I'm a little tired of this hell we're in right now.

[fishbob]

Ok, so I got to smoking some dope and thinking.

This is my life. My one life. The only one I will ever have. My one chance at walking this earth and doing things. The only one forever and ever all throughout eternity.

I'm going to use my natural human abilities. I want to create. To explore. To agree with others and to have things work. To enjoy. That's it. Enjoy and explore.

I think deep down- this is what we all truly want. At the heart of all human beings, this is the true desire, we just have not realized it yet. When we see all of our brothers and sisters dying to protect some divine cause... AKA spilling blood for oil... it's just sad. They thought they were fighting to protect their country, their brothers, so that we could live and explore our human world.

But what do we do? We partake in the economy, the cycle of life. Work your little ass off, have a family, die... I know people that worked in gas stations all their lives. Just so they could survive. What a waste... their only life throughout eternity wasted.. sitting in a gas station all day. Pressing a button. Over. And over. And over.

I want to break free. I want the entire human race to break free of their tendencies. I can't accept the war and the corruption and crime, the ignoring of the diseases that are killing us. I only wish humanity could wake up and adopt some kind of external conscience... work as one race, rather than hundreds of countries and religions and social classes. Work together to promote things that help the human race as a whole, rather than turn their backs on each other and destroy themselves.

Your only life. Gone... just like that. Will it all have been worth it to protect the system... pretending it all means something, when you know what you really want to do. I only wish people would stand up... really stand up for themselves. And show everyone that if we only try we can all agree and everyone really can be happy.

That.. is the only thing I ever want to see. I'm a little tired of this hell we're in right now.

To post on the internets is to invite comment:

1 - Smoking some dope and thinking will get you exactly 0% toward your goal.

2 - Working your little ass off and having a family is not too bad.

3 - Wanting the entire human race to break free of their tendencies, not accepting war and corruption and crime and ignoring the diseases that are killing us is not particularly furthered by 1 (above).

4 - Tired of this hell you're in right now? Get out and do something.

[Bob Blaylock]

Ok, so I got to smoking some dope…


This would seem to very nicely explain just about everything that I've seen you post so far on this forum.

[shadron]

The point to all this is that, in isolation, no one can do all the neat things you want to do. In isolation, it is all a person can do to keep him/herself in eats and protected from the elements. We are all sorry about that, but that is the way it is. Only through cooperation with other humans has it become possible to gather in enough surplus to allow some people, some of the time, to do the neat things in life they can do - they, literally, do so on the backs of their brothers around them. To the extent that you can find the time to smoke dope and think, you are allowed to do so because some smart cookie made life just a little more efficient earlier on - he worked a little harder so you can take it easy. Perhaps it was that guy at the service station.

Few people have an easy life, but it is possible to have a life in which your occupation overlaps your pleasure, and perhaps that's the best we can do. It's time for you to search out that holy grail. And the dope isn't going to help you get there, not likely.

You may have noticed a lot of people dumping on you about the dope (like me). Many people take that as a sign that they are working harder in order to support you, but that's not really the problem. The problem is that you have the surplus to be able to buy and consume it (or liquor or tobacco or sex) and you still bitch about your life.

[bokonon]

What they said, plus this:

Pushing that button at the gas station over, and over, and over, will give you plenty of time to think. You can sit there with a digital recorder and dictate your novel, or your philosophical treatise, or your symphony. You can sit there with a pad of paper and doodle your ideas for renovating the Sistine Chapel, as long as that button gets pushed whenever it should be.

I have no reason to think my heart feels especially fulfilled doing its single task over and over, but without it my life would be a lot less enjoyable.

Thanks to the forgettable and forgotten contributions of billions of people living and dead, I have access to more information than I could absorb in a thousand lifetimes. I can enjoy some of the best art and music that mankind has managed to create, consider ideas that I would never have conceived on my own, create in my spare time in a small space something that used to take teams of people and warehouses full of space. I can travel the world, or sit in my kitchen and let the world come to me -- it's my choice.

If doing uninteresting work is the price I have to pay for those privileges, I am infinitely luckier than 99% of the people who ever lived. A few hundred years ago virtually everyone spent all day every day focused on getting enough food and enough shelter to make it to the next day. I have the luxury of surplus time. It's a gift I hate to waste.

[paximperium]

Is this going to be another attempt at pushing the Venus Project, utopian fantasy?

[my ill will]

haha. I'm still in high school. There's not really much I can get out and do that I'm not already doing. I partake in charity work and help local non-profit organizations.

I'm not really bitching. It's just... I only have one life throughout all of eternity and I want it to mean something, to have purpose, and not to be wasted trying to protect a failed system... IE one that can't even support a third of it's inhabitants...

