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05/28/2012 01:34:12 AM · #1 |
How bad is it?
So long, and thanks for all the cars with tail fins. |
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05/28/2012 01:40:03 AM · #2 |
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05/28/2012 01:41:21 AM · #3 |
| Oh it's bad allright, and getting worse every day! |
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05/28/2012 02:13:24 AM · #4 |
| See, I told you if you use the nude gallery your hit rate increases. Oh yeah, too bad about those Americans...do they still live around here? I'm looking forward to the new dark ages, something fresh, societal flagellation has never really been my scene, born under the wrong star I was. My time here is almost up as well, better jump than be pushed ;) Adios Amigo. |
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05/28/2012 02:45:50 AM · #5 |
However bad things are, the situation would be a lot better if  ubique gave us back his portfolio and started entering his stuff again, small drops count.
Ignorance is easier understood when one can see one's own, I'm stuffed full of it.
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05/28/2012 10:28:10 AM · #6 |
| As humanity stares down the barrel of a gun we are busy arguing what colored condom to use. Good luck Paul, be safe. Love ya. |
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05/28/2012 10:34:51 AM · #7 |
| as bad as it sounds, i am hopeful. my kids (14 & 16) not only know all the factlets mentioned in the first two paragraphs, they are able to discuss them intelligently. and they go to public schools. i'm sure they're not the only ones... |
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05/28/2012 10:42:42 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by Skip:
as bad as it sounds, i am hopeful. my kids (14 & 16) not only know all the factlets mentioned in the first two paragraphs, they are able to discuss them intelligently. and they go to public schools. i'm sure they're not the only ones... |
Exactly. And as long as there are kids that are taught to care, there is hope.
I agree though, that the situation is dire. |
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05/28/2012 11:33:55 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by Skip:
as bad as it sounds, i am hopeful. my kids (14 & 16) not only know all the factlets mentioned in the first two paragraphs, they are able to discuss them intelligently. and they go to public schools. i'm sure they're not the only ones... |
We're quick to believe everything we read. Sorry. I don't buy the statistics. Where is the link to the studies? What samples did they take and from where?
Do I truly believe that there are ignorant people? Yes. Do I believe the numbers quoted in the article? No. Perhaps we should read the book How to Lie With Statistics.
We do need to improve education. Unfortunately, it's one of the first things cut. Perhaps because the people with money have money and support private education. Kind of silly if you're worried about the state of the union.
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05/28/2012 12:11:54 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by vawendy:
We're quick to believe everything we read. Sorry. I don't buy the statistics. Where is the link to the studies? What samples did they take and from where? |
Does this even matter? Psychology has shown that when your deepest convictions are challenged by contradictory evidence, your beliefs get stronger.
CS
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05/28/2012 12:39:41 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by cosmicassassin:
Originally posted by vawendy:
We're quick to believe everything we read. Sorry. I don't buy the statistics. Where is the link to the studies? What samples did they take and from where? |
Does this even matter? Psychology has shown that when your deepest convictions are challenged by contradictory evidence, your beliefs get stronger.
CS |
That's because you need to prove those GD Blasphemers WRONG! and the only way to do that is to have more faith that you will succeed ;p
Honestly though, with this article it's just a highlight on a bigger problem: people not taking an active interest in making sure their children are educated and relying on others to do it for them.
You did the deed, you raise your kids; don't blame others when and if you fail as a parent. Talk to your kids, help them with homework, help them see the world and know more than what happens in their local area; make sure they know what has happened before so that they are less likely to repeat a mistake (at least in the same way). It's called parenting and it seems to have gone to hell in the past half-century.
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05/28/2012 12:45:20 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by Kelli:
Originally posted by Skip:
as bad as it sounds, i am hopeful. my kids (14 & 16) not only know all the factlets mentioned in the first two paragraphs, they are able to discuss them intelligently. and they go to public schools. i'm sure they're not the only ones... |
Exactly. And as long as there are kids that are taught to care, there is hope.
I agree though, that the situation is dire. |
We must remain hopeful, if for no other reason than life becomes unbearable without hope, and because the forces of darkness win in the face of too much pessimism.
I also know some of those kids; for their sake, one has to try to improve things. And figuring out a better way to live is just a better way to live.
Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in. ~ Leonard Cohen ~ |
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05/28/2012 12:51:37 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by vawendy:
We're quick to believe everything we read. Sorry. I don't buy the statistics. Where is the link to the studies? What samples did they take and from where?
Do I truly believe that there are ignorant people? Yes. Do I believe the numbers quoted in the article? No. Perhaps we should read the book How to Lie With Statistics.
We do need to improve education. Unfortunately, it's one of the first things cut. Perhaps because the people with money have money and support private education. Kind of silly if you're worried about the state of the union. |
The article's only partly about education, about ignorant things people believe. Even if you discount those statistics, not knowing how they were derived, don't you find THIS chilling?
