Offside Chat Archives (2014-2021)

Facebook is honestly wild; it’s incredible how Zuckerberg managed to build such an empire. I remember back in 2007 when things were really taking off here in the States, and that "poke" feature was easily the coolest thing around. 🙏 I guess if you showed some top-tier economist or business mogul from a century ago how easy it is to lose $58 billion in a single day nowadays, they might not even believe what planet we're living on.

Jessica Gonzalez said:Facebook is honestly wild; it’s incredible how Zuckerberg managed to build such an empire. I remember back in 2007 when things were really taking off here in the States, and that "poke" feature was easily the coolest thing around. 🙏 I guess if you showed some top-tier economist or business mogul from a century ago how easy it is to lose $58 billion in a single day nowadays, they might not even believe what planet we're living on.

You're spending way too much time watching Beverly Hills.

If anyone actually gives a damn about the American economy, you might want to check out this quick interview I found with Professor Ivo Bičanić from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. His dad is Rudolf Bičanić, who used to be the Vice Governor of the Federal Reserve, so I’m pretty sure growing up in the United Kingdom is why he struggles with his English just a little bit. Still, honestly, it’s probably worth your time to listen—especially since he dives into a comparison between the US and its neighbors.

William Gomez5 said:Are we talking about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Company?

I remember reading "1,000 Catastrophes," and honestly, John Law is the only name that sticks in my brain from that whole thing. Man, what an absolute epic meltdown. 🙏

Some historians argue that the real triggers for the French Revolution were actually economic collapses caused by terrible harvests during the Little Ice Age—like how nearly 10% of the population died from famine back in 1693—combined with a massive stock market crash about twenty years prior. The nobility's extravagance was really just the icing on the cake... people weren't necessarily mad at the wealthy lifestyle itself, they were just upset because the slice of the pie they were fighting over kept getting smaller and smaller...

You could pretty much apply that same logic to explaining the economic triggers behind something like Shays' Rebellion...

Justin James10 said:Regarding James Anderson5's take on German colonies:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...FhPl8j3YVlZ6a7

As for the telecom industry? Honestly, shouldn't the priority have been breaking up that monopoly to foster real competition, rather than just selling off the whole thing along with the infrastructure in one giant piece?

We’re talking about colonialism, and you're bringing up German colonies as an argument... I see what you're doing there, using specific examples to drive your point home... 🤣Germany probably ranks pretty low on the list when you look at the actual economic benefits of colonialism. Since they didn't even unify until 1871, the whole colonial era was mostly over before they really got started...

Even if we agree that we should have maintained the infrastructure—and let's be honest, typical American corruption is likely why we didn't—why on earth would you privatize the telecom sector? Even with the power grid being in government hands, despite the usual inefficiencies and bureaucracy, at least all those profits stay right here in the States... It’s better than seeing that money bleed out to foreign owners like we see with the big banks and international telecom giants. We really should have just let foreign competitors step in to drive up the quality through actual competition. But I guess that's just the standard political mantra: privatize everything because people assume Americans don't know how to manage anything... 🤦

shadowmarlin22 said:American news outlets covering global affairs are basically just glorified copy-paste machines for foreign agencies.

It’s the same story with our political scene—there isn't any real left versus right divide. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats actually represent those ideologies. They're essentially two sides of the same coin, except one side just happens to talk about faith and prayer a bit more often. Our parties don't have any real backbone or ideology driving them—they just do whatever it takes to stay in power and get their hands on the federal budget so they can play around with it.

And honestly, it’s even worse here—nobody really understands what’s going on in the European Union, let alone the rest of the world. You'll see more headlines about a new photo of Lidija Bačić in every single newspaper and website without exception than you'll see about China starting to trade oil in its own currency...

Honestly, I just love hearing those endless clichés about "national ownership," capital flight, and those "greedy private interests"—it’s such a classic socialist script! And then we act shocked when nobody wants to pour a single cent of investment into this swamp of a country. Heaven forbid a serious investor actually shows up; better to let everything stay firmly in the hands of politicians so it remains our 🧐. I suppose we truly deserve everything we're dealing with.

Every single state-owned enterprise is basically a bottomless money pit designed to serve as a piggy bank for the people in power. But hey, who cares about efficiency as long as it stays "ours," right? 🤦

In our case, the fall of communism just sort of happened to us; it wasn't like Americans were out there tearing down the system. Around here, people seem fundamentally allergic to actual hard work and entrepreneurship. It's much nicer when everything is stable and under our 🧐 control, isn't it?

