Offside Chat Archives (2014-2021)

James Anderson5 said:Germany was never really a major player in the colonial game. Honestly, even the British were probably losing money on North America. I'm curious though, what data are you using to claim that most colonies were unprofitable?

The reality is that being a modern economic powerhouse is incredibly lucrative if you look at the margins foreign banks and telecom giants pull in compared to their initial investments...

It definitely wasn't a waste of money. I mean, the UK probably would've gone totally broke during both World Wars if they didn't have all those colonies packed with resources, both human and natural.

wiredfalcon2 said:Too bad history has proven you wrong like 892 times already. Economic status has nothing to do with caring about "others." Honestly, you should probably pick up a book on history or anthropology. The folks living across North and South America long before Christians showed up didn't have these massive identity crises over gender and sex; you could pretty much be a woman in a man's body in certain communities without anyone blinking. And yeah, those people didn't know where their next meal was coming from either.

Yeah, sure, they just sacrificed each other whenever they ran out of rain.

God, the white man just ruined everything.

James Anderson5 said:Germany was never really a major player in the colonial game. Honestly, even the British were probably losing money on North America. I'm curious though, what data are you using to claim that most colonies were unprofitable?

The reality is that being a modern economic powerhouse is incredibly lucrative if you look at the margins foreign banks and telecom giants pull in compared to their initial investments...

They were definitely unprofitable. To get any kind of ROI, you had to dump insane amounts of capital upfront—building out settlements, laying down roads, then railroads later, paying for standing armies or whatever muscle you needed to hold ground. In the end, it was just way easier to just buy the resources😁 for a fraction of the cost.

Sandra Johnson58 said:Actually, their healthcare isn't even that bad—like, it's not bad at all, really. They probably have the most cutting-edge treatments and do way more medical research than anyone else, and honestly, it's pretty convincing how much work goes into it here in the States. If you actually take a second to look into it, it’s not even that crazy expensive because you can find decent insurance plans for totally reasonable prices. A lot of people over here don't have coverage just because, well, if you aren't working, you can't pay for it, but also a bunch of people just choose not to have it since they have that option. But unlike back home where people might help you out even if you're uninsured, it's a bit more of a headache here. You basically have to hit up a free clinic or somewhere that has a budget for those pro bono treatments or surgeries. And honestly, almost every major hospital in a big city has a massive amount of money set aside for stuff like that from donations. When I say massive, I mean like, astronomical numbers, especially in huge cities like New York or Los Angeles. I think I read somewhere that Cedars-Sinai had like 300 million in donations specifically for pro bono care and surgeries. The biggest issues with the system are just how insanely complicated everything is, the way insurance companies treat people like they're nothing—which is a regulation issue—and the fact that your insurance might not cover you if you're out of state, which is a legal mess. People back in my old country often don't even realize how much they're paying for health coverage. For me, they used to take $667 out of my check every single month, and I still ended up having to pay for heart checkups privately because I couldn't wait as long as they wanted me to—it was like, over four months of waiting. When I look back at the kind of service I got from the American system for the money I handed over... man, it honestly makes me want to cry.

It's true they have some of the best clinics and doctors in the world, no doubt about that. But man, that industry moves a massive amount of money. That's also why their average healthcare spending per person is the highest globally, and prices for services are through the roof. Compared to someone in Switzerland, they're spending nearly a third more. America is a pretty skewed place when it comes to social standards; while we tend to worry about neoliberalism, everything over there seems driven by a fear of communism. Everyone has their own little bogeyman to worry about...

https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/...-amount-health

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsan...are-per-person

If it were up to me, I'd pick any Western European country over the US for healthcare any day...

Paul Sanders5 said:Yeah, sure, they just sacrificed each other whenever they ran out of rain.

God, the white man just ruined everything.

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.

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.

I'm done here, hasta luego 👋

brightpilot6 said:Well, I was just sitting here waiting for the inevitable "ivory tower" argument to surface.

God, these battle-hardened capitalists and seasoned practitioners think they know it all, 🙏🙏 as if they’re all running massive conglomerates in some idealized version of the American Dream.

If you tell them eight times in a row that nobody wants more government interference, they’ll still act shocked the ninth time someone suggests it. One has to wonder if people with that kind of cognitive flexibility are actually in demand in the job market.🙏🙏

By the way, we didn't even officially abolish slavery here in the States until the 19th century.

But man, you were just agreeing with wiredfalcon2 a second ago, saying the only thing we actually need to fix is the justice system and getting religious voters down below 21%.
And then we march toward progress. Sure, fixing the judiciary is the big one and we should probably focus there first, but we have enough other potential reforms to give anyone a massive headache. I was just writing about this the other day.

