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the silver lining - 6/22/2008 6:09:41 AM

Lordandmaster

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Driving around and following the news lately; watching prices for gas, groceries, and other necessities skyrocket; reading about one natural disaster after another and the alarming state of the nation's infrastructure; I'm convinced that we really will be facing hard times ahead. It's going to be tough being a citizen of the world for the foreseeable future. And as with most global events, the poor will be hit the hardest, but everyone will feel the effects on some level. You have to be living in your own cocoon not to be affected by the extreme drop in disposable income that people are experiencing all over the world--and it's happening right at the moment when we're starting to have to pay bills that we've been blithely deferring.

But I see a silver lining, and it's this: suffering is humanizing when it's collective suffering, and one of our problems lately is that we have been dehumanizing each other by refusing to consider anyone's perspectives but our own. People are going to have a lot less time and energy to keep yelling about how So-and-so's way of life is wrong. Just one example: Does it really matter that gays want to get married when gas is $4.29 a gallon? Just let them marry and be done with it... The only people who really care are insurance companies and religious radicals (and the insurance companies are starting to make their peace with it). Right now everyone else is more worried about the fact that you can hardly buy a loaf of bread and a pound of cheese for less than ten dollars.

The collective suffering we are about to face will undermine prejudices and bring people together, despite our differences, as we all sooner or later come to recognize that we cannot overcome the challenges before us except through cooperation and common respect for humanity.

My ramblings on a Sunday morning.

Post #: 1

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 7:05:51 AM

Termyn8or

Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
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Wow LaM, I didn't know you had it in you.

Well I agree. It is going to be a rough ride, and I agree the poor will be hit first, but not the hardest. You see the way I see it is that the US dollar is going to just about collapse, and of course the uber rich will have their money in something other than dollars.

But there are alot of idiots out there who think that because they have a million dollars in the bank they are rich. They are not. The really rich will abandon the US dollar in favor of euros or something, or precious metals. The people who think they are rich have a very rude awakening coming.

The proverbial red herrings are running thick. We are headed for financial disaster, with the early signs already showing. No politician seems to address this issue. And sheeple are just as bad, voted for Bush because Kerry is a baby killer.

People who run this country take, and eventually there will be nothing to take. That is when it will come to them. I am poor. OK I make about 27 bucks an hour, but that is poor. Alot of people do not realize that. I know how to barter, I have skills.

Eventually I may stop taking money for certain things, rather, fix my car, fix the gutter, paint the trim on the house. Your money is no good. When that happens the people with money will be as deflated as the general rabble. When that happens it levels the playing field. Money will no longer be an advantage. That's the silver lining as I see it.

The powers that be are killing the goose that lays the golden egg. They do not comprehend what true wealth really is. My ability to build a house is wealth. People's productivity is true wealth. The suposedly wealthy people might not have any true wealth, they think money in the bank is wealth, when nothing could be farther from the truth.

I don't care how much you have, if it is worthless, you have nothing, and with an unsound fiscal policy when it comes to money, this will happen.

If you have a million dallars in the bank, and something cost a dollar when you put the money in, but costs two dollars when you take it out, they have effectively taken half of your money.

People who are doing well right now are oblivious to the problem, which gives the poor a tremendous advantage. they will chase those red herrings, vote based on looks or personality, or along party lines. Gay marriage, abortion and a few other things are held out to them like a carrot on a stick.

They find a niche market somehow to make money and to them everything is fine. Want to be President ? Tell the sheeple that you will reduce taxes on video games, DVDs and tickets for sporting events.

And most of what used to be the middle class are living way beyond their means, on credit.

Fact is most people are dumb as a box of rocks. But I see it coming and it's not going to be pretty.

T

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Post #: 2

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 8:20:35 AM

pinkieplum

Posts: 84
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

Driving around and following the news lately; watching prices for gas, groceries, and other necessities skyrocket; reading about one natural disaster after another and the alarming state of the nation's infrastructure; I'm convinced that we really will be facing hard times ahead. It's going to be tough being a citizen of the world for the foreseeable future. And as with most global events, the poor will be hit the hardest, but everyone will feel the effects on some level. You have to be living in your own cocoon not to be affected by the extreme drop in disposable income that people are experiencing all over the world--and it's happening right at the moment when we're starting to have to pay bills that we've been blithely deferring.

But I see a silver lining, and it's this: suffering is humanizing when it's collective suffering, and one of our problems lately is that we have been dehumanizing each other by refusing to consider anyone's perspectives but our own. People are going to have a lot less time and energy to keep yelling about how So-and-so's way of life is wrong. Just one example: Does it really matter that gays want to get married when gas is $4.29 a gallon? Just let them marry and be done with it... The only people who really care are insurance companies and religious radicals (and the insurance companies are starting to make their peace with it). Right now everyone else is more worried about the fact that you can hardly buy a loaf of bread and a pound of cheese for less than ten dollars.

