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"I felt the game is rigged", you nailed it in this simple phrase. In fact http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-16/new-york-assemblyman-unveils-bill-suppress-n

"I felt the game is rigged", you nailed it in this simple phrase. In fact http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-16/new-york-assemblyman-unveils-bill-suppress-non-government-approved-free-speech http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-16/new-york-assemblyma... They ( the oligarchs through their politicians ) change the rules every day, but they say to us that the system is fair. Obviously it is lapalissian that the system isn't fair at all but it is massively rigged. In the past centuries people would have revolted, now they imprison themselves in the virtual world.

jondubois 10y ago
Yeah, you don't see them in the streets, they're "out of sight, out of mind". Even if they understood what happened to them, they wouldn't have the confidence to do anything about it. The brilliance of this terrible system is that it makes the victims accept the full the responsibility of their failed lives upon themselves. It's natural selection. People who need to feel short term rewards in their lives will be wiped out from the gene pool. People who can operate without any rewards (contentment/happiness) in their lives; basically, people who seek status over happiness will strive.
- mattmanser 10y ago
  The Occupy protests around the world? Arab spring? 2011 UK riots? Black lives matter? There's a definite undercurrent that politicians are barely keeping a lid on, the latest manifestations being Brexit and Trump.
  - beaconstudios 10y ago
    the only way they keep the ongoing strife from really effecting the political system is by keeping the left and right wings fighting each other over often minor disagreements.
    - midgetjones 10y ago
      And a new iPhone every year
      - beaconstudios 10y ago
        consumerism is just giving the people what they want. It might be distracting, but just because that's what people want to do - chat to friends, play games, buy fashionable clothes etc. Politics is where the manipulation happens.
    - vedranm 10y ago
      Unfortunately, the disagreements are not minor anymore, as you can see on the social networks and in the streets of the USA.
      - beaconstudios 10y ago
        many of the disagreements are being given hyperbolic treatment to the point where all Trump supporters are Nazis and liberals are all SJWs. That's not an environment that's conducive to talking about why e.g. the immigration ban is too far in defense of national security. It just becomes another "us vs them" black-and-white situation that can drive nothing but division.
        antisthenes 10y ago
        It's the greater problem of the anti-science sentiment of the general public. Even some of my brighter & more successful friends lack the self-awareness to have a constructive dialogue with the other side without "feelz" getting in the way of "realz". It doesn't help that none of them are policy experts or economists, but there it is.
        pdimitar 10y ago
        I fully agree that facts must supersede feelings, but that doesn't mean that one has to be a policy expert or economist -- that's yet another rigging of the system. You don't have to have studied very specific disciplines to be suspicous about the fact that your parents went casually to work at offices without ever "disrupting markets" or "moving forward and breaking things" and yet they had 2 cars, villa at the sea, and 2 apartments. How? By showing up at work and working times less than you or me.
  - guitarbill 10y ago
    While you're right in those being reactions to a (correctly) perceived helplessness, have those things actually changed anything? I personally subscribe to Adam Curtis' argument [0] - from his works like Hypernormalisation and Oh Dearism - that they haven't changed anything fundamentally. Sure, Brexit and Trump have had an effect, but are people truly better off? For all Trump's talk (whether you see that as positive or negative), I think we're seeing that even he's struggling against the whole system. And Brexit isn't really doing what anybody wants at the moment. [0] Adam Curtis seems to come up regularly here on HN, for good reason. I can't believe it hasn't yet in this thread, but I'm happy to be the first. I strongly recommend all of Adam Curtis' work: https://thoughtmaybe.com/by/adam-curtis/ https://thoughtmaybe.com/by/adam-curtis/
    - mattmanser 10y ago
      Large societal changes are fairly rare events. Personally I think the next stage is a new form of worker revolt, some new spin on Unions or Communism, the next Marx has yet to write his magnum opus yet though. Those words are still viewed as bad in the West, so it will need new terminology too. And to be clear, I don't ascribe to communism or anything, I'm simply speculating that some sort of new ideology, with a focus on the common person, will arise in the next 50 years to direct and fuel the next revolt. You'll know it when you see it.
  - vedranm 10y ago
    Occupy and Black Lives Matter[1] have deep ideological differences to Tea Party[2] and Donald Trump. Do not trust those who classify all of those as the same kind of civil uprising. [1] https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/08/02/black-lives-matter-platform-is-a-marxist-horror-show/ https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/08/02/black-lives-matter-p... [2] https://www.teaparty.org/about-us/ https://www.teaparty.org/about-us/
    - dalore 10y ago
      Yes they are different. But in the ways they are similar is that they are expressing a frustration at the current status quo.
      - vedranm 10y ago
        Isn't every protest about doing exactly that?
        dalore 10y ago
        Well the clue is in the name, protest. It's not a gathering, or a congregation.
    - erikpukinskis 10y ago
      Apples, oranges, and grapes have deep biological differences. Do not trust those who classify all of those as the same kind of fruit.
nul_byte 10y ago
Pushed enough they will crack, but our new masters know this, so they keep us as teetering on the edge as possible. I like Mark Blyths comment on the matter... The Hamptons, Long Islands is low lying and provides very little defence when the angry masses come for your blood.
- salesguy222 10y ago
  as a native of the area, i had to chuckle a bit when i read your comment! just don't invade the hamptons by car. there's only one real road in, and it is only one lane each way. traffic routinely piles up on it ^.^ and unless you are invading on memorial day, july 4th, a saturday in july/august, or labor day, the richest of the rich probably will be in NYC instead!!
  - webmaven 10y ago
    Hmm. Labor Day would be rather symbolic…
applecrazy 10y ago
This is sounding eerily similar to Fahrenheit 451.
- sogen 10y ago
  Uh? Can't find the similarities.

