You Are All The 1%

[Mike]

Historically speaking, it's true.

Life as a human being on planet earth has never been easier. It's easier by a massive margin. It's so much easier now than, say, 150 years ago that you almost can't even imagine how much easier it is. It's unfathomably easier

Not too long ago I was out to eat with my family when my mother suggested a toast to our endurance and fortitude in managing the current "pandemic". This as we ate our steaks and sucked down our beers in the air conditioned dining area of a rather fancy restaurant. How brave of us!:)

After that dinner I got into my car, a miraculous machine that can get me virtually anywhere I want to go with almost zero physical effort. I drove on smooth streets that had been laid for my convenience. I listened to some wonderful music (on a device called a radio) as I drove along and when it got a bit hot I turned on the air conditioner.

While driving along a friend who lived on the other side of the country called me on a miraculous device called a smart phone. And since I was in an unfamiliar town I needed instructions, so I pulled them up on google maps..and a robotic but pleasant sounding woman told me precisely how to get to the nearest grocery store. All this being possible because of the internet, of course..a cyber world of near endless information and possibilities right at our fingertips.

I stopped at a grocery store and bought food that had been conveniently gathered and put in one location for my benefit. Pretty much any food you could possibly imagine was there. And I didn't have to hunt, fish, or grow it myself. It was on a shelf. I just had to pay for it.

When I got home to my air conditioned apartment I emptied my groceries into a miracle of a thing called a refrigerator, which keeps all my food fresh and my drinks cold. And then I retired to my room to watch tv on an enormous screen nearly half the size of my wall. All this possible due to a little thing called electricity.

All these things would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. All of them would have represented ground breaking miracles. Today we are blessed with this stuff. And I make a very modest living and live a very modest life! But even a guy like me, who basically lives from week to week, can have all these things if desired.

If you have a car, you are the 1%, historically speaking. If you have air conditioning, you are the 1%. Indoor plumbing, a refrigerator, a tv, hot and cold water, a washer/dryer set, a smartphone, a comfortable bed to sleep in...if you have these things you are the 1%. So stop whining.

The only appropriate attitude most of us should have is gratitude. We stand on the shoulders of giants, the giants that have provided all these wonderful things we have and enjoy...and all so many of us do is piss and moan about this or that. I'm just as guilty. I think one of our greatest crisis' involves a profound lack of perspective and gratitude.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Agreed mate, this is something I tried to point out (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?115365-Sign-of-the-Times-Ancient-and-Modern) in my own meandering way in a thread not long ago that suggested how modern times have a great deal in common with previous chapters of history - notably the Roman Empire - and that really, not so many things have actually changed except that today the vast majority of us, the common people, are much, much better off.

[Pam]

Historically speaking, it's true.

Life as a human being on planet earth has never been easier. It's easier by a massive margin. It's so much easier now than, say, 150 years ago that you almost can't even imagine how much easier it is. It's unfathomably easier

Not too long ago I was out to eat with my family when my mother suggested a toast to our endurance and fortitude in managing the current "pandemic". This as we ate our steaks and sucked down our beers in the air conditioned dining area of a rather fancy restaurant. How brave of us!:)

After that dinner I got into my car, a miraculous machine that can get me virtually anywhere I want to go with almost zero physical effort. I drove on smooth streets that had been laid for my convenience. I listened to some wonderful music (on a device called a radio) as I drove along and when it got a bit hot I turned on the air conditioner.

While driving along a friend who lived on the other side of the country called me on a miraculous device called a smart phone. And since I was in an unfamiliar town I needed instructions, so I pulled them up on google maps..and a robotic but pleasant sounding woman told me precisely how to get to the nearest grocery store. All this being possible because of the internet, of course..a cyber world of near endless information and possibilities right at our fingertips.

I stopped at a grocery store and bought food that bad been conveniently gathered and put in one location for my benefit. Pretty much any food you could possibly imagine was there. And I didn't have to hunt, fish, or grow it myself. It was on a shelf. I just had to pay for it.

When I got home to my air conditioned apartment I emptied my groceries into a miracle of a thing called a refrigerator, which keeps all my food fresh and my drinks cold. And then I retired to my room to watch tv on an enormous screen nearly half the size of my wall. All this possible due to a little thing called electricity.

All these things would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. All of them would have represented ground breaking miracles. Today we are blessed with this stuff. And I make a very modest living and live a very modest life! But even a guy like me, who basically lives from week to week, can have all these things if desired.

If you have a car, you are the 1%, historically speaking. If you have air conditioning, you are the 1%. Indoor plumbing, a refrigerator, a tv, hot and cold water, a washer/dryer set, a smartphone, a comfortable bed to sleep in...if you have these things you are the 1%. So stop whining.

The only appropriate attitude most of us should have is gratitude. We stand on the shoulders of giants, the giants that have provided all these wonderful things we have and enjoy...and all so many of us do is piss and moan about this or that. I'm just as guilty. I think one of our greatest crisis' involves a profound lack of perspective and gratitude.

The one thing missing from that almost utopian vision is this...... a friggin laser helmet that REALLY WORKS...Everything you mentioned was leading up to the final luxury we need, want and DEMAND. When I find a laser helmet that works...then we can talk gratitude....

I am so , so sorry, I couldn't resist.... back to topic.

[Le Chat]

But are we any happier nowadays....?

[Arcturian108]

But this gratitude for all the goodies we have leads directly to Klaus Schwab's statement that in 10 years "You will own nothing, and you will be happy."

[Gemma13]

Devils advocate here my friend.

1. The true 1% have provided all these goodies but have not allowed the 99% to have a vote on how to have these goodies whilst working in harmony with nature. They chose, all on their own, to repeatedly rape her, sending her immune system into chaos, so we can live in boxes devoid of the healing properties of nature.

And it is easily possible for all. Google Biophilic Architecture and look at some of the wondrous environments the Silicon Valley giants get to work, live and play in. Singapore has some awesome visuals of this architecture also.

2. We have no doubt evolved tremendously from a technological perspective but are lacking significantly in behavioural evolution. The psychopaths still rule with, and encourage amongst the commons, dog eat dog. Fu@$ collateral damage of human, animal and nature.

