News 2018 General AFL Discussion

Joffaboy

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Hi Guys.

Back to rmthe Bomber thing, just watched a doco by Russell Brand about being a junkie and how the current system of treatment like methadone is completely useless and the only way for junkies is abstinence.

Lots of evidence that about 10% of human brains dont get enough dopamine and therefore junkies cant use drugs recreationally. That includes alcohol.

Have a look, very interesting petspective.

On Netflix

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VDS66

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Nearly at 30, guess I have more research than life experience for my position so take what I say with a grain of salt in that regard.

Like most things I stay pretty open minded so will change my position if I see enough convincing evidence.
Fair enough and I agree that human failings have been around forever.

I guess my point should have been better expressed in that society has changed its priorities and values over the years.

It was different 30 years ago. We've lost our sense of community to huge degree. I don't think we care as much as we used to. We ignore certain behaviour that was once unacceptable.

I also believe that life has become far more complicated than simplified. Thus causing more stress. Anyway, it's a bit off topic for this thread.

More for the random discussion thread.
 

gringo2011

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Sorry to be that guy, and I don't mean to attack you personally, but when was society on the right path?

I think the rising cases of mental illness may just be more that the growing acceptance of it has made it easier for struggling people to come forward and be diagnosed. Depression might be up, but suicides have gone down since the introduction of SSRI anti depressants and the growth of psychology as a legitimate science with measurable results.

Materialism was around in Ancient Rome and will be around for a long time, and fear mongering is the oldest trick in the book. I do agree with you on education though. The public school system in Australia is particularly outdated.

I think societies are like pendulums, they swing back and forth. You guys have grown up not knowing any other way. I'm mid 40s so we got to see the other side of how societies can be fair with better living standards for a lot more people. We got free uni, free health, private schools were self funded and all the utilities and petrol were cheap. I bought a house when I was about 19 and still went on overseas trips and went out regularly had nice cars etc. We were only on average wages but the stand of living was much higher. These days I have no mortgage and better income and am not that much better off. We pay crazy money for everything and sold all our utilities for small change. It was sold as a competition advantage and supposed to make things cheaper but was really like selling your house to a dodgy guy who said the rent would be cheap but immediately put the rent up because they knew you had no were to go.

Overseas the middle class has been severely compromised and the balance in societies are much more out of whack. Look up a guy called Thomas Picketty, he's economist who has compiled data on wealth distribution. It's actually pretty sad the way it's heading. I'd rather live in a fair society with a more of an income spread than have people struggling while others live in luxury. Corporations have taken over government policy direction and then refuse to contribute financially to support the people. Basically we are given a whole lot of misinformation to distract us from the drop in living standards.
 

ScrappyDo

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I value your input.

Not sure how old you are but there's a definite lack of respect and anger out there these days.
- Socrates -

“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.”
 

sammm

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Been rumours flying around about Bomber for yrs. But there's lots of rumours about AFL players and coaches going around so most peeps take them with a grain of salt.
It's only when the truth becomes public and then you hear a few of his high profile friends in the media saying stuff like " I've been concerned about him for a long time" that you realise just how bad Thompsons life had become.
My point being there are a shitload of people , high profile and blue collar who live as junkies/alcoholics for a long time without many people knowing.
I worked with a bloke for five yrs. Every lunch he'd go to the pub and down 4 pots of beer then come back to work. We all used to joke about him being a piss head.
Ended up he wasn't a drunk at all he was heroin junkie. Apparently the few beers took the edge off his cravings a little till he knocked off work.
His habit got worse then one day I walked into the storeroom at work and saw him rolling his pants leg back down. He'd had a syringe sticky taped to his leg. So it was all out in the open between me and him. Ironically he was a great worker and never took any days off.
Fast fwd 10 yrs and he works at another place now. I see him on the train occasionally.
He's skinny as all f*** now with a front tooth missing and looks like absolute shit so at a guess he's still using.
If so that's at least 15 yrs of being on heroin and working. But boy has it taken it's toll on him.

probably no money to show for it either.
 
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- Socrates -

“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.”
Yep, history repeats itself. Each generation makes the mistake of believing itself unique and superior to the last.
 

