[zoom]

(08-08-2017 06:47 PM)Australia Sucks Wrote:  

Now compare this to some average guy in his 20s in the U.S.A. or Australia or England. He might have a $50,000 junior accounting or IT helpdesk, etc job which if you are in a big city does not give you much lifestyle. They probably feel socially isolated and are also either jerking off every night or have a chubby bitchy girlfriend who treats them like garbage. Not to mention the food they eat is probably mostly garbage.

(08-09-2017 10:16 AM)Australia Sucks Wrote:  

The Beast1 if you read the opening post nowhere in that post did I talk about my own life.

So you're not an average Joe who lives in the West? It sure seemed like you were talking about yourself so I can understand why some people made that assumption.

[Vladimir Poontang]

(08-09-2017 10:19 AM)GlobalMan Wrote:  

(08-09-2017 10:10 AM)Vladimir Poontang Wrote:  

(08-09-2017 06:49 AM)GlobalMan Wrote:  

(08-09-2017 05:28 AM)Vladimir Poontang Wrote:  

My thoughts :

- Living in a country that brings out the best in you will increase your happiness. Poorer countries seem to do this well because of the hardship / challenges involved

You wouldn't happen to be selling expensive getaways to a subsistence rice farm would you?

Poverty sucks balls, period. Just as there is no nobility in poverty, there is no magic in it which helps make you more authentically happy or closer to more "genuine" life. Constant hardships suck, and one should be eternally grateful for growing up in a society which has solved or eliminated most of those hardships. If one finds they are less happy under such truly amazing circumstances it is not because they have discovered some greater meaning or because relative wealth is bad or useless- it is because they are an ingrate. And that is exactly what Australia Sucks is.

I said poorer countries. I didn't say Somalia.

?

No matter the degree of poverty, whether severe or less severe, such hardships are not the/a precursor to happiness. There are billions who are happy in spite of such circumstances, to be sure, but not because of them.

They are happy because of them (unless it's excessive). Happiness isn't the same as comfort. You'll often see poor filipinos smiling. Not so much in Somalia.

[Akwesi]

Some of the confusion here is due to conflating two terms, "average" and "middle class," which are not really the same. On the contrary, understanding the difference is the key to understanding the difference between rich and poor countries. Let's simplify and call it 80/20: in Australia and other rich countries, 20 percent of the people are poor while 80 percent are middle or upper class. In poor countries, on the other hand, 80 percent are poor and 20 percent are middle or upper class. So, being middle class in Colombia can be quite similar to being middle class in Australia, but it's reserved for a much smaller proportion of the population. The "average" person, on the other hand, is far worse off.

Research shows that the happiest countries (virtually tied) are Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland. Those are rich countries with a pietistic or Calvinistic heritage that entails a strong work ethic, thrift, and an obligation to be happy about one's lot in life, even if religious belief as such has fallen by the wayside.

I understand where OP is coming from, because I have been an office drone before and know it is a soul-sucking experience. Still, it's not the same as spending 12 hours a day in a rock quarry in 100 degree heat. And it's true, people in poor countries often have a more active social life, for better or worse - in many cases it is the only way to ensure survival.

I would agree that being a member of the elite in a poor country is far better than in a Western country. As a politician, for example, you can enrich yourself by shameless corruption, live in a mansion with countless servants, and have as many mistresses and baby mamas as you want - in general, live a completely baller life and do whatever the fuck you want without any kind of repercussions. Meanwhile, politicians in the West are mostly glorified bureaucrats.

[GlobalMan]

(08-09-2017 10:55 AM)Vladimir Poontang Wrote:  

They are happy because of them [poverty circumstances] (unless it's excessive).

Quote:

You'll often see poor filipinos smiling.

Already addressed. This is a meaningless point. People in almost all circumstances make the best of their lives, enjoying what they can. Especially if they know no different and have no choice.

People in poverty being able to be happy and enjoy life the best they can does not mean poverty has enabled the happiness, clearly.

[Iso]

(08-09-2017 02:05 AM)Australia Sucks Wrote:  

I will relate the topic to a personal anecdote. Its slightly on a tangent because the character in the story is a girl rather than a man but it does paint a general picture. When I spent 14 weeks in Peru last year I got into a mini-relationship with a Peruvian girl towards the end. So I got to know her, her life, and her family, etc. She lived in Lima and was on the lower end of middle class. She lived with her sisters and mum in an apartment in a decent part of Lima and was earning about $1400 USD a month on average as a partner in a small business. She spoke decent English (self taught).

