I started a political blog

[Maximilian Lhoth]

I have worked.. underpaid seriously. Then, I tried to find a job, IT-helpdesk jobs mainly.... I sent an app to all local places which could possibly have a need for a helpdesk guy.... reasons I was rejected were: no places, cannot take new employees since old employees are being fired due to productivity&economical reasons... I offered myself even as a free slave worker, internship, but nope, I couldn't even get internship. It would pay them nothing and I would get 9 eur a day at work more than as unemployed...

this is not fair i thought
so i said, fvck the system

later i quit drinking and smoking, so that I can fight physically when/if the revolution starts. there is no better motivation for me to quit drinking and smoking, than that I shoot better sober. i'm serious. at least i feel like it right now.... when/if the situation becomes real I may chicken out, though. Or may not.

My next project will be to learn to fight unarmed, and to start lifting weights, so that I have easier times in prison.

[Darian Darkmind]

Again, not finding a job isn't the system's fault. The system is paying for you while you can't find a job. The system wants you to find a job. The times are as they are and a lot of people are unemployed and depressed because of how it is, but it's not the system's fault. You can't force some company that is not doing well itself to hire new workers just because you feel like you should be hired. The company is firing people mostly because it's not doing well, if it's not doing well it can't afford to hire new workers... or would you rather ignore the company and see it bankrupted after 6 months? You had a job for 6 months which caused a firm to bankrupt and fire all their employees so whom does that help? Only you, only for 6 months but after that you're in the same situation again, but with you all your old co-workers - all now fired - share your depression.

Tell me as you're a smart guy. In which kind of utopia world would you like to live in? How should 'the system' work?

[Mike]

and to mike: there will never be 100% proof about such things. there can be no 100% proof. i already said this to eddy the other day in icq, and i'll say it to you.

if our limited knowledge can completely prove something bigger than ourselves (god) then god couldn't exist. how could our knowledge encompass something beyond it?it's not possible, it's like saying 10 is contained within 9.

we cannot, ever, reach infinity, therefore we cannot encompass it, so we cannot totally grasp it.

yes, we can "prove" a bit of god, or understand a bit of what he/it is, or theorize, or think, or feel, or have intuition. but it's never 100% proof, it can't be. no matter what, you have to go through a "black area" to say, "reach god", and that's what we "believers" call faith.
what's even more fucked up, you can only somewhat reach conclusions when you started with some premises. but why would you start with such premises if you can't prove them in the first place?
yep, it's a bitch. you gotta start (or be faced with this at some point) "ok, there's no proof, but maybe, just maybe, this can be true?", and then, if you go down that road, once you start believing, you'll understand more, and once you understand more you'll, in turn, believe with more reassurance.

so, i say a 100% proof of god's existence is a mathematical impossibility. if you prove it, it means it doesn't exist.

and this is the very problem. we think of these things with our "human" conceptions.

This is a common argument among western Christians who are painfully aware of how scientific inquiry is not helpful to their cause. Claiming that science does not apply to your deity is actually fine. It's just about the only thing you can do unless you want to go down the Creationist road, you know, people who discuss religion in a scientific terminology and therefore can be, and have been, proven wrong.

If religion can not be backed by science, everyone who believes that the scientific method is used to establish truth has to be an atheist. Only those who do not accept the scientific method can therefore be religious in the sense the major religions of our time require.

[Darian Darkmind]

Glarundis, you're right and we can't proof that god doesn't exist just like you can't proof that he exist. You can't say, however, that it's impossible because no one knows how much science advances in the next thousands of years. Once we unlock all the secrets of the universe, the secret of creating life, the secret of how our universe was born in the first place we either can proof that god plays or doesn't play a part of it. If we can proof that the life begun by scientific ways and the very birth of our universe, if we can proof god had no part in all of this or anything else, we can proof god doesn't exist... although even then some say he would exist, they'd just claim he just doesn't play any part which then means he only exists in your mind and is a useless being. Once and if we can proof everything happens without any divine intervention we can safely say god is like a Santa Claus or Heman - a fairy tale. Although, Santa Claus and Heman 'exists' because we've created them. So yeah, in a way we can safely say, and proof that god exists because we created him. However, is he an actual being, is he something that concretically exists in this universe, is he the almighty being able to smite you all down or is he just a fairy tale is yet to be proofed.

