Now flash-forward to 2010. Staying alive is no longer an issue. You can get cheap, mass-produced food, and cheap health care. These two things combined will sustain you until you're 50 to 100 and fat as a fucking cow (if you're lazy like most idiots nowadays). So what do we do with our lives?

We waste them. I guess I shouldn't say we--YOU waste them. That's right: all of you fucking waste your lives. The average American household brings in about 43,000 USD total after taxes are taken out. You know what it costs to sustain a whole family for a year in India? 300 USD. You know how much American households end up with at the end of the year on average? -2% of their income.

You know what people do? They fucking BUY shit. And I almost mean that literally. 99% of consumer electronics end up in landfills within a year. You faggots buy iPhones for 600 dollars while working for 13 dollars an hour throughout your life. You know what that means? You spend 61% of your waking hours on any given day for an entire week to pay for that fucking phone. Then factor in shit like time eating, time spent traveling to and from work and other errand-type destinations, and time spent preparing to do errand-type things, and your whole day is gone... for an entire week straight. For a phone.

Tl;dr: Fuck you, modern consumerist America. You're fucking stupid and your life is meaningless, and you'll probably live this way right up until you fucking DIE.

so I can live a more fulfilling live by living as a nomad. that is, in poverty?

>>9599949
>Fuck you, modern consumerist World*
fix'd that for ya, Scotty.

... There is just no argument. I'd like to add something though. Let's not pick on America, The West ... anywhere in The West.

And yes, l mad. This is a bitter rant because I just can't sit by and watch you people do this. To quote a shitty xkcd comic: "The infinite possibilities each day holds should stagger the mind. The sheer number of experiences I could have is uncountable, breathtaking, and I'm sitting here refreshing my inbox. We live trapped in loops, reliving a few days over and over, and we envision only a few paths laid out ahead of us. We see the same things each day, respond the same way, we think the same thoughts, every day a slight variation on the last, every moment smoothly following the gentle curves of societal norms. We act like if we just get through today, tomorrow our dreams will come back to us."

And this shit is a CHOICE, you fucktards! The man isn't keeping you down, YOU are keeping YOURSELF down.

Looks like someone's going through their rebellious phase.

You'll grow out of it kid. Shut the fuck up and be happy that you're fortunate to not be one of those poor Indians living on $300 a year, there's nothing you can do about that.

>>9599980

So to prove you're not just a self-righteous prick, what should we do, but more importantly, what do *YOU* do differently?

slaves didnt build the pyramids. you dont get that kind of craftsmanship with uneducated slaves. who ever built it they were skilled masons.

And I fully expect faggots with this shit ingrained into their head to reply with something along the lines of,
>lol grow up kid you'll realize one day that you need to fall into place with the rest of the system.
>what do you expect me to do, live in POVERTY?? fukken lolz!
>the only way to live nowadays is to conform to the system!
>oh look, we have a rebellious teenager
Enjoy your fucking rat race, you soulless husk of a man.

wait

so you're saying the majority of the people suffering lifelong misery, suffering and pain just to build a pyramid for the tomb of some unimportant guy in the grand scale of things is better than a world where the majority of the people can live in moderate comfort and are able to experience ownership and comfort?

>>9600029
I will gladly enjoy my days as a consumerist whore instead of bitching about it.

OP, I completely agree with everything you just said. You should find a more subtle way of saying it though, because to the normal person you'll sound full of yourself and insulting. That won't solve anything. With that being said OP, don't fall into the trap. Be different. Strive to be the best at whatever it is you LIKE, be adventurous- see shit everyone else could only dream of, turn your dreams into reality.

OP is right. consumerism is the meaning of life in our society.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac

What is more desirable in life than to be happy?

If someone is happy working to pay for their iphone, who are you to say that they are wrong? They are achieving what they want.

Hi OP! I'm an artist. I do nothing "great" to improve the world, but I just make pretty things that will bring joy into the lives of a select few people. I don't do it for them, though. I do it for myself. My only course in life is to improve myself in my skills.

All I want in life is to travel and create. I'm incredibly efficient with my money and could >easily< live on $20,000 a year. Probably a lot less even.

What do you think about that, OP? Am I okay? More importantly, do I care about your opinion?

What do you do OP? How do you earn enough to live? What do you do differently?

>>9600029
>>9599949

lmao, good shit

ITT: Rat race slaves.

>>9600082
You know, that sounds great. I don't really care if you care about my opinion, but I'm glad you don't play into this stereotype. And that's what it is--a stereotype. But it's true, and 98% of people I have met confirm that.

IF PEOPLE DIDN'T WANT TO WASTE THEIR MONEY...


THEY WOULDN'T DO IT

stfu OP. i plan on saving all kinds of money when i grow up. get off mah double-DICK

I'm a day laborer making about $15,000 a year so basically i work to stay alive, food and shelter. Trust me OP, this shit is not cool. I wish I could join this shitty modern consumerist world you rail against. In fact, i bet you wouldn't trade places with me and your just talking out of your ass. There are no infinite possibilities each and every day. I either work like a slave, or become a hobo.

fuck you.

