The dark side did not come from birth control as such but from cultural and economical realities that value sons more than daughters. Altogether different fish.
It is perhaps an interesting food for though that the only state in India where the population is stabilized and the literacy is 99% has been run by the local communist party since the independence from the British.
It is also interesting to note that the only places on Earth where the population will drop in the next 50 years, according to this http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pdjmk are the former communist countries (and that state in India). I am still puzzled by this. What is the cause? We did not have so pronounced baby boom. I suspect because we were poor BUT educated instead of poor and uneducated. And being predominantly non-believers also played a role IMO.
Without the one child policy there would be almost half billion more Chinese today. I think the whole country should get a medal and a big "thank you" from the rest of us.
This is utter BS. I am not going even to try to explain. Mod me troll I don't care. It is utter, utter, utter, utter BS! I am the only one that noticed this outrageous ignorance and manipulation being posted on/. ?
I kindly recommend you to start here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pdjmk and continue on your own.
And that is why business, political and religious leaders are tearing their vocal cords to scream "Make more babies, we don't have pension funds (we spend them on wars and shit), we don't have enough new consumers to sustain the pyramid scheme which is our economy (we like pyramids because we are on top), our fate is dying (the Muslims are breeding like rabbits) and so on...
I would execute such people if I had the power, for crimes against the ecosystem and Homo Sapience, which should carry the death sentence.
Why Europe still gets migrants? Because of the Ponsi scheme that our economy is. Stop the pyramid, close the borders for migrants and deal with all local issues. Then if some countries still don't get it , keep on multiplying and threaten your sustainable existence, go to war and kill them all!
At the end it will come down to this, mark my words!
What morals? Did you know that it has been proven that birds regulate their population simply by estimating the density of the flock and deciding how many eggs to lay this season. Birds, for goodness sake!!! They made females listen to recordings of dense flocks and they laid less eggs! And we call ourselves "Homo Sapience". The arrogance! There are no morals - just a cold blooded calculation how to best survive and propagate your genes. Period. Science now show us unambiguously what the results of our actions will be and we still do not care shit about it.
I am re-reading "The selfish gene" and there is nothing more to be said. Quote (not verbatim) - "Birth control is unnatural. But so is welfare state, medicine and so on. If you accept the one you MUST accept the other."
So there you have it in a nutshell. Either we go to war or we collectively decide to lower our numbers through birth control.
Illustration of extreme stupidity: The latest hype - meat production is No1 CO2 producer. All must become vegetarians!!! Ohh yhea, you mean the bodies which evolved to eat cooked food, rich on fats should go back eating like a gorilla?!?! They actually did the experiment - feeding people with ape food and you simply starve even if you eat non-stop. Not to mention that your joint between the lower jaw and the skull will simply disappear due to the constant hard chewing. OK, you can boil it - good but still no good enough for us poor souls whose parents have eaten meet for a very long time and our size, energy reserves and above all - brainpower will go down if we switch to completely vegan diet. But most importantly of all , it will only "solve" the problem for a few more decades until the population doubles again (the last doubling happened in 37 years!! In my lifetime I will see 4 times increase of the population if present trends continue). Then even carrots will be a scarce commodity. End of discussion.
And yhea, it is very pity if for all our "culture" and "achievements" at the end we sort it out in the good old fashioned way - kill the rest, so you can survive! Homo Sapience indeed!
Aren't those people cooking in restaurants educated very well on the chemistry of food? I think they are. I remember studying once with a friend from such school and they had very serious curriculum in chemistry and biochemistry. I would trust them with the salt in my food over politicians and lobbyists any day.
Manufacturers of processed food, however, need to be looked at very carefully and unbiasedly. The whole "fat nation" thingy in the west stinks like hell of biochemistry pushed to the limits. Recently I got simple bread making machine and applied very common recipe. In the beginning I thought the taste was rather bland. The salt is actually just alright according to science. Later experiments confirmed that the bread in the supermarket is too salty. I cannot imagine buying bread from the shop now even if my choice is quite limited.
And so on...the examples are plentiful. I don't want to be drugged by my food! No, I am lying. I want to be drugged by my food but I will choose with what, when and how and I want easy access to real raw ingredients and spices. The rest I leave to the sublime art of culinary which, according to a recent documentary I saw, might have played far more significant role in the evolution of man than expected.Thank you!
"Did you live in the Soviet Union? Ever lived in a place like that?"
I did. Up to 16 years old, when the system changed. Brin is talking BS. Just for once, please, actually listen to us, the people with experience and not to the marketing speech.
I consider myself very lucky - as a child and a teen I was exposed only to communist BS which is self defeating and thus I emerged as a clear mind. Do you know what it is to grow up without consumerism, without ever seeing advertisement? Without religion, without any brainwashing but the official one which,as I said, was self defeating in the face of reality. True, it would be more challenging to work and raise family in a sense that you could not be very outspoken against the regime and you had to tolerate a certain amount of BS like manifestations and party gatherings at work.
There is no way in hell that 6 year old would have any sensible impression about the system. Brin just extrapolates what he learned later.
The good ol USA and the good ol USSR are the two sides of the same coin. Sick imperialistic/chauvinistic countries. The methods are different but the result is the same. Oh yhea, the US is much better in propaganda. Most of my fellows westerners are laughably ignorant of the sorry state of their democracies and still trust people in power! This remains to this day the biggest mystery of my life. I put it down to the fact that the societies are rich and thus the sheep are fat and happy. But it cannot be only this?!!?!?
"The idea that corporations should increase their profit is fine. The idea that they have no moral obligations is not fine."
But the idea that they will stick to their moral obligations if enough money is offered is downright stupid! I can't believe that sensible people believe this BS against evidence from all of history.
I had the same dilemma recently and I wanted the same as you – Oblivion. I did not want expensive stuff.
First I learned that i3 CPU goes well with H55 chip set for Hi-def video. Both components have integrated logic for video and audio streaming and decoding. I also learned that not every software player out there would use those integrated logics.
Second, Oblivion is already an old game, but it is very hungry on VRAM. Thus I got ATI 5770 (medium price range) with 1GB VRAM
HDD, case and power supply I already had (750GB Samsung, 450W Corsair)
Memory – 2x2 GB OCZ – that was pricey (and Oblivion would use only 2 gigs anyway, AFIK). I don’t even know the exact model of the memory, I just asked for the best memory in the shop.
