ivory

Sweet! It's time then

I had a rather painful conversation with my mother the other day. She is a very successful business person, is well off, and is also a Trump supporter. She gets angry at the idea of socialized programs, arguing that she "doesn't want to pay for other peoples' healthcare or education and she doesn't feel that she should be responsible for economic inequality in the U.S." I can understand where she's coming from, but I find her hypocritical. She has three kids. One of whom is really struggling financially, has a heroin addiction, and has no healthcare. The other child hasn't gone to college yet but will have to pay her own way should she choose to attend. Obviously, if we had single payer healthcare my mom wouldn't have to pay for her's or the little one's healthcare. And if we had free education, the little one would easily be able to go to college someday. On an emotional level, my mom would benefit because her kids would benefit massively if, say, healthcare and education were free. Lastly, my mom would also benefit by not having to pay or provide health insurance for her employees. My question is, if my mom didn't have any kids at all, and she weren't a business owner, would she (or other in her position) benefit from having more socialized programs in the U.S? If you were to have a conversation with someone like my mother, how would you argue your position?

There are better books out there. I wouldn't waste my time on something that wasn't clear.

I do LSD and mushrooms fairly frequently but I'm still afraid of 5-MeO. For those that were also afraid, what was the tipping point for you guys to try? I keep hearing that there's nothing you can do to prepare for the experience, but was there a time when you guys just felt that you were ready?

@soos_mite_ah Did you see the Zizek video that Leo posted last week? If not you should check it out. In any case, this is a really interesting time. I'm really curious to see how things turn out.

I was curious to see what the correlation between political environment and looks like. This map shows some interesting data.

As someone who's been down this path I can tell you that if you try to do what you are suggesting, be prepared. It is much, much more difficult that you can possibly imagine. On another note, most likely you are avoiding life's challenges. All of that shit will follow you wherever you go. In the end, though, it makes no differences. The challenges you will face will teach you what you need to learn.

I think it's rare to find someone who has truly become successful on their own. @Leo Gura made a good point for that. I do think that hard work is a factor but so is timing and support. I would not have been able to go to college (or maybe I would have, who knows) without financial assistance and cheap rent. I was lucky. In my mom's case, she didn't have to work a side gig while building her business. She was provided with free meals and housing by my father. And when they got divorced and remarried, her new husband paid off all her debt.

I'll take heart to the book suggestion I'm with you on that. There's only so far that youtube can take you. As for arguing, I don't really care about changing peoples' minds. What I do care about is clarifying my own views, educating myself, and presenting myself clearly.

I don't imagine that going well either. The purpose of this thread was to satisfy a curiosity and I didn't mean to make this about my mother. However, I will point out that I have no intention of changing her mind. I believe that she's too far gone. As she ages I believe that she will suffer greatly. I doubt that many will want to be there for her when things go south simply because she lacks compassion and has a superiority complex. I feel bad for her but there's nothing I can do.

Apparently Spain is on the cusp of implementing some form of UBI.

This is the root of the problem, but I'm not sure we can wait for these changes to come to pass on a personal or collective level. We need a catalyst for change. That may come in the form of a crisis or through exposure to the better life. Once the value system of the majority has shifted, I think that's when we'll reach some level of homeostasis. But that will take time. For positive change to even begin, though, there are just so many unknowns to consider which makes this process so unpredictable. It's difficult to say what needs to happen.

I've enjoyed your posts here Roy and I'm not here to argue. But how would be pay for something like UBI. My understanding is that UBI is ridiculously expensive. Even at $1000 per month, the cost in the US alone would be $39,600,000,000 per year (assuming every member of the 300,000,000 population gets a payout). Obviously, we'd have to make some cuts and shift funds around. But how do we decide what we can do without? And, what are the other implications. I think that defense spending would have to be drastically cut. In the US the defense budget is $748 billion. Our "defense" strategy would have to change dramatically. We're talking about changes on a global level.

I'd be curious to learn which studies you are looking at. But in Alaska (which is has semblance to UBI), the data shows that there was very little change in the amount that people worked. There will always be freeloaders, but I think a good number of people would put the money to good use. Like education, hobbies, health, etc.

