Vertigo (1958)

[stanton]

I am greatly relieved to learn that I am wrong by nature. The fact that the way I see the world is wrong means there is some hope, that the world at large really ain't too bad

I'm afraid it means instead that the world is complex and not one-dimensional.

[noodles_leone]

I'm afraid it means instead that the world is complex and not one-dimensional.

 

[drinkanddestroy]

I'm afraid it means instead that the world is complex and not one-dimensional.

some things are and some things aren't. I'd never say everything is black and white, but I'd also disagree vehemently with people who say that nothing is black and white. Plenty of things are. I can list them all but we don't have enough space here.

[noodles_leone]

some things are and some things aren't. I'd never say everything is black and white, but I'd also disagree vehemently with people who say that nothing is black and white. Plenty of things are. I can list them all but we don't have enough space here.

Wait a minute, are you implying that some members of the board could be black?

[drinkanddestroy]

The World is going better than ever. Don't listen to Fox News, just check out the figures. The  most telling one (actually, the only one that matters): Human Development Index.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variations_de_l%27IDH_depuis_1975

What does it mean?
That people are less poor, die less and are getting more educated. What else could we possibly be asking for? Apart from less Marvel movies, not much.

Another figure? Extreme poverty has been reduced by half almost two years (2013) ahead of the objectives.
Another figure? People suffering from hunger have been decreasing in proportion for decades. They were growing in absolutes numbers but that was actually a good thing (it meant that they stopped DYING from hunger. The demographic transition is a problem caused by people getting BETTER so whatever side effect comes with it won't make me cry, it's a great sign). They're now even decreasing in absolute.
Another figure? While ISIS and terrorism are everywhere on the news, the number of violent deaths in the world (and I'm talking in absolute figures, not proportion so that's not even taking into consideration the increase of the global population) is decreasing dramatically. The 1990's were the less deadly decade since 1900. So were the 2000's.

Apart from (LITERALLY) a couple countries, everyone on Earth is doing much, much better everyday. Even Somalia and Columbia. Nobody will tell you that because that's not how you sell stuff or get elected. Still, the World is constantly improving. And that's a scientific fact, not an obscure feeling caused by not being able to afford the $18,000 iWatch (that I'm checking out on my iPhone, my iPad and my McBook, damn, how come I cannot reach the same standard of life my parents could? Oh let's plan my next trip to the other side of the world for $500.) while my neighbor already has 2 of those.

The only figures that keep getting worst are:

1) pollution: I'm not too worried about that, it's a crisis that is being fought more and more efficiently. So efficiently, actually, that DJ had stand up and go give poor pollution a helpful hand.
2) inequalities: for once, there is a debate about what "inequalities" really means and how you calculate this thing. More importantly, that's really something I don't give a damn about: who cares if Bill Gates has 1 or 10 private planes as long as poor people are less poor and just stop dying? Because that's what is happening.

I know I know nobody asked for a serious answer but I had to. You just witnessed the D&D in me.

for the most part this is a great post. Indeed, the world is getting better and better, people are generally getting wealthier – specifically in countries with free markets. Don't ever forget THAT. People in North Korea and Cuba are still living miserable lives. It's people in countries with freer markets that are doing better and better. And indeed, today is the best time to have lived – don't believe in crap about the "good old days" – the only time better than today will be tomorrow. As long as people and markets remain free, we will see more innovation and entrepreneurship and people will get richer and richer.

You are absolutely correct about the bullshit of "inequality" - who cares if the "wealthiest 1%" are getting richer? If the poor are also getting richer, that is great. If I increase my income by 50% but Bill Gates increases his income by 100%, who cares?

What you are wrong about: A) I haven't watched Fox News (or any other news program) in a very long time
B) Don't confuse greenhouse gases with pollution. We can debate greenhouse gases and whether they cause global warming, but to take a word POLLUTION that means spewing crap into the air that screws up people's lungs, and use it to apply to something that may or may not cause the earth's temperature to change but certainly doesn't affect people's heath directly, is a bullshit political use of the term that global warming I mean climate change activists are using now.

and btw, you are complaining about the very thing (fossil fuels) that is causing much of the world's prosperity that you are so happy about. How do you think all this advancement and improvement in people's lives has come from? Fossil fuels, buddy. If you don't like it, go invent some new type of energy. Many people have tried and for the most part failed. For the foreseeable future, fossil fuels will continue to be the way people's lives run and the way people continue to get richer and eliminate poverty more and more. The boon in energy right now, the lower gas prices, lower prices for poor people to heat their homes, this has been a huge help to the poor. And gov't programs which try to tax fossil fuels only hurt the poor. You can't rejoice at the world getting wealthier and continue to whine about fossil fuels at the same time  

[noodles_leone]

for the most part this is a great post. Indeed, the world is getting better and better, people are generally getting wealthier – specifically in countries with free markets. Don't ever forget THAT. People in North Korea and Cuba are still living miserable lives. It's people in countries with freer markets that are doing better and better. And indeed, today is the best time to have lived – don't believe in crap about the "good old days" – the only time better than today will be tomorrow. As long as people and markets remain free, we will see more innovation and entrepreneurship and people will get richer and richer.

You are absolutely correct about the bullshit of "inequality" - who cares if the "wealthiest 1%" are getting richer? If the poor are also getting richer, that is great. If I increase my income by 50% but Bill Gates increases his income by 100%, who cares?

