sholomar

As someone who is a moderate this 8 minute clip describes why so many americans don't embrace the democrats. https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/11/13/maher-democrats-too-often-come-across-as-lacking-common-sense/ "Republicans are the party of don’t wear masks, kids in cages, ‘Lock her up.’ And Democrats are the party of every hypersensitive social justice warrior woke bullshit story in the news. They’re the party that disappears people or tries to make them apologize for ridiculous things.” Maher further stated, “Democrats kept saying in the campaign, you can’t possibly think Trump is preferable to what we’re selling, and many voters keep saying, yes we can. In fact, our primary reason [for] voting for him is to create a bulwark against you. Because your side thinks silence is violence, and looting is not. Because you’re the party of chasing speakers off college campuses and making everyone walk on eggshells and replacing let’s not see color with let’s see it always and everywhere, formerly the position of the Ku Klux Klan. It would be so easy to win elections if we would just drop this shit.”

I'd say it depends on where you are in your personal development journey. If you have achieved all your life goals, are insanely happy, have a loving partner, everything you ever wanted, and your psychology has been sufficiently reprogrammed, go ahead and enjoy the show with your partner. When I look for a movie I look for comedies and light hearted ones. "50 First Dates" is a particular favorite of mine. Basically things that promote affection, laughter, and positive emotions and/or help me expand my tolerance levels for different perspectives in life without being too violent or bloody.

That's a really good analogy.. I was just thinking this today as I was looking at houses around here... there's a shortage of housing all over and a growing trend of large highly liquid investment firms and corporations buying up housing including residential real estate so it creates a scarcity. Another example... it's really easy to be happy and peaceful when you found your one and only and are in a happy relationship with a happy family. As a man who always wanted that but doesn't have it due to being an aspie among other things, it's not quite so easy to just be at peace and be happy and selfless, but I've made a lot of progress with the peace of mind. This can be applied anywhere in life you get scarcity... it's like maslow's heirarchy of needs.. it's easiest to take care of the base before taking care of the top. I'm quite self aware and aware of my selfish aspects.

If all we do when we get enlightened is to end up reborn as a new soul in a universe where life goes in forever in an endless cycle of birth and rebirth, really what's the point of trying to achieve sainthood? It seems like every endeavor done in life is done to chase pleasure and avoid pain... and virtually everything done is pointless because it's all been done, forgotten, done again, forgotten again... In a million years nobody will remember our species and nothing of what we have done will matter unless we've managed to spread around the galaxy but even then in a billion years we will be long forgotten. There just seems to be a sense of futility to life with this knowledge... we do all this personal development to avoid some "unfulfilled" feeling when we get old because we didn't "live life to the fullest?" meanwhile we're just going to reincarnate an infinite number of more times to do it all again, over and over... It's all a mind trick. I'm not really as negative as I appear I'm just pondering.

Great post and I agree. I'm fine with stage greens until they become fundamentalists that support dictatorships, communism, or mass censorship or control of the masses. Anyone who thinks their viewpoint is so right that they want to break the prime directive to try to play dictator because they think they can build a utopia are suffering from delusions of grandeur and don't really understand human psychology. Mass censorship has never worked anywhere it's been tried. Like you said, most emotionally unstable fundamentalists aren't really stage green though. "The closest cultural parallel to the SJW online cancel culture mob of bullies was the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The similarities are creepy to say the least. We're on the same trajectory and will remain so as long as it is culturally acceptable to silence, deplatform, deperson and cancel anybody at all." Bill Maher has been attacking the extreme wing of the democrat party for many of the same reasons. More of a classical liberal he is. https://www.city-data.com/forum/politics-other-controversies/3249316-bill-maher-took-aim-cancel-culture.html

It's best to dollar cost average and invest for the long term. Personal development helps with this because it's emotional decisions that often lead to investing mistakes. Having a disciplined plan in place and not looking at day to day moves is important. Betting on deflation is like shorting a stock. It can work for a while ... timing the market and trying to bet against it, but in the long run, inflation will kill you. There's no doubt about it we've had the biggest market pump in US history in 2020 and everything is in a bubble, but interest rates are so low that combined with unlimited QE and stimulus it affects the risk-free rate of return and makes stocks (and real estate, cryptos, commodities) more attractive than holding cash or bonds. Will we see a period of inflation and deleveraging? Will it be different thing time and the central banks be able to completely prevent recessions by continual pumping, UBI, and helicopter money? Time will tell. It's best to diversify.. I personally have bitcoin, various stocks, gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium. Also buying a house with as close to zero down as possible and taking advantage of low interest rates to let inflation work for you....

