Effort. You really do need a lot of it. (in Links)

http://www.google.co.uk

Please read.

So true.

I like how your PG standards are lax.

And I was one of those in college who thought I deserved to be the top. I turned down a $45k job in '03 before I even graduated. A year later, I took a job making $29k with a raging jackass of a boss who even lied about benefits and advancement. That job didn't last too long. I learned otherwise.

Hmm, mine aren't though Demigod.

Link deleted :p

With all the hours I spent on CB, I deserve the right to be one of the best!

lol. You know, that's exactly what I like about CB. It's wonderfully life-like. It's not one of those games you play where you beat a boss and you win. Or you reach a level-cap and you're equally tough as other people.

No way. You have to keep at it.

Do we at least get a hint about what we're supposed to "google about" because we can't allow the act of voluntarily not clicking on a link which was warned as non-PG to be allowed to be possible ?

Send me the link please. :)

Me too!

I dunno, what this article misses I think is the reason people are so averse to working. The moral value of hard work has been dead. Most folks I know born after nineteen eighty have known nothing but greed and corruption as the true roads to success. I will be forever grateful that despite my own uselessness I was exposed to hardworking people through my family and friends, I appreciate what those who lived through the great depression went through and am constantly amazed at how few folks seem to give a crap about those who before us toiled endlessly on our behalf. Accepting that it's hard to master something, and that it takes work is difficult, what I find amazing is that we don't understand what a feat simply surviving is for many, many people. We are a coddled, spoon-fed, ignorant, and complacent people.

outsourcing jobs/industry, the corruption of unions, constant handouts (i.e. welfare), dishonest government officials, lack of true leadership... there is a lot to digest when you look at everything, if possible. And it is mind boggling.

We saw some people using food stamps the other week ... buying a BOX of crab legs at Sam's Club. That's about .. $250+? I didn't even know crab legs came in a box like that, and I watch Deadliest Catch sometimes. Just ridiculous.

I wish I had foodstamps :)

I never knew they had foodstamps worth $250+....

Sure they do. That is just your whole month's worth and for more than 1 person likely.

It's not handouts, governmental corruption, or foodstamps that have broken the moral backbone of the populace. Capitalism has turned upon itself, instead of being a fair equitable system that rewarded value and labor the top end has simply become a feeding frenzy of the greedy and criminally insane. How can we expect young people to value working hard when everything they see or hear directs them towards a "gotta get mine" bottom line economic outlook. I know that when I see unfettered hateful greed it bothers me, I also know that I'm in the minority today. How you earn your money is no ones business but yours in today's society. Cheating is assumed. Getting caught is the only thing really frowned upon.

I'm an idealist, and a foolish one at that, but I think we can do better.

If children lack the drive for hardwork, I would place most of it on their parents. I gained all of my drive and determination from my parents, especially seeing my dad work 50+ hours a week and many vacations and weekends. He doesn't have a great job, but he has enough for us to live well when he works that hard, and that is what I strive to be like.

Nov, it isn't just one thing that has turned upon itself to get us where we are now today. It is a combination of everything, and if you don't think those things listed promote laziness, look again.

As far as greed, yes.. that is the basis for outsourcing all our jobs and industry to foreign countries.

Ask the people in former communist countries that are now rampantly capitalistic what they think.
You'll get an almost completely overwhelming response of "communism was better" from the people that actually were part of the working class back then and still are nowadays.

Foodstamps really strikes me as a terrible program. WIC, on the other hand, is how it should be done. WIC is another program and it lists different healthy foods you can get in exact amounts. Foodstamps just gives out money with the only restriction that it be food.

I worked as a cashier at a major retailer for quite a while and saw a ton of foodstamps abuse. Sure, a few people bought food for meals, but they were the exception. The vast majority seem to buy pop, chips, and steaks. I've lost track of the times I've seen people load up on hundreds of dollars of steaks and every sort of expensive meats.

What is this thread about? I just see a link to UK's Google.

Sickone, basis everything you just said? Proof? That is one of the most general 'made up' scenarios I have seen in the forums to date. No offense, but you can't just say that. Show some links or proof. That is willlldly assumptive.

kevlar: Depending on the person you ask you really get those answers. In polls in east Germany (where I lived) you get results of about 50% who think that socialism did them less harm. In the more eastern countries you have similar results. Ask those who either hated socialism or made a fortune after the change and they will answer the opposite. A common answer by anyone not on the winning side to this question is: In eastern times we had money but couldn't buy anything, now we can buy anything you can think of but can't afford it. You could argue that they just have to work hard, but the "American Dream" didn't come true there, many people being rich now gained it through corruption. Worst thing is that among those are many that also were on top in socialism.

Many hopes the people had (and they where partly induced by populist politicians) just failed to come true. The early 90s where one hell of a "the one who cheats most wins" fest. For a really bad recent example look at Hungaria (which was one of the more western leaning countries during the cold war, they even had trade relationships with the west) where corruption lead to the rise of neo-fascist in the parliament.

murr hurr, my question please.

It's about people feeling they're owed success for mediocre effort. The article's title and example was of The Karate Kid going from failure to hero in a few short video montages when "expert" status takes closer to 10,000 hours (or 2 hours/day for 14 years as stated in the article).

As a "local" of one of those countries (Romania), I think I might know a little what I'm talking about.
I was in highschool when the Romanian revolution started, but my parents were obviously working back then, and are still working now (well, my mother retired last year, but my father's still working).

There were even TV shows (a couple of years ago) with polls about exactly this issue, after some leadership-related scandals and upcoming elections. Can't say I paid complete attention, but this is what I vaguely remember...
...a noticeable majority of people aged 45 to 60 now (back then 25 to 40) were of the opinion it was overall better before the revolution, while most of the rest were undecided... very few from that age group claimed they like it more now.
Younger people (30 to 45 now, 10 to 25 back then) were split between undecided and liking it more now.