Do you believe the world is better than the media claimed it to be?

Ya see, the media is kind of like the s*** filter, only that it's doing the opposite, giving us the s*** instead and block out the sunshine. Do you believe the world is better than they said? I do, after years of bad influence from the media, they're just not giving us the good news or not enough good news are shown.

Yeah, I think so...

considering the media always likes to give bad news, yes, I believe not everything is as doom and gloom as they present it (that doesn't mean the world has no trouble)

[QUOTE="stevoqwerty"]

Ya see, the media is kind of like the s*** filter, only that it's doing the opposite, giving us the s*** instead and block out the sunshine. Do you believe the world is better than they said? I do, after years of bad influence from the media, they're just not giving us the good news or not enough good news are shown.

magicalclick

Not really, though they don't talk about corruption but they do talk about disasters, well since the major TV station are owned by the gov anyway, but you'll see murders and scandals in HK, hell, they aren't controlled by China, more freedom. Lucky I got out of China when I was young.

I think it's much worse then the media tells it, much, much worse. I see corruption all the time in my area, although it's not the corruption as in people dying or drugs being smuggled, it's more stealing of tax payers money from people who make up the rules for themself. Although overall not everything effects your way of life, and as long as your content with what you got in front of you then you can let forever be. However I'm never under any illusion.

Yeah, I bellieve that this world is much better that what the media says.tmaclabi

To the guy who posted lots of pictures of pretty little scenary.

The fact that someone has to go well out there way to find and take a picture of a place that isn't littered with telephone poles or power cables as something to impress and remind us that there is a world out there speaks for itself. If you ever do find this places, normally you can't go far (especially when you come to a lake) until you hit some rich guys holiday home and your in private property.

Believe? I know the world is better than the media portrays.foxhound_fox

Yes. The media seems to focus on negative stories. They get more press. However, that gives people a skewed perspective that things are just so awful.

hell yes, the world is a gorgeous place full of beautiful people. The only sad thing about it are the people that think it is not :( Why so sad and cynical?

Of course, I am biased a little bit...I Live in a pretty chill place full of nice people.

The world of mankind is far, far worse that what the media shows us. Only within the US is the situation better than what the media generally portrays.

The media likes to hype up sensational news headlines like murders and Darfar and such, but they ignore the really bad stuff that either does not make for sensational headlines or that affects people the US doesn't care about.

The world of mankind is far, far worse that what the media shows us. Only within the US is the situation better than what the media generally portrays.

The media likes to hype up sensational news headlines like murders and Darfar and such, but they ignore the really bad stuff that either does not make for sensational headlines or that affects people the US doesn't care about.

swamprat_basic

really?

I think it is the opposite; for every time you hear about some sadistic jerk commiting genocide, there are millions of kind acts every day by people. Doctors saving lives...homeless getting sheltered...people forgiving eachother...babies being made...grandmothers celebrating their birthdays with their entire families.

all you need is a little imagination to realize what a great place the world is.

All we see in news is negative stuff which makes us believe the world is in a complete mess but it's not that bad at all.

Absolutely. In many major cities, violent crime in all categories is dropping, although reporting of these crimes has almost doubled. The instant media of today's world allows us to pick up on stories we would have missed in another era. It just leads us to believe things are getting worse when it just isn't the case.

Yeah, I bellieve that this world is much better that what the media says.tmaclabi

[QUOTE="tmaclabi"]Yeah, I bellieve that this world is much better that what the media says.Pirate700

this

if we listened to the media, we wouldn't be able to go outside. We'd be too scared of the financial situation to buy a house, even when we could afford one and needed one, and more.

[QUOTE="swamprat_basic"]

The world of mankind is far, far worse that what the media shows us. Only within the US is the situation better than what the media generally portrays.

The media likes to hype up sensational news headlines like murders and Darfar and such, but they ignore the really bad stuff that either does not make for sensational headlines or that affects people the US doesn't care about.

mrbojangles25

really?

I think it is the opposite; for every time you hear about some sadistic jerk commiting genocide, there are millions of kind acts every day by people. Doctors saving lives...homeless getting sheltered...people forgiving eachother...babies being made...grandmothers celebrating their birthdays with their entire families.

all you need is a little imagination to realize what a great place the world is.

17,000 children die of hunger every single day across the globe (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/11/17/italy.food.summit/), despite the fact that the United States alone produces enough food to feed the entire world several times over and throws away just about 50% of the food it produces (http://www.good.is/post/the-united-states-is-a-food-wasteland/).

