Silk Road forums
Discussion => Off topic => Topic started by: BlackoutFriday on June 26, 2012, 05:29 am
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I'm not talking about some Mayan 2012 shit, but the way things are going in the world regarding global current events.
The existence of peak oil limiting resources worldwide. What are the ramifications when oil becomes an "inefficient" resource to acquire so to speak, since our world is so heavily dependent on oil. Alternative energy is an option, yes, but at the moment it would be difficult to make a switch without a huge sacrifice to production via a large initial investment in oil. Nuclear energy is dangerous causing radiation problems. Natural gas is plausible, but the environmental impacts can be excruciating. Not to mention, the wars in the middle east are mostly a cause of the lack of resources in America, and we need to harvest other nations for our own good.
Corporations controlling food production (Monsanto etc) where farmers become dependent on a single company to supply them with suicide seeds which drives farmers into debt and are therefore unable to save seeds and have a genetically diverse grow. Think back to the mono-crop disaster that was the Irish Potato Famine. A crop with one strain of DNA can easily be destroyed on a massive scale, whether by natural means or (dare I say) man-made occurrence.
The pharmaceutical industry convincing us we need a "pill for every ill", be it depression, anxiety, ADHD etc. The drugs provided tend to lead to depend on them.
Our capitalistic world where we exploit foreigners (I live in America) for our own gain. Why is it okay for people to own 3 houses and 8 cars? While in other parts of the world children work for 16 hours a day just to feed the rich?
A corrupt news media that finds more pleasure in discussing the latest baseball game or school bus accident, when really that doesn't tell us much of anything in terms of how the world spins.
A disintegrating economy that's falling apart as we speak. It's only a matter of time before Europe crumbles and the rest of the world with it. America just prints more and more money, or writes money (as debt) out of thin air to pay for things. It's why we're the "prosperous" country we are today. How long can this hold?
Perhaps the largest problem we face today is DEPENDENCE. People are not self-sufficient, generally speaking. We don't grow our own food, we don't get our own natural resources, we don't heat our own homes, we don't provide ourselves with electricity, we can't treat our own illnesses, we can't communicate well without cell phone/internet mediums... the list goes on.
The problem with dependence? What happens if the machine we've become so dependent upon turns off? What happens if people realize we're super dependent and try to bite the hand that feeds? What if they recoil it? Is there any way for us to survive?
This list is obviously extremely short, but I'm curious of the opinions of you Silk Roader's out there who may be well read on this material. How much longer do you think we have before the highly functional system we have falls to pieces and dissolves into anarchy and chaos, because at this point, it seems inevitable.
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I think the world is getting better, not worse.
Sure we're more in tune to every little thing that's going on, but we're more aware of bad things, not suddenly inundated with bad things. Arab Spring, the Occupy malarky. Good things. Decentralization. Political input from the common people.
I also don't buy into the BIG PHARMA EVIL CORPORATE COUNCIL CONTROLLING GOVERNMENT stuff.
You ever met an ambitious politician or CEO? They're surrounded by sycophants and at odds with any opinion that doesn't coincide with theirs. They couldn't get an Evil Council to decide on lunch, let alone the state of the world.
No, I assume incompetence rather than genuine malice.
That said, I give corporate culture another, maybe, fifty years. At a stretch.
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I thought we were all goners as soon as I saw the trailer for Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter - luckily we've survived ... so far.
My true opinion is the human race will die off before a catastrophe destroys the planet. Humans are becoming larger and larger, evolution wise, in just a century the average for a human male has gone up 5 inches. My theory is our body mass will continue to evolve larger, exceeding the growth of our hearts, until we have literally outgrown our own heart functions and slowly the average life expectancy begins to dwindle.
On the flipside this could further the research on artificial hearts, and other organs, but how strange would that be to know when you're born you will face major heart replacement surgery at some point in your life.
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Whoever had the idea of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter deserves to be taken out to a wood and shot.
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Whoever had the idea of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter deserves to be taken out to a wood and shot.
COMPLETELY AGREE. When I saw the trailer I thought it was a joke at first, kept waiting for the punchline.
