Why do you care more about the housing crash, who's gonna win Idol, and missing white girls on tropical islands than you do about hundreds of thousands of dead people and millions and millions suffering at the hands of their corrupt governments in Burma and China?
Serious question. Serious answers please.
May 19, 2008
HousingPANIC Stupid Question of the Day
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61 comments:
* I'm cheering for nature.
* Natural Selection is a beautiful thing.
* China needed to grasp the concept of Karma.
Because that's what the media tells us to care about and we're too dumb to know better
Like duh!
Interesting question. I don't care about Idol or missing white chicks.
I do care about oppressive regimes in Burma, China, North Korea. But I do not believe in US imperialism.
Beyond charitable aid, you cannot impose a governmental structure on a country that is not ready for it. This is why we are failing in Iraq.
Have some respect for other cultures and allow them to continue to evolve to a point where they can create a freer and more just system within their own value system, on their own terms.
I care about the housing crash because this is my culture, my government, my people. The housing crash is something we did to ourselves and we all must act to correct it and enlighten our more ignorant peers.
The only way to get rid of an oppressive government is for the US military to go in and throw out the old one. And we know how popular that is right now. There is no other option available.
Our minds can't process big numbers like we can small ones
The superficiality of the US media (mindcontrol) complex really stands out when you travel to other nations and see that they actually report world news. Watching US television you wouldn't even know that a world exists outside of US borders. The US media may casually report on overseas events in the most superficial way but then it's always back to some insignificant local news story or the latest news from Hollywood.
It's really a dismal situation and you can't help but think that it's all an intentional effort to keep the American people dumbed down and ignorant.
If one person dies, it's a tragedy. If one million people die, it's a statistic.
I do care about what is happening in other countries, but we can not be the world's policemen and pretend that we have no major problems here. I have relatives who suffered greatly during katrina and learned a big lesson about how reliable government is. We can help other countries, but we need other nations to help also. We can't borrow and spend evertime there is a disaster somewhere in the world. The tragedy in New Orleans proves that we have our priorities screwed up and we need to take a good hard look in the mirror and make a change within ourselves.
"The only way to get rid of an oppressive government is for the US military to go in and throw out the old one. And we know how popular that is right now. There is no other option available."
funny. because since the 50's the US has dismantled more democracies and installed more oppressive governments than any other country.
check up on your history. Iran used to be a democracy before the CIA dismantled it and installed a dictatorship. same goes for about all of Latin America.
Myself, My Family and My Friends, in that order.
Fu*k China/Burma.
Ask yourself if the Chinese would help you if the roles were reversed
(answer/clue = NO, they couldn't and wouldn't care less)
Get Real
i care more for burma than i do for china.
actually i dont really care much for china.
Ad revenue is what propels our news corporation. It is the bottom line no matter how they get it.It used to be that editorial separated itself from the ad department. No longer.Ratings translate to higher ad revenue. The titilating news involve young white people will attract audiences more than the cruel, shocking and violent nature that can be the real news. Thank goodness for the internet for getting the real news out!
I truly believe that our society suffers from two big problems that cause the "masses" to always gravitate to the lowest level. 1. Lack of decent education for the masses. 2. Too much damn information and too much trash.
When I grew up there were the main networks and then later came cable with CNN for more world focused news. That was it. News orgs could be more choosey because the competition for eyes was not so intense. Now you have 24 hour news - all competing for the same audience, and 900 channels of crap. There is just not that much relevent news for all that space. Very few decent choices, and then the masses go to a public school system which is more interested in protecting their legal liablity and government subsidy than turning out disciplined, intelligent kids. Combine those two things, and you have a continuing divide between the haves and have nots. Oh yea, lets throw in a President who is a complete moron, so kids think "hey you can be an idiot and not even be able to pronounce words and become President" Quite sad really, but unfortunately we have gone from the world leader in science and technology to a fat, lazy and under educated nation of TV junkies. God, I hope there is some hope - housing correction or not, the bigger issues need to change or the bubbles are just going to continue as we have no other way of generating income as a nation.
