The Rant Thread/My Life Sucks Topic [Don't be pricks]

Started by KefkaticFanatic, January 15, 2010, 06:55:34 AM

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SuperFireKirby

Quote from: Mashi on April 29, 2011, 03:11:36 PMUS schools are really dumb.  We have a terrible education system when we're compared with places such as Europe and Australia as far as I'm aware.

But as for cutting funds on prisons.  We sort of need that money so the 'scum of the Earth' don't escape and go on a crime spree.  Not to mention, with crime rates going up, we're sort of running out of space (As in jails) to put criminals in, so I would have to say the amount of money being given to prison places and the like is rather justified.

Though, people usually do become criminals because of improper schooling, and educating the youth of our country should be one of the primary things we do, so yes, I concur, we seriously need to improve on our education system.  And not just economically either.
OR we revert to old Muslim law and just cut off your extremities for committing crimes. I can guarantee crimes rates would go down and there would be less criminals in jail. Two birds with one stone.

Oh and China is predicted to over take us as the worlds ruling economy in 2016. I wonder why.

Quote from: Mashi on March 26, 2013, 05:54:37 PMAfter viewing both FMA:Brotherhood and Naruto Shippuden, it would be frivolous to even consider watching an anime as unbearably mediocre as Melancholy. NARUTOxHINATA 4 LYFE!!!

DrP

Quote from: SuperFireKirby on April 29, 2011, 04:47:53 PMOR we revert to old Muslim law and just cut off your extremities for committing crimes. I can guarantee crimes rates would go down and there would be less criminals in jail. Two birds with one stone.

Oh and China is predicted to over take us as the worlds ruling economy in 2016. I wonder why.

Yep.... and through world history, China has ALWAYS been the successful country... until the British Industrialized and Americans surpassed them. Back in the 1500s, China was so self sufficient, they didn't want to trade with anyone who didn't prove as a useful resource, until the Ming and the Qing needed silver and Spain had a large surplus from conquering the new world... etc...

KefkaticFanatic

Especially that one time Japan visited them



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SlowPokemon

Quote from: Tobbeh99 on April 21, 2016, 02:56:11 PM
Fuck logic, that shit is boring, lame and does not always support my opinions.

SuperFireKirby

Well prom was tonight. Being me, of course I didn't go. No reason to seeing as the girl I would've asked wasn't planning on going either. Definitely gonna ask her out in the next few weeks though. Always next year for prom tho.

Quote from: Mashi on March 26, 2013, 05:54:37 PMAfter viewing both FMA:Brotherhood and Naruto Shippuden, it would be frivolous to even consider watching an anime as unbearably mediocre as Melancholy. NARUTOxHINATA 4 LYFE!!!

Mashi

Quote from: SuperFireKirby on April 29, 2011, 04:47:53 PMOR we revert to old Muslim law and just cut off your extremities for committing crimes. I can guarantee crimes rates would go down and there would be less criminals in jail. Two birds with one stone.
Trust me, Europe and the USA were just as bad.  The only reason Muslim countries are stereotyped to have these sort of laws is because of Iraq and a few other countries, along with a bunch of propaganda.  In all actuality, most Muslim countries aren't very devout at all and if they used to be, it quickly ended once the USA and a few other European powers forced them to have a democracy.
But anyways, it didn't work out well in history, because people started murdering each other to stop others from murdering each other.  Quite ironic if I do say so myself.

Quote from: drpamplemousse on April 29, 2011, 05:03:32 PMYep.... and through world history, China has ALWAYS been the successful country... until the British Industrialized and Americans surpassed them. Back in the 1500s, China was so self sufficient, they didn't want to trade with anyone who didn't prove as a useful resource, until the Ming and the Qing needed silver and Spain had a large surplus from conquering the new world... etc...
My favourite historical event in China is probably when Kublai Khan finally conquers China; something which if I'm correct, was never accomplished before; started a Golden Age, and then was usurped from power so China could eat the fruits of his labour.  That was so pro.
But anyways, China's downfall was that they became ethnocentric.  Their feelings of extreme nationalism and superiority ultimately led to their downfall.  And considering they barely advanced in technology during the Opium War, it's a bit difficult to say whether they stayed a major power during their seclusion, even after the world had industrialized.

DrP

Quote from: Mashi on April 29, 2011, 08:45:55 PMMashi's stuff.
Absolutely. Theocracies in the Middle East are struggling to hold power as majorities in countries are beginning to become more progressive. It is sad to say that over 1000 years ago, it was the center of science/math/philosophy/education... etc... Harun al-Rashid led the Abbasid Caliphate to intellectual prosperity... and now Baghdad is kind of a shithole from Saddam and a little bit from our existence there. I was at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington about 4 years ago and they gave us a presentation where they showed us how progressive their country is becoming, leaving the Islamic Puritanical regime that existed there when it was founded.

It was Kublai Khan that conquered the northern Song dynasty (and eventually took over all of China) -- the Mongols did have the largest empire in the world to date... it is kind of amazing (though it spread plague and stuff). Even before in the Han and Sui and even the beginning of the Song dynasty, we can see China in the top 3 with an Arabian Empire and small African and West Asian Empires (like India at some points in history). But if we look at the course of history, China has always been on the top, whereas the US just exponentially grew up after rapid industrialization and a surge of immigrants during the 19th century. Granted China has been broken up by internal problems, by the Mongols, by the British, by the Japanese, but they always came back strong. I know China will get on top again, but the question everyone is asking, once a massive economic shift happens, what will the US need to do to get on top.

(If this came up before the winter I wouldn't be able to answer this at all -- thanks HIST 222!)