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i think peeple ar stoopid and shuld be killed dead.
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Whoever had the idea of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter deserves to be taken out to a wood and shot.
COMPLETELY AGREE. When I saw the trailer I thought it was a joke at first, kept waiting for the punchline.
I'm still waiting, I haven't given up hope yet. I simply can't believe it isn't a huge practical joke.
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Whoever had the idea of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter deserves to be taken out to a wood and shot.
COMPLETELY AGREE. When I saw the trailer I thought it was a joke at first, kept waiting for the punchline.
I'm still waiting, I haven't given up hope yet. I simply can't believe it isn't a huge practical joke.
I just go to the movies to jack off on the back of peoples heads who sit in front of me to have a good laugh every now and then, there's no way I'd spend money to actually watch the shit they make nowadays.
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Not that you are an out-and-proud-sex-pest or anything Gaz....
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I thought we were all goners as soon as I saw the trailer for Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter - luckily we've survived ... so far.
My true opinion is the human race will die off before a catastrophe destroys the planet. Humans are becoming larger and larger, evolution wise, in just a century the average for a human male has gone up 5 inches. My theory is our body mass will continue to evolve larger, exceeding the growth of our hearts, until we have literally outgrown our own heart functions and slowly the average life expectancy begins to dwindle.
On the flipside this could further the research on artificial hearts, and other organs, but how strange would that be to know when you're born you will face major heart replacement surgery at some point in your life.
That 5 inches in male growth isn't because of evolution. It's because of hormones added to meat. It's why girls are menstruating younger and younger.
This isn't necessarily a good thing, we're breaking the "natural" way humans function.
I'd argue if anything, we're devolving since the weak can still survive in today's world. The more weak survive, the more that brings down the rest of the human race as a whole.
Oh, and from the original post, I forgot to include climate change. Deny it if you will. Maybe it's man's fault, maybe it's part of the global cycle, but one cannot doubt that things are getting worse. We had a snowstorm last October (extremely unusual in these parts), we had essentially zero snow this past winter, and we just had the hottest spring on record. What does this mean for the future? Are things suddenly just going to "normalize?"
The seas will rise and this will throw off the trade processes along coastline.
Yes and wtf at this Abraham Lincoln bull shit. What is entertainment these days? "Reality TV" has got to be the biggest abomination that's ever been created - but people will watch it because they enjoy it. It's geared to make people like it, despite it not depicting anything "real" whatsoever.
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Not that you are an out-and-proud-sex-pest or anything Gaz....
Course not, they all want it! I can see it on their faces....or the back of them..ah who gives a shit anyways it feels good. :-*
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If you guys want a serious laugh you should check out the movie "God Bless America". Film is not a dead medium yet.
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I think people are too fucking stupid in general and they don't really give a shit about anyone but the people in their little bubble. They don't mind taking a dick up the ass as long as they have control of the remote.
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True, people do seem to be a bit stupid lately.
But then how much time of this stupidity do you think we have left before we're too dumb to hold ourselves up anymore?
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I don't believe in nothing - I feel like they ought to burn down the world - just let it burn down baby.
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If the world come to it's end, i will have no more bills to pay! MOUHAHAHAHA
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I don't believe in nothing - I feel like they ought to burn down the world - just let it burn down baby.
I like the way you think and couldn't agree more. Need a match? ::)
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I don't believe in nothing - I feel like they ought to burn down the world - just let it burn down baby.
I like the way you think and couldn't agree more. Need a match? ::)
Where would it burn down to?
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I don't believe in nothing - I feel like they ought to burn down the world - just let it burn down baby.
I like the way you think and couldn't agree more. Need a match? ::)
Where would it burn down to?
The ground silly
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so the poor groups will be required to grow and continue like this for us to continue exploitation of them and progress, and the wealthy groups get smaller and smaller in comparison while the world seems to be going to shit for our short term luxuries, atleast for most people, and budgets tightening as stuff gets worse in so many new ways we'll need to adapt to..
