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View Full Version : Some days it is good to put life in the USA in perspective



yoni
10-16-22, 09:01
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZriYK6A9eNE



We sit in our own world, with our own issues and problems and we can lose track of life in other places in the world.

"Life is nasty,brutish and short" Thomas Hobbes

So true in many places

flenna
10-16-22, 09:22
With an obesity epidemic in this country, with the “poor” being equally or overly represented, I think Americans have forgotten how good we have it. Americans have become spoiled to the point where the biggest problem is misuse of one’s pronouns.

Todd.K
10-16-22, 10:07
I think Americans have forgotten how good we have it. Americans have become spoiled to the point where the biggest problem is misuse of one’s pronouns.

Did you just assume that because I live in America I identify as American?

DG23
10-16-22, 10:16
With an obesity epidemic in this country, with the “poor” being equally or overly represented, I think Americans have forgotten how good we have it. Americans have become spoiled to the point where the biggest problem is misuse of one’s pronouns.

Next time a homeless guy here asks me for some money I plan to ask to see his smart phone.

If his phone is older than mine he will receive some spare change - If newer he will get the dogs put on his ass and I will get to see how fast he can run...

Only in America can we see 'poor' people that are overweight (and with smart phones). Sad...

DG23
10-16-22, 10:16
Forum induced DT

Harpoon
10-16-22, 11:13
We have poor people in the US who are fat, have an $800 cell phone, 4 TV's in their home with cable, and they have the internet. The Gov gives them money for booze, drugs, and gambling.
How's that for perspective?

yoni
10-16-22, 11:19
We have poor people in the US who are fat, have an $800 cell phone, 4 TV's in their home with cable, and they have the internet. The Gov gives them money for booze, drugs, and gambling.
How's that for perspective?

Then they really aren't poor. They have less money than others, but poor I don't think so. Everyone in that video dreams to be American poor.

WillBrink
10-16-22, 11:37
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZriYK6A9eNE



We sit in our own world, with our own issues and problems and we can lose track of life in other places in the world.

"Life is nasty,brutish and short" Thomas Hobbes

So true in many places

Being poor in the US means only owning one TV. People in the US have no idea what poor really looks like. Having said that, some legit poor people I have met outside the US were generally happier than the miserable whiny entitled D heads we see in the US. Cultural context is everything there and we in the US tend to automatically assume what we think is important and our values must apply to everyone else, and they don't. Being poor can really suck (BTDT) but it's not always in itself the cause of unhappiness.

SteyrAUG
10-16-22, 13:05
Even before I clicked I knew it would be Africa. People in complete hell holes need to stop reproducing.

Disciple
10-16-22, 13:40
Even before I clicked I knew it would be Africa. People in complete hell holes need to stop reproducing.

And yet...

https://populationeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/total-fertility-rate-map-showing-children-born-per-woman-in-2019.png

SteyrAUG
10-16-22, 14:02
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0q4o58pKwA

prepare
10-16-22, 14:55
Thats a real world bug out.

HKGuns
10-16-22, 17:32
With an obesity epidemic in this country, with the “poor” being equally or overly represented, I think Americans have forgotten how good we have it. Americans have become spoiled to the point where the biggest problem is misuse of one’s pronouns.

Bingo.

I’m in India right now and most of our Country ain’t seen poor.

But on the present trajectory they will soon enough.

Yes, it’s 4am here and I’m wide awake.

FromMyColdDeadHand
10-17-22, 01:34
Bingo.

I’m in India right now and most of our Country ain’t seen poor.

But on the present trajectory they will soon enough.

Yes, it’s 4am here and I’m wide awake.

India is a trip! Literally. Haven’t been there since COVID. Had two 10 year visas before that. Almost had to go over Thanksgiving and I told my boss “no”. Amazingly, I can do the presentation via Zoom. Sorry United!

Rainy season now? Right?

I love India because of the people. Most speak good English. I love rolling with my Sikh buddies who remind me of Texans and drink whisky like it is going out of style. A guy from southern India was darker than most American African-Americans. I guess there is a bit of a stigma against southern Indians, so I taught him to yell “South’s gonna do it again!!!”.

The poverty is something that you have to make your peace with. The manual labor to do silly stuff like sweep a highway construction site with a straw broom to carrying your bags is so they have a job and get paid.

The one thing I say about India is that looking around at the state of the infrastructure you can’t tell if it’s being built and moving towards the 21st century or if it’s some post apocalyptic ruins. They’re in that middle state of construction that could have the time arrow pointing both ways.

Usually when I was coming back from India I’d have a US business trip to take also for a few days before I got home. The one time I came straight back my wife almost made me sleep in the other room because I was still sweating out all of the spices from the food. I’m getting to the point where I don’t know the rules of cricket but I have a big understanding of what are good and bad plays.