No wonder you have a skewed view of the average person. $1400 is a lot in Peru. The average monthly salary in Lima is $590. Her salary was 2.4x the average. The equivalent of that would be ~$9K in the U.S. Of course someone like that would have a baller lifestyle.

[The Beast1]

Sounds like this thread isn't going in the direction Australia Sucks hoped for...

[Australia Sucks]

Iso from what she told me her experienced employees (without much/any qualifications) were getting something like $1000 USD per month (pre-tax). I remember going on a date with (different girl) a girl in her 30s in Cusco and she said she was making $2000 - $2500 USD per month as a physiotherapist at a private hospital (she could have been bullshitting for all I know). I think for jobs where you have some useful qualifications or skills $1000+ per month is more normal. I think the average figure is low because lots of people work unskilled/entry level jobs. Of course I am no expect on Peru or the Peruvian economy and did not spend enough time there so I could be wrong and take what I say with a grain of salt.

[Vladimir Poontang]

(08-09-2017 11:04 AM)GlobalMan Wrote:  

(08-09-2017 10:55 AM)Vladimir Poontang Wrote:  

They are happy because of them [poverty circumstances] (unless it's excessive).

Quote:

You'll often see poor filipinos smiling.

Already addressed. This is a meaningless point. People in almost all circumstances make the best of their lives, enjoying what they can. Especially if they know no different and have no choice.

People in poverty being able to be happy and enjoy life the best they can does not mean poverty has enabled the happiness, clearly.

Yeah ok, whatever you say.

[lonewolf1992]

Hi there Australia sucks.

1."a lot of them seemed to be walking around with hot feminine girlfriends despite being ugly broke losers."

Where did you see this? I have lots of decently looking colombian friends who've been in LTRs for 5-7 years because they have a really tough time with women (they don't have game).The first thing a girl always asks to me when I approach either via online/night game in colombia is where do I work and where do I live at. Colombianas are not snowflakes. They are not. And in bogota, they are getting fatter, maybe not to first world standards, but they are slowly doing it.

2."They probably had a way bigger social circle with more friends and probably spend more time with family also."

It depends, not all colombians are friendly.

3."They probably feel socially isolated and are also either jerking off every night or have a chubby bitchy girlfriend who treats them like garbage."

Well, I will be honest with you man, I've had a hard time with women all of my life (Except when I lived in medellín). I probably know there are some folks here who are killing it. But mostly those are guys with good jobs and alpha male traits. If you are blue pill women will treat you like shit wherever in the world you are. We may not have basements here, but there are a lot of guys into videogames and porn as shelter. I was one.

4."I am not necessarily convinced they have a worse life than the average westerner."

I agree, I used to hate colombia with all of my heart. This forum and the whole ROK taught me there is a lot of this part of the world that I should be proud of. I've come to appreciate little things like dancing, partying, friendships and some colombian girls. I used to be a member of the stormfront forum, now I couldn't care less about that. Unfortunately, I'm planning to leave soon since I don't have a future here, and will never miss not having opportunities.

[lonewolf1992]

(08-08-2017 10:35 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:  

No AS, your argument is the bullshit one here.

You say you are comparing average dude to average dude, yet you seem to have zero idea of the average "drone" in Colombia and what it's like for him.

A monotonous and unfulfilling career/life is monotonous and unfulfilling, everywhere. Having some fresh mango juice and salchipapa available doesn't change that. Try riding the transmilenio for two hours to your poverty and crime filled barrio everyday for a lifetime then tell us it's better than working in an office in Sydney.

Once again, you have strolled through a location for a few weeks as a tourist, saw some non-fat bitches and got excited, and decided you understand normal life there and it's amazing for locals.

This question is even more absurd given the fact that all you have to do is look at your own life for the answer- For example, you have said you have or could have 100k to invest in property. Something like this, which is more or less attainable for many Aussies, is basically an impossibility for the vast majority of Colombians. Hell, even travelling for weeks at a time like you have been is an impossibility for most Colombians.

