Working at Disney worse than fighting Taliban

MORE people would rather risk being shot and blown up in Afganistan than work for Disney.

A survey of the most desirable places to work in the US ranked the Magical Kingdom well below the Army.
Despite the rising death tolls in Afganistan, where thousands of soldiers are deployed, the bloodshed in Iraq and the low pay, Americans still view the Army as a good employer.
Disney, which employs more 100,000 people worldwide and is billed as the happiest place on Earth, came 41st in the career survey.
Workers at Disney's theme parks have called the work conditions there brutal and accused bosses of being motivated solely by profit.
Some have even started to refer to the theme parks as "Mousewitz".
Google topped the list of best employers but it was beaten by the US military on career advancement.

The survey by jobs website CareerBliss.com used independent reviews to evaluate opportunities for growth, pay and work-life balance.
Bradley Brummel, a psychology professor at University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, explained why the military had happy workers.
"Despite challenges that may occur when serving our country, including the possibility of going to war, the military provides many of the essential elements to finding happiness at work, including having a meaningful impact on the world, having true camaraderie with your co-workers and having the opportunities to develop skills," he told the christian science monitor.

Top 10 blissful places to work
1 Google
2 3M
3 ABN AMRO
4 DTE Energy
5 Air Force
6 Qualcomm
7 Army National Guard
8 Marines
9 Navy
10 LSI Logic
The Army ranked No 11, ahead of Johnson & Johnson (16), General Electric (30), Microsoft (39) and Disney (41).


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/working-at-disney-worse-than-fighting-taliban/story-e6frfm1i-1225944441071#ixzz13d3sOXKd

Divide and conquer

That is the current status of our world.
Billions of opinions, believes, traditions, personal agenda's etc... People using those against each other to have their desires fulfilled, what THEY want. We have done this for a very long time, and that is why things have never really changed. Starvation is still here, slavery is still here, exploitation of the "weak" is still here, corruption and manipulation is still here ... And as long as we allow our personal intrest above the best intrest of ALL, we will continue to build and manifest things that create seperation and divide the beings on earth.

When are we going to take a step back and look at ourselves, all our opinions, our believes, our lives in totality - and come to realise how we have become this way. That it was not free will, that it was not our own free choice, but because of our programmed choice, our programmed personality, our programmed being. Their are so many things influencing a child when it is growing up, do you really think it had no effect on you? That who you are right now is simply who you are? Are you willing to accept yourself as merely a programmed robot, and simply accept you feelings and thoughts as if they are your gods? While blaming the antrocities in this world, blaming the fucked up system, blaming all things going wrong?
If you are not willing to change the essence/core of the problem, then dont complain. To not want to change, you are allowing it.
The people doing the antrocities and abusive things, have been programmed aswell. Born in their shoes you would probably done the same thing. People who are in survival situations sometimes have to resort to cruel ways of survival, just to survive.
Our system, our money system , is controlled and ruled by people with personal agenda's, who have not looked at the totality of the programming in this world, who do not look for the good of ALL on the planet. They have not stopped themselves from following their programmed feelings and thoughts and will be steered by their reactions. So thats why everything has always failed - every single system that has ever existed on this planet. The change truly has to start with ourselves, dont use that quote in vain 'be the change you want to see in this world'. Live it and apply it, dont just repeat it. Investigate why people are the way they are, how the rapist became the rapist, how the serial killer became it, how the religious person became religious. Check out the internal mechanisms and mind constructs, look at the history, and see how that shapes our entire world. In that way you will stop the blame, and take responsability. Blame does not help anyone, blame is purely pointing fingers. And as they say, when you point fingers - 4 are pointing back at you. If you understand why people become the way you are, then you can start to look at the solutions for this. And you will soon come to the conclusion that the solution is changing the system, and thus changing the core of programming, changing the way children are raised and what is being supported within individuals.
If that changes towards the best for all, then that creates new human beings who can from the beginning of their lives, start to be self-honest and express themselves, and not be controlled by money and profit and egoism.
As long as this money system is in place - which is based on making profit and competition - abuse will happen over and over again. You may be rich now, but you may be poor and suffering the next moment.
Just look at what we allow in this society!
- items made by sweatshop workers
- items for vanity for example, tested on animals
- inplanting desires in people and children to buy buy buy in order to get the economy going

