Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by The Shiznit on January 10, 2012 at 6:28pm

I absolutely loved everything that this guy said.  His philosophy about life is so very similar to my own now - and it took me a looooong time to reach the point where I could look at things this way.  I mean, as "Westerners" we are all so extremely conditioned with the Consumerist mentality - and it is so difficult to break away from that way of thinking because everyone starts looking at you like you are an odd-ball, and strange, or a hippie, or a Communist.  lol  As if there is something wrong with you; when really there is something wrong with the Capitalist and Consumerist mentalities themselves!

I especially liked his proposal that perhaps we are living in the least civilized time period in all of human history because of our mass obsession with the acquisition of wealth.  I had never thought of it that way before; but he could be right.  :-)

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Permalink Reply by Aaron on January 10, 2012 at 8:44pm

Wow

I can relate very well to what he says. Everything is complicated and hard, because we make it that way. The pressure to perform is so high on young people, many collapse beneath it. And even after your education, you 're in a constant need to perform. You see so many people with burnout, it's frightening.

But then on the other hand, why do we choose everything to be so hard? Isn't it because we want to do something meaningful with our lifes? Because we want to "advance" the human race? To provide to the greater good for humanity to become better?

I personally think I could not stand living like that. In his way. I would feel so insignificant, I want to do something with my life. I want to add something to society. I believe that one day there will be an "easy" life for everyone. We don't have much of a choice, do we?

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Permalink Reply by March E. on January 11, 2012 at 12:22am

I think the main idea he's trying to point out is that all the bare basic necessities should be easily accessible for everyone, not complicated and hard to obtain. He points out that our dependence on money makes it very complicated to get these basic necessities. If all the basic necessities are covered, then we are free to pursue more meaningful goals in our lives.

I'm all for working very hard to doing something meaningful for progress, though. Scientific and technological advancement is something I'd strive for as well, but we can't do that if people are half-starved or too busy trying pay rent, bills, or stay afloat in society. Personally, I believe that making it so that everyone can easily get what they need to live is indeed progress. Great question! Thanks for commenting. :D

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Permalink Reply by Kokomo on January 11, 2012 at 2:11am

What he is trying to say is that our way of lifestyle is so hard, and it sucks.His way of lifestyle is awesome and easy. The problem though is that he makes no mention of how we can adopt his lifestyle. This way of life would only work for people who are in his shoes, and living in his country. People who are living in Western society would have great difficulty transitioning to his way of life. The only way I see this working is if we could figure out a way to make food, water, clothing, homes, and medicine completely free. 

If we can get these things then life would be so perfect. We should even make our cities so that travelling long distance is not needed. People should be able to walk from point a to point b. This video is good, because it basically just plants the idea of a possibility of future way of life. 

Maybe such a society will exist one day, but for now it does not exist. We must continue to work in order to fulfill our basic human needs.

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Permalink Reply by Kokomo on January 11, 2012 at 2:55am

Now that I think about it. If these basic needs were met I would have so much more time to focus on my drawings. Life would be legendary.

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Permalink Reply by Zacharie on January 15, 2012 at 4:54pm

I LOVE YOU MARCH! This is epic stuff! I agree with him a great deal. He says that we try to depend on money instead of depending on EATCHOTHER! This is key here, it becomes hard when we try to be an INDIVIDUAL and therefore try to be independent of others. This is somthing who is real madness and are never going to work.

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Permalink Reply by Els van der Stok on January 22, 2012 at 7:38pm

Food
It's too bad the reason food is cheap is the same reason there are 3th world countries, we suppress them.
We should grow our own like he does, 15minutes a day (and in many countries less in winter)

Water
I don't know how it is arranged in other countries, but it is not expensive to have running water in western civilization. (unless you decide to like in the dessert)

Clothing
Costs you 50euro a year including wintercoat and shoes, if you accept 'old' clothing from friends and buy at the thriftstore.

Homes

This is the most problematic point. Because goverments have rules that make it nearly impossible to have a affordable home. But if you choose to live a bit further away from the city, in a house no bigger than needed, it is often posible to buy a house when being alone.(or just rent)

Medicine

If people take the time to get to know themselves, and are supported by others, half of medication wouldn't be nessesary.
And it might sound harsh, but dead is part of life, get over it and just stop treating people after the age of 70, there is no use.

 

Ofcourse the things i describe are only possible if (a part of) society keeps on mass producing, and if you are still working at least 20hours a week. Don't go on expensive vacations, have a maximum of 3 kids.

I just wanted to say that it is relevant to western society. If some parts sound impossible, just do all the other ones.

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Permalink Reply by Michael V. on January 22, 2012 at 8:25pm

Medicine

If people take the time to get to know themselves, and are supported by others, half of medication wouldn't be nessesary.
And it might sound harsh, but dead is part of life, get over it and just stop treating people after the age of 70, there is no use.

So people after 70 should just be left in the cold.

veryone deserves treatment old or young.. all of them deserve to live their lifes as long as possible. And it sucks that in 3th world countries that isn't the case.

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Permalink Reply by Els van der Stok on January 22, 2012 at 8:44pm

Man isn't made to live this long, and i think it is a flaw in our system that we preach about living as long as possible as the better way.

most people after 70 are wise enough, to not fear dead.
We should not say NO we won't treat you, but we should make it more socially acceptable to let people choose to contribute to society by saying, i am ready to die.

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Permalink Reply by Michael V. on January 22, 2012 at 9:00pm

So if your parents are 70 and they say they are ready to die.. you would go like : Hell yeah .. you are old & wise enough not to fear it mom & dad ..  let's stop your medication right away.

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Permalink Reply by Els van der Stok on January 22, 2012 at 9:13pm

No i think mom and dad will be wise enough to say i want my medication to stop.
I am not the one to choose for them.

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Permalink Reply by March E. on January 22, 2012 at 9:05pm

I'm going to have to agree with what you said about giving the elderly the choice to pass away after a certain age. My mother works at a hospital and you wouldn't believe how many people keep clinging on to their loved ones. She says that a lot of these elderly people beg to die because keeping them alive causes more pain and suffering for them, but their relatives and friends wouldn't let them go. The elderly basically have no choice in the matter because of certain laws that prohibit "helping" people commit "suicide" and also because the choice of whether or not to keep them alive or let them die is up to others to decide. Also, there have been cases when people just keep their elderly relatives alive just so they can suck the money from their insurance policy. 

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