I have been homeless before, and it taught me something. It taught me that I do not need very much to live and be comfortable.
The bible, that which supposed theists follow, decrees that materialism is not a good thing.
Yet, churches and church-goers collect wealth through materialistic needs as though they can bring all of that with them to the after life.
I say let them have it, let them be hypocrites.
I need wealth as much as I need god.
I was homeless once. I had kids with me so it wasn't fun.
Honestly there is nothing wrong with enjoying our creature comforts as long as we remember where we came from and truly appreciate what we have. I can't comment on Christians really as I have far too many problems with them.
Quote from: Sorginak on February 12, 2017, 08:56:34 PM
I have been homeless before, and it taught me something. It taught me that I do not need very much to live and be comfortable.
The bible, that which supposed theists follow, decrees that materialism is not a good thing.
Yet, churches and church-goers collect wealth through materialistic needs as though they can bring all of that with them to the after life.
I say let them have it, let them be hypocrites.
I need wealth as much as I need god.
So, it has been centuries eh, St Francis? Glad to have you back. The birds will chirp happily again.
Quote from: Baruch on February 13, 2017, 01:16:11 AM
So, it has been centuries eh, St Francis? Glad to have you back.
For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow...
Quote from: Sorginak on February 12, 2017, 08:56:34 PM
I need wealth as much as I need god.
No wealth, and no need for a god. I guess that means you got no appreciation for a man like Trump.
I came close to being homeless a couple times, but I got to stay one step above it. Makes you think when your friends use their whole paycheck for rent at the beginning of the month, and have to steal food or go hungry at the end of the month. Or when you see someone seriously sick and they won't go to the Dr. cause they know they can't afford it.
Came close even while working, to poverty and homelessness. My adult handicapped daughter is coming close to homeless later this year (her mother is insane and irresponsible). Anyway, I didn't have a bed for over 6 years, slept in a recliner, with two cats on top of me. Didn't have my own car for 4 years, didn't have a working refrigerator for 1 year ... things are better now for me, but only because I have stayed working the whole time. I considered becoming a beach comber in California in my 20s, but the little guy on my shoulder said ... "are you crazy!". At previous times I have been unemployed or unemployable ... felt worthless because society had no need for me. So I have had some of these experiences, nearly anyway. Sucks. The Internet I had all thru that ... and it kept me entertained in a way that the TV cannot. And even without that, I always have my books.
Quote from: Baruch on February 14, 2017, 06:31:23 AM
Came close even while working, to poverty and homelessness. My adult handicapped daughter is coming close to homeless later this year (her mother is insane and irresponsible). Anyway, I didn't have a bed for over 6 years, slept in a recliner, with two cats on top of me. Didn't have my own car for 4 years, didn't have a working refrigerator for 1 year ... things are better now for me, but only because I have stayed working the whole time. I considered becoming a beach comber in California in my 20s, but the little guy on my shoulder said ... "are you crazy!". At previous times I have been unemployed or unemployable ... felt worthless because society had no need for me. So I have had some of these experiences, nearly anyway. Sucks. The Internet I had all thru that ... and it kept me entertained in a way that the TV cannot. And even without that, I always have my books.
You were THAT broke yet had an internet connection and computer? Interesting.
Quote from: Cavebear on February 15, 2017, 02:45:20 AM
You were THAT broke yet had an internet connection and computer? Interesting.
Yes, when I was on food stamps, it let me get caviar and Dom Perignon for free! Stupid taxpayers ;-) Well, that is what conservatives think .. and they are POS.
Quote from: Sorginak on February 12, 2017, 08:56:34 PM
I have been homeless before, and it taught me something. It taught me that I do not need very much to live and be comfortable.
The bible, that which supposed theists follow, decrees that materialism is not a good thing.
Yet, churches and church-goers collect wealth through materialistic needs as though they can bring all of that with them to the after life.
I say let them have it, let them be hypocrites.
I need wealth as much as I need god.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/00/b1/1f/00b11f8b313db60beb11d9cd4efae07a.jpg)
I'm a comfort creature, and I grew up in a poor household, with 5 siblings. I went to bed hungry more than once, I can say.
I'm often feared the idea of homelessness, not because of hunger, but just that I wouldn't survive a day, being diabetic, I'd be in hospital if I was lucky enough to be found going into a diabetic coma.