Because with out huge production our system cannot exist, and without people DESIRING to consume a lot, we cannot sustain the high production. So we need to have a lot of people that desire to have/buy a lot of things. And thats where the media commes in, and peer pressure, and judgement. So that you will be afraid of others opinions and will always do your best to fit it, thinking you will be happier when you have this or that or look this or that way. Always looking outside there, instead of working on who you are and why you are the way you are.
This system not only creates selfish individuals and abusers, but it also punishes its own creation. Because then the abusers are thrown into jail. And it also creates lazy people, and suicidal people. Why? Because the whole system is driven by superficialism and money, which is very limiting in terms of self expression and "freedom". People have to participate in that abusive system where vanity and ego is placed on top. Thinking it will fulfill them. Obviously it doesnt. No wonder people become lazy and suicidal in a system like this.

http://www.equalmoney.org/

We can't expect the poor to limit their family sizes when they need children to help support their family

While overpopulation is a problem that plagues many developing nations, it would be wrong to assume that it is their main problem, or that the countering of overpopulation should receive priority above all else. There are more serious problems facing the third world. Poverty and the unequal distribution of wealth are two that must be dealt with first.

There are many people who argue that the biggest problem in South Asia is overpopulation. This assertion has been repeated so often over the years that it has almost become common wisdom. Its adherents include a lot of well-educated individuals and one often hears the argument from government officials as an explanation for the inability to reduce poverty.

There are a number of problems with this simple proposition. First of all, population is not a very useful measure by itself simply because it fails to account for the size of the land in which the population resides. Some countries like Russia have a very large area while others like Singapore have a very small one. Therefore the appropriate indicator to use in order to make valid comparisons is population density (i.e., population per unit of land area).


Using this indicator one would find, for example, that Belgium has a very high population density, Pakistan is in the middle, and Somalia ranks very low. Of these countries, Belgium is not the one with the most difficulties. Nor does Somalia have the fewest. Just looking at population or population density tells us very little about a society’s problems.

Within individual countries we can find similar situations. Take Pakistan, for example. Balochistan has the lowest population density amongst the provinces. But Balochistan is by no means better off than the other provinces because of its low population and population density.

This raises an interesting issue for those who subscribe to the overpopulation hypothesis. Would Balochistan, with all its natural resources and its small population, be much better off if it were a sovereign country by itself? I am sure the believers of the hypothesis would quickly find many arguments to refute the implication of their own assertion. The question would force them to abandon the simple answer and start thinking of the many other factors that actually influence economic and social development.

Consider another interesting situation. When Bangladesh became independent, what remained of Pakistan lost more than half its population and the small part of its land area that was widely believed to have been a drain on the resources of West Pakistan. Did the significant reduction in population and the removal of the resource drain trigger an immediate economic boom in Pakistan? And if not, why not? The simple relationship of population and development fails to provide an answer to the question.

The second point to consider is that even population density is an incomplete measure because all the land in a country is not equally valuable when it comes to supporting its population. Deserts and mountains are of little value in this regard. It is the habitable and cultivable land that matters.

Japan and China both have relatively small endowments of such land while the latter has the largest population in the world. Yet Japan, despite its relative lack of natural resources, is amongst the richest countries in the world. And China has been recording very high economic growth rates for many years lifting millions of its people out of poverty. The simple proposition fails to explain much of what has been going on in these two countries either.

As a matter of fact, one could quite plausibly argue that poverty is not due to overpopulation. Rather, overpopulation could well be a result of poverty. Empirical evidence shows clearly that as households become economically better off the average family size tends to decrease.

