# Has pathological greed destroyed the Occident? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 15, 2016, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876 "2016-08-15T04:46:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/41 "2016-08-16T02:30:32Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Are we going to hear from this guy again after school starts? "For my first research project, I intend to combine ‘thirteenth level trigger terms’ (like Occident) in random sentences. I will be using a non-Euclidean Thesaurus in an effort to further obfuscate communication. I will also be re-combining fourth level terms into a new form of non-communication, using words of my own invention such as ‘iHuman’. "I will be posting these ‘scrants’ on various message boards; one each of the following demographics: 1. Soccer Dads, who usually post the latest mod to their mini-vans. 2. Flightie Righties, who demand less government and figuring out what they did with their keys. 3. Quinoa ‘n’ Kale for Dessert. The elusive No Fun contingent. 4. WhoTubers? People who can be peer-pressured into making ignorant comments on 90 min. videos without having actually watched them. 5. Straight Dopes… apparently, they use weed but forget to get high. By the end of the semester, I will be reviled online, and quite possibly schizophrenic. I assume that alone should guarantee a passing grade." ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/42 "2016-08-16T02:34:06Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > It’s a gif of Spider-Man villain Venom, apparently from a video game, saying “Game over.” > > Clearly, all our arguments are now meaningless. My son liked the gif (he’s 11). As a rebuttal on the Dope, I stand by my position it was weak. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/43 "2016-08-16T03:15:50Z")
I don’t know what the hell is going on, but China Uncensored is a great YouTube channel. It has many short videos about China. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/44 "2016-08-16T03:35:06Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > I don’t know what the hell is going on, but China Uncensored is a great YouTube channel. It has many short videos about China. I’m suspicious of anything “fun-sized”; short enough that I’d actually watch it. Got anything clocking in at an hour and a half? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/45 "2016-08-16T03:56:08Z")
> [@iLemming](#): > > Please refer to this _History Channel_ documentary, [_How is China Dying…?_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhLBIMwvnYA), before replying. This is not how it works on The Straight Dope. You start a thread and you present your argument supported by citations for us to support or refute. You are not a professor and you do not assign us homework for the privilege to converse with you. Also, this is not how the Pit works, and you’re discovering that right now. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/46 "2016-08-16T04:45:14Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > My son liked the gif (he’s 11). In fairness to your son, Venom is pretty sweet. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/47 "2016-08-16T06:02:08Z")
> [@iLemming](#): > > When will the West bring cessation to this self-defeating and immolating, recidivist behaviour of sociopathic materialism and begin to learn to derive the brain’s pleasure-causing chemical releases from more fruitful endeavours than nihilistic, infantile-minded hording of wealth, that coming at anyone’s (even their own / own children’s) expense? OK…you got some better drugs then, right? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/48 "2016-08-16T06:15:21Z")
> [@iLemming](#): > > Please refer to this _History Channel_ documentary… Was this the show right after _Ancient Aliens_? > [@](#): > > Or is it too all late – have corporations sold us too far down the toxic Yangtze already, leaving us only with the recourse of floating further out, past the effluent estuary, into oblivion; or taking the more humane and dignified route, and drowning ourselves now – while we still have the option to do so…? Sounds like we’re on a Slow Boat to China! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/49 "2016-08-16T09:53:05Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Pathological greed was how the West became powerful in the first place. Spanish gold, pepper from India, tea from China, bananas from Nicaragua… The great empires of history are trade empires. > > What would you replace trade with? Not that good a comparison, actually; conquest and looting isn’t really “trade”. The “great” empires of history were generally built on war, conquest, slavery and genocide; with trade at best something that happened in the ruins after the armies had passed. They were about looting and exploitation _far_ more than trade, as late as the 18th century and the dominance of mercantilism. Despite the occasional attempts at conquest like the US invasion of Iraq, the modern world can \*generally \*do better than that. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/50 "2016-08-16T10:55:47Z")
> [@iLemming](#): > > …banksters… I do like this term. Kudos to whoever coined it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/51 "2016-08-16T13:12:27Z")
