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Random Chat, Thoughts, Posts, and/or Rants Thread

Thoelt53

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Here, let me make a diagram, since I know everyone loves them so much

View attachment 33114

Are we starting to notice a trend? Perhaps there's not as much 'brainwashing' going on as people would like to admit?
Maybe you’re just brainwashed?

I’m in Boston and I am unimpressed with the doom, gloom and death. I expected more to justify the economic damage brought on by unconstitutional shut downs. Damage that will ripple through a generation, causing more suffering and illness that COVID ever could.

Here we were told on a loop for weeks that metro Boston would be the next Italy... it never happened.

And we didn’t shelter in place. Masks weren’t dictated until the end of April, well after deaths were on a decline. We still ate out, went shopping battling crowds and huge lines.

We were duped. Flu cases and deaths disappeared as COVID spiked. And then the COVID decline mysteriously followed the typical end of the flu season. This years flu season was a pandemic never declared, misrepresented as a novel virus. Don’t believe me? CDC’s own data says so. This year’s flu season was .2% away from pandemic levels just before COVID hit. This year’s flu also saw the most deaths of children aged 0-5 since the CDC began tracking the flu ~20 years ago.

Regardless, let’s assume the narrative is true. Data shows that SARS-CoV-2 spreads primarily in households. We knew that well before the lockdowns came. Yet government more or less forced everyone to stay home for ~10 weeks.

Why?

Looks like a scam. Smells like a scam. Must be a ____.

Or maybe somehow experts and officials are unbelievably inept. All of them. Somehow.

It’s either outright criminal at worst, or criminal negligence at best.
 
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ChrisV

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Maybe you’re just brainwashed?

I’m in Boston and I am unimpressed with the doom, gloom and death. I expected more to justify the economic damage brought on by unconstitutional shut downs. Damage that will ripple through a generation, causing more suffering and illness that COVID ever could.

Here we were told on a loop for weeks that metro Boston would be the next Italy... it never happened.

And we didn’t shelter in place. Masks weren’t dictated until the end of April, well after deaths were on a decline. We still ate out, went shopping battling crowds and huge lines.

We were duped. Flu cases and deaths disappeared as COVID spiked. And then the COVID decline mysteriously followed the typical end of the flu season. This years flu season was a pandemic never declared, misrepresented as a novel virus. Don’t believe me? CDC’s own data says so. This year’s flu season was .2% away from pandemic levels just before COVID hit. This year’s flu also saw the most deaths of children aged 0-5 since the CDC began tracking the flu ~20 years ago.

Regardless, let’s assume the narrative is true. Data shows that SARS-CoV-2 spreads primarily in households. We knew that well before the lockdowns came. Yet government more or less forced everyone to stay home for ~10 weeks.

Why?

Looks like a scam. Smells like a scam. Must be a ____.

Or maybe somehow experts and officials are unbelievably inept. All of them. Somehow.

It’s either outright criminal at worst, or criminal negligence at best.
So explain to me the motive. Explain to me the motive that over seven dozen world governments all imposed quarantines.

There are over 85 separate governments that imposed quarantines.

The same exact type of quarantines that they imposed during the 1918 spanish flu.

So what is it? What's the motive? Are they trying to soften us up for a New World Order? Microchips? To drive up demand for vaccines? George Soros? China wants to beat the US at AI? What is it?

Seriously. I'm being facetious, but what is it? What's the reason. MJ said there was an Oz wizard pulling the levers. So why. What did 'they' not want us to see?

Who's twirling their mustache.

main-qimg-e7dc82708e976a3564f904ff93802f18.jpeg

Who's twirling their mustache? So seriously, W.H.O.s twirling their mustache? See what I did there. ;)

Really... what's the motive? Do you know many billions and billions and billions of dollars in tax revenue the U.S. government alone lost over this? Not to mention the other world governments. How much money they had to pay? So where is the motive? Okay, let's say you uncovered their ploy. So where's the motive?

Like Johnie Cochran said: If you wanna get all wound, you must have grounds

If the motive don't fit, you must acquit

If you can come up with an even halfway rational explanation why the United States government would shoot itself in the foot like that, then I'll hear you out.