In fact, a larger population can even be considered an advantage. Many European countries are actively encouraging their citizens to increase the size of their families. So is Singapore — a very small and densely populated island. Global firms are keen to invest in highly populated countries like India and China because of their large consumer markets.

The issue is obviously not as simple as it seems. The point of these stark and somewhat extreme examples is to stress the need to abandon the simple explanation for the problem of poverty.
Only then would we be able to debate the real causes and reasons for the slow pace of development.

The belief in overpopulation as the cause of poverty encourages a sense of helplessness because there is no obvious solution. Even if we accept that South Asia is overpopulated what are we going to do with all the people who are already here? We need to think of people as a source of strength and not as a problem. The sensible strategy would be to invest in people to make then as productive as possible in order to promote economic development and reduce poverty. 


Population densities in 1999 (in persons per square kilometer) for the countries mentioned in the article were as follows: Singapore 5,500, Bangladesh 950, Belgium 340, Japan 340, India 340, Pakistan 180, China 135, Somalia 12, Russia 9. Data for all countries is available at: www.photius.com/wfb1999/rankings/population_density_2.htm
http://thesouthasianidea.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/is-overpopulation-the-cause-of-poverty/


The real cause of this is the capitalistic consumerist system that we allow to exist.
if you havent already, I strongly suggest to watch the movie "capitalism: a love story". It is specifically designed to have some at the top that exploit those on the bottom.  We can turn this around if we want and decide to! We can stand together for a new system, a system of life and cooperation. Where peoples basic needs are taken care off unconditionally, and where one can work for more money, where children are in school not programmed to just be consumers and producers, but to develop self trust and trust in each other, cooperation, and self-expression. This will nto result in an amount of people that would want to live on wellfare, but people that actually have a drive for life and want to express themselves. Because its not so strange that these days people get more and more depressed and often dont want to do much. In such a restricted superficial boxed up world, there is little room for anything else then the profit machine.

Join http://www.equalmoney.org/ to work on the solution, dont wait, the future is here.

power and control throughout history

I am reviewing a class I had yesterday, writing down the key points in a separate notebook. It is a class that studies all different power-systems that has been here in history. What always comes back, is 1 part of the population (rich/elite) vs. another part (the poor). Where 1 group sees the other group as "less", and basically a group that has to be controlled for order to remain. Its a continuous struggle throughout history for power and money. Like this 1 group called "the levelers". They were against the rich and the church. But on the other hand they only allowed men above 21 years old to vote. Woman, children, poor and later also paid workers were excluded from voting. Another form to control the population has been religion. At one point this has been introduced to have the poor agree to the status quo, because it was "destined by god". So they couldn’t complain about it. It was decided by God and people should abide by Gods will. After death they would be rewarded, but right now this is how it is. The rich needed that believe because else the poor might start to rebel. And then we have the numerous discussions about what is "freedom" and what is "equality". One of them (Machiavelli) thinks that people mean "security", when they say "freedom". And that as long as their private possessions aren’t touched, they are fine with the way things are and the way the state is ruled.

And that brings me to the point I wanted to write about = self-interest that blinds us from what is really going on. Because this is not something that happened a long long time ago in the dark ages. This is happening every day in this "modern" time. Our CULTure is a culture of exploitation. It sells and promotes (adds, TV ...) animal abuse through animal testing for make up, it sells and promotes products made by child slaves or sweatshop workers, it creates desires in people making them think they are not good enough and have to buy buy buy to be better/prettier/smarter etc... All for 1 goal = power and money. Without huge consumption this system cannot keep existing, so they need a population that desires and wants a lot of stuff, and thus follow blindly their programmed feelings and desires to fulfill those false needs. Many atrocities are going on each day, we are all mass murderers, even though you may deny it. And you know why we deny it? Because we are comfortable. We are not the ones suffering, right? We have our TV, our pc, our shopping malls, our good gourmet food, our bars, our drugs, our alcohol, our believes and spiritualities, our games and toys... this is all our opium. As long as we have that comfort, that security, we will not rebel. Because we don’t feel like rebelling. And we wont because our feelings control us. Isn’t that sick? Do you want to continue living that way? I sure don’t. I rather not just be a puppet on a string.