My good friend over there worked up the perfect drink. We call it the Bharat after him and I guess that’s a slang term for India itself? But it’s half 7-Up, half bubbly water and a healthy dose of vodka. Not too sweet, but the sugar gives you a little bit of a kick to help with the jet lag and the vodka sneaks up on you. Perfectly refreshing and a hot New Delhi day.

ThirdWatcher
10-17-22, 06:06
We have poor people in the US who are fat, have an $800 cell phone, 4 TV's in their home with cable, and they have the internet. The Gov gives them money for booze, drugs, and gambling.
How's that for perspective?

You seen what’s coming across the Southern border lately (on the news)? They haven’t missed many meals either...

henri
10-17-22, 13:55
Its Africa. Nothing good comes out of Africa, its always been a shithole, and most likely always will be. As someone stated they should stop reproducing, they contribute nothing to the world.

WillBrink
10-17-22, 14:31
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZriYK6A9eNE



We sit in our own world, with our own issues and problems and we can lose track of life in other places in the world.

"Life is nasty,brutish and short" Thomas Hobbes

So true in many places

Much closer to home, many African's trying to come to the US have to try and navigate one of the most dangerous places on earth, the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama. You go in there, you very likely will not come out. It's one of the few places in Panama I have not been and would not go without a well armed security detail armed to the teeth. It's the focus of Part II of my thriller series (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011JDNOZE/), and the only place I write about in those series I have not been to personally. We have SOF, DEA, etc skulking around in there also. I bet it must be one of the most miserable places to operate on the planet:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMPX1547Pss

ST911
10-17-22, 14:47
Its Africa. Nothing good comes out of Africa, its always been a shithole, and most likely always will be. As someone stated they should stop reproducing, they contribute nothing to the world.

Harsh overgeneralization given the history, variables, and shear landmass involved.

Artos
10-17-22, 15:03
Reminds me of my days bird hunting in mexico...we would drop off the bird boys in these remote very small colonias ranging from 10-20 patched together one room homes. Tin, cardboard, twine & anything else to hold them together.

Some of the nicest most content folks I've ever been around. Some would insist on inviting you in & offer you whatever they had...3-4 beds front to back on dirt floors & a small stove / table in a corner is how most were set up.

Still, humbling as it was these folks likely never missed a meal, had steady work for farmers & would be considered well off on the worldwide poverty scale.

Miami_JBT
10-17-22, 15:25
If you want to see Third World standards of living in the CONUS. Visit some of our Indian Reservations. Absolute multi-generational abject poverty with no longterm solutions being implemented. Just corruption, rampant alcoholism, hard-core drug use, high crime, and horrible substandards if living.

It is the end result of government intervention in those peoples lives and it shows what ultimately happens under authoritarian rule.

Miami_JBT
10-17-22, 15:30
You seen what’s coming across the Southern border lately (on the news)? They haven’t missed many meals either...

A lot of the poor in Latin America live of carbs and starches. Very little protein, fruit, and vegetables.

When all you have is plain rice, yuca, and some plantains. You aren't starving, but you aren't eating well either.

Miami_JBT
10-17-22, 15:32
Its Africa. Nothing good comes out of Africa, its always been a shithole, and most likely always will be. As someone stated they should stop reproducing, they contribute nothing to the world.

4Chan is ---> bub. Africa I'd a pretty big place and not everyone or everything there is bad.

Averageman
10-17-22, 17:05
A lot of the poor in Latin America live of carbs and starches. Very little protein, fruit, and vegetables.

When all you have is plain rice, yuca, and some plantains. You aren't starving, but you aren't eating well either.

I just came back from the Philippines in July.
There are very few people in the world as poor as those who live in the rural mountians of the Philippines and yet, they eat pretty good. My Mother in Law has more goats than you can count and inumerable wild chickens around her house. They grow every vegtable you can imagine and fruit, fruit grows everywhere.
Essentially you can feed yourself on what you can bend over and pick up, or in the case of wild chickens what you can hit in the head with a rock. So their diets may at times be dominated by rice (and this is their choice) they can easily eat pretty well.
But they don't have two pesos to scratch together.
It's a whole nother World.

henri
10-17-22, 17:29
Harsh overgeneralization given the history, variables, and shear landmass involved.
Perhaps. I've spent time in Abuja, Nigeria, Capetown SA, and the outlying areas. They were tolerable. Casablanca was fun and interesting, technically it is Africa but to me, it had more of a middle eastern flair than African flavor.

HKGuns
10-17-22, 21:29
India is a trip! Literally. Haven’t been there since COVID. Had two 10 year visas before that. Almost had to go over Thanksgiving and I told my boss “no”. Amazingly, I can do the presentation via Zoom. Sorry United!

Rainy season now? Right?

I love India because of the people. Most speak good English. I love rolling with my Sikh buddies who remind me of Texans and drink whisky like it is going out of style. A guy from southern India was darker than most American African-Americans. I guess there is a bit of a stigma against southern Indians, so I taught him to yell “South’s gonna do it again!!!”.

