Post: #1

Is the media just hyping us?

According to this article, there are actually less mass killings these days. Highest year for mass killings was 1929.

If it's true, I'd say the media is definitely pushing the gun control agenda. Not to mention they just love the ratings this shit brings.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/associat...e-decline/

Post: #2

(12-23-2012 07:33 PM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  Is the media just hyping us?

According to this article, there are actually less mass killings these days. Highest year for mass killings was 1929.

If it's true, I'd say the media is definitely pushing the gun control agenda. Not to mention they just love the ratings this shit brings.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/associat...e-decline/

Indeed it is.

Post: #3

Is the media full of faggots and soft ass liberals?

Post: #4

This is the least violent time in human history. The further we go back time, the more violent and brutish life was.

Today, animals have rights.

just my 2 cents

Post: #5

(12-23-2012 11:48 PM)houston Wrote:  Is the media full of faggots and soft ass liberals?

lol

You're cracking me up, Man.

(12-24-2012 02:55 AM)Giovonny Wrote:  This is the least violent time in human history. The further we go back time, the more violent and brutish life was.

Today, animals have rights.

just my 2 cents

Good point.

Have you ever read "The Rational Optimist?"

Check it out; I think you'd definitely vibe with some of his points. It really opened my eyes to the pessimistic worldview I'd developed until reading it a year so ago.

Description below:

For two hundred years the pessimists have dominated public discourse, insisting that things will soon be getting much worse. But in fact, life is getting better—and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before.

In his bold and bracing exploration into how human culture evolves positively through exchange and specialization, bestselling author Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. An astute, refreshing, and revelatory work that covers the entire sweep of human history—from the Stone Age to the Internet—The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.

Post: #6

(12-24-2012 03:04 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  Have you ever read "The Rational Optimist?"

Not yet.

(12-24-2012 03:04 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  Description below:

For two hundred years the pessimists have dominated public discourse, insisting that things will soon be getting much worse. But in fact, life is getting better—and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before.

Yeah, people are way too fearful and pessimistic. Fear mongering is a cheap advertising trick. Its also easier to sell products when fear is the motivation to buy, it's easier to sell newspapers when fear is being sold. Fear sells, too many people are buying it.

(12-24-2012 03:04 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  In his bold and bracing exploration into how human culture evolves positively through exchange and specialization, bestselling author Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. An astute, refreshing, and revelatory work that covers the entire sweep of human history—from the Stone Age to the Internet—The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.

Thanks, I will check it out.

Post: #7

(12-24-2012 02:55 AM)Giovonny Wrote:  Today, animals have rights.

just my 2 cents

Reminds me of the movie Congo. This warlord Captain is being bribed by a scientific expedition trying to get into Zaire. Before letting them go, he says:

"You know it's the gorilla that's going to get you across the border safely. Everybody in my country is so afraid of being seen in an American movie being cruel to a gorilla. This is the crazy world we live in."

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Post: #8

Even though there are less mass killings, when they do occur everyone is instantly aware of it. People are plugged into Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc. 24/7, and these all facilitate mass dissemination of information, all of these didn't really exist 5 years ago. 1 billion people have smartphones or tablets, for many people it's their first computer, and in a few years 5 billion people will have internet connected devices.

The flip side is people are more susceptible to manipulation through media. The economist did a series of good articles about this and how there is often an instigator and beneficiary.

Quote:Most outbursts of Muslim rage bring political dividends to someone. The Ayatollah Khomeini, for example, reaped the benefits of his fatwa demanding the death sentence on Salman Rushdie for his book “The Satanic Verses”, published in 1988. Pakistani politicians gain from whipping up sentiment against Christians—and against politicians seen as soft on them.