Ecuador is between the top 50 most corrupt countries in the world. I believe that this is because our culture. People here tend to admire those who know how to cheat the system, this is called "viveza criolla" (don't know how to translate that). Fools are those who pay their taxes, those who wait in line, etc, etc.

I consider myself an honest person and I used to say I'm an incorruptible public server. Almost 10 years ago when I started working here and before getting married, I said to a coworker that I don't need to take bribes, maybe some day when I had a family, debts or something like that I could think about it.

Nobody has even tried to offer me money for favors in years and the truth is that I don't know if I could say no if someone tried now.
 
Ecuador is between the top 50 most corrupt countries in the world. I believe that this is because our culture. People here tend to admire those who know how to cheat the system, this is called "viveza criolla" (don't know how to translate that). Fools are those who pay their taxes, those who wait in line, etc, etc.

I consider myself an honest person and I used to say I'm an incorruptible public server. Almost 10 years ago when I started working here and before getting married, I said to a coworker that I don't need to take bribes, maybe some day when I had a family, debts or something like that I could think about it.

Nobody has even tried to offer me money for favors in years and the truth is that I don't know if I could say no if someone tried now.
Closest idioms I could think I of are "Looking out for number one" or "You scratch my back and I will scratch yours," though neither one really works to describe this behavior as a pervasive culture.

--Patrick
 
Closest idioms I could think I of are "Looking out for number one" or "You scratch my back and I will scratch yours," though neither one really works to describe this behavior as a pervasive culture.

--Patrick
In the Philippines we call it "crab mentality". If you get a bucket of crabs the ones at the bottom will pull the ones on top of them down trying to get to the top and out of the bucket. Almost none can make it out,because they keep getting pulled down.
 

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Staff member
Why do people on Tumblr get so angry about fictional works? You're dropping the f-bomb and high-level insults because somebody had a different interpretation of a literary work. And then Angry Person #2 always follows up with an exasperated thank you.

The weird thing is that many times, both sides require some massive reading between the lines, and each is just as interpretive. One just happens to be the majority opinion, and therefore it's naturally wrong.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Why do people on Tumblr get so angry about fictional works? You're dropping the f-bomb and high-level insults because somebody had a different interpretation of a literary work. And then Angry Person #2 always follows up with an exasperated thank you.

The weird thing is that many times, both sides require some massive reading between the lines, and each is just as interpretive. One just happens to be the majority opinion, and therefore it's naturally wrong.
Tumblr is where the broken go to break things.
 
That was a long time ago at this point. It probably ended around the time my daughter started school full time, which was... Several years ago.
 

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Staff member
Is the Audi SUV commercial where they try to make it seem like the thing is unique supposed to ironic? Because the final shot of the Audi they're trying to sell is nearly indistinguishable from the other ones they're showing.
 
Wow, Markus Persson aka Notch aka creator of Minecraft aka unimaginably wealthy just tweeted a series of tweets that nails exactly my biggest fear of winning something like the lottery or becoming suddenly unimaginably wealthy. Success /= happiness.












 
The only thing money buys for you is freedom from worry about bills.

A ton of money can also buy you a whole new set of problems.

That said, I think I could handle the problems, and would prefer to worry less about bills. I also have enough interests/hobbies to not be sitting around all day doing nothing while waiting for friends to get off work.
 
That's awful.
Still slightly better than being absolutely corrupted, tho.
He'll either grow into it, or become bitter and reclusive. Let's hope the former.

--Patrick
 
That's awful.
Still slightly better than being absolutely corrupted, tho.
He'll either grow into it, or become bitter and reclusive. Let's hope the former.

--Patrick
From those posts, I'd say he's on the way to bitter and reclusive. "went with a normal," "wait for my friends," and "they all hate me now."
 

GasBandit

Staff member
I, like Tin, think I could handle having huge amounts of money... But I would definitely hide my wealth from friends and family. Notch didn't have that option though. His sale of his company was super public so everybody knew.
 

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Staff member
I just saw an old lady on the news who had a Justin Beiber haircut and all I could think of was "Ruth Beiber Ginsburg".
 
I just saw an old lady on the news who had a Justin Beiber haircut and all I could think of was "Ruth Beiber Ginsburg".
It would make the C-SPAN YouTube channel more interesting.
[DOUBLEPOST=1440858897,1440858839][/DOUBLEPOST]
I, like Tin, think I could handle having huge amounts of money... But I would definitely hide my wealth from friends and family. Notch didn't have that option though. His sale of his company was super public so everybody knew.
How do we know you're not already secretly sitting on a giant pile of money right now?

--Patrick
 
Wow, Markus Persson aka Notch aka creator of Minecraft aka unimaginably wealthy just tweeted a series of tweets that nails exactly my biggest fear of winning something like the lottery or becoming suddenly unimaginably wealthy. Success /= happiness.












He could give all his money away to friends, family, and charity, and go back to work if it's really a problem. But I have a feeling he won't.
 
Money doesn't give you happiness, but it's a lot more comfy to cry in a Mercedes than on a bicycle.
...except for being surrounded with a constant reminder of why you're different than everyone else.

You can tell he's flirting dangerously with senescence lately. He created a new website a few weeks ago, but it's just sitting there.
Gonna repost this due to stinging, unfortunate relevance...


--Patrick
 
I, like Tin, think I could handle having huge amounts of money... But I would definitely hide my wealth from friends and family. Notch didn't have that option though. His sale of his company was super public so everybody knew.
I'm basically in this boat. Abject loneliness is something that sort of goes hand in hand with having an anxiety disorder and I've already spent 10+ years doing the "never leaves his house, ever" thing due to receiving inadequate healthcare (basically age 15 to 25). Giving me money wouldn't make me "suddenly" realize that I have nothing in common with my friends anymore. I already have that, it would just remove the risk of ending up on the street and assuring I can pay for college instead of depending on Pell grants every year.

And yes, the first thing I'd do is basically get packed over night and move across the country just to get away from a money grubbing family. My parents have... entitlement issues.
 
I have to be honest, sitting here reading his whiny bullshit makes me want to punch him in his rich face. The amount of things I could fix and help my family fix with even 1/4 of his cash would improve our lives a staggering amount.
 
That's cool that you have that attitude towards depression.

You say that like he doesn't help his family too.
You think I'm not depressed? I don't take pills for it?

I just don't feel the need to complain thousands of people on the internet about it. I'm sorry he's sad, but my exaggeration in that post aside him complaining about being lonely while also talking about partying all over the world and having everything he wants comes off weird to me. If being rich and having all that shit makes him so "isolated," why not throw most of it to charity and move out of that insanely expensive LA house to live a smaller, comfortable life? He can fix what's making him so alone. Some people don't have that option because they're not sitting on a pile of money.
 
Honestly, read about what happens to people who suddenly end up with a ton of money and how it affects their lives. My husband had already said that if we somehow won the lottery, he wouldn't even consider claiming it until he could get a trust to claim it anonymously. It's pretty well documented. Even not having a lot of money, just being famous is enough to fuck you up pretty good in this digital age. I was listening to Felicia Day's autobiography while driving cross country, and the amount of depression and anxiety she went through (and she's my age!) made me sad. Also just reminded me how full of assholes 4Chan is. [emoji14]
 
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