" Every dream I had as a seven-year-old involved me going to a urinal and taking a yuuuuuge leak, believe me

Now, they involve me going to see some fine Russian prostitutes and taking a yuuuuuuge leak

When you think about peeing in a dream, you know urine serious trouble, let me tell you"

- Donald J Trump

 

I'm born in another country, but raised in the US. I'm afraid that visa complications will force me to go "back" to a country that I have no recollection of living in before.

Also shootings/terror attacks, failure, and dying alone.

 
Controversial

Genuine question, I’ve had this very discussion with a couple of my friends: Do you think the US is more likely to become a socialist state under tyrannical liberal rule or more likely to become a fascist state under a far right regime?

I don’t think there’s a correct answer here, but am curious to hear the opinion of others. Personally, I think the far right is a greater threat to our democracy than anything. I can fully well see an authoritarian rule enforced by the military, not too dissimilar than many other instances of this throughout world history.

The thought of a leader emerging and being far left and making America socialist? I don’t really see that happening. Who knows, maybe I’m wrong. I just can’t wrap my head around far left gaining a whole lot of power like that. I can easily see far right gaining control with an iron fist though.

“The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.” - Nassim Taleb
 

I don't agree with you.

I see the chances of both "far left" and "far right" taking over as equal. I even think that distinguishing between "far left" and "far right" is futile and doesn't serve any real purpose. They are 2 sides of the same coin. They are both forms of radical populism gone wrong. The two sides are very very similar - 1) Authoritarian nature that suppresses different views, 2) Emphasis on the "greater good"/society over the individual, and 3) Extensive government control over the economy and other aspects of life. In practice, they both end up 1) marginalizing and persecuting certain groups of people, 2) creating a highly militant/belligerent/aggressive nation, and 3) shaping an atmosphere that foster unquestioned loyalty and obedience.

There are couple ways I see that happening in the US. Most probable ones IMO are - 1) Christian right taking over and turning the US into a quasi-religious state. We have Mike Pence, the guy who prioritizes God over country, for a VP for Pete's sake; 2) SJWs + post-modernists + democratic socialists (who like to call themselves the "progressives" but have rather regressive beliefs) controlling the Congress and the presidency (Thank God Biden is the candidate, not Sanders); 3) Anti-China movement going tyrannical. I remember this thing called McCarthyism from my history classes ("If you don't support it, then you're a damn Commie!"). 

I'd also like to add that "socialism" isn't at all "far-left". Instead, there are variety of different types of socialism, some of which are incredibly dangerous and perhaps evil (Lennism, Maoism, etc...), some just flat out dumb and invalid (democratic socialism, Marxism, etc...), and some just different but not necessarily bad ways of running a country (social democracy in Germany and Nordic countries, state socialism in Bismarck's Germany - later transforming to social democracy after the German Empire fell and democracy became a thing there). Going further, Fascism is essentially a form of socialism (Nazi stands for National Socialist). Fascism = Socialism + Ethno-centrism + Ultra-nationalism. 

If you just consider the simplest definition of socialism, a system under which the government controls significant portion of the national economy, the US is the MOST socialist nation in the developed world, even more so than China and all the Nordic countries. Why? Because the US government spends about 40% of the US GDP. If you add direct control, then it's closer to 50%. Even the most social democratic countries like the Nordic ones don't exceed 40%. Problem is that the US is socialist in all the wrong ways, and almost none of the right ways.

 

Look historically at the most destructive regimes in modern history and you'll see that they're for the most part far left in terms of social and economic policy.  The Nazis were literally the National Socialist German Workers' Party.  The USSR, the CCP (especially under Mao), Venezuela, all Socialist/Communist/Marxist regimes that started out proclaiming they're on the side of the common working man.  But eventually they subverted the freedoms of all but the party leaders while scapegoating specific ethnic or class groups for any problems that arose during the great shift.  The intolerance angle flips things on it's head when you think about what's considered "left leaning" today but you can sort of see similarities in the demonization of Caucasians (swap out "white male" for "jew" in Mein Kampf and you can literally get published) by far leftists today to how Nazis did with the Jews in Germany, communist Bourgeois vs Proletariat struggles, etc. 

Then look in terms of their actual size and broader social appeal.  The far right is by and large a much smaller group that's filled with pure hate.  Since they're destructive from the outset people with any modicum of self-awareness can easily identify them and see how they're the classic bad guy.  I think it's no contest, the far left is far more dangerous as they come with duplicity and censorship while playing the long game.  Convince people you're working for the greater good, tell them you're looking to fix inequality and the disenfranchised will line up to support you.  As the world becomes more democratic and we have more ways to see what others have which we don't (thanks social media), envy becomes a powerful incentive to vote for the person that promises you the world.  The far left becomes a far larger group, not because everyone in it is hateful like those on the far right, but because it's filled with "useful idiots" that ignorantly believe in the movement which the leaders take advantage of in order to obtain power.  Then once that power is solidified, you can slowly cut off the movement's idealists until you're surrounded by only loyalists who do not question the party's intentions.