I don't really think of it as a utopian fantasy either, just rather a more "advanced" human race, a higher psychological state.. I don't think it's completely impossible. Maybe one day the human race can all come together if their minds evolve to that higher conscience.

You guys really are harsh here. lol.

I only wish for all of these things.. I don't know how to make them happen. It's just what I want to see become of the world... just cause we can... I don't know how to get rid of the corrupt... I don't know how to make blind people see the truth. I don't really know anything. Just sharing thoughts.

[Lothian]

Your only life. Gone... just like that. Will it all have been worth it to protect the system... pretending it all means something, when you know what you really want to do. I only wish people would stand up... really stand up for themselves. And show everyone that if we only try we can all agree and everyone really can be happy.
My personal happiness relies on the existence of someone sitting in a gas station pressing a button.

[paximperium]

Then study, become a lawyer and then a politician and change the world.
Become a medical researcher and cure cancer. Do something of relevance instead of bitching about it.

Everyone has worth, even gas station attendent. I find it very patronizing and rather elitist to consider blue collar work less relevant or meaningful than being some galaxy changing persona.

PS: Stop smoking pot and stop reading the Venus Project. It is a juvenile fantasy with nothing of worth.

[fagin]

You only have one life. Go out and get a girlfriend and some fun. Simple as.

[Delvo]

Your references to protecting a failed system seem to have no connection to the rest of your whining. What does anything about how you live your life as an individual have to do with protecting a system? What system are you protecting? How do your actions (or lack thereof) protect it? Why are you doing that instead of working for your own benefit?

Inserting vague stuff about "the system" that's completely unrelated to the rest of what you're saying makes it all look like it's not so much a matter of your own serious thoughts and philosophy, as a case of just reciting standard empty slogans of teenagers who seem to want to protest something but can't be bothered to come up with something real to protest or think through how they're protesting it.

[Akhenaten]

<polite snippy>

I only wish for all of these things.. I don't know how to make them happen. It's just what I want to see become of the world... just cause we can... I don't know how to get rid of the corrupt... I don't know how to make blind people see the truth. I don't really know anything. Just sharing thoughts.



Admirable wishes Mate. I'm old and cranky now, but I can remember feeling as you do, and I hope you see some of your dreams realised. Thank you for sharing.


Cheers,

Dave

[my ill will]

Then study, become a lawyer and then a politician and change the world.
Become a medical researcher and cure cancer. Do something of relevance instead of bitching about it.

Everyone has worth, even gas station attendent. I find it very patronizing and rather elitist to consider blue collar work less relevant or meaningful than being some galaxy changing persona.

PS: Stop smoking pot and stop reading the Venus Project. It is a juvenile fantasy with nothing of worth.

I am not going to stop reading the Venus Project- if you have read any of Jacque Fresco's work, they are well written, plausible changes to society that would make it more sustainable. I don't understand what is juvenile and fantasy-like about it.

I don't expect the human race to come to some amazing understanding sometime soon, I'm not counting on anything amazing to happen. Simply sharing thoughts on the internet about what I wish to see in the world.

Having some intelligent men jump all over my face about it is not exactly what I expected to see.

I am studying IT in college- hoping to graduate from Georgia Tech and I plan on improving solar energy technology. I think I have a bright future planned for myself.

My referencing to the failed system... is completely relevant. Working a boring, unimportant (only important because it keeps the economy running like everything else) to support the economy and make a living is what I do not want to do. Why I say failed system... is because wars are focused on rather than diseases killing our race.. fighting over resources that could simply be shared... millions and millions starving every night... I don't think that's the way it should be. I don't believe it's any kind of crazy utopia, just a society that is NOT insane.

[Marquis de Carabas]

Will it all have been worth it to protect the system...
Nope.

Not worth it to fight the system, either. Whatever you do, you're just some decaying matter when it's over, so you might as well have some fun while you're at it. Next time you fire up a j, make sure you've got some company.

[rhtufts]

Your life (or anyone's) can be summed up with my favorite saying... "your exactly where you want to be."

Do you want to be a pot smoking loser complaining about "the system"? Or do you want to live your life and do those things you SAY you want to do? Whats stopping you?

"I'm a little tired of this hell we're in right now."
Yeah its only the best time to be alive in the history of humanity... boohoo cry me a river.

[Ron_Tomkins]

Ok, so I got to smoking some dope and thinking.

Hmm hmmmm. Try it in the reverse order next time :)

[Miss_Kitt]

my ill will -- Welcome to the Forum!

I have some thoughts to share with you on life, as well. Your life, like mine, is unique and personal. I cannot experience your life, any more than you can experience mine. All that you really have is your life's time, and the experiences you have in it; your thoughts, your actions, and the results of them. And the great challenge of life is that we need to somehow balance enough "living in the Now" to not feel regret if we find we are dying young, with the need to "plan for the Future" which reasonably could be eight decades spent in varying degrees of health.

