Originally posted by mountainhare
Most of these kids are adopted or placed in foster homes. But even in the best civilization, we can't find homes for every kid.
you actually know that for a fact do you? most of these kids are adopted? You don't know that. and just the fact that kids are on the street in the first place is enough to indicate that 'civilization' is not such a great thing.
What a load of bs. If you work hard, you become rich. Bill Gates started off poor.
Bill Gates started off poor? I believe he actually came from a rich family and already had a shiteload of assest before he started.
If you work hard, you become rich... so far from the truth. Have you read Brian Friel's 'Freedom of the City'? there is a character called Michael in it who belongs to a class of poverty. He believes that if you work hard and stay in line you will come out of poverty. His character is a naive one. He believes in the goodness of humankind, much like you seem to. Unfortunately, that goodness is a rarity. Hard work is not the only factor that leads to richness. You have no idea of the number of people I know that are my age, don't work in school or have dropped out but are kept comfortable by their rich parents. I work ten times as hard as they do, but I'm nowhere near rich. And do you really believe that those poor people in Cambodia working for Nike aren't working hard? There's more to living comfortably than hard work.
In our fine civilization, everyone has the chance to go to school, get a job, and achieve their goals. Only lazy, gullible, pathetic idiots get 'poorer'. Sure, our civilization ain't perfect. We aren't 'gods'. But we live in a democracy, where you have a right to free speech, and the right to have access to basic essentials. Such as food, water, and medicine.
not sure what near-utopia you live in, but please, give me directions to be there and I'll be there tomorrow morning.
I don't know a single place on earth where everyone has an equal chance to go to school, get a job and achieve their goals.
The schools you attend and the quality of the education has more to do with money than you may think, meaning, if you have no money, you can't get a good education.
Job? In the multicultural nation of Australia, you don't see one too many non-westerners in leadership postitions. I don't see an Indian becoming prime-minister of Australia/America/England/Switerland and many other 'civilized' western nations anytime soon.
So the poor Cambodian Nike workers is lazy? Gullible maybe... but then its not like Nike are going to tell them that they're getting paid ridiculous wages.
Democracy? Now there's a word that gets thrown around a bit too much.
I'm not trying to make you see that we live in a doomed world. It just seems to me that you are like too many of the worlds people who believe what they are shown. There's a lot more to how the world works that you know and I'm not going to pretend to understand it all. Make an effort to get informed. Todays world is darker than the TV says. Don't be fooled.
Humans are a successful species.
Humans are not a successful species. Humans are a destructive species.
We occupy almost every location on the Earth.
Hmm. The oceans, making the majority of the Earth is not occupied by a single human. It is however occupied by many many marine species, many of which have not even been identified.
We have invented machines, landed on the moon, and have discovered how the world works.
Invented machines that didn't need inventing! What a fantastic feat! It like giving an indepth discussion into the application of the calculus in an english exam, difficult but useless.
We can comprehend our past on future. No other animal can do that.
What on earth are you talking about? Are you saying that animals don't remember? That animals can't plan for the future? But they can!
We have tamed every animal on the Earth.
:bugeye: What am I supposed to say to that?
We are even winning the war against disease. And one day we will conquer death.
My god you're deluded! Winning the war against disease? We will never win the 'war' against disease! If by successful species you mean ability to dominate over other organisms, then pathogens would be the sure winners of that!
Going back to your claim of humans occupying most of earth... perhaps you're unaware of how many pathogens begin to infect human society. Most pathogens exist already, just that where they exist naturally, they do no or little harm. These places are often forests, and other locations that humans don't occupy. When humans go on being 'successful' and begin to occupy these habitats, the pathogens enter them. The human then goes and interacts with other humans, and so the pathogen spreads. This isn't the only way new diseases arise but it is the case for many. And this all fits in with ecosystems. Human's aren't meant to be in those habitats, so when they do enter them, they die. But instead of accepting this, humans go on being destructive and break the laws of nature. tsk tsk tsk.
It is treasonous for you to hate your own species so much.
Never said I hated humans. I love many humans actually and don't hate a single one.
Let me guess. You live in Afghanistan?
Not sure what you're saying here.
It does nothing to affect my life, or the lives of my fellow species members.
Insignificant if they can be removed from the ecosystem and this does not cause the breakdown or degeneration of that ecosystem. Tell me, how does removing a cow from a HUMAN MADE ecosystem affect it? Come on. Humans made the ecosystem with which we farm cows. We can remove cows from the ecosystem to no effect. They are insignificant.
You don't know that at all. Ecosystems are not simple, they are very complicated.
So? What's your point? Just because I have emotions means I'm not allowed to die?
When did I say that? You're allowed to die. So am I, so is everybody. anyway, I was responding to your hollow claim that animals don't suffer. What were you on when you said that?