China and Burma are two different questions, but some things are common…
The first is what a news agency recently called “disaster fatigue.” Even under the best circumstances, there are only so many disasters a person can hear (and care) about before shutting down and becoming indifferent.
Over the past many years, we have had one disaster after another. Once these disasters become so common place, you become dulled to them.
The easiest example (for Americans) would be 911. As bad as that day was, I (and others are know) are entirely “911’d out”. Sure, we all were glued to the TV news for several months, but let’s be honest readers…. How many more 911 stories could you stand? If I don’t see another 911 story for 5 years, I’ll still be full.
Now as far as Burma goes… distance helps. Most (Americans) don’t know anything about Burma other than “shave” and perhaps that it was once an objective in a 1945 Errol Flynn movie.
As far as China goes, it’s probably like the cold war. Yes, we know that there are bad things going on, but when it comes down to a rational self-interest, we have to answer two questions: 1) is it any of our business? 2) do we want to start a war over it?
Given the fact that most people have other things on their minds most of the times, I would guess that most would say no to both questions.
Besides, if we don’t deal with the dictators in central America, which is so close, it’s unlikely you could stir the masses to take care of one on the other side of the world.
The Burmese are one thing they are truly corrupt,Il pray for Her people.It appears to me that the Chinese are truly trying to help their people.Their response seems better than our response to katrina.they also seem to be open about the problems.Sunshine is the best disenfectant.something the current administration tried to extinguish.also what kind of an asshole cheers for continued human misery.
Are you serious, Keith? Go ahead and start your own blog about Burma and China, then post the link here and I'm sure some people will visit, though with low expectations after that stupid question.
Because
a) I care more for people closer to me.
b) I consider the third world fucked to begin with, so in a way it's business as usual.
c) I am angry, actually feeling hate towards somalis now, so maybe later I can grieve for Burma.
d) I don't want to drown myself in such stuff anymore than I already do..
e) I am not as nice as I should be.
I certainly don't care about missing white girls... honestly, I don't even like girls to begin with, if you know what I'm saying. ;-)
Unfortunately, the average, corndog-munching American dolt is more interested in American Idol, the Terminator Part twenty-five or watching Madonna's bomsoms bouncing up and down on TV, than they are about foreign affairs.
man, those 3 dudes don't look like they have 100 IQ to share between the 3 of them.
What kind of parents would let a high school senior go out whoring to a foreign country or even out of town without adult supervision.
parent's ought to be brought up on charges.
looks like the cost of living will need to go up in china in order to build buildings that won't crumble during an earth quake.
we are not even a pimple on mother nature's ass.
hey, survivor should do its next show in the mountain regions of China.
I believe it is simply because it is far away and doesn't affect us directly in our everyday lives like gas or housing crash crisis. the housing crisis affects everyone and now seems like it is going to cripple the whole economy. I saw a talking head on tv say the next segment to start having problems is going to be retail. I personally don't buy anything unless I absolutely have to at this time. I'm sure i am in the majority because of the gas price. Those people are to far away and we got our own problems!
our god is really taking it to the non-christians. first the tsunami, then the hurricane, now the earthquake.
The only way to get rid of an oppressive government is to impeach Bush.
I quote my favorite band Rush:
Live for yourself
There's no one more worth living for
Begging hands and bleeding hearts
Will only cry out for more
Same as what Paul E. Math said.
I agree that our minds can't process the enormity of what is going on. Plus, being a different culture, we don't relate to these people the same way we would relate if they were 'western'. I'm not sure our western culture is so fabulous that we can sit in judgement on these regimes. The USA tortures people, has illegally destroyed Iraq killing god knows how many innocent people in the process, and doesn't even have free health care for it's citizens! Not so innocent. It's too easy to judge other cultures and think they should be like ours. Perhaps we should concentrate on cleaning up out own acts first.
Because when we answered the call of the millions of suffering in Iraq,
You and the rest of the EU betrayed us.
