Age: 54 Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 1739 Location: ROFLbama
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:41 pm Post subject:
Heh, this was clever.
I tell you, the last generation (before the boomers) really understood how to appreciate what they had in a way the more recent generations would do well to learn.
The more I see of the President and certain other politicians, the more I'm reminded of intellectual college d-bags. One of the drawbacks of working at a University, I suppose.
Age: 54 Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 358 Location: 5162 Hall Road Centerburg, OH 43011
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 7:13 am Post subject:
Ravage wrote:
The more I see of the President and certain other politicians, the more I'm reminded of intellectual college d-bags. One of the drawbacks of working at a University, I suppose.
Hell, at least I'm not at Kent anymore.
Oh, yes.... he WAS one of those profs! Lectured on "social change issues" and Saul Alinsky a lot. Be very afraid folks... we're getting the kind of country he (and many many other profs like him) have always wanted.
I tell you, the last generation (before the boomers) really understood how to appreciate what they had in a way the more recent generations would do well to learn.
This sounds exactly like something my father would say - one of those "adult" values that he tried unsuccessfully to impart on his children when they were young.
The current American lifestyle; encapsulating the idea that everything is disposible, espousing an attitude of entitlement for things we are not due or have not worked for, is disastrous for our country, our culture, and our economy. People before us learned to appreciate what they had, worked hard to gain what they wanted, and moved on when their possessions broke or were gone - they had a different viewpoint of what was important in life. For some reason our generation never picked this concept up and we are seeing the results. The very functioning of our economy depends on this concept of entitlement! Of course not everybody then was that way, that could never be the case, but I think people once upon a time carried a highly valuable biblically-described trait that is sadly an alien concept to us now.
Simple contentment. No wonder He said it was so important. Patience is a close second.
You need only look at the economy to see the results; debt as a means of getting what you want now instead of waiting to afford it is so accepted and exptected that when I tell someone "no, after I pay off my car I'm not trading it in, I'm going to drive it until it no longer works and write a check for my next car instead of take another loan" they look at me as though I were a square egg. What do you mean it may be worth not buying a new car every five years, what could be more important in life, right? Our economy is driven on consumer spending, which in turn is driven on debt. Without people feeling entitled to have everything now and damn the consequences, or economy would fall. We built our ecomony to depend on people not appreciating what they have - is it really so hard to see what the hell is wrong with that picture?
Those of our generation look at what their parents have and want the same, or better, but ignore the hard work and time their parents took to get there. We expect those same things right out of college, and who cares if we have to use debt to get those things. We're Americans, aren't we? We're supposed to have everything we want easily, right? What else is being an American about?
People don't have a sense of caring for or treasuring what they have, and sinking the time into working for what they want. It used to be normal for someone to work hard for years to save money to full or partially purchase a home, for example, or if they could not they lived without buying one and were happy anyway; these days you may be ostracized for it. And yet look at the state of our economy as a result! And ponder this for a moment - doesn't it seem like there is a higher rate of occurance of mental/stress related disorders now? Once upon a time people expected things to go wrong, dealt with it, and moved on; now if something doesn't go your way you need to take a leave of absence from work and go see a pyciatrist who will hold your hand and tell you everything will be okay. I never heard of things like panic attacks when I was young, but now hospitals are full of people looking for stress medication because someone looked them in the eye and said no to a request.
People talk about wanting a change in our country: change in how health care works, change in taxes, change in what our government is doing, should do, or shouldn't do, change in how the economy works and how it is managed. We need something far deeper, more basic, and much simpler than any of those things.
We just need to learn to be content and thankful for what we have. That's all.
I guess that's a threadjack, sorry - 's a topic that's been in my mind more and more here recently. What is so fundamentally wrong with us and the generation after us that we cannot be content with our station and position in life and instead are envious and driven by what others have or what we are not? I'm not talking about working to better yourself; there's nothing wrong with that! But do we really have to be unhappy with where we are while we pursue our goals, and is it really so bad that it can take time to achieve what you want?
There's only one change that we need in our country to set things right - a change in perspective.
/end threadjack
//man, I really ramble when I get started I guess
///as an American, you are wealthier than 90% of the world. But our generation has to be so unhappy with that posistion that we have to develop stress disorders from worrying about it?
//my household income makes me no where near wealthy by our standards, but puts me in the top 1% for standard of living on this planet. Same with you. Finding that out sure made me feel ashamed the last time I thought "Why can't I have..."
/we need to wake up and end debt already. God had strict laws for its use and the Bible is filled with warnings about going into debt. Isn't it obvious yet that he had a point? _________________
Age: 42 Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 2439 Location: DERPlahoma
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 3:29 pm Post subject:
awesome video...if only someone could say all of that to him and have him ACTUALLY listen and take it to heart.
Our generation are a bunch of lazy, un-thankful d-bags. My Grandparents and my Parents never had much. They taught me to be happy with ya got and make the most of the people around ya. THOSE things matter, not stuff. I don't have a house, an HD TV and lots of other stuff but I am VERY, VERY well off when it comes to the rest of the world. The morons that cry they're in poverty in America and then stick their hand out for help from the Government are d-bags. All they have to do is look around the world, see ACTUAL poverty (as we're still at the top of the world in wealth, even these morons who are poor in America) and know that they are just fine. If you don't like your current situation then STOP WHINGING AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! You live in the ONE country where you can CHANGE your circumstances without the Government restricting you (OR at least you still are. The Government is doing all it can to change that of course)
nuff from me. Just thought I'd add to Toad's rant and say that I really liked the vid. _________________
Age: 48 Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 1618 Location: Right behind you
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 4:46 pm Post subject:
I do wish they'd stopped after "make the old one work" ... Webb goes on to say "it has for over four hundred years. " Dunno which country he's talking about thar, but America isn't QUITE that old yet _________________
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