Of course might be it will take a ten thousand years, might be - most likely - that our race will die before we unlock these secrets. Before that arguing over it is useless as in the end it's all up to your own mind and believes - just like believing or not believing to Santa Claus.

[Mike]

Glarundis, you're right and we can't proof that god doesn't exist just like you can't proof that he exist. You can't say, however, that it's impossible because no one knows how much science advances in the next thousands of years. Once we unlock all the secrets of the universe, the secret of creating life, the secret of how our universe was born in the first place we either can proof that god plays or doesn't play a part of it. If we can proof that the life begun by scientific ways and the very birth of our universe, if we can proof god had no part in all of this or anything else, we can proof god doesn't exist... although even then some say he would exist, they'd just claim he just doesn't play any part which then means he only exists in your mind and is a useless being. Once and if we can proof everything happens without any divine intervention we can safely say god is like a Santa Claus or Heman - a fairy tale. Although, Santa Claus and Heman 'exists' because we've created them. So yeah, in a way we can safely say, and proof that god exists because we created him. However, is he an actual being, is he something that concretically exists in this universe, is he the almighty being able to smite you all down or is he just a fairy tale is yet to be proofed.

Of course might be it will take a ten thousand years, might be - most likely - that our race will die before we unlock these secrets. Before that arguing over it is useless as in the end it's all up to your own mind and believes - just like believing or not believing to Santa Claus.

Actually in science he who makes a claim must provide the evidence. Therefore someone who follows the principles of science in his way of thinking can not believe in god before that evidence is provided, just as he can not believe in the flying spaghetti monster as long as there is no evidence. The default position for people who are rational is one of atheism.

[Darian Darkmind]

True, but like I said, Heman exists, Batman exist, Spiderman exist, Santa Claus exist and even teletapies exist. Granted, they are fictional, fantasy characters existing only on books and movies, but in those same terms god exist as well. Is god a real character or just fiction existing in books and our own fantasies is the unproofed question though. Which, like you said, should be proofed by those who claim he exist.

[Mike]

True, but like I said, Heman exists, Batman exist, Spiderman exist, Santa Claus exist and even teletapies exist. Granted, they are fictional, fantasy characters existing only on books and movies, but in those same terms god exist as well. Is god a real character or just fiction existing in books and our own fantasies is the unproofed question though. Which, like you said, should be proofed by those who claim he exist.

Yeah, and this is an interesting thing in itself. Many thinkers since antiquity have considered that religion is false, it's fiction. However, the pratice of religion had a lot of benefit to society. Many people found a sense of community in organized worship of the gods that helped overcome social friction and unhindered self-interest. Cicero for example was not convinced that Jupiter threw bolts of lightning from Olympus, but he was certain that the cult of Jupiter did much for the stability of the Roman state.

[Kent Strider]

Legalizing cannabis doesn't belong in these forums but our opinions on politics and god do? roflmao

[xHarlequinx]

tl:dr

However, I'll still throw my two cents in and start following now!

This has always been my view on the whole welfare/unemployment insurance thing. What happens without welfare?
- Maybe a few people work harder to get jobs (therefore less people unemployed than if there was welfare).... however.
- For people who can't (for whatever reason, local economic depression, physical/mental/emotional handicaps, etc.), they begin to suffer. What happens then?
- Increases in crime leading to increases in costs to pay for law enforcement, private security guards, and personal security. Additional damage to the economy based on people's unwillingness/inability to conduct business in certain areas/ways
- Increases in healthcare costs (both from number of people taking advantage of healthcare and severity if problems). Also, more healthcare issues will not be kept exclusively within the poor populations. Germs travel and can cause overall reduction in quality of health for employed people.
- Also, increased turn to substance abuse (which accelerates the above two problems)

People who argue against welfare / unemployment insurance can't really make any sort of economic arguement. Once you look a little beyond the "its not fair" arguement, you can see pretty quickly that the alternatives are worse for everyone. I do, however, think it would be interesting if there were some sort of incentive for pro-social activity (like volunteering with certified non-profits or government programs).

[Sparty]

Im out of work at the moment i injured my shoulder last year! i have a family to support and bills to pay im in about £10.000 - £15.000 of debt. The money i get isnt enough to put a dent in that it doesnt even pay my bills every month and now im looking for work and theres not a lot about over here but im not depressed. Then theres the illigal immigrants that get stupid amounts of money to stay here they even get more money that the old folk that fought for the country and imo thats wrong they should be sent back to where they came from.