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Our civilisation is pathetic. [W:459]

Is our civilisation pathetic?

  • Total voters
    51
earthworm said:
True
And, I know the feeling, at times I have been watched...........not good.

However, we are watched indirectly, all of us , to a lesser or greater extent....
That people CARE is paramount.....both the watched and the watchers..

Max, you speak the truth, IMO.
But, the way in which you present it..........................
We cannot be as perfect as you think yourself to be...
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Have I said I think I am perfect?
I am well aware that we are all imperfect.

But thanks for the comment anyways. :wassat1:
 
Maximus Zeebra said:
This I like. I think about this all the time actually.
How is it that we let our politicians surveillance us, but we never surveillance them, audit or otherwise keep them accountable?

In a true democracy, the government have to be open. Open means fully transparent, no secrets (except ongoing sensitive operations that immediately after must be declassified), and where politicians MUST be held under the control of the people, one way is through surveillance.

Now we have secrative governments, completely opaque, who never inform the people, who runs secret police, secret organisations, are never held accountable and are never audited by the people.

Its an insult to everyone to call that democracy.
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I am with you on that. We lend these people power to do the business of government, but do not monitor them nor have we adequate control over them. We do a better job than most nations. But that does not mean we are doing a good jab.
 
joG said:
Are you thinking of Nixon?
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Not really. I was thinking that I'D go insane if I knew someone was watching me all the time.
 
Maximus Zeebra said:
We don't need a world government, but we do need global laws.
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Who makes the laws? And who enforces those laws? That's damn close to a world government, what with having a legislative body and a law enforcement arm.
 
Maximus Zeebra said:
I have seven thousand million dreams :)
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Why wouldn't you just say 7 billion? Have you not gotton to the higher numbers in school yet?

I find it odd a 12 year old would make a thread about how a society that he has not experienced yet is pathetic.
 
Maximus Zeebra said:
Every single person on this planet is ready to embrace a world society that makes sense. A society where we all get along and cooperate, a society where no one starves, where no one suffers. Everyone is ready to live in and contribute to a society where people do not live under horrific conditions. Everyone is ready to embrace a society where we all cooperate for a better world. Everyone is ready to embrace a society which is well organised and stable with a model that doesn't look like its made by monkeys. Everyone is ready for a society without all the lies, the deceit, manipulation and corruption. Everyone is ready to embrace a free society rather than be jailed and restricted by their governments. Everyone is ready to be free and open their mind instead of being narrow minded and controlled. Everyone is ready to embrace a society where everyone else is good and kind. Everyone is ready to live on a clean and wonderful planet. Everyone is ready to embrace useful change. Everyone wants quality. Everyone is ready for a fair economic system that make sense. Everyone wants everyone else to smile. Everyone wants a world of joy. Everyone wants to be safe. Everyone wants to experience fantastic and great things. Everyone wants to breathe clean air, everyone wants to drink pure water, everyone wants to eat delicious food. We all want to be happy. Everyone wants to live on a planet where everyone else is happy. Everyone wants a planet where everyone have all these things. Everyone wants to have a just society.
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If this was true, we would live in that kind of society, so it obviously isn't.

The reason it isn't true is because people are selfish and greedy. We can't help it, we evolved that way. Being selfish and greedy is a good survival trait.

To really make things in the world equal, it would involve seriously lowering the standard of living of most developed nations, and we don't want that.
 
Mason66 said:
Why wouldn't you just say 7 billion? Have you not gotton to the higher numbers in school yet?

I find it odd a 12 year old would make a thread about how a society that he has not experienced yet is pathetic.
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In most European countries they use the long scale. In the long scale, each new number term is a million more than the one before it, rather than a thousand. So in the long scale, a billion is 10^12, not 10^9. They do use the term thousand million to refer to 10^9.

Long and short scales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
molten_dragon said:
In most European countries they use the long scale. In the long scale, each new number term is a million more than the one before it, rather than a thousand. So in the long scale, a billion is 10^12, not 10^9. They do use the term thousand million to refer to 10^9.

