Comments

  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    What do you people think of the possibility that Trump, maybe has issued the famous executive order to counteract foreign interference in U.S election, under highest classification?

    This would mean that the public, wouldn't even know that he has already, put it into effect and sounded the alarm, to homeland security and the entire intelligence apparatus. If this is true, the United States is currently in a national state of emergency, meaning that every corrupt legislatures or possible conspirators, will basically walk right into a trap and being surveiled 24/7 by agents.

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-imposing-certain-sanctions-event-foreign-interference-united-states-election/

    According to the predefined executive order it states, that it should be issued no more than 45 days before the presidential transfer of power. A quick calculation tells us that this order should have been issued around 4-5th of December.

    Do you find this theory plausible?
  • Dealing with people who choose to suffer
    You don't know what the person is going through, and neither does the person. Humans can get stuck in the loop of suffering, without knowing why. Maybe they have suffered for so long, that they don't know anything else. Life is as complicated as the universe we live in. We don't always know why, but sometimes we do. We can then use our knowledge to climb out of hell :)
  • Picking beliefs
    Human knowledge is to be taken with a grain of salt. Acknowledge it for what abstractions it can bring you, and use them well in your journey in life, but try not to be controlled by them. All this mess started with cave-paintings and lines in the sand. Sheer abstractions trying to describe our world. There is no spoon :)
  • Should it be our right to have our basic needs met?
    @Bitter Crank I get your point of view, we think we need so much. But in reality, we don't need that much to survive. I can subscribe to this. I eat one meal a day. I look forward to that meal every day, and it tastes bloody amazing every time. Even if it's the same food i have to eat every day.

    That is the major downside to capitalism and the monetary system in general. To get food on the table you have a lot of opportunities, but in the end you have to sell something or work for someone who is selling some things. That way a lot of unnecessary stuff gets produced and consumed.

    Welcome to earth, the biggest consumer planet in the universe. Even our whales are filled with micro plastic from all of our garbage. I'm sorry, i don't want to paint a big and horrible picture here. But it's kind of depressing. Relax, think positively! This is our fuck-up planet, so we learn how to take care of our next one if we get there ;)

    Another point i would like to make, is that modernism falsely assumes that everything that is old are not worth bringing into the new world, because it's not modern. Only new things are modern. And if we're all trying to be modern, and live the modern life, then we are automatically sorting out everything from the old world, just because. Like the point you were trying to make, that maybe we can learn a lot of good things from "the old world". I'm not saying modernism is all bad, just trying to point out that maybe it's not always so good after all. And to be all-modern and completely stripped of everything from our cultural past, is just boring as heck, sad even. We have a huge cultural heritage, we need to embrace that IMO.
  • Should it be our right to have our basic needs met?
    @Bitter Crank First of all, Squirrels are not depending on a well functioning civilisation to get their food (except for the university squirrels of course), nor do they have the capability to form a squirrel civilisation, however cool that might be. I would actually think that the squirrels would do much better than us. Because of their more simplistic nature of being, they just need acorns and trees to climb around in. No televisions, internet, or advanced infrastructure needed. I think part of the problem is that we are just so god damn advanced!

    The difference between us and the squirrels is that the squirrels can just find another tree to get their acorns from, we can't just find another planet to get our food source from. We only have this planet, this civilisation. Either you are a part of it, or either you are a part of it.

    Funny story of the university squirrels.
    Now, what does humans do when they can't get food on the table by conventional means like getting a job for example. Compromise on their morality and rob a bank, or starve themselves to death with their morality and integrity still intact? Both things happen, i guess. Humans living under these low conditions have the potential to suddenly begin to start acting like the university squirrels. Looking in trash cans for alternative food sources, because we as a civilisation fail to ensure that everybody gets fed. This is why it is of utmost importance that we do our best to meet the basic needs of our people, it helps bring peace to the world.

    A quote from a former Danish politician:
    For two reasons, there will never be a revolution in Denmark. First and foremost, it's too much rain and you can not revolutionize under an omitted umbrella. Second, every turn to revolution must be over before dinner, because the Dane will not miss his hot dinner — Arne Melchior

    Another way of saying that whenever the basic needs are met, and the people have food on the table. There is no need for war, destruction, or revolution. I just thought that would fit well with the talk we're having here :D
  • Should it be our right to have our basic needs met?
    our survival has never been guaranteed by nature or anyone/anything else.

