Lost in a Lost World (Page 21)

Zanjan: "If you’ve grown up poor and become middle class, there’s great bitterness in rescinding that status; if your parents worked years to enter the middle class, falling from it is often accompanied by great shame."

I wonder who they were interviewing - doesn't make sense unless one is satan's child. The pursuit of the dream is not for money but happiness. People can be happy when poor as long as they've got family and friends.

If one rises to a higher income tax bracket, that's just gravy; falling from it still leaves one with mashed potatoes - when you've grown up poor, you've got the skills to do it well. You do things without help, don't gamble or live beyond your means. You've learned how to hold your head up high, appreciate simple things, share with others, and blend into the crowd. Poverty doesn't remove your intelligence.

The lost would be the fallen rich. They lose everything and don't have the coping skills.

ghostgeek: There's an old saying: From clogs to clogs in three generations. How much worse it must be if it all happens in one generation.

Fractured fairy tale: Some "think tank" Reckons china will over take the US as the Worlds Largest Economy by 2028
five years ahead of Sceiuial, So they Reckon then its only a matter of time before they Dictate the Terms , Trump with we can't let this happen , Is too late By the looks of it

Zanjan: I sincerely doubt that. When Americans have exploited poorer countries, what they were really doing was creating jobs and providing training, helping that country to stand on it's own feet and be internationally competitive.

You see, this country can make and sell items at an attractive price - one doesn't expect longevity from cheaply made items. However, when they begin to make regularly priced items that fall apart too soon, the country's label becomes anathema. People return to buying local. This dynamic has been proven time and time again.

The "Made in China" label has already reached that status. The only thing they can now do as trading partners is to improve quality while making something nobody else is making.

Like a restaurant, each country has one or two items only they do best.

Zanjan: Having said that, I want to take this moment to shout at the fashion industry. Are you out of your minds???

Like many sensitive people, my skin can't tolerate scratchy tags sewn into the main material at the neck (they can't be removed without destroying the piece). Also, we cant wear most synthetics so, we'd like to see more natural fibers.

Like silk - one can buy the fabric but it's very hard to find in finished apparel. Sure, it needs to be hand-washed but we don't need everything to be a convenience item. Silk is cool in summer and warm in winter, very breathable.

100% Cotton apparel is also difficult to find - quality summer cotton comes from India and Supima cotton (winter) comes from the USA but, on both counts, the range of styles is limited. Your cotton blends cause sunburns on the backs of gardeners and melt to the skin in a fire!

Many of us like long nightgowns - *long* means to the top of the feet, not the knees. We wear nightgowns because we don't like wedgies and other restrictions. There are other good things about them, things we need, so produce them already! And don't charge $140 for one that costs $25 to make.

We definitely DON'T appreciate being chained to your colour-of-the-year rule!

ghostgeek: I seriously doubt that the fashion industry is going to listen to you, Zanjan, seeing as it's geared up to produce synthetic glamour for the herd. My mother, when she was alive, always used to bemoan the fact that she could never get what she wanted.

ghostgeek: China seems to be cornering the market for electric car batteries. Let's hope they won't all explode if Xi Jinping presses a button.

Fractured fairy tale: Yeah Thats What All these Professes Pushing climate change keep saying , When some one points out Why Ist China held to Same Standards as Say the US or Europe is , China are Building More coal fired electricty plants this year Than the US has in total , They point out that china is Making the most Electric Cars in the World , With Logic like That and Every one else bying cheap chinese Junk off a the Internet and in shops , There gonna take over as the Largest Economy in the World Guarenteed , And it won"t take long either

Fractured fairy tale: Thing Is Zanjan the US has been hit the Hardest by Globalization and Moving there Indrustry's off shore , Cos They Used to Be the Biggest Manifactures In the World , Only have to look at the Rust belt and the declinging infrestructure to see that

Zanjan: Globalization only means that every country has become interdependent in an unbroken chain. That's not going to reverse. There are a number of world superpowers; despite their boasting, none has ever been or ever will be King of the world.

ghostgeek: We in the West have certainly become dependent on China, but is the reverse also true? In who's favour is the trade balance?

Fractured fairy tale: Now the WHO has finally come out and Said There never going to eradicate the Covid thingy just as Polio still Exists, A vaccine isn't going to eradicate it Were Gonna have to learn to live with it Lost alright
lol

ghostgeek: Air travel and bugs are a dangerous combination. However many deaths it causes, people aren't going to stop riding those big jet planes.

Zanjan: They can mandate rapid Covid testing for all passengers before they're allowed to get on the planes.

ghostgeek: But what about all the other bugs just waiting to be jetted around the globe. They don't have names, let alone tests for them.

Zanjan: I guess you'll just have to boost your natural immune system - get plenty of sunshine and eat lots of oranges, eh. On the other hand, that won't prevent your plane from crashing.

ghostgeek: Hard to see the sun when there are so many clouds flying overhead but I do have my daily orange. And dates, banana, apple, fig, apricot, grapes and the odd plum. Even chomp into a pear if they aren't too wooden.

ghostgeek: That lot's just for breakfast.

Zanjan: You sound like a vegetarian (no cereal under the fruit)

Pears turn on a dime. An authority once said there's only 12 minutes when a pear is perfect to eat. You have to pick them green from the tree, else they wont taste like a pear when they ripen.

Ever had a *fresh* date? OMG, they're to die for! They look like grapes, have the same soft, juicy texture, and sorta taste like grapes at first but sweeter; there's a mild date after taste. You can only get them once a year (November) - don't buy American grown, the best are from a specialty middle eastern store, ordered in advance. Those are olive green and somewhat translucent with darker shadings. Gorgeous.

chronology: Zan, I take it you ate the dates on your visits to Israel. It is curious that virtually all the food on sale in Israel today was unknown in biblical times. But dates and figs were.

Zanjan: No, I was in Israel in spring. A Persian friend had brought several flats of the dates to a meeting as a gift to the community so that was my first and only experience with them.

In Biblical times, most fig fruits were too bug-ridden to be edible so the clean ones must have been a rare treat. However, the date pests weren't such a serious threat and were more easily controlled with natural remedies like mineral oil and sulfur dust.

chronology: Interesting zan.

Zanjan: Seems to me the ancients had plenty of natural remedies for plant diseases and pests but much of that knowledge had been lost. We're constantly re-discovering those secrets. The problem is convincing gardeners to use those methods instead of chemicals.

ghostgeek: Yes, I'm a long-time veggie. Started young and kept on with it.

ghostgeek: Don't do cereals, seeing as they're more sugar than anything else, but the wholemeal bread gets nibbled in the morning with a hunk of cheese.