Vekjo, just be real with me for a second, because honestly, you’re such a contrarian—which is basically your whole vibe—so I gotta ask, do you actually support this country of ours? Don't even start with the corruption talk, please, because I know you'll just dodge the question to hide what you really think, I just want to know if you stand behind a government that sticks its nose into every single corner of society, like they have their hands in everything and basically control the whole show? Are you, like, a total follower of the Workers Font or something?
Justin James10 said:Lik doesn't even protest against the system itself at first glance. I’d bet anything he’s a loyal voter for one of those major political parties that just keeps swapping seats in power.
Where does the money go? It vanishes into our interstate highways, our railroads, shipyards, petrochemical plants, aviation, county governments, and that massive bureaucratic machine. There's no cash left because by the time the bloated bureaucracy and millions of shell companies have finished feeding themselves, there isn't even enough change left for the rest of us. But does anyone care? Not really. Instead, we just see these ridiculous, sporadic protests pop up every once in a while. It's a classic pattern you see in certain parts of the world.
And there's this fascinating side effect tied to heavy state involvement. The more a government tries to be "social" and grabs everything into its own hands, the less people feel the need to engage in charitable work or even find the will to help their neighbors. It's essentially state-sponsored finger-wagging.☕
I have to disagree with that. This is just a desperate act from a man who feels completely powerless, and that’s honestly the only way you should view it. You shouldn't try to frame him as some kind of crusader fighting against corrupt bureaucracy, because he clearly doesn't have the ability, let alone the ambition, to actually fix any of that.
I’m genuinely curious, though—what makes you think this whole thing is just some ridiculous joke that doesn't even deserve a second look? I really want to know your take on it.
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.
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 🤦
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.
Anderlon once shared this hilarious little story about how he got hit with a request from a huge group of users who were dead set on him building a forum interface that looked exactly like an Excel spreadsheet, because apparently, they thought that would be a genius move. When he actually bothered to ask them why on earth they wanted that, they told him it was so when they’re typing away in their cubicles at some government agency in D.C., it’ll look like they’re actually getting real work done instead of just hanging out online 😂
Just imagine if they actually went ahead and blocked forums on government servers or something, man, ruggedjackal46 would probably end up with some serious carpal tunnel just trying to type everything out on his phone 😂
This is just like how Daze used to act, honestly—whenever someone tried to call him out or give him a piece of their mind, he’d just shrug it off and claim he was merely trolling. I really miss having Daze around. And Koba too. 🙂
wiredfalcon2 said:Nobody ever claimed it was some kind of paradise. But here’s the thing—modern white Christians in America love to brush stuff under the rug. They act like these massive historical issues are just "marginal topics" that we can deal with once the economy stabilizes or whatever. It's a joke. Throughout history, those exact same problems were front and center. And the kicker? People dealt with them even when the economy was a total dumpster fire compared to now. Problem solved. Period.
Look, most Americans have a roof over their heads today. Nobody’s out there starving. We've got clean water running from the tap, almost every household has a car sitting in the driveway, and the number of people with college degrees just keeps climbing every year—back in the old days, serving in the military was basically how a lot of guys first learned how to actually read and write. But no, apparently we can't move an inch until we fix GDP growth first. You know, that little economic metric cooked up at the Bretton Woods conference back in '44 by a bunch of suits. Everything has to be about that number before we can even start talking about anything else. Beat those faggots. Or something like that. Whatever.
The logic here is basically at the level of an enzyme—and I'm talking about one of those favorite punching bags, like restlesssurfer97.
Either you’ve completely misread the room again, or you’re just one of those people who maliciously twists anyone's words if they don't align with your specific ideological bubble, or rather, *your* group's views. Because let's face it, you guys operate as a pack.
There is no middle ground.
I call it modern-day narrow-mindedness. You can wrap yourself in the flag of equality and progressivism all you want, but unfortunately, that stubborn streak in your DNA is what’s really driving your actions. Honestly, even the hardline religious zealots aren't as exclusive and closed-minded as these so-called postmodernists.