OS – Win 7 Home 64bit
However (in case you are new to game) the most crucial thing to do is install a myriad of mods that improve the game beyond belief. I just red the article below and then went and selected one mod per category based on feedback and forum discussions.
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Must_Have_Mods
Sure, there were some conflicts between the mods but he Mod manager can identify and report them so you can select a set of mods that will work. The game now is prettier (QTP3 mod), faster!!!, much better leveling system (Francesco's mod), much better UI (DarkN mod), more hot keys and customization (Expanded Hot keys and Spell Delete mod), more music, better ambient sounds and much better magic system (Less annoying magic experience mod).
And all this for free! What can I say? I love the Internet, I love human creativity, I love when I see so much effort to provide great satisfaction for FREE! Beteshda are lazy amateurs compared to these guys out there. The game should cost 10 bucks maximum and when 2-3 years later the mods are compelling people to keep on playing and buying the game for even more years, those modders should get another 10 bucks from the gamers. I mean the QTP3 mod is downloaded by hundreds of thousands of people! Charge 3 bucks per copy and you are a millionaire….
Very true and please add Eastern Europe to the list. I was packed with those things as a kid; for every cough there was always the same answer - antibiotics. Terrible stuff, ruined my teeth for life to begin with (found the scientific data much later). Very strange, considering this Georgian institute with experience in Phage treatment I cited above. Anyway, today as part of the EU it is as terrible as ever. Doctors prescribe the stuff by the bucket. Since I am living in Holland I have been prescribed two times for 10 years!
Major "problem" with phages - you cannot patent them (they evolve - ooops sorry for using the "e" dirty word). So instead of using a weapon that also , like bacteria, multiplies every 20 min we screw ourselves for......yhea, profit! So it is possible that animal breeders in the USA are reporting huge success in such treatments from the 60-s already, but somehow,/sarcasm strangely, inexplicably/sarcasm no Big Pharma ever looked into it for human therapy.
As a former citizen of a totalitarian state, let me be the first to ask:
Citation needed!
And even if you dig up some I still won't buy it because I was there, my parents and grandparents were there too. I know, you just talk.... Sure, there was a killing of intellectuals and some of them were priests, but most were not. Teachers, scholars, generals, aristocracy - they all suffered. BTW, in 10 years the allegedly killed people by Stalin rose from a few million to (don't laugh) 100 million! I have seen such ridiculous numbers from "respectable" sources and most people in the west are conditioned to believe any bullshit about the communist you care to concoct.
Killing and burning churches never works in the long run. If it did, Christianity would have never survived (remember, 2000 years ago the Christians were minority!). You might want to dig up my post about the Ottoman empire and see to what lenghts they went to extinguish christianity in our land. They had 482 years to do so and failed! Because action cause reaction. People started to identify their nationality via their faith. The church was poor and harassed and guess what - they produced great people and did a lot of good in those dark ages. After they got their power back all went to HELL.You can never keep people slaves forever - you always fail.
The trick that the communist applied was more clever than just killing - they simply discouraged people to go to church. You could go to church (yes, you really could - I have been to a church every Easter and every Christmas, mostly because my grandma was a bit religious. No one ever stopped us, no one came knocking on the door. In school people wore crosses below their shirts and no one said anything). 3 generations aftfer communism was established in my country almost everyone was an atheist. Which is exactly what this article is all about. Repeat after me - if I am not reminded DAILY even hourly that I am a believer I will cease to be one - this counts for the vast majority of people. Religion is a meme and you can diminish its influence in the same way you would do it with genes - you prevent the spreading.
I am forever grateful to the communist for one thing only (in general I despise them) - they showed empirically that a particular religion is NOT something natural, something that is inheritable human. Spirituality - yes! It comes from the realization of one's own mortality - nothing new, just read a bit of philosophy. Particular religion however - NO! Nobody is born christian , muslim or jew - you are MADE one and you have no choice. Which is abuse of human nature and damages your free will to an extent that is unrepairable. The communist tried to replace religion with faith in the Party and the system but that ideology had such a vast gap between intentions and reality that it was self defeating. It never did catch up with people. Everyone who tells you that the common people believed in the system is fucking liar!
So at the end, a generation emerged which had limited if none exposure to the most popular belief systems and the "substitute" did not work so we got the perfect secular, scientific, civil generation. I am one of those people - everyone (+/- 5 years my age) around me during all my life is being one - at school, at university, at work. The very new generations are already lost - 2 fucking days after the wall collapsed I saw Mormons on the streets! TWO fucking days, people! Then followed all the sects - there was an explosion of kids running from home, drug abuse, suicide...parents went crazy! One of our prime ministers (democrat and very strong anti-communist) refused permission to enter the country to a sect leader who was legally recognized and pampered in the whole western world and he wanted to sue us in den Hague! Man, if I could just have 5 minutes with this arrogant asshole alone!!!
So, I am sorry my friend but you are not in possessions of the facts, neither (I suspect) you want to be. Millions of nuns my ass - check how much the population of the country was at the time, if you claim to be intelligent (posting on \. is a statement after all), estimate how many priest there were and then talk crap! You just might end up with minus 1 000 000 figure there.....
I don't know. It seem that the wealth distribution (20% of the people hold 80% of the wealth) is more or less constant since slavery onwards. Only because the total pie got bigger our shares got bigger so we think we are OK compared to those suckers 200 years ago...
Yep! My observation as another east European making it in the West is "The West is the best! They do everything better here - from pencils and cars to wars and brainwashing "
After all the Communist were A) much less advanced technologically, so most of the spying was from humans to other humans (bad but avoidable if you are careful) and B) much less wise and knowledgeable in sociology and anthropology to able to concoct saleable bullshit ideology. Hell, this guy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays - came to America, the land of opportunity, not to Russia! If you are looking for an arch-devil look no further....
Last Saturday I finally upgraded my PC. Nothing too fancy - i3, decent MSI motherboard, 4 gigs good OCZ memory and quite decent ATI 5770. Windows 7 Home Premium 64 OEM version. And to test the whole thing on the gaming side - GTA 4.
I was prepared for nightmares and long, painful hours with both the OS and the game. To my surprise the hours were long, but not really frustrating. True, some programs which I always used, like Outlook Express, were not supported anymore and had to be replaced with something else (took the Thunderbolt). True, I had to read lots of articles about compatibility of hardware/drivers with Win7. Even simple things like the gaming mouse needed a whole new approach to make it work. It took me 13 hours in total in an average and careful pace. Along the way I purchased a few other programs, like A 120% and a couple of puzzle-type games for the wife.
