Opinion: Is it Time to Revolt?
They say that it's always easier to write about a topic that you feel strongly about, so I'm going to kick off this weekly series of opinion pieces with a theme that is close to my heart...
We've all got our priorities messed up, and while it might not be the death of us, there is certainly something that has died and started to rot. It happens to most of us during our teenage years, a time when wearing the right clothes and doing what's expected of us to "get ahead" is the norm - study hard, get married and make babies, aim for the job that pays well, and you'll be doing damn fine, right? The large majority of us swallow that pill without even asking for a gulp of water to wash it down, and it doesn't take long for things like bank payments for that $40,000 truck, shopping for the latest clothes, and going to a job the you likely hate to take the place of the fun that you used to have with friends when on your mountain bike. It doesn't have to be like that, though, and the fact that you're here, right now, means that there is a good chance that you might be open to the idea of a revolt of sorts. No, a military coup won't be required, and you don't even need a black ski mask for this rebellion. What do you need to do, then? Only to ride your f*cking bike.
With a truckload of hundred thousand dollar bills
Man came by to hook up my cable TV
We settled in for the night my baby and me
We switched 'round and 'round 'til half-past dawn
There was fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Bruce Springsteen might have had no idea when he penned "57 Channels" that the figure wouldn't cover the number needed to harbour reality shows about a bunch of sisters married to the same man, old hairy men in camouflage who made millions by imitating a bird, or programming like Big Brother that strives to drill home how lying to other liars can win you half a million dollars. Yes, The Boss' lyrics might be an analogy for an empty and soon to be failed relationship, but when taken in a much more literal sense, they strike a nerve in me in a way that only trying to watch said television for a few hours can do. I'm not quite to the point of using a .44 Magnum to silence the beast (as happens in the third verse) but I've certainly been tempted to put my SPD clad riding shoe through the screen. The thing is, though, it's not the television's fault. Nor is it the smartphone that constantly needs to be updated to run even faster so you can save a few seconds while checking Facebook to find out what your friends ate for dinner, seconds that most people are likely to squander by sitting in traffic anyways. And, as much as we like to use them as scapegoats, it's also not the fault of the famous faces that "grace" the cover of tabloid magazines that we're forced to look at when paying for groceries at the check-out counter. Sorry, we can't really pin the blame on the Kardashians (although I'm sure their entire clan is guilty of something worthy of a tarring and feathering, and I might turn on the TV for that one). No, the problem is you. It's me. It's your wife, your husband, your neighbor, and your neighbor's uncle. We lost the plot ages ago and we all seem to be just fine with that fact.
 | We stopped following our passions at some point, and instead started to follow the tracks that were laid down by people who don't know what's best for us, yet we still look up to those who stayed true to their own passions. Wayne Gretzky, the garbage man. Will Smith, the accountant. Michael Schumacher, the valet - those don't sound right, do they? Do they sound any better when your name is substituted in place? |
What do we do now? I suspect that the majority of us have already dug ourselves sizeable holes that are much deeper than the recommended six feet and filled with things like four bedroom homes for our two-person families, giant televisions beaming the latest episode of Big Brother straight into your living room at near-life size proportions that make the family dog nervous, and a wardrobe selection that's big enough to keep you from having to wash any clothing for at least two months, all things that make those memories of responsibility-free days in the saddle a bit foggy. It's not too late, though, regardless of how little time you think you have to spare, and your personal uprising most certainly doesn't require walking away from your current life of relative luxury. But remember, your time is literally running out. There is an overwhelming chance that you won't live comfortably into your nineties and then die in your sleep a happy man, yet we all seem to have convinced ourselves that will be the case. No, there is a good chance that the big C is going to take you out long before that. Or heart disease. Or a massive Cadillac driven by someone who was lucky enough to see their ninetieth birthday.
Wake up tomorrow morning and call work to tell them that you're sick and won't be coming in. Pawn your kids off on someone for a few hours. Cancel the appointment that you didn't want to go to anyways. Stop pretending to be so goddamned responsible if all you want to do is go ride your bike around in circles, pop wheelies, and lay down huge skids. The truth is that it doesn't matter, and that the world will continue to go around. What does matter, though, is that you'll be out riding your bike and that you'll feel damn good about it. It's not too late to revolt, and if only a single person who reads this does so, I'll consider the time spent writing these words and the ride I missed to do so as being well worth it.
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on...
Photos: Dan Milner
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Mr. Bukowski
There is a lot of trouble in France actually, and i think we are going to enter in a new economic model in few month/year. You should search some informations about what's happening all around the world, the gold business, etc.. to understand why you work a lot to win nothing. If everybody's informed, we could make something good... instead of war, again and again ...
- Dude Lebowski
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.”
― Charles Bukowski
(joking…I was there recently. Unfortunately w/o the bike.)
who told you this fairy tale?
To day if an activity isn't profitable for a shareholder, this activity won't be develloped While it could be very profitable for the society.
Anyway you defend capitalism but it seems you don't understand the situation. If your ok atm, when the 1% will take you some% of the Fruit of your work to refund the debt they created by themself, there is a moment you won't have enough to eat and you will revolte to protect yourself and your family. if you're in the lucky 1%, i think you should learn how to run fast, because the 99% remaning are not gonna kiss you. Everybody's watching for the Next fed QE. That's a month question.
If you think it's a dream will never happen i suggest you to look what's happen in Europe.
It's tough guys, it's tough... never settle for one idea, never read only one book...
Lotta stuff in there i agree with waki....
now i should reassess what wrong with me:/
Nations need to get back to the trades..vs liberal arts
Please, google the UN millennial goals. In 1990, 45% of the world lived on less than $1.25 (US) a day. Now that is near 20% and the world population has grown.
“Commerce [and] entrepreneurial capitalism take more people out of poverty than aid. We need Africa to become an economic powerhouse.”--Bono, of U2
Just as some people blame "capitalism" for all the bad crap they think it does, people like you praise it for good things it doesn't do either. And Bono became and incredible twit, anyone taking seriously the things he says should get his head checked. He has as much interest in economy as the minister of finance. Capitalism is no system, no science, it is an ideology, an utopia and as any other it cannot sustain itself in reality forever. It's the most successful one, since ancient and middle age tyrannies but nothing is too big to fail
Also, look at the standard of living that the developing wold now VS two decades ago. Western growth has improved conditions in Africa and the poor parts of Asia and South America. Please, take some time and watch this
www.learnliberty.org/videos/how-fight-global-poverty
Standard of living is going up but at what cost - what risk? You assume that the players know what they are doing and they contact each other in order to make good decisions, and well free market does not like control isn't it? How about competition? You assume that there is some natural self preservation instinct among players that tells them when they are going too far.
