5 days ago: Hi Vaneesh, I've been to India 3 times (as far as Haridwar/Rishikesh in your region). I loved it every time and I made it my goal to spend as much time as possible there when I retire (in about 5 years) I am planning for an active retirement...I want to go there and help others by sharing what I know; I am not an educator but I'm thinking I could use these 5 years gaining some knowledge and experience in teaching; I thought I could teach under privileged children to improve their English. I've been checking out websites to gain a good picture of what retiring to India would involve and I came across a blog post referring exactly to Dehradun area, about the area suffering of massive migration from the villages to the big cities.
Apr 29 2013: Hi Mitch
My first hand knowledge of Marxism comes from having been brought up and educated in Eastern Europe during the pick of the socialist dictature. I cannot say I've done a lot of reading on the subject but we did study back then Marxism in the philosophy class at face value and without the propaganda and communism was presented as the ultimate evolutionary goal of the socialist society; of course there was propaganda all around us used by politicians and people in power or working their way to power just like there was propaganda here in the west. What you suggest, that societies learn from previous experiences and come up with a perfect (or as close as possible) social model is great but also too idealistic. Unfortunately these theories are products of the thinkers while the action in the world is driven by greediness through politicians. May be China will give humanity an example of where a socialist society can get. Their rising has to do a lot with the social capital.
Thanks for the link;I haven't done it yet but I will definitively listen to Parenti's talk.
Apr 26 2013: Well, according to Marxist theories 'communism' is almost an Utopian concept... is the highest form of an evolved socialist society. The theory stated that only after society advances to high economic level the leap to a higher consciousnesses of the members of the society is possible..and when that was reached a society in which people give what they can and take only what they need, becomes possible. People refer improperly to the countries in Eastern Europe as communist. It was just socialist dictature. In my opinion the theory was great but it was abused and misinterpreted; also they tried to implement it by force .... by people with no education or understanding...they just grabbed the power and abused it.
Apr 26 2013: Individuals have the natural right to engage in whatever relationships they want and they do; societies are the ones that impose restrictions. By natural law gay people would have the right to form couples but natural selection would eliminate them from the gene pool since they would not have descendants (provided that they behave consistently with their sexual preference) Societies for intrinsic reason put restrictions on certain associations and they still do even though there is no written legislation to it; churches still don't marry people of different religions (I personally know a case of and orthodox and a Jewish that were turned down by both churches unless one agreed to convert to the other's religion) It's good that we have the separation of church and state even just for marriage. We never had a caste system in the west but for the most cases I am pretty sure people married within their social rank; plural marriages are common in male dominated societies where women have not obtained equal rights; I don't see a demand for these marriages in the western world unless some terrible wars will wipe out most males and women will have to share the existing ones ;)
Apr 17 2013: I married because of pressure from my parents; I was a single parent of a child from a failed relationship; I was 29 and living with my future husband; we lived 3 years together before getting married; the pressure from my parents was constant from fear that I could end up with another child out of wedlock so when we graduated from college and time came to find jobs and establish a place to live we got married. I thought all our life together that we were not fit for each other but we didn't give up for a long time; we ended up divorcing in the 19th year.
Apr 15 2013: I grew up and went to college in Eastern Europe during the communist regime; it was very rooted in the culture that you should go to college and get a degree of some kind for the same kind of reason you mention (if you had a degree of some kind you had better chances to be employed); college was free and the only condition to be accepted was to pass very difficult exams and score well; the number of vacancies were limited so the selection of the candidates was made based on the scores you got in the exams; people would get degrees (especially engineering degrees in specialties they would never actually practice just because they had better chances to be admitted in that specific college. There was almost an inflation of BS degrees; now from what I hear most people get a master degree.
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Apr 15 2013: Hi Gordon I think you were right; college gives you the fundamental concepts of the field you study and teaches you how to research and solve problems in your job. We don't have to look at a career choice as to something permanent, we can reevaluate and figure out along the way.
Apr 15 2013: I initially studied Forestry/Natural resource Mgmt and today I'm in GIS/Mapping (coincidence) but if I had to do it over I would chose a people related line of work (psychology , medicine) When I was young I strongly rationalized against working with people but over time I changed or I understand life better; I think you can draw the strongest satisfaction in life from helping people.
Apr 15 2013: Yes, you are lucky for having had a passion and turned it into a career; it is harder for people that don't feel a strong calling in a specific direction and that's what I am interested in exploring people's way of rationalizing what step to take. Should you go by aptitude, or may be you should just try whatever sounds good for the time being and then switch career if it turns out not being what you like to do? Some things we like to do could be kept as hobbies.
Apr 13 2013: Actually I agree with you. Those feelings and knowledge we get from the heart/body must be way deeply rooted in our being since they are historically older on the evolutionary scale ; so they have to be more insightful but also more instinctual than rational pertaining more to the basic human needs of connection, security, fear...survival. The challenges of modern human societies with all their complexity require probably more of the rational. The thing is that society is evolving much faster than our biological beings can keep up with and adapt; I don't think either the brain or the hart evolved much in some thousands of years while the social evolution was tremendous. I also think that with all the advancements in human society the process of natural selection /evolution is totally altered so neither the heart or the brain's evolution will evolve independent of human's interference.
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A comment on Conversation: Youth with skill and potential need not die a silent death. We can support new ideas/businesses with them in the lead & make it large!
A reply on Conversation: If communism was working the way its progenitors wanted it to, would it be better than capitalism?
My first hand knowledge of Marxism comes from having been brought up and educated in Eastern Europe during the pick of the socialist dictature. I cannot say I've done a lot of reading on the subject but we did study back then Marxism in the philosophy class at face value and without the propaganda and communism was presented as the ultimate evolutionary goal of the socialist society; of course there was propaganda all around us used by politicians and people in power or working their way to power just like there was propaganda here in the west. What you suggest, that societies learn from previous experiences and come up with a perfect (or as close as possible) social model is great but also too idealistic. Unfortunately these theories are products of the thinkers while the action in the world is driven by greediness through politicians. May be China will give humanity an example of where a socialist society can get. Their rising has to do a lot with the social capital.
Thanks for the link;I haven't done it yet but I will definitively listen to Parenti's talk.
A reply on Conversation: If communism was working the way its progenitors wanted it to, would it be better than capitalism?
A reply on Conversation: Does permitting same-sex marriage lead to permitting polygamy? And so what?
A comment on Conversation: Why did you get married?
A reply on Conversation: How did you choose you career? Are you happy with your choice?
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A reply on Conversation: How did you choose you career? Are you happy with your choice?
A reply on Conversation: How did you choose you career? Are you happy with your choice?
A reply on Conversation: How did you choose you career? Are you happy with your choice?
A reply on Conversation: Is the heart overlooked when it comes to intelligence?