As for religion, wealthy nations aren't rich because they have fewer religious people; rather, as economic prosperity climbs and education levels rise, the number of religious folks naturally dips. The conclusion? The religious ones were the ones who got rich in the first place.

That’s the fundamental issue with our left wing: their biggest enemy is religion, or more specifically, the Catholic Church. But when it comes to the actual economy, they couldn't care less. I honestly don't get it, especially since being religious is a personal right for every individual. From a classical liberal perspective, it's absolutely wild that anyone would try to meddle in someone else's life, whether it's a believer bothering an atheist or an atheist bothering a Catholic.

Unbelievable, I actually managed to stumble upon the phrase "white Christian" right here in the States; it’s officially gone too far, just shut it all down 🙏
edit: I find it hard to believe that most people advocating for economic liberalization also want to privatize absolutely everything—you know, things like sewage, water systems, or even full-scale privatization of healthcare and public schools. There are always extremists out there, but I highly doubt they're the ones hanging out on this forum.

Look, this isn't even a debate in America because honestly, people here couldn't care less about who's sleeping with whom. You can find five times as many scandals in much wealthier, more developed, more advanced countries as you ever could here.

And I’m struggling to see the point of your post—are you trying to say that different cultures at different points in history consider totally different things to be "normal"? Like, back in Ancient Greece, older men having relations with younger guys was just part of being a gentleman. Fifty years ago in the States, being gay could land you in a federal prison camp, but today, maybe some old lady will give you a dirty look, and in another fifty years? Probably nothing at all. Change doesn't happen overnight, but there is one common thread: wealthier, more progressive societies have always been more open to new ideas, and they always will be.

It’s way easier to pull the wool over your eyes than it was to fool those guys back in South Philly.🤣

Anyway, get back to whatever you were yapping about before. My video just finished rendering, so I gotta get back to work.
Later.

Absolutely ridiculous 🤣

This is right up there with seeing someone rocking dreadlocks in the suburbs 🙏

Of course they couldn't care less about the economy; frankly, their grasp on reality is practically nonexistent. The more you consume their nonsense on social media, the more you start to wonder if we’re all just subjects in some massive, bizarre social experiment. It’s truly fascinating how much energy they pour into such incredibly shallow, intellectually stunted rhetoric.

Take, for instance, how politicians jump from the Democratic Party over to the Republicans or how union leaders suddenly find themselves cozying up to the GOP—to them, it’s just business as usual. They treat political maneuvering like it’s nothing more than a game of professional football. And what’s even more grating is the sheer audacity they show when you actually point out that their behavior is completely unethical🤣.

It makes it incredibly difficult for those of us trying to maintain a sense of perspective regarding the bigger picture, because these trivial distractions constantly pull you back down into the weeds, sparking endless ideological bickering depending on which side of the aisle you lean toward.

The conversation is an endless loop of nostalgia for "the good old days," finger-pointing at what others did wrong, or blaming a single specific figure for every single societal failure.

In any actual American corporation, if someone tried to argue about a fundamental issue with that level of incompetence or lack of accountability, they’d be escorted out of the building before they could finish their sentence.

ironpanther5 said:Unbelievable, I actually managed to stumble upon the phrase "white Christian" right here in the States; it’s officially gone too far, just shut it all down 🙏
edit: I find it hard to believe that most people advocating for economic liberalization also want to privatize absolutely everything—you know, things like sewage, water systems, or even full-scale privatization of healthcare and public schools. There are always extremists out there, but I highly doubt they're the ones hanging out on this forum.

I used to think this whole crowd blaming "white privilege" was basically just some weird 4chan meme, but man, there are actual generations growing up over here in the States fully convinced it's real. 😁

It’s gonna be one hell of a show when they grow up and finally run headfirst into the new global power players—the Asians. 😁

Paul Sanders5 said:They were definitely unprofitable. To get any kind of ROI, you had to dump insane amounts of capital upfront—building out settlements, laying down roads, then railroads later, paying for standing armies or whatever muscle you needed to hold ground. In the end, it was just way easier to just buy the resources😁 for a fraction of the cost.

The most valuable American colony would have been something like the territories managed by the East India Company—I actually just watched a documentary on them. For them, maintaining an army and building forts really paid off, but what eventually jeopardized everything was the aggressive push for religious conversion. That triggered rebellions and wars, which is terrible for the bottom line. The Company blamed religious organizations for the chaos, while those groups blamed the Company for blocking their mission 😁 After all those conflicts, the US government ended up taking direct control...

