[quote]Headhunter wrote:
In the future, unless someone invents the equivalent of gunpowder (in a revoultionary sense of new weaponry), to return the advantages to the offense, I CAN envision the United States breaking up in this manner. The central government would have a far more difficult task compared to the Civil War, when offense was clearly superior to defense.
[/quote]
You clearly know very little about the Civil War.
[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
Spoken like someone who has never lived outside a large city. [/quote]
…I don’t live in NYC (or any other city for that matter), I never have, and I probably never will. I live in a suburb, with a village filled with a generous mix of classes and races. And I like it that way.
=D
[quote]Varqanir wrote:
Beowolf wrote:
The only “convenience” all city-folk share is the ability to get anywhere on the Island quickly, and thats a trade off (they give up, usually, the convenience of being able to afford to have a convenient means of long distance travel).
Ohhhh, I can think of a few conveniences a city boy might take for granted, that might not be available to someone in the country.
By way of a f’rinstance, last summer I was inconvenienced by the necessity to take a shovel and wheelbarrow and clear the one road leading to my house, on five different occasions, because the wild boars, digging for grubs on the cliff face abutting the road, had created a rockslide large enough to block traffic.
This sort of thing doesn’t happen much in Manhattan, I’ll wager.
It’s also a bit inconvenient to have to fire up a chainsaw and cut down huge yew and oak trees near your house (because the typhoon blows the dead branches down on your roof) and then buck the logs, split the wood and haul it around to all your friends who heat with woodstoves. About three cords, all told. Know how much three cords is? It’s a stack of wood about as big as a Ford Excursion, and damn near as heavy.
It’s a bit inconvenient to have to haul all of your garbage (at least, whatever can’t be composted, recycled, or incinerated) to the dump yourself, every other week.
But you know what? The inconvenience is worth it.
And now I’ll answer your original question. How can you and your generation help?
Live more inconveniently. Do more for yourself. Be as self-reliant as you can. You don’t have to leave the city and raise goats in Arkansas or anything, but certainly you can live more independently.
And turn off the goddamned TV.
Best of luck.
[/quote]
Well, it’s also inconvenient to live in an area where people get mugged and pick pocketed regularly. It’s inconvenient to have to pay so much for property. It’s inconvenient to not have any space for your children to play. It’s inconvenient to have a super who refuses to fix the heater. It’s inconvenient to live in a polluted area where breathing (for the asthmatic) becomes annoying. It’s inconvenient to get sick more often because of population density.
I could go on. It’s a trade off.
I don’t really watch much TV… I just download the shows I like =P. But I read more than I watch anyway.
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Avatar is very cool — all my kids (6,12,17) enjoy the show.
Much of what Varg is describing is in ‘Atlas Shrugged’ btw.
I think we should all realize, with Marx, is how important economics is with determining social structure. As wealth increases, people can be less and less dependent on others. If work became obsolete, for example, we’d have no need of hierarchy or war, and so on. This is the conflict between countries that vote for their leaders and those who don’t — leaders mostly want power, but elected leaders are at the mercy of the populace. The dynamic is between the people and the leadership. If wealth becomes universal, then Communism becomes the ideal society. Only war is destructive enough of wealth to prevent communism.
So, people in cities are there not because they are sheep or less manly. They are there because of wealth. Of course, our leaders began making us poorer so wealth centers, cities, are in decay.
[/quote]
Awesome to see your kids have good taste.
I’ve read a bit of “Fountainhead”, I’ll get the nerve up to pick up Shrugged eventually.
[quote]GDollars37 wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
In the future, unless someone invents the equivalent of gunpowder (in a revoultionary sense of new weaponry), to return the advantages to the offense, I CAN envision the United States breaking up in this manner. The central government would have a far more difficult task compared to the Civil War, when offense was clearly superior to defense.
You clearly know very little about the Civil War.[/quote]
I am no expert in the matter but it seems to me that when the armies clashed the defender was clearly in a superior position and the attackers usually wasted many lives.
When Sherman marched on the South it was army vs populace and a different story. Perhaps he is saying Sherman’s March could not happen today because civilian populations are capable of inflicting damage on an occupying army.
[quote]GDollars37 wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
In the future, unless someone invents the equivalent of gunpowder (in a revoultionary sense of new weaponry), to return the advantages to the offense, I CAN envision the United States breaking up in this manner. The central government would have a far more difficult task compared to the Civil War, when offense was clearly superior to defense.
You clearly know very little about the Civil War.[/quote]
Yeah, the South was able to keep out Union troops and win. Thanks for enlightening me.