Make no mistake - I do enjoy my freedom
Love it or hate it, the free market capitalism that most of the world has embraced is definitely producing some clear results:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=22jR1faWOOA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Govt and big business/banks have so corrupted the idea of true free markets , it dosent even resemble the concept anymore.
oddly enough, as an agnostic I believe the world would be better off with religon(s) that would cause you (me) to self regulate our behavior by believing in a man in the sky, versus govt, dictators and regulations to do it for us.
I tend to vote for maximum freedom regardless of the consequences.
Also,"irregardless" is not a word.
As for the rest of you: free market Capitalism DIDN"T cause the 2008 crash. The Banking/investment industry in the United States and Europe is the most regulated (non-freemarket) industries in their respective economies.
So scary1, which religion do you choose to guide the human race? Let me guess, Christianity? The Muslims will love that! Perhaps you could invent a religion?
Then this:
"I tend to vote for maximum freedom regardless of the consequences."
Which, when applied to every environmental issue we face, really means this:
"I tend to vote for maximum freedom (for myself) regardless of the consequences (for my daughter's future). Then this to back it up:
".Id like anyone to point out solutions that would in general, leave me alone and have others mind their business."
Those solutions you seek don't exist, your type just pretends they do. I think the results of neo-liberal version of free market capitalism that you embrace have shown that quite clearly looking at the environmental and financial mess we are handing over to our children.
Then hamncheez claims capitalism didn't cause the crash but clearly doesn't have a clue about what did cause it since he definately thinks it wasn't from lack of regulation. I can't wait to hear what ideas he might have to offer as the cause?
You guys should just resort to insulting me now, because you obviously don't have much of a clue about what you are talking about...
Hamncheez, you started out here defending capitalism, what happened, you sounded so confident at first? I guess you finally came to the hard conclusion capitalism did in fact fail, didn't you? Because it clearly did. Of course you don't want to debate here anymore, all if your ideas defending capitalism are completely bogus. You simply want to feel you are a part of something good, when the reality is that the long term will prove that free market capitalism's current ponzi scheme I described above will be judged in the end as the biggest crime in the history of humanity.
scary1, it's become obvious you have no clue about anything you are talking about, you epitomize American right wing nonsense which has no credibility on any subject. I'm still curious about this quote from you:
scary1 wrote "You seriously think this is capitaism?Govt and big business/banks have so corrupted the idea of true free markets , it dosent even resemble the concept anymore."
So what is it then, dumbass? Capitalism of course leads to corruption because it is based upon greed. The only thing that prevents it from being corrupted is regulations, which you clearly think are unnecessary. Feeling stupid yet?
It is an absolute straw-man fallacy to say that we had free market capitalism in 2008 and then say it failed. It is a clear and glaring demonstration that socialism ( Socialism is nothing more than opinions with guns) failed, as it has time and time again.
Yes, the community reinvestment act...Carter/clinton/Bush.
World markets should be very concerned now that usa is no longer a representative republic!
Hamncheez - I live in Scandinavia. Socialism does work here, we might not have 15 nuclear carrier groups and thousands of nuclear warheads but it's cool in here
Seriously, I really can't figure you out.Everything on this planet exists in a parasitic relationship with its host.You seem to have 0 self hatred with your "excess" of dh Mtn bikes which rape the earth of precious aluminum in a a disgusting , violent process.Nevermind the man made processes to yield the horrible plastics , gold , silver , copper and platinum contained of YOUR computer.
If you can convince me that you live in a lean to(sp)subsistence farm your own vegetables (and only vegetables) make your clothes out of hemp , and access the Internet using telepathy, deliberately making sure not to access, use or benefit from any man made technologies or advancements from the last 6000 years (when God made the earth) I will bow down before you, withdraw all my arguments and praise your brilliant insights daily on this website.
-Or just stop making tantrum - like arguments of spoiled 15 year old who's never experienced the harsh realities of life, refuses anyone else have joy and has no purpose in life other than perpetual discontent.
Also, the Nordic cultures are very literate. The culture there promotes saving and investment more than others. Its a culture of hard work and saving for the future. This can be seen when Swedes immigrate to the US (sorry to keep using Sweden, but its the country with the best data) they increase their average income around 50% of the average Swede in Sweden, which is also 25% higher than the average American income.
Many Nordic countries also have abundant state-controlled oil resources for relatively small populations.
This despite the fact that socialism does not exist in America as a political force?! wtf? Where is the Socialist party in America that drove these policies of subsidizing financial interests? These "socialist" forces, which aren't actually socialist at all, are simply a result of the failure of Democracy-based capitalism. Free people elected the leaders that corrupted the finances and didn't hold those leaders accountable because they didn't care. They cooked the books while you weren't paying attention and now in retrospect you try to call it "socialism". Pathetic..., but very expected from Americans.
hamncheez wrote "The monetary system is socialized. Big banks were guaranteed a bailout. "
No, they actually weren't. The Fed could have let them fail, but they stepped in and bailed all of their corporate friends out...again, nothing to do with socialism and everything to do with capitalist-based greed.
If anything, what caused the financial crisis that caused The Great Ponzi Scheme we all are a part of now was the corporatization of the financial system, which is an inevitable, irresistible force of capitalism. Most of the bailout money went to corporate interests,
money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/bailouttracker/index.html
and considering how corporations largely control what the US govt does, it is most likely these corporate forces who are actually responsible for the "socialist" policies you complain about. The dominant corporate model of the last 30 years or so is to maximize private profits while minimizing public risk. i.e. bankrupt the govt for your own private benefit. This explains why we are so completely screwed in the future and it is the innevitable result of the greed capitalism creates.
This is apparently the longest exchange of word-count maxed posts on PB ever... at least ever since I can remember. We've beaten the wheel size debate and "what is enduro" all together.
Hamncheez - one last thing, you obviously know more and have all the data, but consider it that you sound a bit like people who say: Stalinism wasn't real communism, he distorted and corrupted the ideals - it boils down to: "he was killing the wrong people
Although the first line of that post made me chuckle, I sent you a post dripping with sarcasm from top to bottom and you pull out the 6000 years comment as my deepest belief. Thanks for not addressing the many hypocrisies of your existence.That would have prolonged this to and fro and you would have had to do some introspection.But, I'm pretty sure that requires having a soul...so..yeah......yer kinda stuck anyway we look at it.
Anyhoo.....its been fun.Certainly glad to know can "laugh a little".Didn't know Vulcans can do that.
No, you are just looking for something to blame the obvious failures of capitalism on.