So in the past, all these people tried to control another part of the people by forms of control and manipulation. Never did they came to 1 agreement about what is best for all. And at times when people went against the norm, they were killed (political murder).If you read this blog, and you want to work on real solutions for this world, to establish real equality , join http://www.equalmoney.org/ Because its a lie that we have to wait for the rulers to direct and steer us into a way of living. All people are born equal. No one is better or worse then another, our VALUE is the same. We can stand together, and create a new world. Don’t listen to those around you saying "no we cant, we are not this enough or not that enough". You know that we can, all it needs is our self directive will.

ReCYCLing – A Cycle of Exploitation and Deception - By Lindsay Craver

I just finished the paper that is due tomorrow for my sociology class, and will share it here :
The assignment's 'heading' was as follows - 'Social change can be thoughts of as a two-fold process, existing on a continuum and taking place somewhere between technological innovation (social evolution) and belief system (social revolution). Interestingly, evolution has a tendency to inspire revolution - an ideological shift, but not always.
(Then it goes on to explain the point of the assignment, which is to explore the relationship between social change and technology, analyzing the social consequences)

ReCYCLing – A Cycle of Exploitation and Destruction
http://lindsayleecraver.multiply.com/journal/item/24/24

      When considering the concept “social evolution,” I disagree that this even exists. If one were to take a clear look at the state of this world, they would come to find that not much has changed since “the dawn of time.” Yes, outwardly things have changed, the clothing we wear, the tools we use, our language, certain rights and norms, but the basic cyclical pattern of how humanity has existed has remained essentially the same - brutal. There continues to be much abuse and destruction, perhaps, one could argue, more cruelty than ever before. In the vein of technological innovation pertaining to social evolution, what good is technology when we can’t even find a solution to ensure that each human being has their basic needs met? The basic needs being proper food, water, health care, shelter, and education. Inequality is the fundamental cause of suffering in this world. What benefit does the invention of an alarm clock bring, if we aren’t able to last long enough to wake up?

     If technological innovation goes hand in hand with beliefs systems to create social change, that doesn’t signify real change, because the so called “change” is still within the existing abusive structure, and any belief system contained within the system as it is, like a 1+1=2 equation, simply perpetuates and accumulates more abuse. This is especially true if one becomes attached to their belief system to the point of possession, and is no longer able to see beyond their limited belief. If one were to look at this world as if it were a human body, and, for example, the entire body is infected with a diseased and is treated for only one specific area, it will not make the disease go away. This can give a better understanding of the futility of “social change” that is not taking all life into consideration. Social change, as it currently exists, is purely a continuum continuing the same destruction, no matter what side of the polarity.

     We manufacture technology that is built to break, sometimes within only six months to a few years. This reminds me of when I tried to inform my grandmother once of the truth behind recycling; she replied, “as long as I don’t see it in my space anymore, I don’t care where it goes.” That “out of sight, out of mind” mentality is precisely why half of this world is living in such dire conditions; as long as we are benefiting, why should we care who suffers? It has been stated that technology has given people the ability to live a more comfortable life, that it has improved our health, but, one must ask, comfort for who? Health for who? Those with money? At who’s expense? These are important questions to ask when considering the relationship between social change and technology. Where does all this waste go after it’s tossed aside for the next upgrade? Studies have shown that much of the electronic waste (e-waste) that people from the developed world believe is being dealt with properly, is being shipped to third-world countries, not where it gets donated, but where scavengers pick it apart thus being exposed to the harmful metals which also leach into the water and soil leading to poor health for entire villages. Instead of exploring a particular technology and its social consequences, I will be articulating how the belief system that is behind recycling affects this world. Recycling is directly related to technology, which brings me back to one of my previous questions about what good is technology if we can’t even find a solution that is able to ensure a dignified life for all?

