Vent Thread

I tend to agree with that in civilian life too. It gets muddy when there is generational disenfranchisement and general feelings of hopelessness which blinds people to opportunities which might be present and blinds future generations.

This is a handicap for America or really, any of our free nations of the west who all experience the same sort of thing.  
A foundation of equal opportunity is an impossible thing in reality but it's a noble ideal and attempts to get as close as possible to it, I think should be made. 
Some people out there, already think it exists in reality and anyone who might disagree is some kind of pinko liberal commie scumbag or something.  We are all individuals and we all see through a unique lens. 
 
Perhaps one of the biggest flaws with our society is that the nations are indoctrinated with these noble ideals of togetherness and unity and equality but the reality of the real world is almost opposite, protect our individual interests, make more money so we can push our individualism, exploit the spirit of the law by exercising the law to it's letter instead of being willing to mediate when conflict arises, fight and squabble passionately and often violently with one another. 
 
We have nations founded on great values but somewhere along the lines, I'm convinced meaning has been lost and we have a nation of people that don't really relate to one another and instead we have a nation of self serving identities who try and out do one another.  Sure, there are people who give greatly of themselves, some of which like to be seen to be doing so which has an element of self promotion in there too. Our value systems and social justice systems are so flawed, designer clothes, flashy cars, jewelry, the people we network with, the gossip we hear, the plastic bodies, the excess and wastage associated with consumerism, the brand and newness of our devices and computers, the size of our house, our job title and how much we earn.  Even that chest puffy thing us blokes(well OK maybe it's just me) when we meet certain other males. We're a strange lot but deep down do we really honour the core values our nations may have been built on? 



There are others who so badly need to be seen to be successful or heroic that they fraudulently wear badges of honour. To you lot who have served in the Military, Stolen valour. Social competitiveness is out of control. This isn't just the USA but a lot of the west, social networking and reality TV and public image and being seen to be wealthy is confusing core values. People,especially younger people are killing themselves and killing others. Increasing rates of road rage, civil lawsuits, suicides, murders, violent assaults, post natal depression is all part of the same equation. Convenience, have now, pay later, get rich quick schemes, impatience, shortcuts  are all counter to most founding value systems. 

Some of the idyllic values are there. We know they are and how important they are. Self sacrifice, overcoming and conquering immense adversity, pushing ourselves to our best, love of our fellow man, putting our life on the line for one another, without a fleeting thought that we are even doing that, helping one another to succeed, genuinely caring about our brothers and sisters raised under the banner of the stars and stripes or whatever flag and lifting them up with us because that's what our nations peoples do and it makes us so proud.
When we read or see examples of these things. When heroic action is reported on by the media under our Nations flag, many of us somehow see that as a reflection of our selves. Yep that's my flag, that's my country, it's my countryman getting recognised, he's just like me, born and bred and made of the same stuff I am. 

How about when our nations compete in sporting events and have success? Why do we as individuals take that on board and confuse that as us having success and feel proud of it. There is no we - there is a them. 
How do we as individuals contribute to some stranger's sporting success and what mechanism allows us to feel proud of a strangers achievement? We somehow feel united, and feel like their achievement is reflected in us by the flag and natonal anthem I suppose and feel a sense of  pride in being aligned with being associated with a nation who is successful on the world stage.  Ironically, as it happens in many individual competitions, others who might not win but are part of the same team, don't necessarily share in the elation of success because they are in direct competition and Envy and disappointment are present.  Some sporting stars feel maligned by the symbolic representation of the National Anthem and refuse to acknowledge it in the way that a proud patriot might. I personally think they miss the point but anyway.....

In relation to exceptional wealth, many of my fellow countrymen who are pretty well off by world standards and battlers who are barely scraping by by their own adopt a tall poppy syndrome, whereby they like to knock or downplay other peoples successes or fortunes  as unreasonably gained or the product of exploiting others but are happy to accept it and take it if given to them. Why can't we just be happy that someone else has had a windfall? Why do some people who see a vehicle who's speeding, hope they come unstuck and wipe out in a horrible way? Why can't we hope the person doesn't wipe out and wisens up prior?

We've lost something and as pinko commie as it might sound, I think it's the understanding of shared core simple values. With so much time spent comparing ourselves to other people with a constant focus on wealth and doing things the easy way, is it any wonder why we are confused. Life can be hard sometimes and unfair sometimes.

