You do realise that there are many models of capitalism, right?

Please elucidate further.

I’d argue that the increased openess that comes from international contact and trade will only improve that situation.

I’d argue that creating an unserviceable demand for *stuff* will completely F*@K us.

I’d be very surprised if the solution to those problems didn’t involve capitalism.

Why?

Why would more of the same lead to a different outcome?

We live in an amazing time…..literally hundreds of millions of people in India and China are being lifted out of absolute poverty in a process that has been going on for 20 years and continues to accelerate.

It’s this “and continues to accelerate” bit that I take particular issue with.

If you think that all of these people are going to live like we do then you are completely deluded.

We can’t even carry on living the way we do now.

Have you heard about Detroit, or Baltimore, or New Oleans?

The richest country in the world, which is also the biggest proponent of capitalism can’t prevent huge areas of its major cities degenerating into slums.

Most of the Spanish i knew who were unemployed didn’t mind it,in fact to get on the sick was a step up the ladder.Most worked for cash,and lived at home,so had quite a good standard of living.

Exactly.

One of the reasons that unemployment is such a disaster in the UK is because we have become far too reliant on the capitalist / consumerist model where we can only get by doing highly specialised jobs inside of large organisations, for money, which we than have to spend via a centralised food distribution system.

Once you drop out of that system you are, largely, screwed.

If you have a skill whereby you can actually make something, or take charge of a complete process then you at least have the chance to do something for yourself. Likewise if you can grow some food, or produce some of your own heat/power then at least you have some options.

But we have largely given up resilience in favour of efficiency, and in doing that we have also given up personal autonomy, and put all of the power in the hands of “the 1%”

Not to mention the hospitals, the police, my bike, the warm clothes I wear, etc.

Hang on, you’ve gone round in a circle and completely missed the point.

You have these things now, but they are not guaranteed for the future.

We need to be spending a bit more time thinking about the hidden unpaid debts (in terms of pollution, depleted resources, etc.) that we are building up, and which eventually will become (are becoming) unsustainable.

Just because your office light is on today does not mean it will be on tomorrow.

I am in touch with a couple of ex-girlfriends. Mrs Druidh knows this, has met them, and it’s all cool. It’s the secrecy bit that’s the problem.

I think it’s the “I’ve recently got in contact with…” bit.

My wife is still friends with one of her previous BFs, but I have no problem with that as he was part of her wider circle of friends and they used to see each other a lot even after they split up just because they used to meet up as part of a bigger group.

OTOH, if she suddenly decided to get in touch with someone who she’d fallen out of contact with, I’d find it odd.

Is the fish happy or not?

Yep.

Right until the end.

Prejudice is a terrible thing, isn’t it?

What prejudice?

It’s just a picture of him on a horse.

Not quite sure what you’re saying here, given that the fish aren’t benefitting in any way before the pollution kills them.

So the way that you are benefitting from capitalism is that it allows you to sit in a office with the lights on all day, and to help yourself to the cornucopia of delights available at Asda without being attacked and robbed on the way home?

Wow, this capitalism thing sounds great.

Here he is on a horse.

Man of the people.

I think they’ve squeezed that pic to make him look a bit thinner though.

Well, once you have got back together and she’s had time to notice the same failings in you that she sees in her husband, you too will probably get the chance to see things from his perspective.

Hasn’t really failed though, has it? I’m sitting in a heated office, the lights are on, there’s no mass rioting on the streets, the supermarkets still have food available…

A river isn’t really polluted until the moment that the slurry/chemical spill/mine tailings run into it and kill all the fish. Right until then the fish are prospering under capitalism.

Haven’t read the whole thread, but I see a few people asking this sort of thing:

Are there any examples of the current style of austerity measures ever returning a country to a vibrant growing economy?

Point is, it doesn’t matter.

WHat we should all be asking is:

What happens when the world starts to bump up against numerous limits to growth?

That is what is happening now, and is unprecedented.

Unfortunately many economists/politicians/business people completely fail to link the financial model of the world that they have been using for all of living memory to the actual world that we live in.

Frankly, I’d rather be unemployed and facing the global crash in Spain, where there is still a large rural economy that isn’t linked to the useless production of money, but to the useful production of food – I’m sure that relatively poor Spanish rural towns and villages are actually a lot more resilient and capable of sustaining communities than industrial cities in the UK.

And the weather is better.

“Yes, we’re all individuals…..”

Scottish train lines harder to access/more prone to weather damage/longer between stations/historically underfunded?

Personally, when I occasionally travel by train to Inverness from Wareham (Wessex region) I’m not really bothered that some bits of the track cost more to maintain than others.

Oh, and apparently they’re considering spending a few quid on the railway between London and Birmingham – maybe that will even things up a bit.

Phew, found the end.