So on the next day I said to myself - let's see how the GTA will run! Everything on the PC is fresh, proper, updated to max. and 100% legal. It took ages to install the GTA and then I was confronted with all the DRM things. Got a bit nervous (first time in this world of online registering , online clubs and communities, designated servers, Win Live and so on..) but eventually all was well. Refused to register anywhere where I had the choice to refuse. The game runs smoothly. It is beautiful. I adore it. All other programs are also as fast as the Stig.
If this experience continues to be like this I will soften my attitude to the industry considerably. However, I wonder to what degree am I lucky? Many people in my situation are reporting problems - with the game or with the OS. I do not think they are all running cracked software and experiencing the anti-piracy traps. What will happen if the online support for the game is cancelled in the future? I am one of those middle aged gamers that plays a good game for years. Hell, my first session on the GTA lasted for 5 hours (ahhh, Sundays) and I did not attempt a single mission, just drove around listening to the radio. I can do this for months, it relaxes me! No time these days for quantity so I emphasize on quality in my gaming and like to re-play excellent games many times. We will see. For now the future seems a bit less dark (if Oblivion works well under Win7 it will get even brighter).
BTW, all the above does not mean that I am consenting with any spying/control attempts via my hardware and software. Not at all! I wonder how much more they know about me now via this modern software? And boy, all this agreements and installations of verification software - everywhere there are links and readmes where you are supposed to learn about how well yor privacy is protected and at the same time the language is so ambiguous that immediately arises suspicion. Probably its a lot of bull.
And I still hate the fact that old hardware is almost impossible to fix/replace if you have limited time and knowledge. What to do now with the old machine - its either the MB or the CPU but I have no way in determining which one is the culprit. OK I am stupid then, but why there is no one out there that can help (for money, of course). It was a perfect P4/1gig/6600GT XP machine with very expensive components (still did not last long enough for the money I paid!). And another frustration - the modern ATI seems to struggle on CRT monitor - the fonts appear different across the screen. I know everyone has LCD these days, but hey, this is 21'' Sony Trinitron - it is still very good screen! But I think the repair/reuse strategy is gone in every industry these days, which is ridiculous considering all the hot air that is blown around about saving the planet. OK, its good to have new, power saving MB/CPU combo, thanks, but I could do infinitely better by using the old PC for a few more years. I could do it. No rush to replace - after all Morrowind ran smoothly on it!
I agree, but you have to realize how many people get up, get their kids to school, go to work, get home, fix dinner , clean the house, then have all of a half hour to themselves before they have to do it again. Many do not have the time necessary to play watch-dog on the governmental agencies that control their lives, not to mention the fact that technological issues such as this are often outside the general knowledge of the average lay-person.
Exactly right! May I also add something that came to mind while reading the tread: that it is time for a change that would allow parents to spend more time with their kids and less time working/commuting? All kinds of studies have shown decisively that interaction between parents and children, especially in the early years is crucial.
I am appalled that in the much despised by me totalitarian regime in which I was born and raised my parents had an easier time bringing me up than my western colleagues would have today with their kids! My mom got 2 years full paid maternity leave and after that kindergarten and school was free (including the textbooks) and available everywhere, even in remote, small, rural villages (basic schools and kindergarten only, but still!) The quality of the kindergarten / school system - it was variable, I would give it an average score of 7 out of 10 at least in my experience.
It is unbelievable that my colleagues have to subscribe for day care/kindergarten the moment the woman conceives (talking about waiting lists!!) and then they are ripped 900 Euros a month per kid for 3-4 days care only (so one or both have to switch to 4-day working week and earn less). I am not even a parent and I cannot stand this situation.
It was unbelievable to discover on my first visit to America that my cousins have 1 hour per working day to talk to their children and in this one hour they have to repair the damage that TV, schools and so on, have inflicted on the youngsters. Sure, not everything the kids absorb from the culture is damaging, but you know what I mean. Both kids absolutely adored me for being with them the whole day (it was school vacation period) and having non stop good time. Useful time too, as the teacher,/not like the ones we talk about I feel compelled to add/ in me never sleeps. I did teach chemistry and physics only for a year and then went full time scientist but everyone said I was doing a pretty good job.
Don't tell me that/sarcasm/ our mighty civilization/sarcasm/ does not have the knowledge and resources to give us a bit of happiness, a bit of air to breath and time to improve ourselves! And I really think that for once, it will be good for the children!
There is an interesting chapter from this book - "Phantoms in the Brain: Human Nature and the Architecture of the Mind" about the "God's part of the brain". The author promised to write a separate book with recent developments only on this subject; I hope he will.
To me, as someone deeply interested in biology and having a degree in chemistry it was always no brainier that our biochemistry (there is not really a proper term that comes to mind - I mean not only biochemistry but the whole interplay between genes, biochemistry, evolutionary history, and so on...) plays crucial role in what we are as individuals/characters. There are chemicals out there that can make you do things you never though you could. You can't fight the biochemistry. Well, the best is not to see it as a "combat" but to learn what you are, why are you what you are and just make the best of it. Sure, upbringing , education and society are also very important, but often, when there is a conflict between software and hardware (very broad metaphor) the hardware wins or at least makes the life of the software hell.
As for spirituality I always thought that the different philosophies, religions and so on are all pointing to one direction, all seeking to achieve the same state of enlightenment (which might very well be a certain chemicals in you brain in the right place at the right time). For some it works via yoga, for others martial arts, for yet others prayer, you name it. And it is interesting that most practices recommended by the different approaches (m.arts, religion, meditation, esoterica) all include making you "ego" silent for a while and achieving clearer communication between the "I" and the "Me". It seems we are all "Me" which includes "I" and lot more than that, which goes unnoticed normally - the so-called subconsciousness (I do not like the term and its present day associations - often people would think that the "me" is some kind of different person inside us, animal, savage, sub-something, something to be feared or combated).
Historically I believe (believe as in "after reading what I can on the subject this is the conclusion I could derive") that the first practice that requires the "I" to go silent for while is hunting. Sure, the reasoning abilities of the I are very helpful in hunting but you also need to be Me for while. Ask any sportsman, ask any actor (especially) - everyone will tell you how the I steps aside when you have to perform great feats on the stage or on the pitch. And this is the state that gives us satisfaction and sense of enlightenment.