Our political systems are so divided, maybe there's 40% of the population vote for one person, 45% vote for another person and the rest abstain but break it all down and at any one time probably most of the nation thinks they're overpaid lying cheating bastards and anyone with half a brain could do a better job.
  
I get that this is largely cynical view and gross generalisation. There's lots of wonderful people around, I just see our support networks and communities drifting further further apart and our core identities being diluted.  

I don't know exactly how we get back to grass roots where our societies worked together to build a better place for our children but It possibly needs to start with common ground and I'm not talking about the literal geography.   

This might be a bit radical but one way of normalising the equation and breaking down some of the walls, individual constructs and inequalities with upbringing, cultural differences or ideas that popular people are better people etc  might be a mandatory  period of service in the military or similar.
The military might be able to break down and instill ethics and shared values more in line with the nations core values which extends to a common ground between Americans in civilian life as well as transferrable skills. From what I know of basic it forces people to work together for the good of a group and it allows a person's aptitude to direct them into a role which provides reciprocal value.  It creates a sense of duty and a real meaningful honour system.

For some, the military is a less hostile environment than the civilian life it's setup to protect and I believe that is probably due to stronger ethical reinforcement community and team. Objectives require a combined effort. 

I don't know enough about limitations of people mind you and there's possibly a lot of people who can't find their place in civilian life who won't be able to find their place in military life either.  

I don't know how this might work for immigration either, especially for the older people but perhaps military service might provide a rite of passage for some. It would be difficult to argue that if a person served in the military of a country that they should not be eligible to have the rights and privelege of being part of that country but by the same token, arming a foreign entity and teaching them warfare might not be considered a very good idea by others.
Still it might qualify people, force some element of assimilation and create better citizens. 

Anyway, enough ranting or preaching or whatever it is from me. 

We dropped cable completely partly because of the shit that was on the primary channels. We only stream Hulu and Prime TV now and we save big money.

I'm hurting, if you're not in the mood for anything depressing don't click the spoiler.

Have you tried something new like a new hobby? Try traveling somewhere? Get some sun on your skin. When I'm down outdoor activities, and exploring always seems to lift my spirits.

Maybe try an instrument? I got a banjo awhile back and finally started playing it. Its a nice change when I'm burned out on everything else. The best part is it won't ever be obsolete or out of date or need and update. Just the sound of the music is soothing and I'm actually getting better thanks to these videos on youtube.

Also, this may sound silly but since you get bored with fitness, maybe try skateboarding? There's plenty of different styles and ways to skate. Aside from street, there's bowls/pools, slalom, downhill, dance, long distance push, skogging, and freestyle. If you're in it for exercise long distance push and skogging are good options. I know I posted about losing intrest awhile back but I'm still at it, just not as hardcore as before. Hope that helps!

I always found exercise was near impossible when depressed, like pretty much everything it was just another impossible hurdle. 
The idea is it works as a preventative by producing endorphins.

Physically intense activity does actually help with the brain chemistry which should impact how you feel in the long run provided that you are able to do it in a way which doesn't create the stress of "yet another thing on the to do list.


I found the key being convenience and quick routines and being able to do some activities while exercising.

It's not necessarily the best way of doing things, one should stretch and work into exercise I suppose. Has worked for me over the years mind you. 

lightweight dumbells - keep in convenient location, shadow box for a 5 mins or so while waiting for something, like a gaming queue, food in the microwave or during toilet breaks/loading screens/updates/downloads or even during a movie.  Don't need the dumbells but they help. I also use these for pushups and again while waiting for stuff, a quick 10 or 20, is convenient. 
Skipping rope is another one I have used but depending on ceiling height and how much space one has, swinging a rope might not be great. 

This is going to sound really strange but I have also used a guitar in a similar way and it did help but I don't really know if that helped or it just allowed me to shift my mental focus.

Other exercises which are very easy to get into and might not be too disruptive but do require space to operate are rowing machine, exercise bikes and running machines. I'd imagine in the right space, you could gain considerable benefit of combining those exercises while absorbing R35T and DefiantSpur's  WoT YouTube videos. 

Some of those Kinect games are in many ways fantastic too if you have an older XBOX 1 but again, they need space. 




 

I'M NOT AN ASSHOLE??? AM I???

I don't miss working with the public at all. Lol. The worst was working at a bank on Friday or Saturday. Always our busiest days. We'd still have people inside or in the drive thru when it was closing time so we'd give a slip of paper to the last car in the line. Never failed. Someone would always swoop in real quick and make you feel bad if you didn't help them after that last customer. And it would usually be a business with several large cash deposits and a change order.