But, without meaning to burst ya bubble completely coz we all need the happy, I do think we are seeing a trend toward our conscious evolution. The ridiculously ludicrous current state of affairs, in so many arenas, tells me we are powering up globally. The desperation of the 1% losing control and not wanting to surrender psycopathic power is palpable.

P.S. I want some of whatever it is you're having YES!

[Harmony]

I often think the same thing Mike. Sometimes when driving along on a rainy cold day and thinking how it would be riding a horse long distances with the driving rain in your face, a distance that would take all day and night to cover, in an hour or so in the car. Instead of parking your car when you returned you would have to feed and look after your horse, unpack your saddlebags and start a fire for dinner and hopefully someone else has gathered some vegetables and eggs while you were gone.


I am grateful for conveniences like washing machines and food and time to explore new information and art, music and gardening. In some ways we live like kings really. I live a very modest life style and am off grid and out of town.

[RunningDeer]

And then I retired to my room to watch tv on an enormous screen nearly half the size of my wall.

http://paula.avalonlibrary.net/smilies/computer-stars.gif I suspect a TV half the size of the wall AND it's where you sleep is not so heart-healthy. :heart:

[I am B]

That is really relative. How free you are in comparison, how much do you matter as an individual. Are we overall happier?

Tech is a great blessing, but also a curse.

[Bill Ryan]

A couple of notes! :sun:

1) I read in a most interesting article some years back that the most significant, time-saving and labor-saving invention ever in the whole history of the human race was the washing machine. It was a very serious research piece.

2) As a species, we're becoming less practical, less physically strong, less intelligent and less aware (very probably less psychic, too). And absolutely more disconnected from nature in every important way. The human race is NOT in good genetic shape any more.

The evolutionary survival-of-the-fittest pressures are all off. There are billions of humans alive today, sitting on their couches (and maybe even watching enormous-screen TVs :P ), who'd never have made it through the night maybe 20,000 years ago.

As a serious point (but not the topic of this thread!), this may all be someone's plan, regarding the current depopulation agenda, to "sharpen the saw" and re-introduce some considerable evolutionary pressure to cull the weaker members of the species.

It's a separate discussion whether or not this is a "good" thing in any way at all, but it does seem to me that this may be the agenda: not just population reduction (you can do that pretty easily with a nuclear war), but a "filter" selectively applied so that only the brightest and best make it through.

:focus:

[RunningDeer]

A couple of notes! :sun:

1) I read in a most interesting article some years back that the most significant, time-saving and labor-saving invention ever in the whole history of the human race was the washing machine. It was a very serious research piece.

I’ve never owned a clothes dryer. Where I live there’s a community washing machine and dryer. I’d make the trip down and around into the dank, creepy cellar. I hunch over to dodge the old cobwebs that hang with bits of fiberglass to the other side of the room.

I found an alternative solution. It’s a Camper’s Portable Single Tub Washing Machine (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01720VIXI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). A spinner comes with it, but I purchased a Soft Spin Dryer (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CDWTQKI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). The spinner is gentle on the clothes and it does a wicked good job of removing most of the water content. I use a space saving clothes drying rack (https://www.amazon.com/Honey-Can-Do-Tripod-Clothes-Drying-Black/dp/B007ZSKJ1K/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=clothes+dry+rack&qid=1631542998&sr=8-5) and folding clothes rack. Now the creepy cellar visits are minimal for such things as sheets and blankets. I’m a millionaire with those few simple conveniences.

$ Benefits:

Save $3.50 per load to wash and dry.
No dryer heat, so clothes remain like new for years.
Line dry raises the relative humidity which counter acts the dry atmosphere caused by electric heat AND makes it feel warmer in the winter.
No ice cleats or snowshoes required. http://paula.avalonlibrary.net/smilies/laugh-big-smile-teeth.gif

[Mike Gorman]

Historically speaking, it's true.

Life as a human being on planet earth has never been easier. It's easier by a massive margin. It's so much easier now than, say, 150 years ago that you almost can't even imagine how much easier it is. It's unfathomably easier

Not too long ago I was out to eat with my family when my mother suggested a toast to our endurance and fortitude in managing the current "pandemic". This as we ate our steaks and sucked down our beers in the air conditioned dining area of a rather fancy restaurant. How brave of us!:)

After that dinner I got into my car, a miraculous machine that can get me virtually anywhere I want to go with almost zero physical effort. I drove on smooth streets that had been laid for my convenience. I listened to some wonderful music (on a device called a radio) as I drove along and when it got a bit hot I turned on the air conditioner.

While driving along a friend who lived on the other side of the country called me on a miraculous device called a smart phone. And since I was in an unfamiliar town I needed instructions, so I pulled them up on google maps..and a robotic but pleasant sounding woman told me precisely how to get to the nearest grocery store. All this being possible because of the internet, of course..a cyber world of near endless information and possibilities right at our fingertips.

I stopped at a grocery store and bought food that bad been conveniently gathered and put in one location for my benefit. Pretty much any food you could possibly imagine was there. And I didn't have to hunt, fish, or grow it myself. It was on a shelf. I just had to pay for it.

When I got home to my air conditioned apartment I emptied my groceries into a miracle of a thing called a refrigerator, which keeps all my food fresh and my drinks cold. And then I retired to my room to watch tv on an enormous screen nearly half the size of my wall. All this possible due to a little thing called electricity.

All these things would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. All of them would have represented ground breaking miracles. Today we are blessed with this stuff. And I make a very modest living and live a very modest life! But even a guy like me, who basically lives from week to week, can have all these things if desired.

If you have a car, you are the 1%, historically speaking. If you have air conditioning, you are the 1%. Indoor plumbing, a refrigerator, a tv, hot and cold water, a washer/dryer set, a smartphone, a comfortable bed to sleep in...if you have these things you are the 1%. So stop whining.

The only appropriate attitude most of us should have is gratitude. We stand on the shoulders of giants, the giants that have provided all these wonderful things we have and enjoy...and all so many of us do is piss and moan about this or that. I'm just as guilty. I think one of our greatest crisis' involves a profound lack of perspective and gratitude.

