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Frog
Warrior
Registered: 10/22/03
Posts: 4,284
Loc: The Zero Point Field
Last seen: 11 years, 2 months
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What Defines Us?
#2387556 - 02/28/04 09:11 PM (20 years, 1 month ago) |
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I know, we're all spiritual people and nothing matters but who we are inside, blah, blah, blah...
But humor me here for a second or two.
I was driving down the street, thinking about where I was at a year ago v. where I'm at today.
A year ago, for various reasons, I was living in my office (which I ultimately moved out of and then had no office at all 6 months later), I had a piece of shit car, no driver's license, no registration, and no home.
Today, I have a driver's license again, a better car, it's registered, I'm moving into a new home tomorrow, I have a new office that I moved into a month or so ago, and I joined a health club today.
I was making a joke to someone that "I'm a human being again!!!". But I thought about it, that yes, I feel better having some of these things back in my life.
I was okay not having them. I was working from my car, the law library, and stuff like that. I was faking it. I avoided cops. I was not too worried about it. But it's nice to be part of society again, in a way, that I have the things that are supposed to make me part of society. For one thing, I became tired of getting tickets for no registration.
Does anyone understand?
I like the challenge of living in society and making things work out. To be part of society, I have to have all these things, which will cause other people to respect me. You and I know that these things aren't really what command respect. I should be respected anyways.
But it's like playing the game, and I'm playing the game and getting back the things I lost that you need in order to play. I still played the game, but no one knew I didn't have an office any more, or that I was basically practicing law from the trunk of my car, or that I had no license, etc.
Playing the game is having all the things "they" say you need to have in order to be part of society. I like being part of society, because I like practicing law, so I have to play the game.
So, what makes you feel like a citizen?
-------------------- The day will come when, after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. -Teilard
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NariusFractal
Sat Chit Ananda
Registered: 12/19/02
Posts: 804
Loc: USA
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Re: What Defines Us? [Re: Frog]
#2387612 - 02/28/04 09:34 PM (20 years, 1 month ago) |
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Very good observations. Sometimes I can get caught up in my day dreams about how all this impermanent 'stuff' means nothing, and to a point it doesn't, but there comes a time that you realize you are living right NOW and need to participate in this play called life.
And congrats on your success in the game recently
Ideals don't make meals ...sometimes
-------------------- You are the microcosm of the macrocosm.
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recalcitrant
My Own God
Registered: 04/20/02
Posts: 2,927
Loc: Canada West
Last seen: 7 years, 11 months
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Re: What Defines Us? [Re: Frog]
#2387620 - 02/28/04 09:35 PM (20 years, 1 month ago) |
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ouu, good timing.
I feel somewhere on the other end of the spectrum. I, too, am just starting to get back into civilization. In fact, it was within the last month that I joined a health club!
But I can't stand this shit. I don't know, maybe it's the people. Hypocrisy and corruption everywhere. I can't open my eyes without seeing a landscape full of things, people, actions and attitudes that I hate with a burning passion of rage.
And there is almost nothing that makes this hell hole worth it all.
I, like most of my relatives, think I am probably depressed. When I am thinking that there is no conspiracy, everyone is just keepin' on truckin', and yeah, some people are corrupt but generally everyone is just trying to get by, well then I feel totally shitty. If this is just the way it is, then the way it is sucks harsh.
But when I am thinking of the ultimate conspiracy, calvinist style, I feel even more shitty. Here I am, locked in an existence of fear and loathing for the personal entertainment of some disembodied, unfathomable prick, who knew life was going to suck this harsh and wound the clock anyway.
Then I try to forget about these time/thought sinks, but the only thing that will take my mind of it is a puff of that fine herb. Everything will be okay, if I can just get stoned and play video games.
But I know this is false. And I get even more sad.
hold me.
-------------------- We have to answer our own prayers
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NariusFractal
Sat Chit Ananda
Registered: 12/19/02
Posts: 804
Loc: USA
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Oh yah on topic, What makes me feel like a citizen?
Well, I suppose since I have a job, I'm registered with the SS (weird huh), I go to a university in the SEC, and I pay my taxes
-------------------- You are the microcosm of the macrocosm.
