Picard Wtf

Personally, I prefer moderate left twix.

They lean left as a result of a higher standard of living derived from prosperity, not the reverse as you seem to be implying.
Such leanings are the self indulgent product of a booming economy, as are the arts, philosophy, public works, entertainment, etc.
Just as poorer countries are not poor because they are conservative, but are conservative because they ARE poor.

Contractions in the economy, even temporary ones (such as a recession), fosters right wing sentiments. Yes, left wing factions may holler for radical change, but that change always ends up falling back into the safety of tradition, the familiar, a retreat to a mythogical golden era where right was right and wrong was wrong and no one wasted time on frivolous decadent diversions.

You don't really think the current political climate and the rise of rightist elements is a result of fandom for a reality tv celebrity? The wave is worldwide, and has manifestred itself in the West almost rabidly in tandem with falling fortunes. Yes, meddling and prodding from homegrown to foreign elements plays a part, but they are dependent on a public dissatisfied with current directions and worried about a future with lesser prospects to plant their seed.

One day the oil will run out. Divisions far beyond today's silly little alt right/antifa left keyboard warrior fantasies will rise and descend upon each other. Billions will be kill each other for food, as in cannabalism. The few remaining will ultimately return to a medieval society, one permanently ossified by the simple fact that there will be no more resources to exploit, no place to steal them from. Socialism, capitalism, and whatever other distraction-isms will be the forgotten hobbies of a gluttonous past. Feudalism is what will coalesce out of the ruins the future. And that, will be that.

No, just decades left of oil. Saudi Arabia (and everyone else) is years past peak. Fracking and oil sands & shale are desperate scratchings for leftover scraps, soon to be depleted.
Plus it's COAL that there is a centuries worth left *cough cough* - not as easy to mine as in the past, as bulldozed mountains in Appalchia can attest, thus increasingly expensive and unfeasible as well.

And hate to pop any bubbles, but there will never be batteries big enough to be charged enough to fly planes (plus the bigger the battery of batteries, the heavier, and thus...), nor will mills power heavy trucks and machinery for mining, heat homes en masse, power autos, factories, cut and mill trees, smelt metals, power up remote areas (Third World Living is gonna be a doozy), and all the rest that goes with it - and that which can be done wil be cost prohibitive, thus reflected in the economy.

You can't make plastics, produce concrete, nor have that lovely toy you make memes with wind either.

Try international trading on lithium powered cargo ships, just ain't feasible.

There IS a reason we haven't been doing those things, just as there is a reason that the rise of this gizmo dependent modern world coincided with the use of oil.

Appalachia*

That would never happen!
Seriously, the world ain't gonna be a utopia.
Evar

Unless we as a species make it happen. We may be programmed to fight among ourselves and be slaves to emotions, neuroplasticity proves that we have the power to change our thinking.

Deal with it. Humans are freaking incompatabile

As this meme suggests, that's exactly what your hate and anger want you to think.
And giving in to those things is a sign of letting your thoughts control you. This is exactly what I'm talking about; this is the subliminal source of all the hatred, racism, and discrimination in the world. A lot of people think like that, and it's not entirely their fault. Nevertheless, it's a problem that can and must be solved.
If people learn to control their thoughts so that they no longer give in to hate, there'd be no more reason to fight among ourselves.
This sounds like bs, but believe me, it has been done before. Buddhism is a prime example of this. You don't have to become Buddhist of course, but deep breathing can clear your mind off the "blah blah blah" that stimulates hateful emotions.

But the dark side's cookies are poisoned!

Boi, I think you watch too much Star Wars
and you want to be a bit too much of a Jedi
The dark side is where all the cookies are

Usually. However, let's say in the Three Little Pigs (no one has to take this seriously; it's just a joke.), the Pigs had a political debate about how to get rid of the wolf. One side chose to spend money on bricks, while the other used cheap straw. The compromise used sticks. Still lost; both cheep and compromise lost. Meanwhile, the pig who spent the most won because the wolf couldn't blow down his house.

But in this world there isn't really a "wolf" except our own demons. By drawing upon our hateful urges to make up an imaginary "wolf" out of say, a bunch of innocent Jews who did nothing, we needlessly destroy ourselves for no reason. Natural selection put these in us for survival, because 5,000 years ago we had to compete for resources, but in the modern day we don't have to do that but we still kill each other because of inability to control these urges, and therefore we start making up enemies out of nowhere. This is correlated with racism, isolation, bullying, and all other problems related to hate and discrimination.