Don't slouch when sitting keeping your lower back in a state of flexion for long periods of time (recliners are bad for this.. people who spend countless hours gaming in a soft chair) because this will cause the disks to bulge outward and hit nerves over time.. usually it won't affect you until your 30's though. Also lifting sloppily.. trying to squat or deadlift with bad form does the same thing. You don't really want this to happen. Work out smarter, not harder. Fortunately at age 19 your body should jump back from injuries quickly assuming you develop some healthy habits. Get an office chair with good lumbar support or a kneeling chair. Sleeping in firm beds is preferable to soft ones also. Move around every half hour to 45 minutes when you are sitting.. get up.. do a couple of cat cows and sit back down. The spine likes movement. Hanging from a pullup bar, doing press ups and extension exercises to work the back the opposite direction and push the bulges back in, core work to support the lower back such as planks, side planks, hip flexor, hamstring, and piriformis stretches, not sleeping on your stomach... all good things. https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/Bibliotik/8/8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back - Esther Gokhale.pdf There's lots of yoga that can do more harm than good if you don't use perfect form also such as forward folding. Core work is more important than static stretching for back pain anyways. Focus on hip hinging or squatting when you lift things in life instead of rounding the lower back. Get these healthy habits in place at your age and you'll be good for life. Most people don't make major habit changes unless faced with a crisis... be proactive in this regard. https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/5-best-and-worst-exercises-for-back-pain-mens-journal/

On top of the gay crowd you have the increasing number of MGTOW and incels.. the less attractive men with boring personalities who used to make the cut back when women were more dependent on men and there were less men to compete with due to wars, but don't really make the cut today because they lack the traits that turn women on like crack (confidence, humor, indifference, edginess, and wild dirty sex) Our society is emasculating men in the school system and demonizing masculine traits but the problem with that is it doesn't mesh with what women's biology tends to see as "sex appeal" so a growing number of men are becoming frustrated with the dating market and society as a whole. They tend to be the target of hate and ridicule when society and culture and biology/DNA helped to produce them. As someone who used to be one, a little bit of sympathy might be better given to them but I understand human nature... we like to bully. I'm fortune to have dug myself out of my hole and am transforming myself, but a lot of them are stuck in their habit loop. A look back at history shows that this is nothing new.. you can see the majority of males never did breed with females during the evolution of our species... the "alpha fucks beta bucks" as it's been known.. it seems like monogamy is a relatively recent thing. We still have a lot of animalistic/tribal characteristics wired into our biology/DNA which is not surprising for anyone who's researched all this. https://psmag.com/environment/17-to-1-reproductive-success Also, homosexual behavior was far more common than some would have you think. In fact if you look at other mammal species homosexual behavior is common. You can also look at our closest genetic ancestor, bonobos, for hints on behavior, as well as the few remaining indigenous tribes that remain largely untouched by humans. It's fascinating.

Agreed... to grow requires eating the vegetables and discomfort. One of my issues with the progressives, and I see it here, is too many of them want to give people a fish, rather than teach them to fish. I acknowledge I'm still too addicted to political forums and much of my own egoic dogma as well. You either choose to embrace new habits and the emotional labor involved or not. There really is no quick fix or magic pill for this. It's going to require discomfort. We live in a society that wants to be comfortable all the time and I think that's one of the challenges we need to look at. It's a balancing act for me.. the ying and the yang.