"Its true, people in the US have been giving up control over their own lives, little by little over the last few years,"
A few years? Try about 30, that was Ronald Reagan stated the high deficit spending and govt deregulation that started the trend of letting corporations dictate what the US govt does. And here is your poorly thought out, laughable solution that is the main talking point of the corporate approach that has decimated our economy and environment so clearly:
"but the answer is not more government control"
Of course not! Why would we want to do anything that threatens corporate profits! Then you have the audacity to complain that corporations are taxed too much, despite the fact that most US corporations don't actually pay taxes at all because they have so effectively corrupted the system. The "mountains" of regulation you complain about are actually full of loopholes to provide these corporations to not pay taxes and limit their liability. Then this to cap off your obvious pro-corporate philosophy:
"More government won't solve these problems; they will make it worse."
Then I assume you think that more corporate influence is needed in government?? Are you really naive enough to believe these corporations have your best interests in mind? I don't think you understand "government", hamncheez. Government is all the people have on their side in protecting them from exploitation from corporate interests. It's amazing that so many Americans think that government is an evil force and letting the corporations do what they want is a good thing. It is as if the corporations have completely and effectively brainwashed their citizens to the point of no return.
"Corporations good! Government bad! Regulations bad! Blame all failures of capitalism on socialism! "
Repeat in American Economics class 101 300 times daily for a free mcdonalds cheeseburger and absolutely no chance of a future for the young people on the planet. Guess we can go back to enjoying the temporary benefits of The Great Ponzi Scheme that drives the world economy.
Another interesting fact: corporations are CREATED by government action. In a free market economy with limited government, any business would have to operate like a small business. Government regulation created corporations. Rich businessmen lobbied to get laws that protect them from liability from actions taken by their business.
Even with corporations, there is one difference between them and a government: Governments have guns. Best Buy doesn't. If you don't like Apple, you can elect not to fund them by not buying any of their stuff. Taxes are extracted from me by the threat of a gun.
I believe Stalin, whom you would obviously love , described you best as a "useful idiot".
It's as if you have never ever read a history book...even worse , it's as if you have read a history book and just ...dont...f*cking...care.
Your straw man arguments are rather impressive, to bad no one here is spitting out the words your trying shove in our mouths.You're absolutely ridiculous.
Feel free to Google How Govt becomes Oppressive. Our founding fathers understood perfectly well the nature of govt, human beings, and why our country is setup the way it is...not that anyone abides by its laws anyway.
I have to leave now and knock the shit out of my punching bag with your face on it. (I printed out a picture of Russell Brand as a substitute, as he infuriates me for the same reason.Hypocrisy and arrogance.)
That statement is so absurd, as usual for you. . If the govt is small and limited the corporations don't need to lobby because there are no regulations to prevent them from exploiting the population or the environment fo" their own profit, at the public's expense. More bad logic;
"In a free market economy with limited government, any business would have to operate like a small business."
What does that ridiculous statement even mean? You apparently believe that if there were no govt regulation businesses would magically behave better and not be corrupt? Are you really that naive? Clearly you are:
"Government regulation created corporations. Rich businessmen lobbied to get laws that protect them from liability from actions taken by their business."
Again, you ridiculously try to blame "government" for the failures of capitalism to control the greed that capitalism clearly creates. Nice try, but not working.
Best Buy doesn't have guns but Halliburton and Blackwater do.
Hamncheez, I'm curious where you actually "studied" economics? Online class sponsored by The Heritage Foundation?
When you say businesses are corrupt, its true that some are. But what happens to corrupt businesses? They go out of business. Its checked by the market. What checks corrupt government? Google the UN report on North Korea. Look at whats happening in the Ukraine.
The only way a greedy businessman can get rich without hiring the government is to provide a service or good that people will buy. You can only lie and cheat people out of money for a short time before you end up bankrupt.
Is there a role for government? Of course! Some guy cheats you or lies about their product then you sue them and their business! Very powerful incentive to not lie and cheat!
Umm.... very easily. A 12 year old could have told you that.
"But what happens to corrupt businesses? They go out of business."
My god you really are a completely naive child. Successful corporations have to be corrupt to be successful for the most part. How do you think they avoid paying taxes and get subsidies from govt? ALL the oil companies are obviously corrupt, for example.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/dark-money-funds-climate-change-denial-effort
Hamncheez I wondered why you never answered any of my questions but it has become obvious you are intellectually incapable. You write like a 11 year old and the logical side obviously hasn't progressed much beyond that either. Anyone who is paying attention to anything going on in the world would not write something as stupidly naive as this:
Hamncheez "You can only lie and cheat people out of money for a short time before you end up bankrupt."
No, Hamncheez, lying and creating are the easy way to make money in capitalism. Look around you, kiddo.
Well, enjoy your capitalist Ponzi Scheme while it lasts
m.chronicle.com/article/We-Are-All-Madoffs/48182
According to your most recent display of bad logic in your long string of right wing mental diarrhea, nobody can criticize anything they are a part of. Incredibly not convincing.
You came on here naively spouting the benifits of capitalism, got immediately shot down on that, and then you never even denied it was a ponzi scheme, never answered one question, or even attempted to counter any of my ideas.
You call that a debate?
-Socrates
You gave up defending capitalism as soon as I pointed out the fact that it is a Ponzi scheme lie, very ineffectively tried to blame the financial crash on socialism, and then resorted to complaining about government regulation. What next? Global warming is a hoax? Obama is a muslim socialist who wasnt born in America? Corporations deserve the same rights as individuals? Give me some more of those unique American right wing nuggets of intellectual genius, sponsored by WalMart, AIG, and Exxon.
I have a friend whom just won a contract to make aerodynamic parts for walmart trucks.
$2million.
Am I anti 'chamber of crony capitalists' and many of the k street bundlers and establishment rino republicans ala statists?...hell yes.
When companies can't fail in a free market,..when govt picks winners, no bid contracts (Obama care)...the fed isn't audited by we the people. ..that's trouble.
If we both can't agree that people not dying is a good thing, how can we have a debate? While you hypocritically sit on your computer that was produced by Capitalism, ride you bike produced by these "evil" corporations, and use a website that itself is a corporation.
Absolutely! How could anyone deny capitalism is a ponzi scheme after reading this article?
m.chronicle.com/article/We-Are-All-Madoffs/48182
"...but a US Federal government 17 trillion dollars in debt, with $30-$70 trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities via Social Security and Medicare is not a ponzi scheme. "
As I already explained, all of those things you complain of are a result of a democratically elected system that has very clearly been corrupted by capitalism. Why did Reagan start running up big deficits in the 90's? Pretty sure he didn't take the advice of Socialists. He was a capitalist who started the big deficit spending in America. Obamacare is also completely based upon capitalism, the health care companies essentially wrote it, again. .. maximizing private profits while minimizing public risk. The capitalist corporate forces bankrupt the govt to maximize profit for shareholders.. ALL of the financial failures of America land on the doorstep of capitalism.