Just to point out to anyone else thinking of watching Swedish Chef’s clip. It’s a very exciting bit of racing that builds the tension really well for 6 minutes, and as an aside throws in some interesting technical information relating to the historical problems of outside broadcasting. The second place guy catches the leader and sits on his wheel for most of the last lap, and then just as they are about to get to the really exciting sprint finish…

… the clip ends.

Thanks SC.

I’ll bet a pound to a penny that she is utterly unrepentant though.

six of one and half a dozen of the other

I saw the comments on YouTube and was surprised that there was a significant minority that actually thought the guy doing the filming was in the wrong.

Just in case anyone doesn’t know – anyone can film anything or anyone they like in a public place.

There are some small exceptions – I think you can’t film in certain places round a court, or in places that have been specifically put off limits by the courts, and I think you shouldn’t film minors who are wards of court – but in general, if it’s a public place you can photograph or film what you like.

He’s a good singer.

rightplacewrongtime

Why are you intimidating me?

How about a Cath Kidston phone/ipod cover embossed with the words “Who’d have thought we’d get this far. Shall we give it another 10?”

can’t face ever being so hurt again.

Just remember, in the long run, we’re all dead.

I think you’ve brought this up on here because you want us all to tell you what you already know.

I’m not really one for all of that self help mumbo jumbo, but I do believe that sometimes you have to “feel the fear and do it anyway.”

Good luck.

How old are you? Where do you want to be in 5 / 10 years? Do you have husband / father material on your mind?

If you’re young free and single and want to stay that way then carry on as you are, have fun, but be prepared for him to move on.

If you’re looking / hoping for something to develop then you might have to make a bit of an effort. If you’re waiting for something to happen and hoping that you won’t have to make any compromises then you might have a long wait.

Also, if you do find someone who is prepared to let you have everything your own way now, then it might not bode well for you down the line when some of the shine has been rubbed off the relationship.

(I listened to a lot of Anna Rayburn when she was on Talk Radio!)

All stuff that i could maybe shift on ebay but i would get a fraction of the original value (if anything for) and so i am reluctant to part with it.

And you could also buy on ebay for next to nothing if you ever changed your mind and decided that you really did need a mini disk player after all.

Im still surprised People still buy Offal

Why?

Food isn’t a class issue. It can, at times, be a cost issue, but they are two different things.

Cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off?

Cheap, but egalitarian?

What’s “don perignon” you prole?

Wrekin Bikin’

was my initial thought – but looking up through the posts, I think bobfromkansas has it with

“Wrekin crew”

The kids will like it. – you might just need to add a strapline “guided mountain biking” or similar on your marketing materials just to make it obvious what you actually do.

House swap with some people who live in a sort of organic farming cooperative in Bavaria – so free accommodation and Pork Deli/Bakery/Brewery/Restaurant on the doorstep – yum

A friend of ours, who acted as matchmaker between the two families lives just across the road and will do some babysitting so the wife and I can take out bikes to the Alps about 40 minutes away sans (ohne) kids.

Here.

Might drive via Paris to stay with some other friends on the way.

what you describe as national pride is simply mediocre people engaging in jingoism.

Not at all.

There may be some people like that (BNP, EDL etc.) but thankfully these people are a tiny tiny minority.

When my mum (far from mediocre) gets excited and starts yelling at the TV in support of British athletes I’m pretty sure she’s not also wanting to put other nationalities down.

In fact we can all think better of any country when we think about the exceptional people that it has produced.

Having the same nationality as someone else who’s successful, bringing about pride in ones own nationality?

Of course – basic psychology.

1. See someone from the same place as you achieve something.

2. Somewhere in your soul you would like to achieve something too.

3. Being proud of that person who shares something with you (nationality) is telling yourself you could share the other thing (achieving) too.

Not sure what the psychology of trying to rationalise that away is?

Is it just me?

You’ll be telling us that Hong Kong Garden isn’t just about a chinese take away next.

Britain is just a government trying to make you behave in a certain way. We’re not British; we’re just people, individuals.

I don’t buy this.

I am one of the least likely people to join anything, but I’d still rather Wiggo or Cav or Miller did well in a stage of the tour.

For all your rationalisation, I”m not sure it’s possible to be quite so “lone fox”

Otherwise how does one explain the need of so many people to go and sit in a big concrete bunker and watch a particular set of “individuals” try to kick a ball past another set of “individuals” every week?

You can buy quite a lot of ‘leccy for £100.

I feel quite lucky to be British.

I mean there are a few other nationalities I wouldn’t mind being, but I’m pretty glad not to be Nigerian, or North Korean, or Bangladeshi.

I’m sure people from those countries will also be proud of their nationalities, but
they don’t half increase your chances of having a pretty tough life.

How about this guy?