So please explain to me again how the world of mankind is better than the general media portrayal, because I don't understand.

If the news were to accurately portray the state of mankind, there would be a newsticker every 5 seconds saying "One more child has died of completely preventable starvation."

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

[QUOTE="swamprat_basic"]

The world of mankind is far, far worse that what the media shows us. Only within the US is the situation better than what the media generally portrays.

The media likes to hype up sensational news headlines like murders and Darfar and such, but they ignore the really bad stuff that either does not make for sensational headlines or that affects people the US doesn't care about.

swamprat_basic

really?

I think it is the opposite; for every time you hear about some sadistic jerk commiting genocide, there are millions of kind acts every day by people. Doctors saving lives...homeless getting sheltered...people forgiving eachother...babies being made...grandmothers celebrating their birthdays with their entire families.

all you need is a little imagination to realize what a great place the world is.

17,000 children die of hunger every single day across the globe (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/11/17/italy.food.summit/), despite the fact that the United States alone produces enough food to feed the entire world several times over and throws away just about 50% of the food it produces (http://www.good.is/post/the-united-states-is-a-food-wasteland/).

So please explain to me again how the world of mankind is better than the general media portrayal, because I don't understand.

If the news were to accurately portray the state of mankind, there would be a newsticker every 5 seconds saying "One more child has died of completely preventable starvation."

for starters, how are those children dying? Because the US cant get its food over there? Or those people's countries are too lame to be able to take care of their own people?

Second, youre obviously looking at the bad things, this much is clear. Now why dont you take a look at the good things? Such as (iirc) we gain 20 new babies for every 1000 people, and we lose only 9 for every 1000.

So sure, 17k kids in some brokeass irresponsible country die, and that is sad I admit, but we are gaining people as well!

I used to be like you, a glass is half empty kind of guy, I understand why you feel that way. But then I got out of school, got a job, and realized "Wow, life is actually pretty cool. I'm done feeling sad and/or angry". I hope you turn your state of mind around someday, yours is a depressing and self-defeating attitude that won't lend itself well to living your life.

In short, you might like to mourn the loss of a kid every 5 seconds. Me?I like to celebrate that every 2 seconds or so there are some happy parents with a nice new kid with that new kid smell, and that new kid might cure AIDS or cancer in 30 years or so.

Yeah, I think so...

DmadFearmonger

Eww.

Your forest's got mold over it.

I used to be like you, a glass is half empty kind of guy, I understand why you feel that way. But then I got out of school, got a job, and realized "Wow, life is actually pretty cool. I'm done feeling sad and/or angry". I hope you turn your state of mind around someday, yours is a depressing and self-defeating attitude that won't lend itself well to living your life.

In short, you might like to mourn the loss of a kid every 5 seconds. Me?I like to celebrate that every 2 seconds or so there are some happy parents with a nice new kid with that new kid smell, and that new kid might cure AIDS or cancer in 30 years or so.mrbojangles25

Thank you for your concerns, but they're completely unecessary. This is not a glass is half empty / glass is half full situation, in which two people are looking at the same situation and taking two different views on it. I am looking at the problem, while you are ignoring it.

I think most people are like you, happy in their own little individual snowglobe lives, ignorant of the fact that as good as we have it here in the first world, there are even more people who have it equally bad, if not worse, in the third world. But I understand why you feel the way you do. When you have everything you need, it is very easy to become ignorant of those who don't have access to those same necessities. And the even sadder part is that much of the ammenities we enjoy in the first world have only come about through the blood and sweat of the third world. Our fortune is their misfortune.

People have to be educated about the problem before they can find a solution. People have to be angry. Ignoring the problem only allows it to grow even worse.

Yes. If you guys have noticed that the rate of advencement has Jammed after 70's. The reason? Classification of technologies received from space. Media tried to exploit once but it failed now we havent seen any new phenomenal project since the last two decades.

i wasnt aware that "the media" has uniformally declared or signalled the world to be anything in terms of good or bad to begin with

i dont get this question

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]I used to be like you, a glass is half empty kind of guy, I understand why you feel that way. But then I got out of school, got a job, and realized "Wow, life is actually pretty cool. I'm done feeling sad and/or angry". I hope you turn your state of mind around someday, yours is a depressing and self-defeating attitude that won't lend itself well to living your life.

In short, you might like to mourn the loss of a kid every 5 seconds. Me?I like to celebrate that every 2 seconds or so there are some happy parents with a nice new kid with that new kid smell, and that new kid might cure AIDS or cancer in 30 years or so.swamprat_basic

Thank you for your concerns, but they're completely unecessary. This is not a glass is half empty / glass is half full situation, in which two people are looking at the same situation and taking two different views on it. I am looking at the problem, while you are ignoring it.

