TED Community » Jarek Steliga

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• A reply on Talk: Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success

  Apr 22 2013: My point is that you can either become an " island" (and perhaps not necessarily a disaster waiting to happen) or be a part of a "continent" and open yourself up to insecurity. In the former case you examine your own life, you explore the inner landscape of your soul and increase your confidence that the direction is well -considered and grounded, in the latter you juxtapose your life and the landscape of your sould with that of other people and your confidence will must needs take a beating occasionally

• A reply on Conversation: Who are all the countries in the world in debt to?

  Feb 20 2013: I am sometimes imaginning a solution. Since the monetary system in place is surreal (as you believe it is), people should build from scratch a new one side by side with the old one, but never mutually connected. One such system does not even require money. It's barter. You bake bread for someone, someone in turn gives you poultry, you build someone a house, someone in turn repairs and maintains your car. Of course the parity of these mutual services must be somehow figured out, but does it not when money is used? By doing this you do not fall foul of any laws (as long as money does not change hands the inland revenue office can get stuffed) Go barter and laugh at billionaires!

• A comment on Conversation: Who are all the countries in the world in debt to?

  Feb 20 2013: Since it is seems to be a common consent (or judgement passed by majority) in this forum that debt is bad, one wonders why people are so enthusiastically getting into it. Don't we all instinctively try to steer clear of debt? We do, hence the usurer's road is a bumpy one and their "job" requires no small wit and presence of mind . As in trapping animals, a whole lot of devices are being continuously invented before would be victims get wise to them. In Europe currently in use is certain tool the principle of which I want to explain here. There exists a system of so called European Union Bonuses or Subsidies. In order to qualify for such EU subsidy the beneficiary must first invest a certain sum of money of their own. Only once this sum of money is organized, the subsidy is paid. So people do not hesitate to borrow the required initial sum seeing how they will later be given (yes, given for free!) twice or three times as much. Borrowing money in order to qualify for these subsidies became a norm. Everybody does this from small businesses to national governments. The stunning thing is that even local governments do this. The usurer triumphs. Where money gets borrowed, interest gets accrued! There remains the question where money to cover the subsidies comes from. That's an easy one. It comes from our pockets in the first place. The whole mechanism looks like this. I pay money to the EU (through tax), then very graciously I get some of this money back (part of it goes to pay the EU exploding administration) but first I must take a loan. The net result is that I not only finance the offices in Bruxelles, but on top of this I stand to pay the interest for the loan which I took in the process of getting my own money (the "subsidy") back. But as I say there is no protecting people from the consequences of their own stupidity.

• A reply on Conversation: Who are all the countries in the world in debt to?

  Feb 20 2013: ...their fortunes have been made through opportunities that the rest of us don't have ... but if we had them none of us would ever resist the temptation to make full advantage of them and thus become part and parcel of that global canker gnawing mercilessly the global economy.
  
  ...equality in opportunity should be a goal of any civilized society ... that's utopia. I am not aiming at this ideal world. What I am trying to do is to mitigate the economic polarization of the global society so as to defer the unpleasant moment when the rich come and get me (make me leave my house and seek shelter under any bridge brrr we have bad climate for camping year round :-) )
  
  
  But we digress. The point in question is DEBT. I believe the present will be looked at (if there is anyone to look back on the present) as the period of rampant debt.

• A reply on Conversation: Who are all the countries in the world in debt to?

  Feb 19 2013: Fascinating stuff. Funny how people living half way around the world see some things eye to eye . Respect instilled in kids for entities with official sounding names is nothing but someone's business plan. Horrible but true. Boy, am I grateful to have seen the light. I chucked my silly (though well paid job) some years ago. True, I have no money now, but I have ... sunshine, wind, birds chirping, my own cucumbers and all the time in the world to do what I like doing plus satisfaction that no freaking millionaire usurer is able to enjoy life more than I do. I advise everyone to do the same before the whole world goes berserk again.

• A comment on Conversation: Does so called international terrorism actually serve someone's purpose?

  Feb 18 2013: I am afraid civilian victims in Afganistan or Pakistan are not likely to make that distinction. Probably (and I say probably cause I have never been in any of those countries nor had I any opportunity to be in personal contact with anyone from there) they think that all the countries whose armed forces take part in the military actions under the banner of NATO belong to "the west". Let's face it, doing nothing to stop bad things happening make you about as guilty as actually doing them. The long and short of it is that if I am taken hostage by Taliban they are going to put a bullet through my brains because I happen to be Polish without asking me first what my inner feelings about the presence of Polish troops in Afganistan are.

• A reply on Conversation: Does so called international terrorism actually serve someone's purpose?

  Feb 18 2013: I believe I explained the basis of my conclusioin in my post already.
  
  Would you mind telling me which coutries belonging to the "west" are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization?
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Does so called international terrorism actually serve someone's purpose?

  Feb 18 2013: Well Greg, I guess any event can be interpreted in as many ways as there are people on this planet. For example when a child gets blown up by a missile launched from a drone (UAV), thousands of miles away from the borders of the USA, some people elect to call it a defensive action to protect the greatest nation on Earth (a favourite expression of the current President and maybe other US Presidents , too - I do not remember). However I have hard time imagining how you are able to reconcile this interpretation of the situation with this principle, "Do to others as you would have them do to you" (which I very much try to live by).

• A reply on Conversation: Who are all the countries in the world in debt to?

  Feb 14 2013: I have every intention to follow your advice except that I will not be expressing my concern over the once great nation of yours, but rather over my own which is in the same plight as yours if not worse. I live in Poland :-)

• A reply on Conversation: Who are all the countries in the world in debt to?

  Feb 14 2013: Quite right. Borrowing is a good strategy on condition that it is an investment i.e. the borrowed money is used to buy tangible assets like means of production or a house in which you and your family is going to live for many years to come and untill well after such time when the loan will have been paid back. Borrowing is NOT a good strategy when the borrowed money is just used to temporarily improve the standard of life as if there was no tomorrow. I fear it is the latter kind of borrowing that my country, Poland, is helping itself to. I also view this strategy as some kind of a trap. Once the time to pay it all back comes and days of grace are over, the goverment will be forced to raise taxes and bills untill more and more citizens are no longer able to afford to pay. People will then be evicted from their homes and land and will become tenants and slaves in the country which they once called their own while that country will be owned by whoever it is that lent us money in the first place. Hence in my view borrowing money by governments (without asking the consent of the nations which those governments were elected to represent) is a CRIME. It makes my hair stand on end when I realize that each day gets me ever deeper in debt to somebody I do not even know, when I have always made sure that I have never owed money to anybody and never have lived beyond my means.