Hello ATS!

Hello ATS -

I have been a lurker for a number of years now and have finally decided that I will setup an account and contribute to the community. With that being said, I would like to highlight a few items of interest that I hope will either stir up conversation or help someone, with something, down the line.

About me: Mid 20's, entrepreneur, travelling the world at the moment. Involved in the Internet/Tech industry so feel free to ask ANY question and I would be happy to give an accurate answer or simply defer and say that I am unable to answer.

First - One half of the people here are absolute nut cases. Okay, one half is an exaggeration, but this is a half-truth and you can debate me on this all day if you wish. There is nothing wrong with this, everyone has their own issues and/or daemons that we deal with on a daily basis. Some people have done to many bath salts and others have mental issues that are genetic and are not fault of their own.

Point being, all to often I see absolutely absurd and ridiculousness posts that fellow community members will be 100% on-board with. Yet these posts, can be proven false in a matter of minutes with research or half a brain.

Second - ATS is not what it was like when I began visiting this website many years ago during my college years as I was searching for information on a research paper I was writing. How has it changed you may ask? Quite frankly, there was more accuracy and there was more effort, time and research put into the threads that were posted. All to often now I see threads posted that simply copy content from a news article and ask for opinions.

While there is nothing wrong with this, in fact, it is one of the reasons I love ATS, because it enables me to quickly "check in" and see what is news/noteworthy from across the world with relative ease during my days.

Therefore, I challenge us all to me more constructive.

Third, and with absolute certainty, I can say that ATS is one of a kind. In my profession, I deal with thousands and thousands of websites and online communities; some of which are maintained by fortune 500 companies. I have not seen one community that holds such rigorous standards with (apparent) relative ease... and that is despite the content and the community base. So ATS owners, founders, moderators and community members. Job well done! /golf clap

Fourth, I wish to make a few statements which I hope fellow members will either agree with or debate me on within this thread. That being said, here they go:

1. America (my home country) is not the best country in the world. And to think this makes you ignorant.

2. The problem with America is primarily our political system. However, until people realize that our local elections and senate/house elections are more important than our President, we are all screwed. People can complain all day but the fact of the matter is that we (the masses) are not making the correct decisions and then try to pass the blame. Here are two easy examples:

Bank A gives you a $500 credit line. You max it out, no problem, $500 is easily repayable. They then offer to increase it to $1,000 and then $2,000 and then $3,000 and then $5,000 and then $10,000. While they should have never offered to increase this line as your debt has grown, you have taken it on.

You buy a house that you can't afford and then are underwater and screwed because of the housing market. Yes, the bank shouldn't have offered a mortgage to you, but you signed on the dotted line.

3. If you have the ability to travel, travel. Travelling opens your eyes to the realities of the world. If you have not traveled then you do not know what the world is like. If you can't afford to travel, research is the next best option, but it still is not an equal substitute.

4. Despite ATS being filled with 50% irrational information; it has that critical 50% that is overlooked by the mainstream media that is so crucially important.

5. Our MSM is either a complete let down or paid-off in one form or another by elites. Take CNN for example. Today they showed what would happen if taxes were raised, which they should be in some ways. They showed three bars if I recall correctly:

Bar 1: Q4 2012 + 1.X % economic growth
Bar 2: Q1 2013 - 2.x% economic growth (taxes increase as of January)
Bar 3: Q2 2012 + 2.x% economic growth

They talked about bar one and bar two, but not about bar three?

6. A good, long, free eBook I can recommend that I just read. Titanic - The Most Complete Story Ever Told - Anniversary Edition. It's surprising how accurate the movie actually was in some regards!

7. Obama's health care bill. I really don't understand why people are moaning about this as much as they are. Can somebody please enlighten me? If everyone had health insurance, similar to car insurance, and "helpful" drugs were not so expensive do you really think affordable and quality healthcare would be so far out of reach? These commercials with "doctors" saying Obamacare is killing the economy are such a joke.

8. We need to give power back to the states; a lot more of it.

9. America is getting stupider. Yes, I said stupider, which is not a word. Yes, there may be some problems with our education system - but they are fundamental problems that could be achieved with less government intervention. But rather, you are now laying off good teachers with young kids (such as my friends) that only know the difference between Natty Ice and Natty Light.

10.TO PUT THE WORLD RIGHT IN ORDER, WE MUST FIRST PUT THE NATION IN ORDER; TO PUT THE NATION IN ORDER, WE MUST FIRST PUT THE FAMILY IN ORDER; TO PUT THE FAMILY IN ORDER, WE MUST FIRST CULTIVATE OUR PERSONAL LIFE; WE MUST FIRST SET OUR HEARTS RIGHT. ~CONFUCIUS


And that my friends, is my hello

I honestly didn't take the time to read past your age and what you do. I too have been a long time lurker and decided to contribute. Welcome, hope to see you around!

Originally posted by PatrickxJonathan
I honestly didn't take the time to read past your age and what you do. I too have been a long time lurker and decided to contribute. Welcome, hope to see you around!

+1 for honesty, and likewise. Boston is my 2nd favorite city

Hail Fellow, Well Met

One may never go wrong with Confucius

An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger. - Confucius

Hello and welcome!

Welcome to the forums proper.

Nice to have you here.