top of the heap to third world status in one generation

[xavier7995]

Refrigerators are pretty easy to get second-hand, and cheap, too. Plus, working appliances are in almost all rentals, so....
Poor people have SHOES, too...mostly...and electric bills, need bus fare, need to walk a mile to the bus in the rain, but, we aren’t talking about the poor, really, are we?

Sir...i was speaking facetiously, though i sort of lumped your argument with packer and klompens with him into the same weird joke. The conversations reminded me of bill o rielly talking about how well off the poor are, which is a hilariously sad point to try and make.

 

[Gry]

the mere image of the likes of an o'reiliy type speaking about how 'advantaged' the poor
are here...

 

[Gry]

Yes - I have seen and known such wasteful people - and I tell them - that what they are throwing away could feed a family who really need it for a week or more - so they say 'OK - here it is, you take it to them!'


There is word that ONE THIRD yes that's 33% of all food in the western world is wasted - thrown away - this is a major crime.

Always amazed me to learn that same figure, and that is when everything

is working well.

The one positive thing I have to say about the system is that if one lives near an urban area, the average person has food selection
that would have amazed previous generations.

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

Yes - there is such a huge selection - that it just gets confusing to me - making you dither for longer over food purchasing decisions - and ultimately paying more for the same product - since there are now several different prices for the same thing essentially.

Just looking at all the different types of eggs and the prices of them is mind-boggling.
When I was a kid and was told to 'Go get some eggs at the grocer's son' - there was just one type of eggs - today its really not that simple.

Always amazed me to learn that same figure, and that is when everything

is working well.

The one positive thing I have to say about the system is that if one lives near an urban area, the average person has food selection
that would have amazed previous generations.

 

[St. Phatty]

Yes - I have seen and known such wasteful people - and I tell them - that what they are throwing away could feed a family who really need it for a week or more - so they say 'OK - here it is, you take it to them!'

There is word that ONE THIRD yes that's 33% of all food in the western world is wasted - thrown away - this is a major crime.

One of my sci-fi day-dreams is a world where the Animal castes are reversed.

Cows & Cats & Dogs have the brains, and human beings are just a food source.

So every scene at the supermarket = stacks of human body parts, but with SKU's & bar codes.

The dinner-time conversation & eating scenes dark humor could get pretty dark.

And the food wasted - well, that would be our body parts on the plates in the sink.

There has to have been some movies where animals found a way to run things. More than Ratatouille, where a Rat chef just runs the kitchen at the French restaurant.

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

Try George Orwell's 'Animal Farm'...

One of my sci-fi day-dreams is a world where the Animal castes are reversed.

Cows & Cats & Dogs have the brains, and human beings are just a food source.

So every scene at the supermarket = stacks of human body parts, but with SKU's & bar codes.

The dinner-time conversation & eating scenes dark humor could get pretty dark.

And the food wasted - well, that would be our body parts on the plates in the sink.

There has to have been some movies where animals found a way to run things. More than Ratatouille, where a Rat chef just runs the kitchen at the French restaurant.

 

[Klompen]

I deeply agree with your sentiment, but you're giving the Democratic Party way too much credit. If you think that the DNC won't play ball in trashing the Constitution you don't know a lot about how much they've already enabled. Lets not forget that Obama and his DNC allies worked with Republicans to expand 2 wars to 7, to use federal troops to steal land from Natives to give to oil companies, to deregulate Wall Street, to build the largest domestic surveillance program in the history of mankind, to raid more marijuana dispensaries than Dubya even dreamed of, and to deport more immigrants than any president in history.

If you think that's the "opposition".......

Their game plan, so far, seems pretty sound: gin up opposition by the citizenry against the IDEA of voters using their elected officials to ensure access to constitutional guarantees, and using that opposition to erode those guarantees, restricting them to the white wealthy class...all the while going on about “personal liberty” and “government overreach” and “personal responsibility”, and interfering with every effort to prevent the government - and business - from acting like it’s 1900 again.