Cuz as far as I can tell, world governments can't even agree on what type of coffee to serve at UN meetings... but all of a sudden every government from Trinidad & Tobago to Zimbabwe to Fiji to the UK to the US to Brussels all agreed on something and put together a plan. Israel and Palestine who have been engaged in a Holy War since like... the beginning of time just put aside their differences for the purposes of ___________ (fill in the blank)

Mark Manson has the best quote on conspiracy theories:

"Go talk to a couple of government officials and spend a few months in a corporate hierarchy. You will quickly see that they could hardly organize a children’s parade, much less build network towers that beam viruses into people around the globe simultaneously."

[replace 5G towers with whatever one you want]

I have major pet peeves with the following: Pseuedoscience, Religious fundamentalism, and Conspiracy theories.

It's just intellectual laziness to just chalk things up to some evil guy in the mirror, rather than figuring out the rational explanation for what happened.

I keep getting roped into these dumb debates and I have some serious reflecting to do as to why I even humor this stuff.

It's fine. I'll be a sheeple. Wool is warmer than foil.
 

ChrisV

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This off-topic thread is getting really off-topic.
 

Kid

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This off-topic thread is getting really off-topic.
Lets put this thread on topic, which is being off topic.

You probably heard the story WeWork, co-working space company.
One of tidbits for example is that they made 20 years leases on buildings,
(long term planning or wishful thinking? i wonder)
Any way they imploded, failed IPO and returned most of their assets to
investors that sunk roughly $10 billion into it.

So the random thought: what would happen if ,even without done mismanagement, they would meet today's reality of social distancing?
Imagine what effect on balance sheets would half year of having no revenue would make.

Go big or go home? Gotta remember its actually sometimes "go home" part, even if you have $10 billion to burn.
 

Vigilante

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https://www.fool.com/millionacres/real-estate-investing/articles/will-C0VlD-19-doom-coworking/
 

ChrisV

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Lets put this thread on topic, which is being off topic.

You probably heard the story WeWork, co-working space company.
One of tidbits for example is that they made 20 years leases on buildings,
(long term planning or wishful thinking? i wonder)
Any way they imploded, failed IPO and returned most of their assets to
investors that sunk roughly $10 billion into it.

So the random thought: what would happen if ,even without done mismanagement, they would meet today's reality of social distancing?
Imagine what effect on balance sheets would half year of having no revenue would make.

Go big or go home? Gotta remember its actually sometimes "go home" part, even if you have $10 billion to burn.
Don't they rent out office space to start-ups? Like short term.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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MJ said there was an Oz wizard pulling the levers.

Actually multiple OZ's, many of them billionaires (Gates, Soros, Bezos, Zuckerfuck, Bloomberg, Dorsey) some multinational corporations deep global interests, the CCP (which the American media now parrots) -- all of which own the media, and the party politicians which control the governments.

Your willingness to defer to authority, even lifelong bureaucrats who have ZERO accountability, is actually astounding.

I'll be a sheeple. Wool is warmer than foil.

Yes, you're the perfect sheep -- someone who believes his intellectual superiority but it's confined within a box of pre-determined and pre-approved thought which doesn't make you intellectually superior, but a useful idiot.

Again, you like a lively debate within the spectrum of your brainwashing.

Perhaps you should re-read Dunning Kruger...

It's not my job to teach you how to think for yourself.

Or you can just read the Washington Post and see what Jeff Bezos wants you to believe this week. Or go to Twitter and see what Dorsey wants you to think. No? Try Facebook, and see what Zuckerburg has preapproved for your intellectual consumption, you know, so you can turn around and spew that shit here.

Sheep indeed...
 

ChrisV

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Yes, we know all this. China falsified data, big corporations have incentive to spread misinformation.

That's all common sense. When someone tells you something you see if they have incentive to spin information. I literally just stated that in one of my last posts. Any source that has financial or political incentive should be taken with a grain of salt.

I actually agree with most of that, so I'm not sure what point you think you're arguing against.

It's like you're making my entire argument for me, so I thank you for that.

