Something about engines, horsepower, and emissions.

[gamecube6]

National happiness has been on a decline in America since the 50's.

Other than that, your points are well taken. But to invest in a country requires lots of money. Like a government has. I'd personally invest the money to build an infrastructure and become lord of Africa or whatever, but I only have $35 in my wallet.

XPCportables hit it right on the head, we haven't done anything to harm them, they've brought it upon themselves.

You jumped from waste to recycling to education to happiness. Its not because they're connected as much as you're just using them as backup arguments.

[Kurt_]

Once again, I direct you all (WHO CLEARLY HAVE NOT WATCHED THE VIDEO) to www.thestoryofstuff.com

They are indeed all related.

Mass consumerism - Buying stuff we don't really need. Planned obsolecense and Perceived obsolescence. The man makes us want new stuff even though our old stuff is fine. The man also designs things to break/be obsolete as soon as possible "while still leaving us with enough faith in the product to go out and buy another".

Leads to a decline in happiness - Because all we do it work to afford things that break or that get thrown out or are now obsolete, even though they might be fine. (Even though we don't need to).

This leads to a loss of free time - Because we're working for crap we don't need. We have less leisure time now than ever since the great depression or something. Watch the video.

It also leads to excess waste - Which pollutes our environment, fills landfills (which then gets burned or sent out on barges).

As far as education and health care in 3rd world countries goes, that's what we could be using our extra time and money for instead of paying to fill our planet with junk. It's not directly related, but to call it unrelated would be untrue.

[Rekarp]

I am happy >_> Sure I have to stay up to 2 oclock and get 5 hours of sleep every night and that sucks (Engineering WOOOOooooooooooo) But yah I am a pretty happy guy.

[SonyPortableizer]

Leads to a decline in happiness - Because all we do it work to afford things that break or that get thrown out or are now obsolete, even though they might be fine. (Even though we don't need to).

Im sorry, im sorry but uh thats total BS. Um just tell me again what this website does...Oh yea I remember we take old gaming systems and make them fun and reusable again. So yea, plus I've never fried anything so I dont create waste doing it.
And, I play a single videogame for about 8-9 months before I buy a new one, GTA 4 lasted me a year, left 4 dead will last another 6, NFSMW lasted me 2 years. And I dont, I got an old laptop instead of a new one, I want a better one and can afford it (Long story Rekarp) but I went with the older one because I dont need all the bells and whistles, I have only bought 1 ipod and have had it for a while, even with the new ones. The other one I won and use it so the other doesnt get stolen.
I dont go with the trends, or need to replace the old things unless theyr broken beyond extent. my PS2 laptop cardboard A. it was easy to use B. to reuse the cardboard, reused usb port, reused screen etc.

As far as education and health care in 3rd world countries goes, that's what we could be using our extra time and money for instead of paying to fill our planet with junk. It's not directly related, but to call it unrelated would be untrue.

I have donated to charity once, I was going to buy a videogame at gamestop, but the guy with the bell at the supermarket had me decide to donate all $5 (Its not a lot but the game cost $4, and thats all I had with me) So I dont fill the planet with junk. I dont waste a lot, I waste fruit snack papers, packages(Like the box to a Airsoft gun) and maybe over a month a serving of food.

This leads to a loss of free time - Because we're working for crap we don't need. We have less leisure time now than ever since the great depression or something. Watch the video.

I have a job, what did I buy with it, (Dont laugh) $1700 in ford stock, $200 in GE, and 1000 in RFIDs
Oh yea im not an adult im 15, so thats pretty good. I didnt put a single cent from my job earnings anywhere else then stock. Now its worth like $300, but whatever.

I have also seen the video, and think its so one sided, and just made to have us think were so terrible, and america sucks. because with America's waste we would need 3 more planets (Then proceeds to drawing 3 other planets with bulldozers on them)
Or america being a tank, but no we cant do that, so well use a big fat man, then the corporations are bigger then the man, and they control him. id rather watch snakes on a plant or plat ET on the atari 2600, then re-watch that video.
So say most next time not all, and not all of use waste a lot, or follow the trends, so yea.

[Rekarp]

Leads to a decline in happiness - Because all we do it work to afford things that break or that get thrown out or are now obsolete, even though they might be fine. (Even though we don't need to).

As Triton would tell you. I only buy American if possible. If I can't do that then I buy a Japan made product. Yes I own very expensive toys but I plan on passing them down to my children and grandchildren when I get to old to work on cars and in my shop.

[nevermind1534]

Leads to a decline in happiness - Because all we do it work to afford things that break or that get thrown out or are now obsolete, even though they might be fine. (Even though we don't need to).

As Triton would tell you. I only buy American if possible. If I can't do that then I buy a Japan made product. Yes I own very expensive toys but I plan on passing them down to my children and grandchildren when I get to old to work on cars and in my shop.