The question is should we continue human growth to the point of obvious suicide for everything and everybody, or should we try to create a society that is sustainable and will last. All of your comments indicate you want the continued growth that capitalism demands which is essentially complete suicide, hamncheez... but hey at least everybody will be able to read when we all die because of a burned up planet.
my.firedoglake.com/cassiodorus/2012/08/16/save-the-planet-from-global-warming-phase-out-capitalism
I prefer the option of contiuing life for future generations to enjoy. .. but it will take a lot of sacrifices from the human race and a rejection of capitalist forces of suicide that you clearly embrace.
in the matter following subparagraph (L), by inserting after Such term the following: includes revenues earned by a broker or dealer in connection with a transaction in the portfolio margining account of a customer carried as securities accounts pursuant to a portfolio margining program approved by the Commission.
Who on earth can understand that? I don't, but I am still subject to it.
There was a push to regulate the OTC derivatives market (CFTC in particular pushed to expand oversight). Industry lobbied against it largely on the basis that it was self-regulated and that market forces would prevent industry participants from taking on risk. As we all now know that turned out to be a disaster and resulted in the 2008 financial implosion and the current macro environment. It's widely viewed by many, including myself, as the most prominent example of how poorly pure capitalist markets work
PS section VII of Dodd-Frank deals very specifically with over the counter derivatives.
The derivatives market took a huge correction because large complex instruments allow FIs to take leveraged bets on the housing market direction. Sure your federal government created a situation where a housing bubble could inflate. FIs created the liquidity and the cash printing machine to allow people to finance housing. Those same FIs who created the liquidity casino then took large bets on the direction of the casino. To blame it all on the government is simplistic and naive at best.
I agree that the TBTF syndrome is now entrenched by the government's actions. However I'd go further and say that what the government's actions did was to create uncertainty. Bear was left to fail. Ditto Lehman. Yet AIG was bailed out. And arguably so was Morgan and others. You now have socialized capitalism where the taxpayer is the ultimate backstop and all you Americans subsidize banks. But, and this is the big but.... all of you allowed this to happen. Where were the arrests of investment bankers? Instead the public rails against some ephemeral monster conjured up on political bi-partisan lines.
Finally and I've typed too long on a very complex topic. I would argue that the OTC derivatives market was as pure a capital market as I've ever seen. And it failed. In insanely dramatic fashion. This is why so many pro-capitalism as an end-all be-all people (I was one of them in the past) say that capitalism is inherently unworkable given the venal nature of humans.
Thank you for an interesting conversation and having an open mind
All systems are corruptable.True free markets, in the end, I believe do the most good for most people who willing to work and don't just always take the path of least resistance.
Start talking communism/socialism and you can go f yourself; )
I will say this, however: the OTC derivatives market would have failed in absence of government, but the market would have been much smaller in absence of government regulations and a government controlled central bank. I remember the exact lecture in my econometrics (statistics) class when we went over derivatives and credit swaps. The main problem seemed to be that they were calculated assuming mortgage defaults were independent, identically distributed random variables, instead of being locally/regionally correlated. I don't remember the math (6 years ago now), but using IID random variables meant that they thought that one mortgage failing had not effect on the neighborhood, which of course is absurd.
However, would these investment houses have used such an assumption if the government didn't protect them from risk? I think not. At the bottom of the underwriting chain was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, plus the potential bailouts and the Federal Reserve lending money for free. Take these away, and even if the crash had happened it would have been smaller and more localized. Capitalism is not perfect, but I believe that it is the best option we have.
If free individuals, acting in their own best interest sometimes fail, how can individuals in government who bear no benefit for success or cost for failure perform any better?
Capitalism is surely not the best option we have, when all it has led to is a bankrupt ponzi scheme nobody wants to acknowledge. But it has clearly proven to be the most effective and efficient instrument for resource depletion and environmental destruction, all in the name of "human progress" and "freedom". But just remember, freedom isn't free, and the children will pay the cost of our sins.
The best option we had was philosophy, but we embraced materialism and "freedom" instead.
Resource depletion.Check
Eviromental destruction. Check
Children will pay. Check
well, you nailed your talking points for the 15th time, thanks for that.
Awaiting your brilliant , religion free philosophy that will save the planet and yet cause no human misery or subjugation. (Of course I realize that that's not possible and you'd actually prefer that, but let's see
if you can get out of your comfort zone)
I'd like to point out that the planet isn't actually alive and it dosent give a shit what happens or dosent. The whole argument relies on human habitation in the first place.
It's also fun to watch you spin out of control on any and every subject, you must be soo much fun around the holidays
So I do look into the mirror before I throw too much crap at other people.
I'm getting a bit technical and boring here but FNM and FRM bought mortgages through MBS - mortgage backed securities. The real big problems were not MBS (they were huge losses but maybe could have been absorbed in the ordinary course of business). The real big problems were CDOs and CDO squared which had quite a bit more leverage and substantially worse effects on balance sheets when they collapsed. Fannie and Freddie did not participate in that market.
Final point - the Fed didn't lend money to the participants who got into trouble - until the big US bailouts occurred the Fed loaned only to Tier 1 banks. The smaller fry participants (the Bear, Lehmans of the world) screwed up by themselves using their own capital and not Fed money. The Fed can definitely be blamed for being inconsistent though and saving some FIs and not saving others. Also for constantly allowing stock and housing market inflation by being perceived to be the big money printing Ponzi scheme (whoops I used the word) enabler by pouring USD into the system.
Honestly its simplistic to paint the government intervention as black and capitalism as white. There are lots of shades of grey. Except for investment banks. All of them are the devil and should be sent to the guillotine or forced to ride fixie rigid 29ers in sand for the rest of their lives
I'm 44
my cars are 13 years old and paid off.One of them runs on waste vegetable oil
my house has alot of "crap" half of which I made with my own hands.
I have very little savings, but all my 2 wheeled objects approach 30g's. (Please don't tell my wife)
...i just realized I look like a hippie, but I also believe in something that resembles moderation and if I'm gonna argue with somebody, my life shouldn't portray hypocrisy (cough, cough , Protool)
I don't deny things are out of walk and maximum profit for the sake of it is one of the roads to hell, indeed.
I still will believe in individuality and freedom, but my life is lived in self imposed restraint and constant self analysis of motive and balance.
And just because other people screw up the "philosophy" of capitalism and a free market system, I do my darnedest to keep my self in line and live it the way I think it should be. That's about all I can do.
So, fuk ELF and Occupy wallstreet.
It's just dumb to cry tears over that.