The truth is, by being in the middle you gain an unbiased perspective of both sides instead of sticking to one side and ignoring the other. See this is two pigs (one representing the left and the other the right) attempting to kill each other for no reason and the third pig (the unbiased middle) trying to calm them the f**k down.

Pretty much, but....

We still compete for resources - only it's for a job, house in the burbs, choice set of wheels instead of out in the wild for antelope and bear claws.

In competition - which is needed for survival, not just an urge to be doused - there will always be victors and losers. As a social species, the pressure is more enveloping and constant. To get higher in social strata and assure survival there will always be those to climb over. Even the most affluent of societies have their have nots. Sadly people can't seem do do without their scapegoats to stomp on or go past, and the less likely to bite back, the better. The easist way to attract and unify a base is through exploiting such hate.

No matter how rich, people will never be satisfied because of this intinct. In most aspects the poorer folks in the West are better off than the richest of long ago, minus the castle. Even compared to a generation or two ago. When I was born, there was one tv in the living room (lucky if color, but probably b&w), no separate phone in each room, let alone a super powered computer in hand with a phone # and access to the entire world at a touch. Whatever.

Anyways, I'm rambling.

Left & right, horse shoe theory, lots of stupid noise for nothing. The middle seems more realistic, but if everyone settled in it, we'd all become lethargic. So as exaggerated and phony as the extremists are, we need them to ask for ridiculous amounts till finally they get something that satisfies as many sides as possible. So really the middle tends to be the end, not the means.

On the contrary, the middle (or at least extremely close to the middle) seems like the best way to go. We have been thinking in absolutes for too long in a relative world of relativity.

The micron of optism still wandering in my decrepit heart wants to and does believe that.
But the cynic in me caves in to the sad fact that people like fancy stories better than reality, even if the tales entail nasty little details ('scuse me, I'm half conked out here and thus being even more doofy than usual).

So while approaching from the middle would be ideal, reasonable, and civil, ultimately we'll get to the middle via the frothing extremes squabbling until they coalesce into something practical towards that middle.

Workers rights, civil rights, gay rights - the history of all such movements is one sparked and then pushed by fervent forces bordering on and at times venturing into violence. Granted, comparing the Stonewall Riots to the more recent calls for marriage equality shows a difference in temperment and approach, but those riots did spark the movement, and when looked at other such movements, it is difficult to believe they would have achieved what they did without that intitial outburst to garner attention, momentum, and yes, fear. Even something like Civil Disobedience is dependent on large numbers of demonstrators. While peaceful, the thought lingers that at any moment rioting can break out, and the pent up anger of the oppressed is a fearsome thing with a greater chance of winning in the end. So basically Civil Disobedience works partially through being peaceful, but mainly by the thought that coiled underneath is something potentially less pleasant for the status quo...

The cynical thoughts you're talking about are exactly what they seem; they are all just thoughts: made-up stories or half-truths that your head comes up with that tries to justify everything even if the thing is horrific (the brain is an expert storyteller). Everyone has these, and if people realize that the dark thoughts in their heads are not necessarily true it will be easier to fight them and see the light.
Sticking to the bright side even if others don't allows hope even in times of crisis. I too am struggling with the dark side of the mind (who isn't?), but I have learned that in order to allow more good things to happen you need to be more optimistic (this makes positive changes to life easier), and in order to do that you need to not let the dark thoughts control you.

Thoughts are, by essence and nature, controlled by the thinker that thought them.
Optimism is the tool of con artists and the food of fools.
Cynicism isn't the only spectrum of its own prism, there is still enough light by which to see. Do we hide in our shadows or reach for that glimmer, cripple ourselves or strive on, that is the issue.