I don't really see much of a problem with the basics of how this is going, rest of nature depends on similar things.. one superior (lucky?) party need to step on the weaker (unlucky?) to get higher up, which also may be the only path to help the less fortunate a step up later on. Pretty much the same thing?-
One fish needs to eat the smaller fish to survive and grow, only "problem" is if this smaller fish's life sucks/pains in the process. But what does that matter. . from a scientific point of view, why value another life or its lack of suffering so much to decrease the growth of the superior/lucky? That could be a bad idea and possibly the end of us all- for all we know an asteroid is killing us all with no second chanse tomorrow.. we should push max to reach space and settle elsewhere to assure our survival and all..
There is no reason to differentiate between us, all being life (whatever that really is/how it works/started etc.), only thing separating us is our bodies with brains that has been built thru environmental influence etc., I think "sacrifice" of a big part of this common life could help alot in many ways
I think the "problem" today on individual level causing misfortune as a result of all this is more peoples suffering as they are painfully aware of their huge misfortune in comparison to those higher up they know they can never reach, which again reduce productivity and holds us all back
For example as you can raise a child to live happily among feces if they don't know any better, have their brains release happy-chemicals etc. and express happiness similar to a rich person who gets a new Mercedes or whatever, in different situations, it's mostly about perspective I think..
I think eventually (hopefully) religion will be much less dominant and ethics/morals with no scientific/logical reason halting progress will need to be put aside to open for new opportunities-
For example a kind of slavery, although it sounds bad it's pretty much the same way it already works, just more honest I think-- maybe we should start to better brainwash the big poor groups, maybe even chemically/surgically alter their brains or genetically engineer to make them happier, better workers, unaware, thinking they are pretty high up already and not as far down as they're aware of being right now without any chanse of ever reaching up. Many people that otherwise would be no contribution and rather destructive living miserable lives and spreading misery as it is now. Unfair and all as we have it now, but in our current system seems unavoidable with all our flaws, how it depends on so much misery for us to live so well (compared to the big poor groups)
Altho they'd always need something higher to motivate them to push the little extra and not waste resources, I think much could be improved for these beings if we "shape" these bigger groups better, not to talk about the powers of "total control" this would provide.
Basically "shape" the huge otherwise miserable groups to happily run in hamster-wheels to generate our power on a bare minimum of fuel
Maybe it sounds pretty "evil" but I don't think it is, and I think it's pretty much the same as how stuff already works-
Example- for all we know it could be that we are a kind of slaves right now, to some alien race, they've just taken away our abilities to ever comprehend. May be we're actually (in their eyes) living in misery in some kind of hell, we just don't know better- looking at our neighbor/those worse off, seeing we do better than them and think we're happy living like this- stretching higher and working hard for minor useless crap that keeps us going/working while slowly progressing. I don't think it's such a bad idea to put someone one level below us in a similar direct way. Pretty much like now, just more honest and better for both parties. Only ethics/morals (religion?) without good scientific reasoning keeping most people from such ideas I think? This could decrease the misfortune/pain of both parties (for whatever reason) while speeding up progress
We're soon gonna be forced to some drastic changes anyway I think, bit by bit its getting tougher in most ways even tho we seem to optimize to adapt. As we compete in the same open market with parties like China who are willing to work much harder/longer it'll be forcefully evened out-- either they get less work time/more rights etc. eventually also resulting in less power (doubt their leaders will accept that seeing as they'll soon "own" us all as this is going if they go a little longer), or our side will need to push harder to keep up. I don't think our workers are willing to work as hard as a poor Chinese worker and eventually there'll be some changes to the system to keep up before we are all slaves of the superior ones in this capitalistic system where focus is only on the $
There'll also inevitably become worse in many ways, although bigger groups are growing wealthy- poor/miserable groups are growing even faster, and some time there'll gonna have to be a maximum/top, by then other changes will force itself thru- probably for the worse for all of us, we may prevent and decide how its going to be if we take the first step before that happens
Maybe the Chinese soon will take the first steps to engineering "super people" and make the rest of us inferior, and eventually decide slaying the rest of us to benefit progress. By then being inferior and all we'd have no choice and that could be seen as natural progression kinda too?