So yhea, I am not surprise from such scientific findings. And I can imagine that it might outrage religious people somewhat. But hey, the problem is not in yes/no for existence of god (that is also no brainier, the answer is "may be"), the problem is when spirituality and faith becomes religion with agenda.
Listen mate, respect and all, but you have NO FUCKING IDEA about the Ottoman empire! None at all!
My people were subject to it for 482 years. I have a list of the taxes that were imposed to us at the time - just to give you a hint there was tax on "wearing teeth out" - when a Turk enters Christian house and is served food and drink he demands money because his teeth were worn by chewing the food. I am not publishing all the taxes because I will have to spent few days translating.
Here is the other "gem" - every few years the brightest and most beautiful children from ALL THE FAMILIES in the conquered territories would be taken away and brainwashed with Islam - many of them would be sent back to kill and convert their own people. Those were the fearsome "Enichar" warriors. Can you even imagine what this did to my people to our gene-pool, to our culture? 5 centuries of this! Do you know that my country lost ALL of its historical documents ALL of its cultural heritage - destroyed by the empire. 250 years after the occupation my people did not remember that they had once a country (the oldest country in Europe which still exist under its original name) - that is how successful they were in extinguishing the culture, history and religion of their subjects. We call this period "slavery". Some fucking bastards decided a few years ago to try to replace the word in our history books and you know what - even some of the modern Turkish historians felt that we should not do it. That is what it was - slavery. Brutal and inhuman.
Listen, I hate the mess the West did in the Middle East. I really do. I was on the street every time someone was protesting against the wars in Avg. and Iraq. I have Turkish and other Muslims as friends and colleagues, they are very good people. But let us not forget that the extremist over there are as dangerous as those christian idiots a couple of centuries ago in Europe (some remnants from them can be found today in the good old USA, eh!). Let us not go completely to the other side where everyone is pals and no one has sinister intentions. Be real.
I am sorry for the rant, I do it partly for your own sake - do not share (in real life) your positive opinion about the Ottoman Empire with Greeks, Macedonians, Serbs, Romanians, Armenians, Hungarians and Bulgarians. Just don't.
BTW, there is lots to be said about the "religious freedom" they gave. The WIKI article just touches the dark side of subject lightly. They used the Greek church to further deteriorate and corrupt Christianity. And it worked, because most priest of any denominations are just as corruptible as any of us (even more so I have the feeling). To such extent that some of my people preferred to be Muslims than to be subjects to the Greek Orthodox church.
I don't think even this is the issue. The issue IMO is that once party X is in power they will push legislation benefiting the corporation that gave them so much money. I know it is happening now as well, but the future looks even darker. Who will the politician want to please - you with the 100 dollars donation or corp. with millions?
BTW, it maybe off-topic, but (fellow Americans) go and see Food Inc. when it hits the cinemas. Then, for once, use your gun laws which you like sooooo much and arrest the bastards that have kidnapped your country! I am not American but I will lend a hand if needed for such a noble cause (shit!!, now I must register and state my intentions to help the next American revolution)!
"Never have kids in sci-fi movies, nobody find that cute."
I don't know about that. I think Ender's game can make superb movie only one "little obstacle" is in the way - the director must be given big pile of cash and told to forget about pleasing the crowd and political correctness. Yhea, I know, the pigs are flying... And even better - make it a trilogy combining the plots of Ender's game and Ender's shadow. Bean and Ender - untill the end of the Bugger wars. Cute - I don't think so...the streets of Rotterdam, the death of Bonso, Achilles, Peter Wiggin....cute they are not!
Nothing from the subsequent plots on Earth after the wars, because there the pol corr. is out of the window; how about simple stuff like "Islam is not real religion because you cannot quit it and survive" You can't put this on screen (sad but true).
Anyway, it would never happen (sighs and goes back to work.....)
I wonder if the "profits" of civilization were so good why almost 100% of all the destroyed and assimilated tribal cultures on Earth fought to the death instead of happily joining the club...you show total ignorance in history, anthropology, sociology and most distressing, you show complete lack of sense...
BTW, assume for the sake of decency that I have just called you every name you can imagine my post. I am from eastern Europe - we are champions in swearing over there. Still your posts are so appalling that even my substantial arsenal of swear words betrayed me for a moment. If the majority of humans still think like this I am looking around for "End of the world" button. Gosh, I think your posts can convince CERN's scientists to create not-so-small black hole after all...
"Bicycle paths remove the cyclists from the view of motorists, which means that instead of preventing accidents, they cause them, especially at intersections" "Mixing pedestrians and cyclists is a recipe for disaster."
How the hell did you figure that out? Any statistics on the bicycle deaths per ca-pita from Holland? Cause over here we have a road for the cars, a separate road for the bikes (where small motorcycles are allowed as well) and another one for pedestrians. In fact every time a road is renovated if there was no separate bike path a new one will be laid and existing ones will be widened. It's perfect! My ass is on bike every single day for the last 10 years with an average of 12km a day. I have been drunk like pig on bike. Been stoned too. Never had any trouble - except last year when due to poor maintenance there was an unexpected icy patch of road so I fell badly (and another 20 people on the same place in the same day. They fixed immediately, the whole road - no kidding. And minutes after I fell there was a person with warning lights and message "beware of the ice"). But this accident had nothing to do with cars or other participants in the traffic.
I think most of it is the car drivers getting used to bikers. The rules of the game are slightly different when you have a city with 800 000 people and more than 1 000 000 bikes (Amsterdam). Just give the drivers a bit of time and it's OK.
How long before someone blows a train or two and the same security theater takes place on train stations? What comes after that - schools, theaters, shopping malls, churches....face it, the terrorist assholes won, because our collective stupidity, hysterical media and gutless politicians did 95% of the job.
How about increasing survival chances by working in a group? The working country should provide for this fundamental human and animal behavior pattern. I don't get it - we have labeled basic aspects of the complicated collective behavior of an ordinary biological species (with all that implies) as "socialist" and we should avoid them at the cost of decreased chances for survival? I should hope not!
BTW, I also lived exactly 16 years of my life in a communist totalitarian state, but I do not wish "to throw in the garbage the baby with the waters", as the old ladies in my country say.....
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Vote Palpatine! Why settle for the lesser evil?
The dark side did not come from birth control as such but from cultural and economical realities that value sons more than daughters. Altogether different fish.