I haven't always lived "on the street" but I've never really had a home, either. My first "home" was lost when I was adopted at 3 yo, my second "home" was lost when my adoptive parents got divorced when I was 10 yo. Then I was in a boys' camp for about a year and a half, then a foster home for 4 years, then an orphanage for a couple of years. Then I got in trouble with the law and was told I could do 10 years probation or join the service, so that's what I did, joined the US Navy. After a couple of years of that the Vietnam war ended, so I left the Navy and just hitch-hiked around the country for years. For the last 15 years I've been living in a tent anywhere I could find to hide from the meth-zombies and the cops (since being homeless is illegal).
Even my schooling was chaotic, since I went to a different school every single year, completely skipping the 5th grade while I was at that boys' camp. By the time I started my 11th grade, I "dropped out" after only a couple of weeks, without turning on or tuning in. It hasn't been all bad, by any means. I've had some really good times, here and there.
Now I'm just trying to survive. I don't know how much longer I'll keep trying to do that, though. This forum helps me stay sane - at least as sane as I can manage...
I spent years after college living with too many roommates in roach-infested apartments and strugling in minimum-wage jobs before I realized that I knew more than my roommates and took a few industry and government tests.
But the Civil Service test showed I had considerable skills in analysis and writing. To put it bluntly, I scored 100% in all 6 categories they offerred and had a choice of starting positions. Computer programming, finance, and administration. I chose administration because it offerred the widest opportunities. I ended up the Telecommunications manager which combined all 3 fields.
And I will say that my supervisors knew I was an atheist and they didn't care because I just managed the program and solved all the problems without disturbing them. LOL!
When you don't bring problems to the senior managers to solve, they love you.
Yeah, I knew I as better than average when I took the Armed Forces Battery Test ... scored 99 percentile. Almost all HS students (the males anyway) used to take it. Pretty much cemented the idea that I needed to go to college (wasn't expensive back then) to cement my credentials.
Quote from: Baruch on February 17, 2017, 04:59:42 AM
Yeah, I knew I as better than average when I took the Armed Forces Battery Test ... scored 99 percentile. Almost all HS students (the males anyway) used to take it. Pretty much cemented the idea that I needed to go to college (wasn't expensive back then) to cement my credentials.
An obvious pleading for someone asking what became of your 99% test. And no, I don't care.
Quote from: Cavebear on February 17, 2017, 06:16:57 AM
An obvious pleading for someone asking what became of your 99% test. And no, I don't care.
I became a bad-doing-on-command guy like General Colin Powell. Not.
I had to take a GED test when I joined the navy, and even though I'd only finished 10th grade, I still passed the test with high marks. I don't remember what they were, but the recruiter told me it was the highest score he'd seen. But he probably said that to everyone he gave the test to.
Quote from: Unbeliever on February 17, 2017, 03:34:16 PM
I had to take a GED test when I joined the navy, and even though I'd only finished 10th grade, I still passed the test with high marks. I don't remember what they were, but the recruiter told me it was the highest score he'd seen. But he probably said that to everyone he gave the test to.
I presume you know now ... that all recruiters lie ;-))
Quote from: Baruch on February 17, 2017, 12:47:33 PM
I became a bad-doing-on-command guy like General Colin Powell. Not.
So was that "became" or "not". You can't have it both ways.
Quote from: Cavebear on February 19, 2017, 02:32:02 AM
So was that "became" or "not". You can't have it both ways.
Millennialist irony ... that is how the young speak. I am perpetually young. I have big hands too, and you are so losing!
Quote from: Baruch on February 19, 2017, 08:57:49 AM
Millennialist irony ... that is how the young speak. I am perpetually young. I have big hands too, and you are so losing!
And the answer is not an answer. Shocked I am...
Quote from: Cavebear on February 23, 2017, 03:57:02 AM
And the answer is not an answer. Shocked I am...
Yoda you are not ;-)
Quote from: Baruch on February 23, 2017, 05:56:15 AM
Yoda you are not ;-)
Yoda I am not. My grandmother was Amish and that was her natural way of speaking. How dare you insult her memory that way?
Quote from: Cavebear on February 23, 2017, 11:05:12 AM
Yoda I am not. My grandmother was Amish and that was her natural way of speaking. How dare you insult her memory that way?
Did she make good snake soup, and train Jedi too?
Quote from: Baruch on February 17, 2017, 06:41:35 PM
I presume you know now ... that all recruiters lie ;-))
I've found very few people, recruiters or otherwise, who don't lie. I guess it's just part of human nature.