>>9600123
Or an hero.
Not even joking.

>>9600123

You are just too close minded. That is what is keeping you back. You're the type of person that just tells themselves they can't, they can't, they can't and that they have no choice.

Think.

And there is absolutely nothing stopping you from going out and living in the woods, or india, or wherever the fuck you would rather be. But you're instead sitting here on your evil consumerist computer, living in your energy wasting house, eating your processed food that is tainted by the evil of capitalism and driving your gas guzzling car to your dead end job where you toil away for the corporations that you despise.

You have said absolutely nothing interesting or worthwhile, and on top of that you're a hypocrite, because you sit here damning everyone else for their decadent ways when you live in that exact society. You are the very thing you despise, and you are not at all interested in being part of the solution to your little dilemma.

TL;DR, you are all talk and you have nothing to say.

PEOPLE WHO MAKE SUCH SHITTY AMOUNTS OF MONEY...

i know fucking 18 year olds who just graduated high school making 15 dollars an hour... selling knives and shit

are you old people with super,super, super minimum wage jobs just retarded or something?

>>9600138

oh believe me I think about killing myself every minute of everyday. But I'm too much of a pussy to go through with it.

>>9600110
The problem is that people fall into this trap of working their lives away and aspiring for the good things to come later on. It's always "just this last hill, just this last hill, just this last hill..." for the entirety of their lives. Meanwhile they squander away assets on petty bullshit, and live life on a completely superficial plane.

>>9600085
>What do you do OP? How do you earn enough to live? What do you do differently?
I do a myriad of things. Primarily, I own a few websites. What do I do differently? I don't play into the traps I mentioned above. I don't squander away money on meaningless things--I know the value of a dollar. It's very basic, very common-sense stuff that in reality is not common sense at all, but a rare commodity. I guess modern society is to blame, but it's a shame regardless of the culprit.

That 'Indians live on $300 dollars a year' is horse shit

They can do that because a loaf of bread costs 3 cents

In Canada you struggle to put a roof over your head and food on your table at 20000 dollars a year

>>9599949
>YOU waste them
not me, bro. I probably live with 5 times less money than the cheapest person in this thread, including OP.
fuck the western consuming culture, it's bullshit. I don't spend one penny unless it's for something I really really need.

We're really just reasonably smart people trying to make sensible decisions to deal with a world that is uncaring and mostly pretty shit. Now stop being a moralising faggot and let me get on with my life.

to teh op

one phrase

"good morning lemmings"


or

"gary jules mad world"

or


these are sheeples dont expect these faggots to understand

I enjoy living life to the fullest by telling people on the internet how they should get up and change because I feel the need that they're capable of doing more.

herpderp.jpg

>>9600151
>on top of that you're a hypocrite
You're missing the point entirely. I'm not advocating against people taking advantage of modern amenities--I'm advocating that people stop being fucking retards. Reread my post you dumb fuck.

>>9600177

the dollar is a claim on the whole country's asset production. by spending money, you are merely transferring the one asset, the dollar (which is depreciating in value on a regular basis), for another asset, something which can actually be of utility to you.

>>9600151
>the evil of capitalism

and heeeeeeere we go

>>9600177

Brilliant. Took the words right out of my mouth. It is the fact that people never learn money management skills and that is they trap they fall into and never get out of their whole lives.

You have to see things as expenses and investments. Once you learn how to manage your money, that is when you will have control of your life.

People enjoy it. Whatever. There's nothing in particular you really ought to do anyway.

>>9600123
Get a better job. I have only a few years of university, no diploma, and I could get a job making double that, no problem.

>>9600206
>Tl;dr: Fuck you, modern consumerist America. You're fucking stupid and your life is meaningless, and you'll probably live this way right up until you fucking DIE.

Ya bro, I totally misunderstood your super deep post.

Let me put it this way:
I make roughly $41,000 (USD) a year after Big Brother takes his cut (although some of it is under the radar). My wife makes about $20,000. We both work about 10 hours a week, and that is really out of choice.

At the end of the year, we are up at LEAST $51,000.

This includes travel, fun activities, etc.

How do I do it? I'm fucking sensible with my money.

>>9600253
>>9600253

you are not your job... you are not your fucking khakis

.jpg

OP I think you're on the right track but not there yet.

You aren't realising the striking of a balance between moderation, consumerism, philanthropy and general good-will. If we can do all this shall all like the best we can.

I agree we spend too much on certain things, but at the time we are in an age where we should not feel guilty to take advantage of our circumstances - even those we have no control over. Yet we need to help uplift those in circumstances worse than ours, circumstances which again they too had no control over.