Now we don’t believe you guys any more.
Are those suffering people you are mentioning any greater then the Iraqis?
Go on and ‘Hope’ that Mr. Obamah will reach out with dialogue to the leaders of the suffering people and it will all “Change”
DOPES!
I, too, don't care about Idol, pop culture, pro sports or all those other things on the minds of Americans who dwell on People magazine and TV guide.
But I do care about the housing crash, national security, American prosperity and the decline of Western Civilization.
The Chinese and Burmese are not on my radar, they are not my people. I don't believe that people and cultures are interchangeable, that if I don't have kids and instead adopt a chinese baby the world will go on as before.
As a neo-darwinist I am both consciously (and unconsciously) concerned with the genetic interests of my family, my community and my country before those of the global population. I want me and mine to prosper, and I believe that humans are in competition, and it is a zero sum game. So resources go first to the family, then the community and then the nation. By that time, they are used up (How many people in this country are clamoring for universal health care, much less demanding more money for environmental protection, energy redevelopment, clean air, etc.? Any of those could exhaust ALL the free monetary resources we have).
Malthus said that demands will always outstrip resources, and I must agree. We have to take care of our own, and they can take care of their own. Even if we don't actively fight for resources, it is still a competition, and I want any free money and resources go to improving life here.
They can fend for themselves. Sorry, that's life.
Please stop making blanket statements like all of media participates in this pathetic lack of awareness of others suffering in these trajedies. I wonder what Fox News and Rush Limbaugh has been spouting all week compared to National Public Radio. If you are going to make broad general statements like "all media" then you are not being honest in selling your ideas.
b/c the wife doesn't bitch about how she absolutely has to feed poor foreigners
Agree with paul e. math
In terms of the general world population, I believe it was Stalin who said "one death is a tragedy... a million is a statistic"
Human beings have a hard time personalizing large numbers of people.
If you focused on a single person there and told that whole story, you would get much more attention. IMHO
It's not like the average person doesn't care about the mass suffering in the world because I think we do. It's just most of us feel helpless when it comes to fixing the problem. It's too overwhelming to our psyche and almost futile to think that as one individual we can somehow alleviate mass hunger and solve other ghastly problems in third world countries. We cannot even fix our own problems here in this country! As far as American Idol and that crap, it's just distracting, mind-numbing nonsense that is no different than escaping from our feelings (helplessness and fear) via drugs and alcohol. The collective unconscience of this country right now in history is one of extreme fear (Thank you neoCONS!) However, if perhaps more of us turned off the TV and actually used our brains more often (read books, involve ourselves in local politics etc.) rather than zoning out, we could actually begin to make changes on a much bigger scale.
Of course we care, Keith. Real estate is crashing in China.
Because it is good to see China taught a lesson for building everything cheap and shitty.
This is what happens when you use cheap steal, and no building standards.
I hope those people have another peasant uprising and slaughter all those commie bastards in power.
Because I'm a selfish greedy bastard.
Disaster fatigue' leads to drop in giving
By LISA TOLIN – 6 hours ago
NEW YORK (AP) — The numbers are almost too large to fathom, so many Americans stop trying. As bodies pile up in disaster after global disaster, even the most sympathetic souls can turn away.
Charities know this as "donor fatigue," but it might be more accurately described as disaster fatigue — the sense that these events are never-ending, uncontrollable and overwhelming. Experts say it is one reason Americans have contributed relatively little so far to victims of the Myanmar cyclone and China's earthquake.
Ironically, the more bad news there is, the less likely people may be to give.
Disaster fatigue' leads to drop in giving
By LISA TOLIN – 6 hours ago
NEW YORK (AP) — The numbers are almost too large to fathom, so many Americans stop trying. As bodies pile up in disaster after global disaster, even the most sympathetic souls can turn away.
What a total crock of shHt!! It's not donor fatigue that is the problem it's gas price fatigue! People are being hit hard by inflation and that's why they're cutting back on the giving.