The key is to increase the sense of butthurt and unfairness on the part of pale voters toward less-pale voters and not toward the accountability of the “opinion-makers, the movers and shakers” for their efforts to keep the worker-bees working and the disposable people disposable.

The way to do that has obviously been to establish a propaganda channel to combat the *actual* media, and it is the disgrace that launched a thousand gripes: “news” (opinion) that grinds the axe on-camera and playing directly to everyone who feels out of touch, everyone who misses shows like Bonanza, everyone who falls for the notion that no one appreciates patriots and patriotism anymore, everyone who was raised believing that things would be better if they were like they once were, “back then”, everyone who feels weird about their time in combat: make ‘em feel brave, make ‘em feel smart, make ‘em feel done wrong by, make ‘em know who to blame, and who to vote for.

Eventually, make’em believe their fellow-citizens are the enemy, and the struggle is life or death.

The 2018 election result were a huge set back to the plan: not only did they lose the House, they lost governorships and state legislatures. They need those state-level resources in order to ratify *and sign* their new constitution, and they could have won enough state houses to call a constitutional convention in’18. They didn’t, so we’ve dodged that bullet for the next two national campaigns at least.

Making things worse for them is that they’ve stumbled badly by showing their hand pretty flagrantly, in Kansas, the Carolinas, Michigan, Wisconsin.... The administration is in deep doo-doo, which threatens the whole administration, not just the game plan - a RICO takedown of the “Republican Party” and its donor networks is not at all impossible.

After the GOP is run out of DC (assuming that 2020 is the paddling they deserve), there will likely be broad support to make sure no party can pull shit like this again, so who knows, something might happen.

If not, that’s pretty much it for the USA, although they might keep the branding in place, they’re also just as likely to make themselves royalty and therefore free to farm the rest of us.

HRC, sit ‘20 out. You’re done.

 

[Klompen]

When I was a kid and was told to 'Go get some eggs at the grocer's son' - there was just one type of eggs - today its really not that simple.

The regular cheap eggs are under a dollar a dozen here, but they make my girlfriend and I feel horrible when we eat them and give us the worst belches and gas. When we get "organic" eggs, or local eggs from small producers, we don't have this problem. I'm not sure exactly what the difference is, but paying 4-5 times the price for eggs sure isn't great. We pay it though, because those other eggs are useless.

 

[Klompen]

So every scene at the supermarket = stacks of human body parts, but with SKU's & bar codes.

Have you ever seen Lexx? They have this thing in it called "The Protein Bank", which is basically where all organic waste, including executed prisoners ends up. You can "volunteer" for the protein bank too if you do poorly enough on your job evaluations.

 

[Klompen]

Refrigerators are pretty easy to get second-hand, and cheap, too. Plus, working appliances are in almost all rentals, so....
Poor people have SHOES, too...mostly...and electric bills, need bus fare, need to walk a mile to the bus in the rain, but, we aren’t talking about the poor, really, are we?

This reminds me of something that happened the last time I ended up homeless. I went on social media to ask for food. I have a special diet and I can't eat just anything. Its a pretty big deal. The food banks in this area are PATHETIC. Most of them give out food I cannot eat. People on social media were vicious with me though. They tried to give me all this advice on food and acted like I was just trying to scam people or something. Most of the food they were trying to say I should get was food that requires a refrigerator. Thing is, we didn't have a fridge. Most people have NO CLUE how expensive it is to buy ice for a cooler. It turned out to be cheaper for us to run a gas generator to run a fridge than it was to keep buying ice. I kid you not, huge difference in price. Buying ice was approximately 100-150 a month, but running the generator was about 40-50 a month.

That lasted until the local government decided to throw us out on the street even though we had permission to be on that property. They threatened us with arrest and wanted me to help them find other homeless people so they could arrest them. Total psychopaths. Most people have no idea how zoning departments are used as a weapon against the poor, but they're one of the main tools of the elites. If they had used criminal charges, I could have had a lawyer assigned to me, but when you're the victim of a zoning department NOBODY will help you if you're poor. I learned that the hard way. We went from having a safe place to stay with power and food storage to being back on the streets sleeping in our car with a young child. The way this area treats the poor is beyond disgusting.