"The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly" - Robert A. Wilson | "If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

I don't think any form of authoritarian government is likely to arise in the US any time soon. As a foreigner, I see that freedom is the single strongest value of the american people. I would bet in anything else happening in the US, but not an authoritarian regime.

 

So many American-centric comments by fox news viewers about how they're scared about "America is going to be a failed state" 

That's your biggest fear in the world?

You really think that's worse than brain cancer or having your friends and family die? 

If America becomes a failed state, you could 1) leave, I don't think Switzerland or South Korea or Singapore or even China will go to shit anytime soon or 2) just accept it and focus on the things in life that make you happy. Detroit is arguably a "failed state," but I think you can still live your life there and be happy. 

 

Lol. FYI, conservatives in Korea think that the current president is gonna turn the country into a Venezuela like failed socialist state too.

But honestly, the fear of US becoming a failed state is not just a "Fox News taking point". I think we've seen all sorts of systematic failures with this COVID and poor leadership. We've seen that much of the government function depends on good leadership, which the orange man clearly lacks (regardless of your political views, you just can't deny this).

Why is the government to failing at its basic functions? 1) Because the executive branch is structured to create huge silos. Each Department of X has their own law enforcement. There seems to be 20 different organizations that takes cares of public health, none of which seems to cooperate with one another or even share information with one another unless they are told to. Instead of some organizations doing their freaking jobs, they become political and not do their freaking jobs or even worse, compete with other organizations for the same job. I personally blame FDR for creating a precedent of structuring the executive branch in a clearly awful way from an organizational structure point of view.

Executive branch needs some restructuring and consolidation to do so we can 1) make the government more efficient and effective, 2) prevent silos and intra organizational animosity, 3) improve communication across government functions, and 4) trim the fat so much that we'd have to pay lower taxes.

 

The reason Gen-zers support communism and socialism is because they are being told all their life that socialism is "when the government does things".

Are you really going to tell me that Norway, Sweden, & Co with lower corporate taxes, virtually no tariffs, and some of the highest startup rates in the world are socialist? Nah, they are capitalist with safety nets. Are you going to tell me that Private Equity firms raising 10+bn Euros would be able to exist in socialist countries?

 

I'm always amused at the hand-wringing about Communism in the US on this forum. America is, and has been for a long time, pretty right-of-centre for a developed nation. Even the Democrats would be considered the most right-wing party in Canada. The portion of the population that basically believes in right-wing Christian sharia law is a way larger and more influential voting bloc than people who want to turn America into a left-wing communist state.

 

I agree with this to some extent. I would say though that unless you have done something truly terrible, such as Hitler, or something that has changed human history completely, such as Newton, you will more or less be forgotten.

Even people who would be considered very important in their day such as some past American presidents are forgotten. I mean I would wager the vast majority of the population don’t know much if anything about someone like Warren G Harding or Franklin Pierce.

 

So you're more concerned with your earthly pride than eternal salvation?

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

*looks around nervously so I can post without being shit on for being a prospect*

 

Mass shootings in a movie theater. For some reason I feel most vulnerable in the movie theater. Part of me thinks it’s because I would have no shot of escaping with those reclining chairs.

TD Bank Junior Credit Analyst
 

You need to strengthen your support system if this is how you feel. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I'm going to get dark for a second.... 

We live such a short, insignificant life in the grand scheme of things. Within 100 years, all of us will be dead. It will just be nothing. No consciousness and everything will be gone. I don't know about you, but I want more time. I am terrified of the idea of not having life. Perhaps even worse than that is getting to the point of no return and then having regrets and thinking "I should have done this..." or "Why did I waste so much time doing that...?"

 

This may not be the case if the technological singularity occurs in our lifetime. 

 

Same. I have a hard time knowing that I will die one day. It really messes with me. Especially more so now after I became a father. 

 

Read Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. He was a great Stoic philosopher and Roman emperor. His philosophy comforts me when I have thoughts like this. Here’s a quote:

"Even if you were to live for three thousand of years or ten times as long you should still remember this, that no one loses any life other than the one that he is living, nor does he live any life other than the one that he loses, so the shortest life and the longest amount to the same. For the present is equal for all, and what is passing must be equal also, so what can be lost is shown to be nothing more than a moment; and no one could lose either the past or the future, for how could he be deprived of what he does not possess? So always bear in mind these two points: firstly that all things are alike in nature from all eternity and recur in cycles, and it therefore makes no difference whether one sees the same spectacle for a hundred years or two hundred or for time everlasting; and secondly that the longest-lived and the earliest to die suffer an equal loss; for it is solely of the present moment that each will be deprived, if it is really the case that this is all he has and a person cannot lose what he does not have." 