Don't go mowing other lawns when yours is overgrown. You need to be happy, build up security and have a family. But do this while living well, kindly to those around you. More importantly is to help fellow man-kind.

My only dream is that everyone can stop fighting and this world can be united as a human-race, not creed, religion, country or state.

My 2 cents, have at me.

Sure is underage b& in this thread

jgdgjgcdgjgd

This is why I plan on living as minimally as I can as soon as I move out. My dad has an Ipod touch, a Mac, Two desktops, an android phone, a bookreader, xm radio, and an apple tv. and now he wants an Ipad and a kindle. >>

>>9600276
>>9600276
>>9600276


cool story troll

if not, then send me 10,000 of that shit ..

i am stuck here in pakistan..

that kinda movie would apparently last my lifetime

>>9600288
>If we can do all this we shall be living the best we can.

Sorry FF freezez makes typing hard

>>9600295
> My dad has an Ipod touch, a Mac, Two desktops, an android phone, a bookreader, xm radio, and an apple tv. and now he wants an Ipad and a kindle.
This is the problem I'm talking about.

>>9600288
Only non-angsty thing said in this thread. Good job and a good ideaology.

>>9600276
Ya well, I was in the Army for 4 years and made $200000 with zero expenses

Who's frugal now?

>>9600296
Save up for a plane ticket to the USA, and never look back. The bureaucracy is bullshit, but once you're in, make it what you want.

>implying I don't grow my own food.
>implying I don't pump my own water.
>implying I don't have my own septic system.
>implying I don't recycle my trash.
>implying I'm not working on making my home even more self-sufficient.

nigga, shut your damn fool mouth.

>>9600288
>>9600288
>>9600288

fuck u faggot

i am a buddhist and ascetic

i dont eat for days

i dont give a fuck

teach your bullshit to your american fat pig kids

but the OP has capitalism to thank for the computer and internet which he is posting this message on right now.

otherwise he couldn't afford it, lol. or it might never have been invented.

>>9600288
you are a gentleman and a scholar, and i hope you go far in life

>>9600320
Where's the problem. The man can afford it. I would be pissed if he had a Hummer too.

>>9600369
>>9600369
>>9600369

>implying computers and internts are a good thing

no, just no . fuck off consumerist capitalist lemmingn sheeple slave of the rich jews

>>9600378
OP how the fuck did you think that up

>>9600395
>typed from my computer

>>9600369
Not exactly, since ARPANET was a military program.

God damn I hate this fucking shit. Fuck you homos.

>>9600402
>living in the world and used body that i hate

so what?

>>9600014
>>9600014
everything else ITT is shit except for this guy.
I hate everyone ITT except you.
this is all bullshit.

>>9600276

What business you in?

your argument about wasting life would be slightly more convincing if you weren't browsing 4chan right now

>>9600392
i didn't list everything... home theater system (projector, 400 disk dvd changer, screen, etc.) - that he never uses btw, 3 or 4 dvrs... jeez, it makes me mad that he's so wasteful, but if i confront him about it he just lectures me on how /i'm/ so "reliant" on technology and how he had such a hard childhood and completely changes the subject. D:

>>9600410

I thought it was created to help researchers at different universities share data sets?

>>9600392
see
>>9600446

The problem is that the guy probably works full time or did at one point to afford the stuff, when in reality he could work 8 hours a week and acquire just some of it over time while still living comfortably.

>>9600471
>>9600471

internet was not created for this faggotry

it was created for porn

now fuck off

>>9599948
When people like you criticize consumerism and that way of life, you never really provide logical alternatives. Living frugally and not exorbitantly is one thing which I whole heartily agree with, but from there where do you suggest you go? What activities do you suggest one should do to achieve the lifestyle people should have. What should they do with the money they're saving?

OP, come be a freegan with me :)

>>9600476

I sell drugs and funnel the money through a coffee shop. I work like sixty hours a week, but like 90% of that is just being on the premises and reading/browsing/whatever the fuck I want.

Am I an ubermensch or what, in your opinion?

Guess what, cockfag. I don't give a shit. My "consumerist" lifestyle is how I enjoy my life. You can say whatever the fuck you want, it won't make the life of an Indian living on $300 interesting in any kind of way.

I don't know why you even give a shit.

>>9600494
>>9600494

give it to the poor and needy of africa and other places you nitwit

you stupid fat piece of shit

OP won't be happy until we all build pyramids.
LETS BUILD PYRAMIDS YA'LL OR ELSE HE'LL THINK WE'RE SHEEPLE
MUST PLEASE THE MASTER

>>9600439
4chan is a leisure activity for me, and is generally pretty fun. It's when the dark elements of modern society start to crop up here that I start to dislike certain threads. And the damn relationship threads here... you all have some fucked up perspectives and values when it comes to those. But that's another issue entirely.

>>9600438
Wife is a musician and an artist of sorts, and I own websites (which bring in advertising revenue) and trade low-key commodities.