Long and short scales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Mason66 said:
Why wouldn't you just say 7 billion? Have you not gotton to the higher numbers in school yet?

I find it odd a 12 year old would make a thread about how a society that he has not experienced yet is pathetic.
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It's actually more of a German thing than a pan-European thing.

Most Europeans use billion in the same way americans do and we use trillion in the same way americans do too. ANd we use it that way for the same reason you use that way, because it's ****ing british. Better still, it's ****ing french... and the british learned how to count properly after Napoleon schooled them and much of Europe in the art of warfare.

But germans and I think danes and swedes and norwegians use the alternative method too... in the way that said method is what is normal to them.

So 1 bil normally would be 1000million.
But in germany, 1 bil = 1.000.000 million (one million million)
 
Rainman05 said:
It's actually more of a German thing than a pan-European thing.

Most Europeans use billion in the same way americans do and we use trillion in the same way americans do too. ANd we use it that way for the same reason you use that way, because it's ****ing british. Better still, it's ****ing french... and the british learned how to count properly after Napoleon schooled them and much of Europe in the art of warfare.

But germans and I think danes and swedes and norwegians use the alternative method too... in the way that said method is what is normal to them.

So 1 bil normally would be 1000million.
But in germany, 1 bil = 1.000.000 million (one million million)
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I was just going off the wikipedia entry on who used which scale. I work with a lot of Germans though, so I was familiar with it.
 
molten_dragon said:
I was just going off the wikipedia entry on who used which scale. I work with a lot of Germans though, so I was familiar with it.
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Well, wikipedia isn't always right.

France for example... if you go in Brittany, you'd probably find that they're more accustomed with the long scale... but in most of france, short scale it is. Same of Italy... pretty sure it's the same for Spain and Portugal.

I know that Napoleon enforced the short counting because he enforced standardized measurements and scales all over the place and I remember this dychonomy:
Napoleon made centimeters and inches longer to fit the French standard (back then many nations had their own standards for measurements, Napoleon fixed that problem -> he was normal size in French inches but shorter by 1/5th or so in English inches, hence, the stereotype that Napoleon was small) and made numbers smaller to help with logistical problems.

People adapt to the short scale especially in relation to business deals or whatever that happen internationally. More people know the american way but german languages, through their nature of how they form words, cause this differentiation to still exist to some minimal degree.
 
Mason66 said:
Why wouldn't you just say 7 billion? Have you not gotton to the higher numbers in school yet?

I find it odd a 12 year old would make a thread about how a society that he has not experienced yet is pathetic.
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I would say this attempted insult is the most boring so far.
 
molten_dragon said:
If this was true, we would live in that kind of society, so it obviously isn't.

The reason it isn't true is because people are selfish and greedy. We can't help it, we evolved that way. Being selfish and greedy is a good survival trait.

To really make things in the world equal, it would involve seriously lowering the standard of living of most developed nations, and we don't want that.
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I dont agree with you. My personal take is that the reason is, because people in general have absolutely no influence on what the world becomes like. That seems to be reserved to the most manipulative among us, who will do anything to get to power. Unfortunately, those are exactly the people who should not be in power. In general, the few should not govern the many either. The many should govern the many.

I dont think you are right about lowering standard. Our standards are pretty damn low. And how high standards are highly depends on how you define them.
If you think high standards is to work all day, all week, all years, most of your life, so that you can buy a lot of junk you dont need, then yes, the standard would be lower. But if you measured it in progress, living standards and happiness, I am convinced it would be much higher.
 
The Mark said:
Who makes the laws? And who enforces those laws? That's damn close to a world government, what with having a legislative body and a law enforcement arm.
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Thats the question, isnt it?

Who makes the laws in the EU? We don't really have a government at that level, but we do have many laws, regulation and cooperation at that level. I realise we have mechanisms like the parliament and the executive commission. But that is way short of a government. Personally i think we could get rid of the commission as well.