I'm about midway between 80 and 18, so I'd like to share what I've learned.

Think, read, ask, learn, and grow. It's both rewarding in its own right, and the road to more opportunities that you can't imagine now.

Find what inspires you, and do that. I found out at pushing 50 that what I really want to do is a be a doctor. If I'd really explored what was out there to do and be, I'd have learned it at 25, and I'd be practicing today. I also enjoy writing, so I'm going to write about medicine as the next best thing.

Don't pre-judge what people have to offer you. Some of life's most amazing lessons come from people you didn't think could teach you anything. Anyone who has made it to adulthood on this planet has to have done a lot of things right. I have a friend who is currently working for Boeing nights while he attends school days, getting certified as a recording engineer. He is an amazing musician, and is blowing his teachers away with what he can do in production. He's also a father of two now-grown girls; when they were young, he worked as the manager (and covered shifts) at a gas station. He had to put his passion on "pause" while he explored another of Life's most amazing adventures, parenthood. But he was an amazing musician, and an amazing mind, while he was pushing that button.

Test yourself, and grow. Try putting your weed money into a "I want to" account. Pick a goal, whether it's something to see; something to do; or someone to visit. Can you postpone your gratification, or are you trapped in the "gotta have it now" mindset?

You don't control everything; but you do control how you react to what happens. So many things in life are out of our hands, especially the important things like the health and safety of our loved ones or the suffering of children overseas. You can choose to focus on how bad and sad it is that [X] happens; or you can choose to focus on what can be done, and what is good and hopeful. Despair robs you of initiative and energy; hope and direction are empowering. Leverage yourself with positive perspective based upon rational assessment. If you can get one child immunized, just one, that's a whole human being you've just likely enable to reach maturity.

Don't underestimate the power of focus. The difference between talent and ability is hard work. There are lots of talented people, but few with ability, because developing into being able takes work. That doesn't mean take no time to enjoy yourself; just realize that for most goals, the process isn't always fun. Learn to enjoy being proud of yourself for sticking to it.

Choose to like yourself later as well as at this moment. In other words, think a moment before you act. This applies to things as small as dropping your trash on the ground, or as big as defending an unpopular idea in a public arena. Being kind; giving your attention to a friend who is talking; helping instead of just tsk-ing at a problem; keeping your temper in check; looking both ways before entering a crosswalk or driving into an intersection--these are all examples of small choices that can have huge consequences. You can be the kind of person you admire if you take the time to ask yourself, Will I look back at this and be glad?

Don't be afraid to be laughed at. This is one of life's most important lessons, and sadly some people never learn it. You don't know where other people's heads are at, and you can't telepathically make them understand your choices. So don't worry about whether or not they will understand, just do that which you think is proper for you. (Note that "proper" is not the same as "fun." It might be fun to drive a Jaguar you see parked at the curb, but if it's not yours or you don't have the owner's permission, then don't take it up the block. ) You're never too old, or too cool, to eat an ice cream cone, ride a merry-go-round, or play with a toddler. Indulge your sense of joy when you can.

Remember that you'll keep learning and growing, so try to avoid final decisions at an early age. Don't kill yourself, remove your reproductive capacity, commit a major felony or create a baby, while you're too young to have a good idea of who you are and what you want in life. (For what it's worth, once you know you want kids, I heartily endorse doing it younger than I did: Kids are physically demanding, it's a lot easier before you're 35.)

Don't be afraid to love. Love may not always work the way we'd like it to, but as long as it is based upon a real perception of the person we're loving, it is never wasted. Sometimes love is right to act upon, and sometimes it goes unspoken; but it's rewarding in its own right. By the same token, don't push love away--though you have the right to decide what expression(s) of love you are comfortable with. People you can love, and people that love you, are too rare to waste the opportunity.

I hope to hear more from you in the future. Best wishes, Miss Kitt

[AngelicAtheist333]

In my Ill Will's defense....

He's got a descent mindset, guys. I know I'm new here as well... but at least his heart is in the right place, from as far as I can tell.

To the OP: I understand what you're saying, dude. But it simply isn't accomplishable. There will always be flaws and complications. Just as there are now. To be human is to be imperfect. Humanity and think, assume, theorize, and/or establish whatever beliefs/laws/rules that they want. And because everyone is so different, and no recent study has established any kind of connection amongst human minds, there will aways be controversy, disagreement, and lies. The world you want is something that a lot of people would be happy with, but it simply is not (realistically) attainable.