Oh man I laughed so hard with this, ¡You nailed it dead on!. I could have not said it better

[Australia Sucks]

Lonewolf:

1) No offense dude I could count on hand the number of good looking guys (no homo) I saw in Colombia. For the most part young guys in Bogota that I saw had a hipster/faggot look and were skinny and weak. The girls were mostly attractive (I was in the nice parts of Bogota as opposed to the slum parts were the ugly girls must congregate). Cartagena for example had a lot of athletic young black guys but they had terrible fashion sense and ridiculous haircuts. Overall in Colombia it was very rare for me to see a guy with a handsome face (no homo). The black girls in Cartagena's old town were hot as fuck (they would not give me the time of day though). In my mind most Colombian guys I saw on the street with their girlfriends were dating up. Maybe my perceptions are warped coming from Australia.

2) Okay.

3) I had at least 3 or 4 cute girls in Bogota that seemed really interested in dating me (from day-game) and I was only there for a week. From memory I only did a few dozen approaches in Bogota. My game is not that good, my Spanish is really basic, I am average looking and I am not rich. I would not say that I am especially alpha either. Quite possibly it could just be the magic of exotic/foreigner value that I experienced.

4) Lonewolf I respect your ambition maybe if you make it to the west after you have stacked enough cash you will come back and live as a king in Colombia. Keep your chin up and keep us up to date on your success. I am sure you will do well.

[lonewolf1992]

(08-09-2017 12:19 PM)Australia Sucks Wrote:  

Lonewolf:

1) No offense dude I could count on hand the number of good looking guys (no homo) I saw in Colombia. For the most part young guys in Bogota that I saw had a hipster/faggot look and were skinny and weak. The girls were mostly attractive (I was in the nice parts of Bogota as opposed to the slum parts were the ugly girls must congregate). Cartagena for example had a lot of athletic young black guys but they had terrible fashion sense and ridiculous haircuts. Overall in Colombia it was very rare for me to see a guy with a handsome face (no homo). The black girls in Cartagena's old town were hot as fuck (they would not give me the time of day though). In my mind most Colombian guys I saw on the street with their girlfriends were dating up. Maybe my perceptions are warped coming from Australia.

2) Okay.

3) I had at least 3 or 4 cute girls in Bogota that seemed really interested in dating me (from day-game) and I was only there for a week. From memory I only did a few dozen approaches in Bogota. My game is not that good, my Spanish is really basic, I am average looking and I am not rich. I would not say that I am especially alpha either. Quite possibly it could just be the magic of exotic/foreigner value that I experienced.

4) Lonewolf I respect your ambition maybe if you make it to the west after you have stacked enough cash you will come back and live as a king in Colombia. Keep your chin up.

1) A few weeks in a city is a really short time to get the full picture. And as you said there is a lot of faggotry in bogota now, women and men likewise.

3) Indeed, it's because you are exotic. I do better with brazilians and french women because they consider me exotic. I consider myself slightly above average looks and colombianas give me a lot of bs to bang.

4) Maybe I'd like to stay legally! lol.

[The Beast1]

AS, here's your challenge:

Fly to Medellin with $5000 kangaroo bucks in your pocket and start a new life. Find a place and try to get a job as a local.

To be blunt, you wouldn't last a month before you dip into your Australian savings and cry uncle.

You're unhappy being an anglosphere drone, then fucking do something about it. Either put up or shut up.

[Australia Sucks]

The Beast I am stacking cash and serving out the remainder of my sentence. I hope to be out of the Anglosphere within the next 3-5 years. Patience is a virtue.

Also as I said before, attacking me does not add to the discussion.

[Kid Twist]

Shouldn't one start by doing extended vacations to a place and THEN start considering things longer term?

(08-09-2017 12:41 PM)Australia Sucks Wrote:  

The Beast I am stacking cash and serving out the remainder of my sentence. I hope to be out of the Anglosphere within the next 3-5 years. Patience is a virtue.

Also as I said before, attacking me does not add to the discussion.

Lol, "remainder of my sentence."

As above, AS, out of anglosphere full time? Or months at a time?

[Australia Sucks]

I plan to be out of the anglo-sphere full time and location independent within 3-5 years (fingers crossed).

[The Beast1]

(08-09-2017 12:41 PM)Australia Sucks Wrote:  

The Beast I am stacking cash and serving out the remainder of my sentence. I hope to be out of the Anglosphere within the next 3-5 years. Patience is a virtue.

Also as I said before, attacking me does not add to the discussion.

A debate is friendly attacking, don't get your panties in a wad. You're being called out because you're whining about your better dealt hand in life.