What you are wrong about: A) I haven't watched Fox News (or any other news program) in a very long time
B) Don't confuse greenhouse gases with pollution. We can debate greenhouse gases and whether they cause global warming, but to take a word POLLUTION that means spewing crap into the air that screws up people's lungs, and use it to apply to something that may or may not cause the earth's temperature to change but certainly doesn't affect people's heath directly, is a bullshit political use of the term that global warming I mean climate change activists are using now.

and btw, you are complaining about the very thing (fossil fuels) that is causing much of the world's prosperity that you are so happy about. How do you think all this advancement and improvement in people's lives has come from? Fossil fuels, buddy. If you don't like it, go invent some new type of energy. Many people have tried and for the most part failed. For the foreseeable future, fossil fuels will continue to be the way people's lives run and the way people continue to get richer and eliminate poverty more and more. The boon in energy right now, the lower gas prices, lower prices for poor people to heat their homes, this has been a huge help to the poor. And gov't programs which try to tax fossil fuels only hurt the poor. You can't rejoice at the world getting wealthier and continue to whine about fossil fuels at the same time  

Haha I'm not complaining about any kind of technology. Never have, never will. Even the filthiest ones (such as what is in our smartphones) are mainly used to improve our life/world. But that doesn't mean that what was good or acceptable in 1950 is still now. We have moved forward, we have new standards. Oil's days are counted now. Some people are trying their best to make it last another few decades but in the long run their battle is already lost. The way things move on the energy market is quite representative of the best of free-market: when oil's price goes up, R&D in new energies goes way, way up. What I'm far more complaining about is coal. This is one dirty, pointless energy that should have been left behind us 50 years ago.
Fun thing: as you know I was in Texas a few months ago and I saw WAY more wind turbines (and many of them being transported on the roads) than derricks. In fucking Texas.
The real question is: what would Carlotta Valdes think?

[drinkanddestroy]

Haha I'm not complaining about any kind of technology. Never have, never will. Even the filthiest ones (such as what is in our smartphones) are mainly used to improve our life/world. But that doesn't mean that what was good or acceptable in 1950 is still now. We have moved forward, we have new standards. Oil's days are counted now. Some people are trying their best to make it last another few decades but in the long run their battle is already lost. The way things move on the energy market is quite representative of the best of free-market: when oil's price goes up, R&D in new energies goes way, way up. What I'm far more complaining about is coal. This is one dirty, pointless energy that should have been left behind us 50 years ago.
Fun thing: as you know I was in Texas a few months ago and I saw WAY more wind turbines (and many of them being transported on the roads) than derricks. In fucking Texas.
The real question is: what would Carlotta Valdes think?

Few things in the world have done as much for the poor as coal.

I'll make you a bet: If it pleases God and you and I are both alive in 2050, I bet you now that "renewable" energy will still account for less than one-fifth of the world's energy sources, in every country in the world.
The tiny inroads that certain renewable energy sources are making now are ONLY due to massive government subsidies and other incentives.
Oil's days are far from numbered. Oil and coal will be the dominant source of energy for not only our lifetime but our children's lifetime, as well. Name a price, I'll bet it. The only way this isn't true is if the nutjobs in the Sierra Club grab hold of our governments and succeed in literally taxing and regulating it out of existence, which will mean they will legislate away all the wonderful advances we have made in promoting wealth.

p.s. you know how many people have died in accidents cuz of new cars having to be much lighter to comply with energy-efficiency laws? Yup. The global warming lobby has succeeded in killing people that otherwise would have survived crashes if their vehicles were as heavy as they used to be. Look it up.

[drinkanddestroy]

by the way, have I mentioned today that I always figured you for a fag?
Now I have.
 

[stanton]

Few things in the world have done as much for the poor as coal.

I'll make you a bet: If it pleases God and you and I are both alive in 2050, I bet you now that "renewable" energy will still account for less than one-fifth of the world's energy sources, in every country in the world.

It is already now more than that in Germany. More than 25 % at least of the electric energy.

I make money with renewable energies, so I hope you are not right.

[drinkanddestroy]

It is already now more than that in Germany. More than 25 % at least of the electric energy.

I make money with renewable energies, so I hope you are not right.

I am talking about all the energy a country uses. For everything, including the powering of automobiles and airplanes, the heating of homes, electricity use – everything.

And please tell me one renewable-energy venture that could survive five minutes without massive gov't subsidies, mandates, tax breaks, and other gifts forcibly taken from the pockets of the taxpayer.

[moviesceleton]

p.s. you know how many people have died in accidents cuz of new cars having to be much lighter to comply with energy-efficiency laws? Yup. The global warming lobby has succeeded in killing people that otherwise would have survived crashes if their vehicles were as heavy as they used to be. Look it up.

You is a sitcom character.

BTW, an honest question: what the f*ck has any of this to do with Vertigo? 

[drinkanddestroy]

You is a sitcom character.

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2001/07/cafe-standards-should-be-repealed

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2011/08/16/new-auto-fuel-economy-standards-will-regulate-us-to-death/

"A 1999 study conducted by USA Today applying federal government Fatality Analysis Reporting System Data attributed deaths of 7,700 people for each additional mpg mandated to meet CAFÉ regulations."

[drinkanddestroy]

BTW, an honest question: what the f*ck has any of this to do with Vertigo? 

That is indeed a very good question that I'd love n_l to answer 

[noodles_leone]

I answered this in my second post, sitcom character!

[stanton]

I am talking about all the energy a country uses. For everything, including the powering of automobiles and airplanes, the heating of homes, electricity use – everything.

And please tell me one renewable-energy venture that could survive five minutes without massive gov't subsidies, mandates, tax breaks, and other gifts forcibly taken from the pockets of the taxpayer.

Actually I don't want to discuss this here. But this is again a pretty one sided view.