When looking at colonial history, I used Germany as an example because the data is so reliable. We also know how quickly things became a burden for Spain. In their colonies, the real wealth was actually accumulated by Italian and German (mostly Jewish) bankers, along with entrepreneurs and merchants from the Benelux countries and the United Kingdom.

Justin James10 said:Honestly, I just love hearing those endless clichés about "national ownership," capital flight, and those "greedy private interests"—it’s such a classic socialist script! And then we act shocked when nobody wants to pour a single cent of investment into this swamp of a country. Heaven forbid a serious investor actually shows up; better to let everything stay firmly in the hands of politicians so it remains our 🧐. I suppose we truly deserve everything we're dealing with.

Every single state-owned enterprise is basically a bottomless money pit designed to serve as a piggy bank for the people in power. But hey, who cares about efficiency as long as it stays "ours," right? 🤦

In our case, the fall of communism just sort of happened to us; it wasn't like Americans were out there tearing down the system. Around here, people seem fundamentally allergic to actual hard work and entrepreneurship. It's much nicer when everything is stable and under our 🧐 control, isn't it?

When looking at colonial history, I used Germany as an example because the data is so reliable. We also know how quickly things became a burden for Spain. In their colonies, the real wealth was actually accumulated by Italian and German (mostly Jewish) bankers, along with entrepreneurs and merchants from the Benelux countries and the United Kingdom.

What kind of communism even happened to us? Just focus on when you're rising through the glass
Gojko, get some standard vodka, and leave the cheap stuff to the losers.

Justin James10 said:Honestly, I just love hearing those endless clichés about "national ownership," capital flight, and those "greedy private interests"—it’s such a classic socialist script! And then we act shocked when nobody wants to pour a single cent of investment into this swamp of a country. Heaven forbid a serious investor actually shows up; better to let everything stay firmly in the hands of politicians so it remains our 🧐. I suppose we truly deserve everything we're dealing with.

Every single state-owned enterprise is basically a bottomless money pit designed to serve as a piggy bank for the people in power. But hey, who cares about efficiency as long as it stays "ours," right? 🤦

In our case, the fall of communism just sort of happened to us; it wasn't like Americans were out there tearing down the system. Around here, people seem fundamentally allergic to actual hard work and entrepreneurship. It's much nicer when everything is stable and under our 🧐 control, isn't it?

When looking at colonial history, I used Germany as an example because the data is so reliable. We also know how quickly things became a burden for Spain. In their colonies, the real wealth was actually accumulated by Italian and German (mostly Jewish) bankers, along with entrepreneurs and merchants from the Benelux countries and the United Kingdom.

They aren't really just piggy banks, honestly, they function more like massive funnels for draining the federal budget and lining the pockets of a loyal army of voters through political appointments.

The Department of Transportation is actually incredible, even in this backwater part of the country, I’d say an organization like the DOT shouldn't even be able to exist, yet here we are.

The DOT is surreal—it’s actually nightmarish. First they’re going to hand out 900 massive severance packages, and then they'll hire 150 new people. Because why wouldn't they 🤷 For a while, the ratio of maintenance and billing staff to administration was basically 1:1 🙏

but hey, it was all fine when they were begging to privatize everything

our highways 🙂

foreigners will be the ones pocketing the cash 🙂

of course, this was all cooked up by the DOT crew—and typical Americans wouldn't be Americans if they didn't freak out over some "selling off our national treasures" narrative to trigger a panic. Scum.

And when you look at how they handle these concession deals, it’s honestly wild because they basically pivoted to this whole "concession" angle just because they absolutely gutted us on those highway construction investments—I mean, they seriously fleeced us, left us high and dry, totally stripped us bare. So now, instead of owning up to it, they actually try to spin it as some kind of win, acting like since we already spent xy billions on the initial build, we might as well hand over the concessions for pennies on the dollar. It’s such a mastermind tactic designed specifically to manipulate the sheep 🤦

At least we finally own our roads! 👋

Everything belongs to us now—from the shipyards and petrochemical plants to the railroads and everything in between. 👋

Hurray! 👋

HAC is basically just like Arda, except FC Barcelona actually had the sense to move him on while we’re still stuck holding onto him🤣

restlesssurfer97 said:HAC is basically just like Arda, except FC Barcelona actually had the sense to move him on while we’re still stuck holding onto him🤣

It's not even that we're holding onto him—we're actively paying him to stay.