The collective suffering we are about to face will undermine prejudices and bring people together, despite our differences, as we all sooner or later come to recognize that we cannot overcome the challenges before us except through cooperation and common respect for humanity.

My ramblings on a Sunday morning.

Hi Lam.

It'd be nice if You were right -- i hope You are.

But i don't think so.

Yes 'collective suffering' brings out the best in S/some P/pl; but in M/many O/others it brings out a savage.

JMO.

pinkieplum

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Post #: 3

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 8:47:20 AM

WinsomeDefiance

Posts: 6719
Joined: 8/7/2007
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Hello Lordand Master (really is weird to type that out! Sort of like verbally prostrating myself.)

It would be amazing if such things did bring about the actualization of a truly responsive society that is capable of correcting errors in judgement and actions.

WD

(in reply to pinkieplum)

Post #: 4

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 9:34:18 AM

NeedingMore220

Posts: 615
Joined: 6/5/2008
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Your ramblings make me think of what it was like to live during WWI and WWII. The across-the-board sacrifices having to be made, how people did without. How no family seemed untouched. I wonder if the country can handle that. I'm not a doomsdayer - I prefer to look at things through rose-colored glasses, otherwise I get no sleep at night. But times are rough all over, and most of my close friends are feeling it. My family is definitely feeling it. There is a comradery felt when I can complain to someone about how high the grocery bill is and they commiserate, because they also feel the pinch. (And it has been getting higher, no doubt - prices are inching up, but when you have a cartful, it's significant.)

Common respect for humanity - most definitely a worthwhile goal.

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Post #: 5

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 9:37:22 AM

Quivver

Posts: 1953
Joined: 11/27/2004
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Karma in action.........

_____________________________

The problem with communication ... is the illusion that it has been accomplished. ~George Bernard Shaw

(in reply to NeedingMore220)

Post #: 6

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 9:40:34 AM

lauren0221

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Joined: 8/29/2006
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I think that adversity either brings out the best or the worst in people. Many will rise to the occasion, let go of their prejudices, and work together to make things better.

And some will find someone to blame for their problems, and hate them, and become even more prejudiced.

I remember being suprised that my wealthy, educated neighbor acquired a bunch of guns before Y2K so he could defend himself against the starving people who were going to try to take his food. I think you really don't know how someone will respond to a situation until it happens.

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Post #: 7

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 9:41:15 AM

TheHeretic

Posts: 19100
Joined: 3/25/2007
From: California, USA
Status: offline

        If these are your Sunday morning ramblings, LaM, you must have had a mind-blowing Saturday night, because you're somewhere out in lollipop land, and completely wrong. For every individual who feels the need to reach out to his fellow man, another will withdraw, and one more still, will bitch that the charity isn't good enough. Hard times are like whiskey. They bring to the surface what is already there

       What would possibly lead you to believe that people already being swept along by economic forces beyond their control, will so casually abandon their social beliefs into the tsunami as well?



_____________________________

If you lose one sense, your other senses are enhanced.
That's why people with no sense of humor have such an inflated sense of self-importance.

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Post #: 8

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 10:16:54 AM

Level

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Joined: 3/3/2006
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quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

Hard times are like whiskey. They bring to the surface what is already there

I agree, Rich.

_____________________________

Fake the heat and scratch the itch
Skinned up knees and salty lips
Let go it's harder holding on
One more trip and I'll be gone

~~ Stone Temple Pilots

(in reply to TheHeretic)

Post #: 9

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 10:19:38 AM

NeedingMore220

Posts: 615
Joined: 6/5/2008
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Quivver

Karma in action.........

Perhaps.

(in reply to Quivver)

Post #: 10

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 1:07:40 PM

Lordandmaster

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Joined: 6/22/2004
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I find that people tend to assume that everyone else in the world shares their own character. You can learn a lot about someone by listening to how he thinks about everyone else.

Anyway, people don't bitch when they're suffering. They bitch when they're NOT suffering.

quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

For every individual who feels the need to reach out to his fellow man, another will withdraw, and one more still, will bitch that the charity isn't good enough.

(in reply to TheHeretic)

Post #: 11

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 1:31:44 PM

TheHeretic

Posts: 19100
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From: California, USA
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

I find that people tend to assume that everyone else in the world shares their own character. You can learn a lot about someone by listening to how he thinks about everyone else.

Anyway, people don't bitch when they're suffering. They bitch when they're NOT suffering.

Your second statement here really illustrates the first. Not all people behave like your subs.

         The silver lining for this rough patch/recession/depression/end of the world is that a lot of spoiled people are going to get a bitchslap of a wake-up call. We've become a very lazy society.

