Heart of Space

Youre right, but in a sense, the problem still remains and was not solved. The same conflict exists just in a different form. We've done everything to continually escalate with Iran. We've committed actual acts of war against them even assassinating their lead general as he waged a war against ISIS in Iraq. The show continues on even today top officials still constantly push regime change in Iran. And it all of this all started back from the coup in 1953.

That's kind of what I figured. I don't necessarily disagree with you in that regard. I just wanted to point out how the US has played its role in the situation. I know you didn't intend it, but the statement seemed to justify the US's decisions based on the idea that they were acting in society's that are more primitive in their development. To me that feels like a perspective that mirrors hawkish Neoconservatives, albeit your reasons for what you believe are intellectual in nature rather than prejudicial. It reminded me of when Sam Harris made his infamous "nuclear option" statement regarding middle eastern Islamic cultures. I believe we have to be very careful and sensitive when analyzing this topic.

I disagree with your interpretation. The event in 1953 began a shift on the previously mostly positive perception of the west. It was the catalyst for many of the events that followed and lead to the current environment today. Even if you're right in some sense, the theocratic take over in Iran had a distinctly anti-western flavor that was developed specifically because of the pro-American installed Shah in Iran. It's also a contributor to the tensions between Iraq and Iran because Saddam was seen as an American puppet by the Iranians. I think you greatly underestimate how big of the role the US played in the destabilization of the region. I'm not saying it was an evil mustache twirling plot by the US. A more accurate description would be that it was a series of geopolitical blunders with far reaching long term negative consequences which were motivated by everything from fear of communism to the quest for global economic hegemony.

I somehow missed this sentence, I'd like to add a point. Edit: And also reading more conversation in the thread, I think there is a huge underestimation of the negative role that the US has played in the region. I'm very surprised to see some of the perspectives of US involvement in the region. The US played a major role in the long term destabilization of the region. The US overthrew a democratically elected leader in Iran during the 1953 Iranian coup and installed an American friendly dictator who then signed a large fraction of Iranian oil fields over the Americans. That planted the beginnings of the now well known hatred west, which festered for 25 years until it lead to civil war where the American installed Shah was overthrown by a theocratic regime. It's interesting because the country was generally fairly prosperous and in fact was largely being westernized in the 20 years after the 1953 Coup. In this case, a CIA coup, worked to create a sort of Islamic conservative backlash which led to the Iranian Revolution 25 years later. The dominoes kept falling as the Iranian Revolution lead directly into the Iran-Iraq war with our buddy at the time Saddam. Whom I might add, since Iran's new theocratic government hated the west so much the US was happy to push Saddam to invade Iran, which he then did. What happened then was a long and destructive war which destroyed both countries economically. Now begins the tensions between an economically desperate Iraq and the US. The result of the destructive Iran-Iraq war made Saddam desperate, which led to him invade Kuwait, which lead to the Gulf War. Then blah blah blah escalation to the Iraq war in the early 2000's. Obviously, I vastly simplified a long and complex history into a short post, but you get the idea well enough. Yes, it's true that we got rid of Saddam who was a mean and nasty guy, but the long term potentially negative effects are yet to be seen. And now the US is draining its resources with a permanent occupation of the region in an attempt to maintain some form of stability. All this for geopolitical power and the most important economic resource in oil. The problem is, I think, that forcing change upon a country through the barrel of the gun can have long term destabilizing effects. The US played a major role in the shit show that is now the modern Middle East. The sad part is that you STILL have war hawks in the US government pushing for more war with more countries in the region. It will be a never ending cycle of war and death.

I always knew Dave Rubin and Stephan Molyneux were enlightened interdimensional entities.

You're absolutely right. I didn't mean to cartoonishly vilify the US. It's the consequence of the actions of many governments. The US just enjoys the most benefit from all the conflict.