It's like you're taking my entire argument, rewording it, and calling it your own

It's just that when you see a biased source you have to take it with a grain of salt. They have incentives to omit facts or present the situation in a certain light. It's like industry-funded research. Just because a study is funded by a corporation, doesn't mean it's wrong.. it just means you should have your guard up because they have incentives to spin information. The same is true of Left / Right sources. They're trying to fulfill a political objective so they're incentivized to present one side of the story to get their way. It doesn't mean they're wrong, it just means 'be careful.'

That plus politically biased sources are much less rigorous about fact-checking. Again, because their objective isn't to ascertain an objective truth, it's to fulfill a certain motive.

Or you can just read the Washington Post and see what Jeff Bezos wants you to believe this week. Or go to Twitter and see what Dorsey wants you to think. No? Try Facebook, and see what Zuckerburg has preapproved for your intellectual consumption, you know, so you can turn around and spew that shit here.
Same point as above. I despise WaPo. It's a leftist cesspool. The news sources I read are usually Associated Press, Reuters, Al Jazeera US, AllSides.

And when I do read things like the New York Times or Wall Street Journal it's important to (again) take them with a grain of salt. I don't think I've ever claimed that NYT or WaPo is without bias. You use them as one single piece of the puzzle, but realize they're only telling half the story.


33124

Let me guess are you going to criticize those ratings now?

Dude, you're acting like you're making some enlightened claim about bias in the media, as if everyone doesn't know that already. Yes, we all know that CNN is a leftish shit-show. We all know that Fox News is a right-wing shit show. We all know that Google and Silicon Valley and Twitter and Netflix have liberal biases, so what's your point? But on the other hand, the Fastlane Forum has a heavy libertarian bias (or as people here think of it, "the truth.")

You still haven't said what sources of information you find to be credible. What do you enlightened non-sheeple read? Trump's Twitter feed? All I know is that most of the people who use the word "Sheep" are usually those trying to make arguments like "The earth is flat" those "idiots who believe the moon landing was real" "vaccines cause autism" "RIFD chips"

Just because they have biases doesn't mean you ignore what they say. You just need to be aware that they're probably only giving you half of the story.
 
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rollerskates

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Chris, to be an independent thinker, you have to be able to explain your own thoughts, not link something and say so-and-so explains it better. And while there are obviously people who explain things better than we ourselves can, we also have to be able to parse what is being said and put thoughts into our own words or we run the risk of being someone else's mouthpiece. Regardless of which side it comes from.
 

ChrisV

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Chris, to be an independent thinker, you have to be able to explain your own thoughts, not link something and say so-and-so explains it better. And while there are obviously people who explain things better than we ourselves can, we also have to be able to parse what is being said and put thoughts into our own words or we run the risk of being someone else's mouthpiece. Regardless of which side it comes from.
Meh, if someone already laid out an argument it simply saves time to link to it, if it's something you agree with. Also there's a purpose to citations. You have to be able to prove what you're saying. It also provides further reading to anyone who wants to delve deeper. Imo, don't read an article without citations unless you enjoy fiction. Citations are very important, imo.
 
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Vigilante

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Yes, we know all this. China falsified data, big corporations have incentive to spread misinformation.

That's all common sense. When someone tells you something you see if they have incentive to spin information. I literally just stated that in one of my last posts. Any source that has financial or political incentive should be taken with a grain of salt.

I actually agree with most of that, so I'm not sure what point you think you're arguing against.

It's like you're making my entire argument for me, so I thank you for that.

It's like you're taking my entire argument, rewording it, and calling it your own




Same point as above. I despise WaPo. It's a leftist cesspool. The news sources I read are usually Associated Press, Reuters, Al Jazeera US, AllSides.

And when I do read things like the New York Times or Wall Street Journal it's important to (again) take them with a grain of salt. I don't think I've ever claimed that NYT or WaPo is without bias. You use them as one single piece of the puzzle, but realize they're only telling half the story.


View attachment 33124

Let me guess are you going to criticize those ratings now?

Dude, you're acting like you're making some enlightened claim about bias in the media, as if everyone doesn't know that already. Yes, we all know that CNN is a leftish shit-show. We all know that Fox News is a right-wing shit show. We all know that Google and Silicon Valley and Twitter and Netflix have liberal biases, so what's your point? But on the other hand, the Fastlane Forum has a heavy libertarian bias (or as people here think of it, "the truth.")