Ironically, I've been thinking of the very same thing recently. I've only gotten (somewhat) negative responses (if you could call it that) from him, I now know why. By reading your post I was able to think more on my thoughts and theories about it. Thanks :)

[RandFan]

That.. is the only thing I ever want to see. I'm a little tired of this hell we're in right now. Given that you have the luxury to smoke pot and share your thoughts on the internet I'm going to make some assumptions bout you. Please forgive me but here goes.

You live in a utopia that the vast majority of people in the world can't even hope to ever achieve. You have the luxury to be free of want and the hell of hoping just to survive.

It's all perspective but I'm with fishbob. Go do something and stop whining. Oh and if smoking pot only depresses you then stop smoking pot. I'm not prude but I'm smart enough to realize that if hitting yourself in the head with a hammer is bumming you out then you ought not to do that.

Patient: Doctor, it hurts when I do this.
Doctor: Don't do that.

Well, it's an idea anyway. Do what you want.

[RandFan]

In my Ill Will's defense....

He's got a descent mindset, guys. I know I'm new here as well... but at least his heart is in the right place, from as far as I can tell.That's cool. I work for a cancer center and see people, including children, bravely facing the world and who don't sit around whining. Yeah, life can be tough. There's nothing wrong with critisizng government and the BS that happens but the woe is me crap doesn't go very far. Buck up and take some responsibility and don't take for granted the luxuries in life that you do have.

I grew up poor and I know what it's like to go to bed hungry and I know what it's like to be evicted and not have a place to live. Bitching and moaning never solved any of those problems. Acceptance and an attitude of facing the problems and solving them did. That's not to say that I haven't had to seek help from others I have. Or that I don't come to this forum from time to time with complaints. I do.

It's the whining I object to.

[arthwollipot]

I have some thoughts to share with you on life...Nominated.

[Third Eye Open]

I want to break free.

It's strange but it's true, I can't get over they way you love me like you do. But I got to be sure when I walk out that door... Oh how I want to be free...

[RandFan]

I hope to hear more from you in the future. Best wishes, Miss KittGiven that Art nominated it I had to read it.

Agreed. It's a great post and worthy of nomination.

[RandFan]

It's strange but it's true, I can't get over they way you love me like you do. But I got to be sure when I walk out that door... Oh how I want to be free...:( I miss Freddie.

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

My Ill Will, I think you sound like a smart and interesting person on the right path in life.

If I could offer you a word of advice, it's that you should know that you will have much more freedom and opportunity to do what interests you as an adult.

When I was in high school, I often felt that I was bored, restless and simply marking time until I could leave and become a productive member of society.

That was both true and not true. You should look forward to the future but you should also enjoy still being a kid.

To you, I'd like to say good for you and keep on trucking! :)

[Foolmewunz]

Nope.

Not worth it to fight the system, either. Whatever you do, you're just some decaying matter when it's over, so you might as well have some fun while you're at it. Next time you fire up a j, make sure you've got some company.


Ahhhh, the voice of experience, no doubt?

MyIllWill,

When smoking, keep two things nearby. A chatty friend and a full refrigerator. Thoughts like "It's all just a game, man!" came to us regularly when I used to partake of the magical weed. Having another stoner nearby to bounce that sort of brilliant thought off of would often make it seem even deeper, momentarily, but then we'd get happily distracted looking for that bag of Twinkies we knew we'd put somewhere, or trying to remember which all-night delis had Hagen Dazs Coffee Flavor at four in the ach emma....

And then someone would say something equally brilliant or, like hysterically funny... , like when Eddie Whitsen noticed that Kong, my cat, had moved from the window he was in and he said, like all serious and stuff, "Cat's Up", and I started laughing my head off. And he got all seriouser and wanted to know why I was laughing, and I told him... "You pronounced ketchup as cats-up and it sounded funny... it's pronounced ketchup, man!" And then like Nancy asked me "What in the hell is "Pronounced Catsup"? Is that like new and improved catsup? And then Derf (who was really named Fred but he reversed it because he was like that) said, "No, man, he's talking about the cat", and I was all like "What cat?" and then I remembered that we were at my place and he was talking about Kong, and he meant that the cat was awake but because we were stoned he had said it lazily and instead of saying, "Look, the cat is awake," he said, "Cat's up." And then we all laughed and laughed but forgot about it until just now when I remembered it.

Seriously. That's what pot smoking's good for. Much like drinking. You alter your consciousness in some way, not necessarily for the better. The good thing about liquor, though, is that you generally realize you're drunk and acting like a jerk. Pot has a nasty little trick chemical in there somewhere that deludes us into thinking we've gained some sort of incredible insight.

As to the general post in your OP.... Don't take the world too seriously. I know you think you're bound to be a rock star or actor or discover a miracle cure or write a new theory... So was I at your age. Butcha know what... I'm almost 60, I'm now raising my second family, and it's been pretty good. And so's your life from the sound of it.

