As a young dude...

[Hippo Dude]

As a young dude, I have to go through this whole educational mumbo jumbo. Especially from where I come from, education is very very important. Ofcourse it's important in every country but education in our country is extremely needed and sought after mainly because I'm from a 3rd world country. And since I'm in a 3rd world country, abiding will pretty much just let you go down the drain cause there lots of cleft assholes in our government that just keep being what they are towards the lower class....

Well I see I'm ramblin again...

Well what I really wanted to say was, I am in the 2nd best school in this country (not boasting,in fact, it being the second just makes it some hundred plus or whatever in the whole world.). And since I'm from this school, it'll be easy for me to join the ranks of the upper class IF I DONT ABIDE AND TAKE IT EASY. Yet, if i do take it easy, I get the pleasures of living a relaxed life, yet since i'm from this 3rd world country, thats just gonna bring me down man. Down and fast. And the cleft assholes in our government are just gonna pull me down even further. So, takin it easy here in this country seems pretty impossible. Yet I always try to take it easy. Us students here have a saying that goes something like "Nevermind being lazy, at least you're not tired." Whats bothering me is my future. If I abide, I might just go down the drain. Believe me, abiding here is just gonna turn you into a low life here which is still pretty hard to do. In this country, theres almost no middle class. Its just rich or poor. PERIOD. How can I abide and take it easy in the middle? This is my dilemma right here dudes.

Apologies for this heck of a long ramble.

[Andrea D.]

Where do you come from Dude?

[Hippo Dude]

Philippines dude

[Andrea D.]

Oh, i have a friend who wants to live there, he loves Philipinas, he haves friend from you country because he works in a boat (Royal Caribean) maybe he will live there next year.

[forumdude]

I've been to the Philippines. Lovely country. But yes you make a good point. In many ways the Dude attitude is one far more feasible to maintain in the developed world. There are a lot of social safety nets that just don't exist in the developing world.

I live in Thailand where it's not so difficult for a lot of the locals to lounge in the middle, but that's usually because of the strong familial social network. Those who don't have a successful extended family are clearly at risk.

One of the biggest problems with maintaining the Dude attitude is local economics. Those living in a hard-pressed, corrupt and nepotismic environment cannot easily avoid the abyss of insolvency. We're sympathizing here, dude.

The Dudeist ideal, however is to maintain a cool head even in difficult circumstances. And in promoting a culture of frugality, it tries to encourage the value of saving over spending so that money can be better spend on achieving some level of freedom. The Philippines has aptly aped the consumer culture of the US, and most folks seem to be overly obsessed with spending for the sake of status (just my opinion, man - there are enough posh shopping malls and fast food restaurants to make an American stand agape).

Given that poverty is so palpably near it's hard not to pass up the accouterments of status, but there also seems to be a strong element in Asian countries to play fast and free with money, perhaps as a strategy to distance oneself from the lower classes. It's incredible how many folks in Thailand who earn six dollars a day still are impelled to purchase the latest cell phones and "buy rounds" at bars.

I'm not sure what your financial situation is, but there may be room for avoiding those pressures and saving up for long-term gambits toward greater financial freedom. Sometimes it just takes a diligent effort to say no to accumulative peer pressure. That may be presumptuous, of course, but I do know several Thais who have followed this path and put away a respectable nest egg which has put them further ahead on the road towards individual liberty.

[greatspiritmonk]

Up to now I've never been to Aisa, but I'm planning to in the future, so I don't know by experience what I'm blathering about. But, as I do usually, I studied a little about Asia, you know, just to know something about when I'll go there. Don't touch anyone on the head, look at where you point your feet and so on. And almost in every book it's expressed what you said, of this difference between rich or rich wannabe and the rest, with very little space for middle class. But this is becoming a common thing also in first and second world countries; everywhere the middle class is disappearing, usually going toward poverty, thanks to governments and cleft assholes with money who want more money. Let's wait some more years and we'll have the same situation France had before the Revolution, with normal people eating nothing and rich people eating pheasant's tongues.

Anyhow, the Forumdude, in his infinite wisdom  is right, on one side it's easier to live the Dudeist lifestyle if you are not at the lower end of society. But it is also true that most of the things that upper class think are important in reality are not. I've always thought that to see really how things are they should be thrown in the jungle only with a knife and see what happens next. What can they do with all their money in the mud if they are just empty assholes with money? Being frugal doesn't mean being poor, it means simply spending money for important things to live, and not to appear.

On the other side I'm sure that it is possible to be a great Dudeist even belonging to the upper class; this would give a greater chance to do something important for people around and to help them. The only thing that matter is to abide, in the meaning of remaining true to yourself in every circumstance, that is even if you are rich. Not all upper class people are assholes.

And, this is a general concept, not related much to the thread, but third world countries usually are really full of nature, and there it's easier to go out in the trees and find free food. But of course you don't find a fancy dress in the jungle.

[Hippo Dude]

@Andrea Dudette

Thats pretty cool! I know there are lots of Filipino's over at the Royal Carribean =)

@Forumdude and greatspiritmonk

Thanks for your replies dudes.Cause of you guys, new shit has come to light for me. Appreciate all that

[greatspiritmonk]

Thanks to you. It's a pleasure to be of help. And it's quite interesting to know other countries by first hand. 

[HnauHnakrapunt]

The subject is also quite interesting from the point of view of a disabled person. I got a job that is pretty stressful but it helps me to live some kind of 'normal' life. I have seen some of my friends just welcoming their disability as a great excuse, depending fully on their parents. So here being a bit undude may help you to become a dude. The thing is as it was said before - find the right amount of everything.