Posts by Harold Brown49

USPS has cluttered its branches with cheap junk imported from China; they sell everything from sewing needles to locomotives. I remember back in the day, they used to loop those commercials featuring Sanders on the screens in every branch. They are overstaffed, and the whole operation is a mess—both physically and mentally. Everything is disorganized, outdated, and cluttered, yet there are far too many people working every shift. It looks like they’ve started operating privately under a government umbrella, which means privatization is inevitable, along with massive layoffs. Let's face it: a huge number of state-owned companies have been propping up social stability and maintaining the illusion of mass employment since the days when everything was collectively owned 😁. That needs to change, but there is zero preparation for how or where this will happen. This is the direct result of the positions they carved out for themselves while parading around like clowns in ties.
They need competent management, plain and simple. 🙂
And people need to accept that the era of spending 30 years at a secure government job—as the guys at the local pub claim—is over.
Take matters into your own hands. Learn, work, and move on. Teach your kids languages, practical skills, some social graces, culture, and perhaps even some martial arts. That’s it. 🙂
Chasing the "security" of a lifelong paycheck is a fantasy. Not many people here seem to realize that, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it requires intense preparation. This is a massive transition that could lead either to general prosperity or total chaos, and that applies to the entire West. The choice is yours.

Walter Reyes2 said:Honesty is a quality we all claim to value and respect, isn't it? 🙂

But let’s be real—just shouting everything you think straight at someone's face is incredibly rude and lacks any sense of basic decency. 😳

I mean, honestly... it really just comes down to the specific situation and the actual temperament of the person involved, doesn't it? 🤷

As for me, I personally make a genuine effort to be as upfront and truthful as I possibly can.

Self-honesty is essential. You have to examine your own reactions if you expect to make any real progress.
People lie to themselves—and more often than not, they do it poorly—because they are terrified of their own dark side.😁 They lack self-awareness. They're too afraid to admit their own flaws, even when those truths are necessary.🙂 Relying on fleeting emotions is a precarious position. It creates a vulnerability that can lead to a complete individual breakdown when faced with unpredictable external circumstances beyond one's control.

Someone who maintains self-honesty adapts to new circumstances with ease, ensuring their response aligns perfectly with their own needs. Optimal.A liar will eventually lose their way and unravel.

Bluntly speaking, throwing the truth in someone's face isn't a virtue; it's just noise. People often mistake loud, unsolicited honesty for integrity, using it as a convenient way to dodge what actually matters. Real character isn't about how loudly you state a fact—it's about having the discipline to apply virtue when it counts. Based on the context provided, there is no sufficient information to perform a rewrite. Please provide the full text you wish for me to transform. He thinks only of himself, then expects others to care about his opinion—if they even bother to listen at all. 🙂

That's a foolish statement. Attempting to assign blame through such shallow, collective generalizations is fundamentally illogical. 🙂

James Patel20 said:I was just sitting here watching an episode of "60 Minutes," and it really got me thinking about all those names they were throwing around in relation to the old political shifts back in the day... It’s interesting because when you look at the parents of current big-shot politicians—like the fathers of folks who might be compared to someone like Mitt Romney or Joe Biden—it turns out they all held these massive, high-ranking positions within the old state administration back in the day. They even brought up historical figures like Teddy Roosevelt, and I’m sure there are plenty more names that didn't make the cut on screen. It honestly feels like political power in the States is being passed down through generations, almost like a family heirloom that gets handed from parent to child... It gives off this strange vibe that certain families are just pre-destined to run the country, which starts to feel a little bit like we're living in a modern monarchy rather than a true democracy. We have these "blue blood" political dynasties at the top, while everyone else is just caught in the middle, voting and fighting amongst themselves while the same few families simply rotate seats on the throne... everything stays within that same tight circle.

To me, the whole thing feels a bit haunting, if I'm being honest... What are your thoughts on all this?

You call it horrifying; I call it good morning. 🙂
Look at your own immediate surroundings—do you see that transfer of reputation, knowledge, status, connections, and capital within specific families?
Or is it the exact opposite—a cycle of ignorance, low status, weak connections, and meager funds (just the poor fighting over crumbs and inheritance, brother against brother)?
What is strange about that?
The average person won't be saved by politics or big-shot industrialists, not until they leverage their own available strength and intelligence to actively shape their own lives.
Today, we call that entrepreneurship. 🙂
The Protestant work ethic, which values labor and encourages self-realization through hard work, is the only thing that has actually worked. By "Protestant," I mean it stems from reformed Catholic doctrine—the movement started by Martin Luther when he sought to weaken the behavior of the institutional Church and clergy, who acted just like monarchs and feudal lords.

