Azelma wrote:
Aestu, you asked for some books that helped formed my views. I gave you an example. Clearly I didn't get everything I think from that one book...magazines, newspapers, people i know, experiences i've had all contribute to my worldview. You really just want to argue with my views, and that's fine. I knew you'd use whatever books I cited and then proceed to tear everything I wrote apart bit by bit (you have a valid point about me misinterpreting that Adam Smith passage...bet you didn't think I could admit that did you?). Still...the fault is mine for playing your game.
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Anyway, let's not talk about this anymore because really I've established all I wanted to establish, which was the entire reason for our banter these past few days:
You claimed that it was pure luck that I am where I am today and you claim that I'm not particularly intelligent, talented, or hard-working. You can have your opinion of my intelligence/critical thinking skills (or lack thereof), but I found the disrespect of my work ethic to be most upsetting...as well as the insinuation that everything I've gotten has simply been handed to me. This is what set me off. After all this time - the facts are these:
-Your family was and is more well off than my family. You grew up in a beautiful suburb of Sacramento, son of professionals, selling lemonade to yuppies.
-I grew up in a shit hole apartment in Philly across from two bars being supported by a single mother with no college degree who worked for minimum wage at such illustrious corporations as: McDonalds, JC Penny, and Friendly's.
-I escaped that life and moved to live with my father (my own choice) and ended up attending a private high school (after 9 years of public schooling)
-I worked fast food all through high school and even contributed to my own tuition. How much is irrelevant, the fact is I did it. A 16 year old handing over half of his paycheck to his parents to help pay for school is not something that happens in every family, and I'm proud that I had little spending money in high school, but had a great education. I held the job and was even offered a managerial position upon my high school graduation.
-Your parents, from what I understand, were a thorn in your side and made growing up difficult for you. You apparently had no option to get away. Some of their great sins include not paying for AP tests.
-Despite their many mistakes, they still fed and clothed you and supported you financially...continuing to do so to this day
-I ended up at a public university that was not elite in any sense of the word (well, maybe our football program...). I ignored studying what I was truly interested in (music) to focus on what I knew was a practical degree that would allow me to obtain gainful employment upon graduation (business).
-You went to a significantly more expensive college that was paid for in full by your parents. You decided to get a humanities (some sort of history, correct?) degree.
-You've had more financial advantages than I (proven by the fact that I was forced to obtain credit card debt as well as student loan debt in college). While I have worked tirelessly to pay down this debt and have my net-worth approach zero, I still have a long way to go.
-I obtained an internship in college because of my talent and skills (or at the very least my ability to nail an interview) and was compensated accordingly. My parents did not support me while I was at this internship, and one of the stipulations of getting an internship was that it needed to be paid. I couldn't afford for it not to be.
-Currently, I'm employed and not supported by anyone but myself. I had multiple job offers out of college and was able to choose which company I felt would best suit me and would allow me to have the greatest earning potential.
-You are supported by your parents and have few career prospects.
Given all these facts, I still don't think I'm better than you, Aestu. So please don't take it as such (though I'm sure you think you're better than everyone else, especially me).
I think we're all equal. I think you dismissing any success I've had as pure luck, social advantage, or a direct result of my parents is foolish. It stands to reason that perhaps you are making excuses for yourself by discrediting any successes I've had. It's a shame too, because with your intellect you could do so much more than sit behind your computer blaming others and making excuses.
I've had advantages, sure...but I was the one who interviewed well. I was the one who made my professional choices. I was the one who took the financial risks to get my degree. I'm still the one who wakes up every morning, walks to work, puts in time, and has managed to keep my job and actually get promoted.
Say what you will, but we've all had shit to deal with. I've been able to overcome and I don't blame anyone for any hardships I've endured. I know I will always come out okay because I've already dealt with so much. Call it arrogance if you must, but I think it's confidence.
Instead of looking over at the man with the green grass and insulting him by implying that his nice lawn is the result of pure luck.....why not think about what you could do to make your own lawn nicer?
A long rant that boils down to "If you disagree with me, you're wrong". I bolded the really relevant part.
Addressing some of what you said directly, we were both kids at the time, and we weren't offered the same choices nor did we face the same obstacles. You talk about your poverty. Spare me the hyperbole. If you can attend a private school you're not poor no matter how you want to cut it.
I had serious problems of my own, and your premise that it's even possible to understand the world enough to make wise choices at the age of 16 is idiotic. That you even believe that is proof enough of how superficial your own understanding is in the here and now.
You're proving the point I set out to make at the beginning of this thread...which is
what 2081 is really about...is small and stupid people like you who are instinctively fearful and spiteful towards anyone better than you, and you seek to bring them down to your level by giving this "We're all equal" bullshit while hypocritically espousing your own superiority based entirely upon the premise that the world is fair and balanced (hint: it's not).
Your world view is hinged on glaring contradictions ("we're all equal, but I'm better than you"), absolutely stupid nonsense ("the world is fair and balanced, and anyone who doesn't win must be bad"), and total bullshit ("My world view was shaped by many books but I can only cite this one which I may or may not have read based off quotes from Wikipedia that directly contradict my faulty understanding of the original work.")
You can't answer a single one of the points I raised. You can't even cite a single work that influenced you except
a single book that it appears you never even read.
All you can say is, "Wow, you disagreed with me in a logical, informed way, with reference to ideas I never considered and facts I wasn't previously aware of. You must be a douchebag."
You might have responded logically, but you didn't because you can't.
THAT inability to think is, to me, proof that you're a moron.