It is perhaps an interesting food for though that the only state in India where the population is stabilized and the literacy is 99% has been run by the local communist party since the independence from the British.
It is also interesting to note that the only places on Earth where the population will drop in the next 50 years, according to this http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pdjmk are the former communist countries (and that state in India). I am still puzzled by this. What is the cause? We did not have so pronounced baby boom. I suspect because we were poor BUT educated instead of poor and uneducated. And being predominantly non-believers also played a role IMO.
Without the one child policy there would be almost half billion more Chinese today. I think the whole country should get a medal and a big "thank you" from the rest of us.
This is utter BS. I am not going even to try to explain. Mod me troll I don't care. It is utter, utter, utter, utter BS! I am the only one that noticed this outrageous ignorance and manipulation being posted on /. ?
I kindly recommend you to start here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pdjmk and continue on your own.
And that is why business, political and religious leaders are tearing their vocal cords to scream "Make more babies, we don't have pension funds (we spend them on wars and shit), we don't have enough new consumers to sustain the pyramid scheme which is our economy (we like pyramids because we are on top), our fate is dying (the Muslims are breeding like rabbits) and so on...
I would execute such people if I had the power, for crimes against the ecosystem and Homo Sapience, which should carry the death sentence.
Why Europe still gets migrants? Because of the Ponsi scheme that our economy is. Stop the pyramid, close the borders for migrants and deal with all local issues. Then if some countries still don't get it , keep on multiplying and threaten your sustainable existence, go to war and kill them all!
At the end it will come down to this, mark my words!
What morals? Did you know that it has been proven that birds regulate their population simply by estimating the density of the flock and deciding how many eggs to lay this season. Birds, for goodness sake!!! They made females listen to recordings of dense flocks and they laid less eggs! And we call ourselves "Homo Sapience". The arrogance! There are no morals - just a cold blooded calculation how to best survive and propagate your genes. Period. Science now show us unambiguously what the results of our actions will be and we still do not care shit about it.
I am re-reading "The selfish gene" and there is nothing more to be said. Quote (not verbatim) - "Birth control is unnatural. But so is welfare state, medicine and so on. If you accept the one you MUST accept the other."
So there you have it in a nutshell. Either we go to war or we collectively decide to lower our numbers through birth control.
Illustration of extreme stupidity: The latest hype - meat production is No1 CO2 producer. All must become vegetarians!!! Ohh yhea, you mean the bodies which evolved to eat cooked food, rich on fats should go back eating like a gorilla?!?! They actually did the experiment - feeding people with ape food and you simply starve even if you eat non-stop. Not to mention that your joint between the lower jaw and the skull will simply disappear due to the constant hard chewing. OK, you can boil it - good but still no good enough for us poor souls whose parents have eaten meet for a very long time and our size, energy reserves and above all - brainpower will go down if we switch to completely vegan diet.
But most importantly of all , it will only "solve" the problem for a few more decades until the population doubles again (the last doubling happened in 37 years!! In my lifetime I will see 4 times increase of the population if present trends continue). Then even carrots will be a scarce commodity. End of discussion.
And yhea, it is very pity if for all our "culture" and "achievements" at the end we sort it out in the good old fashioned way - kill the rest, so you can survive! Homo Sapience indeed!
Aren't those people cooking in restaurants educated very well on the chemistry of food? I think they are. I remember studying once with a friend from such school and they had very serious curriculum in chemistry and biochemistry. I would trust them with the salt in my food over politicians and lobbyists any day.
Manufacturers of processed food, however, need to be looked at very carefully and unbiasedly. The whole "fat nation" thingy in the west stinks like hell of biochemistry pushed to the limits. Recently I got simple bread making machine and applied very common recipe. In the beginning I thought the taste was rather bland. The salt is actually just alright according to science. Later experiments confirmed that the bread in the supermarket is too salty. I cannot imagine buying bread from the shop now even if my choice is quite limited.
And so on...the examples are plentiful. I don't want to be drugged by my food! No, I am lying. I want to be drugged by my food but I will choose with what, when and how and I want easy access to real raw ingredients and spices. The rest I leave to the sublime art of culinary which, according to a recent documentary I saw, might have played far more significant role in the evolution of man than expected.Thank you!
"Did you live in the Soviet Union? Ever lived in a place like that?"
,as I said, was self defeating in the face of reality. True, it would be more challenging to work and raise family in a sense that you could not be very outspoken against the regime and you had to tolerate a certain amount of BS like manifestations and party gatherings at work.
I did. Up to 16 years old, when the system changed. Brin is talking BS. Just for once, please, actually listen to us, the people with experience and not to the marketing speech.
I consider myself very lucky - as a child and a teen I was exposed only to communist BS which is self defeating and thus I emerged as a clear mind. Do you know what it is to grow up without consumerism, without ever seeing advertisement? Without religion, without any brainwashing but the official one which
There is no way in hell that 6 year old would have any sensible impression about the system. Brin just extrapolates what he learned later.
The good ol USA and the good ol USSR are the two sides of the same coin. Sick imperialistic/chauvinistic countries. The methods are different but the result is the same. Oh yhea, the US is much better in propaganda. Most of my fellows westerners are laughably ignorant of the sorry state of their democracies and still trust people in power! This remains to this day the biggest mystery of my life. I put it down to the fact that the societies are rich and thus the sheep are fat and happy. But it cannot be only this?!!?!?
"The idea that corporations should increase their profit is fine. The idea that they have no moral obligations is not fine."
But the idea that they will stick to their moral obligations if enough money is offered is downright stupid! I can't believe that sensible people believe this BS against evidence from all of history.
I had the same dilemma recently and I wanted the same as you – Oblivion. I did not want expensive stuff.
First I learned that i3 CPU goes well with H55 chip set for Hi-def video. Both components have integrated logic for video and audio streaming and decoding. I also learned that not every software player out there would use those integrated logics.
Second, Oblivion is already an old game, but it is very hungry on VRAM. Thus I got ATI 5770 (medium price range) with 1GB VRAM
HDD, case and power supply I already had (750GB Samsung, 450W Corsair)
Memory – 2x2 GB OCZ – that was pricey (and Oblivion would use only 2 gigs anyway, AFIK). I don’t even know the exact model of the memory, I just asked for the best memory in the shop.
OS – Win 7 Home 64bit
However (in case you are new to game) the most crucial thing to do is install a myriad of mods that improve the game beyond belief. I just red the article below and then went and selected one mod per category based on feedback and forum discussions.