Absolutely spot on Mike, you have a way with words, straight to the point, concise and potent - we are indeed incredibly fortunate, even compared with the lifestyle of my grandparents-admittedly I am a bit of an old fart, born in 1958 so my granddads/mothers were born at the end of the 1800's, their lives were tough and they were poor hard working decent people, they had nowhere near the level of affluence I enjoy, and of course the technology we all take so much for granted would be like magic to them, literally magic.
It is rather like that old insight about wealthy families: one generation works incredibly hard to build wealth and position, the following generation fritters the family fortune away and produces decadent, weak offspring; not in every case, but very often, we are like that spoiled, decadent generation which has zero appreciation of what we have, we have become politically unaware, indifferent, we have become obsessed with ridiculous topics and concerns which have no intrinsic value or meaning. Perhaps we deserve a catastrophe, a fall from grace, to teach us all once again the true meaning of freedom, and struggle.

[Ernie Nemeth]

I could do well to learn gratitude.

I would turn it around , however, and state that the elite should be grateful, more so than us since it is they who are the 1% of this 1% you speak of. They should remember who it is they are beholden to, who made them their gazillions.

Everyone should remember to be grateful for the wealth builders, without whom no one could 'work from home' or order in their dinners. 'Front line workers' are all wealth builders. And wealth builders are under-valued. This is so that, through Babylonian Money Magic, the majority can work at 'value added' jobs craftily paid for by under-valuing the wealth builders. There is nothing in any generation more important than those who get their hands dirty.

Humanity is not a resource, a means to an end. Humanity is the reason for gratitude. At the present time we serve the smallest whim of our corporate overlords, and consider humanity a resource to be exploited like any other commodity.

Human happiness is the reason for gratitude. Comparing today's society to the past merely compares degrees of contentment, but never happiness. We might enjoy comforts unheard of in the past, but half of the world does not.

You are right, it is easier now than ever to comfortably ignore reality and live a prosperous life without once having to worry about an empty stomach, or walking a few miles to the store, in the heat.

Our lives have become automated, fully mapped out from birth to retirement. There are even milestones we watch out for to compare stages of a child's development, and an adult's. We step on the conveyor of life and are swept away, often not realizing what's going on at all, not having to actually think about it and just going with the flow, until suddenly we retire and wonder where the time went.

I am grateful I have lived and loved. I am grateful for life. I am grateful to be here. Did past generations say otherwise?

While the toys of this technocratic society are quaint, and even impressive, I'll withhold judgment until society becomes civilized. Until then all our toys are still just metaphorical clubs used as a method to achieve status or as symbols of merit, a throwback to our barbaric past.

[Mike]

That is really relative. How free you are in comparison, how much do you matter as an individual. Are we overall happier?

Tech is a great blessing, but also a curse.


Yes absolutely. It's relative. Which is why when someone says my country, for example, is a racist, ableist, patriarchal, sexist, crony capitalist disaster, I always say: oh really? A disaster compared to what exactly?? Show me something better. Usually it turns out they're comparing it to some fictional, socialist utopia in their head.

Yes the degree to which these technologies are ultimately good or bad for our souls is up for debate. There's a good conversation to be had there. But instead of that debate I'd prefer to challenge everyone here to do without their most used piece of technology for a week. For many it will be their smartphone or laptop. For others a car. Forget that actually...just try it for a day:) Then come back and let me know how that goes

[Delight]

I am absolutely thrilled that I was born in 1955 and had my youth in the time I did , where I did, with all my experiences and EVERY aspect of my journey. I do feel like I am a most blessed person. I love technology like automobiles, washing machines and dryers, THE INTERNET and my lap top. My favorite is hot water and my bath tub where I can soak...that is heaven.

I love the fact that I have experienced food from everywhere and I can even vicariously experience life all over through communication.

Everyone could have the conveniences, the freedom, the opportunities because there is only artificially created scarcity. We could figure out work arounds for every unintended negative form from our tech because its already been done and bought up and squelched. We could clean up the messes and recycle the giant mountain of plastics in the ocean and everywhere and have a great time doing it but people are funneled into selected tracks and MORTGAGED and chained by debts.

I am NOT the 1% because that title is for the ones who have CEMENTED the structures and systems to suit their agenda and they are a miserable and pathetic lot who are deadened inside. I am NOT the (what number)% MINIONS who support that agenda either consciously or unconsciously. Because of hate, greed, envy and enjoyment when one FEELS BETTER than another, Minions go along to get along and have no INTENTION of changing themselves so the 1% are stopped cold. They are just fine, thanks.

In the 70's I was convinced we had completely turned the corner so the world would keep the best of everything and release the issues blocking the best. I am in the (what number)% who has some reason to keep working on myself so I can become wise to the 1% and STOP the horrors if at all possible. I am INTENDING to some how ameliorate the effects the minions. Yes, you MINIONS wherever you are. I SEE YOU, WHO DESPISE ORGANIC LIFE OR ARE JEALOUS< VENGEFUL< HATEFUL. You are the ones, who if you cannot have what you want, are angry others do.

The 1% deliberately mind controled the 99% (or tried anyway), and PLANNED TO stymy all NEW and innovative solutions, poison the earth, threaten and murder to keep people FEARFUL. They LOVE the problems and destroy the best. Planned obsolescence is evil as is inversion.

I am NOT the 1% NO NO NO. I am the (unknown number)% who want to live and have 7 generations live and all the while LEARN and evolve. I will release all that blocks this intention, even if it is hot water and electricity and the internet.

[Mike]

Brief sidenote: i read a book not too long ago called "the way home", by Mark Boyle. A great book. (thanks Constance!)

In it, Boyle documents his new life free of almost all modern amenities and technologies. Even writing the book and getting it published presented a major problem because he no longer had an email address, computer, and so on.

In one part he writes about the novelty of actually writing things out longhand...how awkward it was to start but how ultimately rewarding it came to be eventually. So I tried it out myself...

And I can't write longhand for sh!t! I mean, I can barely produce something legible. It took great concentration to do even that. I felt awkward, uncoordinated, and embarrassed. If I were to ever write anything substantial, longhand, I'd have to completely retrain myself. Remarkable

[I am B]

That is really relative. How free you are in comparison, how much do you matter as an individual. Are we overall happier?

