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Messages - Guye

#76
Quote from: Pylons on April 25, 2010, 09:36:55 PM

There is a simple reason for such things.

Because America is a democracy, politicians have to get elected, clearly.

To get elected they need people to want to elect them, again clearly.

Because they need the peoples' support they'll get jelly-legged on issues such as taxes and healthcare.

And if they got elected once, the people electing them almost definitely support that politician's ideology.

Therefore, if they decide to side with the other party on a controversial issue they will often not get reelected.

Democracy sucks.

There is an old saying. Something along the lines of "Democracy is a terribly inefficient system of government. It is riddled with flaws. And it is the best one that has ever been found."
You could probably speak on the flaws of Democracy all day and not run out of topics, but does that really make it worse than say... Communism? Hell you could write an entire series of books on the flaws of Communism. But even with that said both forms of government have their own positive notes as well.

My real problem with your post is that you seem to be trying to lie an entirely human issue on Democracy. As if to say that this problem is any better in a one party system such as a Dictatorship or Communism. In this case you have the Ultimate example of partisanship, because you only have one option. Yes, politicians in Democracy have their problems, but the same can be said for.... practically every form of government in existence.

But I digress... how about another topic...

How about the big C? C-c-c-c-c-c-corruption. I suppose the topic of corruption is too broad to really be spoken on in one sitting. Perhaps... abuse of power in order to further personal gain? The advancement of personal wealth or power? Really you can find at least a half dozen stories of politicians abusing their positions in corrupt and self-serving ways in any given country. If you can't then I think its probably more likely that you just haven't seen it, not that it isn't happening. Of course, that's just my opinion. I doubt there are any of us who can say that we haven't caved to a "moment of weakness" at some point in the past, even if it was just a minor thing. Not to say that most people aren't "mostly good". It's the "mostly" part that you have to be concerned with. There will always be incidents of politicians lining their own pockets at public expense. Even if its small for this politician, even if it ends up being a rarity for this politician, it will happen. And all together you end up with a lot of small rare incidents building into a true detriment to an entire nation. And a few rare giant scandals that rock the fabric of your nation.

Of course, this is hardly limited to politics. It was Abraham Lincoln who said "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." The more power any single individual has the more likely they are to act corruptly and the greater these corruptions are likely to be. And once again this is hardly the only issue at play in the great game of politics.

You know... seems like this thread is just a vent for my frustrations...
#77
General Discussion / Re: Canada (with rules)
April 25, 2010, 08:54:48 PM
Quote from: Zackirus on April 10, 2010, 09:21:56 PM
Though, I have two questions for non-Canadians. Why do you guys have think that Toronto is the Capital of Canada when Ottawa actually is, and Why do you guys think so down on Canada (Stereotypes, our ascents, snow, beavers, and hockey)? 


For question one I would have to say that Canada rarely does anything too... showy, at least on the international stage. Its simply a matter of a topic never being raised in conversation. I've never thought Toronto was the capital, but at the same time I probably wouldn't be able to tell you that Ottawa is off the top of my head. Also I've never even heard that Canada has a Separatist party. Now that's interesting. I can't imagine having an entire party devoted to the ideals of separatism. As for your second question... everyone has stereotypes of everyone. I don't think Canadian stereotypes are particularly bad. Like you said earlier, you think of Missouri and you think of barns. You don't actually think everyone in Missouri is a backwoods farmer, but its just what the stereotype is. Its just the way the world is, or more specifically, the way people are.... Besides when I think Canadian I think... French... Bacon... and somebody finishing their sentences with eh? all the time. None of those things are inherently bad... in fact... they seem... so random. Weird. Why IS Canada famous for bacon?

Quote from: Zackirus on April 22, 2010, 11:40:48 AM
What I don't get about America though is why do they have places where you can get breakfast. There are no Denny's in Canada and I preferably like it that way. I like to wake up at 8:30 and get a simply bowl of cereal and toast.


You have places where you can go out and eat lunch, right? You don't have to. Most people don't go out to eat breakfast, but hell, why not? Is breakfast really any different from lunch? Or dinner?

Also, did you say that Separatist got a third of the seats? Or am I remembering things wrong?

Quote from: Zackirus on March 21, 2010, 06:55:08 PM
In some ways I think that the Canadian Electoral system is fairer than the US. For one instead of the entire province giving all their votes, each individual riding gives their votes. So a prime minister must make policies and visits almost everywhere in Canada as each area is important in its own way. Unlike however, the US where the leader only visits California/Texas/Florida because they have the most votes in the country.

That depends on your definition of fair. I'd say our electoral system differs the votes in different areas, because each area has a different number of people. If you gave Rhode Island the same number of votes as California then each Rhode Island individual would have around 35 times more influence than each Californian. Of course the simple solution would be to demolish the whole electoral system and revert to a simple popular vote. I think the whole electoral system was implemented in the first place because your average citizen was illiterate when the system was started.
#78
Forum Games / Re: Corrupt a Wish Foundation
April 25, 2010, 03:48:38 PM
Granted, but Presentiment has secretly hacked KZ's account, takes over the forum, and bans everyone.