The profits for shareholders and company officials were absolutely staggering; apparently, they even held over 10% of the votes in Congress at one point and amassed incredible wealth.

The American economy was roughly 12.5% of the global total back in 1700, but by the 1870s, it hit 74%. That was the era when the East India Company controlled huge swaths of territory and transitioned from being just a trading firm to a major political power. Part of that can be attributed to the start of the Industrial Revolution, though that was heavily fueled by capital coming out of those colonies. They basically controlled the tax systems, meaning they used local money to fund their own militaries and infrastructure projects.

Let's be honest, a huge portion of Western wealth was built on exploiting colonies and stripping resources, much like how many major museums are filled with looted artifacts that will likely never be returned to their countries of origin...

Modern colonialism is pretty much what you mentioned; at some point, it became cheaper to avoid the overhead of armies and physical infrastructure and instead just extract profit through shell companies, bribed politicians, and intelligence agencies...

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. 🙂

Plus Enzo. ☕

Look, I don't care if someone identifies as a man, a woman, fluid, a head of lettuce, or an extra from Mars; my personal business. The actual issue is the expectation that I should suddenly view them through that specific lens just because they want me to. And apparently, they think we should make that a federal crime.

Get this: I was scrolling through CNN earlier, and they were citing some "scientific" study—which was actually just a press release from some ultra-conservative lobby group about biological differences between men and women—and they actually put those differences in quotation marks. Whether that statement was total nonsense or not is one thing, but it’s pretty telling that even mainstream outlets like CNN act like basic biology is up for debate. 😁

I mean, even the Church had the decency to invent an invisible old man in the sky that you can't 100% disprove, yet these people are out here clinging to the idea that there are no biological distinctions between the sexes, a concept even a toddler in preschool could wrap their head around.

Paul Sanders5 said:I used to think this whole crowd blaming "white privilege" was basically just some weird 4chan meme, but man, there are actual generations growing up over here in the States fully convinced it's real. 😁

It’s gonna be one hell of a show when they grow up and finally run headfirst into the new global power players—the Asians. 😁

I wonder what their version of "SJW" will even be called; I’m putting my money on something ridiculous like "short yellow guys don't get it" 😁

James Anderson5 said:Germany was never really a major player in the colonial game. Honestly, even the British were probably losing money on North America. I'm curious though, what data are you using to claim that most colonies were unprofitable?

The reality is that being a modern economic powerhouse is incredibly lucrative if you look at the margins foreign banks and telecom giants pull in compared to their initial investments...

We constantly complain about a lack of foreign investment, yet we keep repeating this tired mantra about "evil exploiters."🙏

Our telecom sector was essentially a bloated, quasi-socialist behemoth that desperately needed privatization—but only after breaking up its monopoly. Instead, what did we do? We clung to our precious family heirlooms.🙏

Historically, colonies were mostly a drain on resources, especially those remote outposts in Africa. There's really just a pervasive myth surrounding the idea of colonial prosperity.

restlesssurfer97 said: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. 🙂

Plus Enzo. ☕

What you actually miss is getting absolutely bodied by them on a daily basis. 🙂

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.

Look, I’m definitely no anthropology expert—honestly, I don't even pretend to be. That stuff isn't really my lane. I'm way more into tech, cars, and engineering. I guess I just don't get why certain cultures back in the day were totally fine with things that we'd find absolutely insane today. Like, take how some behaviors that we now recognize as predatory were somehow considered okay in ancient times, or even the whole concept of treating people like property, which honestly dragged on for ages. I don't know, maybe I just don't bother stressing over why societies acted the way they did thousands of years ago. Everything has changed so much since then that I just don't see the point in dwelling on it, at least not for me.
I mean, what I know for sure is that how we see wealth, death, and basically everything we think we should get out of life has shifted so much over the years. Looking back from where we are now, people living in ancient Mesoamerica probably looked pretty broke to us, but I don't know... maybe it wasn't actually bad given their era and everything going on around them. It’s totally possible they felt like they were doing alright back then, you know? Like, if you had your own farm and a few animals to your name, that might have been plenty.
I mean, if I had to take a guess, back in the day, the odds of some outside culture messing with deeply rooted traditions were super low. It wasn't like people even knew there was anything better out there than what they already had... at least until those explorers showed up, right? But now? Everything is just one big global village. Even folks living totally off the grid know there’s a bigger world out there. And honestly, even if outside influences aren't necessarily better in every single way, they just spread so much faster these days. It's crazy how much easier it is for everything to mix now.
I mean, looking at things today... I guess it feels like the wealthier, more stable countries tend to be the ones that are actually free. And they usually seem to care way more about protecting minority rights too, at least from what I can see.