China oil exports in July drop 7% from year earlier

[c1ue]

Re: China oil exports in July drop 7% from year earlier

Well said! I would only modify that slightly - "Try being a poor untouchable in India for a month."

There are many "untouchables" in India who are very well off -- and at the top of the Indian heirarchy. It is extremely tough being poor in India -- but when you add the "stigma" of belonging to a lower caste - it just makes things much worse.

Rajiv,

Thanks for the reminder.

I was indeed referring to the portion of the untouchable class responsible for sweeping up garbage and handling human waste disposal in Indian towns/cities - much like the garbage collector class in 1600's era Europe but with the added social stigma.

Certainly the social strata is not a function of poverty - it is another major barrier to the downtrodden but not itself guaranteeing being poor.

[touchring]

Re: China oil exports in July drop 7% from year earlier

Touchring,

Have you ever done any of these things? If you are a migrant rural worker in one of the cities in China - none of these options will work for you.

Being poor in a rich nation means having less crap, but generally not having to worry about eating.

Being poor in a poor nation means starvation, disease, and death.

Try being an untouchable in India for a month.

No, but i find it strange, how the overwhelming majority poor in india can tolerate being so poor and living in mud huts while the rich live in glass castles like kings and many of them wealthier than the richest americans. If it were China, the peasants would have rebelled by now.

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: China oil exports in July drop 7% from year earlier

No, but i find it strange, how the overwhelming majority poor in india can tolerate being so poor and living in mud huts while the rich live in glass castles like kings and many of them wealthier than the richest americans. If it were China, the peasants would have rebelled by now.

A religion or tradition that divides the classes and put them in their place? Perhaps.

Someone made the point that these "poor" Indians' net worths exceeds that of millions of Americans by virtue of their having no debts.

[touchring]

Re: China oil exports in July drop 7% from year earlier

Someone made the point that these "poor" Indians' net worths exceeds that of millions of Americans by virtue of their having no debts.

If that were the case, burma will be extremely wealthy since it got everything - gold, rubies, jade, gas, timber, oil - underneath the ground.

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: China oil exports in July drop 7% from year earlier

If that were the case, burma will be extremely wealthy since it got everything - gold, rubies, jade, gas, timber, oil - underneath the ground.

I wasn't referencing the Indians as nation, but as a group of individuals that are so "poor" that they cannot borrow money. So though they may not, I presume, have much in the way of physicial possessions, what they do have is owned by them. What so many American "have" is not owned by them when what is owed is taken into consideration.

[touchring]

Re: China oil exports in July drop 7% from year earlier

I wasn't referencing the Indians as nation, but as a group of individuals that are so "poor" that they cannot borrow money. So though they may not, I presume, have much in the way of physicial possessions, what they do have is owned by them. What so many American "have" is not owned by them when what is owed is taken into consideration.

Ok, i don't agree that the poor indians are better off than the americans that are deeply in debt.

This is like saying that the insolvent Citigroup (we know it is insolvent) is better than a money lender (who is solvent) operating off the slums of Calcutta.

The addiction to debt is a psychological problem. America needs psychiatric treatment, not an economist.

[Guest]

Re: China oil exports in July drop 7% from year earlier

The addiction to debt is a psychological problem. America needs psychiatric treatment, not an economist.

Yeh - I need psychiatric treatment. I'm depressed and feeling homicidal because my gold and silver is not shooting up like all those internet pundits and the gurus told me it would. What I gotta do? Who I gotta shoot here? They told me it was gonna go to the moon, and look at this crap! How'm I supposed to pay for my Acapulco vacation now? What a rip-off! :rolleyes:

[touchring]

Re: China oil exports in July drop 7% from year earlier

Yeh - I need psychiatric treatment. I'm depressed and feeling homicidal because my gold and silver is not shooting up like all those internet pundits and the gurus told me it would. What I gotta do? Who I gotta shoot here? They told me it was gonna go to the moon, and look at this crap! How'm I supposed to pay for my Acapulco vacation now? What a rip-off! :rolleyes:

iTulip did warn about an imminent gold correction, if you noticed that article..... :eek:

[Jim Nickerson]

Ok, i don't agree that the poor indians are better off than the americans that are deeply in debt.

This is like saying that the insolvent Citigroup (we know it is insolvent) is better than a money lender (who is solvent) operating off the slums of Calcutta.

The addiction to debt is a psychological problem. America needs psychiatric treatment, not an economist.

In an accounting sense, and I am not an accountant, the poor Indians appear better off when measuring their net worths.

[c1ue]

Re: China oil exports in July drop 7% from year earlier

No, but i find it strange, how the overwhelming majority poor in india can tolerate being so poor and living in mud huts while the rich live in glass castles like kings and many of them wealthier than the richest americans. If it were China, the peasants would have rebelled by now.

A lot of it is due to religion.

For the Hindus, at least, karma means being poor is your destiny.

The caste system doesn't help - kind of an out in the open old boys network only it goes back many more generations.

Then there's the general low level of civic government virtue.

Right after that is the fact that India is composed of a number of different ethnic groups - unlike China's predominantly Han population.

All in all, a 'company town' concept writ onto a subcontinent.

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: China oil exports in July drop 7% from year earlier

Yeh - I need psychiatric treatment. I'm depressed and feeling homicidal because my gold and silver is not shooting up like all those internet pundits and the gurus told me it would. What I gotta do? Who I gotta shoot here? They told me it was gonna go to the moon, and look at this crap! How'm I supposed to pay for my Acapulco vacation now? What a rip-off! :rolleyes:

Originally Posted by Lukester This sort of display must leave the rest of the world sorely tempted to conclude that our entire nation have succumbed in herd like fashion to mad cow disease. God created us to think for ourselves, not to abdicate thought. But "thought abdication" seems an increasingly popular component of American society when distressed by circumstances. We also happen to be the worlds biggest energy hogs, and a correction of that habit could to some extent alleviate this early fuel distress? Altogether a pathetic display of abject regression - seems almost like some form of animistic religion at work here (group prayer at the gas station??). This man needs a few vigorous administrations of the "boot in the derriere" therapy to wake up to the issues overtaking his world.