 

[xavier7995]

The regular cheap eggs are under a dollar a dozen here, but they make my girlfriend and I feel horrible when we eat them and give us the worst belches and gas. When we get "organic" eggs, or local eggs from small producers, we don't have this problem. I'm not sure exactly what the difference is, but paying 4-5 times the price for eggs sure isn't great. We pay it though, because those other eggs are useless.

I was pretty fortunate and was able to get some eggs from a localish farm run by a good dude. They were outright amazing. I like to cook and have a pretty good appreciation of ingredients and they were really a cut above. Not sure what they cost, but damn good eggs are worth it.

 

[White Beard]

I deeply agree with your sentiment, but you're giving the Democratic Party way too much credit.

“Who knows, maybe something will happen...” is me giving the Democrats *credit*?

If you think that the DNC won't play ball in trashing the Constitution you don't know a lot about how much they've already enabled.

It’s irrelevant whether the DNC will ‘play ball’: the nature of the effort seeks to destroy liberals and political opposition generally. They would hardly be willing to play ball with the DNC.

Lets not forget that Obama and his DNC allies worked with Republicans to expand 2 wars to 7, to use federal troops to steal land from Natives to give to oil companies, to deregulate Wall Street, to build the largest domestic surveillance program in the history of mankind, to raid more marijuana dispensaries than Dubya even dreamed of, and to deport more immigrants than any president in history.

If you think that's the "opposition".......

In the sense that we’re wired into a two-party political structure, and that currently all federal power lies in the pudgy fingers of Trump and his minions, the Dems are the only opposition we’ve got with a key to the field. A hard truth to swallow, but let’s not abandon reality at this late stage.

For all their faceplants and naked bullshit and bad gamesmanship, they ARE NOT trying to roll back the clock to the Mauve Decade. The Republicans are, virtually every last one of them - or at least are enthusiastically helping their fellows to do so.

Do you fight with the stick you have? Or do you fight with the gun you do NOT have? The Dems are the stick we have.

 

[White Beard]

Sucks that you had that to go through. Sorry as hell. I’ve not had those experiences but I have had...parallels.

I hope the changes have worked out well enough for you.

This reminds me of something that happened the last time I ended up homeless. I went on social media to ask for food. I have a special diet and I can't eat just anything. Its a pretty big deal. The food banks in this area are PATHETIC. Most of them give out food I cannot eat. People on social media were vicious with me though. They tried to give me all this advice on food and acted like I was just trying to scam people or something. Most of the food they were trying to say I should get was food that requires a refrigerator. Thing is, we didn't have a fridge. Most people have NO CLUE how expensive it is to buy ice for a cooler. It turned out to be cheaper for us to run a gas generator to run a fridge than it was to keep buying ice. I kid you not, huge difference in price. Buying ice was approximately 100-150 a month, but running the generator was about 40-50 a month.

That lasted until the local government decided to throw us out on the street even though we had permission to be on that property. They threatened us with arrest and wanted me to help them find other homeless people so they could arrest them. Total psychopaths. Most people have no idea how zoning departments are used as a weapon against the poor, but they're one of the main tools of the elites. If they had used criminal charges, I could have had a lawyer assigned to me, but when you're the victim of a zoning department NOBODY will help you if you're poor. I learned that the hard way. We went from having a safe place to stay with power and food storage to being back on the streets sleeping in our car with a young child. The way this area treats the poor is beyond disgusting.

 

[Klompen]

Do you fight with the stick you have? Or do you fight with the gun you do NOT have? The Dems are the stick we have.

Then we're fucked. If the Dems really were opposing Trump they would not be voting to give him billions more in military budget, voting to expand his surveillance powers, voting to approve his judges, and pushing hysterically for WW3 to avoid admitting they rigged the 2016 election(and likely others as well). The DNC is perhaps less against the people than the Republicans are, but they are the slow boil and the Republicans are the rapid boil; either way we're being boiled.