(08-09-2017 01:09 PM)Australia Sucks Wrote:  

I plan to be out of the anglo-sphere full time and location independent within 3-5 years (fingers crossed).

Honestly, 3-5 years means jack diddly. You don't have the balls to do it and you'll never be ready because if you really wanted it you'll pull a move off like Suits and do it on a hair string budget (he's thriving now btw).

And during that time when you're saving up to move to Colombia, you'll find an Australian gal who isn't a hambeast, is pleasant, but will end up being a 5 (hey at least she cooks, cleans, and is nice). You'll plop yourself down in a suburb of Perth realizing your life of suburban living isn't as bad as you thought it was completely forgetting about this dream of living in South America.

Your story, complaints, and so called stacking cash plans are tired, trite, and have been over played by hundreds of posters before you.

Again I say: shit or get off of the pot because we're not going to pat you on the back and make you feel better about what you think is a mediocre life (it's not).

And change your username while you're at it.

[Poker]

I see what OP was trying to say and the debate he was trying to spark, though I think how it was worded and the general tone of it was not perfect.

I live in Britain, a country with many problems that have been well discussed on this forum, problems which I don't need to go into. However, I am well aware how lucky and blessed I am to live here. Everyday I wake up in good health, I eat four meals a day, I have a roof over my head, I can walk anywhere in the area I live at night and not have to worry about being stabbed, I have clean water to drink, no gang or militia is going to kick down my door and murder me. Financially, I have a lot of opportunities to better myself and to advance, I don't live under a corrupt government that is going to try and screw me over at any moment, I hold the passport of a nationality and speak the language of a country that still has clout in the world.

For a guy living in a developing country, a lot of the above does not apply. While he can better himself, it will be much, much more difficult for him to attain and the mental cycle of poverty, corruption, whatever will have a big baring on him, not to mention a layer of mass corruption within the state that will try and screw him over at every corner.

The thing is, being in the country I am. I am able to change the course of my life with ease, it's all down to me, no one else. The barriers in my way are tiny in comparison to that which most people around the world face.

Honestly, sometimes I'll look at the tap in the kitchen and shake my head and think of how lucky I am to have access to clean drinking water, not have to worry about some parasite or disease. What a time to be alive! The world is literally your oyster!

[MongolianAbroad]

(08-09-2017 01:53 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

And change your username while you're at it.

I've got to second this.

Buy a gold membership and change your name, AS. Way too much baggage.

[eradicator]

(08-08-2017 10:26 PM)Australia Sucks Wrote:  

I live in Sydney, Australia. I can tell you here, if you catch a train or bus to go to work in the mornings most people look so fucking miserable and soulless they look more unhappy than somebody dying of cancer.

I agree the anglosphere has more opportunity to live a good life but opportunity does not always translate into success or achievement. I would say in most cases people squander the opportunity.

I am grateful that Australia allows me the opportunity as an average Joe to hopefully get wealthy enough to fuck off to a poor country in my 30s. I realize that kind of wealth accumulation is almost impossible for an average Joe in most poorer countries. In the meantime am I loving life? Not especially, admittedly though I cannot say I have a bad life and acknowledge things could be much worse.

p.s. Veloce do servers really make $500 a night where you live? I am really in the wrong line of work, haha.

Servers here in nyc probably make more. Though most of the servers are young, female and attractive, the steakhouses seem to be the one exception to the places that are willing to hire men as servers.

And you sound like Mark Minter with your soul crushing job talk. Find a line of work you are good at, and get paid well for it and do that.




Top that motherfuckers!

[RatInTheWoods]

Guys Guys...

So much attacking the player not the ball in this thread. Also missing the point of the thread to chew out AS.

When I saw this thread, it got me excited because I wanted to talk about something that has amazed and confused me for a few decades.

Why is it that this Thai boat skipper, who earns fuck all and sleeps on a grass mat in a grass hut is about 7 times happier than the average Aussie (who apparently earns $200K a year in a mining fifo job... lol)

I always thought being brought up in the "lucky country" was a gold pass to happiness, yet when I go to Thailand I can measurably see sustained, consistent massive levels of higher happiness in people that just shouldn't be happy by our objective western standards!

One question I always ask a Thai (in Thai) is "why you so happy" when I catch them making a joke, and smiling so hard it hurts. I love their answers, but I still find the whole thing a mystery.

It's a shame this thread turned into a witch hunt of AS instead of exploring this theme...