ITS NOT GOING AWAY.
my mortgage is pretty damn cheap and my shop is 2.5 miles away from my house (which I do enjoy)
These are all personal decisions that add up to what your own life is.They aren't all easy or the most glamorous, but for Christs sake take control of your own life before somebody else does.Get some balls ya buncha pansies!
I never said it was alive, so that point has no substance. But there is a pretty amazing, complex ecosystem on the planet with billions of fascinating creatures that are alive. Your existence depends upon it. It is starting to break down in case you haven't noticed. Pretty sure you haven't noticed. .. but your children will.
Scary; "We can lament "want" all we want. It's just dumb to cry tears over that. ITS NOT GOING AWAY"
The tears will come from our children who pay the heavy price for our capitalist-fueled philosophy of greed that is so apparent in statements like that. It's as if there is no ability for self-reflection or control, almost a sense of pride in complete greed...and at the expense of your own children....and absolutely no shame over it.
Waki: "We are so much about generating surplus - why? why do we need surplus? Why are we so much about growth?...But this mentality is exactly the thing that creates the trouble: get more of the good stuff, now. "
Like I said, philosophy was our best chance.. But I guess philosophy was too boring of a subject to ever be embraced by the human race. So civilisation has had no guide, except illegitimate religions that don't have much to say on environmental issues or economics. I agree with your statements on banks and loans, it is what has enabled the whole ponzi scheme.
I pointed out plenty of personal examples to make the point that it is possible to be a " capitalist" and be responsible in your personal actions and deeds.Yet you constantly pick out one sentence to make a emotional whirlwind of the same stupid , regurgitated talking points
" It's as if there's no ability for self reflection or control"
WHAT THE f*ck ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? DID YOU EVENT READ WHAT I WROTE? !!
How many thousands of dollars did YOU spend on you vehicle so that it ran on waste vegetable oil, reducing YOUR carbon footprint..or whatever bullsh1t you want to vomit up? HUH?!
How close did you purposely move to you place of work so that you're not sitting in traffic and can spend that time with your kids, so they don't grow up to be illogical, panty wastes that can't think skeptically about their own arguments ?
I pointed out SEVERAL instances of personal decisions that either cost me money or time or made decisions made of other criteria than money.
i can absolutely guarantee that i put more thought and reflection into my daily decisions than you and ten other people.
Not all of them concern your "god" but some of them actually DO.And it's alot more than pressing a "like" button on Facebook.
The fact that you can't even acknowledge any of it proves to me that you do want an answer or to have take a step down off your moral high ground. The very fact that I exist disproves that disparate "philosophies" can coexist in the same space.Well, they can .
You either steer me to this f'n "philosophy" which I already asked you to do , or shut your goddamn hole.
And yes , I'm a little pissed
Ad to organic farming... you are a true useful idiot, sorry... then I wish oeople stop referring to science as to some shapeless powerful goo in the sky, few more posts on What research proves what? Was an oceanographer, bloke researching neurplasticitu chemist at fertilizer plant, food technologist, or my wife who is a scientist as well, she's into urban planning. These are all scientists. Researh made by Dr. Vandana Shiva proves organic farmong to be a solution to world hunger, and green revolution and dependance of food production on fossile fuels to be putting us in the trouble in the first place. A guy working at monsanto researching the possibilty for the plants to be poisonous to bees or at least render them infertile is also a modern scientist.
What's next, human induced global warming is a hoax? Sarah Pahlin is smarter than Bush Jr?
Im not eating anomre of your can of worms, enjoy your cancer
Scary: "You either steer me to this f'n "philosophy" which I already asked you to do , or shut your goddamn hole."
I won't shut up, thank you. But i will keep making points that you obviously can not refute. You guys attempted to claim capitalism was a good thing, I corrected you and pointed out that it is a corrupt ponzi scheme. Nobody has refuted this fact so this is where the conversation stands: Capitalism Failed. Period. That means that you guys lost the debate. Unless you have something new to reveal about the financial crash of 07-08.
Hamncheez: "Also, organic farming is far more destructive than using modern science."
Says only Monsanto, and of course you believe the corporation over actual environmental scientists. Also, I think the average American has a carbon footprint 12 x as big as the average Chinese person, but nice try.
You have won nothing. You are as lost as lost can be, inside your arrogant, self righteous , little world, where you cannot fathom another perspective other than your own. Which is why you can't understand someone who would dare despise their government or being controlled, free to be responsible and take care of those around him and affect What he can actually change.Its called being free.And I don't think very many people who have it and appreciate it are going to had it over .
Since you simply refuse to offer any alternative paradigm to what you consistently bitch and bitch about, I will assume that you have none that dosent essentially mean the violent deaths of millions if not billions of people.
SO.I leave you now to be tormented inside your own head....But, beware.Its seriously a dark ,twisted place.
I'm not going to claim to be a messiah, but it's not difficult to imagine a philosophy where you simply embraced the idea of being in balance with nature, avoid using fossil fuels as much as possible, and simply not mortgage the economic and ecological future for short term benefit. But how could a philosophy like that compete with religion, which promises eternal life, redemption of all sins, and the ability to reunite with lost loved ones. Its a tough sell, "christian" George Bush winning the election over "environmentalist" Al Gore is the classic example. It would take a lot of attention to education and environmental science, and even ethics for a philosophy as I mentioned to exceed, which are all things that capitalism has compromised.
I ran across this yesterday, it's amazing how much influence the food and chemical corporations in the us have over the population.
htttp://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_28318.cfm
I'm not sure about #2 though.
Scary: "I will take the financial crash of 07-08 over and over to your unstated "philosophy" of communism"
Not surprising, you seem like the greedy Jack Madoff type. Just remember, freedom isn't free and ponzi schemes always have a traffic ending. The spoiled, arrogant, angry greed nearly all of your statements represent epitomizes the complete and utter moral and intellectual failure of Americans.
Protour: Twelve year old rant about something. Insults. Obscure website link.
Me: Capitalism turned into an immoral fiscal and ecological ponzi Scheme.
You guys: meaningless personal insults and complaints about my ideas, but no actual ideas of your own to refute them.
Scary actually did admit defeat when he said he would take the crash of 07-08 over some type of other sustainable economic system. What's your choice hamncheez?
Is Putin concerned about the environment? Does he give 2 shits about anything besides power? Are the people of Ukraine and Venezuela watching their countries fall apart because of not enough communism? Seriously?
Lump all Americans into one caraciture if you want, but we've got so much of your socialist bullsh1t over here already, most people are just as ignorant as you are.
