111–120 of 132 posts
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One thing I notice when I passed through the States, is that you are constantly being bombarded with advertising, subliminal messaging, NLP. Trying to sell you something, or mold the way you think. (The fact that a large proportion of Americans seem to think they have a "right" to bear arms shows that more than just the government and military that are fucked.)
What's wrong with the right to bear arms?
Life is short, why spend it in places you dont enjoy?
because all the decent paying jobs are in crappy big cities. I would far rather live in the mountains.
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> My guess is that the detriment is at least an n^2 term, with less sharing of ideas, interaction and encouragement to pursue risk. Absolutely. That's part of the reason for the lower level of risk-taking and innovation here. It boils down to having a small population. > As a student, I increasingly see people pursuing the entrepreneurship and more risky careers, rather than "selling out". Yes, this is definitely a t…
Regarding Risk - what are the issues/concerns about bankruptcy in Singapore? In the United States, most of the risk is borne by the lender, and, in the event of financial collapse - the individual usually is able to come back swinging after a few years in the penalty box - which certainly reduces the downside to taking risk. If they finance with venture capital, or a LLC, then even those several years in the penalty…
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I found it incredibly stupid. Never return to Singapore because every day students declare pride in their country ? Great. Better not spend any time in the US, UK, Australia or countless other countries. Or do people think kids are just born with an understanding of the flag, anthem etc. And citizens are forced to spend time in the military. Okay that is a bit much but hardly unprecedented. And personally I find the…
Exactly what are you thinking of when you refer to "the military propaganda in the US"? I've never had the impression that the military was held in particularly high regard; serving in the military is the sort of thing you might be ashamed to admit that your children do. Or look at how college students object to even allowing recruiters onto the campus. Obviously, attitudes differ place-to-place. But I found your phr…
In areas where Republicans win elections (roughly non-urban America), military "service" is very often held in quite high regard. Sure, it's not like being a doctor, but I don't think parents are often ashamed of it. Parents, siblings, and grandparents are often quite proud that their family member is in the Marines, for example. People wear t-shirts advertising their current or past involvement. At American Football games they often have active duty military stand up and people clap for them.
As for some examples of military propaganda, here are some that come to mind (note I'm not the OP):
- July 4 and other holidays where the military participates prominently in parades.
- military jets flying over head of a sporting event or a parade, or an air show.
- school field trips to military bases or military museums.
- military bands performing concerts
- mentions to "brave men and women in uniform" in political speeches everywhere
- "support our troops," "my son's a Marine" signs/bumper stickers
- Hollywood videos that glorify the US military and lease military equipment/personnel
- Video games where the US military or US military weapons feature prominently. The US Army famously sponsored a very expensive game a decade ago.
- tons of advertisements on Channel One news, perhaps a couple a day, a TV station that almost all high school students were required to watch during the 90s (I don't know about now)
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that's my point. he doesn't acknowledge the most important factor, although it actually underlies many of his issues. "improved in modern terms" is very twisted language - perhaps you'd care to explain what you mean by this specifically
I meant the attributes that we measure progress by. Quoted straight from the article - "It leads the world in education, banking, shipping and has created a everyday existence of unrivaled cleanliness, safety and stability"
safety, cleanliness and stability are all pretty straightforward attributes of authoriarianism . Unless we want to reconsider our concpetion of 20th century governments usually deemed 'backward' which also achieved this, I'm not sure we should call this 'progress'
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Should woman go to jail for avoiding children? It actually makes situation for woman with children much worse, since she is alone while her partner is in military. Gay couple with children, where both parents would have to go illustrates it well.
>> Should woman go to jail for avoiding children? Do not see a reason why. >> It actually makes situation for woman with children much worse... I am not discussing whether military service is good/bad, I am addressing the time away from work factor. >> Gay couple with children... If both were in the service, they would need to get someone to take care of their children.
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that's my point. he doesn't acknowledge the most important factor, although it actually underlies many of his issues. "improved in modern terms" is very twisted language - perhaps you'd care to explain what you mean by this specifically
I meant the attributes that we measure progress by. Quoted straight from the article - "It leads the world in education, banking, shipping and has created a everyday existence of unrivaled cleanliness, safety and stability"
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Perhaps it's harder to see looking from the inside, but most other cultures are MUCH less Military obsessed than the US just about any way you measure it...
I'm willing to believe this. I was serious when I asked "what are you thinking of?" I'd like some examples.
As you said attitudes differ place-to-place, and I don't want to generalize all Americans, I would say it's safe to assume our Hacker News audience is more likely to be Liberal and Educated then the general American populace. However as a Canadian here's some crap I came up with out my ass:
Military force as a perceived requirement or definition of 'freedom' doesn't exist at your scale elsewhere.
Glorification of war and gun violence in Hollywood, Gaming and on the News, general fear-mongering and militarization of the police.
You guys have been involved in some war or another for about as long as you've been a country..
-- Hope I didn't offend anyone, here's at least one link as support..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_e...