jondubois 10y ago

Yeah, you don't see them in the streets, they're "out of sight, out of mind". Even if they understood what happened to them, they wouldn't have the confidence to do anything about it. The brilliance of this terrible system is that it makes the victims accept the full the responsibility of their failed lives upon themselves. It's natural selection. People who need to feel short term rewards in their lives will be wiped out from the gene pool. People who can operate without any rewards (contentment/happiness) in their lives; basically, people who seek status over happiness will strive.

mattmanser 10y ago
The Occupy protests around the world? Arab spring? 2011 UK riots? Black lives matter? There's a definite undercurrent that politicians are barely keeping a lid on, the latest manifestations being Brexit and Trump.
- beaconstudios 10y ago
  the only way they keep the ongoing strife from really effecting the political system is by keeping the left and right wings fighting each other over often minor disagreements.
  - midgetjones 10y ago
    And a new iPhone every year
    - beaconstudios 10y ago
      consumerism is just giving the people what they want. It might be distracting, but just because that's what people want to do - chat to friends, play games, buy fashionable clothes etc. Politics is where the manipulation happens.
  - vedranm 10y ago
    Unfortunately, the disagreements are not minor anymore, as you can see on the social networks and in the streets of the USA.
    - beaconstudios 10y ago
      many of the disagreements are being given hyperbolic treatment to the point where all Trump supporters are Nazis and liberals are all SJWs. That's not an environment that's conducive to talking about why e.g. the immigration ban is too far in defense of national security. It just becomes another "us vs them" black-and-white situation that can drive nothing but division.
      - antisthenes 10y ago
        It's the greater problem of the anti-science sentiment of the general public. Even some of my brighter & more successful friends lack the self-awareness to have a constructive dialogue with the other side without "feelz" getting in the way of "realz". It doesn't help that none of them are policy experts or economists, but there it is.
        pdimitar 10y ago
        I fully agree that facts must supersede feelings, but that doesn't mean that one has to be a policy expert or economist -- that's yet another rigging of the system. You don't have to have studied very specific disciplines to be suspicous about the fact that your parents went casually to work at offices without ever "disrupting markets" or "moving forward and breaking things" and yet they had 2 cars, villa at the sea, and 2 apartments. How? By showing up at work and working times less than you or me.
- guitarbill 10y ago
  While you're right in those being reactions to a (correctly) perceived helplessness, have those things actually changed anything? I personally subscribe to Adam Curtis' argument [0] - from his works like Hypernormalisation and Oh Dearism - that they haven't changed anything fundamentally. Sure, Brexit and Trump have had an effect, but are people truly better off? For all Trump's talk (whether you see that as positive or negative), I think we're seeing that even he's struggling against the whole system. And Brexit isn't really doing what anybody wants at the moment. [0] Adam Curtis seems to come up regularly here on HN, for good reason. I can't believe it hasn't yet in this thread, but I'm happy to be the first. I strongly recommend all of Adam Curtis' work: https://thoughtmaybe.com/by/adam-curtis/ https://thoughtmaybe.com/by/adam-curtis/
  - mattmanser 10y ago
    Large societal changes are fairly rare events. Personally I think the next stage is a new form of worker revolt, some new spin on Unions or Communism, the next Marx has yet to write his magnum opus yet though. Those words are still viewed as bad in the West, so it will need new terminology too. And to be clear, I don't ascribe to communism or anything, I'm simply speculating that some sort of new ideology, with a focus on the common person, will arise in the next 50 years to direct and fuel the next revolt. You'll know it when you see it.
- vedranm 10y ago
  Occupy and Black Lives Matter[1] have deep ideological differences to Tea Party[2] and Donald Trump. Do not trust those who classify all of those as the same kind of civil uprising. [1] https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/08/02/black-lives-matter-platform-is-a-marxist-horror-show/ https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/08/02/black-lives-matter-p... [2] https://www.teaparty.org/about-us/ https://www.teaparty.org/about-us/
  - dalore 10y ago
    Yes they are different. But in the ways they are similar is that they are expressing a frustration at the current status quo.
    - vedranm 10y ago
      Isn't every protest about doing exactly that?
      - dalore 10y ago
        Well the clue is in the name, protest. It's not a gathering, or a congregation.
  - erikpukinskis 10y ago
    Apples, oranges, and grapes have deep biological differences. Do not trust those who classify all of those as the same kind of fruit.

nul_byte 10y ago

Pushed enough they will crack, but our new masters know this, so they keep us as teetering on the edge as possible. I like Mark Blyths comment on the matter... The Hamptons, Long Islands is low lying and provides very little defence when the angry masses come for your blood.

salesguy222 10y ago
as a native of the area, i had to chuckle a bit when i read your comment! just don't invade the hamptons by car. there's only one real road in, and it is only one lane each way. traffic routinely piles up on it ^.^ and unless you are invading on memorial day, july 4th, a saturday in july/august, or labor day, the richest of the rich probably will be in NYC instead!!
- webmaven 10y ago
  Hmm. Labor Day would be rather symbolic…

applecrazy 10y ago

This is sounding eerily similar to Fahrenheit 451.

sogen 10y ago
Uh? Can't find the similarities.