I think most people are like you, happy in their own little individual snowglobe lives, ignorant of the fact that as good as we have it here in the first world, there are even more people who have it equally bad, if not worse, in the third world. But I understand why you feel the way you do. When you have everything you need, it is very easy to become ignorant of those who don't have access to those same necessities. And the even sadder part is that much of the ammenities we enjoy in the first world have only come about through the blood and sweat of the third world. Our fortune is their misfortune.

People have to be educated about the problem before they can find a solution. People have to be angry. Ignoring the problem only allows it to grow even worse.

oh no, I am not ignorant. I know how bad the world can be; I've been fortunate enough to travel to a lot of different parts of the world and see how people live their lives differently and, in many cases, to a lower standard than should be accepted.

But unlike you, I refuse to feel bad about it. We have it "good" in the first world because we work hard for it. My dad worked 60 hour weeks for 35+ years at the post office to ensure I had what I needed growing up. My mom went back to school and finished her degree at age 40 to help supplement this income and woke up at 5am every day, went to work, and didnt get back to 5 or 6 PM. I don't have it easy, either; I work 50 hours a week, I make under 20k a year (very little for California), I have loans to pay in addition to money to save for furthering my education. You need to keep in mind that everything is relative as well: some Amazonian tribe member might technical be poor from a wealth-standpoint, but I can guarentee you he or she is happier than I am. Its a good example of the things you own owning you.

At the risk of sounding like I am putting words in your mouth, you make it sound like the first world is privelaged simply out of coincidence or luck, and that the poor parts of the world are poor because of some sort of wrong-doing and that it is not their fault. If this is the case, then you are the one living in ignorance, a distorted "snow globe" world of cynicism and flawed statistics.

The world is anyone's for the taking, all it requires is hard work. It is time to stop blaming others, and time to start blaming yourself if your situation is crappy.

In short, I am not ignoring the problem because frankly, it is not my problem. I did not make anyone poor, I certainly dont owe the majority of the world anything, andif I did I am too poor to do anything about it. If someone is unhappy, well, t hey can work hard to rectifiy the situation.

[QUOTE="swamprat_basic"]

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]I used to be like you, a glass is half empty kind of guy, I understand why you feel that way. But then I got out of school, got a job, and realized "Wow, life is actually pretty cool. I'm done feeling sad and/or angry". I hope you turn your state of mind around someday, yours is a depressing and self-defeating attitude that won't lend itself well to living your life.

In short, you might like to mourn the loss of a kid every 5 seconds. Me?I like to celebrate that every 2 seconds or so there are some happy parents with a nice new kid with that new kid smell, and that new kid might cure AIDS or cancer in 30 years or so.mrbojangles25

Thank you for your concerns, but they're completely unecessary. This is not a glass is half empty / glass is half full situation, in which two people are looking at the same situation and taking two different views on it. I am looking at the problem, while you are ignoring it.

I think most people are like you, happy in their own little individual snowglobe lives, ignorant of the fact that as good as we have it here in the first world, there are even more people who have it equally bad, if not worse, in the third world. But I understand why you feel the way you do. When you have everything you need, it is very easy to become ignorant of those who don't have access to those same necessities. And the even sadder part is that much of the ammenities we enjoy in the first world have only come about through the blood and sweat of the third world. Our fortune is their misfortune.

People have to be educated about the problem before they can find a solution. People have to be angry. Ignoring the problem only allows it to grow even worse.

oh no, I am not ignorant. I know how bad the world can be; I've been fortunate enough to travel to a lot of different parts of the world and see how people live their lives differently and, in many cases, to a lower standard than should be accepted.

But unlike you, I refuse to feel bad about it. We have it "good" in the first world because we work hard for it. My dad worked 60 hour weeks for 35+ years at the post office to ensure I had what I needed growing up. My mom went back to school and finished her degree at age 40 to help supplement this income and woke up at 5am every day, went to work, and didnt get back to 5 or 6 PM. I don't have it easy, either; I work 50 hours a week, I make under 20k a year (very little for California), I have loans to pay in addition to money to save for furthering my education. You need to keep in mind that everything is relative as well: some Amazonian tribe member might technical be poor from a wealth-standpoint, but I can guarentee you he or she is happier than I am. Its a good example of the things you own owning you.