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Must_Have_Mods
Sure, there were some conflicts between the mods but he Mod manager can identify and report them so you can select a set of mods that will work. The game now is prettier (QTP3 mod), faster!!!, much better leveling system (Francesco's mod), much better UI (DarkN mod), more hot keys and customization (Expanded Hot keys and Spell Delete mod), more music, better ambient sounds and much better magic system (Less annoying magic experience mod).
And all this for free! What can I say? I love the Internet, I love human creativity, I love when I see so much effort to provide great satisfaction for FREE! Beteshda are lazy amateurs compared to these guys out there. The game should cost 10 bucks maximum and when 2-3 years later the mods are compelling people to keep on playing and buying the game for even more years, those modders should get another 10 bucks from the gamers. I mean the QTP3 mod is downloaded by hundreds of thousands of people! Charge 3 bucks per copy and you are a millionaire….
Very true and please add Eastern Europe to the list. I was packed with those things as a kid; for every cough there was always the same answer - antibiotics. Terrible stuff, ruined my teeth for life to begin with (found the scientific data much later). Very strange, considering this Georgian institute with experience in Phage treatment I cited above.
Anyway, today as part of the EU it is as terrible as ever. Doctors prescribe the stuff by the bucket. Since I am living in Holland I have been prescribed two times for 10 years!
You are right, but why the Bacteriophage treatment is a news? I mean, cases from the whole bloody USSR were treated by this institute
/sarcasm strangely, inexplicably /sarcasm no Big Pharma ever looked into it for human therapy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eliava_Institute
And watch this BBC documentary
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8887931967515748990#
Major "problem" with phages - you cannot patent them (they evolve - ooops sorry for using the "e" dirty word). So instead of using a weapon that also , like bacteria, multiplies every 20 min we screw ourselves for......yhea, profit! So it is possible that animal breeders in the USA are reporting huge success in such treatments from the 60-s already, but somehow,
What a world we are living in....pathetic
As a former citizen of a totalitarian state, let me be the first to ask:
Citation needed!
And even if you dig up some I still won't buy it because I was there, my parents and grandparents were there too. I know, you just talk....
Sure, there was a killing of intellectuals and some of them were priests, but most were not. Teachers, scholars, generals, aristocracy - they all suffered. BTW, in 10 years the allegedly killed people by Stalin rose from a few million to (don't laugh) 100 million! I have seen such ridiculous numbers from "respectable" sources and most people in the west are conditioned to believe any bullshit about the communist you care to concoct.
Killing and burning churches never works in the long run. If it did, Christianity would have never survived (remember, 2000 years ago the Christians were minority!). You might want to dig up my post about the Ottoman empire and see to what lenghts they went to extinguish christianity in our land. They had 482 years to do so and failed! Because action cause reaction. People started to identify their nationality via their faith. The church was poor and harassed and guess what - they produced great people and did a lot of good in those dark ages. After they got their power back all went to HELL.You can never keep people slaves forever - you always fail.
The trick that the communist applied was more clever than just killing - they simply discouraged people to go to church. You could go to church (yes, you really could - I have been to a church every Easter and every Christmas, mostly because my grandma was a bit religious. No one ever stopped us, no one came knocking on the door. In school people wore crosses below their shirts and no one said anything). 3 generations aftfer communism was established in my country almost everyone was an atheist. Which is exactly what this article is all about. Repeat after me - if I am not reminded DAILY even hourly that I am a believer I will cease to be one - this counts for the vast majority of people. Religion is a meme and you can diminish its influence in the same way you would do it with genes - you prevent the spreading.
I am forever grateful to the communist for one thing only (in general I despise them) - they showed empirically that a particular religion is NOT something natural, something that is inheritable human. Spirituality - yes! It comes from the realization of one's own mortality - nothing new, just read a bit of philosophy. Particular religion however - NO! Nobody is born christian , muslim or jew - you are MADE one and you have no choice. Which is abuse of human nature and damages your free will to an extent that is unrepairable. The communist tried to replace religion with faith in the Party and the system but that ideology had such a vast gap between intentions and reality that it was self defeating. It never did catch up with people. Everyone who tells you that the common people believed in the system is fucking liar!
So at the end, a generation emerged which had limited if none exposure to the most popular belief systems and the "substitute" did not work so we got the perfect secular, scientific, civil generation. I am one of those people - everyone (+/- 5 years my age) around me during all my life is being one - at school, at university, at work. The very new generations are already lost - 2 fucking days after the wall collapsed I saw Mormons on the streets! TWO fucking days, people! Then followed all the sects - there was an explosion of kids running from home, drug abuse, suicide...parents went crazy! One of our prime ministers (democrat and very strong anti-communist) refused permission to enter the country to a sect leader who was legally recognized and pampered in the whole western world and he wanted to sue us in den Hague! Man, if I could just have 5 minutes with this arrogant asshole alone!!!
So, I am sorry my friend but you are not in possessions of the facts, neither (I suspect) you want to be. Millions of nuns my ass - check how much the population of the country was at the time, if you claim to be intelligent (posting on \. is a statement after all), estimate how many priest there were and then talk crap! You just might end up with minus 1 000 000 figure there.....
I don't know. It seem that the wealth distribution (20% of the people hold 80% of the wealth) is more or less constant since slavery onwards. Only because the total pie got bigger our shares got bigger so we think we are OK compared to those suckers 200 years ago...
Yep! My observation as another east European making it in the West is "The West is the best! They do everything better here - from pencils and cars to wars and brainwashing "
After all the Communist were A) much less advanced technologically, so most of the spying was from humans to other humans (bad but avoidable if you are careful) and B) much less wise and knowledgeable in sociology and anthropology to able to concoct saleable bullshit ideology. Hell, this guy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays - came to America, the land of opportunity, not to Russia! If you are looking for an arch-devil look no further....
Here is my recount:
Last Saturday I finally upgraded my PC. Nothing too fancy - i3, decent MSI motherboard, 4 gigs good OCZ memory and quite decent ATI 5770. Windows 7 Home Premium 64 OEM version. And to test the whole thing on the gaming side - GTA 4.
