Ultrathread I: Thread of the Year - 2014

[Dragon2010]

I'd probably go with the USA. Such an interesting country, and when they celebrate things, they go all out. I loved Memorial Day weekend, weekends at the Jersey Shore, 4th of July, Thanksgiving etc. And their sport is massive, I'd love to have grown up with a passion for it. Tailgating games and concerts as well! I just love America. Unfortunately, I love Australia more, and couldn't stomach being away from it. It really is an awesome country, and I still have so much of it that I would like to see.

Australia is a great country, there will be parts of it I miss when I'm gone. Mostly, the ability to easily get my hands on milo and TimTams, as well as ElJannah.

I plan to see as much as I can when over there, and hopefully, I'm able to achieve at a minimum; California, Montana (Given), Vegas, New York and Atlanta (Family there).

I think the biggest part of why I travel (well, maybe the second part after not wanting to feel obliged to find a career and settle down) is that I don't feel that way about Australia.

I love and am proud of my country, and I certainly miss my friends and family, but I always feel so lost when I'm home for long. I don't fit there.

Over here I'm a teacher and a key part of the social fabric of whatever city I live in. I'm a sometime TV star and get stopped in the street for photos or halting conversation. I'm a model and a tutor and a vital commodity.

At home, I'm just another overweight guy with a degree in an increasingly shallow and predictable culture.

I'm never coming home. Not for good.

That's a very interesting point you raise. I wonder, is it that you feel different to the country, or more so you don't like the people/lifestyle of said countr?

 

[HowHigh]

I wouldn't change my youth (15-23) for anything, amazing times!

But USA sounds like it would have been cool to grow up in, perhaps England as well.

Don't really know enough about other cultures to make the call on them.

 

[Misanthrope]

Australia is a great country, there will be parts of it I miss when I'm gone. Mostly, the ability to easily get my hands on milo and TimTams, as well as ElJannah.

I can almost guarantee that the things you end up missing most, aren't on this list.

They never have been with me. Every time I rattle off foods and experiences I'll miss, but it's the things you forget about that you really find yourself longing for.

That's a very interesting point you raise. I wonder, is it that you feel different to the country, or more so you don't like the people/lifestyle of said countr?

I think it's a lot of the former, and the latter is probably what I was trying to describe (however poorly) in the paragraph after the one you bolded.

 

[Dragon2010]

I can almost guarantee that the things you end up missing most, aren't on this list.

They never have been with me. Every time I rattle off foods and experiences I'll miss, but it's the things you forget about that you really find yourself longing for.

What would they be exactly?

I can't exactly see my self missing many things.

 

[Misanthrope]

What would they be exactly?

I can't exactly see my self missing many things.

Varies from person to person. For me, being in China, it's things like looking up at the stars at night, the sound of the wind in the back paddock at my folks' place, sausage rolls when I'm drunk, Guyra runs to the servo with my brother, Christmas beetles, the beach, blue skies, falling asleep on a couch, footy season etc.

 

[Gas Panic!]

Nice list Mis. Can totally understand missing those.

 

[Red Bear]

However, we can't expect developing nations to simply stop polluting because we have the 'wisdom' to know better. They have roughly ten million reasons not to trust white people telling them "Trust us, we know what's good for you" with the whole colonialism thing. Most of the developing world still has a narrative running through their societies about the humiliation of that whole era and a level of mistrust at the political level of 'White science.' I've met quite a few educated people in China, India and Southeast Asia who honestly believe that global warming is a plot by Western Nations to deny their nations living standards similar to ours. Good luck with beating that attitude.

Alot of what I've seen though accepts that there will be increases in emissions from the developing world, and that it's their right as they transition to more developed countries to exploit these cheap opportunities.

The onus is more on the western world, who uses far, far more resources/capita than the earth can handle, to bring there's down, because they can afford to and have the resources to develop alternative methods.

Obviously we wouldn't want emissions to hit current western levels. There's a point we should be aiming to reduce to that meets about the peak levels of desireable emissions from the developing world.

This requires a pretty big mentality shift in both the west and the rest though. Lots of conflicting views on how to achieve all this etc.

 

[muzby]

R.I.P. Franz Ferdinand...

 

[Jason Maher]

Who?

 

[Drew-Sta]

I think the biggest part of why I travel (well, maybe the second part after not wanting to feel obliged to find a career and settle down) is that I don't feel that way about Australia.

I love and am proud of my country, and I certainly miss my friends and family, but I always feel so lost when I'm home for long. I don't fit there.

Over here I'm a teacher and a key part of the social fabric of whatever city I live in. I'm a sometime TV star and get stopped in the street for photos or halting conversation. I'm a model and a tutor and a vital commodity.

At home, I'm just another overweight guy with a degree in an increasingly shallow and predictable culture.

I'm never coming home. Not for good.

What I think you're hitting on is the notion of community. Australia's sense of 'community' has eroded a great deal, particularly in Sydney. We just don't 'do things' together as a people. It's sad, but I see it.

The other thing you're touching on is what I call 'traveler intensity'. I have never, ever had such powerful friendships and experiences as when I lived overseas - particularly with ex pats. But you will only experience that type of relationship with people when you are in ex pat situations.