I wish I had pectorals that I could crush soda cans between.
#79
Politics / Re: Third World Debt
April 25, 2010, 03:31:11 PM
Unfortunately most third world countries are stooped in corruption. It's akin to asking a drunken hobo to pay you back money you gave them. Try and actually get it back and they're just going to end up worse, let them keep it and it will be dwindled away uselessly. I've always felt that simply dropping someones debts is an irresponsible act, and if you truly wish to be humanitarian you should find a different route to keep things "equal". You could, for instance, ask for the money owe'd to be payed but have it reinvested into the countries problems yourself. As they say, if you want something done right, do it yourself. The money is technically already legally supposed to be yours.  Just a thought.
#80
General Discussion / Re: What is your motto?
April 25, 2010, 03:20:23 PM
True, but I think the meaning is implied. I have to keep reminding myself that life is a series of choices, and doing nothing is a choice that often leads to failure. I'm a procrastinator by nature you see.
#81
TSoG / Re: Yawah
April 25, 2010, 01:16:33 AM
Quote from: im2smart4u on April 20, 2010, 02:03:31 PM
Quote from: Steelfist on April 20, 2010, 11:29:02 AM
I was wondering exactly who or what yawah is; Is he even real, or just a fabrication of the cult?
Couldn't you ask that the same question about any religion and not really know the answer?

But in games you actually CAN get an answer. Will you? Who knows?

Quote from: mikew781 on April 20, 2010, 05:02:57 PM
i think he is an incredibly powerful spirit, and has begun to ask mortals to worship him.
Fighting him is likely, mabye the battles with Yawah and D'Kah will be done like the Tastidian/Nelis battles where you have to fight through D'Kah to reach Nelis

Somehow, I like this idea. Though I certainly don't hope after fighting D'Kah I go up against Nelis, which I assume was a typo on your part... unless you mean the Spirit of Nelis?!?!
#82
TSoG / Re: voice acting
April 25, 2010, 01:11:44 AM
He's probably harkening back to the old days of the "silent protagonist". I think the whole concept was to let a wider variety of players feel connected to the main character by not explicitly showing his dialog. That doesn't really apply in this game though, does it?
#83
TSoG / Re: Who is your favourite teammate?
April 25, 2010, 01:02:27 AM
Luca, because I need someone to bring back my dead. I make too many "oversights" on the battlefield and end up with dead teammates. Luca is basically my "Oh ****" button. Being able to hide and supply my other characters with Psy helps when my plans end up too overambitious. Plus, she's a ghost. How is that NOT cool?
#84
General Discussion / Re: What is your motto?
April 25, 2010, 12:09:55 AM
Life is just a long series of choices.
#85
Quote from: CraigStern on March 04, 2010, 11:56:46 AM
Actually, even programming can be kind of fun, but only the parts where I'm figuring out how to make some new system work. That's kind of like a fun puzzle. The remaining 90% of my coding time is spent fixing bugs, though, and I hate that about as much as anyone can hate anything.

What would you say was your favorite system to make?
#86
Forum Games / Re: Corrupt a Wish Foundation
April 24, 2010, 11:21:18 PM
Wish granted, Darkling becomes the ruler of the world, but as a result of him not corrupting this wish the entire world is swallowed by a paradox.

I wish I could go back and redo the things I regret.
#87
Politics / Re: What does "Yes we can" really mean
April 24, 2010, 11:14:31 PM
You know what's wrong with this? The comments. The video is a fair jab at humor and fairly creative. Some of the people it churns out of the woodwork scare me...
#88
Politics / The underlying human problems of politics
April 24, 2010, 11:04:02 PM
What do you think are the largest problems with politics, political systems, and/or politicians are? I'm not talking about supporting or denying certain issues, I'm talking about general problems that affect how the government deals with all their issues.

For example, in my opinion partisanship is a problem that seems to plague most modern "multi-party" governments today. The goal in most governments seems to be shifting or focusing blame, doubt, and discord on opposition and trying to display their own views and values as the only acceptable ones instead of finding solutions to the problems before them (not to say that they don't try to solve problems, just that it doesn't seem to be the main focus of their efforts). Basically government is an election race to fill seats with members of your party in order to pass legislation that you agree with while all the other parties do their best to blame all the problems of the day on your legislation. Eventually this combination of one sided legislation and political maneuvering of opposition leads to a shift in power. The greater the partisanship in a particular country the more extremely one sided the legislation that passes. Which further outrages other parties and leads to further partisanship. Its like a weird balancing game where everybody stacks all their chips on the sides of a big wheel, but if one team wins by too much everybody's chips fall.

Of course this is an grand over simplification of the issue (and if you disagree with it then please feel free to put me in my place) and it is certainly not even close to the only issue the makes a play in the grand game of politics. It was merely an example of what I intended when making the topic.
#89
Politics / Re: China, Google and Internet censorship
April 24, 2010, 10:23:19 PM
I have a sister that lived in China until problems were found with her daughter's passports (her's was just fine) and from what I've heard the censorship in China is wholly indefensible (in her opinion) and that on certain topics you could only guess at the truth (or accept what your told  :-X), because the information you were given was so twisted that it (the truth) was wholly unrecognizable. Of course I've never been there, but I have been told that it has imprisoned more journalists than any other country on earth.

I can understand the censorship of some topics that are widely believed to be immoral, though the means with which this censorship would take place and the content which could be censored would have to be very clear and defined in a "fair" and non-invasive manner (I can understand it, I'm not for it). But when it is a government who decides what is considered "seditious" then I can't stand by it. Giving a powerful leader the ability to whitewash anything that makes him/her/them look bad (implicitly or no) is just asking for trouble. Honestly, I don't think there is a government on earth that I would trust with such a responsibility.

Why would a country need to censor "seditious" ideas, anyways? If they are ridiculous then you only need to rely on your ability to adequately explain to your people why it is so. If they aren't ridiculous then they shouldn't be censored in the first place. It is the people who should decide if the content they are reading is immoral or not. In my opinion, a governments role is to serve the wills of the largest number of its people possible, to the best of its ability, regardless of what that will is.

Also I've been suspicious of Google ever since they started that "Don't be Evil" thing.  :P