Jeezus, I love iTulip. It has exposed me to many new thoughts, concepts, and new words, not the least of which have been put up by Luke. One of the concepts was that of "cognitive dissonance," which I think was put up by EJ.

At the moment I am flummoxed (new word for me from Finster meaning confused) with regard to the above. It strikes me that there is something at odds with these two statements. Do these statements represent "cognitive dissonance," or hypocrisy, or something else?

Any clarification or insight will be appreciated.

[Guest]

Re: China oil exports in July drop 7% from year earlier

iTulip ... has exposed me to many new ... concepts. Any ... insight will be appreciated.

Sigh. Jim, this is called < .h.u.m.o.r. > Do you know how to do < .h.u.m.o.r. > ?

It was posted as a spoof, lampooning Joe Numbskull or Jeannette Pinhead, who buy gold which is supposed to zip up upon command right after they buy it, so they can pay off the vacation tickets to Acapulco, with the instant profits? If I lathered the sarcasm on any thicker it could have passed for a tub of margerine and blended in nicely with the tubs of butter at your supermarket.

It is also called < s.e.l.f___d.e.p.r.e.c.a.t.i.n.g___h.u.m.o.r > which is the art of poking a little fun at oneself as well - an art which among slightly more sophisticated people is well understood and regarded as an expression of modesty. Am I going over your head here, or do you want me to slow it down a bit?

Perhaps the reason why I long ago began to feel a bit weary with your "engagements to dialogue" is that you seem so profoundly hesitant at that whole humor thing. You have a lot of difficulty discerning irony even when it's plastered as thick as the above example, and you have absolutely zero capacity to laugh at yourself - ever.

It's as though you were among friends, and someone suddenly slapped his forehead after having locked himself out of his car, saying "I'm an idiot for doing that!" and while everyone else laughs good naturedly, you are saying with great seriousness observing "Yes, you really are an idiot for doing that". More than being an incisive observation, it will be regarded as an exercise in pomposity.

Eventually with these sorts of answers at least a few of those people would begin to merely regard your utterly humorless replies as being a bore. It was a joke Jim. Anyone who rants about gold going down and "robbing him" of his profits and of vacation to Acapulco with the proceeds, is an idiot-clown. It is illustrated so blatantly as to be almost a parody of the joke itself, which was itself a parody of Joe Numbskull.

But the point here is, anyone who cannot see the joke in it: "now I can't take my Acaqpulco vacation" is notably humor challenged. Don't forget Jim, humor is not a useless appendage. It is one of the forms in which intelligence is expressed. Animals don't have a sense of humor. Well, apes do, and a few other critters have vestiges of it, but most animals don't. For goodness sake, go take some "humor lessons". :p

Jeezus, I love iTulip. It has exposed me to many new thoughts, concepts, and new words, not the least of which have been put up by Luke. One of the concepts was that of "cognitive dissonance," which I think was put up by EJ.

At the moment I am flummoxed (new word for me from Finster meaning confused) with regard to the above. It strikes me that there is something at odds with these two statements. Do these statements represent "cognitive dissonance," or hypocrisy, or something else?

Any clarification or insight will be appreciated.

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: China oil exports in July drop 7% from year earlier

Sigh. Jim, this is called < .h.u.m.o.r. > Do you know how to do < .h.u.m.o.r. > ?

It was posted as a spoof, lampooning Joe Numbskull or Jeannette Pinhead, who buy gold which is supposed to zip up upon command right after they buy it, so they can pay off the vacation tickets to Acapulco, with the instant profits? If I lathered the sarcasm on any thicker it could have passed for a tub of margerine and blended in nicely with the tubs of butter at your supermarket.

It is also called < s.e.l.f___d.e.p.r.e.c.a.t.i.n.g___h.u.m.o.r > which is the art of poking a little fun at oneself as well - an art which among slightly more sophisticated people is well understood and regarded as an expression of modesty. Am I going over your head here, or do you want me to slow it down a bit?

Perhaps the reason why I long ago began to feel a bit weary with your "engagements to dialogue" is that you seem so profoundly hesitant at that whole humor thing. You have a lot of difficulty discerning irony even when it's plastered as thick as the above example, and you have absolutely zero capacity to laugh at yourself - ever.

It's as though you were among friends, and someone suddenly slapped his forehead after having locked himself out of his car, saying "I'm an idiot for doing that!" and while everyone else laughs good naturedly, you are saying with great seriousness observing "Yes, you really are an idiot for doing that". More than being an incisive observation, it will be regarded as an exercise in pomposity.

Eventually with these sorts of answers at least a few of those people would begin to merely regard your utterly humorless replies as being a bore. It was a joke Jim. Anyone who rants about gold going down and "robbing him" of his profits and of vacation to Acapulco with the proceeds, is an idiot-clown. It is illustrated so blatantly as to be almost a parody of the joke itself, which was itself a parody of Joe Numbskull.

But the point here is, anyone who cannot see the joke in it: "now I can't take my Acaqpulco vacation" is notably humor challenged. Don't forget Jim, humor is not a useless appendage. It is one of the forms in which intelligence is expressed. Animals don't have a sense of humor. Well, apes do, and a few other critters have vestiges of it, but most animals don't. For goodness sake, go take some "humor lessons". :p

As usual, too many words, Luke. Can anyone else explain it in simple terms.