The off topic thread (34 Viewers)

[Alen]

I don't disagree with you regarding America and Americans. Actually i completely share your opinion.
I'm criticizing EU educational system. While the Americans learn how to live the life and be prepared for their future job we here learn how to do good in a quiz.

Germany and Switzerland are an exception. I don't know how things stand in BeNeLux or Scandinavia because i never went there, but if you take a look at Eastern Europe, Greece and even Italy, Spain, Portugal it makes you wonder if it's better to be a rich ignoramus or a poor "encyclopedia in my head".

 

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[rounder]

Bürke puts Utah on the same level as Greece. That tells you everything.

yeah .. Apparently to some , any american state or city can easilly be compared to one of the most famous countries in the world . I consider america as just another country . but i must be biased .

 

[Seven]

I don't disagree with you regarding America and Americans. Actually i completely share your opinion.
I'm criticizing EU educational system. While the Americans learn how to live the life and be prepared for their future job we here learn how to do good in a quiz.

Germany and Switzerland are an exception. I don't know how things stand in BeNeLux or Scandinavia because i never went there, but if you take a look at Eastern Europe, Greece and even Italy, Spain, Portugal it makes you wonder if it's better to be a rich ignoramus or a poor "encyclopedia in my head".

Hmmm... two things come to mind though:

1) The very poor are always the least educated. I'm not saying there's a definite causal connection though, because most of them were poor to begin with and perhaps couldn't afford eduction.

2) There is still, after centuries, a clear line between Northern Western Europe and the rest of the continent in many ways. One of those ways seems to be education. Students on exchange programs will always moan about the low standards in Southern countries and most are afraid to even go to Eastern Europe because they fear they will not be able to get a decent education there.

Now I myself don't know anything about the educational system in most of those countries, but I think that in Belgium, you're very well prepared for a future job.

 

[Seven]

yeah .. Apparently to some , any american state or city can easilly be compared to one of the most famous countries in the world . I consider america as just another country . but i must be biased .

The USA appears to be the country. The best form of state. The final result of thousands of years of history. The grand finale. The ultimate, democratic superpower.

Only a select few Americans seem to realise that America did not invent democracy, nor is it in fact a democratic country. I mean, Bush simply ignored democracy in his first election. America's not the first superpower either. And it definitely won't be the last.

All of this pro-American teleological bullshit is what really drives me mad, I guess.

 

[Bjerknes]

answer to your question :

ok , so you're saying bush was re-elected because he offered safety to America , and we all know that didn't work out , his re-election only caused the death of American soldiers in Iraq , if anything inflicting wars on other nations would make America more dangerous and not safer by giving an extra motive or reason for terrorist bombings to take place in America .

Exactly, and what I'm saying is that not everyone understood that and not everyone voted for that reason either. The people who really bring this country down are the hicks who love their weapons and only vote Republican in every race because they've been brought up that way. For some odd reason, they love their right to bear arms out in the wilderness, and sadly many people vote to protect their arms right. I think that is pathetic and it angers me these people come in large numbers and low IQ's. Many of these same people vote for the Republicans due to religious views, including stem cell research, but the funny thing is these people are too imbecilic to even understand the basis of what stem cell research is and what it can do for humanity.

So instead of stem cell research that could potentially give us more life, people say no and we subscribe to medications for chronic illnesses while we send people to the electric chair. Hypocrisy rules the world.

The American public should have known his traits and policies before they re-elected him , bush was always known as an idiot , how can an idiot protect his nation from terrorist attacks ? How could a nation like America not realize this ?

It's more difficult than just that. People voted for Bush for other reasons as well, including what I said above.

Personally , i would vote for a president who has to offer peace which in return is the safest option to any nation . bush can't offer that .
That's why canada is without a scratch . This ofcourse is in my best interests .

Secondly , a president who is intelligent enough to lead my country . bush can't offer that .

But you did not exactly answer my question. If it came down to it, would you vote for a candidate that has killed thousands of people in America but has saved many lives in your country? Intelligence or not, people will do what is for themselves.

now , have i been impressed with a great nation ?
well , in the time that i have lived through , no i haven't . America has been in control for a long time . What you're saying may have some truth to it , i think it is possible for someone to envy or become jealous form America because of what it has to offer and this in return will generate hatred .

Most of the people that do hate America probably hate it for what it has done . That to me is more logical , i personally hate the bush government not because i envy America in any way but because of America's actions to the rest of the world .

My point regarding "great nations" is this... it is tough to find a powerful nation, or civilization for that matter, that has not destroyed the lives of others for the sake of their own. This greed for power and wealth is not only an American trait. We've known that since the Assyrians.

In the world we live in, there will always be someone that is fucked over. It's terrible indeed, but this is what we are as humans.

 

[Seven]

And in history, have you been impressed with any "great" nation and what they have given to the world? This is exactly my point.

