Why does success in the modern world come at such a price?

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Marb

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Whether it's a footballer jealous of another player, who then goes out to foul or injure that player, or a rival company or organisation trying to sabotage you, with say another advertiser, just how much bad feeling and unfriendly intentions is there in this world we inhabit in 2025?

Sorry if this seems cynical. I've experienced both of the above in recent times. The player who fouled me would argue it was an accident, and the rival company might argue they've done nothing wrong.

Of course, I know the best advice in these circumstances is to just keep going.

It got me thinking though. Just how desperate jealous people get to stop you achieving your goal or being successful. Sometimes unless that seat is firmly chained to the ground, it seems someone want to knock you out of it.

If you've ever been sabotaged. This thread is for you.
 
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I must be in some kind of good place myself.

As a teacher I was once maliciously accused of assault the official enquiry into which found in my favour after a witness came forward to explain how two guys conspired against me before it actually happened.

I've been screwed over more than once financially too but I am of the opinion that such people are in a tiny minority and that almost 100% of people are kind and well-meaning,

Life is easier to live with that mindset.

Of course you are disappointed when someone you trust and/or believe in does something to offend physically, mentally or spiritually but filtering out true friends from others is just part of life's learning process.
 
The most important thing is Marb that if you're a good person then you keep trying to do good no matter what happens to you.

Some words of wisdom Mike tyson said to I think it was a young rapper who was talking about getting revenge on somebody who dissed him. And Mike said to him "Devil wins" and said basically you let somebody change you he did something bad to you now your going to change from being the good guy the righteous man to doing something bad "Devil wins".

No matter what life throws at you Marb and no matter how many bad and selfish people you come across just keep trying to be decent, kind and do the right things. It's helped me anyway.
 
Since it was first quoted to me a number of years ago, I have remembered the old Chinese philosophical saying that if you sit on the river bank for long enough the bodies of your enemies wil eventually come floating by.

I reckon since then I've seen quite a few bodies float by.
 
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Desert Orchid said:
I've been screwed over more than once financially too but I am of the opinion that such people are in a tiny minority and that almost 100% of people are kind and well-meaning,

Life is easier to live with that mindset.
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Whilst I understand the premise of going with that mindset that is so terribly naive Maurice. I'd say somewhere in the region of 10% are good. A lot of people are harmless , many cowards many weak people or even more are liars but that doesn't mean people are actively good. I'd say truly bad people are probably in the 10% bracket as well. Everyone else is in that middle group. There is a saying people are only as good as what they do in the dark or perhaps when nobody's watching. Take away the law and the threat of prison and and see how people behave. Go through people's search history see how clean and shiny they look. You need look no further than the covid crisis to see how it suddenly turned into every man for himself . Put someone in a situation where it's really hard to do the right thing or be brave and then you'll find out if they are good. You never know if a person is truly good until they are tested.

I believe see the world for what it is and if you're one of the 10% who is good, brave , truthful and is blessed with courage and selflessness if that's even a word then great if not then at least that's something to aim at.
 
Desert Orchid said:
That's a pretty depressing picture, Danny. Good luck with it.
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It might well be a bit depressing Maurice but I think it's more honest. As I said I can see the benefits of walking around with your mindset that everybody is good, its a lot nicer thought. I might be wrong and I don't wish to pass judgement but I'm fairly sure I could fit my house in the west wing of Orchid towers and I'm fairly sure you'd live in a decent area and I know you've said you still go to Church fairly regularly so perhaps you get a completely different view of the world. I think you also perhaps grew up in a different era when there was a bit more moral decency about people but that's quickly eroding in society.

And to nick another quote from somewhere . the first step in fixing a problem is realising there is one.
 
I tend to think people are “good” (how do you define that) until they prove otherwise. Mostly, people have lived up to that thought. I’ve been helped along the way, opponents have treated me fairly and the only people who have actively sought to sabotage me are those accursed bookies.
 
I'm sitting on the same riverbank as Maurice. I operate on the premise that people are decent skins unless they prove otherwise. I think self-sabotage is a much bigger risk than being screwed over by others and a negative mindset is just that.

+Danny: My experience of the Covid crisis in Ireland was that in my 65 years on the planet I have never experienced such societal cohesion - certainly during first lockdown. I thought (in general) we were at our best.
 