Optimism is more viable than cynicism simply because of the law of attraction (positive thoughts tend to increase likelihood of positive decisions). Simply put, You cannot live positive lives without a positive mindset.
"Thoughts are, by essence and nature, controlled by the thinker that thought them."
To a certain extent that is true. You can control how you think and what you think of. But that's only if you make that happen via meditation or simply deep breathing and concentration. Problem is that a lot of people subconsciously wire our thoughts in a negative way and let their thoughts control them. They focus on negative things too much and fail to be grateful that they're lucky to even exist! The problem is that we're programmed to think that our thoughts control us instead of the other way around. And what is the thinker? As I said before, the brain is not a single super-intelligent entity controlling everything else; it's a combination of dozens of complex systems and modules. Think of it as an iPhone with the apps as your modules: each app/module executes a different function.
But the brain is obviously much more sophisticated than a mere iPhone. And these modules are programmed to fight for control of the mind and some modules are more dominant than others.

The brain has two general parts: the DMN (Default Mode Network) and the TPN (Task-Positive Network). Part of the DMN consists of the amygdala, which activates our fear response and anxiety. For most people, the DMN stays dominant for most of their lives when they're not focused on anything. When the DMN is active, our minds drift into flashbacks of memories (including the ones that remind us of the injustices of the past), suggestive thoughts, and our fears and anxieties. Here's where the anger part comes in: All people are capable of controlling the DMN. The problem is that most people don't know how and end up drifting uncontrollably in the DMN, especially in people with AD/HD. This leads to increased levels and frequencies of anxiety, fear, and hatred. Not knowing how to control the DMN is why natural selection is messing with our heads to create imaginary enemies and scapegoats out of thin air and consequently making us fight among ourselves. By regularly deep breathing and focusing on breath and meditating and whatnot, we instead wire our brain over time to use the TPN more often. When we have the TPN activated, we focus on the moment, the now.

(I had to make a separate post because of a character limit)
Focusing on the now allows us to focus on what we're supposed to do and not be distracted by a passing fear, the shackles of pessimism, or the throbbing hatred of imaginary enemies. In other words, the TPN allows us to "Just!! DO IT!!" in the literal sense; they allow us to reach for our dreams and the positive side without letting fear or anger cloud our judgement.

Hate can be a good motivator to activate our fight or flight responses but that's only if there is a tangible enemy (like hostile interstellar extraterrestrials, but that's unlikely) to strike at. But all the enemies we have now can only be defeated by love and hope, not fear. Hope is also ultimately the greatest motivator of all. Fear and hate may bring certain people together but it also rips people apart and unjustly singles out certain groups of people for trivial reasons (e.g. the Holocaust). Fear is negative; it breeds resentment and ultimately chips off at your lifespan. Hope can bring people together regardless of age, ethnicity, or gender, all without the seething bloodshed and reduction of lifespan associated with hate and violence. And optimism makes breeding hope easier.

I will agree.. there is no wolf. I did say that no one had to take the 3 pigs analogy seriously.

True that. I call myself a "moderate left" because I want to hear the other side's views, even though I lean left on most issues. The ones who call themselves straight out Democrats usually don't want to hear the opponent's views (not saying all democrats or liberals, just some; it's vice-versa with Republicans too), and I sometimes agree with the Right on a few issues... such as that Communism is not the way (I don't believe in Capitalism, but I don't believe in Communism either).

All the great stuff in the past was built by monarchies and theocracies.

The USSR spent a lot too on it's brick house, tho it finally crumbled as it was outspent by the US. Then again, we had a higher credit limit on our card, and that bill has yet to be paid in full.

Also, Capitalism opts for maximizing its buck, so particleboard and vinyl facades will do - cheaper, easier, quicker, and, just as everything else in our disposable society, replaceable by design.

A person with an outer locus of control is a person who is easily influenced by external factors and puts the blame on these factors for everything. A lot of people have ended up becoming this because the consumeristic nature of capitalism is telling society that "The world is dying, but there is nothing you can do about it, so keep consuming" and all that mumbo jumbo. Having an inner locus of control allows you to take control of your life and your thinking, and neuroplasticity (the brain's ability to rewire itself over time) proves that we have the power to change.

Exactly.
The fact that capitalism is promoting apathy is causing us to not care about what's happening in the world (e.g. the environment is being destroyed but many do nothing). And if no one is caring about what is happening, nobody does something about it and that problem is free to run wild.

Consumerism is a practical trait of capitalism. The bottom line is that a new system is needed that is neither capitalism nor communism.

True. ;P

; P

Nobody looks at a hot chick and is like, "I'm a right leg man"...or "I only like her left leg." They are more concerned with the area they have in common.

Both sides have big problems. 28lgeh.jpg [image not found]