Tech is a great blessing, but also a curse.


Yes absolutely. It's relative. Which is why when someone says my country, for example, is a racist, ableist, patriarchal, sexist, crony capitalist disaster, I always say: oh really? A disaster compared to what exactly?? Show me something better. Usually it turns out they're comparing it to some fictional, socialist utopia in their head.

Yes the degree to which these technologies are ultimately good or bad for our souls is up for debate. There's a good conversation to be had there. But instead of that debate I'd prefer to challenge everyone here to do without their most used piece of technology for a week. For many it will be their smartphone or laptop. For others a car. Forget that actually...just try it for a day:) Then come back and let me know how that goes

I completely agree with that. Imho, it is the most important to learn to do without tech, and learn the creational process behind it (that often went through many generations) in order not to lose your soul over it.

Once the most basic concepts are grasped and minimaly experienced, from the creation and flow of electricity, to transducers, chipsets, code, etc, one can realise what is the true power of it, while making a responsible use.

And that could be applied to everything, from top tier computer-cars to the fork we use for lunch. (who here would be able to harvest and refine iron, and then turn it into a simple spoon?)

[Mike]

Pam you leave my hair helmet out of this!:bigsmile:

And Paula, you are right of course about the tv. But it's so big and shiny and clear....you should see how nice it looks mounted on my wall:)

Thing is, after watching endless hours of 10 minute YouTube clips I have the attention span of an adhd addled toddler. It takes me ages to read a book now. I fall asleep after 2 pages.

I guess I'm making an argument against the technology now lol. I blame Bill and Gemma for that:)

[Bill Ryan]

Brief sidenote: i read a book not too long ago called "the way home", by Mark Boyle. A great book. (thanks Constance!)

In it, Boyle documents his new life free of almost all modern amenities and technologies. Even writing the book and getting it published presented a major problem because he no longer had an email address, computer, and so on.Here ya go: :thumbsup:


Mark Boyle — The Way Home
https://avalonlibrary.net/ebooks/Mark%20Boyle%20-%20The%20Way%20Home%20-%20Tales%20from%20a%20Life%20Without%20Technology.pdf (https://avalonlibrary.net/ebooks/Mark%20Boyle%20-%20The%20Way%20Home%20-%20Tales%20from%20a%20Life%20Without%20Technology.pdf)


https://blackwells.co.uk/jacket/l/9781786077271.jpg

[Gemma13]

Forget that actually...just try it for a day:) Then come back and let me know how that goes

Hah nice try Amigo, I think ~ where's that pic of you sucking a red straw with a cheeky grin; if I remember correctly.

Anyway been there done that.  Absolutely love it.  That was bait wasn't it?  Are you seriously saying you've never unplugged just for one day?

But hey I'm actually all in for both technology and nature ~ harmoniously.

Couldn't think of anything worse than handwriting everything again.  Surely we can intelligently work out how to have both . . . until the day we replug back into our own "network" . . . then heck, we'll be creating books just by thinking about 'em.

Imagination is on overdrive just thinking about all the new languages we will learn, to accomodate that kind of breakthrough 'cosmic' technology, . . . or perhaps, languages we will remember, as we brush off the cobwebs to browse through the universe, instead of Facebook.

[Mike]

Forget that actually...just try it for a day:) Then come back and let me know how that goes

Hah nice try Amigo, I think ~ where's that pic of you sucking a red straw with a cheeky grin; if I remember correctly.

Anyway been there done that.  Absolutely love it.  That was bait wasn't it?  Are you seriously saying you've never unplugged just for one day?

But hey I'm actually all in for both technology and nature ~ harmoniously.

Couldn't think of anything worse than handwriting everything again.  Surely we can intelligently work out how to have both . . . until the day we replug back into our own "network" . . . then heck, we'll be creating books just by thinking about 'em.

Imagination is on overdrive just thinking about all the new languages we will learn, to accomodate that kind of breakthrough 'cosmic' technology, . . . or perhaps, languages we will remember, as we brush off the cobwebs to browse through the universe, instead of Facebook.


Yeah it was bait!:) Guilty as charged. The whole thread is bait really. I could argue for both sides but I thought it might be a little more thought provoking if I supported the one. I did it because I feel we're a little too quick to judge the 1% (sacrilegious I know!), too quick to judge the country (in my case the USA), too quick to judge capitalism (quite an imperfect system but quite a wonderful one as well), and too quick to judge and not fully appreciate innovation.

P.s. thanks Bill for directing people to the book

[Ernie Nemeth]

Funny writing comes up. Last week I caught myself writing a new entry for one of my threads. Before I realized it I had written 13 pages. At some point I'll have to retype it into the computer.

And if you really wanted me to be grateful for this technology of ours, it would be far easier if there was a voice interface for our computers. Which I don't see any technical reason why it isn't already done. Talking, which humans take as second nature, to our computers would revolutionize our society. There would be no need for apps, we'd talk our computers through what we want. No swiping, editing, punching buttons, turning pages and setting settings - all the while the only talking done is to curse the crappy computer and the un-ituitive app...

[Bill Ryan]

An interesting thread: (this is entirely plausible in my view :thumbsup:)


Military source: some humans are being voluntarily relocated to a Pandora-like planet round Alpha Centauri
(https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?68493-Military-source-some-humans-are-being-voluntarily-relocated-to-a-Pandora-like-planet-round-Alpha-Centauri):happy dog:

[Mike]

Funny writing comes up. Last week I caught myself writing a new entry for one of my threads. Before I realized it I had written 13 pages. At some point I'll have to retype it into the computer.

And if you really wanted me to be grateful for this technology of ours, it would be far easier if there was a voice interface for our computers. Which I don't see any technical reason why it isn't already done. Talking, which humans take as second nature, to our computers would revolutionize our society. There would be no need for apps, we'd talk our computers through what we want. No swiping, editing, punching buttons, turning pages and setting settings - all the while the only talking done is to curse the crappy computer and the un-ituitive app...