The mob constantly complains that "they" didn't allow them this or that, but even if they didn't, what damn good does complaining do? Did the Japanese complain when a tsunami hit them?
Or did they, as they always do, look at things constructively and actively: where to start rebuilding, cleaning, and repairing? How to move forward? You always move forward, because there is no other direction anyway. 🙂
Did they sit down and cry about how the state, or some corporate tycoon, was being unjust?
Every one of us needs to strengthen our inner confidence, sit with ourselves, identify our strengths, and determine how to affirm ourselves and create meaning through work. Every weakling seeks a job with indefinite security provided by someone else. 🙂
That doesn't exist. It is incredibly fragile. You must take responsibility for yourself and your life. If you choose security and the easy path, you won't get far, because the path to becoming a fully realized person is bumpy and difficult at first; however, in the end, it is the only path that yields results. The "easy street" is a false security—it is a path of fear, constant uncertainty, and paranoia. You need to learn, empower yourself, and acquire skills and knowledge. That path is rugged while you are mastering it, but ultimately, it is the only way to achieve true security and, most importantly, personal autonomy. Only that autonomy provides a solid foundation for building a strong, real collective that understands its true needs and flaws, making them easier to overcome together.🙂

We exist as both individuals and as part of a collective; our conduct must reflect that duality.
The mantra "think globally, act locally" accurately captures the reality of the 21st century.

While striving for equal opportunity through a level playing field is a worthy goal, it should not be pursued by attempting to dismantle the importance of heritage and family structures. 🙂

Hannah White2 said:Don't go thinking you can outsmart female intuition. Seriously, they’ve evolved to pick up on non-verbal cues before they even realize they're doing it. It’s basically built-in software. There might actually be something to what she’s seeing here—I mean, even the OP wouldn't be making this thread if there wasn't a grain of truth in it.

Exactly.🙂
But @Rebecca Miller9
what’s your relationship with your mother like? Is it a typical family dynamic involving people aged 35 to 70? 🙂

Certainly not like this
http://nytimes.com/news/us/national/n...uku/richards.html
and with an unenforceable ruling a year later 🙄
when one segment of the population thrives on violence while another is fully committed to a modern, diverse way of life—something the former can't grasp because they're culturally lagging about 30 years behind—then that kind of savage, primitive behavior needs to be clearly exposed and condemned, rather than playing politics over whose SON is who and other nonsense.

Interesting.
What is the actual issue here?

hollowtinker18 said:Does anyone actually know the cause, or at least have a theory, for why he developed schizophrenia at that age?
I’d say you can interpret Nietzsche in a hundred different ways; it all just depends on how the reader perceives it.

It’s like syphilis, except it isn't.
I believe his madness is precisely what proved his greatness. 🙂
However, he wasn't insane simply because being "mad" is some mysterious trait of great men—he just withdrew more seriously. Personally, I have a lot of respect for him because of everything he went through. 🙂

What I find most reprehensible is how "intelligently" and heartlessly they target the most vulnerable. They pick children who lack any kind of support system or come from families with lower social standing. These kids are lured in under the guise of receiving help, which actually just forces them into a position of total helplessness. It’s unacceptable. This explains why there is so much abuse occurring in children's homes—take the situation in Cincinnati involving local prostitution, for example—and we've seen similar cases in Chicago with those boys labeled as "delinquents," who are increasingly being pushed toward crime instead of being helped.
Furthermore, it is disgusting that the Church carries this out while claiming to propagate Jesus's faith. It's pathetic. 🙂

I disagree with the idea that any religion is inherently violent. It is institutionalized religion that tends to be manipulative, which almost always leads to violence eventually.🙂

amberheron64 said:I am right there with you on that one.

It makes zero sense to me when someone—someone who has never actually met me and doesn't have the slightest clue who I am—suddenly decides to start hurling unprovoked insults and making weirdly personal attacks instead of just sticking to the topic at hand.
I mean, what on earth are you even doing? We don't even know each other!

People often believe anonymity provides a perfect shield, but their posts and word choices give them away every time. You cannot hide your true character from yourself.🙂

Maria Booth said:Don't stress too much about Žužul and his buddies. I mean, US ambassadors, members of Congress, and Cardinals are way too high-profile to be tossing overboard. Not exactly realistic, right?

Such "important" guests.😁
An American Cardinal? As if we needed one more of those.🙄
The whole thing is a circus. What’s next—is Žužul’s "university" going to set up shop in a Dominican monastery?!👎