We then have the council where all the nations come together and cooperate. We have the safe mechanism in the European parliament. Right, we do need to commission to draft in a non political way, and enforce in a non partial way. hmm.

Well. the European Union is interesting to look at in this regard.

Perhaps we can do something completely new. Afterall, we just need a few basic laws, human rights etc.

interesting conundrum.
 
Rainman05 said:
It's actually more of a German thing than a pan-European thing.

Most Europeans use billion in the same way americans do and we use trillion in the same way americans do too. ANd we use it that way for the same reason you use that way, because it's ****ing british. Better still, it's ****ing french... and the british learned how to count properly after Napoleon schooled them and much of Europe in the art of warfare.

But germans and I think danes and swedes and norwegians use the alternative method too... in the way that said method is what is normal to them.

So 1 bil normally would be 1000million.
But in germany, 1 bil = 1.000.000 million (one million million)
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I just said seven thousand million because I felt like it. I could have said 7 billion if I wanted.

You are right about the Germanic languages. They say "billion" for English "trillion" actually. They say "milliard" for billion, which is unique to those languages. "Mille" is one thousand, implying that "milliard" probably comes from "thousand-million".
 
Harshaw said:
This is what every single one of your posts boils down to.
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Not really. That post was not about that at all. It was just part of the post.

Its just your allergic reaction to anything negtive about the US which makes you think that, and react in the way you do. I should think you are indoctrinated for behaving like that.
 
Maximus Zeebra said:
Not really. That post was not about that at all. It was just part of the post.

Its just your allergic reaction to anything negtive about the US which makes you think that, and react in the way you do. I should think you are indoctrinated for behaving like that.
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Seeing how you like to ignore logic, let me ask you.

If you say "F*** the US" how are people to respond to that statement? You want people to use Freudian methodology in reading that statement?
 
Maximus Zeebra said:
Not really. That post was not about that at all. It was just part of the post.

Its just your allergic reaction to anything negtive about the US which makes you think that, and react in the way you do. I should think you are indoctrinated for behaving like that.
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Dude. You're the one who has two anti-US rants in your own sig, one of which is a quote of yourself.

Hating the US is your singular obsession, your raison d'etre. It is all you ever post about.
 
Harshaw said:
Dude. You're the one who has two anti-US rants in your own sig, one of which is a quote of yourself.

Hating the US is your singular obsession, your raison d'etre. It is all you ever post about.
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Critical thinking and common sense is obsolete in the US. Originally Posted by Maximus Zeebra
You seem to take the position guilty until proven innocent, which is typical of what America has become, a backward society. Preaching but not practising.

Yes we have to take him seriously especially since he wants the world to change for the better
 
Hypersonic said:
Critical thinking and common sense is obsolete in the US.

Originally Posted by Maximus Zeebra
You seem to take the position guilty until proven innocent, which is typical of what America has become, a backward society. Preaching but not practising.

Yes we have to take him seriously especially since he wants the world to change for the better
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He used to call himself "the da Vinci of our age" in his sig, believing that he is of a genius which sets him apart from the whole of humanity. Not making it up.

(I guess no one ever told him that "da Vinci" wasn't Leonardo's name, and he's calling himself a Venetian.)
 
Harshaw said:
He used to call himself "the da Vinci of our age" in his sig, believing that he is of a genius which sets him apart from the whole of humanity. Not making it up.

(I guess no one ever told him that "da Vinci" wasn't Leonardo's name, and he's calling himself a Venetian.)
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That makes sense.....

What would Nelson say in all of this:

untitled.jpg
 
Hypersonic said:
Seeing how you like to ignore logic, let me ask you.

If you say "F*** the US" how are people to respond to that statement? You want people to use Freudian methodology in reading that statement?
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They should say "I know. f*** our government".

If someone says "f*** your country" to me, I really couldn't care less. But if my government was some shoddy half tyrranical manipulative monster, then I would say "yeah. f*** our government"


People in the US are way too self-righteous and nationalistic if they have to respond aggressivly to any critisism or shoutout against the US. IN fact, that seems like quite a dangerous trend.
 
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