I also occasionally adjunct at local colleges because I enjoy it.

>>9600494
I know this is a question for OP, but I'm just going to respond anyways. If i ever get to a point in my life where I have an excess of income, some of it i'll save, some of it I'll donate. I'm planning on having children, so if the world hasn't fucked itself over by then i want to have something to use to put them through college and whatnot.

>>9600503

That's not his point. His point is how little we have compared to an Indian. We should have dozens of times as much stuff, but we don't. Some of that is cost of living. A lot of it is bullshit we don't need and don't use.

>>9600513
>>9600513

I am Pharaoh Ramses and i command the american people to enslave all jews..

and i approve this message..

So OP's point is to live like MOST Americans. Don't spend more than you save.

So who wants to come to Louisiana and live on $200.00 a month and live in shit holes with 10 other niggas. Oh, and we can create a "blood" gang and start selling crack under the table and if anyone tries to rob us, then we have each others back. Who's in?

Fuck you OP.

>>9600387
Thank you. I hope to change lives! And not in a gay motivational speaker way, I mean by having a job but living the best I can and being the nicest person I can be.

I'm going to bed now.

>>9600276
>At the end of the year, we are up at LEAST $51,000.

So? What's the point in earning all that money if your not going to spend it?

>>9600471
It was funded by DARPA, which is a military research agency.

>>9600276
Well how the fuck do you do it? What do you work as?

Can you say that to those that are interested instead of calling everyone names?

>>9600494
It's not about what you'd do with the money you'd be saving. That's what you're missing, and what most people miss here--you don't NEED that money. It's vanity.

Think of your time as an asset and money as the return on your investment. Money is a return on your time investment--the problem is that time is also what you need to invest to be happy or really grow as a person.

If you are sensible, you simply don't have to work as much. You stop climbing hills and start walking at a decent pace. You have time to see things on your way.

I've thought about this too, OP. Even when we aren't working or eating, Americans spend the rest of their time largely on passive entertainment. Sitting on our asses in front of the TV, video games, internet, whatever. Overeating. Drugs, alcohol. We just consume whatever mass media churns out.

Reflecting on this has caused me to turn my energies to more productive hobbies. Writing, carpentry, drawing, painting, reading (although this is still a consumptive activity) - you get the picture. I'm trying to give up my old vices, but it's hard.

>>9600564

Not OP, obviously, but;

Security. Not having to in debt when purchasing a house or car. You could either work four or five years before purchasing, or work ten to fifteen to buy the same house with a mortgage.

>>9600583
Donald Anderson, DARPA Chief, died of a heart attack induced by FOXDIE.

>>9600527
You dislike how wasteful you think your father is, yet you intend to breed?

4ch is 18+, kiddo. You shouldn't be on here.

>>9600527
>>9600509

For the record, I agree with much of what the OP is saying, but I just want clarification and ideas on it all. Spending the extra money is right, and I think donating is a good thing to be doing. What I was trying to ask is what sort of lifestyle and activities the OP thinks we should be doing? We could work 9-5 and just save our money, doing the stuff you suggested, or we could work less time ideally. What exactly would you do with your newfound time? What activities would constitute a good life?

For me, it seems to be about traveling and having adventures. I'm saving up money to go on trips to off-beaten locations. I'll try to go for a long as a can afford it at a time, ideally 1-2 years. That's my interpretation of the idea, I guess.

>>9600627
This was a very good burn. Tell 'em.

>>9600564
I am going to spend it, but it's also a safety net. Now that I'm able to work so little (and I am comfortable with investing the amount of time that I do into my work), I can make a good amount while still not working very much. IIf I wanted, I could work "full time"--both my wife's and my own work are scalable. See >>9600521 for details.

If you want to know what the money will go toward in the future: houses. Every few years I build a house for myself in a different country, and I plan to start investing in land in various places and building a large amount of small homes homes for the people who live there. Some people are simply disadvantaged and have a very tough time with life--living in America is a lot like a springboard into the luxurious stuff we often take for granted.

OP is just mad because he will never become successful and recognized for his personality, achievements, looks, etc.

Prove me wrong dude.

>>9600607
Buying something with money you've saved? Get out of here you consumerist brainwashed fool, go throw away your possesions and live in the woods hunting elk

Seriously, a pic of Edward Norton from Fight Club? Come on bro, did you return the movie on time too? Step up your game son. It's hard to take you seriously.

>>9600647
And to clarify before anyone starts making stupid straw-man / red herring arguments against what I'm saying here:
my job requires about 10 hours per week of up-keep all else equal, and $40K give or take is about the maximum I can earn with that amount of work put in. My wife works an equal amount because she enjoys her work.

I could live on less, and I could choose to make less, but that's sort-of pointless if I'll be working the same amount regardless.

>>9600652

Spending money on something you can't afford is consumerist. Spending money on something you can afford is not, and gets you more stuff in the long run for cheaper, and fucks the banks out of money as well.