You still haven't said what sources of information you find to be credible. What do you enlightened non-sheeple read? Trump's Twitter feed? All I know is that most of the people who use the word "Sheep" are usually those trying to make arguments like "The earth is flat" those "idiots who believe the moon landing was real" "vaccines cause autism" "RIFD chips"

Just because they have biases doesn't mean you ignore what they say. You just need to be aware that they're probably only giving you half of the story.

Claims the forum has a libertarian bent,but then claims to be a libertarian, But then opposes everybody at the forum and claims Al Jazeera as a non-biased news source...

Any questions?
 

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On the subject of independent thought, and independent thinkers, it's an extremely difficult level to reach, you literally are combating and have to overcome trillions of dollars of money spent every year at this point getting you to act/think a certain a way. I wouldn't fault anyone for not reaching independent thinker level. I have to admit that in order to achieve it I had to let go of all my sacred cows and no joke it caused such pain that it I thought about suicide as my world view was so well grounded/anchored that when I had to rip it up and build a new one based on the actual reality it caused massive mental strain, but I came out of it a mentally strong personally, I was already mentally strong even before that but now I was operating in actual reality.

A lot of people fancy themselves as independent thinkers on all sides of the political spectrum up until you challenge one of their sacred dogmas and then sit back and watch the mental gymnastics. Just to give an example and help ChrisV out :), let's run an experiment , a lot on the right/libertarian side are against UBI, government handouts to people, etc. I agree with all their points on it, it erodes away personal freedom, makes people dependent, moral hazard, etc. However, when you challenge them on corporate welfare, and the fact that the fed is creating trillions of dollars out of thin air to help out their billionaire buddies/investors and that Trump is one of these corrupt people, they shut down, they refuse to admit Trump is complicit and instead want to blame the deep state(it's real) and everyone else besides the guy for his role in this whole mess. It's not that they particularly love Trump, but Trump is a hope for them that he can turn this nation around to be great again, etc. I get it, what they fail to see however that the seeds of the nations downfall are already sown and we are currently reaping them.

If they had independent thought they would see that the everything going on is due to the moral and character decline of the individual citizen and Washington D.C and everything we see around us is a result of our own actions and not that of phantom enemies(CCP, Illegal Immigrants, pick your favorite boogeyman).
 
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ChrisV

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On the subject of independent thought, and independent thinkers, it's an extremely difficult level to reach, you literally are combating and have to overcome trillions of dollars of money spent every year at this point getting you to act/think a certain a way.
You just expose yourself to as many different viewpoints as possible. The thoroughly ironic part is that the Fastlane Forums have their own approved narrative. That approved narrative is "The coronavirus is a scam. the politicians are gestapo and they’re slowly trying to take away our rights to impose tyranny and anyone who disagrees is brainwashed." and while I haven't been censored for opposing this narrative, you can see every member is trying to jump on me. It's even worse in the original thread.

Actually the fact is that I’m the only one who’s been speaking out against the approved Fastlane narrative. The whole thing was just a circle jerk of confirmation bias. They're pissed at me because i popped the filter bubble. I look for evidence on both sides of an argument. So the conservatives at FLF think I’m a leftist, and the liberals I know from NY think I’m a Right-wing zealot. It's actually pretty hilarious. The truth is I'm neither. So I have people saying I'm brainwashed by CNN and Washington Post (despite never watching either) and then people who think I'm a shill for Fox News (despite not even watching cable.)

It's pretty funny.

And there's a reason. What I do is I go in and listen to both sides of and controversy and develop a balanced view after hearing both sides, and the research I posted from Philip Tetlock explains it perfectly:

“The fox knows many things; the hedgehog one great thing.” Hedgehogs have one grand theory (Marxist, Libertarian, whatever) which they are happy to extend into many domains, relishing its parsimony, and expressing their views with great confidence. Foxes, on the other hand are skeptical about grand theories.
Hedgehogs annoy only their political opposition, while Foxes annoy across the political spectrum, in part because the Foxes cherry-pick idea fragments from the whole array of Hedgehogs.
Foxes win not only in the accuracy of their predictions but also the accuracy of the likelihood they assign to their predictions— in this they are closer to the admirable discipline of weather forecasters."

