BF2S Forums Racist or Hypersensive?

JohnG@lt wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

I live in the largest city in America and your view is just plain wrong. The people that surround me are even more likely to put their head down and grasp simple pleasures in life rather than take the time out of their day to educate themselves. No, if anything, what you get in cities is a firmer grasp of mob mentality. People are more likely to attach themselves to a group and mindlessly follow the groupthink than think for themselves. They're misguided and not to be admired in the slightest.

I'm not disputing human nature.  Yes, the average person is a sheep, but I find it very hard to believe that the average person who lives in the middle of nowhere is going to be better informed than the average person living in a large city.

JohnG@lt wrote:

The man I admire is one who lives away from society and can form his own opinions on a topic without becoming a sheep. From isolation comes real thought, not from immersion.

From what I've observed, isolation just tends to make a person more extremist.  People generally hold more moderate views when they interact with a variety of viewpoints.

When someone has mostly experienced the same views all of his life or has only introspectively viewed the world around him rather than having actually discussed things with others on a regular basis, that tends to make a man much more dogmatic.

Society, especially a close society like that which I live in here in NYC doesn't moderate anyone, it simply forces them to conform. You have an overwhelming desire to conform. Thus, the city appeals to you. I do not and hate it.

JohnG@lt wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

I guess this is one of those things where the city itself matters.  Greensboro might be in the middle of the Bible Belt, but we're fairly diverse in viewpoints.  So is Raleigh.  So is Charlotte.

Maybe NYC is on the extreme end of conformity.  That's quite possible.

NYC is one of those places where the people vote the same way their father voted and they don't understand why. They'll take up causes without understanding the root causes or the consequences of their actions.

Case in point. There is a North Brooklyn Open Space Alliance that has put on concerts all summer in order to raise money for, well, creating open space. Superficially this sounds like an extremely worthy cause right? Well, the hipsters that settled in Brooklyn did so to escape the high rent of Manhattan while creating their own community of poor artists who wouldn't quite starve as much as they would've in Manhattan. Now, by creating parks and other crap, they're going to drive up the cost of living in their own neighborhood and make their situation untenable. By limiting space for development it necessarily drives up property values, which in turn drives up rent. They're sowing the seeds of their own destruction but the few of them that bought brownstones and other property instead of simply living the starving artists dream will profit handsomely.

JohnG@lt wrote:

Then there is rent control and numerous other grand ideas that have backfired over the years because some idiot had a dream, sold it on emotion without real understanding, and then instead of admitting he was wrong, doubled down on it and made the situation even worse. Every action that the liberal mass has taken in NYC to alleviate the poor has instead made them poorer, more isolated, and less likely to 'get out'.

This might appeal to you, but I like logic far more than I like groupthink, especially flawed groupthink.

Phrozenbot wrote:

Foreign policy is esoteric? When I think of esoteric I think of metaphysics, philosophy, occult religions etc.

Phrozenbot wrote:

It is elitist, and it is also not true. Educated types have terrible ideas on our government and foreign policy. That attitude shouldn't be taken seriously.

Last edited by Turquoise (2010-08-13 08:43:37)

Phrozenbot wrote:

Is it just New York? Personally I think the whole east coast is rather smug.

Turquoise wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

I guess this is one of those things where the city itself matters.  Greensboro might be in the middle of the Bible Belt, but we're fairly diverse in viewpoints.  So is Raleigh.  So is Charlotte.

Maybe NYC is on the extreme end of conformity.  That's quite possible.

NYC is one of those places where the people vote the same way their father voted and they don't understand why. They'll take up causes without understanding the root causes or the consequences of their actions.

Case in point. There is a North Brooklyn Open Space Alliance that has put on concerts all summer in order to raise money for, well, creating open space. Superficially this sounds like an extremely worthy cause right? Well, the hipsters that settled in Brooklyn did so to escape the high rent of Manhattan while creating their own community of poor artists who wouldn't quite starve as much as they would've in Manhattan. Now, by creating parks and other crap, they're going to drive up the cost of living in their own neighborhood and make their situation untenable. By limiting space for development it necessarily drives up property values, which in turn drives up rent. They're sowing the seeds of their own destruction but the few of them that bought brownstones and other property instead of simply living the starving artists dream will profit handsomely.

Heh...  well, I would argue the whole "starving artist" idea is the problem to begin with.  What hipsters don't realize is that the majority of artists who actually make it have had connections.  In truth, art is mostly a luxury of the rich.  We simply glamorize those few artists that reach notoriety but die before they can profit from it.

JohnG@lt wrote:

Are you starting to get why people like SenorToenails and myself, people who actually think semi-rationally, want to flee this godawful state posthaste? There is a very good reason that people in their late 20s and early 30s are fleeing as fast as they possibly can to other states.

eleven bravo wrote:

I dont think ive ever been in a military town as depressing as fayetteville


my first impression of south carolina was at the taco bell close to the airport I went to.  the chick at the counter had a beard and a deeper voice than i did.

Uzique wrote:

Turquoise wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

NYC is one of those places where the people vote the same way their father voted and they don't understand why. They'll take up causes without understanding the root causes or the consequences of their actions.

Case in point. There is a North Brooklyn Open Space Alliance that has put on concerts all summer in order to raise money for, well, creating open space. Superficially this sounds like an extremely worthy cause right? Well, the hipsters that settled in Brooklyn did so to escape the high rent of Manhattan while creating their own community of poor artists who wouldn't quite starve as much as they would've in Manhattan. Now, by creating parks and other crap, they're going to drive up the cost of living in their own neighborhood and make their situation untenable. By limiting space for development it necessarily drives up property values, which in turn drives up rent. They're sowing the seeds of their own destruction but the few of them that bought brownstones and other property instead of simply living the starving artists dream will profit handsomely.

Heh...  well, I would argue the whole "starving artist" idea is the problem to begin with.  What hipsters don't realize is that the majority of artists who actually make it have had connections.  In truth, art is mostly a luxury of the rich.  We simply glamorize those few artists that reach notoriety but die before they can profit from it.

i believe in the gilded era, jazz age and up to the 50's/60's pop-art phase artists could just stroll to city hall with a painting of theirs as proof of their trade, say they're living in a neighbourhood, and they'd get a little plaque - 'artist in residence' or something - and would pick-up a nice healthy maintenance cheque. personally, think what you will of art, but i think that's a bloody great idea. state-sponsorship or patronage of art and culture is a very important thing. good on new york! andy warhol et al profited from this nicely.

eleven bravo wrote:

there were two malls in fayettevill.  one that looked like a shitty mall no different than killeen's and the other had about 6 open stores and a movie theater

JohnG@lt wrote:

lowing wrote:

Now this is an analogy I can buy into.

I don't know why the left is so enraged by her, she's nothing more than the counter to the Obama madness that this country experienced two years ago. His ride to office was fueled by nothing more than emotion. She's doing the exact same thing.