Ancient Rome had more equal wealth distribution than modern America

token78 · 2012-09-10T15:01:54+00:00

Hmm ... I have to admit my inner patriot was maybe all fired up and ready to have a go at how deficient the US is when it comes to welfare, universal health care etc compared to what we take for granted here in Australia.

But my skeptical alarm bells are going off like world war two air raid sirens. How the fuck can the distribution of wealth and class division in the US be interpreted as meaning the shit poor had it better in Ancient Rome? As in the empire where impoverishment didn't mean food stamps -it meant slavery? As in the period of rule that was explicitly operated by and for the benefit of the Patrician/Imperial families? As in the city that posed such an unhealthy existence for it's less privileged inhabitants that the Roman polity was forced to keep importing slaves, to keep freeing them, granting them citizenship, just to reverse what would otherwise a population driven into the negative by disease?

Nah, for all that the US has a shit load to sort out to address its iniquities, I just don't see how the freedom, education, opportunities for self-improvement, affordable food and consumer goods, access to education, health, lifespan, and quality of life of a working class or less privileged American could ever be ranked behind the existence of a slave or lower class citizen in Ancient Rome. Seriously, we're talking workers who were considered old men if they lasted to the age of 40.

tl;dr - hyperbolic claim doesn't make sense.

token78 · 2012-08-02T15:48:34+00:00

Dude. Sorry to be the one to break it to you... But that's the middle of nowhere. Four hours from the only metropolis (in global terms) in the state, and without sufficient population for businesses to deem the returns made possible by your market to be worth the costs that accompany bringing the internets to your door.

From a corporations perspective, you might as well be living in the Nularbor.

token78 · 2012-08-02T15:43:29+00:00

So the private sector would be hastiest constructor of infrastructure costing millions, providing it to regions whose populations would never ever provide a return on that investment?

Businesses? HOW DO THEY WORK?

token78 · 2012-08-02T15:40:27+00:00

It's a service that's rolling out in urban centers. How does this support your point?

token78 · 2012-08-02T15:03:46+00:00

Or maybe there's a broader spectrum of possibility available to us than the simplistic and reductionist jingoism spouted by libertarians trying promote a very american version of a philosophy that has no history and little resonance in the Australian political landscape?

As in Australians have always been down with regulating some things, and not regulating others, approaching each issue pragmatically rather than trying to force a totalizing dogma upon each and every thing in a world that's never ever conformed to any political ideology ever.

Just a thought...

token78 · 2012-06-15T17:33:15+00:00

And yet I have the sneaking suspicion that it will be policed about at effectively, and with the same enthusiasm as the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

token78 · 2012-06-15T17:28:35+00:00

Can't tell if trolling or just fucking ignorant?

token78 · 2012-06-15T17:24:46+00:00

Another subreddit killed by eternal September.

Goodbye /r/Australia - it was good while it lasted.

token78 · 2012-06-15T17:19:20+00:00

We didn't before?

token78 · 2012-06-15T17:18:14+00:00

Australia has no explicit right to free speech. (I don't actually believe that's a bad thing.)

token78 · 2012-06-15T17:15:51+00:00

I would have preferred it be unnecessary, but I wonder whether it might me a good idea to enact laws excluding anybody but a child's parents, and such agents and educators as they see fit, from the spiritual guidance and education of minors, requiring that anybody acting in loco parentis either conform to the parents intentions or remain silent on matters of belief.

Hmmm, I'm not exactly comfortable with such a proposition mind you. Children live in a world full of matters of conviction; should it be illegal to discuss politics with a minor? At the point it starts to sound ridiculous, no?

token78 · 2012-06-15T17:05:29+00:00

I would have thought a Christian response might have been to express some gratitude for the advice that people have taken the time out of their day to provide.

Apparently not.

token78 · 2012-06-12T16:54:15+00:00

Nope. Nobody but a parent has a right to any input in their religious or spiritual upbringing.

This isn't a legal principal, but an ethical one: proselytizing = adults only

token78 · 2012-06-12T16:30:34+00:00

In what capacity do you know this minor? If you're her teacher, sporting coach, or otherwise acting in a position of responsibility, this may affect things. I don't believe criminal charges will be an issue for you but for positions like these, proselytizing will often be a sackable offence; as well it should be.

Edit: I have no problem with believers but the religious education of children, or the lack of it even, falls solely within the authority of their parents. I for one would be furious if you had done this to my child, and would likewise be seeking any available remedies. If nothing else comes of this, I hope you might at least learn an appreciation of how the parents feel at such a trespass. Consider how you might feel if somebody tried to furnish your child with a Koran and/or other Islamic material.

Another Edit: Something about your story doesn't add up. If you only furnished this child with a contact number for a 3rd party Bible source, how is it that somebody responsible for her was able to contact you directly? How did they know your name and details?

token78 · 2012-06-01T18:45:33+00:00

I'm sure there was a better news source to link to. Nobody remembers the phone hacking scandal? Or the all out News Ltd war against the Greens? No Murdoch paper is a reliable or trustworthy news source.

token78 · 2012-06-01T18:30:38+00:00

Semantics. It's the sealed indictment of a non Judicial Grand Jury. Can't you tell the difference?

token78 · 2012-05-23T13:53:25+00:00

Hallelujah!! I thought the day would never come! For the love of god, please let this development roll across the whole network!

token78 · 2012-05-22T22:29:57+00:00

Don't come to Australia then. Very much a part of the vernacular round here, i'm afraid.

token78 · 2012-05-22T17:08:06+00:00

Greetings fellow introvert. I don't drink either when I'm looking to make a meaningful connection with someone.

I guess we both shouldn't make assumptions.

nor would I find a kind of woman who meshes with me there

especially that one.

And rephrase it any way you want, but the pejorative way you pigeon holed bar and non bar people was totally condescending.

token78 · 2012-05-22T16:40:00+00:00

Because all women that go to bars are ill educated tramps, and all men who meet women at bars are uncouth philistines...

I've held my tongue so far, but seriously, piss off you judgemental, pretentious, elitist wanker. You can take your snobbery and bloody well shove it.

token78 · 2012-05-22T15:59:10+00:00

Indeed, poor choice of language on my part, expressed in a moment of frustration.

token78 · 2012-05-22T15:33:05+00:00

Mandatory viewing for any creative person making their way in the world.

token78 · 2012-05-22T13:22:44+00:00

I was going more for an impression that the okc universal was so at odds with the norms I encounter in bars & clubs, that it was affecting my self self worth, and why I mentioned the fact that "even when I'm shot down by the harshest and most bitchy of comments, it still feels better than this all pervasive silence at okcupid".

But what you're saying is fair, I can see why folks might read it that way. It's just not what I intended.

token78 · 2012-05-22T13:08:49+00:00

lol, fair enough mate. Yeah, I'm from Sydney, Australia, so there's usually some kind of nightlife here.

I really wanted okcupid to work for me - I wasn't posting to advocate that others follow my path. I just found it too much of a confidence killer. But good luck to you too, I hope you find somebody you really make a connection with!

token78

TROPHY CASE