 

I am not able to post anonymously - I used to be able to though.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Being stuck in a coma but retaining consciousness of the world around me

 

I knew a person that I visited through my church with "Locked in Syndrome"

"Locked-in syndrome (LIS), also known as pseudocoma, is a condition in which a patient is aware but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for vertical eye movements and blinking. The individual is conscious and sufficiently intact cognitively to be able to communicate with eye movements."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome

When he finally could communicate - his first words communicated through blinking were "shoot me." He wanted to kill himself immediately, but then had a religious revelation and wanted to join the Catholic church and became a prayer warrior. He could watch TV too and had TNT on for over a decade. He died eventually but was 'locked in' for a very long time. He liked bible study and I used to blast it through these Bose speakers right next to his ear.  

I think the cause was excessive drinking. He was an Air Force veteran and a cop.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Regrets and what ifs. Not being able to provide for my wife, kids, and family. (I am 22 and this shit keeps me up at night)

 

Not getting into a target high school (think Andover/Exeter), then HYPSW, an IB offer at MS Menlo Park, then KKR/Carlyle, then HBS/GSB, then a Partner-track position at a top PE/VC firm.

 

Yeah.. that thought keeps me constantly stressed out and on edge 24/7 with no real backup plan that would make me happy. 

 

Don't really mind posting under my "real" name. 

I would say my biggest fear is never feeling comfortable with the amount of money I have. I have built up such absurd dreams that I'm honestly up against a wall. Like 2 years ago I ran the numbers on a dream garage and it came out to 12 million. Sense of realism is a bit stronger now.

 

Besides all the dying stuff, never finding the right person to be my wife and start a family with

 

This is based off my belief but it’s genuine to me. Fear of being left behind/not going to heaven. Not everyone will go. even the scripture says half of all “Christians” will go so yea. Gotta keep that relationship with God warm at all times. Everything is pointing till the end of times and in reality you never know when God is coming. So it’s best to keep that lamp filled.

 

I think you will be fine. For the discerning heart watching their sins, I think this is a sign that you are at least bound for purgatory, which eventually gets you to heaven. Also, the bible specifically mentions that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven. 

I think there are some things to consider here. Not everyone goes straight to heaven after they die, only those who have purged their sins on earth. So this equation might hold up if you only account for those who go straight to heaven. 

Also, speaking of money, the bible only mentions that the 'love of money' is evil. To have a lot of money isn't inherently evil, but to live life only seeking money over everything else is going to be evil. So to be a billionaire isn't against the bible - it matters what you do with the money and your motivations for gaining money. To do evil for monetary gain is obviously going against scripture.  

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

As a side note the needle being referenced is not the sewing needle you generally think of but the Needle gate in Jerusalem. Suggest you read up on it to gain some historical context into the verse.

 

Have you ever stopped to think about what a ridiculous belief it is to believe in eternal happiness vs eternal suffering in the afterlife? If there is a Christian god and he is willing to condemn people to life of eternal suffering because of the way they lived their life on earth, that is not a god id worship. People’s actions on earth are almost all based on their surroundings / influences / genetics etc. the entire notion of hell and heaven is a way Christian faith finds leverage to make you do what they believe is right

 

Biggest fear is getting married only to have my wife die young (single rn btw)

 

You should watch this movie - it would be deeply moving to you. I don't want to give you the spoilers so won't say much about it yet, but let me know if you end up watching it.

-

 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Considering the comment you responded to it seems like a bad idea. I get super emotional over stuff like this (can't sleep properly for weeks, etc)

 

Because I saw so many comments abt dying alone, someone with covid quite literally dies alone. No one can visit you until you are cremated. My fears include my parents/boyfriend dying before their time, terminal illness at a young age, being a victim of a shooting/terrorist attack. I just don’t know how I’d continue on or keep positive if those happened.

 

I think its because of the fact that death is final. As someone who became partially disabled later in life, I can say that there is an opportunity to lead a somewhat OK life (although difficult, but easier in modern society). With death there is no new chance.

 

Letting down my parents, dad in particular.... Getting fired at VP/young MD level and not being able to find another job

 

My biggest fear is growing old and never finding someone that I really connect with again, and never being able to trust again, since I put so much trust and love into my last girlfriend a couple years ago only to be betrayed.

I don't really fear dying alone, in fact I would prefer it. Only my dad is still alive, and I wouldn't want him to go through the pain of seeing his only son die. 