At the risk of sounding like I am putting words in your mouth, you make it sound like the first world is privelaged simply out of coincidence or luck, and that the poor parts of the world are poor because of some sort of wrong-doing and that it is not their fault. If this is the case, then you are the one living in ignorance, a distorted "snow globe" world of cynicism and flawed statistics.

The world is anyone's for the taking, all it requires is hard work. It is time to stop blaming others, and time to start blaming yourself if your situation is crappy.

In short, I am not ignoring the problem because frankly, it is not my problem. I did not make anyone poor, I certainly dont owe the majority of the world anything, andif I did I am too poor to do anything about it. If someone is unhappy, well, t hey can work hard to rectifiy the situation.

You have absolutely zero idea how the world works, if you think that hard work is all it takes for someone to escape poverty in an underprivileged country.

Its better in some places and worse in other places.. Granted the media focuses mainly on negative.. It also ignores alot of negatives happening through out the world simply because viewers were not interested.. Darfur was a prime example of this, in which is got little media coverage compared to the current situation in the Barbary states.sSubZerOo

I agree with subzero here. The world is neither mostly good or mostly bad, it just is.

Imagine being in the world of Fallout though :shock:

[QUOTE="swamprat_basic"]

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]I used to be like you, a glass is half empty kind of guy, I understand why you feel that way. But then I got out of school, got a job, and realized "Wow, life is actually pretty cool. I'm done feeling sad and/or angry". I hope you turn your state of mind around someday, yours is a depressing and self-defeating attitude that won't lend itself well to living your life.

In short, you might like to mourn the loss of a kid every 5 seconds. Me?I like to celebrate that every 2 seconds or so there are some happy parents with a nice new kid with that new kid smell, and that new kid might cure AIDS or cancer in 30 years or so.mrbojangles25

Thank you for your concerns, but they're completely unecessary. This is not a glass is half empty / glass is half full situation, in which two people are looking at the same situation and taking two different views on it. I am looking at the problem, while you are ignoring it.

I think most people are like you, happy in their own little individual snowglobe lives, ignorant of the fact that as good as we have it here in the first world, there are even more people who have it equally bad, if not worse, in the third world. But I understand why you feel the way you do. When you have everything you need, it is very easy to become ignorant of those who don't have access to those same necessities. And the even sadder part is that much of the ammenities we enjoy in the first world have only come about through the blood and sweat of the third world. Our fortune is their misfortune.

People have to be educated about the problem before they can find a solution. People have to be angry. Ignoring the problem only allows it to grow even worse.

oh no, I am not ignorant. I know how bad the world can be; I've been fortunate enough to travel to a lot of different parts of the world and see how people live their lives differently and, in many cases, to a lower standard than should be accepted.

But unlike you, I refuse to feel bad about it. We have it "good" in the first world because we work hard for it. My dad worked 60 hour weeks for 35+ years at the post office to ensure I had what I needed growing up. My mom went back to school and finished her degree at age 40 to help supplement this income and woke up at 5am every day, went to work, and didnt get back to 5 or 6 PM. I don't have it easy, either; I work 50 hours a week, I make under 20k a year (very little for California), I have loans to pay in addition to money to save for furthering my education. You need to keep in mind that everything is relative as well: some Amazonian tribe member might technical be poor from a wealth-standpoint, but I can guarentee you he or she is happier than I am. Its a good example of the things you own owning you.

At the risk of sounding like I am putting words in your mouth, you make it sound like the first world is privelaged simply out of coincidence or luck, and that the poor parts of the world are poor because of some sort of wrong-doing and that it is not their fault. If this is the case, then you are the one living in ignorance, a distorted "snow globe" world of cynicism and flawed statistics.

The world is anyone's for the taking, all it requires is hard work. It is time to stop blaming others, and time to start blaming yourself if your situation is crappy.

In short, I am not ignoring the problem because frankly, it is not my problem. I did not make anyone poor, I certainly dont owe the majority of the world anything, andif I did I am too poor to do anything about it. If someone is unhappy, well, t hey can work hard to rectifiy the situation.

You have no ****ing idea what you're talking about. You're so uneducated on the way the world works and why it works that way, thats its painful to read this foolishness.

JPOBS

You have absolutely zero idea how the world works, if you think that hard work is all it takes for someone to escape poverty in an underprivileged country.

swamprat_basic

my my my you guys sure are defensive

no one knows "how the world works", all we can pretend to know is how our world works. As a result, I (and most everyone, for that matter) am not going to stress out because some African kid is starving to death because his government is led by a tyrannical sadist that ethnically cleansed his family and does not look after his people.

Do you know who's problem that is?