Don't worry, we're working on becoming just another shit hole of a country...While Canada makes more strides toward freedom a capitalism.Pretty soon, you'll have to move down here just cuz you can't stand the stench of being free. You evil , greedy Canadians own half the real estate in Arizona anyway.But,Im sure we could stop you at the border...
We look for people with their head up their own asses and send them to DC....you'd be welcomed into the Obama administration in a second.
Scary just yells "communism!!", and hamncheez apparently can't answer one simple question.
I love the way you put your intellectual brilliance on such public display.
More proof you guys lost the debate about capitalism. All you want to talk about is me now, and nice to see you guys desperately hitting the positive and negative props buttons.... very convincing...that you have no ideas to refute the failures of capitalilism.
"The end of democracy and the defeat of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions and moneyed incorporations."
Thomas Jefferson
That is exactly what you Americans let happen. You didn't listen to your founding fathers, shame on you.
According to your own flawed logic, you criticizing free markets makes you a........HYPOCRITE!!! At least I'm honest about it.
Congratulations on one again on tripping over your own shoestrings and falling on flat on your face.
We haven't follow our founders for a long time.If we would, it would true free markets based on an electorate that is is grounded in "religon" and personal responsibility.
Thanks for admitting you lost the argument. It's not capitalism th
at failed , it's the corruption of govt and the economic system known as crony capitalism.
If you want to start a "Quotes by the founders " war, I will drown you.But,you don't want to learn anything cuz those guys will f you up
Scary: "We haven't follow our founders for a long time.If we would, it would true free markets based on an electorate that is is grounded in "religon"
So you yourself think religion is illegitimate, but you think the reason capitalism failed is because America wasnt religious enough?
Truly hilarious how you use Republican talking points that you yourself say are based on an illegitimate religion, and yet you still repeat the lame religious right wing/tea party talking points because It's the only defense youve heard.
Scary, you aren't supposed to regurgitate those dumb religious talking points unless you are actually a brainwashed religious person yourself....because it makes you look even dumber than the religious people. Most of the founding fathers were actually very skeptical of religion.
America wasnt very politically religious until Ronald Reagan, who ironically was the first US President to start the huge deficit spending. But he was smart politician, he figured out how to use religion to manipulate people politically, and the Republicans have stuck with this approach to get the dumb religious hillbilly vote in the south ever since.
Scary: "You obviously have next to no knowledge of our founding fathers and the depth of some of their beliefs. Some of them, not all of them.They where a pretty rounded out group of opinions and backgrounds."
Wrong again, most of then were pretty clearly skeptical of the influence of religion:
www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/04/35-founding-father-quotes-conservative-christians-will-hate
Even though religion is one of the factors that spoiled America, none of those quotes are as prophetic as the one by Jefferson i already posted. Its as if he knew exactly what would kick your ass and tried to warn you ahead of time, but you still let the corporations and banks kick your ass:
"The end of democracy and the defeat of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions and moneyed incorporations."
me and my lady slaved away in London but that was for 11 months travelling world. we had no jobs, no home and no real plan, people thought we were crazy. my old man would never swallowed that idea of "do what you love for a living and you'll never work a day in your life." work was just what filled the time between what was important - family, relationships, learning, riding, loving, creating, surfing....
Is this how you think we feel about our jobs? I rode this morning on some awesome trails, and then went to a place to do something I also love doing - work. Life doesn't have to be as described as above. You can wear a suit and tie to work. You can do technical things or manual things or have fun digging ditches or attend meetings without having to choose between one love and another. You can do everything you love.
If you are going to do something, do it right.
I leave home for work, 5 days a week and ride one of my road bikes 25km to work
www.pinkbike.com/photo/10419804
once I get through the city (London) which is half my distance, I am riding through here the rest of the distance
www.pinkbike.com/photo/10555752
then I get to work and work on cool bikes all day:
www.pinkbike.com/photo/10599297
then ride the 25km home
on days off, I get to go mountain biking on trails only 2km from my house
www.pinkbike.com/photo/10224556
We don't actually "lose" our passions for things as we grow up, we just move our focus, our passions change from riding as much as possible, to making our partners and kids happy, and for the lucky few, our jobs that allow us to provide our society with our skills.
AND THIS IS NOT A BAD THING.
Keeping things simple is the best advice I can give and often do to the younger crowd. Whatever priorities you have...keep in order.... enjoy those small victories...the hour long bike ride, the day at the bike park....or just the smile from your kid or a friend.
Don't get caught up in rebeling against the man, your boss or what kind of bike your buddy has...trust me if you truly want to "revolt"...revolt against your way of thinking...your job is a way to pay for the things you enjoy and the freedoms you have. Yes, I work late, I work hard but I also enjoy the result of both things...and as much as my boss wants me to I NEVER bring work home with me ( mentally, physically or emotionally)....thats how I revolt...My friends dont work hard or late or even "work" and waste time bitching about how unfair everything is...as the world keeps on turning and doesn't give a shit....along with me.
Live within your means, Keep a low overhead, pay your bills and have fun with people you love...keep it simple...that's the key.
Find your own way to "revolt"...
Today I work 4 hours early solving environmental problems, ride Demo forest in Aptos 4 hours then help kids with home school and do more office work. Yesterday rode 20 miles with my teenage girls and got 6 hours of work in to reduce human exposure to lead at one site and carcinogens at another. The point a agree with Mike on most is that if you feel riding should be a top priority then do it. This is not about self indulgence. I'm on 3 month CA riding vacation ( we live in Haines AK) and whole family is getting their needs met. Riding more will improves efficiency by completing you with happiness. That shit goes a long way.
I have always been open, even with co-workers, that biking is more important than work. I explain to them how, in my world, being a better biker actually makes me a much better employee. Pre-kids, I always had the $5k bike and cars with blue book values too low to even sell.
But no rational or happy person puts biking in front of their kids as a priority. Night riding helps me satisfy both priorities the way I want...I can deal with burning the candle at both ends and missing sleep (most parents are desensitized to a night of sleep deprivation). On weekend days where I'm going to do an all day mission, my son and I both feel the sting of missing all that time together. Nonetheless, he is supportive of my absence from home to go biking, and I dream of someday taking long road trips to far away bike destinations with him. Biking clearly makes me a better father, too.
I always strive to build more ride time into my life, always, and I never miss a ride. Even if conditions are nasty, with kids, you go the moment you can. But that doesn't mean I spiral down into an existential funk when I don't get it. And you don't blame your kids for missing rides, after all I had them, they didn't choose to take ride time away from me.
Children will bless your life with a profound perspective on what is important, among many other things. There is always a balance, a middle ground, and as long as you're livin' it right, there is always a way to be happy.