 

Honestly, two big fears. Not being good enough to land a good life-partner. And secondly, not being successful enough. My dad is in high-finance as well, and honestly I'll be always comparing myself to him and not being more successful will probably be heartbreaking given the amount of more resources I had compared to when he was my age.

 

The second one really hits home for me. I really won't really be satisfied till I am more "successful" than my dad, coming from a better upbringing than him.

 

my future wife leaves me and takes everything I have worked so hard to build up

 

I find it ironic that there are guys here who are all about finding the quality “family” girl but then choose IB, the career of smokeshows.

 

Given the rate of technological progress, I'm actually looking forward to a potential singularity in which we'd have a chance of significant life extension/immortality. I guess my largest fear would be living long enough for science to uncover that there is nothing fundamentally mysterious about the universe. I'm kept in a state of wonder and interest based on how every new answer to hard problems seems to bring up 3 questions, and the nature of consciousness and quantum physics is making scientists today question if there is even an objective reality out there.

I consider myself a fairly rational and "skeptical" person, but I'd be pretty scared if there ever came a time within my life where science came to understand everything and removed any "mystery" from the world. There would be no hope of gaining any sort of DMT-like insight after death or of seeing civilization as anything more than a facade for a house of cards handed down from one clueless generation to the next.

Thankfully it seems like there are certain philosophical questions and concepts that lie fundamentally outside the purview of scientific inquiry. I'm not religious, and I'm a naturally curious person, but I hope humanity's collective curiosity doesn't lead us to answer we're not ready for.

 

Fight Club after Edward Norton’s perfect apartment blows up:

Tyler Durden: It could be worse. A woman could cut off your penis while you're sleeping and toss it out the window of a moving car.”

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Ending up with some shitty terminal illness like ALS. 

I'm dead serious - if I ever the message that I'm going to pass from some slow-burn, 100% debilitating illness, I'm gonna go ahead and say my goodbyes while in good enough health, and then find a decent way to end it. 

I've seen people pass from ALS, Alzheimers, terminal cancers, COPD, etc. and it's never a beautiful sight. We kill sick animals out of mercy, but keep people hooked up 'til the bitter end. No thanks - not for me.

 

stop reading Zerohedge lol

The West is a construct 

"Peace" is a construct

"the West" will be just fine, worst case, you can leave the US or get a cozy cabin in Montana 

 

I've never read Zerohedge in my life

By the West, I mean Western Europe / NA... Not sure how that's a construct

I said "relative peace" for a reason, I understand there is still plenty of war happening, in which the West is either directly or indirectly involved, and civil unrest is a thing, but I'm talking about home cities being levelled/evacuated and domestic life basically having to stop for war. This is not a foreign concept in Europe.

I'm from the UK.

 

I doubt there will be another war in Western Europe any time soon. The odds of there being a war among EU nations + UK + Nordics is slim to none. I think it's possible that there might be some conflicts here and there in Eastern Europe (I think it already happened when Russia took Crimea).

With Erdogan trying to be the new Sultan of Ottoman Empire 2.0, maybe they'll try to get involved in Eastern Europe?

 

A deadly virus pandemic. I have two thought processes about this. First, remember how everyone panicked at the beginning of COVID? We knew it wasn't a death sentence or even like a high probability of serious consequences. I can only imagine the shit show when a virus that is deadly spreads. At least in the beginning, I can imagine having more deaths from each other or lack of resources than the actual virus itself. 

My second train of thought is that even COVID could not be contained. Of course it is likely different with a more lethal pandemic, but people were going crazy at thought of staying home for not even that long. If it were deadly, we would all be fucked right now. I am talking a significant portion of the global population gone. 

 

My fear is America becoming a failed state because the left and right kept pushing for different flavors of the same idiocracy while each thinking they’re ‘fixing it’, drags the world into fire and chaos, and I end up having to survive by moving to some fourth world shithole and becoming a warlord.  Keyser Soze eat your fucking heart out.

All jokes aside, my only real fear is looking back on my life and thinking “it wasn’t worth it”.  I live by the FUCK YEAH principle because this life is all you get.  So if it’s not part of the plan then out it goes, no exceptions.  From time to time the commitment has to be refreshed because complacency tends to creep in, to the extent that a cold hard shock or a healthy dose of fear can really be your best friend in the long run.

Get busy living
 

dude I was thinking the exact same thing, but didn't know if I was just stoned out of this world or something - haha

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

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"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

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“Destiny is a gift. Some go their entire lives, living existences of quiet desperation, never learning the truth that what feels as though a burden pushing down upon their shoulders is really a sense of purpose that lifts us to greater heights. Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valor, that to strive and triumph in the face of fear is what it means to be a hero. Don’t think. Become.”

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