Toxic Slugde Flooded a Village

[Human No More]

Originally Posted by Sight Unseen

I agree with you there. It's not that I don't like humans, it just the Na'vi seem to have a lot of the things.... a lot of the things we humans have somehow lost or buried. I don't like humans that are inhuman, which is a majority of society. I believe there's still hope for us, but it's a faint glimmer.

I did have hope, but things like this make me lose that... Even if some people realise and they change, it only takes a few to ruin all the progress made

I would rather be a Na'vi than a human for sure, but that doesn't mean that I've completely shoved humanity out the airlock. I acknowledge the fact that we humans need to change. But some don't. They're content to sit on their arses and rake in the profits at the expense of the planet they're sitting on. Those are the people that need to be changed, or failing that, stopped, at any cost because they are killing the rest of us.

That is WHY I feel like giving up on humanity sometimes... Because it needs everyone to make any real difference. Some people will never care

Yes, I admit I am a misanthrope. I want more than anything to be one of the Na'vi. To be surrounded by people that think the way I do, to be on Pandora, to thrive off the land.

Definitely... but for me, it has to be Pandora... I couldn't pretend everything was OK on Earth while all around me, everyone else was still carrying on the same as ever
I am definitely a misanthrope, not against humans in general, but certainly against the vast majority of them. The people who profit from destruction of the world, from war, from overpopulation. The companies who throw people's lives away for more money. The people who have no respect for other people's lives or freedom. I hate them and I never want to be like that, that is why I hate being even associated with them at all.

Originally Posted by Tsyal Makto

Well, I don't consider myself to be a misanthrope (not anymore at least), but I do consider myself extremely, extremely anti-authority. After a lot of study and thought, I've come to realize that the root of the problem is not the masses of society, it is the elite. It is the few extremely rich, and extremely powerful rat bastards that run the world, and their apologists in the mainstream media. The masses have been purposely made ignorant, so that they will act as resistanceless pawns, to the advance of the elite on their own lives and the well being of the planet. We've been taught not to question, to simply believe everything we see, even if it is the noose that will be eventually be used to hang us all. Any glimmer of hope that people might have is usally quickly extinguished in a flurry of propaganda.

Sadly, it's true...

If everyone realised what was going on and decided they want change, it WOULD happen... but everyone just sits there, thinking they should but scared nobody else does, and nothing ever happens. Very few people are truly happy and satisfied with the way the world is, and they are, almost without exception, the ones who benefit form other people's misfortune and the destruction of our world for profit.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. In a society with a triangular hierarchy, never think that authority has your best interests in mind. Up until the Enlightenment, authority ruled the world with a fascist, corporatist, theocratic, totalitarian system, and they desperately want it back again. They want a world of cheap, ignorant labor that they can exploit to the death for the sake of their own well being, and they want to be able to strip and demolish and drill the world to oblivion for the same reason. They want a system of Neo-fuedalism, in a world where they can drill what they want, blast what they want, pump out what they want, and dump what they want, and if anybody has the audacity to speak out, they'll either 1) "disappear" or 2) get publicly executed. 1984 is a masturbatory aid to some of these sons of bitches.

So yeah, I have gone from hating people in general, to pitying them, while at the same time wishing a slow, painful death on the rich, powerful sons of bitches that truly deserve that kind of fate. They deserve to be lined up, and shot, one-by-one, and I dream of being the one to pull the trigger. Other than being a Na'vi, being able to take part in a global revolution is one of the dreams I long for the most. In the words of Mike Malloy, when the lights go out, there's a few out there that I want personally.

You and me both... When things change, I know I will be there. When everyone realises what's been going on for generations and how nothing ever improves.

So yes, I am a misanthrope, and I'd love to leave this all behind and be Na'vi... but if I can't, I want to change things here. The problem is just getting people to. A small group of people will just look crazy, and everyone will think 'they've got a point, but they'll never do anything'... If all those people joined in, there would be no limits

[Sight Unseen]

Originally Posted by Empty Glass

I hate being a person who sits on his ass in the status quo, but often I just don't know what to do. Sometimes it all seems futile, and that we'll all just get what we deserve in the end.

Yeah, same here. I'm waiting for an opportunity to change something for the better.

Originally Posted by Human No More

I did have hope, but things like this make me lose that... Even if some people realise and they change, it only takes a few to ruin all the progress made


That is WHY I feel like giving up on humanity sometimes... Because it needs everyone to make any real difference. Some people will never care

Like I said, the hope is there, you just need a microscope to see it.

Originally Posted by Human No More

Definitely... but for me, it has to be Pandora... I couldn't pretend everything was OK on Earth while all around me, everyone else was still carrying on the same as ever

I agree. Let me clarify: I want more than anything to be a Na'vi on Pandora.

Originally Posted by Human No More

I am definitely a misanthrope, not against humans in general, but certainly against the vast majority of them. The people who profit from destruction of the world, from war, from overpopulation. The companies who throw people's lives away for more money. The people who have no respect for other people's lives or freedom. I hate them and I never want to be like that, that is why I hate being even associated with them at all.


Sadly, it's true...

If everyone realised what was going on and decided they want change, it WOULD happen... but everyone just sits there, thinking they should but scared nobody else does, and nothing ever happens. Very few people are truly happy and satisfied with the way the world is, and they are, almost without exception, the ones who benefit form other people's misfortune and the destruction of our world for profit.


