Prophets of Doom (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Community Discussions] >> Dungeon of Political and Religious Discussion



Message

Musicmystery -> Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 10:46:40 AM)

You know, there never seems to be any middle.

Whenever someone makes a prediction, it's "we're headed for disaster!" and never "it's gonna make things a bit more difficult." And anyone who disagrees with the disaster is then "completely ignoring the obvious."

Surely, there must be middle ground? Did nature change and eliminate all continuums?

Those of you so prophesizing...do you truly believe this is so simply a jump to disaster, with no foreground?

And if you do...are you just spreading the word for the good of humanity, or are you taking specific prudent actions for the coming bad times? What exactly are these disaster preparedness plans?

Or if you aren't taking steps to prepare, why not, in the face of such certain disaster?

I appreciate your serious consideration of the matter. Thank you.



suhlut -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 10:57:22 AM)

@Stares into her trusty CRYSTAL BALL

waits...
and waits...
and waittttttssss...
til the folowing words appear :

Concentrate and ask again



juliaoceania -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 11:19:36 AM)

If it bleeds it leads...

I think that sometimes people will only take action if they think disaster will strike if they do not. By and large, people hate change.

The Chicken Littles of the world tend to make themselves look a little foolish when they are wrong, and they also tend to create "the boy who cried wolf" effect when someone who predicts dire outcomes is right.

Take the housing bubble, or the .com bubble. Both of these were predicted before they collapsed, and for some people the sky truly fell, but for others it had very little, if any impact.

I will tell you, when people were lining up at the banks to get their money in 2008, I thought to myself "We are in for some really dark times", and it looks like I was right... even if I do not have a crystal ball.



Hillwilliam -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 12:03:54 PM)

Moderation doesn't sell.



juliaoceania -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 12:05:13 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam

Moderation doesn't sell.



People tend to vote for it generally, so I do not agree with that... people tend to buy into the status quo, even when other ways of doing things would be an improvement



MasterSlaveLA -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 12:18:45 PM)

 
As with anything, it depends... on what the alleged "disaster" may be, as well as any valid warning signs.

Using the "debt", for example, there are plenty of proclations that "we're headed for a disaster", and fairly good evidence for it -- defining "disaster" however you may so choose, as inflaction, unemployment or whatever.

So, when confronted with the potential, the old adage of "Plan for the worst and hope for the best" seems logical.

As to why some "prepare" and some don't?!!  That too remains the the same... some are either unaware, uninformed, or have found through their own analysis that no pending "disaster" is looming.  Many predicted the collapse in 2008, just as many are predicting another pending "disaster" now (hence the price of gold skyrocketing).  Some were prepared in 2008, some where not... some will be prepared -- should anything happen in the near future -- and some will not. 

So again, it just really depends on the alleged "disaster", and how much valid evidence supports/refutes it.




IceDemeter -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 12:28:33 PM)

I think that there are a couple of reasons.

One is that we live in a world of sound-bites, and it's a whole lot easier to grab peoples' attention with something sensationalistic than it is with something middle of the road.

Another is that the publicized opinions tend to start at one extreme, and be argued by the other extreme, until the majority of people hear both sides. The interesting thing is that the majority of opinion does tend to end up somewhere towards the middle of the continuum rather than with either extremity.

I tend to rarely be extremist in any issue, so, unless I'm in the mood to argue with both sets of extremists, I don't see any reason to contribute to the "discussion". I suspect that there are a goodly number of middle-of-the-road types who deal the same way.



juliaoceania -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 12:33:23 PM)

quote:

I tend to rarely be extremist in any issue, so, unless I'm in the mood to argue with both sets of extremists, I don't see any reason to contribute to the "discussion". I suspect that there are a goodly number of middle-of-the-road types who deal the same way.


My problem with people who hold to these notions of extremes, is that what is extreme at one point in time maybe moderate at another. In other words, extreme depends on where you are sitting to begin with. For example, it was considered to be "extreme" at one point that women would even get to vote, and that has changed to the point where today you would be considered extreme if you argued that women shouldn't.

I find that when we look at life as a linear continuum we tend to overlook that life isn't a linear thing... it is multilinear, with many points off the line... some of those points may have some interesting solutions to existing problems, but are overlooked.



Moonhead -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 12:41:01 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: juliaoceania


quote:

ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam

Moderation doesn't sell.



People tend to vote for it generally, so I do not agree with that... people tend to buy into the status quo, even when other ways of doing things would be an improvement

I'm not sure that's true. People are a lot bigger on voting for other people's moderation (which is rarely, if ever delivered, by the bullshitters they vote into power to do some of that moderation shit, but that's a whole other debate) than they are on making any kind of attempt to moderate their own lifestyles.



SilverMark -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 12:48:55 PM)

Some would say that I am ridiculously optimistic. I can't help but have confidence that even as of 2008, that we would recover, that life would be fine, and that I would succeed. I felt that way in1980, 81 and 82 when the prime rate was at time in the 20% category. Hell, I had invested just enough to take a bit of hit when the .com bubble burst, but I just knew I'd live to make it back.
We are not into the bright sunshine yet but, I do believe that the clouds are only temporary. I have to believe I have way too many depending on my judgment and abilities not to believe. If I weren't as I am, I'd just stay at home at wait for it to all end, stocking up on precious metals, spreading the gloom, and in the end, losing all that I have spent life building. Life is never that bad.[:D]



juliaoceania -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 12:52:33 PM)

My personal survival was never in doubt, but then again I had less to lose than a lot of people.