The recent geopolitical history of the middle east is one of the greatest modern tragedies. I think future civilizations will talk about the oil wars and the geopolitical chess match that's taken place the region in a similar vein as we talk about the holocaust now. It's mass death and suffering as a cost for the prize global economic hegemony that the US currently enjoys. Anways, I'm almost off topic, I just felt like adding that in because I've been thinking about it quite a bit lately.

Libertarianism would be valid if the people living within its economic system were omniscient. It allows the most flexibility, so of course if a libertarian system functioned perfectly it would create an incredibly prosperous and well oiled civilization. The problem is that it doesn't take into account the fallibility of human behavior to not always make the most rational choice based on all the economic variables. The whole ideology falls apart at that foundational level. It is an ideology that is very appealing to smart young people with mild autism. I know I was one when I was like 17.

In the past few years, a sort of experience has become very intertwined with my experience of reality. I use the word telepathy because I can't think of a better word for it, but there is a lot of complexity and facets to the experience. I've come across many people who have this ability too at this point. I've experienced people use it for good, to help others and myself, and I've experienced people use it for manipulation and personal gain. For people who don't realize it's a thing it goes entirely unnoticed within the subconscious. You can do everything from heal someone on a deep psychological level to engage in a sexual experience that perfectly hits the notes of your sexuality in a way that is indescribably wonderful. You can communicate with others while they're dreaming as well. These experiences come from complete sobriety and when I was first introduced to the experience it was utterly shocking. I questioned my sanity quite a bit because most of my life I bought into the normal paradigm of what reality is for a human. But I've experienced it and used it myself on others and it became somewhat normal for me. The downside for me is that I actually can't engage in it anymore, because it carries the same risk as psychedelics. It can bring out latent mental illness, which I unfortunately have, so I have to abstain from using the ability. I believe this is caused by my brain being conditioned by growing up in this modern civilization. My brain can't handle it and almost glitches out, for lack of better words if I go into that state for too long. So in a sense I'm effectively a disabled person in this way. Unfortunate, but it is what it is and I will learn to live without it. I've come across a few people who seemed like "experts" with the ability and were able to do some pretty shocking things with the ability. I just wanted to share and was curious if others have experienced what I'm talking about.

That idea makes me very uncomfortable.

I barely have any clue how it works. I only learned how to use it intuitively, it's a difficult experience to put into words. It seems though that you can interact with the energy of other people's nervous system. Because you can definitely stimulate the feeling of nerves in certain areas and engage in a form of sexual telepathy. That was one of the first things I started doing regularly naturally lol. Honestly, it was always better than my physical sexual experiences by a long shot.

Do you think this is the case? I do believe that the structure of society would radically change if everyone could access this. So, I would understand the incentive for such a conspiracy. I do believe that elites are so up their own ass and live lives with so much noise that they'd be ignorant of it. But I honestly don't know.

Do you think that this is a latent ability that is hindered and "covered up" by our modern cultural paradigm? That's what I feel. I feel that modern cultural conditioning has a negative effect on the mind. A good metaphor would be "lily foot," which is the binding of feet in Chinese culture. In a sense the cultural conditioning is the binding of the mind, which has a warping effect, a deformity of the mind.

I think you're right. It's hard not to let a doom and gloom narrative to color how I'm perceiving the current state of the world. I guess it's important to understand the larger picture and not get lost in that.

No problem. Never lose hope for your situation. As a fellow person who has been in situations that feel dire I feel compassion for you and I know that you can gather to strength to move forward. Good luck, and if you need someone to talk to you can message me if you like.

We are going to very volatile times, yes. If it's weighing on you I'd recommend taking a break from all the media and news to clear your mind, it helps. It's also important to have perspective. I saw an interesting post somewhere pointing out that if you were born in the year 1900 and lived a full life you went through two world wars, a pandemic that decimated the global population, and an effectively a complete collapse of the economic system in the great depression.

I didn't know Leo added a comedy section to the forum. I got a hearty laugh from this thread, thank you OP. The thread title is stunningly appropriate for your post.

I can't tell you that. Honestly, if you're uncertain, just keep your wealth in cash right now, that's fine too. Save a lot and spend little. That's probably the best and most simple advice for normal people right now.