You and me both... When things change, I know I will be there. When everyone realises what's been going on for generations and how nothing ever improves.

So yes, I am a misanthrope, and I'd love to leave this all behind and be Na'vi... but if I can't, I want to change things here. The problem is just getting people to. A small group of people will just look crazy, and everyone will think 'they've got a point, but they'll never do anything'... If all those people joined in, there would be no limits

This deserves to be quoted for absolute truth. Basically everything I wanted to say, you said, just in better words. Great minds think alike.

[auroraglacialis]

Originally Posted by Sight Unseen

Oh joy. We now have a vat 2x as large with 2x as many types of chemicals. How does that make it any less toxic?

Well - it makes it less caustic, I guess. And the heavy metals precipitate a bit easier from the water into the sludge. But that was about it from what I read.

Oh, and is there a BSG quote in there somewhere?

Ah you mean "So say we all"? - Didnt think of that, no ...

Originally Posted by Human No More

If everyone realised what was going on and decided they want change, it WOULD happen... but everyone just sits there, thinking they should but scared nobody else does, and nothing ever happens. Very few people are truly happy and satisfied with the way the world is

Yes, that is so true. The ones who are happy are the few who profit the most, the ones who are truely happy are the ones who are not caught up yet in the system. Everyone in between has some discontent, I would dare say. Sure - not all is bleak - most people have times of happiness. For industrialized people this may be a new shiny car, a faster computer, a new PC game or a vacation in a beautiful place, or learning to fly or going hiking. For a person in the "developing countries" it may be moving into a bigger flat, getting a better paid job, getting a TV or even a car or scooter. For someone in the "underdeveloped" countries it may simply be food and water. But in general, so much of this happiness is artificial - it is created by first inciting a need for something and then fulfilling this. First take away freedom, a place to live, food and then sell it back to the people.

but if I can't, I want to change things here. The problem is just getting people to. A small group of people will just look crazy, and everyone will think 'they've got a point, but they'll never do anything'... If all those people joined in, there would be no limits

Originally Posted by Empty Glass

As far as changing/saving/purging the world goes, I think a few good ideas have been mentioned, yet I still am always asking myself - how do we even begin to do it.

Well - I think a first start is, that people start talking about it instead of ignoring it all. Start to think about what CAN be done. That is already something. More people can be united that way, people can be brought to wake up.
Then it gets hairy - most people are scared and that is the tactics of course. Scare people into believing that without the system they would die miserably. This is coming from all directions and the scale of it, once one can identify it, is huge. Terrorism is of course the scare of the day, but it goes on with scaring people about crime, drugs, becoming jobless and homeless. People are scared by the phantom of child molesting and accidents to a point the children are only allowed to play with their PS3 instead of going anywhere. When it comes to nature, we get things like that natives life a life that is "nasty, brutish and short", that nature is dangerous, causes allergies, contains poisonous plants and animals that can bite you and make you ill. Then we have stupid books like "the lord of the flies" that everyone gets to read in school and that fortifies the idea that humans are innately flawed creatures that turn into monsters the moment they go away from civilization.
This is all aimed to give the people the feeling that they need the system, that they would suffer and die if they do anything differently, that without the control of the system they would all start eating each other alive. So people start - out of fear - to really love the system and really love the control and opression. Its completely bonkers! People in the UK actually complain about not beeing controlled in all public places by CCTV cameras! My sister once told me that she would allow cameras to be installed in her home (if they also are installed in all other homes) if that makes her safer and helps catching terrorists. "1984" was NOT meant to be an instruction manual for Eywas sake!!!

Now the general problem - uniting people for one cause - that is THE major issue with all revolutionary ideas and the lack of this happening is the reason we are in this predicament now. Of course - if all people would stop shooting others in wars, if all people would stop using cars and coal electricity, if all people would work together rather than compete, if all people would eat less meat, if all people would give food to the ones who need it - then the world would be a better place. It is always like that - the trouble is that never will all people agree on anything. And the other, even bigger problem is, that the system is rigid enough to reinforce itself - people are caught in a net of fear, seperation, false individualism that is in fact loneliness and are provided with an easy way to follow. Most people will always choose the easy way. Give people an easy way, a default procedure and they follow.
From that, I conclude two possibilities. Either get enough people to get active - to not go the "easy" way because they see it is wrong and in the long term not easy after all. Or present people with a way that is as easy as the default. The first would be to convince people that we are heading for a catastrophe - in ecological and human perspectives. People start to awake already - the more crap happens, the more people become aware that this is not the right way. Then, a better way has to be shown. Politics and Corporations present one: Drive hybrid cars, conserve water, carbon trading, hydropower energy, wind turbines, GMO food to feed the billions, ... - but most of these are for the rich only and they ignore the human perspective altogether, firmly holding to the principle of hierarchy. Can we present another one? One that gives people as much hope and prospect as the default ones? Developing this model is important. Presenting people with a way to live that is more rewarding, more free, more happy than their present ones and making it easy to go there. How can that be done, that I believe is the question, isn't it?

And now I got waaaay off topic

[Empty Glass]

Don't worry about going off topic, you provided a lot for me to think about. Now I just have to figure out this:

Can we present another one? One that gives people as much hope and prospect as the default ones? Developing this model is important. Presenting people with a way to live that is more rewarding, more free, more happy than their present ones and making it easy to go there. How can that be done, that I believe is the question, isn't it?

I'd say more, but then I myself would be going off topic...