So actually the pro-quarantine crowd (political left) is just as annoyed at my perspective on this as the libertarian right (anti-quarantine crowd) that hang out here. Liberals think I'm a conservative, Conservatives think I'm a liberal. Both sides get annoyed because I won't fit into their 'club.'


But my goal isn't to fit in. It's to understand the world.

Baaaaaaaaaaa
 
D

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Actually the fact is that I’m the only one who’s been speaking out against the approved Fastlane narrative.
To be fair, i think most people don't invest time caring about this. My solution to the rona virus is "how can i build a business that will provide enough value so that i can buy an island for myself".
 

ChrisV

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To be fair, i think most people don't invest time caring about this. My solution to the rona virus is "how can i build a business that will provide enough value so that i can buy an island for myself".
Well that's the thing. With my business, this type of thinking is very helpful. But that type of decision-making process will help you with all your endeavors.

But regardless.... there are tonssssss of opportunities out there now.

When ever the world shifts markets open up. Now is definitely the time to build something. But yea, this has gone way off topic.
 
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Thoelt53

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So explain to me the motive. Explain to me the motive that over seven dozen world governments all imposed quarantines.

There are over 85 separate governments that imposed quarantines.

The same exact type of quarantines that they imposed during the 1918 spanish flu.

So what is it? What's the motive? Are they trying to soften us up for a New World Order? Microchips? To drive up demand for vaccines? George Soros? China wants to beat the US at AI? What is it?

Seriously. I'm being facetious, but what is it? What's the reason. MJ said there was an Oz wizard pulling the levers. So why. What did 'they' not want us to see?

Who's twirling their mustache.

View attachment 33116

Who's twirling their mustache? So seriously, W.H.O.s twirling their mustache? See what I did there. ;)

Really... what's the motive? Do you know many billions and billions and billions of dollars in tax revenue the U.S. government alone lost over this? Not to mention the other world governments. How much money they had to pay? So where is the motive? Okay, let's say you uncovered their ploy. So where's the motive?

Like Johnie Cochran said: If you wanna get all wound, you must have grounds

If the motive don't fit, you must acquit

If you can come up with an even halfway rational explanation why the United States government would shoot itself in the foot like that, then I'll hear you out.

Cuz as far as I can tell, world governments can't even agree on what type of coffee to serve at UN meetings... but all of a sudden every government from Trinidad & Tobago to Zimbabwe to Fiji to the UK to the US to Brussels all agreed on something and put together a plan. Israel and Palestine who have been engaged in a Holy War since like... the beginning of time just put aside their differences for the purposes of ___________ (fill in the blank)

Mark Manson has the best quote on conspiracy theories:

"Go talk to a couple of government officials and spend a few months in a corporate hierarchy. You will quickly see that they could hardly organize a children’s parade, much less build network towers that beam viruses into people around the globe simultaneously."

[replace 5G towers with whatever one you want]

I have major pet peeves with the following: Pseuedoscience, Religious fundamentalism, and Conspiracy theories.

It's just intellectual laziness to just chalk things up to some evil guy in the mirror, rather than figuring out the rational explanation for what happened.

I keep getting roped into these dumb debates and I have some serious reflecting to do as to why I even humor this stuff.

It's fine. I'll be a sheeple. Wool is warmer than foil.
What you lack Chris, is humility. It blinds you. You hold so arrogantly your beliefs that it’s impossible for you to even entertain a thought or idea that you disagree with.

You have said yourself that you’re not well versed in history. I suggest you fix that, as it would allow you to have these discussions that you simply, and arrogantly dismiss because your 21st century worldview doesn’t support it.

Historically governments have always attracted power seekers who use the government to exert control and sometimes outright domination. This is not debatable.

I don’t understand why you can’t grasp that. It’s happened time and time again for practically all of recorded history. There is record of corruption and tyranny by a bureaucracy dating back to Sumerian society ~2300BC.

What makes you think today we’re any different? Technology and science aside, we’re still the same people that walked the Earth 4,500 years ago.