This seems to be like a great topic to discuss here. Perhaps many of you have heard about it, many of you have not. Some of you would call this conspiracy theory, but it's something the global leaders are not shy or secretive about giving their opinion about. I didn't watch the whole video. I really should before I make any judgment call. I've only seen the comments, read a few websites, and looked at the Time magazine piece on it. I don't want to present a bias in my original post so I'll leave it at that. I see there is one topic in here from August that didn't any bites. It's only recently that this initiative has seemed to go "viral" on other parts of the internet so I made a new thread to discuss.

I found this article quite informative, as I actually had an anxiety disorder at one point, my sympathetic nervous system was stuck on most of the time. https://www.unlearninganxiety.com/amygdala/ There's a star trek TNG episode where the more power they dump into the shields trying to stop this anomaly from hitting them, the worse it got.. sometimes you have to lower shields, and just face whatever fear you have... run towards your assailant rather than away from them... in fact there's a clip of that segment on youtube... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl_QrHTLWwk A good video. You need to expand your comfort zone. There's no substitute for doing.

I know how I react when I see an awoke progressive on reddit telling me that I should embrace allowing pre-pubescent children decide to be a different gender and encourage the process even using hormones before they reach puberty. It makes me think they are fucking nuts with screws loose in the head. Actually it doesn't... I've come far enough on accepting "what is" to allow them to have their point of view. I still have my orange/blue beliefs that may or may not change. I'm not too concerned about it... aside from the amount of time I waste on politics.

I love this video. Humans in general are so obsessed about people's personality when personality is a very impersonal aspect of someone's life. I see this here of course with people bashing Trump... it's not easy for a person with a well established personality to just go and change... it's like telling a depressed person to just "be happy" ... you aren't doing them any good. It's not that easy. People's personality is a result of upbringing, habits, culture, friends, etc. Psychopaths are very good at playing whatever role they need too in order to win people over to their side. They can be quite charming. Trump is clearly not a psychopath by this definition.. he has the maturity level of a little kid, but I try not to attack him for this because I understand he's not going to change, assuming he's even capable of doing so.

Humans used to eat far more roughage than we do today, everything from exotic forms of plants and roots we don't even consider food today, to bones and organ meats for certain nutrients, along with insects such as grasshoppers (which is in fact why they try to escape from us), which is why we have supplements today. Heck even many supposedly healthy plant based foods are fortified with vitamins, and milk has been fortified forever as have cereals. Salt has been fortified with iodine forever also. I would agree most supplements are not required, but some are, and if they aren't hurting anything I don't see the big deal. I think certain forms of medicine such as Chinese medicine are perhaps overlooked.

Bloodwork isn't enough to test the heart, you should get an echo to check the size of your ventricles, see if your valves are working properly, etc. I have a bicuspid aortic value that regurgitates moderately. At some point it will need to be replaced. This can cause the symptoms you describe. You could also get a calcium CT score but if you are under 35-40 it's fairly pointless to do so. It could be thyroid, stress, any number of things. It might not even be heart related, it could be GERD, ulcers, gastritis, high sodium diet, mineral deficiencies, etc..... Stress causes many modern illnesses, but if you have a congenital issue, it's unlikely any amount of "acceptance" or other spiritual work will fix it.. for example Leo's thyroid issues, my bicuspid valve, type 1 diabetes, etc. Acceptance will allow you to be at peace with what is, which in itself helps. Resisting what is, creates stress...