> [@iLemming](#): > > Never has insecurity-manifested-through-arrogance met ignorance in a more perfect storm. You’re your own “Antichrist”. _For if Satan was my uncle That also made him the brother Of the widow’s grown-up daughter Who, of course, was my step-mother I’m my own Antichrist I’m my own Antichrist It sounds funny I know But it really is so I’m my own Antichrist_ Rock 'em, Willie! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/52 "2016-08-16T13:54:00Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I do like this term. Kudos to whoever coined it. First heard it in media use during the 2008 financial crash. Surely had been used before. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/53 "2016-08-16T18:19:37Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > You know… > > I’m thinking rant. Go wild. A wonderfully relevant post. You’re thinking “rant”, I suspect most people reading it are thinking “What The BeJesus Is He On About?” ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/54 "2016-08-16T18:23:48Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > A wonderfully relevant post. > > You’re thinking “rant”, I suspect most people reading it are thinking “What The BeJesus Is He On About?” I stopped thinking before I got to the end of that: “What The BeJesus Is He On?” ---
**Author:** ![JimNightshade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jimnightshade/32/3354_2.png) [@JimNightshade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimNightshade)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/55 "2016-08-16T18:38:03Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I stopped thinking before I got to the end of that: “What The BeJesus Is He On?” A Cathedra? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/56 "2016-08-17T04:04:06Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Not that good a comparison, actually; conquest and looting isn’t really “trade”. The “great” empires of history were generally built on war, conquest, slavery and genocide; with trade at best something that happened in the ruins after the armies had passed. . . . Well…yes and no. You’re not entirely wrong, but you’re overstating the facts a little. The spice trades really did involve payment for goods. The pepper and cinnamon wasn’t merely seized as spoils of war; good silver was paid. But, yes, there were wars and related affairs, including small-scale genocides, by which the European powers acquired sole right to trade. My only complaint about your posts is that you tend to shout at 190 decibels truths that are really only worth broadcasting at 130. You’re not absolutely wrong…but you exaggerate the truth substantially. ---
**Author:** ![iLemming](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90db22/32.png) [@iLemming](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iLemming)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/57 "2016-08-17T04:10:35Z")
Despite this apparent “trolling”, given the slew of responses - albeit almost entirely of the derailing, derping dullard denomination; as is Bible Belt wont - seems I’ve struck a cord… ( **NB:** Facts tend to come with this perquisite, out-of-the-box.) Notwithstanding; meanwhile, as ‘The Disunited Failed States of Gomorrah’ scraps over which pied piper should lead the midget incarnation of Xerxes’s meat shields off the precipice - the establishment gorgon or the gormless autist - China are humbly developing technology that will, not only allow them to continue to steal burger billion$ in innovation R&D (that could have otherwise been spent for… oh… you know, fashioning something approaching a harmonious, liveable society that exists below the Wall Street-Drumpf Penthouse Line!), but will render themselves comparatively unassailable to the only impotent riposte the West can muster against this kleptomaniac reboot of U.S.S.R. – stern, repeated finger-waging. First-strike, hyper-sonic nuclear joker card, anyone…? [China launch first ‘unhackable’ quantum satellite](http://www.smh.com.au/world/china-launches-hackproof-quantum-satellite-in-world-first-20160816-gqtk6g.html) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/58 "2016-08-17T04:14:21Z")
Do you speak English? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/59 "2016-08-17T04:58:46Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Do you speak English? Obviously not. I’m going to try to parse it anyway. It’s like a mirror language or addlepated code. > [@iLemming](#): > > Notwithstanding; meanwhile, as ‘The Disunited Failed States of Gomorrah’ scraps over which pied piper should lead the midget incarnation of Xerxes’s meat shields off the precipice - the establishment gorgon or the gormless autist - I take this as an election reference. > [@](#): > > China are humbly developing technology that will, not only allow them to continue to steal burger billion$ in innovation R&D Meanwhile, China is stealing stuff. Burgers apparently. > [@](#): > > (that could have otherwise been spent for… oh… you know, fashioning something approaching a harmonious, liveable society that exists below the Wall Street-Drumpf Penthouse Line!), but will render themselves comparatively unassailable to the only impotent riposte the West can muster against this kleptomaniac reboot of U.S.S.R. – stern, repeated finger-waging. And they must be freaking awesome burgers because if we would just wake up and stop China from stealing our burgers - insert yelling bit about inequality in US - we could stop Russia, who is also stealing stuff, from stealing stuff. > [@](#): > > First-strike, hyper-sonic nuclear joker card, anyone…? I’m not sure on this one. It didn’t come with a handy Joker gif. I assume he forgot. After all that work, it still doesn’t make sense. You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876/60 "2016-08-17T05:50:34Z")
To quote Rick James, cocaine is a hell of a drug. Or **iLemming** seriously needs to stay on meds. Or both. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pathological-greed-destroyed-the-occident/762876.md?page=4)