I was in Bangladesh last year. I can get you the names and addresses of a couple of million people there who would love to have that button-pushing job in the gas station - if it would put some food on the "table". (Only, it's not really a table, they just crouch in their one room unfurnished lean-to, if they're lucky enough to have even that.)

Thoreau's thoughts about most men's lives would be a middle class philosophical luxury that millions of those most men wish they had the time to mull over.

You're here once. That's true. It's like a great big pristine beach and if you walk firmly and with purpose you'll leave deeper footprints than those who don't... But, ultimately your prints will be washed away, too. So don't take yourself too seriously. Enjoy the walk for the sake of the walk.

[ParrotPirate]

Things I learned while stoned: wearing a hat can alter the way you hear your own voice. Marshmallow cream (the stuff in a jar) is good on pretzles. I would suggest smoking less of the herb. Not because it's evil or anything,but because it can lead to a lot of wasted time. Like some of the others have said, study hard and get yourself into a position to help change things you want to change. Don't sit and wait for things to happen. If you do that,you'll wake up one day and realize you've wasted twenty years at a brainless dead end job.

[arthwollipot]

Pot stole ten years of my life. But man, what a fun ten years that was.

[my ill will]

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that I smoke pot. Haha.

I'll try to put this as clear as possible. I am not supporting a Utopian society. There is no such thing. Humanity is constantly changing, constantly evolving, which is why we need a society that supports and reflects that.

There is no denying that our current one does NOT. There is no room for change, because what stays is what makes a lot of money.

Let's take for example, cars. They allow easy and fast travel, sure. But, they also:

-Cause 40,000 deaths in crashes every year
-Discourage walking (obesity is a large problem)
-Cause pollution
-Fuel is expensive and runs the worlds markets
-Traffic wastes everyones time


There are many, many more efficient ways of travel. Look around on YouTube for that personal transit system video, it is a great example.

Our society does not support this change. The auto industry is such a huge part of our financial system that it will not allow itself to look for better ways. The CEOs need their money and power, the government needs the insurance money, more power, more money, no care for the deaths of people, no interest in looking for better ways.

This basic example is evident in nearly every aspect of our society.

We can do SO much better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iip3gYowyLU&eurl=http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=7&func=view&catid=3&id=5328iurl=http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/Iip3gYowyLU/hqdefault.jpg&feature=player_embedded


Also, to all the comments of me doing nothing with my life:

I'm studying IT in college, hoping to graduate from Georgia Tech. I plan on further developing solar energy, and getting others to use it for it's self sufficiency.

I help with charities and local non-profit organizations.

When I am out of school, I will be devoting every waking moment of my life to promoting the Zeitgeist Movement and the Venus Project. They do not support Utopias. They support the realization that there is no difference between people. We need to understand who and what we truly are, and how working together gets us so much farther than turning our backs on each other.

There is no other way to live. We are not civilized until we realize that war is pointless, money is irrelevant, and there is no such thing as human "nature". It's all about education and working together, all about figuring out a better way to do things, ways to further our race rather than destroy it.

[my ill will]

Jacque Fresco on money:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZRq7iS5-MA&NR=1

A democracy that does not insure the necessities of life is meaningless. So many suffer. The only ones that prosper are the ones lucky enough to be able to compete to get a job. Someone always fails. Most are left behind.

Why not encourage two people working that job? Give them the basic necessities of life, because there are plenty. Let them work together rather than make them compete.

[RandFan]

There is no other way to live. We are not civilized until we realize that war is pointless, money is irrelevant, and there is no such thing as human "nature". It's all about education and working together, all about figuring out a better way to do things, ways to further our race rather than destroy it.Your post is rambling and confusing. It's hard to tell what exactly your point is. It would seem you think evolution and human psychology are bogus (no such thing as human nature) so you've lost me.

But, having read your post I'm going to turn my life around, I'm going to.... hmmm...., well, I'm, uh, well, hey, can you score me some pot?

[RandFan]

Why not encourage two people working that job?Perhaps you should wait until you are not high before you post.

Give them the basic necessities of life, because there are plenty. Let them work together rather than make them compete. Do you mean like Soviet or Chinese communism? Or are you think along the lines of something more like Scandinavian socialism?

I should note that according to the UN the difference in HDI between the nation highest in HDI and the US isn't all that much. They do a better job of providing a safety net and I'm not opposed to that. Could you elaborate?

[RandFan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZRq7iS5-MA&NR=1
Meh~ A lot of people didn't learn much from the last century.

The greatest asset on earth is the human mind. Statistical distribution dictates that individuals capable of a high degree of intellect are evenly distributed around the world. Yet progress and innovation happen in an uneven distribution in nations with capitalism. That's not a coincidence.