I call bs. You try to make it sound like people who don't have kids are missing out on the most important thing in life. Many of us who have chosen not to pro-create think the world is over populated and that there is no reason to add to the problem. At what point does the madness of destroying the environment stop? Certainly not when people pretend that your life is not complete without children.
If you want kids, fine that's your priority and I will not criticize you for it. I love my parents and wife, but I also love my free time. ALL of my friends who have had kids over the years now ride significantly less, there are no exceptions to this rule. This is partly why I am so resentful about children. The most important thing for young readers to take from this article is:
IF YOU WANT TO RIDE YOUR MOUNTAIN BIKE MORE DON'T HAVE KIDS!!!
That is all.
I think you'd have soo much fun!...especially in the babbling phase.Babies that crap themselves would see you as a genius!
This morning I hugged my 11 and 17 year old and told them how proud I was a both of them, cuz they're such good people.
..I've never had a reason to tell my bike that.
If all works out well, my kids will change this world to a better place than it is.
Better than my stupid bikes...and YOURS TOO.
But going forth and creating progeny is THE pinnacle of the human experience. And its called life, after all; there's hardly a better way to validate your own existence than by ensuring your own genetic code survives on after you. You could somehow make the world a better place throughout your life, but the vast majority of us don't make large-scale impacts and having kids doesn't make you any less likely to positively impact the rest of humanity.
How poetic of you; content to leave only a few slashes of brown-pow roosts on this earth after you die. Sacrificing one of life's great experiences for the sake of the environment and not contributing to overpopulation, haha, good on you mate!
I think the kids thing is really where the idea behind this article breaks down. You have kids and all the sudden you do have to work your ass off just to have a reasonable quality of life for your family, a couple of bikes, and slivers of time to ride them. You can't shirk responsibility to ride because then the whole model breaks down, so you EARN your rides. You try to avoid over-consumption and live relatively simply, but then you have to have a birthday party for your son because all his friends have been having them since they were three and all of a sudden your house is literally full of toys and DVDs...effing life in America, man!
I guess maybe the point of the article is don't have kids; just spend your life having fun? I mean PB is out to sell bikes, and my stable would sure be a hell of a lot fancier if I didn't have them...
Piss weak Pinkbike.
We hear yours , why bash his ?
For some people it is black n white and some it's pretty gray.
I like to ride in the summer.
Last summer my boss asked my why I'm always sick and only work 4 days a week ?
I told him I can't get by on 3 !!!
A wise man once said
" Time flies , if your don't stop and take a look around every once in awhile you might miss it !"
Tv does suck I agree less tv more cycling! Don't compromise your job
If you cannot be honest with people in life, you cannot expect them to give you much benefit of doubt in return. There is always, let me repeat that, always, a way to maintain integrity whilst following a course of action that simultaneously lets other people down. Strive to find that course of action that keeps your integrity in your life, and you will be rewarded many times over in return. Your suggestion here Mike I am afraid to say, throws one's integrity out of the window, and should you follow such advice, along with it one can probably kiss goodbye to a large chunk of the respect others may have had for you. Eventually, you will run out of friends willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.
I also love how some young live free kind of guy is always quick to throw people that have kids under the bus. I feel no need to apologize for the tremendous joy my children give me and the great responsibility (there is that word again) that comes with raising them. The only people that can appreciate that are those who lack selfish desires like just riding a bike all day every day enough to put someone else's interest and life above your own.
Last bit of advice for the writer...Grow up!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x98KFcMJeo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Once again, you are being hypocritical if you are fine with your existence but are not fine with others having kids. What about people with 2 kids or less? That does not contribute to a sustainable population. If you are going to generalize about the population propagating, please include your entire lineage in your argument.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM1x4RljmnE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Do you think humans are any smarter than a sealed bottle of yeast?
And this: "Doesn't matter and I don't care. I'm alive and I'm here now."
If you were that worried about the world being overpopulated you would have a gun in your mouth right now to help the situation.
You are just deflecting this to overpopulation to try to make yourself look less arrogant and hypocritical. Do you really think everyone who has kids should be apologizing for it? Do you think you are better than everyone who has kids? How about people who have 1 kid? If every couple only had 1 kid the population would go into decline.
And for the record, a sealed bottle of yeast is NOT comparable to the world. Yeast will consume the food, then consume some of their waste products (e.g. diacetyl) then will stop metabolizing. I worked in a brewery lab (how inconvenient for you, eh?). Humans and the earth have the capability of growing more food. I'm not saying there will be a point where the world can't sustain an increasing population but the comparison is too simplistic to be accurate.
Yes, or at least be apologizing to their children for the condition of the planet they are bringing them into.
"Do you think you are better than everyone who has kids?"
Not better, just more educated and aware of the results of human hyper-breeding. Which is largely a result of circumstance, or luck.
"How about people who have 1 kid?"
How about no kids, more bikes, more free time, and lower carbon footprint?
"Yeast will consume the food, then consume some of their waste products (e.g. diacetyl) then will stop metabolizing"
Valid point. We certainly will not eat out children's feces, but we are absolutely currently consuming their future, from a financial, and most importantly, an ecological point of view.
m.chronicle.com/article/We-Are-All-Madoffs/48182
If you think I should be apologizing for doing exactly what the role of every living organism on earth has evolved to do (procreate), you are going to be extremely disappointed. If you talked down to me to my face for having kids you would have some to deal with some consequences.
Canada is NOT overpopulated. We have huge land masses capable of growing enough food to support WAY More than 30,000,000 people. Canada is not reproducing exponentially. Go preach and talk down to people in places like China, India etc. Of course when you do that you will be violating human rights.
how's that?
That just makes me really happy
(warning there may be an element of truth to this whole story-scary eh?)
You are the master of your destiny. Take charge of your circumstance. Shed the things in your life that are causing you the most stress and change the way you view the world and how you react to things going on around you. We are a consumer driven society. For some that is okay [the shareholders] for some it is not [the deeply debt ridden consumer]. Be comfortable with who you are who you surround yourself with and what you surround yourself with. If you have a family and a network of friends spend time with them. Enjoy their company. At then end of the day you cant take any of the consumer crap with you. People will remember you for who you are not what you consumed. This is where the difference is made. We all have time. We don't all have lots of money. Spend time, not money.
But in reality, I think you are ‘raging’ to the choir. There is no need to rant here. We all ride.
Of course, most of us probably not as much as we want but too much of a good thing can ruin it…ok maybe not, but it can change it. I don’t want to change how going for a ride makes me feel.
I would trade most of my workdays for a ride, but I still love my work. It’s given me a lot.
I choose to go ride most part of the week-ends and the evenings (apart from the winter months) instead of spending time with my daughter. I’m ok with that, but not more. When late fall arrives, then winter, I spend more time with her…I catch up.