Ernie that's a very interesting point. There is that Alexa thing but communication is kind of limited. You can do that with texts too. I use the voice thing when I'm driving and the phone translates. But it is a little strange that it isn't kind of ubiquitous by now. I suspect it will be in the not too distant future

As far as the writing tho, I would personally not use voice interface. My inner dialogue is much calmer and coherent than my speech. My voice tends to slow me down and confuse me. Plus you'd have to go back and delete all the "uhs", "ums" "ers" and all the rest of it:)

[Ernie Nemeth]

'Computer, delete all 'ums' and 'ers' and 'uhs' from previous dictation'.

[Wind]

Mike, you really like Jordan Peterson, now don't you? :)

I think being grateful is extremely important, at times I wonder if I am being grateful enough for all the good things in my life despite all the crap I've been through, but I try to be and when I catch myself complaining I try to clear my thoughts. Suffering is relative and everyone has it, as it's a basic function of life. We have more "stuff" now and great technology, hell... I do love technology, but even that is just one thing. Smartphones are amazing too just like the internet is, but do we use the phones or do they use us (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4Ee_yaNfmQ)? Many of us have the "privilege" of not living in desperate conditions, that's true. Should we settle for what we are presented at the moment though?

No, I don't think so. By that I don't mean we should have some narcissistic entitlement, but we can still demand way more from our so called leaders, because at the moment we have just kinda settled for a certain kind of Huxleyian society (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World#Plot) in which people are lulled into passive submission and that is now mixed with Orwellian dystopia, I think it's highly disturbing (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?69588-Surfing-with-Wind&p=1443247&viewfull=1#post1443247). If this is the best that humanity can do then I'm not very impressed. You can be grateful and at the same time want a better world and a much better system, it's progress. :idea:

itgsdV3efqA
uu1PtAF3m9g

[Orph]

There was a company that just recently had a brand new voice-to-computer interface to write text via the spoken word. It was all ready to be released. But some idiot inside the company decided to give it a test run using Joe Biden as the speaker. .... Messed up the system so bad it will probably be another 4 or 5 years before they can get it straightened out.

:ROFL:

[RunningDeer]

Forget that actually...just try it for a day:) Then come back and let me know how that goes
Hah nice try Amigo, I think ~ where's that pic of you sucking a red straw with a cheeky grin; if I remember correctly.
http://paula.avalonlibrary.net/smilies/write.gif
Mike, I assumed it was okay to add here because it's elsewhere on the forum. Let me know if you want it blurred or removed.


https://i.imgur.com/6Mhc2xv.jpg

[Gemma13]

There was a company that just recently had a brand new voice-to-computer interface to write text via the spoken word. It was all ready to be released. But some idiot inside the company decided to give it a test run using Joe Biden as the speaker. .... Messed up the system so bad it will probably be another 4 or 5 years before they can get it straightened out.

:ROFL:

So good. So, so good. That chuckle went straight to the gut and is percolating nicely. Thank you.

¤=[Post Update]=¤





Forget that actually...just try it for a day:) Then come back and let me know how that goes
Hah nice try Amigo, I think ~ where's that pic of you sucking a red straw with a cheeky grin; if I remember correctly.
http://paula.avalonlibrary.net/smilies/write.gif
Mike, I assumed it was okay to add here because it's elsewhere on the forum. Let me know if you want it blurred or removed.


https://i.imgur.com/6Mhc2xv.jpg

Yep that's the one. :happythumbsup: Thanks Paula. You are such a treasure :flower:

[Mike]

Wind, I am an unabashed Peterson fanboy, and I make no bones about it:) But I wasn't thinking about him so much when I started the thread - I was thinking of Viktor Frankl. And I was thinking of a friend who recently annoyed me.

It's perfectly reasonable to want more and better from our government and society. I agree that there's some balance be struck between appreciation for what we have and desiring improvement. Absolutely. But the people that grate on me are the ones incessantly complaining, the ones that don't know about anything that happened more than 5 mins ago, the ones who have no historical context, the ones who offer nothing but empty grievances, the ones who see "oppression" in everything, the ones who ridicule their predecessors and lack any sort of appreciation for them, the ones who offer nothing and expect everything, and so on.

Thanks for the vids. I'll watch them on my break.

[Mike]

Forget that actually...just try it for a day:) Then come back and let me know how that goes
Hah nice try Amigo, I think ~ where's that pic of you sucking a red straw with a cheeky grin; if I remember correctly.
http://paula.avalonlibrary.net/smilies/write.gif
Mike, I assumed it was okay to add here because it's elsewhere on the forum. Let me know if you want it blurred or removed.


https://i.imgur.com/6Mhc2xv.jpg


I'm not seeing anything because I'm at work and they firewall most pics and videos. I think Gemma was talking about an old avatar of mine? One at a dark pub with my buddy Jay? It's okay to include it here, but in the interest of transparency it's an older picture. I'm much fitter, tanner, and full of spirit there than I am now. This is obvious if you saw a recent pic I used as an avatar (very briefly) to demonstrate to Dennis the hair regrowth laser helmet I wasted $1000 on. Considerably chubbier, paler, grizzlier, and balder these days..sad to say

[Dennis Leahy]

What? You are Satan, and I'm the 1%? We are in bizarro world! hahaha

[Bluegreen]

For many it will be their smartphone or laptop. For others a car. Forget that actually...just try it for a day:)

I don't own a smartphone
I don't own a cellphone
I don't own a laptop
I don't own a car
My TV hasn't worked for over a year
Maybe I'll get a new TV
Or maybe not


Then come back and let me know how that goes

So far so good
But sometimes I have to borrow a cellphone from people like Bill Ryan

:)

[Mike]

What? You are Satan, and I'm the 1%? We are in bizarro world! hahaha


I swear ..as I was just responding to Paula, I was thinking to myself, it's just a matter of time before Dennis arrives and kicks my ass on my own thread and forces me into an embarrassing exile:bigsmile:

But I'm ready for you! ( no I'm not)

Thanks for not doing that.

[Mike]

For many it will be their smartphone or laptop. For others a car. Forget that actually...just try it for a day:)

I don't own a smartphone
I don't own a cellphone
I don't own a laptop
I don't own a car
My TV hasn't worked for over a year
Maybe I'll get a new TV
Or maybe not


Then come back and let me know how that goes

So far so good
But sometimes I have to borrow a cellphone from people like Bill Ryan

:)



I admire you sir! I'm impressed by that. I really am.

