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Le Galaxie - Humanise (@TheSluiceGate 's band!)
Dude, this is pretty sweet. Like new wave throwback sweet. I dig it.
Comedian Hari Kondabolu on Race and Math Misconceptions
*quality
Sift Lounge is Open to All (Sift Talk Post)
Thanks. I'd still prefer the displayable time stamp, being an old-school (lazy) bastard.
Radiohead covers Joy Division's "Ceremony"
*promote
Sift Lounge is Open to All (Sift Talk Post)
Quick suggestion: can we get time stamps on the chat?
BUMP OF CHICKEN feat. Miku Hatsune - ray
I want to put terrible, as well, but that shit be subjective.
BUMP OF CHICKEN feat. Miku Hatsune - ray
*nochannel *music *asia *wtf *animation
Ew.
Asian Vitruvian Man
*quality
Asian Vitruvian Man
It's like figure skating with a hula hoop, ridiculous.
Polysics - Electric Surfin' Go Go
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPTaKceCQcQ
^working url
Mew - Comforting Sounds music video
*promote
I'm sure there are many here who have yet to discover this band. Let's fix that.
Frank Turner - 'Four Simple Words'
*promote
overdude (Member Profile)
Same thing for me! The first time I sat by myself and listened to that song, I bawled, and I still get misty-eyed or more a solid 90% of the time. The honesty of his music and how humble he remains in the face of increasing global success set him apart from most.
I can't even pick a favorite album. It's just whatever I'm in the mood for in that moment.
LOVE Frank Turner. "Long Live The Queen" is one of my all time favorites, by Frank, or anyone else. Probably on of the hardest rocking songs that actually made me cry the first time I heard it. Go ahead.... click the provided link and "enjoy."
Pump-Action Shotgun Fail.
*dead
Most Shocking Second a Day Video
I guess I should clarify; I think that the pace of our advances is being bottlenecked by our current system because we (as nations) continue to exploit via a relentless focus on profit rather than try to actually spread knowledge and tech as best we can.
A free education system for the world would be incredibly easy to achieve with our current technology, but as nations we don't even try to aim for such a thing. As universities and other education institutions (publishing companies, etc), we have no incentive to truly aim for this in the current paradigm because it reverses profit growth (which, honestly, in the case of education, is pretty much all over-inflated anyway). There's no malicious intent, no conspiracy, and noble goals abound, but we're doing it at a snail's pace out of selfishness.
Individual people act much more nobly than large, well-established institutions. You see a rather strong trend of such large groups behaving closer to the "rational" approach from economic game theory, i.e. the one where self-preservation and gain are maximized first and foremost. If we just rely on our institutions to fix the problems at their root or think that the incidental improvements tied to increased tech and knowledge are being nurtured even half as well as they could be, I think we'd be gravely mistaken.
I think we both ultimately hope for the same outcome, but we clearly disagree on the extent to which our current society(/societies) effectively move towards those outcomes. I would personally like to see us double down on those things that help move us forward.
EDIT: Some examples of ways we're bullshitting ourselves and not doing half as much as we could, for your pleasure.
Princeton University's motto is "In the service of the nation and of all nations" (probably slightly off on the phrasing, sorry), and they have BILLIONS of dollars of endowment. If they and their alumni network took this motto seriously, with their knowledge of business, tech, and science, they could easily bring entire nations out of poverty by simply helping local people adapt tech in sustainable ways to provide food for their population more easily, institute strong education access, and more. Harvard, Oxford, all the other big names are in similar situations. They can do SO MUCH, but just do little projects while answering to their boards about making sure to keep the cash flow positive, keep the endowment growing, keep using alumni donations to pay for things where possible. It's bullshit.
Most large organized religions are also lazy about service. There are many who do seriously just aim at food and medical aid, but most are more interested in conversions and extra tithes than eliminating poverty. How many Christian missionaries of various sects are there around the world? Of them, how many devote their missions to actual service of everyone they can to show their religion through their works as opposed to just focusing on bringing people into the fold via preaching? Additionally, the old "teach a man to fish" concept comes into play here; giving food is good, but we need to be helping people help themselves as well so that they can thrive.
I know shit is very complicated and the answers aren't easy, but we can EASILY do better than this.
Where did I infer that; ""shit works okay, why should we bother trying to do better?" Nowhere. You appear to have missed my comment; "But we are getting there." Which, obviously, implies things are being done.
As for your patronising; " When you have seen enough information/had enough experiences." Not that it matters, but I have been around the world 3 times. I have seen - first hand - the sad state of some countries and try to do my bit.
FYI, technology and healthcare DOES actively reduce abuses. Also, we source from cheaper countries so that our goods are cheaper. Does that include bad working/remuneration packages? Sadly it does. But fair trade agreements are starting to tackle the issues. As badly off as some workers are, do you propose that we don't deal with the companies that exploit them? That would not be in their interest as they would have no income at all. And it would not be in our interest as we all like affordable goods. In that regard you are right, we are ALL complicit, but then we are all after making our money go further for our families.
Life is not fair my friend but, as I said, we are getting there.