It's better to think that one knows what's best for them, even if they don't, than to think that someone else knows what's best for them, as the latter is a dangerous way of relinquishing control over one's life to somebody else and ultimately denying responsibility for one's own actions.

subject/verb agreement error: ...are insults. Pet peeve #20942.
unnecessary punctuation error ...they and you. Pet peeve 20943. — Bitter Crank

Here's the grammar police again:roll:

you have your Brexit geniuses. Colossal stupidity — Bitter Crank

very true..

It's just a fact, Clarkie.

However, you can't treat a post not addressed specifically to you as a continuation of the previous discussion that was with you. — Agustino

Yes, you can if it’s on the same thread and following a long string of replies on the same subject.

Well, you had quoted me in those posts as far as I remember. — Agustino

Not always as far as I remember. And are we only meant to reply to posts that are addressed directly to us? Oh, I must have misunderstood the forum rules.

What makes you think that the Le Pen post was addressed to you? — Agustino

Exactly the same thing that made you think all my previous posts, that you replied to, were addressed to you.

ummm no. — Agustino

Ummm yes.

You're certainly are a strange one. I said she is a charismatic politician. Can I know what that has to do with sleeping with someone? Can I know what that has to do with having or lacking credentials? Can I know what that has to do with being beautiful? :chin: — Agustino

oh, excuse me! Did not realise you had changed the subject. I may be strange to you but you certainly have very short attention span.

may just be a natural, instinctual reaction. — René Descartes

Our brains have greatly evolved since the Stone Age. No excuse to cherry-pick prehistoric ancestral traits.

Like animals (which we are very similar to) — René Descartes

We are very different to animals.

because all the current ones are lame. — T Clark

That’s not arrogant at all!

People who toss out their turd of an idea and then don’t participate in the discussion after that. — T Clark

There, there, who upset little Clarkie?

very adept at rousing the crowd: — Agustino

All right-wing politicians are adept at that. It’s how they compensate for bad judgment and lack of reasoning.

I don't agree with many of her anti-EU policies, but she surely seems like a charismatic politician, very adept at rousing the crowd: — Agustino

What’s your point? Are you saying she slept with someone to get to where she is? Is it possible that her own credentials and qualifications got her there? Just because she is beautiful, it doesn’t mean she has prostituded herself to get the job.

P.S. To be fair, it probably helps when your grandfather founded the Party you work for, so not a great deal of meritocracy required.

fighting against the objectification of women just so they can "get back" at women who can use their physical beauty to their advantage — Agustino

Has it ever crossed your mind, even remotely, that they might be fighting against the objectification of women because it's wrong and they do not want to become objectified themselves? Or is it a privilege and an achievement for a woman to become objectified, as you put it, in your demented little mind?

No wonder you are a Trump's admirer, btw. His motto is "..grab 'em by the p*ssy.."

A friend of mine mentioned to me that usually female feminists are ugly women physically - and that's true to a certain extent, in that there is probably no doubt that some women who feel resentment towards other women may channel that resentment towards fighting against the objectification of women just so they can "get back" at women who can use their physical beauty to their advantage. Not all of them, obviously, but I have no doubt that some of them fall in this category. — Agustino

And the usual responsibility-aborting cliche "a friend of mine mentioned that..." Why don't you just admit you are a chauvinistic pig (I hope pigs will forgive me), already? The only thing I agree with you on is that men are (evidently, based on your argument) useable and disposable. Having said that, I wouldn't screw an ugly imbecile for all the money and power in the world, especially when I can get those through outsmarting the idiot. This post might get deleted but it's off my chest now, so there!.

see the West as an existential threat which is intent on attacking and destroying Russia — ssu

Can you blame them? If the US had the same military interference in their neighbourhood by Russia, like the Russians have had from NATO, the reaction from the US would have been a lot more paranoid and catastrophic. The US should take a look at their own foreign policy before criticizing other countries and accusing them of overreacting.

And a very corrupt, selfish, racist, psychopathic, bigoted misogynist. And how exactly does that benefit you as a voter? Mind-boggling, self-inflicted misery.

And you trust the government to guarantee your money in such scenario? Adorable simplicity.

And who are you exactly to point the moral finger, sir? Take a good look in the mirror first.