KefkaticFanatic

China wasn't really "on top", they were just isolated enough due to location to avoid a great deal of outside influence for a very, very long period of time.  And then once they had problems they just built a hugeass wall and continued to go about their business.  They didn't have the big shifts of power like the Roman or Arabic conquering and collapses.



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Cobraroll

The problem with China is the long-term effects of the single-child policy. In a family where this has been followed suit (though this is unusual, since couples who both were lone children are allowed to have two kids), the child will be spoiled by his parents and four grandparents. As the standard of living rises, and life expectancy grows, it's very possible that some of the grandparents will still be alive when the kid's parents retire. Then this kid will have to take care of both his parents and up to four grandparents, plus his own child. The government won't be as helpful either, since the problem is too large to be taken care of by them.

Also, too many men compared to women, as well as continous oppression from the regime. I think China's growth will be hampered somewhat, but it will still grow past the US this decade.

India, however... I say watch out. Less government cencorship, democracy and respect for human rights means that India is regarded as a "cleaner" alternative to China when it comes to investment, seen from a Western point of view. The man in the street with a good idea is also allowed to push this idea forward and benefit from it, instead of in China where the government would take the money and bring the man to silence.
Emergence - a story exclusive to NSM

Yes, I'm still around from time to time. For quicker response, you can reach me by PM, or drop by Smogon to say hi. I go by "Codraroll" there, because of a bet.

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Raymondbl

My life is horrible because of people discussing how bad my country is :(  d
The purpose of life is to survive.  Deal with it.

DrP

Well, it's the truth. It is unfortunate that our great country is falling, but it was inevitable from the start....

I am going on business trips to China as a part of beginning graduate work for analyzing the international supply chain and working with global firms. Hopefully we'll (our class) will get a global outlook and hopefully prepare for the public/private sector otherwise. We'll probably go to India in 2013, but that's how everything is working out.

China just has a faster economic growth rate compared to ours... and American businesses are all about spending the least, its kind of what we do as Americans... what can we do as a corporation to make more money, and since taxes are significantly cheaper for corporations in China (around 12-15%) from the US (35%-40%) and not to mention cheap labor, cheap materials and everything, they capitalize on those investments.

The major talk between GOP 2012 candidates is going to be this China issue... they want to return the jobs to the US (probably offering corporate incentives) and focusing on an economic outlook rather than the current administrations social outlook with healthcare and education and other things.

Cobraroll

^I think it also has something to do with the fact that the Chinese one-party system is undeniably more efficient than the US two-party mess.

Let's face it, US governments only plan four years at a time. During these four years, the other party will do whatever they can to hinder everything, just for the sake of preventing them from doing anything. Health care reform? Massive protests and propaganda. Extra tax to encourage greener industry? Massive lobbyism. Cutting down on Israeli support? People in the streets carrying swastikas and shouting. While one party is in power, the other will go to extremes to try to make them step down. Also the fact that democratic elections are nothing more than popularity contests, which leads to a lot of poo-flinging between parties during the election year.

In China, however, the government can plan for decades to come. They have a system ready, knows how it works, and nobody tries to stop them, if, say, they put three cities and two million people's homes under water to build a power plant, or move a city or two to make a military base. The power plant gets built without too much paperwork and protests, and produces power today, while in the US, if they had started a similiar project at the same time, would hardly have decided on the location by now. It also helps that China's external debt is about 4% of its GDP, as opposed to the US' 97%, much of which is owed to China.

Though, the Chinese are painting themselves into a corner, and will feel the consequences in not too long. We'll have to wait and see.
Emergence - a story exclusive to NSM

Yes, I'm still around from time to time. For quicker response, you can reach me by PM, or drop by Smogon to say hi. I go by "Codraroll" there, because of a bet.

KefkaticFanatic

China owns the largest portion of US debt, not most of the US debt.



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DrP

Quote from: Cobraroll on April 30, 2011, 12:08:17 PMCobraroll's mini disseration
Yep. We have the mess of just attacking someone because they're democrat or republican.. it is totally a partisan war. China is totally capitalizing from the internal squabbles that happen on the congressional floor. The whole nuclear thing is totally a reality. One of the plants closest here is the oldest operating plant in California and there is a need to build one in either Ventura/Santa Barbara/Monterrey counties to power the entire central coast apart from Diablo Canyon. It will probably take 20 years.

I remain interested in American politics to see what direction the country is planning on working for in the next 4 years. What Obama should have focused on was China, the massive debt (that he helped contribute to). He has been digging a massive financial hole into the future, meaning I'll (and other US citizens my age) will be paying off his mistakes. Basically the 2012-2016 presidency (if it isn't Obama) will be fixing his mistakes and setting forth a motion that may put us on a 10-15 year path to get us out of debt, even if that decreases entitlements and decreasing our dependency on China. It won't look pretty for that time, but it will enable us to survive. Don't get me wrong here, Obama himself is a nice guy, probably really great to have a conversation that isn't about politics with... maybe a nice discussion on law or history or other fun things... perhaps video games, I don't know, but he has been driving this country south with Obamacare and education stuff (and I am grateful for education... thank you for dumping student loans on me).

What the US needs to do is get out of debt, pay off China, and then once we have this thing called a surplus (something that will now be nonexistent for the US in the near future if Obama stays elected) we can use it to restore entitlements and perhaps make an effort to actually spend money that WE HAVE. maybe perhaps lowering the debt ceiling.  we shall see what happens...

The only good thing about one-party systems is that things get done and if you disagree with the party, you're pretty much screwed, so that may not necessarily be a great thing. America will probably never become a 1 party state because of our foundations... unless some political douchebag just captivates everyone and takes over and etc... usual internal coup and stuff.