You got to love the rubbish that passes for journalism. I bet Lisa Tolin really thought she had invented some new economic principle there.
I don't care about Idol or missing white girls. I do care about people the slaughters that happen, but I can't do much of anything about it.
And that's what it really boils down to: the housing bubble is an entertaining problem that I can do little about, the murders carried out by oppressive governments is a depressing problem that I can do little about.
I don't. But what am I to do?
If I fly to Rangoon and attempt to distribute aid to the locals directly, the military will take it. Any money I donate will just go to them as they seize it all.
If I give money to China, they will use it to add to their trade surplus.
There is no value is weeping for 3rd world countries who have had 1000's of year to shed their sinful, corrupt, occult cultures. I have more tears for a white girl, or Japanese girl, or Taiwanese girl when a turd world mongrel. Sorry Keith, blinded bleeding heart liberals are like so 1980's.
What would you have us do? Military "aid?" Tried that elsewhere - big mistake. Monetary aid? In case you haven't noticed, this country is BROKE. In fact, it's worse than that - we're TRILLIONS in DEBT! I guess we could borrow a few billion from China and give it back to...China. Which makes me think maybe this disaster is all a big ruse designed to bankrupt the USA even quicker than we're doing it ourselves.
Sadly donations to Burma and China get intercepted by the gov't. They will control exactly what gets passed along to the people on the ground and they have enough resources. The bottleneck is their own distribution, not the amount of donations coming in.
You can lead the horse to water but can't make it drink. Wake up p(sh)eople!
Yes I have a lot of empathy for these people. But right now there is nothing I can do to assist. Praying for them is the best option.
-BC
Anonymous said...
* I'm cheering for nature.
* Natural Selection is a beautiful thing.
* China needed to grasp the concept of Karma.
May 19, 2008 10:27 PM
___________________________
What an a**hole you are! Do you have heart, soul and conscience? or they have been frozen in hell for sometime?
Do you say the same to our fellow countrymen who suffered in Katrina, who died in Tornado in Oklahoma etc?
California will have 99% chance of a 7 or above scale earthquake in the next 10-15 years. Are you going to say the same to the Californians at that time?
Not mutually exclusive Keith. One can care about all of the things you mentioned. You wanted serious answers to a dumb question.
California will have 99% chance of a 7 or above scale earthquake in the next 10-15 years. Are you going to say the same to the Californians at that time?
Me, personally, no.
But I know for a fact that when another hurricane rips through my home state of Florida, there's gonna be all those 'tards in the Golden State going off about how stoopid we all are for living in a tropical storm zone. Just watch.
As for Burma/China, etc......the honest answer is, I don't see the point in giving money to those causes when their governments are going to siphon it all off before it even gets to the people who need it. Those bastards in charge have enough money already. They don't need any more from me. Let them help their own people for a change instead of just pimping them out for heartrending photo ops.
There are plenty of people right here in America who need help, thanks. And since my dollars are supposedly "worthless" overseas, as you keep telling us time and again, Keith.....I might as well spend them here on charities for causes I care about, and ones that I know will actually get the money to people who need it.
I'm too busy caring about the farmers, AIDS victims around the world, starving Ethiopians, 9/11 survivors, breast cancer victims, black (but not white) inner-city kids, child molestation in the Catholic church, Vietnamese refugees, illiterates, etc. etc. to think about Burma. I'll get to them after I act on Cause #21,563.
Why do you bemoan Tibet, Burma, and China, and ignore Darfur? Shame on you.
Seriously, have you even been around very long? There's a new cause every day. Why do I not care? Because I care about what I care about, not what you care about. After you've seen hundreds, thousands, of causes cross your path over 40 years, you learn how to pick and choose. For yourself.
hmmm, time for china to spend some of that trade surplus.
Because it is a struggle to survive in a world subject to the laws of nature and the will of man.
When I select a place to live, I take into account earthquakes, tsunami, flood, fire, socioeconomic locale, etc. and make my best guess based on earth history. That is prudent use of my will.