Quote from: Unbeliever on February 23, 2017, 06:09:03 PM
I've found very few people, recruiters or otherwise, who don't lie. I guess it's just part of human nature.
Telling the truth, with evil intent ... isn't a good thing either. The focus has to be on intent ... not on the fact that human epistemology sucks.
Quote from: Unbeliever on February 23, 2017, 06:09:03 PM
I've found very few people, recruiters or otherwise, who don't lie. I guess it's just part of human nature.
My recruiter did not so much as left stuff out. And with the military, they can use you any way they see fit--but the recruiters don't tell you that.
Quote from: Mike Cl on February 24, 2017, 12:06:26 PM
My recruiter did not so much as left stuff out. And with the military, they can use you any way they see fit--but the recruiters don't tell you that.
Lies of omission are still lies. We probably get lied to more that way than any other, I would guess.
Quote from: Unbeliever on February 24, 2017, 03:59:54 PM
Lies of omission are still lies. We probably get lied to more that way than any other, I would guess.
Given human ignorance, even in spite of trying not to be ignorant, G-d uses that as the primary method, lies of omission. Of course for an atheist, G-d is silent anyway, so it it tautological ;-)
It costs a lot to free yourself of material possessions.
For example: It costs me about £1 to make lunch in my kitchen. If I had none of that stuff, I'd have to eat out and it would cost me ten times as much.
Quote from: Mike Cl on February 24, 2017, 12:06:26 PM
My recruiter did not so much as left stuff out. And with the military, they can use you any way they see fit--but the recruiters don't tell you that.
I knew that all marketers (including military recruiters) lied, by the time I was 10. But then I've always been sales-resistant.
Which, I suppose, is why I became an atheist around that time... Theists are just another sales operation.
Quote from: Cavebear on February 26, 2017, 10:06:14 AM
I knew that all marketers (including military recruiters) lied, by the time I was 10. But then I've always been sales-resistant.
Which, I suppose, is why I became an atheist around that time... Theists are just another sales operation.
Well, I was desperate--you see I had just earned my BA and as a present from Uncle Sam I got my draft notice. I had a semester to figure out what to do. I did not want to be a grunt. Too cowardly for that. So, I quizzed all the branches. Marines said that all Marines are infantry first--that took care of that. Air Force wanted to make me an officer--that took care of that. Navy, well, was, at the time, just too odd for me. The Army said they would send me to Area Studies School--so, I fell for that. (The Coast Guard would not even talk to me.) As I said, I was desperate--right in the middle of Nam, ya know. All I could see was me and a pine box.
Quote from: Mike Cl on February 26, 2017, 10:50:30 AM
Well, I was desperate--you see I had just earned my BA and as a present from Uncle Sam I got my draft notice. I had a semester to figure out what to do. I did not want to be a grunt. Too cowardly for that. So, I quizzed all the branches. Marines said that all Marines are infantry first--that took care of that. Air Force wanted to make me an officer--that took care of that. Navy, well, was, at the time, just too odd for me. The Army said they would send me to Area Studies School--so, I fell for that. (The Coast Guard would not even talk to me.) As I said, I was desperate--right in the middle of Nam, ya know. All I could see was me and a pine box.
I understand. I was in the 1970(?) multi-year draft and took my chances. It was so many and they weren't drafting MORE then, so the odds were good. My number was high (256 or like that) and I escaped the draft forever. If my number had been low, I'd be typing from Canada, eh?
In fact most of us guys in the dorm did the same and we all threw in $10 to the highest and lowest numbers. No joke, they were brothers. Life is weird like that. (he came back alive and uninjured)
The year before me, was the last actual draft. My year and the year after me, was the last group to get numbers. I was a 46 ... so my Mom would have sent me to Canada (but I wouldn't have gone). My older brother and older cousin both were drafted, both went to Nam, both came back OK.
Quote from: Baruch on February 26, 2017, 12:20:23 PM
The year before me, was the last actual draft. My year and the year after me, was the last group to get numbers. I was a 46 ... so my Mom would have sent me to Canada (but I wouldn't have gone). My older brother and older cousin both were drafted, both went to Nam, both came back OK.
You may probably mentioned this before, but what does that symbol mean?
Quote from: Cavebear on February 26, 2017, 12:59:30 PM
You may probably mentioned this before, but what does that symbol mean?
Hebrew ... Shalom ... in modern parlance, hello/goodbye