[galacticsurfer]

For all us hypocritical POers a Lao Tzu quote(Tao Te Kung) from 4th Century BC:

http://home.pages.at/onkellotus/Menu/Te ... Index.html

The best way to conduct oneself may be observed in the behaviour of water. Water is useful to every living thing, yet it does not demand pay in return for its services; it does not even require that it be recognized, esteemed, or appreciated for its benefits. This illustrates how intelligent behaviour so closely approximates the behaviour of Nature itself.
If experience teaches that houses should be built close to the ground, That friendship should be based on sympathy and good will,
That good government employs peaceful means of regulation, That business is more successful if it employs efficient methods, That wise behaviour adapts itself appropriately to the particular circumstances, All this is because these are the easiest ways.
If one proceeds naturally, without ambition or envy, everything works out for the best.

Going to extremes is never best.
For if you make a blade too sharp, it will become dull too quickly
And if you hoard all the wealth, you are bound to be attacked.
If you become proud and arrogant regarding your good fortune, you will naturally beget enemies who jealously despise you.
The way to success is this: having achieved your goal, be satisfied not to go further. For this is the way Nature operates

Pride and shame cause us much fearful anxiety. But our inner peace and distress should be our primary concerns.
Why do pride and shame cause us so much fearful anxiety? Because: Pride attaches undue importance to the superiority of one's status in the eyes of others; And shame is fear of humiliation at one's inferior status in the estimation of others. When one sets his heart on being highly esteemed, and achieves such rating, then he is automatically involved in fear of losing his status. Then protection of his status appears to be his most important need. And humiliation seems the worst of all evils. This is the reason why pride and shames cause us so much fearful anxiety.
Why should our inner peace and distress be our primary concerns? Because: The inner self is our true self; so in order to realize our true self, we must be willing to live without being dependent upon the opinions of others. When we are completely self-sufficient, then we can have no fear of disesteem.
He who wisely devotes himself to being self-sufficient, and therefore does not depend for his happiness upon external ratings by others, is the one best able to set an example for, and to teach and govern, others.

[Luckystars]

Americans have been brainwashed by TV to do their job which is to be mindless consumers. Capitalisim gone mad, dog eat dog, fuck the next guy mentality and it gets worse with each generation. I don't drive, you miss too much of life that way.

A few thousand millennia ago, our planet was a volcanic hellhole of irradiated methane and nitrogen. Now it is a fragile green garden of life. The evolution of planet earth, this is just a blip on the radar screen, and this too will change. If we are here now it is because we need to be at this time and in this way.