Fast forward to the 20th century and we have ourselves unprecedented democide. 262,000,000 people murdered by government in 100 years.

You won’t acknowledge this. I get it though, I’m a delusional tinfoil hat-wearing religious fundamentalist wackjob.

No worries.
 

ChrisV

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What makes you think today we’re any different?
I’m admittedly dismissive of Conspiracy theories, but it’s because you need a bare minimum level of proof or you’ll go believing whatever fringe theory is popular this week.

First off, I'll start by saying that I think our reaction to this was a gross overreaction. I think that's pretty clear from the data right now.

I just don't think it was a conspiracy.

If it were one government doing these quarantines.. I might be with you. But the fact that basically every government in the world is doing it indicates to me one of two things: A) either there’s a real potential threat or B) governments are conspiring together on a something (LOL @ governments being able to work together on anything)

But actually MJ is right. There is a wizard pulling the levers. in fact… there are millions and billions of wizards pulling levers all with competing interests trying to spin information including all of us. Most don’t even realize they’re doing it. Everyone has their own incentives.

I may not have studied a ton of history, but I have studied Authoritarian governments. And I have very good reason to believe that that as of right now, we are not at risk of the type of totalitarian governments you’re referring to.

First off.. that type of stuff happens in times of severe economic depression. Both the Soviet Union and Third Reich flourished at a time of severe economic turmoil. The Per capita GDP (ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION) in Russia was around $1,300 and Germany ~$6,500 minus all the SEVERE WW1 reparations they had to pay. When people are living hand to mouth they are DYING for anyone who can offer them a solution to their problem. Economy of the USSR/Germany in the 1920s vs today

Sure that could happen in the US… but first you’d have to give as a few years of standing in a breadline to soften us up. And I’m not talking about this tiny blip of a recession where our per capita average income is ‘only’ 65K/yr

See, There’s a fundamental assumption people make about tyrannical governments. The assumption is that they exert top down control over their people. And that’s actually not how it works, generally speaking. The truth is actually more mindboggling.

Hitler didnt come along and brainwash the Germans into hating the Jews. That’s a total myth. The truth is 100x more horrifying than that. Hitler was able to round up Jews because the German people in general already hated them. The Jews were the lower class. They were the ghetto-dwellers. And there are many Americans who hate the types of races that live in Ghettos to this day. The Germans at the time didnt like the ghetto-dwelling Jews. The same way (some of) the Europeans don’t like the European Muslims now, or certain races in the US are seen as 'freeloaders.' But he did NOT brainwash them. He just sold them a product they already wanted to buy. He didnt trick them into buying it. They knew what there were getting. Anti-semitism was a huge movement *way* before Hitler was around. In fact Hitler got pulled into that movement. So how was Hitler able to rise to power? Simple… it’s what the people demanded. Again, the truth is much more horrifying than what people even think. And what’s more horrifying is that had you been a German at that time you would have very likely been a Jew-hater yourself.

A similar story with communism in the 20s. Communism was a populist movement that started in the 1800s with a book by Karl Marx. It flourished not because some leader demanded it and imposed their will on an unwilling people, it flourished because the Marxism as an ideology was flourishing and the people wanted to try it. Not because some strongman leader came along and enacted it against their will. THE PEOPLE DEMANDED IT.

A ‘zeitgeist’ is the collective spirit of a people. I guess you could call it their “averaged attitudes.” Governments are just a reflection of the zeitgeist (averaged attitudes) of the people. Our laws are the reflection of the collective averaged values of our society.

Another example is… gay marriage. I grew up in the 1990’s. Homophobia was strong in the 90’s. But by the 2000s and 2010s attitudes started shifting and boom… all of a sudden gay marriage was legal. Same with marijuana.

Note: this relationship gets a little more complex because (for example) Hitler used a lot of propaganda to influence the zeitgeist itself, but he was just exacerbating a hatred of the Jews that were already there.

So smart governments know how to control the zeitgeist. That’s why it’s so important for the Chinese government to cut off their access to the outside world. If Western ideas started ‘infecting the minds’ of the Chinese people, the zeitgeist would shift and that government would never be able to exist.