     In an article put out by Smithsonian entitled “E-gad! Americans discard more than 100 million computers, cellphones and other electronic devices each year. As ‘e-waste’ piles up, so does concern about this growing threat to the environment,” Elizabeth Royte explains that “prolonged exposure to some of the metals in electronic devices has been shown to cause abnormal brain development in children, and nerve damage, endocrine disruption and organ damage in adults.” This answers a couple of my questions : health for who? At who’s expense?

     To fill the demand for the semiprecious metals that are required to build electronics, developing countries are exploiting their lands in order to harvest this material, which has also been proven to be a dangerous task. It’s interesting to take a look at the process of manufacturing electronics, where the components that are used in order to produce the device are obtained from places such as Africa and Asia, then are sold to people in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and then dumped back to Africa and Asia to be dealt with. This illustrates the manifestation of exploitation being carried out on multiple levels: the exploitation of the land, also, in most cases, people from third world countries work in factories where they are exploited under harsh conditions to produce these electronics, then they are “enjoyed” by people in affluent countries, who, believing themselves to be recycling, or donating, have their “waste” shipped off to a developing country, the devises are then stripped by individuals who are exposed to the harmful chemicals which then leach into the water and soil, and the perpetuated cycle of exploitation, or the continuum of winner and loser continues. Are the “benefits” of technology, then, beneficial for all? No.

     The article goes on to relay with more specificity what the process of stripping these devices look like, after investigators from the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) “videotaped men, women, and children in the Chinese village of Guiyu extracting copper yokes from monitors with chisels and hammers…black smoke rose from burning piles of wire. The workers, who wore no protective gear, reportedly swirled a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acid--caustic, highly poisonous chemicals--in open vats, trying to extract gold from components. Afterward, they dumped the computer carcasses and the black sludge into fields and streams.”

     It’s fascinating to see the play-out of the villagers seeking to find gold amongst the filth, which can be likened to the “faith” people place in technology, believing that technology is the gold that will save this filthy world that is headed for destruction, which can be seen simply as another religion; technology, the new savior. The extraction of gold by the villagers is also a poignant reality showing how the current money system decides who lives, and who dies, who is able to be healthy, and who will live in sickness. Money, also, is another god, perhaps the ultimate god, as it were.

     The last sentence of the article sums up the general mentality of most people, even after discovering the atrocity going on in regards to e-waste: “maybe shoving the stuff in the basement or attic isn't such a bad idea after all.” This merely encourages complacency; basically telling people to just sweep all the lies and deception they just read about, under the rug, and continue consuming, continue believing that this system works. This only promotes “more of the same,” which is what I touched upon previously in regards to belief systems, as it supports the same apathy already existent, and offers no practical solutions, such as simply explaining how one must take self-responsibility for the direct outflows of their actions. She also states in the sentences prior to the last, “visionaries imagine a day when electronic devices are shipped back to their makers, who design all components with safe reuse in mind.” This, also, is an interesting and telling sentence, as it alludes to a sort of “dream” that only “visionaries” can imagine, then bursts that bubble by essentially saying in the last sentence, “to hell with it, don’t try to find a solution, keep consuming, and in the mean time, while the visionaries are staring into the sky hoping for some answer to come along, just throw your waste into your basement.” This is where my grandma would agree, as long as she doesn’t have to deal with it, who cares.

     Obviously, the solution isn’t in the hands of “visionaries,” as each one of us has the vision to see the suffering that exists in this world. Therefore, we are all responsible, and we all must stand up and investigate beyond the current belief systems. As was revealed in the mentioned article, these belief systems do not promote actual social revolution, but only serve to keep one blind and justifying, especially if one lives in comfort and is reaping benefits from this unequal, fraudulent system. The ones that are fortunate enough to even read the article by use of their computer technology are the ones that are to be held accountable for the atrocity existing on this planet, which means you and I. How can we call this evolution? How can we call this revolution? Can a computer feed a starving child? No. Therefore, instead of focusing on technological “advancements," we must get back to the basics – ensuring that all are able to live a dignified life with their basic needs met. Now, if the starting point of creating technology were within the principles of equality and what is best for all, then we wouldn’t be seeing the disparity continue to grow due to our addiction of over-consuming. We must learn to forgive and see that it is necessary we started over. It’s time to stop hitting snooze on the alarm clock and actually wake up from our deep slumber.