Understandably, I agree the majority of people aren't jealous swines, and after all, it's not them who would want to hinder your progress.

It only takes one or two doesn't it though.

I'm sure we all agree there's always one or two.

The broadcasting company I'm part of has just lost an advertiser because a rival has had words with them. All for the reason we are doing well and they aren't.

I'm not making it up.

I'm sorry Jin has experience of this.

It sounds like her example is a lot worse and more serious case than mine.
 
Danny said:
It might well be a bit depressing Maurice but I think it's more honest. As I said I can see the benefits of walking around with your mindset that everybody is good, its a lot nicer thought. I might be wrong and I don't wish to pass judgement but I'm fairly sure I could fit my house in the west wing of Orchid towers and I'm fairly sure you'd live in a decent area and I know you've said you still go to Church fairly regularly so perhaps you get a completely different view of the world. I think you also perhaps grew up in a different era when there was a bit more moral decency about people but that's quickly eroding in society.

And to nick another quote from somewhere . the first step in fixing a problem is realising there is one.
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Upbringing certainly influenced my thinking.

Born in an upstairs bedroom in a council semi on the outskirts of industrial Clydebank and with a strong/austere religious input, certainly pre-Vatican 2, I don't believe I've changed much. We downsized from Orchid Towers three years ago but we only got there in the first place through sheer luck in the property market along with sacrificing luxuries along the way.

I do worry about decency and morality and tend not to watch TV or other media that appears to celebrate immorality and indecency. That's something I do believe will turn full circle in due course but not in my lifetime.
 
an capall said:
+Danny: My experience of the Covid crisis in Ireland was that in my 65 years on the planet I have never experienced such societal cohesion - certainly during first lockdown. I thought (in general) we were at our best.
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So you shared the bog roll out fairly in Ireland then?

And tbh what I've said has been misinterpreted which is probably the way I've put it across. Yes by all means I approach people in a positive manner but then as I said I only believe probably 10% of people are bad and probably a much lower percentage than that are dangerous or really bad. I think our definition of what a good person is probably differs somewhat.

I guess you'd probably class the harmless group as good where as I wouldn't and that's a large group. People who cause no bother work pay their bills look after themselves and will chat about the weather, the state of the country, the price of bacon some might even offer apology if they bump into you or generally be quite polite. But they are also perhaps the same bunch who moan about the state of the world and do nothing about it. They are also the same bunch who may walk past somebody suffering a violent attack or step over the homeless on the way into selfridges to grab a coffee for a fiver or a 200 quid pullover. They may also be the type who lose there shit over simple things like parking or any other minor things that don't really matter in the great scheme of things.

You ever want to see what humans are about step into a divorce court. People who took oaths that used to mean something faithfulness, in sickness and in health until death us do part who genuinely loved each other maybe with kids, ripping each other apart down to the last fiver.

Couples who've been perfectly happily married until one of them gets MS. Perfectly happily married until they won the lottery. Go to a funeral these days and watch them fight over the will. People love you when you can do something for them, everybody loves a winner but when you lose you lose alone.

How many people are good in your sense of the word because they actually are and how many are good because of their situations. Give people a load of money and a dash of power and see how they behave. Listen to the hyprocisys that come out of people's mouth. Just the other day I was in a pub listen to a gang of lads i know going on about the Pakistani rape gangs and how they all want shooting (true) and how all the politicians want locking up for not protecting young girls ( also true ) how righteous this group of young men standing up for the rights of women but I did wonder whether they left their morals at the airport when they'd been to pattaya the previous month paying money to be shagging barely legal Thai girls.

I could go on and on all day. But to me there is obviously a scale that runs from Mother Teresa to Rose West. We all appear on that scale somewhere at one time I was very near the bottom I'm slowly trying to work my way up it and would I even class myself as a good person ( in my sense of the word) well I'm not in that 10% yet but I'd like to think I'm getting nearer. I'd also like to think that most people are at least trying to to better.
 
To answer the thread title question, because if you walk into any room it's odds-on there will be at least one complete "See You Next Tuesday" in it.

And make that "no offers" if I'm in there! 😂

"Trust no one, my friend, no one!"

 
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I think Gore Vidal once wrote: "It is not enough to succeed - others must fail."

I admire Maurice's utopian view of life but, while human nature is certainly not homogenous in my experience, I think there is a sad truth in much of what is written on this thread.
 
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