>>9600698
What the fuck is your job? Is it possible for everyone here to have something like that?

You could be just an exception that complains about everyone.

>>9600699
>Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods or services in ever greater amounts.

Even if you can afford it it's still consumerism because you desire it

I don't like your big words.

>>9600733

You know the internet? The thing you're using right now? The thing you spend all your time on?

It is a gold mine. Use it to your advantage to make a lot of money.

This is rich. OP goes on about how we are all mindlessly consuming, automatons programed by society. That we should rage against the machine, blah blah blah.

Yet he makes money from advertising on web sites. ADVERTISING.

You are bull-fucking-shit OP. Phony as a $3 bill.

>>9600733
My job is outlined in the above posts. Yeah, it's possible for everyone here to achieve those things. Like I said, my wife is an artist and a piano tutor, and we could get by on her salary alone.

I started typing the phrase "she doesn't even put in that much effort," but then I realized that it just doesn't seem that way because she enjoys her work.

Anyway, the point here isn't what job you do, it's how sensible you are with your time investments.
>How much do you enjoy working? A lot? No? Then why do you work so much? To pay off debt, you say? Oh right...

>>9600783
Earning money through advertising revenue hardly detracts from my credibility in saying that people need to get more sensible with their time investments and perspectives on life. You do realize that there are things people should still spend money on, even in light of being more responsible, right?

Oh wait, you're one of those with no reading comprehension.

>>9600784
But what's your work? You just say 'I own some websites'.

Why can't you clearly explain it?

>>9600809
You're a fucking cunt dude. Unless you're advertising for one of those Christian funds to save the children in Africa you need to slit your own throat.

>You know what people do? They fucking BUY shit. And I almost mean that literally.

Because I advertise it.

TROLLFACE.JPEG

>>9600784
>it's possible for everyone here to achieve those things

Sweet I'll go and become a piano teacher like your wife, oh wait I don't know how to play a piano, guess I'd better get lessons then, they're free right?

>>9600850
What do you need help with? I'll break it down for you:
The basic concept of advertising in this way involves giving people a genuinely useful, helpful, or entertaining product, and then including related advertisements. I make money in basically two ways: flat-rate sales of advertising space for a set duration, and commissions.

My wife paints, sculpts, and has two students whom she teaches how to play the piano (or rather teaches them to improve their playing; they can all play circles around me).

>>9600894
Does she give blowjobs. I pay in cash.

So what are these anti-rat-race people doing that is so ground breaking?
Homeless? Not eating?

Real fucking clever mate. Get a damn job and stop fucking about with this bullshit.

>>9600894
I find the iPhone genuinely useful, helpful, and entertaining. Do you advertise it? You really should.

OP, you're full of shit. First, if people weren't stupid, no one would click on ads on your site and you would be fucking broke. Second, if no one bought Apple's shit (or any other fairly useless piece of crap that's entertaining for a very short time), millions of people would be out of a job and become dependent on the state. Third, people buy shit because it distracts them from the overall shittiness of their lives, not because they're "idiots." 95% of people have absolutely no chance of achieving "their dreams" or whatever the fuck, and they have no intention of making their lives even shittier just to chase some pipe dream.

Real fucking talk. Fuck you, OP.

>>9600902
>>9600906
notice how the thread degrades into people simply not reading it, or giving bullshit responses because they're out of things to argue

(that or circular reasoning, I get that a lot).

Anyway, take care. I hope you guys genuinely improve yourselves.

>>9600894
Who do you advertise for? How does it work? What do you need to know to be able to do this?

people, just do what the fuck you want with your lives and stop trying to change each other
everyone has different opinions on what constitutes a good life, who are you to tell them how to live it
OP is a faggot

Poopy vaginas!

>>9600923
Dude. Not even joking. You need to milk your wife. I will pay in cash seriously.

Marriage is an industry bro. When you get divorced remember all the money you could of saved.

>>9600919
>OP, you're full of shit. First, if people weren't stupid, no one would click on ads on your site and you would be fucking broke.
See, here's someone who is very stupid, and who probably plays into the things I mentioned in OP.

I'm advocating sensible time investments, proper perspectives on money, etc. You're acting as if there are no legitimate time investments in the absence of excess, which simply isn't the case. Tl;dr:
>implying that just because someone isn't a full-fledged retard with their money, there won't be necessary, legitimate purchases
Retard.

>>9600929
I advertise for private lending agencies and banks, in addition to a few loan agencies that deal mostly with student loans and all that jazz. By the way you word it you seem to have it a bit mixed up--I don't "advertise for" the clients, per se, but rather they purchase my virtual "real estate" for their own advertising. The only affiliation I have with them is that their products are next to my products (which are generally informational or entertainment-based).

It works like I mentioned in that post you quoted.