Originally posted by The Article:
As every literate person knows, economic inequality in the United States is off the charts Ă¢€“ at third-world levels. The results were recently summarized by James Speth in Orion magazine. Of the 20 advanced democracies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the U.S. has the highest poverty rate, for both adults and children; the lowest rate of social mobility; the lowest score on UN indexes of child welfare and gender inequality; the highest ratio of health care expenditure to GDP, combined with the lowest life expectancy and the highest rates of infant mortality, mental illness, obesity, inability to afford health care, and personal bankruptcy resulting from medical expenses; the highest homicide rate; and the highest incarceration rate. Nor are the baneful effects of AmericaĂ¢€™s social and economic order confined within our borders; among OECD nations the U.S. also has the highest carbon dioxide emissions, the highest per capita water consumption, the next-to-largest ecological footprint, the next-to-lowest score on the Yale Environmental Performance Index, the highest (by a colossal margin) per capita rate of military spending and arms sales, and the next-to-lowest rate of per capita spending on international development and humanitarian assistance. |
Or do you disbelieve that also?
R.
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05/28/2012 01:13:34 PM · #14 |
It's all a belly button problem, untill we realize that happiness is not an individual matter, our wealthy societies will remain ignorant. We live in a culture where we are led to believe that self gratification will bring us happiness, we discover quite quickly that it's not true, so what do we do, we choose to fill our lives up to the brim with useless crap to fill the void, this is easier than asking other harder questions. Just look at what is successful in the world today, it's all about shallowly occupying our time, it works because the other option is to painful. let's just twitter away, defend our intransigent opinions and share our photos and bits of meaningless tripe until the end, time will fly by and we'll be left with only one question: what was that all about.
If you hadn't noticed, I'm having a bummer of a day :-)
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05/28/2012 01:16:43 PM · #15 |
if you really want to look at things from another side, check out schooling the world...
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by vawendy:
We're quick to believe everything we read. Sorry. I don't buy the statistics. Where is the link to the studies? What samples did they take and from where?
Do I truly believe that there are ignorant people? Yes. Do I believe the numbers quoted in the article? No. Perhaps we should read the book How to Lie With Statistics.
We do need to improve education. Unfortunately, it's one of the first things cut. Perhaps because the people with money have money and support private education. Kind of silly if you're worried about the state of the union. |
The article's only partly about education, about ignorant things people believe. Even if you discount those statistics, not knowing how they were derived, don't you find THIS chilling?
Originally posted by The Article:
As every literate person knows, economic inequality in the United States is off the charts Ă¢€“ at third-world levels. The results were recently summarized by James Speth in Orion magazine. Of the 20 advanced democracies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the U.S. has the highest poverty rate, for both adults and children; the lowest rate of social mobility; the lowest score on UN indexes of child welfare and gender inequality; the highest ratio of health care expenditure to GDP, combined with the lowest life expectancy and the highest rates of infant mortality, mental illness, obesity, inability to afford health care, and personal bankruptcy resulting from medical expenses; the highest homicide rate; and the highest incarceration rate. Nor are the baneful effects of AmericaĂ¢€™s social and economic order confined within our borders; among OECD nations the U.S. also has the highest carbon dioxide emissions, the highest per capita water consumption, the next-to-largest ecological footprint, the next-to-lowest score on the Yale Environmental Performance Index, the highest (by a colossal margin) per capita rate of military spending and arms sales, and the next-to-lowest rate of per capita spending on international development and humanitarian assistance. |
Or do you disbelieve that also?
R. |
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05/28/2012 01:24:50 PM · #16 |
If more people tried to better themselve and we had less people asking for a handout thing would get much better. We have become a lazy society. Until people stop and take a look we will still be declining. Not everything can be free....someone has got to pay for it....until people realize that, we are in trouble.
I have more respect for a single mother that works 2 or 3 jobs but still has to have some assistance just to put food on the table....then someone that is the CEO or a company.
I also have no respect for the person that is able to work...chooses not to....expects something from the govt...and then complains that it isn't enough.
I'm sorry there are just certain things about our society that burn me up. |
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05/28/2012 01:37:45 PM · #17 |
Originally posted by cowboy221977:
I have more respect for a single mother that works 2 or 3 jobs but still has to have some assistance just to put food on the table....then someone that is the CEO or a company. |
Why? Are you implying the CEO doesn't deserve his/her lot in life?
CS
Message edited by author 2012-05-28 13:37:57. |
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05/28/2012 02:37:58 PM · #18 |
Well Bear's quite right. The point isn't the factoids about stultifying stupidity and ignorance that introduce the article. The point is that we are present for the inevitable decent of a now ethically and morally corrupt civilisation from primacy into vacuous, hedonistic barbarism. All that was good is now wasted. It's happened before: it's just the USA's turn now. The only difference this time is that the world's gotten smaller, so everybody who bought the ticket takes the ride.
