Ran Prieur Discussion Board

Psychology of scarcity more dangerous than scarcity

feeds@yuku.com (TheGoodLife) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:35:11 GMT

Yesterday I learned that in the US, $10 is the price of a life - mine was under threat for that amount, and if I can, I'll hunt down and kill that guy, for that same $10. I'm not joking I really will.

In fact let me enlarge on this for a moment: I'd gladly kill strangers if I can catagorize them as "yuppies", "criminals" "invaders" "bankers" etc for $10 a head. Right now. Show me I'll be paid and will escape prosecution and...

Time to start arming up

feeds@yuku.com (TheGoodLife) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:37:01 GMT

Well, when a person gets jacked for the $10 they have on them, in LOS GATOS CA it's time to start considering carrying a weapon of some sort.

I worked all day, got a bit over $10 for my troubles, and got mugged for that money, $10 I think, $6 in single dollar bills and a bunch of change I think was about $4, and came home with actually less, because of course I'd used gas.

Good thing I keep a change jar etc at home!

But, Los...

Has the US economy become too efficient?

feeds@yuku.com (diozent) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:46:34 GMT

So the unemployment is still high and has crept up to 10.2% last month. Yet the GDP has increased over 3% this past quarter. Has the US economy become so efficient that the unemployment rate will remain relatively high for a very long time as it becomes more efficient at making more money while needed fewer workers to perform the job? I'm reminded by what author Bertrand Russel mentions in part of his book called "In Praise of Idleness" where he talks about how increases in...

sprouted grains

feeds@yuku.com (tomcampbell) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:45:16 GMT

Maybe in the future someone will start sprouting and drying large amounts of grain and selling it in bulk, as they do now with rolled, flaked, and puffed grains.

I'm just curious to know if malted grain that is sold for use in brewing beer at home does or doesn't fit the conditions ran is talking about in the above. and if not, why?

credit reports

feeds@yuku.com (lulugraphics) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:30:19 GMT

strange topic for this board, I realize, but I don't have much experience with the "regular" world in terms of loans, credit reports, insurance and the like.

I am interested in what others have to say about getting credit reports and what they mean because when I get a regular income happening again, I want to explore getting a rural development loan to have my own place.

I really want an artist colony but I may not be able to do that first.

If...

Bicycle/Campervan - found image

feeds@yuku.com (Liam) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:53:45 GMT

Hi just saw this and thought you guys might like it: http://www.kevincyr.net/i...hp?/project/camper-bike/

Really interesting, i want to know more about it - does the owner use it regularly? Live i it? I see they built it for art but do is it remotely useable? For fun? Imagine it's a massive weight to drag around, but sure looks cool!

Found it at this nice site:

A Right to Health Care? A Right to Marriage!

feeds@yuku.com (CS) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:21:42 GMT

From the BBC:

Ran's perspective on Upstate New York election

feeds@yuku.com (mtnclimber) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:56:18 GMT

Ran, your blog post covering the upstate NY election in the 23rd district was excellent, which surprised me! A lot of media people miss the facts.

Any election in the North Country (how the region is called in NY) will be local. These are very practical and realistic people. Tell me how my neighbor will make a living, not some grand philosophical position (this time conservative) about the world.

The local people chose someone they knew -- she was in the state...

dropping out

feeds@yuku.com (zombans) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:01:08 GMT

Not that this topic hasn't already been hashed out thoroughly on this board, but it is one of my favorite topics. I agree with what Ran says about framing the issue in the light of replacing the money economy with the gift economy, also known as community. The particulars don't matter, as anyone can take this idea of community and apply it to the culture of their own life. What's important is that we participate in our own lives as much as possible, build up the things that...

Goodbye

feeds@yuku.com (TheGoodLife) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:06:23 GMT

Well, the internet no longer exists for me, for me the machine has stopped. Like Case in the novel Neuromancer, I'm sure to dream of it at night. It's been a fun dozen years, using the world's biggest encyclopedia and socializing with people I'll never meet. I'm typing from an Apple Store, I'm sure I'll dream of Apple Stores, if you've ever been in one you'll know why. Seems after doing a speed test at the urging of some others here, getting a ping of 36ms...

Linux and other free software

feeds@yuku.com (2handband) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:36:16 GMT

I am considering starting my own website, which I will host right here at home. What I want to cover is a host of topics relating to the practical aspects of transitioning to a more sustainable and less restrictive society, having decided after a period of depressive hopelessness that I'll be damned if I'm going to give up.

I want to start it out with something that's directly applicable to modern life... the use of computers and in particular the stranglehold that a...

MMO Masochism

feeds@yuku.com (michael) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:48:52 GMT

I can easily see why the MMO style seems abusive to Eskil, but I think a closer analogy is BDSM. An MMO player can quit at any time, and the MMO designers are careful not to make the sort of provocation that would inspire a player to end the scene.

One obvious such provocation is permadeath. In all known MMOs, a player whose avatar has just fallen in battle after a year of play, is considerably better off than a player who has freshly joined the game. Outside observers may...

POLL - Internet Speeds:- Good, Bad, Indifferent?

feeds@yuku.com (Liam) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:36:31 GMT

Hi,

I notice a couple of people here are concerned that the internet is failing around us, and that net speeds are tumbling. Some others have not noticed this.

To make this a little more objective I thought a poll might help to see the trend on a wider scale.

If you have time it would also be great if you could reply to this post with the results of this speed test: http://www.speedtest.net/ (just click on...

Buckminster fuller challenge.. burning man theme

feeds@yuku.com (OrionsMind) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:21:45 GMT

Math

feeds@yuku.com (TheGoodLife) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:24:53 GMT

Let's see ....

A half-million new jobless each month = a half million new homeless since the jobless become homeless a month to a year later.

US working population what, 200 million?

How quickly do we ALL become homeless/jobless?

Maple leaves

feeds@yuku.com (2handband) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:28:12 GMT

Aside from the uses you mentioned you can also make leaf mold which is a fantastic garden supplement. I have two big maple trees in my yard.

Oblivion on older hardware

feeds@yuku.com (datoo) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:28:32 GMT

You might be able to get it running on your new laptop, Ran. Check out this site: http://www.oldblivion.com/

Sufficiency

feeds@yuku.com (lulugraphics) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:10:18 GMT

Here's a link to a post on the idea of sufficiency by a former Buddhist shamanistic astrologer in Glastonbury, UK.

http://www.astrotabletalk.blogspot.com/

He's a very insightful writer and one needn't necessarily know about or "believe in" astrology to understand his essays.

Here's a good paragraph:

"It has become...

Public Option and Brawndo, the Thirst Mutilator!

feeds@yuku.com (ArrowpeakHouse) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:14:59 GMT

In an idiocracy, it's not too surprising that most are "for" the public option, with a mere 37% of Americans able to identify the concept on a multiple guess poll with only 3 choices. Retarded monkeys could score 33%.

Poll: Americans want health reform, but not higher taxes or rates
Denver Post | By Allison Sherry | August 25, 2009

Nearly 8 in 10 Americans support a federal health insurance plan for those who can't afford or...

Recession and runaways

feeds@yuku.com (michael) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:48:06 GMT

The article posted about recession driving runaways was mildly surprising to me. I would have expected recession to, if anything, suppress the runaway phenomenon by making life "outside the nest" scarier. But then, children young enough to be called runaways may not think things through properly....

Of course, the recession does make it more costly for the parents to support their kids. Perhaps some, unconsciously or even consciously, do not work as hard to keep their...