>And yes, l mad. This is a bitter rant because I just can't sit by and watch you people do this. To quote a shitty xkcd comic: "The infinite possibilities each day holds should stagger the mind. The sheer number of experiences I could have is uncountable, breathtaking, and I'm sitting here refreshing my inbox. We live trapped in loops, reliving a few days over and over, and we envision only a few paths laid out ahead of us. We see the same things each day, respond the same way, we think the same thoughts, every day a slight variation on the last, every moment smoothly following the gentle curves of societal norms. We act like if we just get through today, tomorrow our dreams will come back to us."

>And this shit is a CHOICE, you fucktards! The man isn't keeping you down, YOU are keeping YOURSELF down.

So you don't think e-mail is cool? Come on man.

>>9600976
Oh, and there are a few regular Chinese clients who peddle consumer electronics and that sort of thing. (All of the other clients are one-hit-wonder-type deals and don't really return, and so I've encountered a whole spectrum of advertised products.)

>>9600521
>i own websites
Who the fuck cares?

Who the hell are you to judge what people should spend their money on?

The problem you're describing is really just a problem with people not managing their money well. It's not capitalism or consumerism that is horrible. People don't acquire unnecessary things because some unnatural system is controlling their minds and making them. It's human nature.
Before, people were not able to buy a bunch of stuff as you pointed out with your slave example.
And the people who could acquire "shit" as you put it were kings. And what did many do? Many of them flaunted their wealth while their subjects tried very hard to survive.

The problem is not with a system. It's a cognitive function that evolved from a long period of natural selection. The people who were able to acquire the most resources increased their fitness and chance of reproduction.

I know the modern world isn't perfect. In fact, it has quite a few problems. But there are wonderful things happening today. People are able to live longer. People can travel to any corner of the globe. Possibilities in life and the world continue to grow. The world changes fast. Human nature doesn't. So don't go blaming our modern economic system for human nature. Any good statistician or economist will tell you correlation does not imply causation. People buy things because of human nature. Capitalism and consumerism enable them to live that way. The alternative is denying people stuff and then you're just being a dick because you don't let other people control their lives and live the way they would like.

Oh and Fight Club is an awesome movie.

If I could describe the OP, I would not say resourceful, genius, or clever. I would call him edgy. Because he is. He so is.

>>9600951
I hate to break it to you, but you're the retard (or more likely: troll) here bro. You've lived a life of privilege and then you shit on people whose lives fucking suck, and who need something, fucking ANYTHING to look forward to at the end of the day (which was filled with fucking backbreaking labor). Sure, tell yourself that advertising shit on your website is actually improving people's lives when, in reality, if you were really helping people you wouldn't be making any money at all. Maybe you should spend some time in the real fucking world before you shit on people because they couldn't afford to spend their whole fucking lives in front of a book or a computer screen.

Y'all niggas postin in a troll thread.

- /b/

>>9601020
>>9601020
I like this. I find it easier to listen to people when they aren't yelling at me on the internet claiming to be more sad than mad.

>>9600610
METAL GEAR, IT CAN'T BE.

You knew, metal gear is one of our most secret black projects.

>>9601020
The problem is social more than anything else. I suppose you could argue with respect to our natural tendency toward hoarding and greed, but really it's that modern American society has fucked up values. These become internalized and are ingrained in future generations as time goes on.

Anyway, you got it right with
>problem you're describing is really just a problem with people not managing their money well
That's true.

tl;dr my entire point:
thousands of years ago, people had to work their asses off to survive. Now we can survive with almost no effort; realistically, most of our time should be "free time".

We, as a society, CHOOSE for that not to be the case (through bad practices that I mentioned above, especially money management).

>>9601050
>Sure, tell yourself that advertising shit on your website is actually improving people's lives
Where'd ya get that?
> if you were really helping people you wouldn't be making any money at all.
Huh?
>Maybe you should spend some time in the real fucking world
Ever traveled? More than that: do you think I did nothing to get to where I am now? I didn't have to work hard for a few years when I was young? I didn't have to learn what I know now to survive the way I do? To think this way?

The first two things quoted above just prove to me that you're one thing: a fool.

>>9601073
War has changed. It's no longer about nations, ideologies or ethnicity. It's an endless series of proxy battles, fought by mercenaries and machines. War, and its consumption of life, has become a well-oiled machine. War has changed. ID tagged soldiers carry ID tagged weapons, use ID tagged gear. Nanomachines inside their bodies enhance and regulate their abilities. Genetic control. Information control. Emotion control. Battlefield control. Everything is monitored, and kept under control. War has changed. The age of deterrence has become the age of control. All in the name of averting catastrophe from weapons of mass destruction. And he who controls the battlefield, controls history. War has changed. When the battlefield is under total control, war... becomes routine.

>>9600976
So you advertize for banks and other lending firms AKA the debt slave owners. I see.

Namaste, you free spirit, you.