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05/28/2012 02:50:59 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by cosmicassassin:
Originally posted by cowboy221977:
I have more respect for a single mother that works 2 or 3 jobs but still has to have some assistance just to put food on the table....then someone that is the CEO or a company. |
Why? Are you implying the CEO doesn't deserve his/her lot in life?
CS |
ok you misunderstand my point. I still greatly respect a very succesful person (like a CEO) I was trying to make the point that there are too many handouts in this country. It is not up to that CEO to pay for everyone the does not want a job. However a hardworking person that absolutely tries but still needs help...I think deserves some assistance. |
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05/28/2012 03:02:45 PM · #20 |
| George Carlin speaks your soul Paul. Nothing for it but be notetakers i guess. |
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05/28/2012 03:04:18 PM · #21 |
Originally posted by cowboy221977:
ok you misunderstand my point. I still greatly respect a very succesful person (like a CEO) I was trying to make the point that there are too many handouts in this country. It is not up to that CEO to pay for everyone the does not want a job. However a hardworking person that absolutely tries but still needs help...I think deserves some assistance. |
I'll agree with you there. It wasn't clear in your first response. The part about respect could have been taking in the context of the working mother compared to the CEO and not about putting food on the table, which was your point.
CS |
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05/28/2012 06:30:34 PM · #22 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by vawendy:
We're quick to believe everything we read. Sorry. I don't buy the statistics. Where is the link to the studies? What samples did they take and from where?
Do I truly believe that there are ignorant people? Yes. Do I believe the numbers quoted in the article? No. Perhaps we should read the book How to Lie With Statistics.
We do need to improve education. Unfortunately, it's one of the first things cut. Perhaps because the people with money have money and support private education. Kind of silly if you're worried about the state of the union. |
The article's only partly about education, about ignorant things people believe. Even if you discount those statistics, not knowing how they were derived, don't you find THIS chilling?
Originally posted by The Article:
As every literate person knows, economic inequality in the United States is off the charts Ă¢€“ at third-world levels. The results were recently summarized by James Speth in Orion magazine. Of the 20 advanced democracies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the U.S. has the highest poverty rate, for both adults and children; the lowest rate of social mobility; the lowest score on UN indexes of child welfare and gender inequality; the highest ratio of health care expenditure to GDP, combined with the lowest life expectancy and the highest rates of infant mortality, mental illness, obesity, inability to afford health care, and personal bankruptcy resulting from medical expenses; the highest homicide rate; and the highest incarceration rate. Nor are the baneful effects of AmericaĂ¢€™s social and economic order confined within our borders; among OECD nations the U.S. also has the highest carbon dioxide emissions, the highest per capita water consumption, the next-to-largest ecological footprint, the next-to-lowest score on the Yale Environmental Performance Index, the highest (by a colossal margin) per capita rate of military spending and arms sales, and the next-to-lowest rate of per capita spending on international development and humanitarian assistance. |
Or do you disbelieve that also?
R. |
No. But I don't respect when people need to use questionable statistics to support their claims. I find myself lending less credence to the rest of their arguments. I've seen way too many presentations with misleading statistics. And I'm quite tired of it, because people gobble it up without questioning the sources. The last time was during school redistricting, and not only were the statistics skewed, but they weren't even possible. And no one questioned them until I pointed out that the numbers presented were impossible.
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05/28/2012 06:36:59 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by vawendy:
No. But I don't respect when people need to use questionable statistics to support their claims. I find myself lending less credence to the rest of their arguments. I've seen way too many presentations with misleading statistics. And I'm quite tired of it, because people gobble it up without questioning the sources. The last time was during school redistricting, and not only were the statistics skewed, but they weren't even possible. And no one questioned them until I pointed out that the numbers presented were impossible. |
+110%
Also, consider that the US version of "poverty" includes having a decent place to live with air conditioning, a TV or two, cable, cell phones and internet. |
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05/28/2012 06:44:51 PM · #24 |
Originally posted by Art Roflmao:
Originally posted by vawendy:
No. But I don't respect when people need to use questionable statistics to support their claims. I find myself lending less credence to the rest of their arguments. I've seen way too many presentations with misleading statistics. And I'm quite tired of it, because people gobble it up without questioning the sources. The last time was during school redistricting, and not only were the statistics skewed, but they weren't even possible. And no one questioned them until I pointed out that the numbers presented were impossible. |
+110%
Also, consider that the US version of "poverty" includes having a decent place to live with air conditioning, a TV or two, cable, cell phones and internet. |
In this country that is called "Prison"
Ray |
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05/28/2012 06:47:38 PM · #25 |
Originally posted by vawendy:
No. But I don't respect when people need to use questionable statistics to support their claims. |
Personally I am not in any position to accept or refute these statistics, but I do hope that information in this regard is available somewhere... it would make interesting reading and give up some perspective as to what truly does exist.
Ray |
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