THE STARVING KID'S PROBLEM!

Not mine, not yours, not a midwestern American grain farmer's, not my friend's, not France's, not China's, not Jupiter's problem...it is a problem for that kid and his country.

It's funny, if this were a thread about international policy you'd problably criticize the US for sticking its fingers everywhere, but the second we show a hint of laissez-faireattitude, we are ignorant?

Whatever man...I am going to sit down, pop in a DVD of How to Train Your Dragon, crack open a 12-dollar bottle of Belgian ale, and relax. Have fun crying in the corner as you weep for humanity.

Ya see, the media is kind of like the s*** filter, only that it's doing the opposite, giving us the s*** instead and block out the sunshine. Do you believe the world is better than they said? I do, after years of bad influence from the media, they're just not giving us the good news or not enough good news are shown.

stevoqwerty

No, the world sucks and we're all going to hell in a handbasket.

The only thing we can possibly do is have fun while we're going down the drain.

my my my you guys sure are defensive

no one knows "how the world works", all we can pretend to know is how our world works. As a result, I (and most everyone, for that matter) am not going to stress out because some African kid is starving to death because his government is led by a tyrannical sadist that ethnically cleansed his family and does not look after his people.

Do you know who's problem that is?

THE STARVING KID'S PROBLEM!

Not mine, not yours, not a midwestern American grain farmer's, not my friend's, not France's, not China's, not Jupiter's problem...it is a problem for that kid and his country.

It's funny, if this were a thread about international policy you'd problably criticize the US for sticking its fingers everywhere, but the second we show a hint of laissez-faireattitude, we are ignorant?

Whatever man...I am going to sit down, pop in a DVD of How to Train Your Dragon, crack open a 12-dollar bottle of Belgian ale, and relax. Have fun crying in the corner as you weep for humanity.

mrbojangles25

Wait, so I'm the negative one, because I believe in trying to help suffering people, but you're the positive one, because you turn a blind eye to other peoples' suffering? What?

Yes. Major media sources tend to focus on everything negative.

I also believe that the world is as good as you believe it to be. If you constantly say things suck, then they will indeed suck. A positive outlook on the world can do wonders.

Starving children aside, I'd hardly call America amazing either, since every time I turn on the television I hear about at least 3 new murders every day and every few months or so a police officer unloads every round he's carrying into a drug dealer's car.

You do what you can.

negative one, because I believe in trying to help suffering people, but you're the positive one, because you turn a blind eye to other peoples' suffering? What?

swamprat_basic

when did I say I don't help people that are suffering and that I ignore them?

what I said is that I don't let it bother me, because ultimately it is on them to change their lives. It sounds stupid, but they need a hand up, not a hand out...and the world and people like you just love to give them handouts. Youre not helping anyone, youre only making them weaker and more dependent on misplaced Western guilt.

"Donate to the church" they say, "you'll be helping a starving kid"---by giving them...bibles? What about condoms? Oh, that goes against the catholic faith, so sure its fine to make millions more poor kids and spread AIDS around, but instead of teaching them how to farm and practice safe sex, we are perpetuating (and worsening) their same ***** situation theyve been in for decades.

I personally think it is the other way around and the world is much worst then how we view it in the news. There's a lot of saturation in news right now and most of the news we hear has been edited, reviewed, and put through so many different outlets that it is different from the original source material.

It's better. An example, I hate the fact that whenever BBC or CNN is doing a feature on India, Africa, or other third world nations, they always document or report on background the slums, the dirty parts when there are so many beautiful sights in that respective nation.

For example, when I visited India, I had my doubts since at first media portrayed to be rather negative. I was wrong. And now, I'm proud and satisfied I went toIndia. :)

It's better. An example, I hate the fact that whenever BBC or CNN is doing a feature on India, Africa, or other third world nations, they always document or report on background the slums, the dirty parts when there are so many beautiful sights in that respective nation.

For example, when I visited India, I had my doubts since at first media portrayed to be rather negative. I was wrong. And now, I'm proud and satisfied I went toIndia. :)

Vancelvany

exactly

while people outside major cities might be technically poor, the simply fact is that in a lot of countries, specifically lesser developed ones or third world countries, are living a decent life. If you cant get away from the slums and massive amount of scooters and pollution and honking cars, you'd see hundreds of countries full of generally happy or content people living simple lives.

The only news worth noting is the bad news. Hence why all we see on TV and read up on is negative. But the world is a much better place than that. Of course certain parts of the world are beyond help and dismal, to the point of the media wouldn't even bother because no one would care.