What's wrong with identity

Last week a Belgian politician came speaking in the guest college of political studies in Gent (Belgium). His main point was the point about "identity". And that it is important to use this identity to base ones policy upon. He talked about how people feel closer to those within their own "region". Like for example people in Flanders feeling more "connected" or "closer" in a way, to people in Flanders, then to the French part of Belgium. And that our identity lies where we are brought up. He also asked the students who feels more like part of Flanders, or part of Belgium. I was waiting for him to say: "or part of the earth." But he didn’t. I found it a very narrow view and he continued the talk by mentioning it’s an illusion and not realistic to claim one is a "world citizen". A lot of his talk he based on "human nature" and how we are designed. I found it strange he did not even question that but accepted it as some kind of God. Like human nature is something we should just follow.

Clearly, this has never worked and has led to many struggles and wars within this world. Separation is everywhere. Does it mean because you feel something that you have to follow that? Hell no.
We are never going to have real change if we keep an attitude like that and just follow the way we are programmed and designed to be.
I have visited many countries in my relatively short life already, and I did not feel less "close" to people from other countries then I feel around people who speak my language or live in my town. Actually I have felt more close to people from different countries but who share similar viewpoints about the world. I am not saying that it is something that I then should allow to control me, no; it’s simply to give an illustration. I can feel very distant from fellow "Belgians" or "Flanders people", because of the fact that I am quite different in my behavior and what I want to do in life and what I stand for. Those around me care about their own lives, blinded from what goes on in this world and what they are really doing with what they act out and what they say. They want to fit into the system as it has been laid out in front of them, and look at you strange when you don’t. They are programmed like anyone else and don’t question it. Doing that, you will remain a slave forever to your programmed mind, and to the collective, and nothing will ever change because you are not directing yourself in total self awareness and self responsibility. Your program is directing you instead.
This is what many people don’t consider, and which I have not considered for a long period of my life.

So it is not because one may feel "closer" to his country or part of the country, that one should then simply follow that feeling and "go with the flow". We have to first of all educate the population about why they feel like that, what is the outflow of this, what thoughts and emotions well up, what do those cause on a global scale etc... Our system is not disconnected from the rest of the world, it is 1 global system whether we like it or not. We are selling products made by sweatshop workers and profited on animal abuse.
If I was born in Africa, then I would be an African, if I was born in China then I would be a Chinese - and programmed accordingly.
Does that mean all the people should just accept and follow that blindly? Those systems have been put into place by other people, who wanted to have power, who followed their ego and their desires. So clearly the systems in place don’t do what’s best for all, they don’t do what is beneficial for all and what creates cooperation. No, instead it functions on separation, competition and profit over life. And people are so heavily programmed within it that they will defend it, thinking they are "strong" and defending something good, but in fact they are defending their own enslavement, their own demise. And that’s how clever it is, this system, to have the slaves defend it. Of course not realizing they are slaves to begin with.

I am of the earth, like anything else is, identity is merely a program within us that we should not blindly follow, and neither would I blindly follow anger when it wells up inside me. You have to understand why it wells up, and see what the outflow is. Same with "identity".
So being a world citizen is not so "crazy" as the politician sais it is (or thinks it is). It’s a given fact. We are all equal, all made from life, the ONLY thing that creates the separation is our believes, our desires, opinions etc... that we use to raise ourselves above (or below) others. Strip those things away, and there is nothing left to fight about. And with equality I mean equal in worth, equal in value. Not equal as in: looking the same and doing the same. We are equal, but different.
And those who promote inequality are in fact abusers of life