I'm thinking the Roman Empire gave us quite a lot.

 

[Bjerknes]

The USA appears to be the country. The best form of state. The final result of thousands of years of history. The grand finale. The ultimate, democratic superpower.

You have to put things into perspective here. I agree with you in saying that geographical knowledge is important, as I couldn't see myself sitting here not knowing or caring about the rest of the world. I cannot even fathom why some people would not even care to have that knowledge, as there is so much in this world to see and so much to love, but many do not care. It's simply laziness, and if I was President, I would make our schools have mandatory culture and geography classes.

But in all honesty, if you compare a state such as California to a nation such as San Marino, the former has so much more people, so much more wealth and in the scheme of things more importance. Just because San Marino is a country doesn't make it more important than an entire region of the world. And furthermore, our states are much different than many European provinces.

 

[Bjerknes]

I'm thinking the Roman Empire gave us quite a lot.

They did indeed, but they also made quite a lot of people suffer. That's my point. The United States has given the world quite a lot as well - not as much as the Roman Empire - but people don't want to accept it.

 

[rounder]

My point regarding "great nations" is this... it is tough to find a powerful nation, or civilization for that matter, that has not destroyed the lives of others for the sake of their own. This greed for power and wealth is not only an American trait. We've known that since the Assyrians.

In the world we live in, there will always be someone that is fucked over. It's terrible indeed, but this is what we are as humans.

I agree , but don't you think this is also barbaric to say the least ? we have evolved a lot since the time of the Assyrians , maybe at that time it was a must to survive and they did not know any better .

We are at a time where we can learn from humanity's past , so instead of reflecting to the past and using the examples as a modification for America's current behaviour , why not look at the past and learn from our mistakes and avoid doing what has cost us humans so much .

I understand your point , and greed is undoubtedly a natural human trait , but it's not like we are just born with it . We inherit it from what we see growing up . It is something that can be changed for the good of the world so why not change it ?
We point the blame at bush because its his greed that's affecting us the most .

 

[Bjerknes]

I was reading an employer's critique of students at Penn State (my university) who interviewed for jobs and internships at different companies. One point of criticism that came up was regarding geographical knowledge. When I read this, I wasn't surprised whatsoever to find that an employer though students lacked geographical knowledge. And actually I had a smirk on my face after reading it.

I think it's absurd to not have decent geographical knowledge despite me basically learning all the facts I know by myself, on my ow time without any classes. My compatriots do need to listen to me and others when we say geography is important, especially if you're working for a multinational company.

 

[Enron]

USA! USA! Whoooooo! Suck on it Europe!

 

[Alen]

Hmmm... two things come to mind though:

1) The very poor are always the least educated. I'm not saying there's a definite causal connection though, because most of them were poor to begin with and perhaps couldn't afford eduction.

2) There is still, after centuries, a clear line between Northern Western Europe and the rest of the continent in many ways. One of those ways seems to be education. Students on exchange programs will always moan about the low standards in Southern countries and most are afraid to even go to Eastern Europe because they fear they will not be able to get a decent education there.

Now I myself don't know anything about the educational system in most of those countries, but I think that in Belgium, you're very well prepared for a future job.

Before middle 90s there were 3 educational systems in Europe. That of West and North, the eastern one and the one in Greece that was very different from the other two. I went through all 3 of them and i still think that i learned most in eastern Europe.
Until then, mid 90s, eastern Europeans were spending money mostly on weapons, sports and education. Education was free and full with ideological views which naturally means poor standards but like i said, the governments were spending huge on education and , commie ideology aside, people were getting a hell of an education even in elementary and high school. Especially Poland, Czechoslovakia and Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia) offered high profile experts in every field.
In western Europe the approach was different but trust me, the knowledge i carried from elementary school in an eastern European small city was doing wonders for me in western universities.

Now, after 15 years since the cold war ended, things have changed a lot in east Europe and poor countries are indeed less educated, but the knowledge E.Europeans carry from the past did absolutely no good to them, in general. That's why my initial question. So what if an average boy from Prague knows/knew more stuff than an average boy from Cansas City ?

 

[Bjerknes]

I agree , but don't you think this is also barbaric to say the least ? we have evolved a lot since the time of the Assyrians , maybe at that time it was a must to survive and they did not know any better .

We are at a time where we can learn from humanity's past , so instead of reflecting to the past and using the examples as a modification for America's current behaviour , why not look at the past and learn from our mistakes and avoid doing what has cost us humans so much .

I understand your point , and greed is undoubtedly a natural human trait , but it's not like we are just born with it . We inherit it from what we see growing up . It is something that can be changed for the good of the world so why not change it ?
We point the blame at bush because its his greed that's affecting us the most .