+1

[Triton]

im guilty of buying cheap chinese made crap, our hobby couldnt exist the way it does without it (NOACS, clone sneses, cheap electronics parts etc)

Planned obsolecense and Perceived obsolescence. The man makes us want new stuff even though our old stuff is fine. The man also designs things to break/be obsolete as soon as possible "while still leaving us with enough faith in the product to go out and buy another".

i agree with you on this, most americans are consumer whores and the above is horrible. i am (for the most part) not one of those people. nearly EVERYTHING I OWN was bought at a garagesale, auction or goodwill/salvation army. and there are certian things (furniture, electric fans, some other electric appliances) that i would NEVER buy new, new stuff is garbage.

for example, the fan i have in my bedroom is a 1930s westinghouse electric fan, its made of cast iron with Micarta blades weighs over twenty pounds and works as good as the day it was made SEVENTY PLUS YEARS AGO (by my best guess its a 1935 model or so) and the old fans when running properly draw more or less the same power as a new one. another example is the fridge we recently gave my sister, parents bought it new in 1988 or 1989 and it still works just fine, our new one (bought in the early 2000s) has broken down twice

[SonyPortableizer]

Same with cars, remember when it used to be just the engine under the hood (I wasnt alive then)?
Well after the gas crisis they had to make emissions, laws etc. that help the environment.
They are not as simple and break more.
So thats why things break quicker now.
And as I was typing this, I thought HA. Because of helping the environment things break more, so we want new ones because it broke. SO HAHA, I just poked a hole in that logic.

[Triton]

with cars your trading simplicity for efficiency in a lot of cases. yes older cars were simple but the technology wasnt there! modern engines will last for hundreds of thousands of miles whereas motors from the 40s-70s if it had 100k on it it was dog tired and needs a total rebuild. and cars didnt exactly get the best fuel milage back then either. my 1954 oldsmobile (with a chevy v8 from the late 60s) gets 10mpg no matter what. maybe 11 or 12 on a good day. my turbo volvo will get 30 highway! and its 18 years old even. the prius is a joke and automakers should be ashamed with how crap new cars are in a lot of cases (bad fuel milage, cheapass construction etc)

[Black Six]

National happiness has been on a decline in America since the 50's.

Other than that, your points are well taken. But to invest in a country requires lots of money. Like a government has. I'd personally invest the money to build an infrastructure and become lord of Africa or whatever, but I only have $35 in my wallet.

Really, the government has a lot of money? I guess all that national debt stuff is made up then...

[Kurt_]

Well they HAD. They blew half of it on military funding.

And this whole crisis was, to my limited understanding of it, caused by people borrowing more they could pay back (to buy more stuff with). And enough people did that that they essentially bankrupted the country.

True/False? Tell me.

(Also, if y'all have so much money out there, how come your dollar is still 25% higher than ours?)

[bicostp]

And this whole crisis was, to my limited understanding of it, caused by people borrowing more they could pay back (to buy more stuff with). And enough people did that that they essentially bankrupted the country.

No, people borrowing money they couldn't pay back. "Wal-Mart cashier with 3 kids gets a $900,000 mortgage" and "college kid finances a brand-new Mercedes" kind of loans. My former neighbors bought a house that's about 20 x 20 feet on a 50x100 lot for $260,000 and were paying less than interest. a few years later, SURPRISE! The bank wants their money plus all the back interest, and they're forced to default. The idea was to refinance to a lower rate later on, or sell the house and move somewhere bigger in a year when it's worth twice as much.

That's what caused the economy to collapse. Greedy people expecting houses to continue to increase in price ad infinitum, when really all that money never existed to begin with. Houses that were too big, built too cheap, and cost too much.

[SonyPortableizer]

with cars your trading simplicity for efficiency in a lot of cases. yes older cars were simple but the technology wasnt there! modern engines will last for hundreds of thousands of miles whereas motors from the 40s-70s if it had 100k on it it was dog tired and needs a total rebuild. and cars didnt exactly get the best fuel milage back then either. my 1954 oldsmobile (with a chevy v8 from the late 60s) gets 10mpg no matter what. maybe 11 or 12 on a good day. my turbo volvo will get 30 highway! and its 18 years old even. the prius is a joke and automakers should be ashamed with how crap new cars are in a lot of cases (bad fuel milage, cheapass construction etc)

the milage was crap on old cars and that why the gas crisis made people rethink
But you never had to replace parts that weren't there, like some parts we have today. And the Prius IS a joke, finally someone who sees the true side of the prius.
And Mercedes benz, and the Camry are always good reliable cars, so not all of them. Thats why benz is expensive, well after all the nice bells and whistles. In Europe thats why most of the taxies are Benz, its worth the investment to have a very reliable car.

[Negative_Creep]

I dunno what these guys are chatting crap about, consumerism, sounds like a load of bollocks to stop us buying stuff, so what else are we meant to do with money we earn? Give it to other people, fill a swimming pool with it?

Now, i'm not against helping other people. (I've donated to charity, hell I give old clothes away), but seriously most of money gets invested in me, I buy clothes for myself, I buy myself luxuries like iPods, phones, hell a gaming rig and a PS3. why the hell not? it's my money.

The only thing I don't support is Americans, I don't like American Cars, I don't like American Television, I don't like American Music, but i'm sure that would be a totally different argument if I actually lived in America

As far as recycling laws in the UK, all I can see is that battery recycling is mandatory. I also see several laws about the mandatory recycling of electronics, and other great eco-conscious rules. NOTHING against recycling.

Which one of us actually LIVES in the UK? You get fined if you don't recycle.

[Kurt_]

In the UK, there is a law against recycling.

That's what you said. I figured it was the other way around, so I googled it.