Alternatively... maybe we should be less hostile to the idea of some elite group (Bilderberg group or something like that?) going underground in their bunkers, storing away all our current knowledge etc. before releasing a virus to wipe out rest of humanity before they emerge to re-build a better more fair world for everyone.
Hopefully our elite already have some great master-plan to make it better for everyone in the end and don't just think about themselves/own group and short term, but I don't feel too sure about it and don't think its worth betting on possibly risking humanity in the progress..
But drastic stuff may need happening to even out and adapt to a tougher more competitive environment as it is now and I don't think any alternative is gonna be a pleasurable one for the ones lowest down.. this "slavery" thing is my suggestion for now.
Argued similarly elsewhere a few times but ppl just call me evil,stupid etc.. may be that's right and I'm just missing something, but for now I think this may be best for both parties.. atleast better than how it is today I think. worth mentioning Im overly tired and high,maybe some seems weird/incoherent or something=p
Not that it matters to me in any way right now (or ever)- I'm pretty lucky being well off and all already compared to most of the world, but assuming we're all "the same" besides our physical beings/brains right now I think it could be the best for each individual and everyone as a group in the long run. Again for all we know there'll be a virus,asteroid or whatever wiping us all out pretty soon that could have been avoided had we not progressed so slow thx to illogical ethics/morals..
stuff's getting worse, we may need to make some "bad"-looking choises along the way unless something potentially worse is forced upon us, biggest problem with this would be to get the public to accept such ideas before it could be too late
thoughts?
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The collapses of civilization is on the horizon, but how fast we're approaching it remains to be seen... prepare yourselves now so you don't get caught with your pants down.
-PJ
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All I know is the current system is coming to it's end and something will have to give, in our lifetimes.
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It already has been waaaaaaay before what we have going on here. I mean shit started going down hill when we started expanding west as a country (USA). We totally contradicted ourselves on our founding principals and morals in the constitution. And when the worldwide industrial movement came about, we fucked ourselves by starting to pollute the earth and mainly our drinking water. When shit like this happens like this http://news.discovery.com/earth/two-headed-baby-trout-from-selenium-pollution-120229.html (two headed fish in Idaho) and corporations are allowed to play politics (Like Monsanto and Halliburton). How can you not see that everything is coming down piece by piece. Especially when you have no control over things like the cartel or mafia and the drug trade. Or gun running and Child porn. See there is no such thing as the world collapsing on itself because the planet can and will survive and evolve one day without humans. It's when you say "world" your actually meaning that so called "secure bubble" you look through vicariously. When shit is actually falling down right in your back yard. You just don't always see it.
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Personally I don't think there is an imminent threat of collapse anywhere, except maybe Syria. In general people aren't intelligent enough to connect the dots and identify the real threat. I like to look at it this way: On that day in Sept. 2001 America's president and leaders claimed that Al-CIAduh attacked the World Trade Towers and America's economy, but it has been America's central bank, The Federal Reserve, that has been attacking our economy every day since. Where are those headlines? We talk about America's military 'fighting terrorism' around the world, but if you actually look up the definition of terrorism in Webster Merriam you will find that America is the one using terrorist tactics globally. America has helped to destabilize and overthrow governments for the past 150 years. Collapse only becomes imminent when the people rise up against the people and institutions that keep them in slave-like conditions. Then the brutal process begins anew.
Circumspectly, people enjoy their comfort zones and as long as they exist there will be no need for collapse. If they were smart enough to understand what is being done to them they might resist so it is best to keep people from that level of self-awareness and intelligence. It seems to be working like a charm right now.
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The world is getting better imo. But resource depletion is commencing faster as capitalism and globalism keep towards the infinite growth paradigm. Yadda yadda. I'm waiting for the power issue to crack. If power gets cracked... as in... some company, indiviudals, pioneers basically... create the harnessing of real energy... all of us who attain it can tell the grid to go fuck itself. then we will be onto something.
