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Ha ha who knows. Maybe they're planning to provide a "muslim" safe internet access to this community. No access to websites promoting drinking, smoking etc.
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You wouldn't call Obamacare a global issue, would you? Yet this is one of the first things Trump wants to get rid off.
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Well, according to Trump your Mexican in-laws must be rapists, prostitutes, you name it. I don't suppose you see them that way too. So why would you think that Trump's extreme (and unjustifiable) views work well for you (as an individual) and for the US as a country.
Trump has said some pretty horrid things over the past few months. I think you're intelligent enough to understand that he's a buffoon. Yes, we do laugh with his antics from time to time, but that's all there is to it. He's good for a laugh here and there, but if you look at the situation seriously giving a person with his personality this much power is a dangerous thing.
In any case, I'm glad I don't live in the US. On the positive side (for the rest of us...), the US economy and the US dollar is probably going to suffer with Trump and the Republicans in power over the next few years, so this is good news for us Canadians buying US products and visiting the US as tourists.
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It's very short sighted to look at things just from your personal interest perspective.
I guess Trump may (or may not) be good news for Syria. We'll have to see if he will change something in the way the US is dealing with this situation. However, what's certain is that his ascent to power will affect how you and your family live your lives within the US. You are an immigrant yourself, and if I remember correctly your wife is an immigrant too (she's Hispanic, isn't she?).
Don't you think that this may be a problem in a country which voted for a president someone who sees all immigrants, and especially the latinos, as a problem?
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Most people in the US and Canada seem to be shocked by the results of yesterday's election. For those of us who live outside the bubble this was not a huge surprise. The exact same thing happened in the UK a few months ago, in Greece last year, and in several other European countries over the past year or two.
The world is changing. The US elite will have to get on with the times. This is the era of the populists (Trump, Farage, Tsipras etc.).
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What a story!
Great blog post as usual, well done. This is a part of Greece I've never visited myself. -
There's no practical way at this point to address all this. That's why I started this topic by saying that democracy has failed us in many ways, and even though it's still the best way of government we have, it's not perfect by any means and there's a lot of room for improvement.
I haven't heard of those cases of the Syrians who receive child and spousal benefits. That's really funny if it happens, and that's part of the problem we're having in the "liberal" west with accepting everyone's right to practice their crazy religious beliefs.
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But let me ask you:
Do all those people adhere to the same principles?
Share the same values?
Share a common Vision?
No, of course not. That's why in the "free world" we have all those different political parties, and political ideologies, so that everyone can find some ideas and values they can identify with.
The problem of course is that, as I wrote earlier, most (if not all) politicians are habitual liars, and they just say and do whatever will bring them into power. On top of this, the real ideology and values of most political parties is not very clear to their voters. In many cases people vote for a party, or a politician, without really knowing or understanding their agenda.
That's why many people have started questioning democracy as a political system which really represents the best interests of the people, or even the will of the majority (when clearly in most cases it's the minority who eventually selects who will govern a country).
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As a first step religious institutions should be taxed. In Canada (from what I know) religious groups are not funded by the state. They are getting tax and other breaks though, and this is bad enough.
However, in countries like Greece - other than the tax breaks - the Christian Orthodox church is funded by the state too so no matter if you're Muslim, Buddhist, atheist or whatever else, your tax money fund the Christian Orthodox church. This of course goes back to a time where most Greeks were Christian Orthodox. Nowadays things have changed. Even though the majority of Greek people are still Christian Orthodox there are growing minorities of non-Christian Greeks and it's clearly unfair for them to be funding a religion they don't believe in.
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Perhaps. But why exactly should "WE" do that?
And what do you mean by improve?
Make better?
And what do you mean when you use words like better or worse?
And most importantly: Who the hell is "WE"?
I'm not being an ass. I ask those question cause the way you answer them demonstrates your understanding of society and governance.
I doubt that the two of us mean the same things when we use words like "we, improve, better, democracy, society, governance, politics".
"We" are the people who live within a country and "we" vote in this country. Each country/region has its own problems to solve. As FriendofGreece mentioned above, China and India have massive populations who are mostly uneducated and poor. In most cases these people are taken advantage of by "smart" politicians who are elected and then do nothing to improve these peoples' lives.
Of course using the words "liar" and "politician" in the same sentence is pretty common in most countries of the world. I guess the questions is why do people keep voting for politicians who blatantly lie to them over and over again. I don't think this has to do with the education of the public. Many educated people are as stupid as anyone else when it comes to supporting a political party. I think part of the problem is that in most countries people do not vote for an individual anymore. They vote the party the "support". People "support" a party, much like they support a soccer, football or hockey team. It's idiocy at its best.
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Friends,
I think our understanding of democracy differs. You seem to think that democracy is meant to produce the best government possible but that's not in the specs. Democracy is meant to produce the Government the People WANT. Granted, what people WANT is often enough not good for them. Nevertheless, that's what a working Democracy is supposed to deliver.