OP, better question for you:

why i am i not ENTITLED to waste MY OWN PROPERTY as i see fit? what claim do fucking slum-dwelling indians have on my EARNED wealth?

what makes you fit to judge my happiness? if i work a week for that phone and then buy it, haven't i achieved my goal? shouldn't i be rightfully happy that my own labor has produced something that makes my life easier? isn't it MY RIGHT to work for as long as i want, make as much as i am able and spend it on whatever i desire?

who are you to fucking judge me, OP? this is my happy.

OP is some kind of 21st century Gandhi.

>>9601140
Supporting my main point, to those who are responsible and have proper outlooks and management capabilities, lending firms are generally just a good intermediate between an investment of any sort and a return on that investment.

They only become the debt slave owners when stupid people fail to utilize them properly.

>>9601152
That's the spirit. Tell 'em.

>>9601152
>who are you to fucking judge me, OP? this is my happy.
Good for you, then! But it isn't everyone's "happy". And for a lot of people, it's short-lived happiness, or an illusion. I'm not trying to judge you so much as to help, despite the insulting rant in my OP.

If you're happy, keep doing what you're doing.

ITT: OP is 17 years old and just watched Fight Club for the first time

>>9599948
oh look, we have a rebellious teenager. lol grow up kid you'll realize one day that you need to fall into place with the rest of the system. the only way to live nowadays is to conform to the system! what do you expect me to do, live in POVERTY?? fukken lolz!

>>9601191
I'm 31 and saw the movie years ago, and I can't honestly remember all of the plot elements. I liked his expression and the general message behind the movie (or what I can recall of it).

>>9601123
It's not like a soldier on the eastern front in WWII was an amazing individualist with completely free thought and choice.

>>9601180
>If you're happy, keep doing what you're doing
but OP, that goes against your policy of total anti-capitalism! are you trying to say that you're breaking your own policies?

>>9601122
You're an idiot. The fact is, I'm 95% sure that I'm smarter than you (and not just in a street-smarts sort of way, either -- in an academic way, as well). The problem is, YOU haven't traveled. I've been around, man. I've lived the easy life, where I could afford to sit around and study shit all day, and that's what I did. The fact that you CAN make a decent living that way makes you one of the lucky ones, and the fact that you shit on people who can't just proves you to be an arrogant prick. People don't buy pointless shit because they think an iPod provides any sort of meaning or purpose in their lives. People buy iPods because they realize their lives HAVE no purpose, and the only way they can deal with such a shitty existence is to pave the arduous and inexorable path toward nonexistence with as many distractions as physically possible.

Again, fuck you.

>>9601167
Oh, so they're morons and deserve it? That's a nice justification. Being calous and profiting off of those less fortunate is one thing but don't try to take a higher moral ground while you do it.

I also think you need to watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVL7QY0S8A

This just in: life is meaningless.

I may spend a lot of hours paying for my Iphone, but I guarantee I spend a lot more hours using it, reading idiots opinions like yours on it.

People arguing against Xenn:

Sheep.

>>9599948
Hey look, the 17 years old got inspired by Fight Club

Good thing I don't fall into any of those statistics. I make double the average at the age of 23, and I save TONS of money. Sure, I waste what I do spend on consumer electronics, but I keep them, and use them to their full potential. My $600 dollar iPhone from 2 years ago? Its become an extremely low power server for my personal site. My old computers? Given to low income families. My old video game console? Still use them when I get nostalgic, WHICH IS EVERY FUCKING DAY. I am not your average dumbass, money wasting fucktard, so shut the fuck up OP, and let me live my life while the rest of America wastes away.

Xenn I'm sending your faggot ass to India where you'll eat fucking curry and rice everyday.

>>9601085
America is a really diverse place. When you say "America" you're including a whole range of people. Different races, cultures, economic levels, educational levels, etc.
Basically you're oversimplifying. Some people really do live like you describe. And it's not a good situation. It's important to manage you're money well. Some goods really can make life easier and much more fun. I love programming. I couldn't do that if somebody wasn't help mine pure silicon to make chips. If somebody didn't build the factory and then people staff the factory that puts together the chips. If nobody assembled the parts. If nobody shipped it to the store. If nobody helped sell it to me. If nobody provided the electricity that powers it. And if nobody programmed the software I use to interact with it.
The world is complex. You have to look at a variety of factors. Education has something to do with it. If people were educated they would know how to manage money better.
But somebody needs to take jobs like trash collection or manufacturing.
What I'm saying is you can't pin this on American societies' "fucked up values." It's too broad. Some people are happy with this life and some people are not. Some great things come out of this world and some really shitty things come out of this world. The world is not black and white. We're moving into a future that contains both good and bad and neither of us are in a position to say whether it is good or bad for humanity. We can only try to live a life we as individuals love. That doesn't mean hurting others to get the life you love. That means creating a world you enjoy and others will hopefully enjoy as well.

So OP has respect for ancient Emperors for living an affluent lifestyle, yet lambastes the middle and working class for living a lifestyle better than those same Emperors, and not being nomadic peasants?