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On the basis that Peak Oil has already happened (in 1989) then, at current levels of consumption and assuming the world population reaches 8bn by 2019 and 9bn by 2024 before peaking at 10bn (stats according to Prof Hans Rosling) then I guess that we will be in real sh*t by 2027 by which time all known oil reserves will have been depleated. However, much much before then we will have total collapse of the world markets on a scale we haven't seen before. This will coincide with the realisation that 'growth' (the concept on which all our markets are based) is no longer possible without oil.
That is...unless we find a viable alternative fuel in the meantime......
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On the basis that Peak Oil has already happened (in 1989) then, at current levels of consumption and assuming the world population reaches 8bn by 2019 and 9bn by 2024 before peaking at 10bn (stats according to Prof Hans Rosling) then I guess that we will be in real sh*t by 2027 by which time all known oil reserves will have been depleated. However, much much before then we will have total collapse of the world markets on a scale we haven't seen before. This will coincide with the realisation that 'growth' (the concept on which all our markets are based) is no longer possible without oil.
That is...unless we find a viable alternative fuel in the meantime......
Speaking of, look up The Venus Project. They have schematics to use already available technology to power the entire world's need of energy. We just actually need to do it. Problem is, it's not really that profitable to just give people free energy :/
As for the world collapsing, it won't. Once countries near depletion of resources (or even before that), superpowers are going to start getting imperial and shit again. America, Russia, England, etc are going to start spreading outwards and plundering nearby lands for resources until war is once again declared. Hopefully sooner than later so we can have another 50 years or so of tranquility; by then we might have enough advancements in technology to be less greedy and distribute resources to everyone's content. My advice to stay safe in the upcoming war? Develop a skillset that'll be useful to your government's military; computers, networking, engineering, ecology, chemistry. It'll keep your family immune from most of the harsh tides that are to come.
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Height increase is due to less malnutrition. It's not like we've evolved and have a changing genetic code over the course of a century. Gene switches are the only thing accounting for new distribution of qualities. :-\
I thought we were all goners as soon as I saw the trailer for Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter - luckily we've survived ... so far.
My true opinion is the human race will die off before a catastrophe destroys the planet. Humans are becoming larger and larger, evolution wise, in just a century the average for a human male has gone up 5 inches. My theory is our body mass will continue to evolve larger, exceeding the growth of our hearts, until we have literally outgrown our own heart functions and slowly the average life expectancy begins to dwindle.
On the flipside this could further the research on artificial hearts, and other organs, but how strange would that be to know when you're born you will face major heart replacement surgery at some point in your life.
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- if it totally implodes ie the economy no basic services, I WOULDNT HAVE TO GO TO WORK.
TWM
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Nuclear energy is dangerous causing radiation problems.
-Nuclear energy is actually very safe. This is a common misconception.
Why is it okay for people to own 3 houses and 8 cars?
-The only person I know who makes this amount of money is a Anesthesiologist. This consists of four years of high school, four years of college, and eight years of medical school. He deserves what he currently makes.
It's only a matter of time before Europe crumbles and the rest of the world with it. America just prints more and more money, or writes money (as debt) out of thin air to pay for things. It's why we're the "prosperous" country we are today.
-You would be surprised at the lengths the rich go through to keep their money. This will not happen anytime soon. America thought it was a brilliant idea to diverge from the gold standard around WWII. They were trying to have the USD become a world currency. They succeeded but have been in decline since then.
How long can this hold?
-A fairly long amount of time. People will go to great lengths to survive. Civilizations rise, and civilizations fall.
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Anyday soon, maybe tomorrow.
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Anyday soon, maybe tomorrow.
Don't get my hopes up!
*Looks towards safe containing drugs stash, guns, and "Everyone I'm going to kill before I die" list*
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Anyday soon, maybe tomorrow.
Don't get my hopes up!
*Looks towards safe containing drugs stash, guns, and "Everyone I'm going to kill before I die" list*
I used to have nightmares everyday when I was younger about the earth being destroyed by us, now I couldn`t care less.
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Anyday soon, maybe tomorrow.
Don't get my hopes up!
*Looks towards safe containing drugs stash, guns, and "Everyone I'm going to kill before I die" list*
I used to have nightmares everyday when I was younger about the earth being destroyed by us, now I couldn`t care less.
Honestly, I look forward to it.