I don't necessarily think Trump is the best president and thought Obama was a good president but the left and their emotional instability scare me more, so I did vote for Trump again. (He would have won South Dakota anyways so it doesn't matter.) Also I'm not in support of them allowing these protesters to just burn away cities without arresting them and I don't agree with their whole "black lives matter" movement given most of these people who were shot by police were resisting arrest or doing foolish things to bring it on. Now they are talking about stacking the courts if they get elected. I just don't trust emotionally unstable people and the left as a whole seem quite unstable. Yes Trump is unstable too. Both parties are terrible, however I see the left in their current state as trying to undermine the system of checks and balances and take the power they want. I see them brainwashing people in college campuses and not allowing conservative opinion or any sort of political debate. It used to be about freedom of speech and coming to a consensus, now it's all about doing it their way or you are a racist, hater, and get ostracized from society. The polarization is just obnoxious. People act like whiny spoiled brats these days. Honestly I don't particularly care who wins, I'm more interested to see if Amendment A, the legalization of marijuana, passes in my state (South Dakota) I would really like the left to "be that which they wish to see in others" but that's not how I see the party.. I see them to be a dysfunctional, emotionally unstable mess that doesn't have a clear vision they are trying to project.. just "wear masks" and "allow protesting" along with preaching and moralizing to the masses about how racist and bigoted they are (when most of them really aren't) ...until they get some vision, I'll pick the party that is at least psychologically stable (minus their president) .. in the end I usually hope for gridlock.. that way neither party can get much done. Honestly I wish we had 3 or 4 viable parties like in other countries. I won't lose much sleep if Biden wins though. In the end the world won't come to an end either way. I just find stage greens emotionality to be... somewhat off-putting. I am curious to see what this emotionally unstable party would accomplish with Kamala at the wheel and both parties under their control and a stacked court. I would enjoy seeing the result just for curiosity sake.

You know what's so fun? Zelda, Breath of the Wild on a powerful PC using texture mods. Replaying Final Fantasy 10 HD steam version... Far Cry Primal... but I can't. I have different priorities now. I can revisit that stuff perhaps in a decade. In the meantime, enjoy the fact that in 10 years I'm going to have super powerful hardware to use and tons of new content to discover, that will likely surpass these two favorites of mine. No, I probably won't buy that 3080 or Big Navi... why tempt myself to game more? Winters are long and cold though.. I may set up some rule that allows me to game during certain time periods.. for example if the temperature is under 10 degrees F... that way at least I can set limits to make sure I don't backslide into addiction.

They don't take life too seriously and can see things from another person's perspective without getting all butt-hurt by their opinion. It's actually possible to have this ability and be stage blue/orange/green, but it would be more common going up to yellow methinks. I try to accept all points of view and find the nuggets of truth in them if I can.

I don't read 15 page threads and thus tend to be a "hit and run" poster but from what I have read it seems like most of this thread is bickering about things that don't really matter. Like I've said in other posts, "world events" are a distraction, and everyone here just confirms my statement. True growth is seeing how unreal all this is... why make it real? Were the true masters out there campaigning for causes? They lived by example... they didn't preach and moralize to others how wrong they are and engage in bickering. I have to believe listening to all of Leo's spiral dynamics videos that he is aware of this also. "world events" are ego candy. If you want ego candy for your dream, by all means eat away, stage green tards.

Here's where I think much of the forum goes wrong.. trying to wake other people up via causes and preaching and moralizing to them... if you work on yourself, your higher vibration will naturally emanate to others. All these causes just serve to distract the ego, make it bigger, and fill it with negative emotions which doesn't help the cause in the end if you are all depressed and angry about the state of the world.... I get there's lots of stage greens here and that's fine... if you feel like you need to get all political and campaign for causes, I wish you well, but it's not the only path that can be taken... and if you are angry and depressed about the state of the world, I would ask yourself why... "world events" are a distraction. All of nature just Is... God Is... it's one reason I limit my time here.... for me it's a distraction.... it just gives me a bigger "spiritual ego." http://goo.gl/cl1Jjz

