Dmitri, you say this "HOW many of the people qwho CLAIM to not be abl to afford a membership DO HAVE cable TELEVISION!?? " and "anyone who has cable TV has no grounds for falsely claiming to not be able to afford a membership"

Cable T.V. is something the ENTIRE family can enjoy, simutaniously no less. Why should they do without something the whole family can enjoy so they can have a game site membership? I think it takes a very self rightious attitude to even suggest to those on limited income should do the following if they cannot afford a membership... "1) not smoke

2) not drink alcohol or soda

3) not buy ANY candy or sweets

4) Not eat out, EVER.

5) not go to a single movie or even rent one from the video store."

Who are we as members to have the gall to tell anyone what their priorities should be when they dont have a membership? There are alot of people who scrape by on very little and many reasons why they cant afford a membership here. I think its appalling to see anyone take such a better than thou attitude by suggesting they do without a basic item like cable TV in order to purchase a membership to satisfy ANY of its members. The last person who should judge the financially troubled is someone who cant relate to them.

Well said TTjazzberry. However everyone has made good points and I have said in my situation where I have lost my job, my home, and have no money to support myself, a membership of $2 a month is out of the question. Even if I started working today fulltime and started to pay off my debts and contributing in the home I am staying in, I still couldnt justify it as I cant even live on my own at the moment. The internet is my lone source of entertainment, interaction, news, and job search at the moment. Keep in mind though,this whole things is a what-if thing as Fencer has not said that he would change the brain pawn policies. However I am sure he has given it thought. If he has then I think we have given plenty of opinions to help make his decision. I think though this has started to get a little nasty and think we should move on before someone gets out of hand over this what-if situation.

TTJazzberry! CALM DOWN! I am NOT judging anyone! In fact, YOU AND I AGREE! I am simply poitning out that people CAN afford a membership, THEY JUST CHOOSE TO DO OTHER TIHNGS with the money, like buy soda, cigarettes, go to movies, or buy cable TV. THAT IS ALL I AM SAYING!

Surely you agree there is a diffreence between "Not being able to afford" a membership and "choosing to do other things with disposable income".

Right? You said so yourself:

" If they cant afford it because they decided they want cable TV then thats thier business and their decision, its about personal choices."

EXACTLY! YOU AGREE WITH ME!

It isn't about not being able to afford it, it is about not WANTING to buy it in lieu of other more desirable LUXURIES. Please do not tell me that Sodas and cigarettes and cable TV are NOT luxuries, because they ARE. Necessities are food and clothes and rent and utilities, health and educational expenses. Junk food, cable TV cigarettes, and other such stuff are luxuries, and if people want those instead of a brain King membership, YOU ARE RIGHT, that is their choice-- The key word there is CHOICE! they CHOOSE to not have money for it because they spend it on other non-essentials.

Do you realize that we AGREE?

TTJazzberry-- you said " I think its appalling to see anyone take such a better than thou attitude by suggesting they do without a basic item like cable TV in order to purchase a membership to satisfy ANY of its members"

You are grossly distorting my words, I have NO IDEA how you managed to attribute to me what you are saying I said. I never said ANYONE should do ANYTIHNG to satisfy ANYONE. where did you get that? i simply said that no one is do destitute that he cannot afford a membership UNLESS he isn;t wasteful in other areas! AND YOU AGREED WITH ME!

What I find especially disturbing is your reference to cable TV as a "BASIC" item.

This shows how patheticly papmered and lazy our society is, that cable TV is considered a basic item. Heaven forbid soemone not have 80 something channels to watch. Try telling someone who is starving that Cable TV is a basic item, I think he might disagree with you.

CLaiming that people who cannot afford a membership when they enjoy Cble television is a horrible insult to the hungry and homeless out there who TRULY cannot afford a membership.

Let;'s try to keep things in persepctive here!!!!!!

I think everyone is trying to make positive suggestions here. Remember, more than half the world can't even afford the Internet, never mind these silly games.

Let's just keep throwing out positive suggestions to increase the number of members, and not worry about who's agreeing with whom.

Sure, it's a choice to be here. It's a decision that will be made by individuals who feel good about playing here and using the discussion boards.

We all agree, it would behoove the site to get more paying members. I'll likely become one myself, eventually. Since I've only been here two weeks, I'm not quite ready to pay up. To me, it's sort of like a magazine subscription. Not too hard on the wallet, but will I read it all year long? Will I have time for it? Those questions are still open.

I have helped with church outreach programs,and with food & shelter help groups.you are so right about our pampered society.cable TV a basic?,you are right,not so.there ARE people that exists cant even afford a tv.
I know several people who decided to get a computer instead of a TV & use a freenet,since they can't offord both.a computer can be gotten very cheap 2nd these days.
that way,they can job-hunt & stuff online.besides,a growing number of people find TV so mind-numbing brain dead,they feel they are not missing anything.
what has the media offered us lately.
dumb paradies.
sad remakes of remakes.
rubber stamp sitcoms with the same old situations.
mike meyers movies with lame puns the 3 stooges wouldn't use.
and movies...with car crashes...shootings every 20 seconds...shallow plots,little character development..as 2 dimensional as a cartoon.
with all these alledgedly brilliant minds in hollywood,were is the creativity¿ ok,ok blazinshore,I'm getting to deep,drag me back into shallow water again.

CleverHunk, dragging you back into shallower water at your request. But we should take this to an appropriate board. See you on the General Chat board.

Blaze