I guess what I’m saying is; I think we get it, but I think most of us already live a life to accommodate our ridding. This is not putting a passion on the back burner and growing up to be fat and cosy in front of the TV. Take a look around, see all these unhappy people? They are consumers and that is what they live for. They get unhealthy, they get dumb, their behavior is alien, and they don’t care about dirt….we do. Even if we have jobs, families.
I have a TV from 1998 in the basement, no coach, nothing to sit on. My house is small and perfectly filled with nothing we don’t use. I drive a Fiesta that I love to leave parked. I have a beaten down shed filled with bikes that are ridden many hours per week.
We’re good here; don’t need to preach to the choir.
Cheers,
I don't have a tv. Don't have broadband. Don't have car repayments. don't have a phone line. Don't have kids. Don't have any problems.
I live 5 mins from work and 3 mins from a mtb park.
Though it tooks a long time (even years) to realize a lot of the things you thought you'll need in life when you were younger, are worthless ¿big house, big car? If that means working your a** off and not having time for your family and time to ride/ski/spend time eith your significant other, what's the point?
But what motivates me even more is thinking that my job is the tool for doing whatever I want on the weekends, most likely, ride my bike... and also buy new stuff for it.
I've decided with my girlfriend (we are not married but living together for 3 years now) that we won't have kids and live live to the fullest and do whatever we want to do. But that's another story
The way I see it, you can't really love your unborn, potential future kids even though you know you eventually will (sort of like the schrodinger's cat explanation of superposition), so unless you're someone that always dreamed of being a parent (there are people that do; wasnt me), you can't envision being happy about giving up whatever it is you'll have to give up in order to have them. And it is true, you will sacrifice the things you want. But in reality, by then you have already grown to love them and come to some realizations about life that make it OK.
I love this topic.
everyone can make his life the way he decides. if you work towards it. it s all about choices
this is why my life looks like that :
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNgqW5KpExU&feature=c4-overview&list=UU0Rix1DQ766jsYpj5Kfd_Yg
www.pinkbike.com/video/350028
2. If one doesn't think critically (at least in American culture) about all the messages barraging us, more than likely you will just end up being like the masses in the rat race. I was never interested- I go to work so I can eat healthy food and take my wife cool places and ...RIDE MY BIKE!
"Life is a shit sandwich. The more bread you've got, the better it tastes"
No need to read books on economics to answer this question -- just read a little history. What you propose has been tried before and has failed and millions died for that failure.
Sorry to soap box -- but this kind of crap really disturbs me.
you've got big problems that need a revolt, yeah!:
-money
-big house
-big rooms
-big tv
-some bikes that cost the average annual salary of an african...etc
watch discovery channel or travel a lil bit more in some poor country, you'll see lots of better reasons too instigate a revolt.
stop being so narrow minded, stop acting like a texan, as we say down here.
in your life, if the biggests problems you encounter are those listed in this article, you oughta start to think that you have a pretty good life, considering the reste of the mankind...
No disrespect intended, but you're out of line insulting "Texans".
I won't make the same mistake and say you're an arrogant European that has absolutely no idea about what you're talking about, because speaking in broad, general terms, making blanket statements is silly.
I've traveled to many places, and lived in several Countries and i was always amazed about what others think they know about the US vs the reality.
Very sad.
As for the Discovery/Travel channels, there is no "discovering" or "traveling" on those channels anymore. At least over in the US.
unfortunately,most of western european countries live more or less with this same way of life,including me... but i m too aware of what's going on in the rest of the world to appeal to revolt for such stupid reasons. by reading your message i m pretty sure we ve got the same reasoning..
for amitytom, ther is no offense to texans..this is just an expression. i m sure you have some with europeans, huh?
I know America bashing is fashionable now so this goes mostly unchecked but i'm still glad i pointed it out, even if it continues to fall on deaf ears.
I don't speak about massive groups like "Europeans" with simple expressions, i treat every European i know as an individual.
Seems to me like the people who preach about forgetting all the bullshit on the tv and all the 'enduro'/new standards bullshit are those who are most wrapped up in it.
Reads like you're talking to yourself Mike. If people want to rot into a sofa while watching fake people being fake then let them I say.
I'd say like 1% or less is stuff I don't want to do whereas it was like 0% before.
Don't pawn off your kids though, that's bad parenting. You will figure that out soon enough, but I get your point.
When I was about 5 years old, I used to tell my mom I didn't want to clean my room because I wanted to ride my bike instead. It didn't work then and I can guarantee you, it doesn't now. So to suggest opting out of your duties to go ride your bike should sound, well...childish. The only real difference is that the consequences for these actions at 5 are not as consequential as they are now.
This piece "I think" would have been better focused instead on highlighting why people don't make smarter changes to their lives to allow for better life balance. Regardless of what's happening in the world (99% owning "everything") we all have the choice to be happy, or not to be happy. If you feel like the sucker that this article is suggesting you are, then you've made some poor decisions, or haven't made enough good ones. I went to University, and have a great job that is challenging and provides intrinsic happiness. I also have a bike, many bikes, that I have ample time to ride. Yes life is sometimes stressful, and no I can't always do what I want, but that's adult life. Nobody will take you seriously if you think you should be able to do what you want, whenever. Nor should they.
This article really only preaches to the choir of the saddest, laziest and most childish. I am not one of them and fear that I may no longer be the target Pinkbike "demographic". Guess I've grown up.
That's my opinion
I know quite a few people who don't have to work. Frankly, they are some of the least happy people in life, they don't seem to have a purpose. Being a productive member of society IS important and those that disagree are typically the most self centered people on the earth.
"There are troubles in these times,but WHOO none of them are mine!
I'm beginning to see the light!"
Lou Reed.
I'd go for a ride but there's 18" of snow on the ground. So I xc ski. f*ck bikes till the snow melts.
Do you realize that in the US that is an income in the high 300's yearly?
So you just sent your Doc. and Dentist, the guy that owns the local car lot, many of the small biz owners in your neighborhood, your local college president, the engineer that invented and patented a new innovation, the brainy software developer writing code to make your life run better, the guy (or gal) who bought and worked their butt off maintaining a half dozen rental homes,
So in your perfect world they are all going to damnation and leaving you behind?
Not sure I want to live in your world.... :{
trying to choose between a Bronson and a Mach 6 = 1st world problem.
And to all the fellow canadians who feel they're exempt from these problems....don't f*cking kid yourselves, we're in this together, joined at the hip culturally and economically. I'm really tired of hearing people talk down on america with their noses in the air, they're our brothers, we all came here from the same place.
LIGHTEN the F up man! A great scholar once said: "Don't take life too seriously, or you'll never get out alive" -Van Wilder.