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[quote=”VictoriaLST”]Just like to keep things precise. People often confuse morals and ethics.[/quote]
. . . while others confuse what’s convenient to believe with what they actually know (imprecision at its worst).
[quote=”VictoriaLST”]to me, ‘moral obligations’ extend primarily to other humans. [/quote]
You can, obviously, adopt that position, but you must recognize it for what it is . . . purely arbitrary. And it leaves the door open to everyone else’s similar positions. I could adopt the same position, on a more limited scale of course, with regard to non-whites or non-males.
[quote=”VictoriaLST”]Metacognition is, basically, ‘thinking about thinking’. Pondering your own thoughts, thinking about the process of how you think. Exclusive to homo sapiens.
[/quote]
How, exactly, do you know what other forms of life are thinking? Tell us specifically how you know. Speculation is not enough.
And, with respect to their feelings, what difference does it make anyway? If an animal feels anxiety, fear or pain, then he or she feels those feelings. It matters not whether they think about thinking or whether they think about feeling. If they manifest behavior which we can reasonably interpret to be pain, for example, then we are morally obligated to treat them as if they are in pain until we can prove otherwise.
And just because one form of life (homo sapiens, for example) cannot plumb the depths of another’s thoughts doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. The inability to measure something does not disprove its existence. The Milky Way and maybe a zillion or two other galaxies all existed long before homo sapiens developed telescopes with which they could detect the galaxies’ existence.
Because we are in a position of superior power over another, as in the relationship between a hunter and prey, we have the power to disregard the other’s feelings, as might a rapist vis a vis his victim, but it does not mean that the prey/victim has no feelings.
You’ll have to consult Canadian tax authorities to learn how they handle taxes on earnings on the high seas or in foreign lands.
You cannot reside long-term and fully legally in Costa Rica on a series of tourist visas. If it’s your plan to reside here, you should apply for whatever category of legal residency you qualify for. Otherwise, you could (and may) be denied entry at any time.
That said, non-residents (tourists) can own real estate and automobiles and even businesses here.
Nationally-chartered banks in Costa Rica now require that you be a legal resident in order to open an account. The private banks may be more lenient.
I you live in Costa Rica, you can have bank accounts anywhere you wish whether that’s Panama, Canada, or anyplace else.
[quote=”VictoriaLST”]Sentient? The advanced definition: “capable of metacognition” And so far, only humans qualify.[/quote]
How do you know that, Victoria? If you cannot communicate verbally with your cat, how you know what he or she is thinking?
[quote=”kwhite1″]Assuming that there was no currency on the earth that had any value, then the dollar bills would be just dandy for firewood. But that is highly unprobable.
But if there was a currency of any value . . .[/quote]
[b][size=200]Aha![/size][/b]So you assume that there will continue to be a currency, a [u]fiat[/u] currency at that, since they’re [u]all[/u] fiat currencies (right?) that will have value. And just what currency will that be? The world’s bankers pretty much all think it’ll be good ol’ U.S. Dollars or they wouldn’t keep investing in them.
So now I’m hearing that you’re preparing to convert your metals, diamonds, etc to something spendable like (say) U.S. Dollars.
Why not just hoard Dollars? You look like a pretty big guy. You likely sleep on a pretty big mattress.
Interesting points, kw1, but lemme just ask . . .
If you were faced with the option, would you prefer to keep your self warm and dry with (1)a gold ingot, (2)a cake of yellow cake uranium, or (3)a couple of million otherwise worthless one dollar bills? As you say, you could at least use the bills for shelter or firewood. Have you ever tried to get out of the wind behind a diamond?
[quote=”maravilla”]define sentient??? do you think they don’t feel pain, or fear, or suffering, or anxiety . . .[/quote]
Of course you are right, maravilla. Animals with complex brains (and that goes pretty far down the evolutionary ladder) have all those feelings.
If you’ve ever played with a dog, cat, horse or pet bird, you know that they can feel joy. And if you’ve ever disciplined an animal and see it cringe, you know they feel fear. It is a well known fact that, awaiting slaughter, some hogs look ahead in the line and, seeing their fellows being killed, faint from fear as might we all.
Because they cannot express feelings verbally doesn’t mean they don’t experience them.
Whether we’re talking about precious metals, gems, rare earth metals, or uranium, don’t they all have value only because someone else says so? In that respect, are they not just like paper money which, too, only has value because we all agree that it does? (Sprite, have you sent waggoner all your paper money yet?)
With very, very rare exception, those who hold any of those commodities cannot make any practical use of them themselves, can they? I mean, Sailor, what practical use can you put your diamonds to? Victoria, just what’s your plan to use your gold yourself?
I suppose you could fashion them into jewelry, if you had the skills, or you could use them in some industrial application (again, if you had the skills and knowledge), but the vast majority of us don’t have those skills and knowledge. And then there’s still the matter of finding a market, a demand, for the finished product (if it’s any good).
For your diamonds or my platinum to be valuable, doesn’t someone else have to want them? And isn’t whatever you can get for your diamonds a mutually and arbitrarily agreed upon value between you and the buyer just as we might mutually (and arbitrarily) agree that my dollar bill is worth your sack of potatoes?
I guess I’m not seeing a real world difference between the practical value of holding scarce commodities and holding money. Either one only has the value someone else imputes to it.
Or am I wrong?
[quote=”sprite”]Can anyone name a period in recorded history when silver was without value not able to be used for barter?[/quote]
Yes, that would be the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. In other words, all of human history until maybe the last two thousand years.
In dire enough times, silver will truly be a flash in the pan.
I, too, am skeptical about holding an ice cube tray full of diamonds. If the world economy goes totally south, I’ve already written that I’m skeptical that a lot of folks will be buying gold jewelry and new electronics with gold and silver components. Now I wonder what the market will be for all those diamonds. Really, other than a few industrial applications (for which there may be no buyers), what’re they good for except for adornment?
Once again . . . If you’re desperate, will your priorities be to eat? To stay warm and dry? Or to sparkle?
Where you’re shipping [u]from[/u] doesn’t matter. Take one of the recommended companies and they’ll do the rest.
It really doesn’t matter where you ship from. Arranging a container to be delivered to your home, getting it onboard a ship, and getting it into port in Costa Rica are very routine matters for anyone in the business.
The difficulty comes in getting your things through Customs and in having the local resources to warehouse them, if necessary, and to deliver them to their ultimate destination in Costa Rica. That’s where local knowledge, experience and contacts are invaluable.
Two shipping companies based here can make all the arrangements for you and give you a firm price that includes Costa Rican Customs duty. Both have good reputations.
ShipCostaRica is one. E-mail Arden Brink at:
The other is Logistics Management Associates. E-mail Mike Rappaport at:
