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

[MTF]

Absolutely agree.

I'm of the belief that in a first world country it should be possible to live a good life by working a normal job, to not have to worry about medical bills, having food on your table and a roof above your head. While also being able, by working hard, to live a great life and by working exceptionally hard, especially in entrepreneurship, to be wealthy.

Only having one of those, for example everyone living a good life but nobody can get wealthy, or a weak working class but a few get extraordinarily wealthy, is not a great system to live in.

You need a healthy middle class with the opportunity for everyone to work their way to wealth, and to extraordinary wealth.

To me, it's mainly how healthy the middle class of a country is, that shows how great that country is.

I've been to 15 countries this year so far, including a couple of months in the US and a couple of weeks in Nordic countries.

And as unpopular as this may sound, I've found the Nordic countries to be way closer to the "American dream" than any part of the US.

There are very few homeless and beggars, most people are prosperous, fit, and educated, the infrastructure is world-class, it's safe, there are multiple little conveniences that everyone respects (like free and clean public toilets, free drinking water in city centers, mind-blowing well-kept infrastructure in national parks), and there are no striking differences between poor and rich areas. There's also very high social trust where people assume that strangers can be trusted and that everyone will care for the shared space.

If the definition of the American dream is that anyone can enjoy a safe, thriving life and has access to upward mobility, then for sure the Nordic countries are way closer to this ideal.

Perhaps there's less of a "rags to riches" upward trajectory but at least there's very little of the "rags" element in society. And that makes all the difference regardless of whether you're rich or poor. It's just way nicer to hang out around on average well-off people than around extremely rich and healthy people in one neighborhood and extremely poor and dying people one block away.

 

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[Supa]

I've been to 15 countries this year so far, including a couple of months in the US and a couple of weeks in Nordic countries.

And as unpopular as this may sound, I've found the Nordic countries to be way closer to the "American dream" than any part of the US.

There are very few homeless and beggars, most people are prosperous, fit, and educated, the infrastructure is world-class, it's safe, there are multiple little conveniences that everyone respects (like free and clean public toilets, free drinking water in city centers, mind-blowing well-kept infrastructure in national parks), and there are no striking differences between poor and rich areas. There's also very high social trust where people assume that strangers can be trusted and that everyone will care for the shared space.

If the definition of the American dream is that anyone can enjoy a safe, thriving life and has access to upward mobility, then for sure the Nordic countries are way closer to this ideal.

Perhaps there's less of a "rags to riches" upward trajectory but at least there's very little of the "rags" element in society. And that makes all the difference regardless of whether you're rich or poor. It's just way nicer to hang out around on average well-off people than around extremely rich and healthy people in one neighborhood and extremely poor and dying people one block away.

Yes. The nordic countries are the perfect example of how first world countries should basically work.

Everybody pays their fair share of taxes. Those taxes go to their country. Their country makes and keeps their country safe and clean and makes sure that everyone of its people has health care, a roof over their head and food on the table, while in no way restricting its people from reaching for their dreams and becoming wealthy.

 

[Bounce Back]

I've been to 15 countries this year so far, including a couple of months in the US and a couple of weeks in Nordic countries.

And as unpopular as this may sound, I've found the Nordic countries to be way closer to the "American dream" than any part of the US.

There are very few homeless and beggars, most people are prosperous, fit, and educated, the infrastructure is world-class, it's safe, there are multiple little conveniences that everyone respects (like free and clean public toilets, free drinking water in city centers, mind-blowing well-kept infrastructure in national parks), and there are no striking differences between poor and rich areas. There's also very high social trust where people assume that strangers can be trusted and that everyone will care for the shared space.

If the definition of the American dream is that anyone can enjoy a safe, thriving life and has access to upward mobility, then for sure the Nordic countries are way closer to this ideal.

Perhaps there's less of a "rags to riches" upward trajectory but at least there's very little of the "rags" element in society. And that makes all the difference regardless of whether you're rich or poor. It's just way nicer to hang out around on average well-off people than around extremely rich and healthy people in one neighborhood and extremely poor and dying people one block away.

Where all did you travel in the US?

I do agree on the lack of general trust but why do you think that differs between Nordic and US?

 

[MTF]

Where all did you travel in the US?

I do agree on the lack of general trust but why do you think that differs between Nordic and US?

This year, focusing on the urban areas (I'm not mentioning national parks and other similar areas I've visited):

Florida: Miami and various suburbs, Florida Keys
California: Los Angeles, Malibu, Thousand Oaks, Fresno/Clovis
Nevada: Las Vegas
Hawaii: Big Island

Several years ago also Arizona, New Mexico, and Oahu.

I can't say with confidence what the difference is. I imagine it's a combination of relatively low population, relatively homogeneous population, climate (in a harsh climate, you need to work with others to survive), and shared values that respect public space and by extension, strangers. There's less unhealthy individualism there and more care for the common good but in the positive meaning of this word, not a communist one.

Because of the social net, you don't have many desperate people and I imagine that also helps. You don't automatically assume that some stranger is going to rob you or bother you because such desperation is very rare there, particularly outside of big cities. Corruption is also uncommon and all of that impacts the entire society. There's much less of "they" and "us."

There's an interesting book that talks about the good and the bad of living in Nordic countries if you're interested in this subject:

The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia - Kindle edition by Booth, Michael. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia - Kindle edition by Booth, Michael. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Almost Nearly Perfect People...

www.amazon.com

If it weren't for the climate, I'd definitely prefer living in the Nordic countries over the US. But if I were to live in a state with shitty climate then I'd choose the Nordic countries for sure. I'll definitely go back there as in Europe, from my experience, currently the best places to live are Central/Eastern Europe and Northern Europe (and pockets of Southern Europe due to the climate).

 

[Xeon]

Our own government is even investing in Johor Baru economics zone for the cheap land and labor there.

That speaks volume.

I'm starting to wonder how we can take advantage of that to increase our $$$ besides buying properties in that region.

 

[Supa]

This year, focusing on the urban areas (I'm not mentioning national parks and other similar areas I've visited):

Florida: Miami and various suburbs, Florida Keys
California: Los Angeles, Malibu, Thousand Oaks, Fresno/Clovis
Nevada: Las Vegas
Hawaii: Big Island

Several years ago also Arizona, New Mexico, and Oahu.

I can't say with confidence what the difference is. I imagine it's a combination of relatively low population, relatively homogeneous population, climate (in a harsh climate, you need to work with others to survive), and shared values that respect public space and by extension, strangers. There's less unhealthy individualism there and more care for the common good but in the positive meaning of this word, not a communist one.

Because of the social net, you don't have many desperate people and I imagine that also helps. You don't automatically assume that some stranger is going to rob you or bother you because such desperation is very rare there, particularly outside of big cities. Corruption is also uncommon and all of that impacts the entire society. There's much less of "they" and "us."

There's an interesting book that talks about the good and the bad of living in Nordic countries if you're interested in this subject:

The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia - Kindle edition by Booth, Michael. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia - Kindle edition by Booth, Michael. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Almost Nearly Perfect People...

www.amazon.com

If it weren't for the climate, I'd definitely prefer living in the Nordic countries over the US. But if I were to live in a state with shitty climate then I'd choose the Nordic countries for sure. I'll definitely go back there as in Europe, from my experience, currently the best places to live are Central/Eastern Europe and Northern Europe (and pockets of Southern Europe due to the climate).

Also don‘t forget that the biggest driver of crime is poverty. Most people, if they have a good life, would not commit crimes.

 

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[MTF]

Also don‘t forget that the biggest driver of crime is poverty. Most people, if they have a good life, would not commit crimes.

Yep, and that comes back to caring for everyone so that the minimum is still fairly nice.

I used to be very much against the idea of taxation and social welfare. But then when you travel to places where the law of the jungle still prevails and the society is very unequal, and then compare them to these "nanny" state countries, I have zero hesitation to choose that "authoritarian" and "freedom-infringing" country.

There's a very deep sense of peace and joy when you're surrounded by well-off families who are all enjoying a summer afternoon in the park (and can afford to spend time with their kids instead of working a second job), without any drug addicts or homeless people around. And more importantly, knowing that this isn't some exclusive neighborhood but the average for most people in that country.

And what's funny, Nordic countries aren't really that much more heavily taxed than the US. Per ChatGPT for $100k:




Even for $500k, there's still not that much difference:




Of course, there are some nice countries where taxes are low (even Poland) but that is often a unique situation of the country (like natural resources or a tax haven) or a temporary approach to stimulate growth. Most countries need to choose between low taxation and low quality of life or higher taxation but higher quality of life (assuming the government isn't corrupt and actually uses the money wisely).

 

[Bounce Back]

Yep, and that comes back to caring for everyone so that the minimum is still fairly nice.

I used to be very much against the idea of taxation and social welfare. But then when you travel to places where the law of the jungle still prevails and the society is very unequal, and then compare them to these "nanny" state countries, I have zero hesitation to choose that "authoritarian" and "freedom-infringing" country.

There's a very deep sense of peace and joy when you're surrounded by well-off families who are all enjoying a summer afternoon in the park (and can afford to spend time with their kids instead of working a second job), without any drug addicts or homeless people around. And more importantly, knowing that this isn't some exclusive neighborhood but the average for most people in that country.

And what's funny, Nordic countries aren't really that much more heavily taxed than the US. Per ChatGPT for $100k:

View attachment 67481


Even for $500k, there's still not that much difference:

View attachment 67482


Of course, there are some nice countries where taxes are low (even Poland) but that is often a unique situation of the country (like natural resources or a tax haven) or a temporary approach to stimulate growth. Most countries need to choose between low taxation and low quality of life or higher taxation but higher quality of life (assuming the government isn't corrupt and actually uses the money wisely).

For what it’s worth California is one of the highest taxed parts of the USA. Be interesting to see that same prompt do Florida or Texas citizens (we don’t have an income tax from the state level).

 

[MTF]

For what it’s worth California is one of the highest taxed parts of the USA. Be interesting to see that same prompt do Florida or Texas citizens (we don’t have an income tax from the state level).

For 500k it's actually worse for Texas and Florida than California due to a lack of some deductions (if ChatGPT is correct).

But keep in mind that this doesn't include property tax which would add another few thousand dollars per year. Property tax is much lower in the Nordic countries. And of course, this doesn't include medical insurance which is not really a thing in the Nordic countries.



So in the end, I don't think the difference is as staggering as people would believe. There are countries with the same or higher tax that offer much less in return (like Belgium or France).

 

[Kevin88660]

Yep, and that comes back to caring for everyone so that the minimum is still fairly nice.

I used to be very much against the idea of taxation and social welfare. But then when you travel to places where the law of the jungle still prevails and the society is very unequal, and then compare them to these "nanny" state countries, I have zero hesitation to choose that "authoritarian" and "freedom-infringing" country.

There's a very deep sense of peace and joy when you're surrounded by well-off families who are all enjoying a summer afternoon in the park (and can afford to spend time with their kids instead of working a second job), without any drug addicts or homeless people around. And more importantly, knowing that this isn't some exclusive neighborhood but the average for most people in that country.

And what's funny, Nordic countries aren't really that much more heavily taxed than the US. Per ChatGPT for $100k:

View attachment 67481


Even for $500k, there's still not that much difference:

View attachment 67482


Of course, there are some nice countries where taxes are low (even Poland) but that is often a unique situation of the country (like natural resources or a tax haven) or a temporary approach to stimulate growth. Most countries need to choose between low taxation and low quality of life or higher taxation but higher quality of life (assuming the government isn't corrupt and actually uses the money wisely).

There is a lot of depth and nuance into this on taxation and social welfare. There is a joke that U.S has high taxes but low welfare. Lol.

It’s really about effective spending of money. Singapore went through the low welfare low taxation phase. But the diversified tax sources makes it less reliant on personal income tax or corporate income tax. When you run budget surpluses for decades you build up enough sovereign wealth that investment interest can be a major source of tax revenue. Then you can even increase your welfare expenditure without having to raise taxes.

U.S. looks terrible in terms of social welfare and taxes (high taxation with low welfare). But it tops in the world in the strength of the consumer market and the depth of the capital market.

The strength of the consumer market is well understood. Most e-commerce and online businesses try to sell to U.S.

The capital market’s depth is insane. There are abundant of micro-PE venture that can buy up any businesses from landscaping to SAAS. Once your step out of U.S. it becomes very hard to sell your business in comparison. The overall ecosystem in U.S. is more fastlane friendly.

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

"Hello, we are writing to inform you that we just made it harder for you to purchase what we sell.
Best regards,
Your supplier"

"Enshittification" is such a timely concept!

 

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[IceCreamKid]

I imagine it's a combination of relatively low population, relatively homogeneous population, climate (in a harsh climate, you need to work with others to survive), and shared values that respect public space and by extension, strangers.

America today is no longer a country. It's an ATM machine where people from all over the world come in and grab their piece of the pie.

The country has been gutted and my state especially has become a low trust, non-homogenous population.

At this point I'm looking forward to pulling an MJ and moving to an isolated place.

 

[Antifragile]

America today is no longer a country. It's an ATM machine where people from all over the world come in and grab their piece of the pie.

Someone believes their supreme leader lol.

The country has been gutted and my state especially has become a low trust, non-homogenous population.

Oh no… non-homogenous population at fault.

Did you mean it in a racist way or some other classification?

At this point I'm looking forward to pulling an MJ and moving to an isolated place.

 

[Xeon]

At this point I'm looking forward to pulling an MJ and moving to an isolated place.

 

[Xavier X]

America today is no longer a country. It's an ATM machine where people from all over the world come in and grab their piece of the pie.

The country has been gutted and my state especially has become a low trust, non-homogenous population.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Definitely looks like my neighborhood!

 

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[CosmicMind]

America today is no longer a country. It's an ATM machine where people from all over the world come in and grab their piece of the pie.

The country has been gutted and my state especially has become a low trust, non-homogenous population.

At this point I'm looking forward to pulling an MJ and moving to an isolated place.

A lot of this was a consequence of legislation passed by radical liberals during the civil rights movement. If I can find you guilty of some moral injustice then I have unlimited blackmailing and extortion capabilities against the citizenry.

I feel the same way. America is a very insufferable place. LOL

 

[Antifragile]

America is a very insufferable place.

So when did you leave the insufferable place?

 

[GPM]

If USA is anything like Canada, it probably has changed a lot recently, and not for the better.

Regarding ethnicity. Growing up I would say my base of friends was an even mix of 2nd generation Canadians from Polish, Filipino, Ukrainian heritage, and the remaining 50% being white 3-4th gen Canadians. Myself I am a 4th generation white guy who's ancestors hailed primarily from Germany, with a splash of England thrown in there. 100% of my ancestors left their past behind to start a new life in a new country. So I have zero heritage from my past, and can not speak German.

Growing up, until very recently, Canada was still very much culturally homogenous. Everyone shared the same values, mostly the same religion as well. I worked in an office of engineers from 2012-2015, and would say that "white" was not the majority. We had people from all over the world, and all skin tones at that downtown office, and yet everyone shared the same values. Downtown was pretty clean, people were respectful towards each other, litter was few and far between. People were polite when walking in crowded areas. No one seemed to care where anyone was from other than as a point of interest.

I married a Mexican girl in 2012. She came to Canada to leave behind the issues of her country and to have a better life.

Fast forward to 2020 and beyond. We don't see that kindness. We don't see that shared value and pride in country. I see litter far more often, no one seems to care. That general sense of safety and societal care is gone. I won't let my wife go out in downtown by herself (with her friends) without me due to safety concerns. We used to live there and go walking all the time. Heck, I wouldn't even go out most places at night by myself right around the corner from where we used to live.

I see Canadian values dying before my eyes. And it is not just a feeling. Go pull up nearly any stat that makes a country great, and Canada has fallen sharply in those rankings. If we don't collectively change this then this country is going to be a serious has-been country. No one enjoys their live because their country used to be a top 5, or even a top 3 country in the world. If current standing is top 20 or 25 an dropping, that is all that matters.

If anyone even brings up how they wish people were more polite, more considerate, more caring, took better care of their environment, stopped littering... you are called a racist. How am I a racist for saying I wish people kept their environment clean? Is taking care of your surroundings even mentioning race?

As a 1st generation Canadian, my wife has a lot of friends who recently came here who see the same things she does about how things are changing. Lots of acquaintances that she has met over the years literally complain about Canada and hate the culture as well. These people left Brazil and various other South American countries by choice to come to Canada, and then actively go against the Canadian culture and do nothing but complain about it and actively try to change it to how it was back home. It is the same story with anywhere people come from.

Gone are the days where people come for a better life. I would say that kind of started to end around 2017. Now people come for a free ride, or they come to change things in ways they think it should be (generally the way they came from) and to be damned about fitting in. I see all the time about Permanent Residents trying to change the system so they can vote here and not have to cut ties with their home country. Well what is it? Do you want to be part of your new country, or do you want to change things here without actually having to be a part of it.

Call me a racist if you want. I just want my peaceful loving neighbors, citizens who care about the environment and clean up after themselves, and respectful individuals back. I don't think I mentioned sex, race, sexual orientation, pigmentation even once in what I want to see, but still the "status quo" would brand me a racist for wanting that.

I am eventually going to up and disappear one day from Western Society. There is only so much gas-lighting one can take before they get fed up and call it quits.

 

[Antifragile]

If USA is anything like Canada, it probably has changed a lot recently, and not for the better.

Regarding ethnicity. Growing up I would say my base of friends was an even mix of 2nd generation Canadians from Polish, Filipino, Ukrainian heritage, and the remaining 50% being white 3-4th gen Canadians. Myself I am a 4th generation white guy who's ancestors hailed primarily from Germany, with a splash of England thrown in there. 100% of my ancestors left their past behind to start a new life in a new country. So I have zero heritage from my past, and can not speak German.

Growing up, until very recently, Canada was still very much culturally homogenous. Everyone shared the same values, mostly the same religion as well. I worked in an office of engineers from 2012-2015, and would say that "white" was not the majority. We had people from all over the world, and all skin tones at that downtown office, and yet everyone shared the same values. Downtown was pretty clean, people were respectful towards each other, litter was few and far between. People were polite when walking in crowded areas. No one seemed to care where anyone was from other than as a point of interest.

I married a Mexican girl in 2012. She came to Canada to leave behind the issues of her country and to have a better life.

Fast forward to 2020 and beyond. We don't see that kindness. We don't see that shared value and pride in country. I see litter far more often, no one seems to care. That general sense of safety and societal care is gone. I won't let my wife go out in downtown by herself (with her friends) without me due to safety concerns. We used to live there and go walking all the time. Heck, I wouldn't even go out most places at night by myself right around the corner from where we used to live.

I see Canadian values dying before my eyes. And it is not just a feeling. Go pull up nearly any stat that makes a country great, and Canada has fallen sharply in those rankings. If we don't collectively change this then this country is going to be a serious has-been country. No one enjoys their live because their country used to be a top 5, or even a top 3 country in the world. If current standing is top 20 or 25 an dropping, that is all that matters.

If anyone even brings up how they wish people were more polite, more considerate, more caring, took better care of their environment, stopped littering... you are called a racist. How am I a racist for saying I wish people kept their environment clean? Is taking care of your surroundings even mentioning race?

As a 1st generation Canadian, my wife has a lot of friends who recently came here who see the same things she does about how things are changing. Lots of acquaintances that she has met over the years literally complain about Canada and hate the culture as well. These people left Brazil and various other South American countries by choice to come to Canada, and then actively go against the Canadian culture and do nothing but complain about it and actively try to change it to how it was back home. It is the same story with anywhere people come from.

Gone are the days where people come for a better life. I would say that kind of started to end around 2017. Now people come for a free ride, or they come to change things in ways they think it should be (generally the way they came from) and to be damned about fitting in. I see all the time about Permanent Residents trying to change the system so they can vote here and not have to cut ties with their home country. Well what is it? Do you want to be part of your new country, or do you want to change things here without actually having to be a part of it.

Call me a racist if you want. I just want my peaceful loving neighbors, citizens who care about the environment and clean up after themselves, and respectful individuals back. I don't think I mentioned sex, race, sexual orientation, pigmentation even once in what I want to see, but still the "status quo" would brand me a racist for wanting that.

I am eventually going to up and disappear one day from Western Society. There is only so much gas-lighting one can take before they get fed up and call it quits.

1. you live in Alberta. It’s either oil/gas or nothing. And Justin T said that was “bad for the environment”. My point is this: poverty leads to more crime and bad behaviour.
2. Same dude Justin said that we need more immigrants but instead of having the old criteria where out of 1200 points one had to get 800 to be here, he lowered it to 75. It’s not a typo. And for a rather long while we’ve had an influx of immigrants who are “students” not real students! Fake private schools … and we attracted people who are neither skilled nor come with money. They work at fast food restaurants and are not adding to prosperity of our country.

With the above, I’m still confused what you call “homogeneous” society! The whole premise of our country is heterogeneous including your own family composition. If you scream “we used to be homogeneous” how can you not expect people to misunderstand what you meant?

But most of all - I’m all for calling a spade a spade. We have problems here. We really do. So let’s do something about it. I can’t stand hearing people who are here whine and complain and “threaten” to leave but never leave. That’s weak.

Talk to others, explain to friends why we need our resource economy, influence the outcome here. Become the solution. Or … yeah… leave.

 

[The Sandman]

Also don‘t forget that the biggest driver of crime is poverty. Most people, if they have a good life, would not commit crimes.

BS. Belief in this lie is a HUGE part of the societal decline we're seeing in the West. I see that attitude as condescending and rather insulting to poor people.

There are plenty of poor people who aren't criminals, and no shortage at all of wealthy criminals, either. Washington DC is full of the latter.

You have it completely backwards. Crime is one of biggest drivers of poverty.

 

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[MattR82]

Email marketing just made a lot more sense to me...

 

[Antifragile]

BS. Belief in this lie is a HUGE part of the societal decline we're seeing in the West. I see that attitude as condescending and rather insulting to poor people.

There are plenty of poor people who aren't criminals, and no shortage at all of wealthy criminals, either. Washington DC is full of the latter.

You have it completely backwards. Crime is one of biggest drivers of poverty.

Hmm interesting

how can we check this belief for accuracy?

What you wrote computes. Plenty of rich people are criminals.

What I wonder is whether crime rises or falls when the per capita GDP of a country goes up and down. I’ve always thought that when country becomes poorer, there will be more crime and the reverse to hold true. But it could be from my own personal observations, like watching USSR collapse lead to a massive spike in crime in ex-Soviet block.

I could be very wrong. Then the question becomes what drives crime rates up and down?

 

[Kevin88660]

BS. Belief in this lie is a HUGE part of the societal decline we're seeing in the West. I see that attitude as condescending and rather insulting to poor people.

There are plenty of poor people who aren't criminals, and no shortage at all of wealthy criminals, either. Washington DC is full of the latter.

You have it completely backwards. Crime is one of biggest drivers of poverty.

As a society you get results in where your effort is.

If there are economics opportunity people are less likely to do crime. Most people would like to get money legitimately if possible.

If you have effective policing and crime prevention it will show up in lower crime statistics.

Criminals are less likely to commit crimes if they know high chances they will get caught.

Singapore police force here reacts very quickly to violent crimes or theft or sexual assaults.

But in comparison much less resources is on traffic rules enforcement. If you park your car illegally out of convenience there is less five percent chance you get a ticket.

When me and my friends were driving in Brisbane Australia we got a ticket at night immediately for our rented vehicles parked in the wrong place in the later afternoon (mainly due to not knowing where to park correctly). Our car even got stopped once by a police car for beating the right light once. This all happened in ten days seems like they have 24-7 manpower watching any possible traffic violations.

Crime is a form a behavior by choice. Training human beings are somewhat like training animals. In a circus if the animal keeps getting smacked for having the wrong moves they will get it right eventually.

 

[DareDevil]

BS. Belief in this lie is a HUGE part of the societal decline we're seeing in the West. I see that attitude as condescending and rather insulting to poor people.

There are plenty of poor people who aren't criminals, and no shortage at all of wealthy criminals, either. Washington DC is full of the latter.

You have it completely backwards. Crime is one of biggest drivers of poverty.

Lack of education and awarness of financial education is the driver of poverty,(besides governance , economic system avaliable , market landscape)

I am not talking about colleges which is bascially training for a job function but how to create wealth.

How to play defence well , save , invest ,

And world is always changing for better.

Most people are reading MJ's books ,there is free courses in coursea and youtube from finance to marketing and lot more what you want to learn , AI is avaliable , so it is a prosperous era,

we should keep a optimistic outlook on life , I have also changed myself from past's pessimistic outlook, we are not at

industrial era where a man had to work 12 hours a day in a factory neither we are a in a era where kings ruled and peasants had no upward moblility.

 

[GPM]

With the above, I’m still confused what you call “homogeneous” society! The whole premise of our country is heterogeneous including your own family composition. If you scream “we used to be homogeneous” how can you not expect people to misunderstand what you meant?

That was not me who originally said that. What I said was Canada used to have a homogeneous set of values that made this country great. I agree with what you said, certain people removed the requirements to come here and just shoe-horned a bunch of people into the country for the sake of it. That destroyed Canadian values, which are now seen as racist.

We need that back. Don't like traditional Canadian values? Don't come to our country. It should be as clear cut as that. Here are what we value as core building blocks to our society, if you don't agree with them then do not come to our country. You don't want to be polite, respect society, be clean and orderly? GTFO.

You are right about Canada. We are sitting on a gold-mine with our oil and gas, and yet its so darn hard to produce it. The opportunity is still massive, and I am tapping in to it, but it should be significantly more easy and much more lucrative than it currently is. We don't need to the governments help producing our resources, we just need them to get out of the way and let it happen.

 

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[Xeon]

If USA is anything like Canada, it probably has changed a lot recently, and not for the better.

Regarding ethnicity. Growing up I would say my base of friends was an even mix of 2nd generation Canadians from Polish, Filipino, Ukrainian heritage, and the remaining 50% being white 3-4th gen Canadians. Myself I am a 4th generation white guy who's ancestors hailed primarily from Germany, with a splash of England thrown in there. 100% of my ancestors left their past behind to start a new life in a new country. So I have zero heritage from my past, and can not speak German.

Growing up, until very recently, Canada was still very much culturally homogenous. Everyone shared the same values, mostly the same religion as well. I worked in an office of engineers from 2012-2015, and would say that "white" was not the majority. We had people from all over the world, and all skin tones at that downtown office, and yet everyone shared the same values. Downtown was pretty clean, people were respectful towards each other, litter was few and far between. People were polite when walking in crowded areas. No one seemed to care where anyone was from other than as a point of interest.

I married a Mexican girl in 2012. She came to Canada to leave behind the issues of her country and to have a better life.

Fast forward to 2020 and beyond. We don't see that kindness. We don't see that shared value and pride in country. I see litter far more often, no one seems to care. That general sense of safety and societal care is gone. I won't let my wife go out in downtown by herself (with her friends) without me due to safety concerns. We used to live there and go walking all the time. Heck, I wouldn't even go out most places at night by myself right around the corner from where we used to live.

I see Canadian values dying before my eyes. And it is not just a feeling. Go pull up nearly any stat that makes a country great, and Canada has fallen sharply in those rankings. If we don't collectively change this then this country is going to be a serious has-been country. No one enjoys their live because their country used to be a top 5, or even a top 3 country in the world. If current standing is top 20 or 25 an dropping, that is all that matters.