It's my opinion greed is part of the human psyche, something that has always been a part of life, not just because of witnessing others. Greed is human nature.

The Assyrians were rather barbaric, but their decisions come from the same thinking as we do today. Civilizations and nations must protect themselves while feeding their greed, so they engage in wars and combat to not only proetect their own entities, but also garner more for their culture. I mean, war is something that has been around forever in this world. War is not going to cease to exist; it's part of the human race because of our greed and our determination to protect those closest to us.

My point is, yes the United States have committed many atrocities, but so has every powerful civilization or nation. It's no excuse, but I gaurantee you, when the next superpower in the world arises, they will have just as much blood on their necks as everybody else.

 

[Bjerknes]

USA! USA! Whoooooo! Suck on it Europe!

Call me, son! Home phone bro.

 

[Enron]

It's my opinion greed is part of the human psyche, something that has always been a part of life, not just because of witnessing others. Greed is human nature.

The Assyrians were rather barbaric, but their decisions come from the same thinking as we do today. Civilizations and nations must protect themselves while feeding their greed, so they engage in wars and combat to not only proetect their own entities, but also garner more for their culture. I mean, war is something that has been around forever in this world. War is not going to cease to exist; it's part of the human race because of our greed and our determination to protect those closest to us.

My point is, yes the United States have committed many atrocities, but so has every powerful civilization or nation. It's no excuse, but I gaurantee you, when the next superpower in the world arises, they will have just as much blood on their necks as everybody else.

The world is just as barbaric today as it was in the ancient times. The means may differ but the end is just the same. You just have to look around to realize this. There will always be barbarism and greed in the world, such is the balance of life.

 

[Enron]

Call me, son! Home phone bro.

Yo my cell battery is fried and I can't get your number. So how about you call me in a couple minutes.

 

[Bjerknes]

Yo my cell battery is fried and I can't get your number. So how about you call me in a couple minutes.

Word, give me a time frame. Ten minutes?

 

[rounder]

It's my opinion greed is part of the human psyche, something that has always been a part of life, not just because of witnessing others. Greed is human nature.

The Assyrians were rather barbaric, but their decisions come from the same thinking as we do today. Civilizations and nations must protect themselves while feeding their greed, so they engage in wars and combat to not only proetect their own entities, but also garner more for their culture. I mean, war is something that has been around forever in this world. War is not going to cease to exist; it's part of the human race because of our greed and our determination to protect those closest to us.

My point is, yes the United States have committed many atrocities, but so has every powerful civilization or nation. It's no excuse, but I gaurantee you, when the next superpower in the world arises, they will have just as much blood on their necks as everybody else.

Here's my opinion
Greed has been part of life because in the past humans have made it part of life .
They passed it on to their children , and their children passed it to their children..

My biggest worry is exactly what your saying , humans have learned to accept it as part of them and have decided to just live with it . The fact is , war could cease to exist , it's just our " i guess i'll have to accept it " attitude that continually destroys any chance of peace .

My point is , America has more potential or a bigger chance of ceasing war than any other country around . America isn't fucking up Iraq for self defense and protection for its people , give me a break . What annoys me is that they keep on promoting war instead of peace , If America aren't trying to achieve peace , who else would ?

Yes , war has been around for thousands of years , but at this point in time we have the greatest chance of stopping war . It can stop , greed can go , and peace is possible , if only everyone wanted that .

You may say i'm a dreamer , but i'm not the only one

 

[rounder]

Before middle 90s there were 3 educational systems in Europe. That of West and North, the eastern one and the one in Greece that was very different from the other two. I went through all 3 of them and i still think that i learned most in eastern Europe.
Until then, mid 90s, eastern Europeans were spending money mostly on weapons, sports and education. Education was free and full with ideological views which naturally means poor standards but like i said, the governments were spending huge on education and , commie ideology aside, people were getting a hell of an education even in elementary and high school. Especially Poland, Czechoslovakia and Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia) offered high profile experts in every field.
In western Europe the approach was different but trust me, the knowledge i carried from elementary school in an eastern European small city was doing wonders for me in western universities.

Now, after 15 years since the cold war ended, things have changed a lot in east Europe and poor countries are indeed less educated, but the knowledge E.Europeans carry from the past did absolutely no good to them, in general. That's why my initial question. So what if an average boy from Prague knows/knew more stuff than an average boy from Cansas City ?

The whole world knows everything about America , yet so many Americans can't bother learning about the rest of the world. I could really care less , it's their loss , geograpy is extremely important to everyone . There is no loss in gaining knowledge about what surrounds you , it may benefit you in more ways than you think .

 

[Ahmed]

The whole world knows everything about America , yet so many Americans can't bother learning about the rest of the world. I could really care less , it's their loss , geograpy is extremely important to everyone . There is no loss in gaining knowledge about what surrounds you , it may benefit you in more ways than you think .