The poverty is something that you have to make your peace with. The manual labor to do silly stuff like sweep a highway construction site with a straw broom to carrying your bags is so they have a job and get paid.

The one thing I say about India is that looking around at the state of the infrastructure you can’t tell if it’s being built and moving towards the 21st century or if it’s some post apocalyptic ruins. They’re in that middle state of construction that could have the time arrow pointing both ways.

Usually when I was coming back from India I’d have a US business trip to take also for a few days before I got home. The one time I came straight back my wife almost made me sleep in the other room because I was still sweating out all of the spices from the food. I’m getting to the point where I don’t know the rules of cricket but I have a big understanding of what are good and bad plays.

My good friend over there worked up the perfect drink. We call it the Bharat after him and I guess that’s a slang term for India itself? But it’s half 7-Up, half bubbly water and a healthy dose of vodka. Not too sweet, but the sugar gives you a little bit of a kick to help with the jet lag and the vodka sneaks up on you. Perfectly refreshing and a hot New Delhi day.

I am in the South and here strictly on business. I too love the people here and have a few great teams that are excellent and dedicated to their roles.

My last trip was late Feb 20, just barely escaped before all the lock downs started.

One thing I have noticed is the English is more broken as I think they are out of practice after two years.

ThirdWatcher
10-18-22, 02:52
A lot of the poor in Latin America live of carbs and starches. Very little protein, fruit, and vegetables.

When all you have is plain rice, yuca, and some plantains. You aren't starving, but you aren't eating well either.

BS. This isn’t about fruits and vegetables, it’s about more for them, less for us. I’m not against legal immigration but the least they can do is use the gate. They can keep their drugs too...

The_War_Wagon
10-18-22, 09:57
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZriYK6A9eNE



That'll be me leaving Pittsburgh soon for the south again!

America's motto until, January '25 - "We make it, or we die!"

ChattanoogaPhil
10-18-22, 11:13
Unlike many countries, life in America is truly what ya make of it because freedom and opportunity abounds. Of course there are no guarantees. I'm reminded of a recent thread on M4C about a guy expressing how miserable his life was in California while others enjoyed life in California.

Adrenaline_6
10-19-22, 07:57
If you want to see Third World standards of living in the CONUS. Visit some of our Indian Reservations. Absolute multi-generational abject poverty with no longterm solutions being implemented. Just corruption, rampant alcoholism, hard-core drug use, high crime, and horrible substandards if living.

It is the end result of government intervention in those peoples lives and it shows what ultimately happens under authoritarian rule.

Yup...been to one on a church mission trip. Sad. The tribe elders and their circle are fine though. They get the gov't money and decide how it is distributed. Talk about effing your own. The poor sections will stay that way and there is now way anyone in them gets out. The same people in those sections will make sure one doesn't...like sand crabs in a bucket, they will stomp on each other if one looks like it is getting out instead of joining together and pulling each other out. Highest suicide rate in the country too....by a wide margin.


A lot of the poor in Latin America live of carbs and starches. Very little protein, fruit, and vegetables.

When all you have is plain rice, yuca, and some plantains. You aren't starving, but you aren't eating well either.

That is why I call BS on this new anti carb craze going around. The thinnest people have high carbs as their staple. They just don't add 2lbs of meat and gravy and buttered bread to it.

Adrenaline_6
10-19-22, 07:57
If you want to see Third World standards of living in the CONUS. Visit some of our Indian Reservations. Absolute multi-generational abject poverty with no longterm solutions being implemented. Just corruption, rampant alcoholism, hard-core drug use, high crime, and horrible substandards if living.

It is the end result of government intervention in those peoples lives and it shows what ultimately happens under authoritarian rule.

Yup...been to one on a church mission trip. Sad. The tribe elders and their circle are fine though. They get the gov't money and decide how it is distributed. Talk about effing your own. The poor sections will stay that way and there is no way anyone in them gets out. The same people in those sections will make sure one doesn't...like sand crabs in a bucket, they will stomp on each other if one looks like it is getting out instead of joining together and pulling each other out. Highest suicide rate in the country too....by a wide margin.


A lot of the poor in Latin America live of carbs and starches. Very little protein, fruit, and vegetables.

When all you have is plain rice, yuca, and some plantains. You aren't starving, but you aren't eating well either.

That is why I call BS on this new anti carb craze going around. The thinnest people have high carbs as their staple. They just don't add 2lbs of meat and gravy and buttered bread to it.

Harpoon
10-19-22, 13:45
If you want to see Third World standards of living in the CONUS. Visit some of our Indian Reservations. Absolute multi-generational abject poverty with no longterm solutions being implemented. Just corruption, rampant alcoholism, hard-core drug use, high crime, and horrible substandards if living.

It is the end result of government intervention in those peoples lives and it shows what ultimately happens under authoritarian rule.
I'm guessing you don't see signs on the Res that say "We embrace diversity" :cool:
Multiculturalism didn't work out so well for them.