But you likely have a landline phone?

You likely travel by bus or uber?

You likely have a desktop computer?

Yes? No?:wink:

[Matthew]

These magical stones and carriages, and self posting letters that arrive in the twinkling of an eye. The rivers of stone, the electronic infrastructure and its friend - the invisible layers. Magic items can be cursed though. Possibly a mis-label, because a fool with a magic item might look like a cursed item. But forget that, because we could play this both ways; some cursed magic items drain your sole. They hurt you but you use them over anything else. Some try to dominate your consciousness. You always know where your cursed magic items are. I certainly do

[Bluegreen]

Uber? What's that?

:rolleyes:

[onawah]

That was the photo that got Borden so jealous and combative back in the Through the Looking Glass Group days. :lol:
The best year of my life was spent on a mountain in Virginia, living in a commune with no running water, using coal stoves for heat.
We didn't have electricity at first, but we did get that eventually, and used sparingly.
We shared one Jeep to get up and down a very steep gravel road to get into town for supplies.
Overall, living in touch with Nature made us much healthier and happier people.

I think Nature has her own way of addressing so much damage to Earth, with cycles that basically force a return to a cleaner, more balanced ecosystem, whether humankind likes it or not...

I wonder if the elite haven't been programmed by what Clif High calls "the Bug" (ETs--specifically Mantids) to think that they MUST develop interstellar travel, and that's why they have pushed the technology agenda so hard for so long.






Forget that actually...just try it for a day:) Then come back and let me know how that goes
Hah nice try Amigo, I think ~ where's that pic of you sucking a red straw with a cheeky grin; if I remember correctly.
http://paula.avalonlibrary.net/smilies/write.gif
Mike, I assumed it was okay to add here because it's elsewhere on the forum. Let me know if you want it blurred or removed.


https://i.imgur.com/6Mhc2xv.jpg

[Denise/Dizi]

Historically speaking, it's true.

The only appropriate attitude most of us should have is gratitude. We stand on the shoulders of giants, the giants that have provided all these wonderful things we have and enjoy...and all so many of us do is piss and moan about this or that. I'm just as guilty. I think one of our greatest crisis' involves a profound lack of perspective and gratitude.

Mike this post is probably the most well written, picture of humility, and honesty I have seen in quite some time... I applaud you for writing it... We do live in a world that has been created by those before us, who handed down wonderful conveniences to make our lives much easier.

Sadly, our work load has increased as well, so those modern amenities really do not seem so 'special' these days. strange how that happens. I could imagine being a house wife in the 50's, not needing to work as the spouse made enough to support the family, allowing the wife to stay home to raise the kids, while having all of these wonderful things appear... while we have those luxuries now, we are also now expected to work right alongside the men, usually for less, for the same amount of hours, or more... and still expected to be the domestic ones who maintain the home on top of that...

I think this is why more men are the family chefs these days, because they tend to destroy laundry, and fold towels poorly hahaha... but one person cannot do it all, unless everyone pitches in...

But I do agree, we are the benefactors of some incredible talent. Financially however, very few of us are in that 1%, or those that hold all the wealth, but we certainly are not without much of anything, should we need it. Sadly mankind FAILS in that regard in my opinion, when we still have slavery, human trafficking, and people who can't get access to good clean drinking water, and people go hungry, dying of simple conditions that have already been resolved....

I hope some day, before I die, we figure THAT out and fix it, otherwise, I fear I may go to my grave feeling that humanity are a selfish species, and spoiled and unworthy of the true gifts they have to share, but have been convinced they shouldn't unless someone "Pays for it".

[Dennis Leahy]

Mike, seems more like the point you're making is that we ought to be grateful to the 1%, the theoretical progenitors of the spoils of technology that we enjoy. Or maybe a better title to support your position could be, "You are all complicit with the 1%." But I don't think you mean we are all multi-billionaires, or have that level of control over the national and international agenda that the top financial 1% actually do. You know about the paper called The Princeton Report* where they show that US citizens have ZERO input in US domestic and US foreign policy, so you certainly can't be blaming us all (and yourself, admirably) for the outcome/effects of policy we cannot affect. And, it doesn't sound like we are being asked to share in the credit of the workers that the 1% hired to create these products or services that we enjoy. I think we should be grateful to those workers. I think you make an excellent point about being grateful, but do you want me to be grateful to the engineers and artists and wizards that actually created the products/industries/arts or does that have to include "The 1%" billionaire heads of the corporations where the engineers and artists and wizards happen to work?

[Mike]

Mike, seems more like the point you're making is that we ought to be grateful to the 1%, the theoretical progenitors of the spoils of technology that we enjoy. Or maybe a better title to support your position could be, "You are all complicit with the 1%." But I don't think you mean we are all multi-billionaires, or have that level of control over the national and international agenda that the top financial 1% actually do. You know about the paper called The Princeton Report* where they show that US citizens have ZERO input in US domestic and US foreign policy, so you certainly can't be blaming us all (and yourself, admirably) for the outcome/effects of policy we cannot affect. And, it doesn't sound like we are being asked to share in the credit of the workers that the 1% hired to create these products or services that we enjoy. I think we should be grateful to those workers. I think you make an excellent point about being grateful, but do you want me to be grateful to the engineers and artists and wizards that actually created the products/industries/arts or does that have to include "The 1%" billionaire heads of the corporations where the engineers and artists and wizards happen to work?


Basically what I'm saying is, compared to our not too distant past, we are the 1%. Within the context of our past (say, 150 years ago and all that came before that) we - the regular people - are the lucky one's at the top of the pyramid

The gap between the life that most of us enjoy now vs then is analogous to the gap between the current 1% and regular folks like us. Historically speaking we are the 1%.

So while we all know something seems very wrong with the current 1% possessing nearly all the wealth, we - the average folks - still live lives of unspeakable luxury compared to our not too distant past. Things ain't too bad at all is what i'm saying, and we should be grateful for that

[Mike]

Historically speaking, it's true.

