Time to run!

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  • #162637
    *Lotus
    Member

    [quote=”sprite”][quote=”*Lotus”]I have found that most expats I meet in Costa Rica are quite friendly. Scott certainly lives an affluent life style, well above the standard of 99% of Ticos, he’s seems to move well in local Tico circles. The perception of the “rich arrogant” American is more myth than fact thanks to TV, most US citizens moving or traveling to Costa Rica are certainly not rich(but most of us are rich, at least from a monetary perspective relative to a typical Tico.) In the community that I “live” in Costa Rica, we have a great expat community fully integrated in the local Tico community. We surf, work and play together. Not perfect, but nothing is.

    MaxDevil, you choose to live a life based on materialism, excess and greed. certainly as an attorney you are one of the so called “rich” Americans. What are you complaining about? You want to blame America for your reckless lifestyle? Give me a break, your life, your choice you are educated enough to be responsible for your actions. It is not written into the US Constitution to be a greedy, selfish and shallow. I think excessive TV watching and advertising campaigns have more to do with creating sheeple than “America.”

    You will get little argument from me on most of our foreign policy, but thats another thread:)

    When individual take responsibility for their own lives we all will be better off.[/quote]

    Environment molds behavior. You have to adapt to the system in which you live. If you grew up in the States, you adapted to the destructive system in place. Your behavior would reflect the warped values of that system.

    I try my best not to hold individuals liable for behavior attributable to environment. The system is the cause, bad behavior is a symptom. Anyone who is trying to separate himself from that system is to be applauded, not criticized.
    For example, I pity individuals who have succumbed to the false ideology which inspires them to put on uniforms and kill for it but I don;t criticize them. Instead, I attack the system and its ideology.

    People don’t make choices, they react to environment.[/quote]

    I grew up in the states, North East. My values don’t reflect that of the “state” nor do my children’s or my friends. We can choose to be free from the inside out, the US is not North Korea and Sprite you are not the only enlightened soul in the US. The point is to make good choices regardless of ones environment, I did and I’m certainly not special. Not sure where you live, but most of the people I encounter on a day to day basis are good folks.

    #162638
    sprite
    Member

    [quote=”clayton”
    You need to try a little harder, you seem to spew nothing but hate and discontent.[/quote]

    I’ll try to spread love and joy and a sprinkling of flower petals from now on. You are correct. Mans’ world is perfectly organized and when the shaman says “bow to the god of war”, I guess I better comply….or suffer the wrath of the other worshipers like you.

    #162639
    sprite
    Member

    [quote=”*Lotus”][quote=”sprite”][quote=”*Lotus”]I have found that most expats I meet in Costa Rica are quite friendly. Scott certainly lives an affluent life style, well above the standard of 99% of Ticos, he’s seems to move well in local Tico circles. The perception of the “rich arrogant” American is more myth than fact thanks to TV, most US citizens moving or traveling to Costa Rica are certainly not rich(but most of us are rich, at least from a monetary perspective relative to a typical Tico.) In the community that I “live” in Costa Rica, we have a great expat community fully integrated in the local Tico community. We surf, work and play together. Not perfect, but nothing is.

    MaxDevil, you choose to live a life based on materialism, excess and greed. certainly as an attorney you are one of the so called “rich” Americans. What are you complaining about? You want to blame America for your reckless lifestyle? Give me a break, your life, your choice you are educated enough to be responsible for your actions. It is not written into the US Constitution to be a greedy, selfish and shallow. I think excessive TV watching and advertising campaigns have more to do with creating sheeple than “America.”

    You will get little argument from me on most of our foreign policy, but thats another thread:)

    When individual take responsibility for their own lives we all will be better off.[/quote]

    Environment molds behavior. You have to adapt to the system in which you live. If you grew up in the States, you adapted to the destructive system in place. Your behavior would reflect the warped values of that system.

    I try my best not to hold individuals liable for behavior attributable to environment. The system is the cause, bad behavior is a symptom. Anyone who is trying to separate himself from that system is to be applauded, not criticized.
    For example, I pity individuals who have succumbed to the false ideology which inspires them to put on uniforms and kill for it but I don;t criticize them. Instead, I attack the system and its ideology.