Oh, so god exists and it's a "He"! Wow! It's getting better and better. Applauding. To be fair, I suspected he would be a man as he is pretty sh*t at running the shop.

Yeah, a service where the banker pretty much cannot lose. — Agustino

I am not defending the bankers in any way, I think they're parasites and should not be rewarded the way they are, however, if the banks fail, say tomorrow, your savings are gone, your business is going down as people will have no money to buy your stuff and you will starve unless you have enough money stashed away under your mattress. The issue is much more complicated than you'd like to think and a simplistic "get rid of the banks and bankers" type of solution is unrealistic and frankly rather naive and juvenile.

Trump fantasises on becoming a dictator some day. Had his power not been limited by the American constitution and other democratic constraints , he would have no moral qualms in pursuing a totalitarian regime. He is already practising the skill by firing whoever opposes him or in anyway challenges his authority. He has a very fragile ego that needs constant validation, just like most dictators in history.

And he is the cherry on the cake who's going to put everything right, correct? His attitude towards women, minorities, immigrants and anyone who is poor and downtrodden and his allegiance to Russia and the white supremacists is indeed very promising!

Oh, so you are talking from a place of safety. You should be living the "dream" most Americans do today and I would like to see how fond of the orange imbecile you would be then.

YOU sir are what's wrong with America today. So many ill-informed ignoramuses shooting themselves in the foot and buying into propaganda that's against their own interests. Good luck living in Trump's world. You will come to your senses one day when you'll wake up and realise you have been left behind by a "deserving" bourjois who won't allow you access to healthcare unless you are willing to trade a kidney for it. As Trump himself would say ..."Enjoy!"

Yeah, count on Trump to increase taxes on the rich. Trump is not an entrepreneur. He inherited his fortune from his family and he screwed up several times, declaring himself bankrupt and dodging paying his debts and taxes. Now he is screwing up the whole country and the rest of the world with it.

Well, they still know more about the economy and are in a far better position to form a realistic view on it. Protectionism is bad for the economy as a whole. And guess who is going to get hurt first and foremost >>> the entrepreneurs!

No. Say the people who know more about economics than the hillbillies who think that Trump is on their side.

Do you really believe in all this religious crap? What is wrong with you people? Can you not think for yourselves and see how rubbish this all is?

"the rich people are given a choice, but if they choose wrongly their reward is death,"

Nearly the most ridiculous statement I have ever heard. First of all, sorry to break the news to you but we ALL die one day, regardless of how rich, poor, good or bad we are. Secondly, I see more poor and innocent people die than rich, privileged and without moral conscience. So your theory doesn't hold water. And pleeeease don't give me that crap about heaven and hell. There is only one thing after death and that is eternal nothingness. Like, where exactly were you when someone by the name of Jesus was around convincing the naive and gullible masses that he was god? You did not exist then and you won't exist after you die. I know its a hard pill to swallow but I can't sugarcoat it for you. Wake up and smell the coffee!

How do you know I exist? — charleton

I think you are a figment of my imagination

Well that narrows it down! Cheers mate

May I ask why it was deleted? I did not participate in it and I don't know what it was about but just out of interest so I know how to avoid same fate in the future! Please don't refer me to the forum guidelines (they are too general). I need to know about this particular thread. Thanks.

Yes, they could and they are.

A state of mind.

the amount of thought it puts into it. And the kind of thoughts it occupies itself with.

mind is synonymous with brain. Fairies and intangible entities in the sky are not involved in the process of thinking as far as I understand.

What I’m saying is that happiness is created in the mind and is therefore independent of the material world. You are confusing survival with happiness. The absence of physical discomfort is not happiness. Some people get immense pleasure from physical pain -see masochism.

has similar reasearch been conducted in a different setting, for example some tribes living in the Amazon forest, who although have no income and very little possessions, are thought to be amongst the happiest human beings? Could the results of the above study have been confounded by the cultural background i.e people in America generally think (It’s all in the mind!) of material comforts as a source of happiness and wellbeing?

What evidence do you have to support your claim that happiness is based on mindset alone? — MonfortS26

What evidence do you have that it isn’t?

Then where does the correlation between income and happiness come from? — MonfortS26

from someone’s backside, would be my best guess.