Hmm. Interesting. Though I will point out that not voting simply leaves more influence for those who would take advantage of it. We may not like the results, but most people who vote see it as trying to keep the situation contained to the lesser of two evils.
And in terms of the mainstream media lying to you, I'll toss on this
Hey Paul. Long time no see speak.
By the way, I do think we're overdue for a random conversation about religion, if I can spare the RC's. We'll see. Been meaning to start that up just to see where it goes ever since I saw you say that
A successful religion will insist that it's congregation never try to understand their own mind, and those followers who wish to dabble in the study of mind are smitten, and are told that their god doesn't approve of such dangerous thought. Thinking about our own thoughts is discouraged in religious circles, since we are the real creators of the world, and religion obviously can't handle that kind of competition.
Ok, I'd rather respectfully point out that that's not always true, that many religions encourage greater mental growth and exploration with fascinating undercurrents of mysticism. Of course, that may just be my bias. Be that as it may...
Hi hyperbole. I know a lot of people who use the 'lesser of two evils' template when they vote, but I have been logically observing the results of that method; they always end up with something that is still evil. Such a vote may satisfy the feelings of the voter, but still yields perpetual wars, so the tactic doesn't seem to change anything except the for the disposition of the voter. Whether voting for or against a particular parasite, the result is inevitably going to be the empowerment of more parasites.
Living here in the center of the USA, I'm usually referring to mainstream Christianity when I use the term 'religion', so I didn't mean to include every religion in my statement. I've been part of groups that encouraged me to reconnect (re-lig - ion) with my spirituality, so I know that not all religions are mind-control devices trying to bind the spirit.
I'll always upvote your replies as a way to hopefully replace any spent RC's, so please don't hesitate to comment here, I'll pay you!
Hmm. not really complaining 'bout that/ asking for upvotes, just thinking I may run out soon.
At 30% pre-comment and dropping swiftly...
In any case. In terms of voting, I actually think the benefit is less the whole "lesser of two evils" thing, and more the fact that now you've voted.
I don't know, I've been told numerous times that when one calls/contacts a politician (representative) with a complaint or a request, the first thing the politician does is have someone check if the requestor voted. If so - he tends to at least consider the request, if not -...
Now, obviously they can't check who you voted for, so you have plenty of opportunities... you could vote for Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, perhaps even yourself, and thereby not fueling any parasites (unless there's something you haven't told me about yourself...)
I can't confirm that this is true, I don't have access to any politician's offices. But... if it is, you're losing influence by not voting, a sad but simple fact.
And I was really hoping you'd have something interesting to say about religion - that could have sparked a fascinating conversation.
I was just hoping my upvotes would balance your RC upwards, but I'm still not sure how that all works.
I wrote 'my' congressman a few years back, before the US began it's destruction of Iraq, hoping that my voice would be heard. I didn't vote for the guy, but his office sent me a form letter explaining how attacking Iraq was necessary (a necessary evil?). After reading the letter, I could see that the congressman had no more say in the matter than I did. He was doing what he was told to do. Voting only keeps things like they are, and nothing more. Voting only creates the illusion of influence, that is the sad fact.
As to religion, my reply was simply agreeing with you that not all religions are bad. I'm often careful to use words like 'most', 'many' or 'often' so that I don't generalize too much. The breakdown of the word religion has been interpreted to mean 'to re-bind', as in binding the follower's mind to a certain doctrine, but in the more positive sense that I used it in earlier, it can also mean to re-connect to our spirituality. I would guess that most major religions attempt to bind the mind, while there are some religions that strive to reconnect us to our vital spirituality. I guess that's all I had to say on religion in that context, maybe I misunderstood your comment about it.
From what I understand, the RC only gets rebalanced when the SP goes up, which will only happen when the comment hits payout. Also, from what I understand 1 SP = approx. 2k vests, 1k vests = approx 1 G RC (1 billion). According to https://beempy.com/resource_costs (run by @holger80, number 77 of the witnesses) the cost of a 250 byte comment is approx. 1.2 G RC, and every 250 bytes from there add on around a tenth of a G RC.
Based on the value I get from an 18% vote from you (0.042 SP), even if you gave me a 100% upvote I would get approx. 0.23333333333 SP, or .466 G RC.
So... basically you wouldn't be able to provide me with another comment for another week, and even then it would take about three 100% upvotes...
Sadly, considering my proclivity towards long comments and conversations, this system is not going to treat me well until I grow or invest. Thanks anyway for trying.
(This is basically my understanding of the system using the tools available to me. I don't know, some days it feels like someone with a better understanding should provide a more user-friendly guide to costs. Nonetheless, I digress.)
In any case, I was slightly disappointed that you understood, and agreed with, my points on religion. While agreement and harmony may make for a kinder, more peaceful world, respectful argument often leads to the most interesting places.