World events are a distraction.. I wouldn't try to change his mind... ever try to give anyone advice? Most people tend to resist it. Focus on your own goals. My father is big into the idea of Germany winning world war 2 (starting their own government run bank and eliminating all the existing privately run central banks of the time) and jews controlling the planet also, and I used to share his beliefs until I came to the conclusion that it doesn't really matter if they do or not. Many big breakthroughs in science have been by these "ashkenazi" bloodlines. They clearly possess above average intelligence. I give them credit for their achievements. He's also big into "How not to die" and plant based eating.. go figure from a guy who believes in a worldwide jewish conspiracy. He ignores that too much fructose in the diet can be harmful and just because sugar is "natural" such as from dates, doesn't mean you should eat half a bag. To him the book says chicken contains cancer viruses and dates are fine, so he won't ever eat chicken again. I'm not going to try to change his mind on anything. I love him and ultimately I'll let his experience be his guide. He is happy, has a stable girlfriend, and a good retirement though. He doesn't overindulge to begin with so he'll probably be fine. He's more open minded that most and we throw ideas back and forth to each other. I'm glad to have someone as open minded to deeper topics of conversation as he is. My mother browses godlikeproductions, a conspiracy forum. Likewise I can throw quite a bit of unusual shit her way. It's all in good fun though. Her husband (step father) believes in bible prophesy and "Jack Van Impe" is something they used to watch in year's past. It doesn't really matter what they believe as long as it isn't harming anyone else. They are happy together also. They don't take life too seriously, which is perhaps something most content people have in common.

Some jobs are genuinely stressful. I find it's best to practice self acceptance of the stress.. my job is not really stressful most of the time I just have a stress prone brain wired to trigger the sympathetic nervous system more easily. It's a long process to reprogram this and exposure therapy is the best way to manage fear and anxiety... https://www.unlearninganxiety.com/amygdala/ If the job really does push you to the bone... for example I hear they give UPS delivery drivers about 12 hours worth of deliveries and expect them to finish in 10, or you work at an amazon warehouse or somewhere that really pushes productivity, or they want overtime you don't want to work, I would quit. It's not worth it. Find an easier job that pays less, live a cheaper lifestyle. Move to a more boring part of the country and start over. Having a good network of friends or finding a way to cultivate playfulness within yourself is very important to psychological health also. Watch funny movies, not violent ones. Expose yourself to playful content, not stuff that makes you angry. Do things in your free time that strengthen the parasympathetic. I found Leo's "body awareness" video really stress relieving, the first part where he guides you to relax all your body parts. I know this is nothing new but for some reason the way he talked through it, and the rest of the video, was quite helpful.

I enjoyed his video on libertarianism. It confirmed many things I suspected about the philosophy but couldn't put into words. He has a conspiracy video? I'll have to give it a watch, given I hold some beliefs that might be considered "conspiracy" though I fully admit it doesn't really matter if 9/11 was an inside job or not.. "world events" don't really matter, they are a distraction that fuels the ego, in my opinion. I still think some here on these forums hold positions that are too strong and dogmatic in some respects, and they'd be better served by relaxing a bit and realizing that they can't force the entire world to be like them, nor should they get upset if they can't. It does no good to "hate the haters."

Dopamine stimulation and consumerism. Corporations play on our inbuilt biological drives and market products around them. This is especially true in the US where Hollywood, Media, and corporations sensationalize and play on our emotions even moreso than in foreign countries. It's one reason half the population thinks the world is 'going to hell' .. because they watch the news. All of it is based on Freud and Yung and evolved from much of their works. Give people what their inner ape inside wants... leo's video on the happiness spectrum correctly talks about the types of happiness that would be more worth pursuing, but really what makes something "worth" pursuing? Are we just kidding ourselves? Maybe the people who stuff themselves and watch Football all day have it right.... maybe most of us here are the neurotic ones and the "sheep" are the ones doing it right... something I ponder from time to time... Would you take the blue pill? I often ask myself that....

The way I look at conspiracy theories, is it doesn't really matter if they happened or not... I personally think 9/11 was an inside job but I really don't care... it doesn't matter in my personal growth. Just a distraction from what I'm trying to accomplish in my life. I used to be into that conspiracy stuff more. The one mistake I think people make here in this forum is getting too caught up in world events... especially if they fill you full of negative emotions... they distract you from personal growth, unless you were put on this planet in this life to help others and fight for a cause, then by all means I wish you the best. As history is written by the victors, I do believe a lot of conspiracies end up being true. But again, it doesn't really matter what is true or not in our "history" ... it's done. I've learned in part thanks to Leo I'm too analytical for my own good. The biggest progress I've made has come in moments when I quiet the thinking mind and go into a complete state of mindful self acceptance of the present moment. From there I build my house on a solid foundation rather than one made of quicksand.