My instinct for survival is stronger than my desire to wallow in that which I am powerless over.
Plus I agree with paul e. math.
P.S. I am a sheister and want to buy distressed assets for pennies on the dollar.
Who said I did?
Why would you assume that everyone who reads your blog is a bimbo?
There are some really shallow people on this blog. I generally enjoy your posts, Keith...but that was really low minimizing the case of a missing and presumed dead woman in with the like of American Idol.
And for the first poster, the people of China are not to blame for their leader's choices. Looks like you have some "karma" coming your way.
Why do you care more about the housing crash, who's gonna win Idol, and missing white girls on tropical islands than you do about hundreds of thousands of dead people and millions and millions suffering at the hands of their corrupt governments in Burma and China?
_______
That's easy.
Because Americans are not responsible for the people suffering at the hands of the corrupt Burmese and Chinese governments...the a$$ho|e$ running those governments are the ones responsible.
But Americans are affected by and are responsible for the housing crash, can vote for the next American Idol, and are countrymen of the missing white girls.
What a stupid question.
Next?
The only way to get rid of an oppressive government is for the US military to go in and throw out the old one. And we know how popular that is right now. There is no other option available.
______
The fact that anyone would have such a thought in their brain for even a nanosecond proves that Americans have their brainwashed heads up their butts.
I agree with anonymous(#1) and Darwin. I would add that the people who die (here, there and EVERYWHERE) do so because that is their genetic destiny and this rids the gene pool of the weak. Nations such as India and China are using up the resources of the world at a rate hundreds of times that of "industrial" nations, as Dickens' mentioned "If they are going to die...they should [do so] and decrease the surplus population".
Sorry Keith - I like your attitude toward political change but things are what they are - NONE of us lives forever.
Its not that I don't care about Asians. In God's eyes, the people of those countries are just as valuable as the people here (maybe more so)
But -
1. I can at least hope to influence my own government, but my ability to influence the government of Burma or China is nil and I know it.
2. I owe the people of the USA a debt of gratitude. Their great great grandparents built the country that I and my family have been priveledged to live in. If the people of this country are slandered, cheated, or disenfranchised, it is my duty to do something about it.
Here is an analogy: if someone on the other side of the world is murdered, that is a bigger tragedy than my father being mugged. However, the second case is where I have a duty to get involved - because it is near at hand and I owe a debt of gratitude to the victim.
Um, wait. Aren't you a Ron Paul fan? RP wouldn't bother to help these people being suppressed by their oppressive, America hating regimes. Why should we? Hell, he couldn't even bring himself to sign a worthless bill that expressed sympathy with Burma.
Besides, that dude that's gonna win Idol is from Independence, MO, so I like TOTALLY care.
Actually, I'm more worried about saving my own @ss here on the home front. Charity begins at home, and Hillary, Obama and McCain sure as hell aren't going to take care of me - so it's up to me like it always has been.
If the burmese don't like their situation, I'd suggest that they have themselves a little revolution like we did 250 years ago. Best of luck.
PatFriedl said...
If the burmese don't like their situation, I'd suggest that they have themselves a little revolution like we did 250 years ago. Best of luck.
We didn't have a revolution 250 years ago. We didn't do anything except consume ourselves and our country into bankruptcy over the last 30 years. The founders of America (that would not be you) had a revolution on our behalf, so that we could enjoy a little freedom and individualism in America. They were counting on the fact that we could be trusted to act with a little integrity and personal pride. We have soooo screwed the puppy on that one.
Those that fought in the revolution would be totally outraged with what we have done with their gift.
America needs to quit taking credit for accomplishments that it isn't due and start taking the responsibility for the things that it has done.
Personal responsibility and accountability is the only way out of this mess made by the greedy ones. I wish they would bring back debtor's prison. This crap would stop overnight.
JaneZ
I sent half my economic stimulus check to the red cross for China relief and the other half to Myanamar relief
I sent half my economic stimulus check to the red cross for China relief and the other half to Myanamar relief
sucker
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