Then it's not UBI. There seems to be some disagreement about what exactly constitutes UBI, but I think that most agree that UBI means no strings attached. I can't say that I disagree but the thing to consider is that no solution is permanent. Shit happens, you deal with it, then you move onto the next problem. Wash rinse repeat. I believe there are times where UBI, or some semblance of it, may be the appropriate solution. Look at the US coronavirus relief package. We came up with a solution to deal with the problem at hand and in my opinion, it is the appropriate solution. Will it last forever, probably not. Will we come back to it at a later date? Perhaps. I don't think there's anything wrong with think big / dream big (Bernie Sanders, Green New Deal, etc), but most of the time, change happens very slowly. And that's true on every front. That's just the way life works. There are times, like in a crisis, where life changes drastically and there is just no going back. But that's something all together different.

@Joshi3 I get what you are saying. Cheers.

@Joshi3 The term self-acceptance is a bit misleading. A lack of self-acceptance really just amounts to a series of beliefs. Also, be careful with this "everything is non-dual" stuff. You'll just confuse yourself. Self-acceptance is not the same thing as non-acceptance.

Self-acceptance is a trick beast because ego is so deceptive. I must do ABC or I will never amount to anything. I must do XYZ or no-one will ever love me. There are two things that I found helpful and I'm not sure I would arrived at the place I am today without them. First, get therapy. Find a good therapist that will help you develop your self-esteem. Tell that that you struggle with self-acceptance. Why? Because self-acceptance is so counter intuitive. It's a mind fuck. Second, stage green friends who accept you for who you are. It helps a lot to get positive feedback from others. Hope that helps.

I also consider myself a slow learner but there are some things that I am naturally good at like athletics. What I've learned is to find some sort of balance. Do the things that come naturally and continue to hone those skills. As for the things that don't come naturally, push yourself just a little bit harder than you would like. By a little bit, I mean A LITTLE BIT. Do that more and more to exercise your brain and build strength. In the process you will improve as will you learn to believe in your abilities. I could go on and on about this topic but that's it in a nutshell.

I'm doing well Milos. Thanks for the kind words. Best to you.

Well that's not necessarily true, but there will be push back. I personally don't think anyone really gets anything out of accusations unless everyone involved is open minded. So, you aren't 100% wrong. Well, that is the solution to the madness you see around you. And for sure, find like-minded people. That's what makes the absurd bearable.

Aw crap, I just wrote a big long post and when I clicked submit, it garbled up my post. Here's a second shot... In Buddhism this is referred to as groundlessness which mostly pertains to impermanence in general: Health, wealth, life, relionships, etc. My last meditation teacher used to call it "Skating on thin ice." Here's an excerpt from one of his books. It's a good read with an interesting short story at the end. I think you'll get a kick out of it. Although Camu didn't consider himself an existentialist there certainly are some parallels in their thinking. Camu only talks about what he criticized here but this quote doesn't mention the antidote which is what made the existentialists so great (Sartre, etc). I'm reading a book called At the Existentialist Cafe and Camu's in it. Highly recommended. Clever. This line made me chuckle. I had a pretty severe health issue pop up a few years ago and I just didn't see it coming. It took me a few years to adapt but during those few years I couldn't help but think how vulnerable I was. All the time I was aware at how fragile myself and others really were and I was amazed at how many people just didn't see it. Anyways, thanks for sharing. I've enjoyed your posts recently.

Ok but did the scandinavian countries skip over orange? Like Roy said, progress isn't always linear. I personally think that the transcendence of some stages are messier than others. If you are firmly rooted in orange, brace for impact. The other thing to consider is that the US is so much larger and divided than these other countries. Comparing the US to them is like comparing apples to oranges. Lots of factors come into play here.

I'm going to make adapt and take up some new hobbies. In addition to my meditation routine I'm going to take up yoga and write poetry!

Interesting, I was just talking to my roommate about this a few minutes ago. This is a time when people are going to have to reassess what's really important. I've been saying this for quite some time, but real change often requires a crisis.