    People don’t make choices, they react to environment.[/quote]

    I grew up in the states, North East. My values don’t reflect that of the “state” nor do my children’s or my friends. We can choose to be free from the inside out, the US is not North Korea and Sprite you are not the only enlightened soul in the US. The point is to make good choices regardless of ones environment, I did and I’m certainly not special. Not sure where you live, but most of the people I encounter on a day to day basis are good folks.[/quote]

    Lotus,

    “Good folks” abound. They are everywhere and you make my point for me. People are not inherently bad. The social environment may be bad, though, and when you start wagging your accusatory finger at others for not taking responsibility, you are forgetting this point. I don’t care how many anecdotal examples you come up with about people doing this or doing that despite conditions, the over-all picture is the only thing that can be measured. Oppressed people generally behave differently than free people within their respective societies.

    #162640
    *Lotus
    Member

    Sprite you always seem to have the answer. But when an educated grown up with the wherewithal to become a lawyer is blaming America for her overt consumerism? Give me a break, hardly the oppressed class.
    Sprite your finger must be in a cast:wink:

    #162641
    sprite
    Member

    [quote=”*Lotus”]Sprite you always seem to have the answer. But when an educated grown up with the wherewithal to become a lawyer is blaming America for her overt consumerism? Give me a break, hardly the oppressed class.
    Sprite your finger must be in a cast:wink:[/quote]

    Heheh…I regularly exercise AND use my wagging finger and one other finger as well.

    I have been hard on myself for my own excessive consumerism but recently I have backed off from that attitude. When you are constantly bombarded with ads and are surrounded by others who have the luxury goods, the tendency is to follow the accepted behavior patterns. Keeping up with the Jones is
    a common theme everywhere in the world but especially so in the U.S. I am a product of my environment. But I am also doing my utmost to walk away from this toxic environment. It is not easy after 60 years of exposure and I am sympathetic to anyone else who is making the effort, not critical of them.

    It’s the system, the culture, that has defined consumerism, not me. I don’t want to transplant 60 years of bad habits to Costa Rica when I move.
    I am guessing that this requires a huge attitude shift which for me would be much more challenging than adapting to Tico culture. I suspect that many of the expats who return to the States after a short while do so due to this one factor.

    #162642
    maravilla
    Member

    you’re right, sprite, a lot of the people i know who fled back to the states did so because they could not adjust their spending habits when they got here, and those habits can be quite costly. these are the same people who spend $500 a month of food because most of it is gringo packaged stuff that they ought not to be eating anyway, but they refuse to change their eating habits so they pay the price. yes, it’s a paradigm shift, but one which is well worth striving for.

    #162643
    clayton
    Member

    Sprite,
    Wow, now didn’t that feel good!
    Amen brother.

    #162644
    kordan
    Member

    http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-11-17/dollar-to-become-world-s-weakest-currency-jpmorgan-predicts.html

    “Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) — The dollar may fall below 75 yen next year as it becomes the world’s “weakest currency” due to the Federal Reserve’s monetary-easing program, according to JPMorgan & Chase Co.”

    #162645
    nicon1957
    Member

    Have you heard the term “To BIG to fail”? Who would buy from the Chinese if America didn’t. Most people in this thread do not understand the resiliency of democracy and capitalism. Truth is with the amount of net worth in the US the government could tax its way solvent. But that’s not how things are played now. Do we have a messed up system? Sure but there are is no better place on earth to get ahead faster then the US. Everyone wants a check. People here are talking about getting Soc Sec … I am 53 , odds that I get in on any of that cash are slim. Instead of freaking out on the government and looking for someone else to take care of me , I put out the effort to cut expenses and raise my revenue so that I can take care of myself when its time.

    To say that everyone around is to blame for your over spending and self centered behavior as if your forced to make bad decisions with no thoughts of your own cuts to the very core of whats wrong in America today.
    Why is it I can tell who the Dems and who the Reps are in this thread. I cant count the times that the US has been counted out only to rebound to something better. The biggest part of your national debt is entitlements. Better think about ways to save your money instead of keeping up with the Jones.

    #162646
    sprite
    Member

    Nicon,

    Why is it I can always tell who the bible thumping, flag waving fanatics are in this thread?

    You need to bring yourself up to speed. You are spouting the old corporate/bank interests propaganda. This is the same BS that has been packaged and sold to a nation of unthinking wishful citizens who want to believe in providence, an arrogant superiority and an infinite supply of whatever it is they desire. Has it never occurred to you that the earth is finite, that masses of people can’t continue to waste limited resources indefinitely, that printing trillions of dollars of Monopoly money will someday have consequences?

    If you haven’t investigated these matters, perhaps you should begin to do so….soon.