This is a good point but you should have put it in a slightly different way: Democracy is not meant to produce the Government that the people living in a specific country want. It's meant to produce what the people who have the right to vote want. And this makes a huge difference.
In addition to this, in reality, it's producing the government that the people who are "organized" in parties want. "Independent" voters can decide for shit. Their vote is useless and worthless, and in most political systems it ends up "supporting" the ascent to power of the very people they don't want in government!
Democracy as we know it is a skewed political system. Yet, it's the best we have overall, as compared with other systems of government we've tried. However, this doesn't mean that we should accept as it is, and for what it currently stands. As people we should collectively fight to improve democracy.
If we're talking about the US, it's clear that this year there was a strong movement to elect someone outside the "political system" who would also be a much better choice for America (and the world) in my opinion - Bernie Sanders. Instead, the powers that be within the Democratic party fought tooth and nail to keep him out of contention and go with a "safe" choice, Hilary.
On the other end, the Republicans did not have a candidate strong enough to stand in the way of the "outsider" Trump. In a sense Trump is the "Bernie" of the republican party. The radical outsider who despite all odds managed to unite the voice of the "unorganized" republican/right wing masses and win the right to stand against Hilary in a few days for the opportunity to become the next president.
It goes without saying that I don't like Trump and I despise everything he stands for, however, it may be a good thing for the US and for the rest of the world if the Americans elect Trump as their president. It may show to people that:
- unlikely candidates can sometimes win when the "independent/unorganized" voters decide to go against the grain and vote against the powers that be
- the political system, however good it is, still needs a change so that the voice of the "silent" majority can be heard before it erupts into discontent (as it's clearly happening now in the US, and as it happened in Greece with the election of the Tsipras government and in the UK with the Brexit vote).
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Ha ha, that's a pretty radical approach. Or we could bring back ostracizing, as the ancient Athenians did.
Reality is that as in Greece and in the UK, it's very possible that the "silent" majority will have to live with the voting choices of a number of dimwitted voters who feel more compelled than the rest of the population to cast their vote and make their voices heard.
Now on the other hands, who's to say who's a dimwit and who's a politically responsible voter? Or to take it even further, who's to say who's a dimwit and who's a responsible politician? Wasn't it "responsible" politicians who threw the US in the war with Iraq? Weren't they the ones who insisted about the presence of nuclear weapons in Iraq and justified a war which destroyed Iraq and created a vacuum which was later filled by ISIS?
There is clearly no black and white answer to this question. Democracy is clearly, and by far, the best political system we have tested and which works relatively better (in most cases) than all other political systems we have developed. Does it need improvement? Absolutely yes. The thing though is that after all those years and hard fought battles of women, people of colour, people of low income etc. to get access to vote, it would be an impossible battle to try altering the voting system and giving more power to the educated elite (which would not guarantee better government anyway - despite what some people mentioned in the article below - want to believe).
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An interesting article about how democracy (even though still by far the best possible political system out there) seems to be failing us, as a society, be in it Greece with the ascent to power of a group of idiots, in the UK with the Brexiters, and in the US with the voters/fans of Trump and Hillary.
Plato was the first one to see the inefficiencies and problems of democracy in his work the "Republic". Since then, despite all criticism, democracy has proven to be the best political system we have.
Caleb Craln is doing a good job reviewing the past and the possible future of democracy in his article in the New Yorker:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/11/07/the-case-against-democracy
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The Deutsche Bank Downfall - How a Pillar of German Banking Lost Its Way
For most of its 146 years, Deutsche Bank was the embodiment of German values: reliable and safe. Now, the once-proud institution is facing the abyss. SPIEGEL tells the story of how Deutsche's 1990s rush to join the world banking elite paved the way for its own downfall.
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Try posting this in our Facebook page. We have a few Ney Yorkers in there.
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Hey Angelo, I don't think we have anyone from NY in this forum (I may be mistaken though). Good luck with your move!
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Who the f$ck are these people and what are they on? They must be high on something, and whatever that is it must be good shit.
I don't understand half what they're saying, but if I'm getting the gist of it they're basically saying that we (as a society) need to rework the concept of science (and our understanding of the world around us based on all scientific breakthroughs) to suit these people's worldview?
Well, I guess if they don't like all modern scientific breakthroughs and want to start all over they can easily start with throwing away their cell phones and cameras and stop taking videos of their dumb-ass meetings
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Καλη προσπαθεια. Θελει λιγο περισσοτερο προσοχη στην παραγωγη για να ειναι ευκολοτερο να ακουσει/καταλαβει κανεις τι λενε οι στιχοι.
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Terrible all around. I'm shocked that Trump is even considered a "candidate". I guess if you think about it those two clowns are what the Americans deserve at this point in time.
