American culture and Materialism

[MiChuhSuh]

To anyone who's been in America for more than a week, I don't even have to explain how messed up the general perspective is here. Families are in debt and can't pay rent and the kids are getting sh*tty grades, but they have the latest Sidekick and 20 pairs of shoes. Why are people so stupid in their priorities?

And please, give me an answer that doesn't blame the outside.

It's really disgusting. Some idiot was outside of McDonald's begging people, talking about how hard life is and stuff so I gave him a dollar, then he went inside and not only does he ordre more expensive food then me, he orders a meal and makes it large. Yankees.

[Rollin_inmy_SixFo]

If it's that bad then SPLIT.

[MiChuhSuh]

lol tell that to.... ?

I know real people here, my family is mostly here now, too. But every year the mentallity seems worse. It's pretty bad in some other countries too, and in the countries where they aren't materialistic, it's because they have bigger problems to worry about. Like basic necessities or freedom.

[Mcminister]

shittttt dats what i be tellin my grl man..i go to her house her family is broke...complainin trippin over bills n u kno what they eat...some gormai( how ever u speell it) i tell her why don yall like cut down on the blowin ur money so fast then...but its mostly her parents fault.....people here crazy...especialy in houston...niggaz got 4000 dollar rims but say life is hard the struggle man...u feel me...im like .....people go shoppin buyin 3000 dollar grillz..n they ain ballin they livin in the projects,...i dono how to put it man, but people really do need to prioratize n stop the madness

in africa wen i was a kid i use to only have pop n all that on weekends,it was water all week, no ice cream after lunch n dinner ...not coz we cudnt aford it but jst coz thats not a need its a want...n that lil money u wastin on that shit if saved up can amount to alot in the end of the year n u can move on up...or save for ur kids college...dats for low class folk atleast..i mean dats how it was

[MiChuhSuh]

in africa wen i was a kid i use to only have pop n all that on weekends,it was water all week, no ice cream after lunch n dinner ...not coz we cudnt aford it but jst coz thats not a need its a want...n that lil money u wastin on that shit if saved up can amount to alot in the end of the year n u can move on up...or save for ur kids college...dats for low class folk atleast..i mean dats how it was

And people complain about us "foreign folk" that are "taking over the hood/country". We have/had less than them, they just don't know how to use what they have. I eat off 21 dollars a week - I just found out that that's less than what people on food stamps get!

I know what you mean people try to look ballin on no money. That's how their asses get in debt. F*ck appearance, I have 5 pairs of pants, they've lasted me the last 3 years (dickies last long and they were baggy when I first got them). Except for two good suits for special events I got 9 shirts - all originally bought at 3 for $10 plain solid AAA's. My cell phone is still the first cell phone I got. I'm in college, I'm not gonna waste money, if I had extra cash I would spend it on either computer parts (I'm a CS major) or books.

[Rollin_inmy_SixFo]

OK I know what you mean now.

I've met people that drive nice BMW's on rims and they struggling, living in an APARTMENT lol. True about the food thing too, people living in the ghetto and spending $400 a week on FOOD. Alot of people just don't know any better.

[punamusta]

I think that the main reason is that you are taught wrong. Society has a huge role in schooling the people. If society praises the materialism, then people learn to praise materialism.

in africa wen i was a kid i use to only have pop n all that on weekends,it was water all week, no ice cream after lunch n dinner ...not coz we cudnt aford it but jst coz thats not a need its a want...n that lil money u wastin on that shit if saved up can amount to alot in the end of the year n u can move on up...or save for ur kids college...dats for low class folk atleast..i mean dats how it was

I know what you're saying. We also drunk only water with dinner, you weren't allow to complain about the food, and you always had to eat your plate empty (throwing food away was out of the question). We got candies maybe once or twice in a month, our mother made and sew up our clothes, we had no computers or computer games. We basically lived how we could afford to live. And I still keep living like that. I can't afford to buy new clothes or shoes or whatever all the time, so I wear anything I have until it breaks down. And I don't buy new cell phones, the one I got is about 5 years old, but it still works so what a hell. Furnitures in my appartment are all either used or free of cost. I basically don't buy anything that I really don't need.

The only thing I really put money on is food. Good and healthy food is the main thing as food is your fuel. Too bad that the healthy food costs the most...

[MiChuhSuh]

^ I have found ways around that dilemma... just that it tastes bad after a while but you get used to it. At least when you're not eating out with people you could save money.

[A Ghost]

To anyone who's been in America for more than a week, I don't even have to explain how messed up the general perspective is here. Families are in debt and can't pay rent and the kids are getting sh*tty grades, but they have the latest Sidekick and 20 pairs of shoes. Why are people so stupid in their priorities?

And please, give me an answer that doesn't blame the outside.

It's really disgusting. Some idiot was outside of McDonald's begging people, talking about how hard life is and stuff so I gave him a dollar, then he went inside and not only does he ordre more expensive food then me, he orders a meal and makes it large. Yankees.

[MiChuhSuh]

I used to like Immortal Technique because a couple of his songs were cool but after talking to him he is really an arrogant asshole and when I asked him about communism he admitted he didn't actually know much which kind of kills his message. I think I posted about it before but he basically admitted that he had nothing to defend the way that real communism has been implemented in the world, so what's with all the idealism?

Communism is SLAVERY. The government owns the land, the means of production, and the product. They then assign you work and redistribute the product according to their own agenda, meaning they give you enough food and stuff so you don't die, but horde the surplus for themselves.

Communism is plantation politics at a national level!