    #162647
    aguirrewar
    Member

    poppy corn;

    it’s not going to happen

    you THINK the world will still exists without the USA???

    maybe you think!!! Costa Rica is the escape hatch

    the battle is won or lost at the front line and not 2,000 miles away. I am here to fight the battle and some are hiding or even surrendering before the 1’st shot is fired

    WORST case scenario is that we lose it all and I mean ALL then what happens???

    our 2’nd, 3’rd generation will start all over, again and again

    want to escape!! don’t pick Costa Rica, look at the Moon or Mars

    I love to hear and read the prophets of gloom and doom when the chips are down

    and for all of you that think that if you escape the problem by moving to a different geographycal area you will be INSULATED, good luck!!!

    “We the People” did not start in the USA, it comes from Greece, thousands of years ago, it’s called DEMOCRACY now

    you can keep playing your little games since I have to find way’s to solve a problem in my homeland

    is this the real “the sky is falling” syndrome???

    not for ME

    #162648
    sprite
    Member

    then what happens???
    I have no idea how bad it will be and if all is lost , you are right…no safe haven anywhere. There will just be some places where the misery is a bit less as there will be places where survival will be more difficult.
    But it is arrogant and naive to believe the US is the only savior of civilization. Read back to yourself what you have written and try to hear the words with the worl view of a non north American.

    want to escape!! don’t pick Costa Rica, look at the Moon or Mars

    I love to hear and read the prophets of gloom and doom when the chips are down

    and for all of you that think that if you escape the problem by moving to a different geographycal area you will be INSULATED, good luck!!!

    “We the People” did not start in the USA, it comes from Greece, thousands of years ago, it’s called DEMOCRACY now

    you can keep playing your little games since I have to find way’s to solve a problem in my homeland

    is this the real “the sky is falling” syndrome???

    not for ME[/quote]

    #162649
    aguirrewar
    Member

    “But it is arrogant and naive to believe the US is the only savior of civilization”

    you need your analytical mind to start functioning in the right place, before the USA there was Greece

    READ again what I wrote

    I am not a GRINGO

    naci en la isla de Puerto Rico y estoy casado con una Tica, soy Hispano, hablo perfecto Espanol y Ingles, lo escribo y lo leo muy bien

    entendiste!!!

    back to the basic’s; there is a quiet revolution in the USA and REAL changes are going to happen, get your seatbelt ON because the ride will be bumpy

    and this is not about politics but about REALITY

    a 13 TRILLION debt

    2 wars

    and a burst bubble in the economy

    TIME to wake up, the ship is sinking

    you save it or you lose it???

    make up your mind on what to do NOW!!!!

    #162650
    sprite
    Member

    Yo SI soy gringo, nacido de padres anglo saxones en EEUU y casado tambien con una portorra…Que tiene que ver eso con el tema?
    If you think the US is a democracy, then you truly are misguided. Any country can call itself a democracy. That doesn’t make it one, though. You can have a democracy or you can have capitalism…but you can’t have both.
    And this is where the problem lies. Without a true democracy, the only tool left for workers to change a system is violent revolution. And then they would have to have an alternative system to put in place and one does not exist. Even if, in the unlikely event, the people were able to throw off the baking interests’ tyranny , people would most likely fall back into old habits. This seems to be a pattern.
    I am no expert in these matters. I am just another person looking at the signs. There are historical patterns for guidelines and some of those apply to our current situation. But there are other signs and conditions which are beyond our historical experience. This is the case with climate warming as it is with current world economics. We are sinking into deep doo doo with no way to pull ourselves out. I only have one question left; How long until the real pain starts?

    #162651
    aguirrewar
    Member

    Casado con una Puertoriquena (correction) Puerto Rico

    You have doubt’s of what the USA is?? many. Democracy does not work well with VIOLENCE but with votes at the election polls and we are getting closer every day

    Are you really looking for sign’s or is the blind leading the ones’ with a 20/20 eyesight

    Do you really think that history repeats itself?? Then we would be trading and bartering, not in this world economy

    and I stress WORLD from other countries like India, China, Germany, Spain etc. etc. etc.

    and the world does not mean ONLY wall street, other markets get to play in the equation and they influence each other

    you would not be perched up in that tall tree if it was not for what you made of yourself in the USA, try that in Haiti or a 4’th world country

    nice that you have a computer to answer, you must have real $$$ compared to 50% of the population in this world

    are we really SINKING or is it PAST TENSE and we are ready to correct ourself’s

    are you surrendering??

    are you giving UP???

    pity we have people that will not fight for their survivol and for these around them

    auto-survival is selfish

    who are you??

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 50 total)
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