ScrappyDo

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I think societies are like pendulums, they swing back and forth. You guys have grown up not knowing any other way. I'm mid 40s so we got to see the other side of how societies can be fair with better living standards for a lot more people. We got free uni, free health, private schools were self funded and all the utilities and petrol were cheap. I bought a house when I was about 19 and still went on overseas trips and went out regularly had nice cars etc. We were only on average wages but the stand of living was much higher. These days I have no mortgage and better income and am not that much better off. We pay crazy money for everything and sold all our utilities for small change. It was sold as a competition advantage and supposed to make things cheaper but was really like selling your house to a dodgy guy who said the rent would be cheap but immediately put the rent up because they knew you had no were to go.

Overseas the middle class has been severely compromised and the balance in societies are much more out of whack. Look up a guy called Thomas Picketty, he's economist who has compiled data on wealth distribution. It's actually pretty sad the way it's heading. I'd rather live in a fair society with a more of an income spread than have people struggling while others live in luxury. Corporations have taken over government policy direction and then refuse to contribute financially to support the people. Basically we are given a whole lot of misinformation to distract us from the drop in living standards.
Societies used to be like pendulums. There is "apparently" (couldn't find it though) even a recognized ratio of wealth/poverty that has historically been a tipping point for violent revolution, and we've already passed it. The general rule of law and peacefulness of society now actually prevents the necessary readjustment of wealth distribution, because the rich still control the governments as they always have, but we the populace are no longer inclined to cut their heads off or burn them alive when they cross the line. Take all the people in Murca who lost their houses in the GFC. There was a time when the perpetrators would have been dragged from their cozy beds and beaten to death in the street. Sadly, that is not considered an option any more.
In Roman times money lenders were put to death if they charged interest. Those in real positions of power are now so segregated from the populace that the only way to get to them is via genetically targeted viruses or the CheyTac-M200 with tactical night scope whilst you sit comfortably in a hide outside their private airport not that I've thought about it.
 

gringo2011

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Societies used to be like pendulums. There is "apparently" (couldn't find it though) even a recognized ratio of wealth/poverty that has historically been a tipping point for violent revolution, and we've already passed it. The general rule of law and peacefulness of society now actually prevents the necessary readjustment of wealth distribution, because the rich still control the governments as they always have, but we the populace are no longer inclined to cut their heads off or burn them alive when they cross the line. Take all the people in Murca who lost their houses in the GFC. There was a time when the perpetrators would have been dragged from their cozy beds and beaten to death in the street. Sadly, that is not considered an option any more.
In Roman times money lenders were put to death if they charged interest. Those in real positions of power are now so segregated from the populace that the only way to get to them is via genetically targeted viruses or the CheyTac-M200 with tactical night scope whilst you sit comfortably in a hide outside their private airport not that I've thought about it.

I went to see Picketty when he was in Melbourne, he was pretty interesting but extremely depressing. Revolution is the usual outcome of people losing faith in the system. There are university professors in the US that drive cabs at night and have to mark in their spare time unpaid because they outsourced all their faculty jobs. The big universities are all stacked with the kids of the top 1% and so they have the ridiculous situation of being carted around by their teachers in a cab. It's going to crash at some point and people like Trump are just the last desperate attempts to hold the people at bay.

I would rather give up some of my own wealth for a sustainable society than get guillotined. The system now is so weighted towards corporations now it's almost irreversible though. I was talking to a family friend who was a senior partner at KMPG for a long time but recently retired. He was saying the resources rent tax is almost criminally corrupt. It's crazy that we can buy our own gas cheaper in Japan and ship it than we get it on the domestic market and they companies that mine it pay next to nothing. They take the piss now, just pay off the politicians and you can do what you want.
 

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StFly

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Do Geelong change the name of their stadium every 3 years just for the feck of it ?
I hate this sponsor named stadium crap. Why can´t we just keep traditional names like most European / British football clubs do ?
Grounds like clubs have history and aura´s about them. Imagine trying to explain to your grandkids in 20 years time that day at Kardinia Park or was
it Skilled or GMB whatever the hell it is now ?
 
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