Propaganda expert Edward Bernays put it like this:

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, and our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of…. It is they who pull the wires that control the public mind.

People will argue “well then the same thing is happening with COVID… they’re using propaganda through CNN and Fox to affect the zeitgeist” and I say “yea… whatever bro.” They're mainly trying to keep people glued to the TV to sell ads.

Looks like a scam. Smells like a scam. Must be a ____.

Or maybe somehow experts and officials are unbelievably inept. All of them. Somehow.

This is closer to the truth, although it's an extremely crude way of putting it. I mean this is a gross oversimplification, but at least you're thinking in the right direction.

I assure you, the chances of the United States government building an authoritarian regime out of this are slim.Sure there will be little power-grabs, but nothing mind boggling. One year from now this thread will just be filled with memes again. Relax.
 
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100ToOne

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I'll tell you something.

One day a relative of mine asked one of his best friends who works for the national intelligence (same as CIA/FBI) where they get their orders from and he told him straight up the control office is directly controlled to the American CIA and gets instructions from there concerning the bigger issues.

This is a third world country whose allied to the U.S.

So this just gives you an idea of what power the U.S has over 100s of countries.
 

ApparentHorizon

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I'll tell you something.

One day a relative of mine asked one of his best friends who works for the national intelligence (same as CIA/FBI) where they get their orders from and he told him straight up the control office is directly controlled to the American CIA and gets instructions from there concerning the bigger issues.

This is a third world country whose allied to the U.S.

So this just gives you an idea of what power the U.S has over 100s of countries.

All of those aid packages we send over aren't just out of the goodness of our hearts.
 
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sparechange

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Another amazing day in the best place on earth.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWraEBec0Vg


Isn't it crazy how other humans in the world struggle with basic stuff?? Insane to think how we take for granted basic things (like showering)

Unreal! They have criminals that STEAL water!!!?!?!? That's actually a thing? WOW!
 

sparechange

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Unreported World



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The City with no water: Imagine having to spend half your salary or more buying water, sometimes only available illegally from criminals. Or if water taps in your area only ran once a fortnight in the middle of the night for less than two hours. That was the situation for millions in the city of Karachi, Pakistan back in 2016, where climate change and mismanagement saw the supply of water drastically reduced. Ordinary families were the hardest hit as Fazeelat Aslam reported. This episode first aired on 01/04/2016. Subscribe to our channel for more Unreported World episodes Unreported World.



Category
News & Politics

This stuff is blowing my mind....

Today I was sitting in the shower for about 10 mins, just relaxing and breathing in all the steam...To think in another place in the world you CANT do that
 

Thoelt53

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I'll tell you something.

One day a relative of mine asked one of his best friends who works for the national intelligence (same as CIA/FBI) where they get their orders from and he told him straight up the control office is directly controlled to the American CIA and gets instructions from there concerning the bigger issues.

This is a third world country whose allied to the U.S.

So this just gives you an idea of what power the U.S has over 100s of countries.
Do you have citations and graphs to support this?

@ChrisV is asking.
 

Thoelt53

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I’m admittedly dismissive of Conspiracy theories, but it’s because you need a bare minimum level of proof or you’ll go believing whatever fringe theory is popular this week.

First off, I'll start by saying that I think our reaction to this was a gross overreaction. I think that's pretty clear from the data right now.

I just don't think it was a conspiracy.

If it were one government doing these quarantines.. I might be with you. But the fact that basically every government in the world is doing it indicates to me one of two things: A) either there’s a real potential threat or B) governments are conspiring together on a something (LOL @ governments being able to work together on anything)

But actually MJ is right. There is a wizard pulling the levers. in fact… there are millions and billions of wizards pulling levers all with competing interests trying to spin information including all of us. Most don’t even realize they’re doing it. Everyone has their own incentives.

I may not have studied a ton of history, but I have studied Authoritarian governments. And I have very good reason to believe that that as of right now, we are not at risk of the type of totalitarian governments you’re referring to.