If anyone even brings up how they wish people were more polite, more considerate, more caring, took better care of their environment, stopped littering... you are called a racist. How am I a racist for saying I wish people kept their environment clean? Is taking care of your surroundings even mentioning race?

As a 1st generation Canadian, my wife has a lot of friends who recently came here who see the same things she does about how things are changing. Lots of acquaintances that she has met over the years literally complain about Canada and hate the culture as well. These people left Brazil and various other South American countries by choice to come to Canada, and then actively go against the Canadian culture and do nothing but complain about it and actively try to change it to how it was back home. It is the same story with anywhere people come from.

Gone are the days where people come for a better life. I would say that kind of started to end around 2017. Now people come for a free ride, or they come to change things in ways they think it should be (generally the way they came from) and to be damned about fitting in. I see all the time about Permanent Residents trying to change the system so they can vote here and not have to cut ties with their home country. Well what is it? Do you want to be part of your new country, or do you want to change things here without actually having to be a part of it.

Call me a racist if you want. I just want my peaceful loving neighbors, citizens who care about the environment and clean up after themselves, and respectful individuals back. I don't think I mentioned sex, race, sexual orientation, pigmentation even once in what I want to see, but still the "status quo" would brand me a racist for wanting that.

I am eventually going to up and disappear one day from Western Society. There is only so much gas-lighting one can take before they get fed up and call it quits.

This exact, highly relatable thing is happening in pretty much every first world country. I'm not sure why governments are pushing for this since a decade or more ago but I assume it's due to growing GDP and increasing politicians ' bottom line + win votes from the new immigrants and woke ideals are just a narrative. This "feeling" can be summarized as "I don't even feel like I'm in my own country because 19/20 people around me are foreigners".


Side note....fark Cloudflare.

Free Lunch Is Over for the AI That Broke the Web

Cloudflare, a company that runs 20% of the web, just flipped a switch that could end the open internet as we know it, forcing AI companies to pay for the content they’ve been taking for free.

gizmodo.com

 

[MitchC]

Email marketing just made a lot more sense to me...

Anyone doing ecommerce should get female housemates

The courier will be at your house every day

Will blow your mind the amount of shit they order

People over complicate things thinking they need to invent something amazing that provides so much objective value

No just create something that makes a chick smile when it arrives

 

[Supa]

BS. Belief in this lie is a HUGE part of the societal decline we're seeing in the West. I see that attitude as condescending and rather insulting to poor people.

There are plenty of poor people who aren't criminals, and no shortage at all of wealthy criminals, either. Washington DC is full of the latter.

You have it completely backwards. Crime is one of biggest drivers of poverty.

I never said something against poor people.

All I said that someone who is poor is more likely to commit crimes, not because they are a shitty person, but because if you have no food on the table of your family, you are more likely to steal or make money illegally to get some food on the table.

Look up the crime statistics of countries where the gap between the rich and the poor is bigger.

Also two things can be true at the same time. Poverty can lead to more crimes, while crime done by rich people (like corruption) can lead to more poverty.

Also won‘t go into all the other posts this discussion sparked, since it sadly had again crossed into political areas, where we should not wander to.

MTF‘s and my posts where about living conditions in different countries. Not about those countries‘ politics.

 

[heavy_industry]

Also don‘t forget that the biggest driver of crime is poverty.

I guess this is why Europe went from the safest place on planet Earth to a near warzone where you can get stabbed and shot in broad daylight, all in the span of 30 years.

I think we have more poverty! That's it!

Easy!

Everybody knows that when your grandma runs out of money, she suddenly becomes a violent criminal.

It has NOTHING to do with the systematic destruction of traditional European culture and values, nor is it caused by the historically unprecedented demographic changes that have rendered entire cities unrecognizable.

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@GPM I refuse to continue a discussion that is on the brink of becoming very political. All I will say is this:

Canada, much like most of the EU countries, is no longer a sovereign nation.

You do not make your own rules anymore.

Everything that is happening in the West is a deliberate, well-thought-out plan.

Focus on the things you can control.