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Frog
Warrior
Registered: 10/22/03
Posts: 4,284
Loc: The Zero Point Field
Last seen: 11 years, 2 months
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Quote:
recalcitrant said: ouu, good timing.
I feel somewhere on the other end of the spectrum. I, too, am just starting to get back into civilization. In fact, it was within the last month that I joined a health club!
What is it about joining a health club that makes us feel like citizens? That's what clinched it for me. I actually joined the health club because the house I'm moving into won't be ready until Monday. I had no where to take a shower. I decided to join the health club so I could take showers, but it sure made me feel like a human being again, to be able to have a health club thingy on my key chain, saying I was a "Member".
Quote:
But I can't stand this shit. I don't know, maybe it's the people. Hypocrisy and corruption everywhere. I can't open my eyes without seeing a landscape full of things, people, actions and attitudes that I hate with a burning passion of rage.
I used to not see it at all, but I'm seeing it more and more, and it really is a game. I am learning to play it without getting sucked up into people. I used to trust everybody, because I thought everyone was like me. I have learned that people are caught up into materialism and getting ahead, even if it hurts someone else. So, although that piece of information hurts (that people mostly suck), I am putting it aside in order to play the game and do what I love to do (law).
Quote:
And there is almost nothing that makes this hell hole worth it all.
I disagree, but I could be wrong. I think if we all do the thing that we love to do, the thing we were born to do, that makes up for everything else. Just my opinion.
Quote:
I, like most of my relatives, think I am probably depressed. When I am thinking that there is no conspiracy, everyone is just keepin' on truckin', and yeah, some people are corrupt but generally everyone is just trying to get by, well then I feel totally shitty. If this is just the way it is, then the way it is sucks harsh.
But when I am thinking of the ultimate conspiracy, calvinist style, I feel even more shitty. Here I am, locked in an existence of fear and loathing for the personal entertainment of some disembodied, unfathomable prick, who knew life was going to suck this harsh and wound the clock anyway.
Then I try to forget about these time/thought sinks, but the only thing that will take my mind of it is a puff of that fine herb. Everything will be okay, if I can just get stoned and play video games.
But I know this is false. And I get even more sad.
hold me.
Yes, it is all probably false. Think about it. Or, here's what I think: It's all a facade. It's like Neo's world before he found out that the world had ended some years before, and that what he had been seeing was just a facade. So we just have to learn to work within the framework of the facade, and keep our wits about us, and keep our eyes on what's real.
:hugs:
-------------------- The day will come when, after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. -Teilard
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Frog
Warrior
Registered: 10/22/03
Posts: 4,284
Loc: The Zero Point Field
Last seen: 11 years, 2 months
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Taxes! That's right! This is going to be the first time I have filed my tax return in about 3 years! (Are there any IRS agents lurking here??? )
-------------------- The day will come when, after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. -Teilard
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Atomisk
all forms areself awareness
Registered: 02/09/04
Posts: 164
Loc: jungle of love
Last seen: 19 years, 10 months
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Re: What Defines Us? [Re: Frog]
#2387667 - 02/28/04 09:52 PM (20 years, 1 month ago) |
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what makes me feel like an american citizen?
getting pulled over in my new suburban neiborhood for no reason every week because of my dark skin and nappy hair...
i guess the cops around here dont realize that, just because im black and driving a half-decent car, doesnt mean its stolen, or i sell drugs or am a theif etc...
the people im my new town or horriby racist too. i was talking to my neihbor yesterday, you know, just shooting the shit. i said, "im 21yrs old, and go to college and that i was late" so he asks me if i am late for my job, and i said "no, for school." he said, "wow, you go to school, well good for you." i said, "im in the top 5 percent of my class, i'll be tutoring your kid(whos in the same college)" and he says "you sound smart, i mean, you speak well"...
what the fuck, im sorry
-------------------- o house-builder! thou art seen. thou shalt build no house again. all thy rafters are broken. thy ridge-pole is shattered.