I was prepared for nightmares and long, painful hours with both the OS and the game. To my surprise the hours were long, but not really frustrating. True, some programs which I always used, like Outlook Express, were not supported anymore and had to be replaced with something else (took the Thunderbolt). True, I had to read lots of articles about compatibility of hardware/drivers with Win7. Even simple things like the gaming mouse needed a whole new approach to make it work. It took me 13 hours in total in an average and careful pace. Along the way I purchased a few other programs, like A 120% and a couple of puzzle-type games for the wife.
So on the next day I said to myself - let's see how the GTA will run! Everything on the PC is fresh, proper, updated to max. and 100% legal. It took ages to install the GTA and then I was confronted with all the DRM things. Got a bit nervous (first time in this world of online registering , online clubs and communities, designated servers, Win Live and so on..) but eventually all was well. Refused to register anywhere where I had the choice to refuse. The game runs smoothly. It is beautiful. I adore it. All other programs are also as fast as the Stig.
If this experience continues to be like this I will soften my attitude to the industry considerably. However, I wonder to what degree am I lucky? Many people in my situation are reporting problems - with the game or with the OS. I do not think they are all running cracked software and experiencing the anti-piracy traps. What will happen if the online support for the game is cancelled in the future? I am one of those middle aged gamers that plays a good game for years. Hell, my first session on the GTA lasted for 5 hours (ahhh, Sundays) and I did not attempt a single mission, just drove around listening to the radio. I can do this for months, it relaxes me! No time these days for quantity so I emphasize on quality in my gaming and like to re-play excellent games many times. We will see. For now the future seems a bit less dark (if Oblivion works well under Win7 it will get even brighter).
BTW, all the above does not mean that I am consenting with any spying/control attempts via my hardware and software. Not at all! I wonder how much more they know about me now via this modern software? And boy, all this agreements and installations of verification software - everywhere there are links and readmes where you are supposed to learn about how well yor privacy is protected and at the same time the language is so ambiguous that immediately arises suspicion. Probably its a lot of bull.
And I still hate the fact that old hardware is almost impossible to fix/replace if you have limited time and knowledge. What to do now with the old machine - its either the MB or the CPU but I have no way in determining which one is the culprit. OK I am stupid then, but why there is no one out there that can help (for money, of course). It was a perfect P4/1gig/6600GT XP machine with very expensive components (still did not last long enough for the money I paid!). And another frustration - the modern ATI seems to struggle on CRT monitor - the fonts appear different across the screen. I know everyone has LCD these days, but hey, this is 21'' Sony Trinitron - it is still very good screen! But I think the repair/reuse strategy is gone in every industry these days, which is ridiculous considering all the hot air that is blown around about saving the planet. OK, its good to have new, power saving MB/CPU combo, thanks, but I could do infinitely better by using the old PC for a few more years. I could do it. No rush to replace - after all Morrowind ran smoothly on it!
I agree, but you have to realize how many people get up, get their kids to school, go to work, get home, fix dinner , clean the house, then have all of a half hour to themselves before they have to do it again. Many do not have the time necessary to play watch-dog on the governmental agencies that control their lives, not to mention the fact that technological issues such as this are often outside the general knowledge of the average lay-person.
/not like the ones we talk about I feel compelled to add/ in me never sleeps. I did teach chemistry and physics only for a year and then went full time scientist but everyone said I was doing a pretty good job.
/sarcasm/ our mighty civilization /sarcasm/ does not have the knowledge and resources to give us a bit of happiness, a bit of air to breath and time to improve ourselves! And I really think that for once, it will be good for the children!
Exactly right! May I also add something that came to mind while reading the tread: that it is time for a change that would allow parents to spend more time with their kids and less time working/commuting? All kinds of studies have shown decisively that interaction between parents and children, especially in the early years is crucial.
I am appalled that in the much despised by me totalitarian regime in which I was born and raised my parents had an easier time bringing me up than my western colleagues would have today with their kids! My mom got 2 years full paid maternity leave and after that kindergarten and school was free (including the textbooks) and available everywhere, even in remote, small, rural villages (basic schools and kindergarten only, but still!) The quality of the kindergarten / school system - it was variable, I would give it an average score of 7 out of 10 at least in my experience.
It is unbelievable that my colleagues have to subscribe for day care/kindergarten the moment the woman conceives (talking about waiting lists!!) and then they are ripped 900 Euros a month per kid for 3-4 days care only (so one or both have to switch to 4-day working week and earn less). I am not even a parent and I cannot stand this situation.
It was unbelievable to discover on my first visit to America that my cousins have 1 hour per working day to talk to their children and in this one hour they have to repair the damage that TV, schools and so on, have inflicted on the youngsters. Sure, not everything the kids absorb from the culture is damaging, but you know what I mean. Both kids absolutely adored me for being with them the whole day (it was school vacation period) and having non stop good time. Useful time too, as the teacher,
Don't tell me that
There is an interesting chapter from this book - "Phantoms in the Brain: Human Nature and the Architecture of the Mind" about the "God's part of the brain". The author promised to write a separate book with recent developments only on this subject; I hope he will.
To me, as someone deeply interested in biology and having a degree in chemistry it was always no brainier that our biochemistry (there is not really a proper term that comes to mind - I mean not only biochemistry but the whole interplay between genes, biochemistry, evolutionary history, and so on...) plays crucial role in what we are as individuals/characters. There are chemicals out there that can make you do things you never though you could. You can't fight the biochemistry. Well, the best is not to see it as a "combat" but to learn what you are, why are you what you are and just make the best of it. Sure, upbringing , education and society are also very important, but often, when there is a conflict between software and hardware (very broad metaphor) the hardware wins or at least makes the life of the software hell.
As for spirituality I always thought that the different philosophies, religions and so on are all pointing to one direction, all seeking to achieve the same state of enlightenment (which might very well be a certain chemicals in you brain in the right place at the right time). For some it works via yoga, for others martial arts, for yet others prayer, you name it. And it is interesting that most practices recommended by the different approaches (m.arts, religion, meditation, esoterica) all include making you "ego" silent for a while and achieving clearer communication between the "I" and the "Me". It seems we are all "Me" which includes "I" and lot more than that, which goes unnoticed normally - the so-called subconsciousness (I do not like the term and its present day associations - often people would think that the "me" is some kind of different person inside us, animal, savage, sub-something, something to be feared or combated).
Historically I believe (believe as in "after reading what I can on the subject this is the conclusion I could derive") that the first practice that requires the "I" to go silent for while is hunting. Sure, the reasoning abilities of the I are very helpful in hunting but you also need to be Me for while. Ask any sportsman, ask any actor (especially) - everyone will tell you how the I steps aside when you have to perform great feats on the stage or on the pitch. And this is the state that gives us satisfaction and sense of enlightenment.