As long as Americans can brag about their beers and claim everything is homegrown 👋

We’ll end up paying off this rotting debt by taking out even larger, "more affordable" loans—the kind approved by a Swedish bank under some trivial conditions... Of course, they'll pull the pension funds into this little fairy tale, handing out shares to the naive enough to let their remaining cash vanish into a black hole. An IPO in the name of individual liberty 🙂

Since we're already discussing inflated bubbles, it reminds me of those clowns who take balloons and shape them into planes or dogs for kids—everyone stays delighted and happy while doing it. Meanwhile, we're still left wondering why.

To all you "constructives" celebrating... Happy Easter!

And as for anyone else who hasn't discovered faith yet—you certainly will in a few years. 😁

Honestly, I don't think there’s any religion more fervent than the blind faith people place in statist slogans. #ourvalues #familylegacy #foreigncapital #stability #publicinterest #neoliberalcapitalism

The search engine is back in action! 👋

You're about three months late 🤣

I’ve found myself wondering more than once what might happen if an average person just finally snapped, driven to some sort of extreme act by the sheer desperation of living in this dysfunctional country. Imagine a guy traveling all the way from a city like Seattle up to D.C., carrying a cross on his back, only to be met by some bloated, corrupt 🙏🙏

The real issue isn't just why there's money for fighter jets but none for sick children. I suppose you have to have the planes, one way or another. But the real question is how there is enough capital to fund constant theft, laziness, and pure wastefulness, yet somehow there’s nothing left for the kids? Or even for those new jets we keep hearing about.

Honestly, if someone here actually set themselves on fire like that monk in Vietnam, it wouldn't move the needle for anyone. It’s just not like things in Istanbul or during the era of the partisans and fascists.

brightpilot6 said:I’ve found myself wondering more than once what might happen if an average person just finally snapped, driven to some sort of extreme act by the sheer desperation of living in this dysfunctional country. Imagine a guy traveling all the way from a city like Seattle up to D.C., carrying a cross on his back, only to be met by some bloated, corrupt 🙏🙏

The real issue isn't just why there's money for fighter jets but none for sick children. I suppose you have to have the planes, one way or another. But the real question is how there is enough capital to fund constant theft, laziness, and pure wastefulness, yet somehow there’s nothing left for the kids? Or even for those new jets we keep hearing about.

Honestly, if someone here actually set themselves on fire like that monk in Vietnam, it wouldn't move the needle for anyone. It’s just not like things in Istanbul or during the era of the partisans and fascists.

Meanwhile, this is how things look in slightly less messed up parts of the European Union:

brightpilot6 said:I’ve found myself wondering more than once what might happen if an average person just finally snapped, driven to some sort of extreme act by the sheer desperation of living in this dysfunctional country. Imagine a guy traveling all the way from a city like Seattle up to D.C., carrying a cross on his back, only to be met by some bloated, corrupt 🙏🙏

The real issue isn't just why there's money for fighter jets but none for sick children. I suppose you have to have the planes, one way or another. But the real question is how there is enough capital to fund constant theft, laziness, and pure wastefulness, yet somehow there’s nothing left for the kids? Or even for those new jets we keep hearing about.

Honestly, if someone here actually set themselves on fire like that monk in Vietnam, it wouldn't move the needle for anyone. It’s just not like things in Istanbul or during the era of the partisans and fascists.

I honestly don't even know who this guy is, and frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if some right-wing or left-wing news outlet started digging up dirt on him just to serve their own agendas, but I genuinely admire him, I really do. And what struck me even more was how he said after everything was done that his mission was complete, and he wasn't going to give any soundbites or interviews to the press because his action spoke for itself. That level of maturity is just incredible.

It seems like he’s fully aware that his sacrifice could easily be hijacked by politicians, and he’s doing everything in his power to make sure that doesn't happen.

Then I hop onto Index to read the coverage, and the very first comment—which already had over 400 likes in just two hours—is some guy bashing the church and priests. That kind of hypocritical "anti-religious" attitude just totally turns my stomach; I can't stand it. Why do you have to pollute a man's singular, desperate struggle just to push your own anti-church agenda? That's just the state of society today. Everything is fractured and hyper-politicized to the extreme. Or, well, at least that's what the loudest voices make it seem like. It's pretty grim.