Life as a human being on planet earth has never been easier. It's easier by a massive margin. It's so much easier now than, say, 150 years ago that you almost can't even imagine how much easier it is. It's unfathomably easier

Not too long ago I was out to eat with my family when my mother suggested a toast to our endurance and fortitude in managing the current "pandemic". This as we ate our steaks and sucked down our beers in the air conditioned dining area of a rather fancy restaurant. How brave of us!:)

After that dinner I got into my car, a miraculous machine that can get me virtually anywhere I want to go with almost zero physical effort. I drove on smooth streets that had been laid for my convenience. I listened to some wonderful music (on a device called a radio) as I drove along and when it got a bit hot I turned on the air conditioner.

While driving along a friend who lived on the other side of the country called me on a miraculous device called a smart phone. And since I was in an unfamiliar town I needed instructions, so I pulled them up on google maps..and a robotic but pleasant sounding woman told me precisely how to get to the nearest grocery store. All this being possible because of the internet, of course..a cyber world of near endless information and possibilities right at our fingertips.

I stopped at a grocery store and bought food that bad been conveniently gathered and put in one location for my benefit. Pretty much any food you could possibly imagine was there. And I didn't have to hunt, fish, or grow it myself. It was on a shelf. I just had to pay for it.

When I got home to my air conditioned apartment I emptied my groceries into a miracle of a thing called a refrigerator, which keeps all my food fresh and my drinks cold. And then I retired to my room to watch tv on an enormous screen nearly half the size of my wall. All this possible due to a little thing called electricity.

All these things would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. All of them would have represented ground breaking miracles. Today we are blessed with this stuff. And I make a very modest living and live a very modest life! But even a guy like me, who basically lives from week to week, can have all these things if desired.

If you have a car, you are the 1%, historically speaking. If you have air conditioning, you are the 1%. Indoor plumbing, a refrigerator, a tv, hot and cold water, a washer/dryer set, a smartphone, a comfortable bed to sleep in...if you have these things you are the 1%. So stop whining.

The only appropriate attitude most of us should have is gratitude. We stand on the shoulders of giants, the giants that have provided all these wonderful things we have and enjoy...and all so many of us do is piss and moan about this or that. I'm just as guilty. I think one of our greatest crisis' involves a profound lack of perspective and gratitude.

Absolutely spot on Mike, you have a way with words, straight to the point, concise and potent - we are indeed incredibly fortunate, even compared with the lifestyle of my grandparents-admittedly I am a bit of an old fart, born in 1958 so my granddads/mothers were born at the end of the 1800's, their lives were tough and they were poor hard working decent people, they had nowhere near the level of affluence I enjoy, and of course the technology we all take so much for granted would be like magic to them, literally magic.
It is rather like that old insight about wealthy families: one generation works incredibly hard to build wealth and position, the following generation fritters the family fortune away and produces decadent, weak offspring; not in every case, but very often, we are like that spoiled, decadent generation which has zero appreciation of what we have, we have become politically unaware, indifferent, we have become obsessed with ridiculous topics and concerns which have no intrinsic value or meaning. Perhaps we deserve a catastrophe, a fall from grace, to teach us all once again the true meaning of freedom, and struggle.


Thanks for the kind words Mike.

I think we're experiencing that catastrophe or fall from grace, and it feels karmically appropriate. And I have to say, all those things you listed there: decadent, weak, spoiled...that was me for most of my life. I'm only emerging from it now.

I think alot about my Dad now (and my Mom , but a little more about my Dad) and I think, bloody hell he sacrificed alot for me and my family. I didn't start really appreciating all my Dad had done for me till I was about 30. Which is disgraceful really. In my smug arrogance I regarded the path he took (conservative, disciplined, hard working, practical) as boring and lame. But what he did for us was heroic! He had all sorts of plans to do this and that with his life but when he began having children (while still in high school) he made the remarkably mature decision to finish school, go to college, and become an accountant to support the family.

Me, the smug prick who for the longest time didn't think much of that path..well I had a rich aunt who set up a trust fund for me, and I still managed to f#ck everything up...dropping out of school after school and sitting on my ass getting drunk etc, yet imagining myself so clever all the while:facepalm:

I call my Dad all the time now just to hear his voice. I can't believe how lucky i am to have a Dad like him. He's so much better than me in every single way.

[pueblo]

Hard times create strong people, strong people create good times, good times create weak people, weak people create hard times......

[onawah]

Not to mention the difference between Americans who are living at what is euphemistically called "poverty level" in the US, compared to third world countries (and the genuinely poor and homeless here in the US).
I am one of the former, and have been all my life, but I've always had access to a roof over my head, enough food to eat, clothes to wear, health care, education-- in short, all the basic necessities of life.
I agree with you Mike, and I have to remind myself to be grateful every day--it's too easy to forget.
And I commend you for your honesty and sincere regrets. :heart:
I wish I could thank my (deceased) parents now for at least keeping me alive until I was able to fend for myself, because they really had to struggle to do it.
But I am reminding myself every day now too, that the kind of depredation of the ecosystem that has led to such ease cannot go on much longer, and we will all be paying the consequences for it in the long run.
So in that sense, we are all guilty too, not just the 1%, though they have led the way.
What we have relinquished in our pursuit of leisure and luxury is going to cost us dear in the long run.
Gaia is forgiving, but only up to a point...:sad:

[Gemma13]

Yep, 100%. That type of gratitude should be daily. Heck we're all in this together. Can't thank enough the kindness, compassion, love and support given to oneself or witnessing it given to others :highfive:

[RunningDeer]

I'm not seeing anything because I'm at work and they firewall most pics and videos. I think Gemma was talking about an old avatar of mine? One at a dark pub with my buddy Jay? It's okay to include it here, but in the interest of transparency it's an older picture. I'm much fitter, tanner, and full of spirit there than I am now. This is obvious if you saw a recent pic I used as an avatar (very briefly) to demonstrate to Dennis the hair regrowth laser helmet I wasted $1000 on. Considerably chubbier, paler, grizzlier, and balder these days..sad to say
Mike, I wouldn't say it's a waste. You've got $1,000 worth of facial hair.http://paula.avalonlibrary.net/smilies/monster-smile2.gif

For the folks that missed Mike's magical mystery device...


http://paula.avalonlibrary.net/smilies/monster-dance.gif
https://i.imgur.com/TsxJBdW.jpg

[Mike]

Paula the hair is growing in all the wrong places now. My right ear has been itching for a week, and when I finally inspected it today I noticed a hair emerging from my inner ear that was easily over an inch long. It was gross. It was the inky black ear hair from hell. Plucking it was almost euphoric. I marveled at the thing for a good minute before throwing it in the trash. I felt I owed it that much. It was almost impressive in a way.