[A Ghost]

I used to like Immortal Technique because a couple of his songs were cool but after talking to him he is really an arrogant ahole and when I asked him about communism he admitted he didn't actually know much which kind of kills his message. I think I posted about it before but he basically admitted that he had nothing to defend the way that real communism has been implemented in the world, so what's with all the idealism?

Communism is SLAVERY. The government owns the land, the means of production, and the product. They then assign you work and redistribute the product according to their own agenda, meaning they give you enough food and stuff so you don't die, but horde the surplus for themselves.

Communism is plantation politics at a national level!

Yeah I dont agree with communism but I support the community waking up and demanding their jobs back, better education, health care and stuff like that....

[punamusta]

^ I have found ways around that dilemma... just that it tastes bad after a while but you get used to it. At least when you're not eating out with people you could save money.

I've heard somewhere before that Americans eat out a lot, is that really true..? How often?

I eat out maybe once or twice in a month, and even that is usually just some falafel or pizza that I might buy when I'm drunk in town. Apart from that I always cook my own food.

Communism is SLAVERY. The government owns the land, the means of production, and the product. They then assign you work and redistribute the product according to their own agenda, meaning they give you enough food and stuff so you don't die, but horde the surplus for themselves.

In communism that agenda should mean the workers agenda. That's communism. If that agenda isn't the worker's agenda, then the system isn't communist system anymore, even if it's called that.

[MiChuhSuh]

^ see but the workers never get to be in the decision making position, because in a nation larger than a million people, there is no way they can easily rotate everyone through government. The only way they can have any real decision on what the agenda is is to vote - oh wait, that's democracy! That's a free republic! That's not in communism!

The idealism of communism will never happen unless a country is made up of 1,000 people, and even then there will be marginalized and abused individuals, and of course this is purely theory.

Communism has always worked that way and still does.

[perongregory]

I used to like Immortal Technique because a couple of his songs were cool but after talking to him he is really an arrogant ahole and when I asked him about communism he admitted he didn't actually know much which kind of kills his message. I think I posted about it before but he basically admitted that he had nothing to defend the way that real communism has been implemented in the world, so what's with all the idealism?

Communism is SLAVERY. The government owns the land, the means of production, and the product. They then assign you work and redistribute the product according to their own agenda, meaning they give you enough food and stuff so you don't die, but horde the surplus for themselves.

Communism is plantation politics at a national level!

I've met him a grip of times and he was cool all the time, he aint no arrogant asshole. And who says he's a communist? I never heard him espousing communism but you might know something more?

[MiChuhSuh]

^ Alright I guess my description was innacurrate, so to give detail, his manners are fine and demeanor is cool, but his thought process is irrational.

I was kind of surprised when he was saying that communism is the way to go since he claims to be Muslim and when communism, at least in its pure form, is against all religion. And when communism has opposed both Christianity and Islam so much.

We had a back and forth where I kept emphasizing how both his Islamic belief and my Christian beliefs cannot mix with "pure" communistic ideals at least in the way that it is implemented, and also showed how slavery compared with "real world" communism since he insisted that capitalism was slavery. I also talked about my family's experiences with the introduction of communism in Korea and their eventual takeover of North Korea. He then backpedaled and admitted that there has never been a truly good government before and then started bringing things up like even the Christian and Islamic empires have had abuses and how both Christian and Muslim emperors have abused their power of the people. Which didn't make sense to me since he ended it there - why bring it up when it had nothing to do with defending communism? Later I got his email from a mutual friend and emailed him about communism again since I was unsatisfied with his justification and he never replied, so I just left it at that.

I don't mean he was arrogant in the way he spoke, I mean that he was arrogant in the sense that when I brought up contradicting evidence he simply changes the subject then ignores it.

Anyways, you don't need to meet him to know that in a few songs he pushes the idea that capitalism enslaves people (which is might and has already done) but he also propagates the idea that either a socialist or a communist (they are different) society would free people from their problems. The only song I can think off the top of my head is just a couple lines in "Dance with the Devil" but in that song he wanted socialism not communism. But some Muslim I know had a song where he directly talks about Fidel Castro and goes all-out communist but I don't know the name of the song, I might dig it up later.

[perongregory]

I never got the impression that he was pushin communism, just that he looks up to supports alot of communist, socialist "revolutionaries" -past and present.

[Cold Bear]

I kind of respect coming at a guy you don't know on some political shit, to challenge him, but at the same time, e-mailing him and haranguing him about this topic is probably just a little too much. Sound like you were the one coming off like a dick a little bit. The guy is into research, and if he has a purpose does his best to look up facts to support him, for example I researched things with him about the music industry. After his lead I found some interesting things out that I personally didn't know about before about government agendas mixing in with who is picked for jobs in the RIAA etc. etc. etc.

As far as socialism, he is socialist in the same vein as many Latin American leftist governments that have been subverted and batted down by dictatorships sponsored by American imperialism. You coming to the table without knowing the long line of socialist or socialist leaning freedom fighters and governments in South and Central America who get overturned by CIA-funded, super conservative governments such as Pinochet's, and then tortured and disbanded, means that YOU are at the disadvantage here. We are not talking Marx books in Socialism class with all the essays and philosophy, we are talking about a decades long physical struggle of socialist ideals in a continent choked by American capitalism. For poorer countries that are 60% in poverty, the only option is usually some type of socialized government, to reverse all the damage that has been done by selling off all the national resources and infrastructure to the most well-connected bidding corporation from the US.

If you really want to get into politics there are people like Victor Toro who was a freedom fighter in the MIR and a Bronx activist who was recently in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/nyreg ... f=nyregion
At the end of the day you can only hold the artist accountable as an artist and look at who he's speaking for.