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Frog
Warrior
Registered: 10/22/03
Posts: 4,284
Loc: The Zero Point Field
Last seen: 11 years, 2 months
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Re: What Defines Us? [Re: Atomisk]
#2387687 - 02/28/04 10:06 PM (20 years, 1 month ago) |
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LOL!!! I was just talking to a black guy (African American? Sorry.) the other day, and he was telling me the same thing. There aren't many black people in Orange County, California, so I don't have the opportunity to hear very often what they go through. But that is for another thread. Are you saying that discrimination makes you feel like an american citizen? Come on, I'm sure it pisses you off that you are pulled over for no reason, and it would piss me off too, but what makes you feel like a citizen in the context of my initial post?? (I really am sorry about the racism. Maybe we can send the folks in OTD to your neighborhood. ) Actually, you can define yourself, here, over that issue. I don't really mind at all. I think I sound like I don't want to be bothered with what defines you. But I don't think you really mean to say that racism defines you. I think you are saying how others define you, simply because of the color of your skin. They're ignorant.
-------------------- The day will come when, after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. -Teilard
Edited by Frog (02/28/04 10:08 PM)
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Sclorch
Clyster
Registered: 07/12/99
Posts: 4,805
Loc: On the Brink of Madness
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Re: What Defines Us? [Re: Atomisk]
#2387881 - 02/28/04 11:40 PM (20 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Atomisk said: what makes me feel like an american citizen?
getting pulled over in my new suburban neiborhood for no reason every week because of my dark skin and nappy hair...
i guess the cops around here dont realize that, just because im black and driving a half-decent car, doesnt mean its stolen, or i sell drugs or am a theif etc...
the people im my new town or horriby racist too. i was talking to my neihbor yesterday, you know, just shooting the shit. i said, "im 21yrs old, and go to college and that i was late" so he asks me if i am late for my job, and i said "no, for school." he said, "wow, you go to school, well good for you." i said, "im in the top 5 percent of my class, i'll be tutoring your kid(whos in the same college)" and he says "you sound smart, i mean, you speak well"...
what the fuck, im sorry
Ah shit... I totally feel for you, bud. If it makes you feel any better, I piss off suburbia whenever I can.
-------------------- Note: In desperate need of a cure...
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psyka
Praetorian
Registered: 06/09/03
Posts: 1,652
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Re: What Defines Us? [Re: Frog]
#2388036 - 02/29/04 01:18 AM (20 years, 1 month ago) |
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Bah. Completely misread :X What makes me a feel like a citizen? Uhhh... I dont care if I feel like a citizen. There are no true duties or cultural roles in America therefore if I focused my concentration on those elements I would feel like a slave for a money producing machine with no interest in humanity.
-------------------- As the life of a candle, my wick will burn out. But, the fire of my mind shall beam into infinite.
Edited by psyka (02/29/04 01:22 AM)
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Frog
Warrior
Registered: 10/22/03
Posts: 4,284
Loc: The Zero Point Field
Last seen: 11 years, 2 months
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Re: What Defines Us? [Re: psyka]
#2388049 - 02/29/04 01:29 AM (20 years, 1 month ago) |
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I don't know what you mean by "duties" or "cultural role" but if you want to be part of American society, the majority, you have to be a citizen, which means driver's license, registration, things like that.
You don't have to have those things, but then you will run into things like police, courts, etc.
If you live in the woods, and don't have to go anywhere to get your food items, then you have no problems. I live in the city. To got to the store, I have to drive. To drive, I have to have a registered car, a driver's license, and insurance. Otherwise, it takes a whole lot of time to walk everywhere, or take the bus.
To work, I have to have a social security number. If you don't work for someone, you don't need one.
If you don't use the internet, if you don't buy your food from a distant location, if you don't have to drive, etc., then you don't have to be a slave.
Um, do you use the internet???
-------------------- The day will come when, after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. -Teilard
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psyka
Praetorian
Registered: 06/09/03
Posts: 1,652
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Re: What Defines Us? [Re: Frog]
#2388065 - 02/29/04 01:42 AM (20 years, 1 month ago) |
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I dont completely understand the question
What was the question again?
-------------------- As the life of a candle, my wick will burn out. But, the fire of my mind shall beam into infinite.
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