[Mike]

Not to mention the difference between Americans who are living at what is euphemistically called "poverty level" in the US, compared to third world countries (and the genuinely poor and homeless here in the US).
I am one of the former, and have been all my life, but I've always had access to a roof over my head, enough food to eat, clothes to wear, health care, education-- in short, all the basic necessities of life.
I agree with you Mike, and I have to remind myself to be grateful every day--it's too easy to forget.
And I commend you for your honesty and sincere regrets. :heart:
I wish I could thank my (deceased) parents now for at least keeping me alive until I was able to fend for myself, because they really had to struggle to do it.
But I am reminding myself every day now too, that the kind of depredation of the ecosystem that has led to such ease cannot go on much longer, and we will all be paying the consequences for it in the long run.
So in that sense, we are all guilty too, not just the 1%, though they have led the way.
What we have relinquished in our pursuit of leisure and luxury is going to cost us dear in the long run.
Gaia is forgiving, but only up to a point...:sad:


I listened to some video recently that suggested we aren't even close to using up all our resources, that we could go on like this for quite a long time actually. It came on as I was busy with something, so I was only half listening. Damn i wish i could remember who it was. If i remember I'll post it here.

I allowed myself to believe the guy. It just felt too good not to. The guy was some sort of scientist, for what it's worth. I'll try to find it

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

I certainly know how you feel about the hair Mike, but that head gear - it's like something Doc Brown invented, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing it! (but do let me know if it works).

Losing one's hair is horrendous. Few get that until it happens to them. I'm lucky enough to have a good mat of hair front, sides, and back, but on the crown...erk. For several years that bald patch has grown, it's like a crop circle now and there's nothing I can do about it.

We men care about our hair every bit as you ladies. Yes, there is a thing called 'male privilege' - most certainly we have several, but all things are relative - female privilege exists too, one being is not losing your hair! Imagine if that happened though, you as a woman started losing your hair at 30+, or even earlier (i knew a guy that went severely bald mid 20s) ask yourself, I dare you - how would you feel?? So often are we, the follically challenged, the butt of jokes. I'm telling ya, we're oppressed! But of course, we're men, so nobody cares.

[wondering]

Mike, About that picture..Christmas is coming up and a personalized card with that picture would be such a gift...yes, a little expensive, but so worth it to the lucky receivers. Just a thought. 😊 Diane

[Gemma13]

I certainly know how you feel about the hair Mike, but that head gear - it's like something Doc Brown invented, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing it! (but do let me know if it works).

Losing one's hair is horrendous. Few get that until it happens to them. I'm lucky enough to have a good mat of hair front, sides, and back, but on the crown...erk. For several years that bald patch has grown, it's like a crop circle now and there's nothing I can do about it.

We men care about our hair every bit as you ladies. Yes, there is a thing called 'male privilege' - most certainly we have several, but all things are relative - female privilege exists too, one being is not losing your hair! Imagine if that happened though, you as a woman started losing your hair at 30+, or even earlier (i knew a guy that went severely bald mid 20s) ask yourself, I dare you - how would you feel?? So often are we, the follically challenged, the butt of jokes. I'm telling ya, we're oppressed! But of course, we're men, so nobody cares.

That is so sad to hear.  Naturally heard bald guys copping the digs but never thought it cut that deep.  I'm one of those females that love bald heads, so I've never thought about how bad it is for men, till now. 

My Dad went bald very young too, after a crop of thick and curly, so I guess there was that filter for me to.  It never bothered him as Mum and Dad were one of those rare couples that at a young age got the "real, soul mate, love at first sight experience" that sells movies.  They were like teenagers in love right up to his passing at 83.  I could buy him the comical bald birthday cards and we'd all get a belly laugh out of 'em.

I know it's a small consolation for ya all, and I'm sorry for that, but there are ladies out there that are admiring your shiny bits and hoping they get bigger.  They're just not dropping a wolf whistle when you walk by. :whistle:

[onawah]

I don't mean to be a killjoy (forewarned is better than blindsided), but unfortunately, it's not really remaining resources which are the issue, but rectifying the huge damage that has been done, the toxins in the air, water, food, the stuff that takes so long to break down--nuclear waste, chemicals, plastics, etc. the million drill sites in the earth's crust which are causing earthquakes and volcanic activity, the dying off of life in the oceans, the danger of die off of the bees and birds and other pollinators. The list goes on and on.
But mostly it's the natural cycles, such as the magnetic pole reversal that are just beginning which will cause more and more destruction through earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, hurricanes, etc.
All that is causing a very uncertain future for all of humanity.
If we had a wise, compassionate leadership that everyone would willingly follow, some of that could be dealt with successfully, but of course, that's not the case.
Not yet, at least.

But on a lighter note, I'd say that these days Mike could pass for a younger, handsomer brother of Alex Jones, and I can just picture him using that to his advantage by pranking some marks in a bar, pretending to be that non-existent person and regaling them with B.S. Infowars stories with his best impersonation of Alex in exchange for free drinks.
( I ran that by him first in a PM to see if it offended him, and it didn't, though his Satanic persona might take umbrage at such a comparison.) :lol:



I listened to some video recently that suggested we aren't even close to using up all our resources, that we could go on like this for quite a long time actually. It came on as I was busy with something, so I was only half listening. Damn i wish i could remember who it was. If i remember I'll post it here.

[AutumnW]

Fascinating video about extreme poverty in Victorian England. So sad. We are comparatively extremely lucky. But we have still lost ground. It's one thing to live paycheck to paycheck if you don't have kids, but the real problems begin with the birth of a child, financially speaking.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VztGL8VWDA