This means that the people who hold the keys to solve the problems of social ills languish in nations that refuse to reward them for their efforts thereby failing to motivate them to solve their nations problems.

Creating boogeymen of industrialists and entrepreneurs is probably the dumbest thing one could do and it was the biggest mistake that Mao and Stalin made and likely contributed to more suffering and death than any other human error in human history.

But something tells me that we might not learn from our mistakes.

Don't get me wrong. I've no problem with safety nets. I like the Scandinavian model.

[my ill will]

Perhaps you should wait until you are not high before you post.

Do you mean like Soviet or Chinese communism? Or are you think along the lines of something more like Scandinavian socialism?

I should note that according to the UN the difference in HDI between the nation highest in HDI and the US isn't all that much. They do a better job of providing a safety net and I'm not opposed to that. Could you elaborate?

First off, I'm sober.

Secondly, it's not communism. It's called basic humanity... there are enough resources for all people and THEN some, and the way we have those resources protected creates scarcity. The resources are there, but not accessible. It limits us in every aspect. A scientist can't do extensive research because he doesn't have the money. A cure can't be made because we have the resources, but not the funds. They are there and we're limiting ourselves.

Scarcity produces the need for fighting. The need for stealing, for corruption, for greed. We have been in a system like this for so long, that we have evolved into that. If we had a system that readily provided basic human necesseties to all people, there would be no reason for all of those things. They simply would not exist.

You think people are born and suddenly, naturally, have ideas of war in their mind? No. People are born and conformed to the society. They are running, processing creatures.

[Miss_Kitt]

my ill will --

Have you considered what life was like BEFORE the automobile/truck/other similar vehicles? When there were wagons pulled by horse, oxen, mule or buffalo? Coal-fired trains as the only long-distance transportation, and for many people, riding an equine or walking the only local transport.

How many deaths occurred from carriage accidents? From people being injured that couldn't get to a doctor, because there were no emergency vehicles? From people being exposed to the elements in extreme heat or cold? More than 40,000 seems a reasonable guess.

Don't get roped into the fallacy of believing that because you can think of something better, what is is necessarily a bad thing. I don't know which personal transport system video you are referring to, but the automobile will be replaced when it becomes economically and psycho-emotionally feasible.

Replacing autos in city centers is relatively easy to do, by unpopular means like "congestion pricing", as London has done; by converting areas to transit vehicles only; and by installing rail options. Replacing the car for those who live further out is more difficult--in part because the cost of replacing it is prohibitive. In the Seattle area, where I live, we are currently building a ridiculously expensive light-rail system that, when completed, will fail to address the major commute corridors. (This is because the majority of commutes do not go through Seattle, but the political structure of the county (and the state) are highly Seattle-centric.) Bus rapid transit (BRT) has the advantage of being able to shift its foci as the employment and living patterns shift. In Seattle's case, if they'd built the mass transit (at that time, a monorail) proposed in the 1970's, it would connect the major suburbs of that day to the Boeing plants--and completely miss the Microsoft employees which now comprise a heavy chunk of the area's traffic.

There are simple changes that can be made, such as taxing gasoline, which will (as the high prices earlier this year showed) change people's travel and car buying habits; raising the MPG fleet values and including SUV's in those values; and making the sales and use taxes on vehicles reflect their pollution impacts. Taking the 'entertainment centers' out of cars would help, too: If what you experience during your drive is, well, the drive, you'll spend less time on long trips than if you can plug your kids into a DVD and yourself into a phone call instead. (And you'll be less likely to collide with anything, too.)

Be wary of solutions that in essense require human nature to change. "No jails" is a lofty goal, but what then are you going to do with people who violently rob or assault others? Such actions have been committed for all of human history, and they are not going to just vanish if we provide daycares. If the Scandanavian countries haven't been able to create a crimeless society in a homogenous, rich, and communal-support tradition community, it is not going to happen.

Your post reflects a lack of understanding of some aspects of society. Government doesn't get insurance money, generally; private companies do. And where government does provide insurance, it's actually 'underwritten' by tax money--in other words, it's a losing proposition. Power? Well, my friend, if the government controls all transportation, it will have much more power over people's lives than it does when they are free to travel. (Ask the folks in China, or in Paris where transportation strikes paralyze the city almost every year.)

It's unfair and even somewhat ignorant to claim that there is no one looking for a "better way" to live. Lots of people do; and a number of different proposed better ways are being tried. People in the developed world live better, healthier, more rewarding lives than any group in history; and even in the developing world, standards are improving overall. (Yes, disease and war exist and are terrible; but they are LESS terrible and less prevalent than they were in, say, the 1300's.)

Before you condemn Mankind as being hopeless, helpless, lazy and corrupt, you should look at what has been done and is being done now to make the world better for everyone.