First off.. that type of stuff happens in times of severe economic depression. Both the Soviet Union and Third Reich flourished at a time of severe economic turmoil. The Per capita GDP (ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION) in Russia was around $1,300 and Germany ~$6,500 minus all the SEVERE WW1 reparations they had to pay. When people are living hand to mouth they are DYING for anyone who can offer them a solution to their problem. Economy of the USSR/Germany in the 1920s vs today

Sure that could happen in the US… but first you’d have to give as a few years of standing in a breadline to soften us up. And I’m not talking about this tiny blip of a recession where our per capita average income is ‘only’ 65K/yr

See, There’s a fundamental assumption people make about tyrannical governments. The assumption is that they exert top down control over their people. And that’s actually not how it works, generally speaking. The truth is actually more mindboggling.

Hitler didnt come along and brainwash the Germans into hating the Jews. That’s a total myth. The truth is 100x more horrifying than that. Hitler was able to round up Jews because the German people in general already hated them. The Jews were the lower class. They were the ghetto-dwellers. And there are many Americans who hate the types of races that live in Ghettos to this day. The Germans at the time didnt like the ghetto-dwelling Jews. The same way (some of) the Europeans don’t like the European Muslims now, or certain races in the US are seen as 'freeloaders.' But he did NOT brainwash them. He just sold them a product they already wanted to buy. He didnt trick them into buying it. They knew what there were getting. Anti-semitism was a huge movement *way* before Hitler was around. In fact Hitler got pulled into that movement. So how was Hitler able to rise to power? Simple… it’s what the people demanded. Again, the truth is much more horrifying than what people even think. And what’s more horrifying is that had you been a German at that time you would have very likely been a Jew-hater yourself.

A similar story with communism in the 20s. Communism was a populist movement that started in the 1800s with a book by Karl Marx. It flourished not because some leader demanded it and imposed their will on an unwilling people, it flourished because the Marxism as an ideology was flourishing and the people wanted to try it. Not because some strongman leader came along and enacted it against their will. THE PEOPLE DEMANDED IT.

A ‘zeitgeist’ is the collective spirit of a people. I guess you could call it their “averaged attitudes.” Governments are just a reflection of the zeitgeist (averaged attitudes) of the people. Our laws are the reflection of the collective averaged values of our society.

Another example is… gay marriage. I grew up in the 1990’s. Homophobia was strong in the 90’s. But by the 2000s and 2010s attitudes started shifting and boom… all of a sudden gay marriage was legal. Same with marijuana.

Note: this relationship gets a little more complex because (for example) Hitler used a lot of propaganda to influence the zeitgeist itself, but he was just exacerbating a hatred of the Jews that were already there.

So smart governments know how to control the zeitgeist. That’s why it’s so important for the Chinese government to cut off their access to the outside world. If Western ideas started ‘infecting the minds’ of the Chinese people, the zeitgeist would shift and that government would never be able to exist.

Propaganda expert Edward Bernays put it like this:

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, and our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of…. It is they who pull the wires that control the public mind.

People will argue “well then the same thing is happening with COVID… they’re using propaganda through CNN and Fox to affect the zeitgeist” and I say “yea… whatever bro.” They're mainly trying to keep people glued to the TV to sell ads.



This is closer to the truth, although it's an extremely crude way of putting it. I mean this is a gross oversimplification, but at least you're thinking in the right direction.

I assure you, the chances of the United States government building an authoritarian regime out of this are slim.Sure there will be little power-grabs, but nothing mind boggling. One year from now this thread will just be filled with memes again. Relax.

  • You confuse the desire for money for power. Government and the ultra wealthy don’t care about money; they crave power above all else.

  • Government always seeks more power. It’s simply corrupt human nature and occurs in cycles throughout history. It has nothing to do with working together and everything to do with government being government. Historical precedent shows this all too well.

  • You’re deliberately misquoting @MJ DeMarco to fit your narrative. I have nothing else to say other than F*ck off.

  • Germans did not hate the Jews. There was widespread prejudice toward Jews throughout all of Europe dating back to the 17th century. Germans ‘hating’ Jews isn’t at all accurate. Prejudice /= hate, nor was it isolated to German people.

  • Wall Street and London financed the Bolshevik Revolution

  • The Nazis were bankrolled by British bankers.

  • I’m really not sure what else to say. MJ pegged you when he said you only think and debate within your box.
 

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