So yhea, I am not surprise from such scientific findings. And I can imagine that it might outrage religious people somewhat. But hey, the problem is not in yes/no for existence of god (that is also no brainier, the answer is "may be"), the problem is when spirituality and faith becomes religion with agenda.
Listen mate, respect and all, but you have NO FUCKING IDEA about the Ottoman empire! None at all!
My people were subject to it for 482 years. I have a list of the taxes that were imposed to us at the time - just to give you a hint there was tax on "wearing teeth out" - when a Turk enters Christian house and is served food and drink he demands money because his teeth were worn by chewing the food. I am not publishing all the taxes because I will have to spent few days translating.
Here is the other "gem" - every few years the brightest and most beautiful children from ALL THE FAMILIES in the conquered territories would be taken away and brainwashed with Islam - many of them would be sent back to kill and convert their own people. Those were the fearsome "Enichar" warriors. Can you even imagine what this did to my people to our gene-pool, to our culture? 5 centuries of this! Do you know that my country lost ALL of its historical documents ALL of its cultural heritage - destroyed by the empire. 250 years after the occupation my people did not remember that they had once a country (the oldest country in Europe which still exist under its original name) - that is how successful they were in extinguishing the culture, history and religion of their subjects. We call this period "slavery". Some fucking bastards decided a few years ago to try to replace the word in our history books and you know what - even some of the modern Turkish historians felt that we should not do it. That is what it was - slavery. Brutal and inhuman.
Listen, I hate the mess the West did in the Middle East. I really do. I was on the street every time someone was protesting against the wars in Avg. and Iraq. I have Turkish and other Muslims as friends and colleagues, they are very good people. But let us not forget that the extremist over there are as dangerous as those christian idiots a couple of centuries ago in Europe (some remnants from them can be found today in the good old USA, eh!). Let us not go completely to the other side where everyone is pals and no one has sinister intentions. Be real.
I am sorry for the rant, I do it partly for your own sake - do not share (in real life) your positive opinion about the Ottoman Empire with Greeks, Macedonians, Serbs, Romanians, Armenians, Hungarians and Bulgarians. Just don't.
BTW, there is lots to be said about the "religious freedom" they gave. The WIKI article just touches the dark side of subject lightly. They used the Greek church to further deteriorate and corrupt Christianity. And it worked, because most priest of any denominations are just as corruptible as any of us (even more so I have the feeling). To such extent that some of my people preferred to be Muslims than to be subjects to the Greek Orthodox church.
I don't think even this is the issue. The issue IMO is that once party X is in power they will push legislation benefiting the corporation that gave them so much money. I know it is happening now as well, but the future looks even darker. Who will the politician want to please - you with the 100 dollars donation or corp. with millions?
BTW, it maybe off-topic, but (fellow Americans) go and see Food Inc. when it hits the cinemas. Then, for once, use your gun laws which you like sooooo much and arrest the bastards that have kidnapped your country! I am not American but I will lend a hand if needed for such a noble cause (shit!!, now I must register and state my intentions to help the next American revolution)!
"Never have kids in sci-fi movies, nobody find that cute."
I don't know about that. I think Ender's game can make superb movie only one "little obstacle" is in the way - the director must be given big pile of cash and told to forget about pleasing the crowd and political correctness. Yhea, I know, the pigs are flying...
And even better - make it a trilogy combining the plots of Ender's game and Ender's shadow. Bean and Ender - untill the end of the Bugger wars. Cute - I don't think so...the streets of Rotterdam, the death of Bonso, Achilles, Peter Wiggin....cute they are not!
Nothing from the subsequent plots on Earth after the wars, because there the pol corr. is out of the window; how about simple stuff like "Islam is not real religion because you cannot quit it and survive" You can't put this on screen (sad but true).
Anyway, it would never happen (sighs and goes back to work.....)
I wonder if the "profits" of civilization were so good why almost 100% of all the destroyed and assimilated tribal cultures on Earth fought to the death instead of happily joining the club...you show total ignorance in history, anthropology, sociology and most distressing, you show complete lack of sense...
BTW, assume for the sake of decency that I have just called you every name you can imagine my post. I am from eastern Europe - we are champions in swearing over there. Still your posts are so appalling that even my substantial arsenal of swear words betrayed me for a moment. If the majority of humans still think like this I am looking around for "End of the world" button. Gosh, I think your posts can convince CERN's scientists to create not-so-small black hole after all...
"Bicycle paths remove the cyclists from the view of motorists, which means that instead of preventing accidents, they cause them, especially at intersections"
"Mixing pedestrians and cyclists is a recipe for disaster."
How the hell did you figure that out? Any statistics on the bicycle deaths per ca-pita from Holland? Cause over here we have a road for the cars, a separate road for the bikes (where small motorcycles are allowed as well) and another one for pedestrians. In fact every time a road is renovated if there was no separate bike path a new one will be laid and existing ones will be widened. It's perfect! My ass is on bike every single day for the last 10 years with an average of 12km a day. I have been drunk like pig on bike. Been stoned too. Never had any trouble - except last year when due to poor maintenance there was an unexpected icy patch of road so I fell badly (and another 20 people on the same place in the same day. They fixed immediately, the whole road - no kidding. And minutes after I fell there was a person with warning lights and message "beware of the ice"). But this accident had nothing to do with cars or other participants in the traffic.
I think most of it is the car drivers getting used to bikers. The rules of the game are slightly different when you have a city with 800 000 people and more than 1 000 000 bikes (Amsterdam). Just give the drivers a bit of time and it's OK.
How long before someone blows a train or two and the same security theater takes place on train stations? What comes after that - schools, theaters, shopping malls, churches....face it, the terrorist assholes won, because our collective stupidity, hysterical media and gutless politicians did 95% of the job.
How about increasing survival chances by working in a group? The working country should provide for this fundamental human and animal behavior pattern.
I don't get it - we have labeled basic aspects of the complicated collective behavior of an ordinary biological species (with all that implies) as "socialist" and we should avoid them at the cost of decreased chances for survival? I should hope not!
BTW, I also lived exactly 16 years of my life in a communist totalitarian state, but I do not wish "to throw in the garbage the baby with the waters", as the old ladies in my country say.....