Take a look at what has been done in terms of malaria management; at the extermination of smallpox; at the provision of clean drinking water and sewage control, in the last 40-some years. You may discover that the world is progressing towards the goals you seek, without any Deus Ex Machina being required.

Just my thoughts, Miss Kitt

[RandFan]

Secondly, it's not communism. It's called basic humanity... Calling it humanity won't solve the problems that the Soviets and the Chinese couldn't solve.

...there are enough resources for all people and THEN some...And there was enough Soviet wheat to feed the people yet it rotted in the fields and in storage plants.

Food and resource distribution is a real technical problem that the Soviets and Chinese couldn't solve by simple force of will.

Scarcity produces the need for fighting. The need for stealing, for corruption, for greed. We have been in a system like this for so long, that we have evolved into that. If we had a system that readily provided basic human necesseties to all people, there would be no reason for all of those things. They simply would not exist. Overly simplistic. WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, etc. weren't fought for the reasons you outline.

You think people are born and suddenly, naturally, have ideas of war in their mind? No. People are born and conformed to the society. They are running, processing creatures. Straw man. False dichotomy. Overly simplistic. Platitudes.

You need to knock of the propaganda and read an actual book. Leftist rhetoric makes for very poor argument.

[Marquis de Carabas]

We are not civilized until we realize that war is pointless, money is irrelevant, and there is no such thing as human "nature".
Denying there's a human nature is an impediment to change. Only by understanding that nature do you have any hope of exploiting it towards your idealistic ends.

But, really, just keep smoking pot and stop worrying about it. Your hopeful idealism will be crushed in ten years or so. Enjoy it while you have it.

[Darth Rotor]

Ok, so I got to smoking some dope and thinking.
I PWD now and again, it is a grand tradition. (Post While Drinking)
This is my life. My one life. The only one I will ever have. My one chance at walking this earth and doing things. The only one forever and ever all throughout eternity.
Yes.
I'm going to use my natural human abilities. I want to create. To explore. To agree with others and to have things work. To enjoy. That's it. Enjoy and explore.
To get to enjoy and explore it usually takes some cash, so work a bit to enable your dreams. Work a lot a bit.
I think deep down- this is what we all truly want. At the heart of all human beings, this is the true desire, we just have not realized it yet. Oh yes we have, young friend, yes we have. All of us have realized it. Glad you now realize it as well. Join the we.
When we see all of our brothers and sisters dying to protect some divine cause... AKA spilling blood for oil... it's just sad.
You lost family in Iraq?
They thought they were fighting to protect their country, their brothers, so that we could live and explore our human world.
Most fight to achieve the mission which they hope will eventually make the world a better place. They also fight to take care of comrade on right and left.
But what do we do? We partake in the economy, the cycle of life. Work your little ass off, have a family, die... I know people that worked in gas stations all their lives. Just so they could survive. What a waste... their only life throughout eternity wasted.. sitting in a gas station all day. Pressing a button. Over. And over. And over.
It helps pay the bills. If that isn't what you want, work your ass off and try a different job. So long as you work your ass off, you'll have good references and be able to try varying jobs until you land in the "just right" situation."
I want to break free.
That is within your power. Your choices will determine your success or failure.
I want the entire human race to break free of their tendencies.
You can want in one hand, and crap in the other. Guess which fills up first?
I can't accept the war and the corruption and crime, the ignoring of the diseases that are killing us.
If you can't accept reality, you are in for a rough life. Stoned won't help.
I only wish humanity could wake up and adopt some kind of external conscience... work as one race, rather than hundreds of countries and religions and social classes.
If wishes were horses I'd have a quarter horse.
Work together to promote things that help the human race as a whole, rather than turn their backs on each other and destroy themselves.
Ever hear of the UN? WHO? The Peace Corps? There are people who do that sort of thing, humanity centric vocations. Look into it if that is where you wish to work your ass off to make the world a better place.
Your only life. Gone... just like that. Will it all have been worth it to protect the system... pretending it all means something, when you know what you really want to do. I only wish people would stand up... really stand up for themselves. And show everyone that if we only try we can all agree and everyone really can be happy.
Don't forget to sing Kumbaya.
That.. is the only thing I ever want to see. I'm a little tired of this hell we're in right now.
This hell you described is of your own making, your own decision to despair rather than make your little corner of the world a slightly better place. Doing that, one little corner of the world at a time, is what shrinks the hell. But it doesn't get improved by wishing for it, it gets done by working at it.

Get to work, or get stoned? The rest of the world will be influenced by your choice, a choice, my ill will, that is only yours to make.

DR

[Soapy Sam]

miw- two points-
1. Be very sceptical of any personal advice you read on the internet.
2. Bear in mind (and you seem smart enough not to take this as an insult) that the physical (ie neurochemical) state of your body (brain included) affects its output.

