gotta take the bad with the good i guess. you get 56 genders and 56 types of AR rifles. you get crack addicts and pharmaceutical savants. you get bikini football and fat acceptance movements. free speech yields both

'merica

America was founded on Protestant principles more than general Christian principles, and Lutheranism, to an extent

the Protestants were the Pilgrims and they had a great work ethic, they had no qualms about "consumerism"

i wonder how many americans who said they'd move to canada if trump got elected, actually moved to canada..

The bible is paramount, even in protestant denominations. Do you support Jesus vexing the merchants near the Temple?

"consumerism" is a term made up by hippies in the sixties and it was inspired by anti-materialism and buddhist asceticism, mostly

>Highest suicide rate in a while
>America was still reeling from the prolonged 2008 recession
>Suicide rates have gone down pretty dramatically since 2016
>Same thing happened in the great depression and similarly prolonged recessions
Is there no correlation here or do you just like blaming consumerism and corporatism for all the problems of our country; taking away the freedom of the market to (somehow?) reduce suicide rates...
@christiam

consoomers are retarded

liberals are retarded

you're all retarded

i think in the context of examining healthy societies form a macro perspective, hes saying empty consumerism without strong traditional values guiding that society is a recipe for disaster. Am i being dumb?

That's how I read it

The retards buying funko pops all vote for Bernie anyways

https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations

you'll note divorce rates in maine have a 99% correlation with margarine consumption. this has been my essay on correlation.

This is why they are in this chat

I don't disagree, however I don't think the solution is removing freedom from the markets @saturn broker

@saturn broker i big time agree. we need some fabric to hold us together.

^

Why are degenerates leftists?

i'm just trying to work out a clear definition

@GeoChaucer low earnings > rationalize lower earnings instead of finding creative and lucrative solutions to problems > lower earnings > cycle repeat

yeah i dont think buying a pet rock is akin to slandering jesus christ

people who dont ENJOY making things more efficient at work frustrate me to a great degree

however gluttony is certainly a sin

I eat what I want

https://www.statista.com/statistics/187478/death-rate-from-suicide-in-the-us-by-gender-since-1950/
>suicide rates dropping drastically

@christiam >since 2016

this chat is a committee meeting of PhD-holding-macro-economists

That chart measures 2017.

Doesn't measure 2018, 2019

there we go

Also, the suicide rate didn't spike up during the 2008 recession. That was your justification?

chris im not sure why everyone's bootyblasted. can you just explicitly rail out a controversial opinion we can argue over?

Didn't say it spiked look at the numbers, it stays pretty stable from 2000 to 2007 then starts rising after 2008 @christiam

I have a Ph.D in retarded chat

please. i wrote my dissertation entirely in tard speak.

its starting

It's surprisingly difficult to find suicide stats after 2017. Regardless, 2016 and 2017 were economic good times, the suicide rate would hypothetically decrease.

Plus, let's not disregard cultural factors. Japan has a huge suicide rate because of hard-line conformism and work-culture.