[eradicator]

OK, I'll bite:

Do guys in a third world shithole have it better? absolutely not. I'd even make the argument about USA lifestyle being overall better than a second world pussy paradise like Russia or Ukraine. Plenty of corruption, broken infrastructure and crime in those places. It's just not safe. Yes the women are thin, feminine and much hotter than in the USA, but if you are risking getting robbed or killed because of crime all the time, it's not worth it.

The great irony is that we have anti police organizations like BLM protesting the poor behavior of cops in the USA. Try the cops in Mexico or Russia or SEA, or what have you. We are very lucky to be living in the USA, make the most of your options, enjoy your time here.

[The Beast1]

(08-09-2017 03:58 PM)RatInTheWoods Wrote:  

Guys Guys...

So much attacking the player not the ball in this thread. Also missing the point of the thread to chew out AS.

When I saw this thread, it got me excited because I wanted to talk about something that has amazed and confused me for a few decades.

Why is it that this Thai boat skipper, who earns fuck all and sleeps on a grass mat in a grass hut is about 7 times happier than the average Aussie (who apparently earns $200K a year in a mining fifo job... lol)

I always thought being brought up in the "lucky country" was a gold pass to happiness, yet when I go to Thailand I can measurably see sustained, consistent massive levels of higher happiness in people that just shouldn't be happy by our objective western standards!

One question I always ask a Thai (in Thai) is "why you so happy" when I catch them making a joke, and smiling so hard it hurts. I love their answers, but I still find the whole thing a mystery.

It's a shame this thread turned into a witch hunt of AS instead of exploring this theme...

It's not shameful at all. What we have is an ingrate who is unhappy with his silver spoon. This is the same attitude that hipsters espouse and it's disgusting.

You want an answer to the proverbial, "Why are poor people happier" question? Global man said it best:

(08-09-2017 11:04 AM)GlobalMan Wrote:  

Quote:

You'll often see poor filipinos smiling.

Already addressed. This is a meaningless point. People in almost all circumstances make the best of their lives, enjoying what they can.

Especially if they know no different and have no choice.

People in poverty being able to be happy and enjoy life the best they can does not mean poverty has enabled the happiness, clearly.

There's a thread somewhere on here where some African guys who pick cacao for a living tried chocolate for the first time in their lives. They were blown away and said, "this must be why the white man is so smart."

The answer is simple: they're happier because they're not very smart and because they lack the smarts to improve themselves or seek out a new environment they're content with their poverty and lives.

I bet if you took that poor Thai man, put him into the 1st world and let him live as we do for a week, and then send him back to Thailand, he wouldn't be happy anymore.

[GlobalMan]

(08-09-2017 03:58 PM)RatInTheWoods Wrote:  

Why is it that this Thai boat skipper, who earns fuck all and sleeps on a grass mat in a grass hut is about 7 times happier than the average Aussie (who apparently earns $200K a year in a mining fifo job... lol)

Why wouldn't the Thai fisherman be happy? What else does he know, and what else is possible for him?

What does his acceptance and enjoyment with his lot, with his only real option, have to do with what would be fulfilling for a man like you or what would be objectively better circumstances?

Do you want to live on a grass mat and make $12/day?
Why or why not?

[worldwidetraveler]

(08-09-2017 03:58 PM)RatInTheWoods Wrote:  

Why is it that this Thai boat skipper, who earns fuck all and sleeps on a grass mat in a grass hut is about 7 times happier than the average Aussie (who apparently earns $200K a year in a mining fifo job... lol)

I'm amazed some of you lads can measure happiness to the n'th degree.

Beast1 and GlobalMan brought up some interesting points. Many people just accept their lot in life. That is all they know, that is all their parents knew and so on.

Is that what you consider happiness?

If you can't afford medical expenses you don't get medical care. If you don't have food you starve. There are no safety nets in most of these countries. Acceptance of a life like that isn't what I consider a great life.

I have a feeling some people are projecting their own romantic ideas onto others.

Some of you see a poor guy smiling and think how happy he is with so little. When in reality... the guy was smiling about the idea of enacting revenge on the foreigner who took his woman and left him raising his 10 kids.



He looks so happy.

Now, many unhappy people in the west could do with a lot less and probably be happier because of it. They tend to lose sight of how well they really have it. I do see a lot of younger people living a more minimalist lifestyle so this could be nothing more than a trend.