This means , among other things, beware of decisions made under the influence of drugs.
Hormones are drugs.
Your age , gender and health affect your hormone concentrations.
In short, what you feel and think varies with (among other things) age.

When I was in high school, John Denver albums made me cry as I grokked the wonderfull oneness of stuff.

Now...they just make me cry because they're so bloody awful.

Live long and prosper. Or not, as you prefer. Welcome to the forum.

[Darth Rotor]

When I was in high school, John Denver albums made me cry as I grokked the wonderfull oneness of stuff.

Now...they just make me cry because they're so bloody awful.

Near to spoilt me pantaloons when reading that, I did. :cool: Thanks for the laugh.

[Lothian]

miw- two points-
1. Be very sceptical of any personal advice you read on the internet.
Do you have any double blind studies or other evidence supporting your suggested policy?

[Ashles]

You think people are born and suddenly, naturally, have ideas of war in their mind? No. People are born and conformed to the society. They are running, processing creatures.
Competition is inbuilt into human psychology. So is the capacity for violence.
Ignoring this or pretending it is not does not make it true.

Our society is and should be an ongoing process to ensure more and more safety and security for all people in the world. This is a wonderful ideal.

But to try and reach for it by starting off with incorrect assumptions about humanity would be to set yourself up to fail. Work within the constraints of how human psychology really is, not how you would wish it to be.
Human beings have millions of years of animal evolution leading us to where we are now. There are many (vitally important) instincts and aspects of our psychology that have allowed us and our ancestors to survive against environment, other animals and each other for all this time. To expect all those instincts to suddenly disappear is blind optimism at best and to just ignore them as not existing is simply incorrect.

There are many things individuals can do to try to improve the world - embrace the ones you can achieve and accept the ones that you can't. Work around them, don't pretend they aren't there.

[wolfgirl]

I think we should give my ill will a bit of a break. Sure he's got some utopian, idealistic ideas, but didn't many of us at his age? In fact, I'm sad when people his age aren't idealistic. At least he's giving thought to the state of the world and how it could be better, rather than so many of his peers whose main interest is in their favorite sports star or rap artist. He has plenty of time to get jaded and cynical like the rest of us!

Welcome, my ill will.

[Marquis de Carabas]

I think we should give my ill will a bit of a break. Sure he's got some utopian, idealistic ideas, but didn't many of us at his age?
Yep. Which is why I told him to enjoy it while it lasts.

[calebprime]

Ahhhh, the voice of experience, no doubt?
....


good post, Fmw.



Your hopeful idealism will be crushed in ten years or so. Enjoy it while you have it.

true. sad but true.

hey my ill will,

I like your writing, and you don't sound all that confused, and don't mind the snark around here.

There's a little hazing--this is the first round.

Then, the paddles and the pile-ons.

Seriously, though, I hope you find some outlet for your intelligence.

As for weed, I think it helped me accomplish some things that I can only do when I'm relaxed, but it's not so great for the fanatical concentration required for big creative projects, and my wife doesn't like it--but that's a long story.

People here will snark at you for smoking, but, if you show some brains and willingness to join in, they will forget it and tolerate almost anything...there's all kinds of people here...I like Randfan, don't mind him...:D

This is a place where ideas are proposed and shredded, but also, there's a strange...warmth.

[uruk]

Jacque Fresco on money:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZRq7iS5-MA&NR=1

A democracy that does not insure the necessities of life is meaningless. So many suffer. The only ones that prosper are the ones lucky enough to be able to compete to get a job. Someone always fails. Most are left behind. There many reasons why a person gets left behind or suffer that has nothing to do with the economy and everything to do with personal choices.

A moneyless society is dependent on all members of that society being productive to maintain the system. What is the incentive for a person to be productive in a society if everything is given to him by the government?
The welfare system is full of people who are fully capable of working but are content to being non-productive. ( I personaly know of several) Why should they work when the necessitites are given to them? They basically live on the sweat of other's labor.

This is the type of human nature that is detrimental to moneyless society. People now are being taught to expect an entitlement. Problems occure both personal and societal when that entitlement is not forthcomeing. What they sould be taught is that thier entitlement is assured if they are productive and earn that entitlement.


Why not encourage two people working that job? Give them the basic necessities of life, because there are plenty. Let them work together rather than make them compete. What if the employer does not have the resources to support two people doing the job? What if there is no demand for two people to do the same job? Is one person going to do all the work while the other just sits around? Is that fair to the person doing all the work?

Also think about the evolution of that society. What is the incentive to progress when all your necessities are provided? That person gets his housing or clothes or food wether he works or not, so what is his motivation to do anything? That's a part of human nature that needs to be surmounted