      I've spent enough time in grocery store checkout lines to know how noisy it can get when the spoiled don't have their way.



_____________________________

If you lose one sense, your other senses are enhanced.
That's why people with no sense of humor have such an inflated sense of self-importance.

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Post #: 12

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 1:43:48 PM

popeye1250

Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
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Any man who thinks he can control the world is insane.
Any country that thinks it can control the world is also insane.
Funny, as I was reading this I can hear thunder in the distance.

"We should avoid foreign entanglements."

- George Washington-

< Message edited by popeye1250 -- 6/22/2008 1:45:20 PM >

_____________________________

"But Your Honor, this is not a Jury of my Peers, these people are all decent, honest, law-abiding citizens!"

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Post #: 13

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 3:24:48 PM

Alumbrado

Posts: 5560
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

Anyway, people don't bitch when they're suffering. They bitch when they're NOT suffering.

Those who refuse to learn from history....

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Post #: 14

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 7:54:46 PM

cloudboy

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Joined: 12/14/2005
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I think the US is still quite polarized. Still, real problems might focus folks away from illusory ones (gay marriage, per your example.)

The next step is for Americans to address national problems, like the energy-gas-transportation crisis on a personal level.

In my family we have one car and a motor scooter. My wife takes public transport to work. I probably walk 18 miles a week to get around.

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Post #: 15

RE: the silver lining - 6/22/2008 11:06:14 PM

Vendaval

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Joined: 1/15/2005
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This is my take on the economic situation as well. Much like alcohol in excess, difficult choices strengthen character traits in people. An arrogant asshole will become more belligerent and combatative. A wise, compassionate, person will be the calm in the eye of the storm.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Level

quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

Hard times are like whiskey. They bring to the surface what is already there

I agree, Rich.

_____________________________

"Beware, the woods at night, beware the lunar light.
So in this gray haze we'll be meating again, and on that
great day, I will tease you all the same."
"WOLF MOON", OCTOBER RUST, TYPE O NEGATIVE

http://KinkMeet.co.uk

(in reply to Level)

Post #: 16

RE: the silver lining - 6/23/2008 12:43:27 AM

Bethnai

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Joined: 11/8/2007
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I wish I could believe that but I don't. I think perhaps your right in that people won't mind what someone else's life style choices are. That doesn't necessarily mean that the laws will reflect that. It might just mean that we as a people won't care because we are busy tcb.

I think that the mean and petty will be just that much more so. I think if poverty breeds crime then there will be that much more of it. I think that its going to be necessary for those that have a place to live and a job to buckle down and create a cocoon until the pendulum swings the other way. I don't mean ignore the reality of it but create a refuge because instability can drive people insane.

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Post #: 17

RE: the silver lining - 6/23/2008 3:48:30 AM

pinkieplum

Posts: 84
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

I find that people tend to assume that everyone else in the world shares their own character. You can learn a lot about someone by listening to how he thinks about everyone else.

Anyway, people don't bitch when they're suffering. They bitch when they're NOT suffering.

quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

For every individual who feels the need to reach out to his fellow man, another will withdraw, and one more still, will bitch that the charity isn't good enough.

Lam, P/pl who have experinced a 'collective suffering' bitch like crazy. Suddenly deprived of the necessities of life, T/they will scream -- or shoot -- or fight -- to obtain them.

Did You think the P/pl trapped in the Superbowl after Katrina were singing 'Kum-ba-ya"?

i also wonder wtf You did last night, he he.

pinkieplum

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Post #: 18

RE: the silver lining - 6/23/2008 11:01:55 AM

Lordandmaster

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Bitching isn't the same thing as fighting. Not by any means. People who are suffering are certainly prone to FIGHT--no argument there. But they tend not to BITCH. I think of bitching as ineffective and self-indulgent complaining. Only people who aren't truly suffering have time for that.

(in reply to pinkieplum)

Post #: 19

RE: the silver lining - 6/23/2008 2:30:31 PM

pinkieplum

Posts: 84
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

Bitching isn't the same thing as fighting. Not by any means. People who are suffering are certainly prone to FIGHT--no argument there. But they tend not to BITCH. I think of bitching as ineffective and self-indulgent complaining. Only people who aren't truly suffering have time for that.

Complaining becomes bitching when it is ineffective? Complaining is bitching when it is self-serving?

Crickey Lam, have You ever dealt with the return desk at a department store in early January? Or called the cable company?

BTW, i'm unclear as to why bitching is an undesirable behavior to begin with. Even if it is ineffective, it can be quite satisfying to bitch to someone or about someone (or something).

i think we're having an episode of miscomunication. i can't believe we really hold such different POVs on this topic.

pinkieplum

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Post #: 20

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