    I didn't say that.

    Let me explain.
    All living organisms get the food that they have the ability to get. Otherwise they wouldn't be living organisms right? That's what living organisms do. So in this manner, nature has provided us with the ability to extract what we need from the natural environment to survive and thrive ie. basic necessities. No guarantees, just the ability to obtain them. The problems begin to arise whenever we enter the realm of human civilisation, where nobody has equal access and odds of obtaining these sought after necessities. That's what we are discussing. Or at least, that's my point of view.

    So yes i believe that if nature had intentions, it would originally had intended for our species to have equal access to basic necessities.

    @jorndoe Hello there :D Not only a small country, but a small world as well.
  • Should it be our right to have our basic needs met?
    @NKBJ Yes, libertarianism, gone wrong. Blinded by their own individualistic goodness and greatness.
  • Should it be our right to have our basic needs met?
    @jkg20 I think the increase in poverty and homelessness, is the direct consequence of changes in the social policy laws that we've had over the recent years. The liberal parties have been preaching individualism and hung excluded and vulnerable citizens out in public debates and portrayed them as being lazy and a burden to national economy, as opposed to good citizens struggling to get a foothold in society. This is a very dangerous distinction to make. The debate has since then been thoroughly discussed, as liberal forces tried to overhype their own political agenda with this individualistic nonsense. In spite of this debate, the impact has been so huge and has led to changes in policy, that has been extremely unfortunate for people who struggle to exist in this country.

    The major change we've had that contributed to this rise in poverty, was a law that forced people on welfare into an ultimatum to either find a job or get an education (education is provided by the government). So if you couldn't find a job which most people on welfare for good reasons can't, or couldn't begin an education because of mental health issues, social problems or drug abuse. All these people that could not meet the terms within this ultimatum, was denied their welfare checks and thrown onto the streets. Roughly 55.000 people. I'm one of them. Although i've been lucky to be in the right place where good social workers has helped me to get the basic necessities. It's brutal times to be in the system these days, i've grown up with both my parents who was also on welfare, so i struggle with my social heritage.

    I'm not going to make this a political talk, but to throw people on the streets and into poverty in the name of individualism, is in my opinion disgusting. The liberals that put this into effect, are a menace to society and their own people.

    Do i think that it should be a fundamental right to have our basic needs met? Yes i do! As nature originally intended.
  • Should it be our right to have our basic needs met?
    Like jkg20 is saying, most people live in a capitalistic society. And that means that nothing gets produced unless there's a substantial amount of money involved in the process, to feed the workers, maintenance of machines etc.

    This holds true on both sides of the political spectrum. Capitalistic versus socialistic, they both use the monetary system as a base foundation. The false assumption that money is a natural problem solver.

    Another scenario could be that we added basic necessities to the human rights. And thereby force governments around the world to feed the starving part of their demographic, while providing shelters and medicine etc through taxes. Just like we do in my country (Denmark). We pay some of the highest tax rates, this is done deliberately and with military precision. Because we know that society is best when all people thrive and are happy. People that is unable to find work or get sick, gets offered an apartment, and a subtle amount of money to live off every month. If the rest of the world could just get this simple idea into their heads, the world would most definitely be a much better place.
  • Welcome to The Philosophy Forum - an introduction thread
    @ArguingWAristotleTiff
    Thank you so much! I've been looking for a place like this my whole life essentially. Good to be here, will be posting a lot more in the coming future. Just probing the landscape a bit first, to pick up on the etiquette and chime in here and there :)
  • Wiser Words Have Never Been Spoken
    We're all technically idiots, when we hypothetically compare ourselves with a more advanced civilization. You never know, they might just be idiots like us. In that case, we are not the only idiots in the universe. There is something comforting in that statement alone. Otherwise, we are bound to be the lonesome idiots floating through space, until the day we discover another civilization that is more or less idiotic than our own.
  • Why I Left Academic Philosophy
    I can just imagine the part where she talks about being in a room filled with people that disagrees with everything you say. Must be difficult. Nevertheless. The exchange of opinions between humans, might be the phenomenon she was witnessing, and that can become quite brutal very quickly if you run into the wrong people.