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Sure, I agree. Hating the Jews has been an excellent past time for many cultures and people for centuries. It's not something new. I guess the reasoning behind hating them hasn't changed much over the year. As you said, they're a very small yet disproportionately powerful group of people, and they're disproportionately "powerful" and "visible" in several areas, banking, sciences, business, arts...Despite prosecution, since the ancient times, they've found ways to continue being successful for centuries. This says something about their resilience if nothing else.
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Isn't it natural for all of us in here, born and raised in a "judeo-christian" environment, to be "influenced" by this same environment we were born into? When some of us decide to "denounce" god isn't it only natural to denounce the "judeo-christian" god? This is the god we know.
I've read extensively about several other religions, but it's one thing to read about something and a different thing to experience it.
In any case, going back to your guys' previous discussion, I find it interesting that most people who have a pro extreme right-wing agenda seem to hate the Jews with a passion. Why is this? Granted that the extreme right-wing folks hate a number of other people too (blacks etc.) but hating the Jews is a must. I wonder why this is when most pro extreme right-wing people seem to also be pretty religious (of the Christian type...) too.
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I use "meme" not because I am in agreement with all those that used the term, but because it perfectly matches with "gene", in all ways.
Memes also display variation as language evolves.
Memes are also selected, as the genes they are an extension of dominate and spread, or die off.
Genes manifest as organism, memes manifest as state.
Genes express as personality, behavior, memes express as culture, as civilization.
Memetic fertilization happens linguistically. Through verbal intercourse.
A mind is fertilized with words, genes, in sequences, forming ideas.
Christianity is a hybrid, like Jesus was a half-breed.
I thought I explained this.
A product of intercourse between Judaism and Hellenism.
Like in genetic reproduction half the genes are passed on the the offspring, and so in this case only half of Hellenism was passed on to Christianity.
Because Judaism and Hellenism are incompatible world-views, incompatible memes, Christianity was born ill, and died when its heart, God was declared dead by Nietzsche.
Illness cannot survive in world, and so Christianity morphed, changed into secular formes, like Marxism, and currently it is running around disguised as secular humanism.
I've written my views on how I consider it a memetic virus infecting every healthy meme it infects, it comes in contact with and finds a weakness in.
My motive is that of a diagnostician.
I diagnose the disease, and I attempt to invigorate the autoimmune systems by injecting them with a blood from when the organism was healthy.
A booster shot, in keeping with our metaphor.
Modern Greece is sick.
It has been sick for centuries.
When they slaughtered the pagans that was its end.
It now survives as memory as words, people repeat, like zombies.
Nihilism creates mental zombies - anti-life, anti-nature....so desperate to eat and drink healthy flesh and blood.
That the Greeks easily took to Marxism point to the fact that Marxism is but a secular variant of Christianity.
Today the political battle there is between the Christians, represented by the right, and the Marxists, and humanists, represented by the left.
Right/Left the dual poles of the Nihilistic paradigm. It occupies both sides of the debate, boxing in human consciousness, as if there is no other alternative.
This is related to metaphysics, which will take a long time to unfold.
Let's just say Parmenides was assimilated within kabbalah, leaving out Heraclitus.
Absolutes in a world of Flux....all is fluid...Τα πάντα ρέει
Heraclitus used the metaphor of fire to represent this fluidity of existence.
The absolutist thinking is characterized by the absolute one and absolute nil.
Both are parts of the Nihilistic paradigm.
Satyr, you're really confusing the shit out of me with your conflicting ideas
For example, on one hand you seem to embrace the ideals and admire people like Nietzsche and on the other hand you say that "nihilism creates mental zombies". Spoiler alert: Nietzsche is a nihilist...
I agree that Christianity is a hybrid but it's not a hybrid of just Judaism and Hellenism. There are also sprinkles of other religions and philosophies of the time in there, and that's normal. Most religions, like most philosophical ideas, are "borrowing" things from contemporary or previous religions and philosophies, mix everything together and then pass it to the "converted" as something new to believe in.
You seem to believe that the "philosophical ideas" of ancient Greeks to be "untouchable", but the reality is that many Greek "philosophers" (and I use this term loosely to include people like Aristotle and Plato but also Pythagoras, Thales and Archimedes) got some things - many things - very very wrong. They also held absolutist thinking in high regard (read Plato for example...).
Saying this, some of them were amongst the first human beings (as recorded by our known history...) who started using a precursor of what we call today the scientific method, however crude their methods might have been at the time. For this alone humanity owes them a great deal.
Greek Progress: Religious test for broadband Internet access!
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He's not an islamophobe. He's just a stupid idiot, like the rest of them in his party. Do you think they think things through before they do or say something?
If he was trying to be mindful towards different religious groups (outside of Christians) then he really screwed up as what he's saying there is completely inappropriate. Why would the Muslims get this service for free and not the Buddhists, or the Hindus.
I used to have a good laugh every time I'd hear these Syriza morons talk on TV, or read what they've said in news sites. Not anymore. They are so clueless and stupid that it's not funny anymore hearing or reading the garbage they're saying from time to time. Thing is that they still have almost 3 more years to go.