'Home' is an elusive concept. We need one. To not have one sees us freewheel. What is 'home', though, is a matter of philosophical debate far deeper than what can be provided here.

 

[Drew-Sta]

Also, even though JM will not agree, this man's election is a very, very scary prospect and moves us closer to becoming the worst of American society.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/david-leyonhjelm-trouble-shooter-20140623-3an2u.html

 

[muzby]

What I think you're hitting on is the notion of community. Australia's sense of 'community' has eroded a great deal, particularly in Sydney. We just don't 'do things' together as a people. It's sad, but I see it.

The other thing you're touching on is what I call 'traveler intensity'. I have never, ever had such powerful friendships and experiences as when I lived overseas - particularly with ex pats. But you will only experience that type of relationship with people when you are in ex pat situations.

'Home' is an elusive concept. We need one. To not have one sees us freewheel. What is 'home', though, is a matter of philosophical debate far deeper than what can be provided here.

people seek out, and look to form bonds with, those who are most similar to themselves for a sense of security and community..

this is why the travel linkage works so well.. In a foreign land where you can feel isolated, finding kindred spirits helps to ease that pain..

to a lesser extent, the same works with supporters of the same sporting team..

and for those of us who time travel, finding people from a similar time as your own helps as you can at least have an adult discussion comparing and contrasting your own time to the one you have travelled to..

trying to explain the i-pod to that 1800's gold miner was impossible...

 

[Misanthrope]

What I think you're hitting on is the notion of community. Australia's sense of 'community' has eroded a great deal, particularly in Sydney. We just don't 'do things' together as a people. It's sad, but I see it.

The other thing you're touching on is what I call 'traveler intensity'. I have never, ever had such powerful friendships and experiences as when I lived overseas - particularly with ex pats. But you will only experience that type of relationship with people when you are in ex pat situations.

'Home' is an elusive concept. We need one. To not have one sees us freewheel. What is 'home', though, is a matter of philosophical debate far deeper than what can be provided here.

I can definitely attest to that traveler intensity. I've had some fast and fierce friendships while abroad, and only a handful of those have lasted in any meaningful way beyond a few months after I've left.

Of the, oh, two hundred or so people I've considered 'friends' while traveling, I regularly talk to only a dozen or so. Lots of general well-wishers and drinking companions, but not a great deal of friendships of substance.

It might also explain the fierce intensity and rapid dissolution of some of my romantic relationships too...

Also, even though JM will not agree, this man's election is a very, very scary prospect and moves us closer to becoming the worst of American society.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/david-leyonhjelm-trouble-shooter-20140623-3an2u.html

Jeez, half of his policy I agree with (gay marriage, voluntary euthanasia, legalizing cannabis) and the other half I'm so violently against that it makes me ill.

 

[goodplayer]

What would they be exactly?

I can't exactly see my self missing many things.

like things you take for granted ;-)

 

[RHCP]

f**k that line about good guys with guns infuriates me, and 'law abiding citizens'. All the dickheads who go on shooting rampages were 'law abiding citizens' and 'good guys' when they got their weapons.

You know the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun? Don't let him have a gun; you can't stab up a school. I understand it really isn't feasible in the US but to say the Howard policies weren't a good idea is outrageous.

"I'd just take them out and pat them", then you don't need them one bit.

 

[Misanthrope]

like things you take for granted ;-)

Pretty much this. It's not a character failing or anything, it's just that (to quote an oft overused expression): you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

f**k that line about good guys with guns infuriates me, and 'law abiding citizens'. All the dickheads who go on shooting rampages were 'law abiding citizens' and 'good guys' when they got their weapons.

You know the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun? Don't let him have a gun; you can't stab up a school. I understand it really isn't feasible in the US but to say the Howard policies weren't a good idea is outrageous.

"I'd just take them out and pat them", then you don't need them one bit.

His stance on guns was what surprised me most. For a guy with such left wing views on virtually everything else, that's a stance usually associated with hard-line right wing nuts.

We don't need guns in Australia. We're doing just fine without them.

 

[Jason Maher]

Also, even though JM will not agree, this man's election is a very, very scary prospect and moves us closer to becoming the worst of American society.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/david-leyonhjelm-trouble-shooter-20140623-3an2u.html

I presume you are referring to his stance on guns. Answer me one question (quote from David in the article): why should criminals and the state be the only ones to possess guns? Gun control takes weapons away from law abiding citizens only.

 

[Jason Maher]

The whole left-right paradigm is bullshit. The correct paradigm is individual freedom and autonomy vs collective state power.

 

[Misanthrope]

I presume you are referring to his stance on guns. Answer me one question (quote from David in the article): why should criminals and the state be the only ones to possess guns? Gun control takes weapons away from law abiding citizens only.

That last statement is pure fallacy. While it's true that some criminals have access to guns via illegal channels, it makes it vastly more difficult (and more expensive) for those outside of law enforcement to get their hands on them.

We still get the occasional shooting in Australia, but that number would surely rise if every dude with a grievance or petty criminal could get his hands on them easily.

I assume you're not questioning the concept of law enforcement having weapons but citizens not, since it's basically what organized civilisation has been based on since well before guns existed.

 

[Jason Maher]

And seriously, if people who look at the world differently to you fill you with fear or make you ill, I'd suggest the problem lies with you.