That's the gist, right?

>>9600123
You should live in a van, it will cost down your cost of living dramatically.

>>9600635
>>9600635
>>9600635

>traveling and adventures

how fucking original

>>9600191
The true jew have come out of the woodwork

Xenn you can't change society, haha faggot you mad? Go read some zen books.

so how do i start one of these websites OP?

>>9600147
Fuck you. I'm not the guy who wrote this, but a life without money is one full of misery. Do you know what it's like to live off of ramen and bread because your family can't afford anything else? Have you ever had to wash the dishes with hand soap because you don't have enough fucking money to go to the store and buy more dish soap?

FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU. I so mad right now.

>>9599949
>Fuck you, modern consumerist America

Please kill yourself you fucking ungrateful socialist scum.

You are the cancer killing humanity.

>>9601350
>baaaaaaaaawww

I'm in the same situation

get a job faggot

>>9601267
>Oh, so they're morons and deserve it? That's a nice justification.
Who is justifying anything? I think it's a shame people trap themselves--hence this thread. Again, though, it's a choice. You can choose not to, and it's actually pretty simple.

>>9601270
True, and so you can make of it what you want. I want to be happy, and so do most people. But most people feel trapped in this cycle (I know I did) and there are easy ways to get out of it.

>>9601257
>You're an idiot. The fact is, I'm 95% sure that I'm smarter than you
So you open your post with an insult and then give some random percentage asserting that you're more intelligent. Academically, even...
>problem is, YOU haven't traveled
How would you even know that? I have property in three countries.

And you didn't even address the points I made in my post--you're simply deflecting.

It's good that you're so self-assured about your intelligence though....

>>9600295
Ever occured to you, your dad is gay?

>>9601257
>the only way they can deal with such a shitty existence is to pave the arduous and inexorable path toward nonexistence with as many distractions as physically possible.

Ain't that the truth, brother.

>>9599957
absolutely. the only times i've felt truly happy, i was a hobo, fighting to survive.

do it.

>>9601362
Oh, and to address something you said:
>People buy iPods because they realize their lives HAVE no purpose, and the only way they can deal with such a shitty existence is to pave the arduous and inexorable path toward nonexistence with as many distractions as physically possible.
What makes your life so shitty? If you can purchase an iPod but your life is supposedly shitty, you sure fall right into the category I'm bitching about.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend you, your Intelligence.

>>9600500
You sir, are the fucking boss. Fuck year.

Wow, I make more than the average American family by myself...

Op, you think youre fucking revolutionary now, right? Typing your groundbreaking idea from behind your fapstation while you scratch your neckbeard as you anticipate how many idiots you will troll?

Every faggot has though up the same shit before you. Go fuck yourself and come up with something better before you pose yourself as some revolutionary thinker who claims he has the key to a fulfilling life.

If you werent a troll, you would come up with a solution, right?
Well I dare you. The world is built on capitalism. Every scientist in the world knows that alternative fuel for cars based on plant material is cheaper to produce, less harmful to the environment, and just as good as regular fuel.
Nobody does shit because the car companies who decide what their cars run on, are whores to the big oil countries. They get a share in the oil money. Ecological fuel? Less money! This is the world. Welcome to the land beyond the basement.

So if we cant even get the cars to run on environment-friendlier fuel, how the hell do you think you are going to make the whole world revert from capitalism and embrace your "revolutionary idea of utopia".

Now gather the stuff you need and go live in the wilderness- see how long you thrive there before you come crying back to the machine.

>>9600500
>Am I an ubermensch or what, in your opinion?
If you're happy, then yeah. That honestly sounds like an awesome career and I hope you get a lot out of it.

It's also very cool that you can read on-the-job.

>>9601350
>>9601350
>>9601350

>Fuck you. I'm not the guy who wrote this, but a life without money is one full of misery. Do you know what it's like to live off of ramen and bread because your family can't afford anything else? Have you ever had to wash the dishes with hand soap because you don't have enough fucking money to go to the store and buy more dish soap?

>implying ramen isn't tasty.. and bread doesnt make you fat


>implying washing dishes with soap is considered a torture in some cultures


>implying i don't live an ascetic life where i dont eat for 3-4 days on a row.. and i don't wash my dishes every week instead of every day

>implying there arent niggers in africa with no money no food no water no nothing ...


FUCK YOU ASSHOLE. you dont even know what a harsh life is

so without having read the bottom half of the post at this point i can generally draw on the assumption that the OP is a huge faggot.

essentially life is what you make of it.
you want to have bursts of pleasure situated around a life of what some would call miserable?

simply not the case.

different times different stories, but all essentially the same, the only major differentiation being life expectancy which pretty obviously increased with the progression of thought, technology and evolution.

also some other shit but you're a retard and i'm drunk and don't give a fuck anymore.

DubFX hittin it atm.