Now, why hasn’t the war in Iraq ended as quickly as did the Civil War here? Why is this war much harder to prosecute?
I am genuinely confused. How would living inconveniently help anyone? I don’t hunt my own food - I buy the healthiest food I can at Whole Foods. And by doing so I support that business. Same with every other product or service I buy that makes life more convenient - someone produced that product or provided that service and get my money in return.
[quote]Varqanir wrote:
And now I’ll answer your original question. How can you and your generation help?
Live more inconveniently. Do more for yourself. Be as self-reliant as you can. You don’t have to leave the city and raise goats in Arkansas or anything, but certainly you can live more independently.
And turn off the goddamned TV.
Best of luck.
[/quote]
[quote]Natural Nate wrote:
I am genuinely confused. How would living inconveniently help anyone? I don’t hunt my own food - I buy the healthiest food I can at Whole Foods. And by doing so I support that business. Same with every other product or service I buy that makes life more convenient - someone produced that product or provided that service and get my money in return.
[/quote]
Hey Nate. I was answering Beowolf’s original question:
[quote]
What can I do, what can I sacrifice? What can I convince other to do or sacrifice? How can I help our nation most during this period of economic unrest, energy crisis and overseas war?
I know we all talk a lot about being “patriotic”, but compared to my grand parents, I find myself incredibly lacking. My grandfather was a bombardier during WWII. My Grandmother has memories of eating small rations of food, and giving up many different things so the troops could have resources. [/quote]
If none of the products or services that make your life more convenient make you either lazier or more dependent on corporations or the government, and if none of them contribute to the nation’s already hideously lopsided trade imbalance with the People’s Republic of China and dependence on foreign oil, then I’d say you’re good to go.
Otherwise, I’d say that eliminating some of those conveniences would be good both for you and for the nation.
Ah OK, thanks. Too bad avoiding such products are harder than ever.
[quote]Varqanir wrote:
Natural Nate wrote:
I am genuinely confused. How would living inconveniently help anyone? I don’t hunt my own food - I buy the healthiest food I can at Whole Foods. And by doing so I support that business. Same with every other product or service I buy that makes life more convenient - someone produced that product or provided that service and get my money in return.
Hey Nate. I was answering Beowolf’s original question:
What can I do, what can I sacrifice? What can I convince other to do or sacrifice? How can I help our nation most during this period of economic unrest, energy crisis and overseas war?
I know we all talk a lot about being “patriotic”, but compared to my grand parents, I find myself incredibly lacking. My grandfather was a bombardier during WWII. My Grandmother has memories of eating small rations of food, and giving up many different things so the troops could have resources.
If none of the products or services that make your life more convenient make you either lazier or more dependent on corporations or the government, and if none of them contribute to the nation’s already hideously lopsided trade imbalance with the People’s Republic of China and dependence on foreign oil, then I’d say you’re good to go.
Otherwise, I’d say that eliminating some of those conveniences would be good both for you and for the nation.[/quote]
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
GDollars37 wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
In the future, unless someone invents the equivalent of gunpowder (in a revoultionary sense of new weaponry), to return the advantages to the offense, I CAN envision the United States breaking up in this manner. The central government would have a far more difficult task compared to the Civil War, when offense was clearly superior to defense.
You clearly know very little about the Civil War.
I am no expert in the matter but it seems to me that when the armies clashed the defender was clearly in a superior position and the attackers usually wasted many lives.
When Sherman marched on the South it was army vs populace and a different story. Perhaps he is saying Sherman’s March could not happen today because civilian populations are capable of inflicting damage on an occupying army.[/quote]
Cannon made fortified positions obsolete. Mobility of the offense makes defense cover more potential weak spots. The Union had much more railroad track and lots more cannon.
Today, someone with an IED or Stinger missle, just one person, can do much more damage than someone from not too long ago.
One reason the world is breaking up into smaller political units (like Kosovo just did) is that the advantage has swung to the defense. Central governments are finding it more difficult to project power from the center. This does NOT bode well for the world economy or for our future. Every tin pot ruler will impede progress and ‘nationalize’ investments (Chavez, Mugabe, and so on).
Powerful leaders are aware of this and are working on how to prevent such a chaotic situation from occuring. I’m guessing they will find a way to swing the advantage back to the offense, and we will get a global oligarchy/despotism (based on high tech surveillance) to keep us on the leash.
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Now, why hasn’t the war in Iraq ended as quickly as did the Civil War here? Why is this war much harder to prosecute?[/quote]
Because it’s an asymmetric conflict being fought partly in urban civilian areas but mostly in the media and world opinion?