There is much pain out there, I am happy for you that it didn't darken your personal doorstep.



IceDemeter -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 1:01:37 PM)

Actually, that's a great example of what I had in mind - and thank you for expanding my thinking on it.

In our North American society, we started with the extreme that women weren't people, and so were not deserving of rights to vote, hold property, etc., along with the idea that they shouldn't be employed outside the home, and that they certainly were not worth equal wages to men.

At that time, the other extreme was that women were people and so should have all of the above.

At that time, it came out as a middle ground: women got the vote and could hold property, but they still surely weren't considered worthy of equal wages (if they should HAVE to be employed).

You are absolutely correct that the extremes changed as time went on - it was many years later that the new extremists said that not only should women have the right to be employed, but that they SHOULD be. There was a lot of publicity of the views of extremists who felt that a woman who chose to be a homemaker was somehow "less than", and was somehow an insult to womanhood.

Again, we came out more in a middle ground, with women having the right to choose whether to be employed or a homemaker, without it being considered a reflection on all of woman-kind.

When I stated that I rarely (not never) hold an extremist view, I'm not actually looking at it from a linear perspective. I am looking at it from the knowledge and input that I have right now. Looked at by someone in the past, I'm sure I'm a dangerous radical - looked at by someone in the future, I'm sure I'll be considered a frighteningly closed-minded conservative. Some time in the near future I'm sure I'll gain some knowledge and insight that I don't have now and some of my opinions will change.

I find that, for myself, when I think of an "extreme" opinion, I contextualize it in the present moment without worrying about whether it would be considered extreme or moderate in the past or the future.




juliaoceania -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 1:15:37 PM)

quote:

At that time, it came out as a middle ground: women got the vote and could hold property, but they still surely weren't considered worthy of equal wages (if they should HAVE to be employed).


But today most people would disagree with this in practice....


quote:

When I stated that I rarely (not never) hold an extremist view, I'm not actually looking at it from a linear perspective. I am looking at it from the knowledge and input that I have right now. Looked at by someone in the past, I'm sure I'm a dangerous radical - looked at by someone in the future, I'm sure I'll be considered a frighteningly closed-minded conservative. Some time in the near future I'm sure I'll gain some knowledge and insight that I don't have now and some of my opinions will change.


This is what I am talking about from a linear perspective, you are thinking that there is only one direction to this, that of progression... but that isn't true. For example, the New Deal was a radical idea to stop a terrible economic collapse, we saw some expansion of the programs under the New Deal, but over the last couple of decades we have seen a contraction, a major turn right... so the new "middle" is actually conservative, not liberal as the model that you present suggests...

It is entirely possible that we would continue to march right, instead of moving left, or up, down, or forward, or backwards.... this is what I mean by nonlinear and multilinear.... Some of the solutions are outside of what we think of as the status quo, most are afraid of what they do not know, and will not go that direction. Or they have been poisoned and brainwashed against a direction... usually by using the words "extreme" and "radical"



IceDemeter -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 1:34:09 PM)

Sorry! I obviously forgot where I was for a minute! (I'm not used to having simple adjectives automatically translated into political terms - will have to be careful to be more clear.)

The definition of "conservative" that I meant was not in any way political, it was this (from Merriam Webster):

a: tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions : traditional b: marked by moderation or caution <a conservative estimate> c: marked by or relating to traditional norms of taste, elegance, style, or manners

So, how I meant it was that someone in the future might look at me as being tied to the existing views of the time, and not open to huge amounts of change.

I certainly did not intend to convey that there has been some kind of historical movement to the right, or left, or any direction. I simply believe that knowledge will increase in future, and that whatever opinions we come up with today will at some point seem closed-minded and uninformed to those who will have more knowledge than we do now.

Does it make more sense now?
(serious question - not snark!)



juliaoceania -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 1:36:22 PM)

I think there will always be people who think progressively and those who think traditionally....

I am more progressive in my thoughts, although change for change sake is not something I advocate either.





pahunkboy -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 1:51:56 PM)

Due to the severity of the nuclear accident in Japan-  ..that country wont be inhabitable.    The spill out effects will go on for years. 

The financial system is finished.   

Massive extermination of humans is coming- to thin the herd from 6ish bill to under 2 billion.   

And I am mad at my ISP because I cant figure out how to update the billing on it.  I am so fucked.



Musicmystery -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 1:52:47 PM)

Now apply the OP questions to your prophecy.



mnottertail -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 1:52:51 PM)

offer them silver.



juliaoceania -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 2:11:38 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mnottertail

offer them silver.



Buy their gold



SilverMark -> RE: Prophets of Doom (6/10/2011 2:16:18 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

Due to the severity of the nuclear accident in Japan-  ..that country wont be inhabitable.    The spill out effects will go on for years. 

The financial system is finished.   

Massive extermination of humans is coming- to thin the herd from 6ish bill to under 2 billion.   

And I am mad at my ISP because I cant figure out how to update the billing on it.  I am so fucked.


If I weren't as I am, I'd just stay at home at wait for it to all end, stocking up on precious metals, spreading the gloom, and in the end, losing all that I have spent life building. Life is never that bad. <------just in case you wondered where I came up with that idea...I stole it from....Guess Who?



Page: [1] 2 3 4   next >   >>

Valid CSS!




Collarchat.com © 2025
Terms of Service Privacy Policy Spam Policy
0.03125