Take a few breaths. The feeling you are having is temporary even if it seems like it is not. It's best that you yourself take the steps to find the proper medical treatment. No one but you knows all the minute details of your personal situation. Do you have insurance which includes treatment like this? Find the best Doctor in your network and make an appointment. One step at a time. Take the necessary measures to improve your situation.

That's good that you have those things in order. The concerning thing is not that you have questions about your existence, it's that you seem to actually have physical symptoms as a result of this issue. It maybe an issue with your health in some way. You understand your issue the best, so honestly you should maybe try to consider a course of action to correct the problem rather than ask people who don't know you on an internet forum. You are capable of understand what you need far better than we do.

If you bought gold 5 years ago you'd be pretty happy. If you bought gold now, I'd say you'd be looking at some solid profit over the next year to 18 months, but I wouldn't hold on to it forever. Physical gold is unnecessary, personally I'd just put my money in an ETF that tracks the value of gold. Avoid any financial advice from people who tell you to hold actual physical gold, they're usually cooks. Another thing to look at as industry picks up is silver. Silver tends to go on pretty big rallies after recessions or periods of slow economic growth. And there's a lot of good reasons to believe that silver will go up in value significantly in the long term. Lastly, do not make any decisions with your money based on what I'm saying. Do your own research and own your own decisions if you decide to buy into anything.

I agree, my perspective is somewhat pessimistic. The future is uncertain, I can't predict it. The reason why I'm so pessimistic is that we have some severe issues mostly relating to the long standing problem of income inequality, which is has been badly exacerbated and quickly in a short period of time. It actually blows my mind that in an honest analysis of our economic situation Trump couldn't have gone in a more incorrect direction. He took off some of the post 2008 regulation, which allowed the banking system to over leverage itself. He increased the deficit in the worst possible way, corporate tax cuts, which the corporations then used the money to enrich themselves and institutions through stock buy backs. And he used the market as is own personal ponzi pump and dump scheme. And much much more. Best case scenario you get a status quo, marginal move in the correct direction in Biden. This won't be enough in my opinion. The way to solve those problems would have took a Bernie Sanders type president. He won't run in the next election and you won't get another popular politician like him for potentially another few decades. The optimistic perspective is that no matter what happens I do believe there will eventually be some sort of revival. I just think there will be a lot of pain first.

I wasn't trying to get into an academic debate or write a masters thesis on the use of benzos. Just to give quick advice to someone suffering form anxiety on a forum based on my experience and knowledge nothing else. You falsely assumed that I was saying that out of some sort of anti-drug prejudice, which wasn't the case. I dispelled that, the interaction is over as far as I'm concerned.

Conventional war is almost as irrelevant to talk about as nuclear war. The nature of war has changed and is fought in economics, geopolitics, information, and culture. China's waging an intelligent long term 3D chess strategy, meanwhile the US is stuck playing tick tack toe trying to wave the billions spent on defense as if that means anything anymore. The US is destroying itself from the inside by sucking the financial stability out of the majority of it's lower socioeconomic classes. We are seeing the beginning of the end of the american empire right now and corporate oligarchy is mainly to blame.

I've read some of what Roubini has to say and he's the typical doomer economist. There's a handful of them out there, most of them will try to get you to buy gold to hedge against the system and are always predicting the collapse of the current economic paradigm. These sorts of views make headlines. You'll usually see these sorts of economists predict collapse for 20 years straight and then as soon as recession strikes they'll scream "See I was right the whole time!" That being said, any honest analysis of what's happening right now says that our economic future is not very bright. Speaking from the perspective of the US, economically we are drastically overdue for a correction of our horrific income inequality. Greed in the form of over leveraging due to lack of regulation thanks to our political process which is corrupted by money may very well topple our society. We needed a Bernie Sanders type president 20 years ago. Biden will marginally move things in the right direction, but economically this won't be enough. A lot of people are going to go through tough times.