 

[Klompen]

Sucks that you had that to go through. Sorry as hell. I’ve not had those experiences but I have had...parallels.

I hope the changes have worked out well enough for you.

Thanks. Its been pretty hard and I really didn't even get in to the full extent of the craziness involved with that situation. It has left our kid totally traumatized about cops, and we're still struggling to get back on our feet. We've repeatedly tried to "pull ourselves up by our boot straps" as many people would insist that all poor people should do, and we've repeatedly been knocked down again. Its beyond frustrating.

Its also meant no cannabis for over a year, and that's taken a big toll on my partner and I. We both have health issues that it does a lot for and especially in my case its been just downhill health-wise since then. I've gained over 60 pounds at this point(granted I was skinny at the time that all happened), and I've had respiratory issues, inflammation problems, low energy, and other issues(some of which will be requiring surgery as soon as I can take the time off to get it). I keep having all these dreams when I sleep about going to buy pot, but that's silly of course when I don't even have working car right now(which is another story in itself....).

Its not to say there haven't been some positive developments though. I just wish life would calm down a whole lot so we could actually enjoy them. I would like my child to have some happier and healthier parents who have more time to focus on their needs.

 

[Gry]

Then we're fucked. If the Dems really were opposing Trump they would not be voting to give him billions more in military budget, voting to expand his surveillance powers, voting to approve his judges, and pushing hysterically for WW3 to avoid admitting they rigged the 2016 election(and likely others as well). The DNC is perhaps less against the people than the Republicans are, but they are the slow boil and the Republicans are the rapid boil; either way we're being boiled.

There is hope to be had in non corporate dems.
Know upfront that they are swimming upstream,
and will need a lot of moral support.

 

[Klompen]

I agree there are a handful of good ones. I am a big fan of Tulsi Gabbard for example. I used to like Bernie until he backstabbed his supporters and then I looked in to his history more and realized he has a long record of sabotaging other "independents".

 

[St. Phatty]

There is hope to be had in non corporate dems.
Know upfront that they are swimming upstream,
and will need a lot of moral support.

I think Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is a Babe.

 

[White Beard]

Then we're fucked. If the Dems really were opposing Trump they would not be voting to give him billions more in military budget, voting to expand his surveillance powers, voting to approve his judges, and pushing hysterically for WW3 to avoid admitting they rigged the 2016 election(and likely others as well). The DNC is perhaps less against the people than the Republicans are, but they are the slow boil and the Republicans are the rapid boil; either way we're being boiled.

The blue dogs are a known quantity, but they are NOT most of The Dems, and they still count for seats filled. Those comparative few do not lead the party, nor sway the party, nor set policy.

The republicans are far more of a clone army ....

 

[White Beard]

Thanks. Its been pretty hard and I really didn't even get in to the full extent of the craziness involved with that situation. It has left our kid totally traumatized about cops, and we're still struggling to get back on our feet. We've repeatedly tried to "pull ourselves up by our boot straps" as many people would insist that all poor people should do, and we've repeatedly been knocked down again. Its beyond frustrating.

Its also meant no cannabis for over a year, and that's taken a big toll on my partner and I. We both have health issues that it does a lot for and especially in my case its been just downhill health-wise since then. I've gained over 60 pounds at this point(granted I was skinny at the time that all happened), and I've had respiratory issues, inflammation problems, low energy, and other issues(some of which will be requiring surgery as soon as I can take the time off to get it). I keep having all these dreams when I sleep about going to buy pot, but that's silly of course when I don't even have working car right now(which is another story in itself....).

Its not to say there haven't been some positive developments though. I just wish life would calm down a whole lot so we could actually enjoy them. I would like my child to have some happier and healthier parents who have more time to focus on their needs.

I hate the popularity of the ‘bootstraps’ meme, because it’s nonsense - an impossibility: its origins are in the Adventures of Baron Munchausen, a tale from a famous fictional fabulist....