Sandra Johnson58 said:Maybe economics is even less than a fifth of social life, but... I don't know, without a solid economy, all those other topics kind of become irrelevant. It's only because we live in these economically prosperous societies that we can even afford to debate these things as major issues instead of just passing comments. Besides, the kind of perfect society you're dreaming of doesn't exist anywhere.☕ Even in places like Scandinavia, there are people who aren't fans of gay folks or who look at abortion or, you know, "freaks" with total disgust. Sure, the percentage is lower, but I think I read recently that in Sweden, like, a quarter of the population thinks abortion is immoral—they wouldn't ban it, obviously, but they clearly don't view it positively. And honestly, I doubt anyone's gonna stare at a woman after an abortion mostly because, let's be real, hardly any woman is gonna brag about something that’s probably pretty traumatic. Personally, I think women who have abortions are being stupid—not because of the act itself, but because they let themselves get into a situation where they have to risk their health with such an aggressive process that leaves lasting effects. And for those who do go through it, I'd almost say they shouldn't reproduce so they don't pollute the gene pool with their stupidity. I mean, imagine being in the 21st century in a Western country having multiple abortions when you have access to every single type of birth control out there. As for everything else... most people don't give a damn, but there will always be those little groups of people who judge you and throw shade, so I guess my advice is just to get used to it. People used to give me crap because I'm tall, stocky, and have red hair, but I just laugh it off and move on. Like that old saying goes: it doesn't matter what's said, it matters who's saying it. My sister actually lives and works in Germany, and she has this coworker there who constantly asks her when she's getting married since she has a boyfriend. Just to be clear, the coworker is German.
I’m totally on board with that, though I’d argue that all those other topics actually become even more important when you have a solid economy, rather than becoming irrelevant. Because look, when people are actually thriving and living well, they don't give a damn about identity politics or whether someone is Black, gay, a punk, or a trans woman—all that stuff just fades into the background when everyone's got food on the table and money in the bank.
ruggedjackal46 isn't just one of those guys who would be sitting around a campfire with a bunch of wild-eyed radicals, mapping out some massive strike against a corporate giant, only to stop everything and say, hold on a second guys, is this actually necessary, because I just spotted a little piglet, two kittens, and a really sweet little wolf in the backyard and I'd hate for them to get caught in the crossfire, so maybe we can just settle this without any weapons or heavy-handed force? 😂
I honestly think wiredfalcon2 actually has the guts to pick up an AR-15 if things really went south😂
Justin James10 said:What do you even call this trend nowadays? Maybe statism?
I mean, how else would you describe all those tired mantras about "outdated capitalism," the "decaying West," the supposed need for more government overreach, or the endless whining about neoliberalism?
Justin James10 said:And where exactly are you going? Into the woods?
🤣
It’s always these same anti-capitalist types who aren't even actual socialists, but man, if you handed one of them an AR-15, they’d turn an old red t-shirt and a tree branch into a revolutionary flag before you could even blink.
Look, I get where you're coming from, but you just don't see the bigger picture and honestly, you probably never will, because I was being super specific about one tiny little niche here, and besides, this whole board keeps a paper trail of everything if you just bother to scroll back through the last few pages, but then suddenly we get hit by Mr. Know-It-All wiredfalcon2 over here bringing up Mohawks, Catholics, and some random statistic about how 21% of people are Protestants, and frankly, it's probably for the best that you're heading out, because I bet you would've pivoted to talking about the IRS or a dozen other random topics in your very next post anyway.
wiredfalcon2 said:You’ve got everything all mixed up and clearly missed the point entirely. But since this place lives for "logical debate"— green stays green until it turns red, and apparently some kid learned a fancy new word two weeks ago (statism)—I’m out. I'm done with this topic.
Have a good one, whatever.
I'm pretty sure you're the only one who actually failed to wrap their head around this, so honestly, you probably should've just kept scrolling in the first place, bye 👋.
wiredfalcon2 said:Look, isn't that really the whole point of living? Just figuring out if someone's a crook or not. Honestly, I’d give anything to live in a society where nobody gives a damn about my business. Like, if I'm gay, or a lesbian, or had an abortion, or if I'm single without kids... who cares? If I rock a mohawk and spend my days on a skateboard, let people stare. It shouldn't matter. At the end of the day, the economy is maybe a fifth of what actually makes up a social life, if it's even that much. Everything else is just noise.
Are you trying to dodge the actual point here, or is it just happening by accident?