Signs that are hardly accidental

[Aibao]

I saw some replies in my last post and forgive me for not writing back. I will answer them yet. but what happened made me so anxious that I have to start a new topic because my mother started to worry too.

 

1. Recently I wrote about how a diet can be similar to religion. It's been a long time since I visited a certain Polish Christian website where the author has a universal view of salvation. This site calmed me down a bit from hell so I kept checking it every now and then but then I lost the address and couldn't find it.

 

Today I was typing a word that turned out to be similar to the name of this page (strange, because earlier when I typed it, it did not appear to me, so I already took it as a sign) in the search engine and this page appeared to me.

 

This is where the author added a new post titled "diet religion" and that diet has something to do with religion (eg rules, guilt, etc.).

 

That's why I took it as a sign - because firstly, I recently raised the topic of religion and diet on the forum and I was thinking about changing my diet to a healthy one, secondly I wanted to find this website for a long time, but I forgot the name and lost the address and suddenly it appeared today - when I thought about her and thought about the diet.

 

This worried me because I don't know what it means: not to try a diet? Don't be healthy, because there are rules, and the author of this post seems to suggest that diets are like religions and religions are bad and Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with God? Or maybe this website is not trustworthy at all because it supports universal salvation which, in turn, is not supported by the Bible or most evangelical churches?

 

These signs disturb me because they seem to point to God or to some great mind that knows everything about me, even knows what I think. And he gives me signs, and I don't know what to do and usually I want to do against these signs and in my own way, so I'm afraid that I will make a mistake and for the fact that I live in accordance with myself and not with these signs, I will be punished in some way or I will go to hell. This in turn leads to the fact that I am afraid to make any decisions again and I turn to the mercy of some fate or signs.

 

2. Yesterday I was in a rather strange, oppressive situation. I was fed up with treating me like a toy, so I made up a lie to get away: I told this person that I couldn't come tomorrow because my father would come to visit me and take me to the lake, so I would be busy for 2 days.

 

Father actually came today. My mom and dad have a bad relationship - they were planning a divorce. I told my mother that my father had arrived, my mother was surprised because he had been in the previous week and had already gone - so why did he come back after a few days? So I told her about this lie I had created in order to get out of the hands of a certain person.

 

Mom was shocked. She told me that she was starting to fear me, that my thoughts had power. She asked me to be in control of my thoughts, because it was not the first time that I had thought about something and it came true. When my mom lost the game (she is addicted to gambling), she started blaming me for being my fault because I hadn't thought about happiness for her.

 

I'm starting to fear myself, I don't know what's going on. I don't know how to explain it, my mother keeps saying it's God or the Universe and I panic that I have to, and don't want to, conform to God's signs, and if I don't, I will end up in hell or my life will go wrong.

 

3. 

Other examples:

 

Last summer I had an interest in orcs. I watched videos of these amazing whales and wanted a killer whale T-shirt. Unfortunately, I couldn't buy any, because they were either too expensive or there were no such ones on Polish websites. This summer I found a killer whale in a store without really looking for it, it was just there and I noticed it. Additionally, it was overpriced. However, to get a lower price, I needed a special code that I didn't have. With regret, I told the cashier that I would not take this t-shirt (it was too expensive without a code), but she asked someone from the queue of people if they had a code and someone had and gave me the code - this person gained points for shopping, and I had a low price of the shirt in orcas. I couldn't believe what was happening.

 

After the orcs, "I had a phase" for frogs. My mom would go back to the old days and talk about the kermit frog. My friend didn't know that I like a frog Kermit sent me some funny memes with Kermit.  Suddenly I saw a kermit frog t-shirt in the store. I felt a strange unease - what is this sign?

 

I've been watching quite a lot of countryballs memes lately (sorry, if someone is sensitive to politics and patriotism, I don't mean slandering or mocking any country, I watched them because I found them by accident and I have a lot of distance to myself, these memes make fun of my country a lot, but I I laugh at it and memes are a form of relaxation for me because I have no other relaxation and jokes are an escape from terrifying religious anxiety). There are a lot of countries and their stereotypes in these memes. As some of you may know I like America / USA and Japan. I dreamed about countryball America, with glasses (maybe someone knows these memes, he knows what's going on). Actually, I was reading about the USA recently and watching the NATO parade and I was moved. My interest grew to such an extent that I wanted either an American flag jersey or an America countryball ball. As I was walking through the mall and waiting for the train home, I noticed a pen - a Captain America pen in the store. Then an American flag T-shirt. Then someone had the flag on their T-shirt. Later I saw the Captain America statue - and although I was happy and bought a pen, I got scared at the same time, because I have the impression that someone is reading my thoughts.

 

I started to worry - it has been going on for a year. Finally I told my mother about it, my mother says that the universe cares about me or that God is making my little dreams come true. And I am worried. What God? But if the Bible is fabricated, how is it? Then what? or who And what am I supposed to do with these signs? What should I think? - I'm just afraid of my own thoughts, even if good things are happening, because I don't know what it is, it looks like magic, so my only question is: is there anyone here who has had similar experiences? How did you feel about it? How have you dealt with the anxiety that there might be some great mind reading thoughts in your head, or that your thoughts generate reality and if something bad happens it is your fault? This is what I fear - that it will all be my fault because of my thoughts and signs that I cannot respond to.

 

 

[pantheory]

23 hours ago, Aibao said:

I saw some replies in my last post and forgive me for not writing back. I will answer them yet. but what happened made me so anxious that I have to start a new topic because my mother started to worry too.

 

1. Recently I wrote about how a diet can be similar to religion. It's been a long time since I visited a certain Polish Christian website where the author has a universal view of salvation. This site calmed me down a bit from hell so I kept checking it every now and then but then I lost the address and couldn't find it.

 

Today I was typing a word that turned out to be similar to the name of this page (strange, because earlier when I typed it, it did not appear to me, so I already took it as a sign) in the search engine and this page appeared to me.

 

This is where the author added a new post titled "diet religion" and that diet has something to do with religion (eg rules, guilt, etc.).

 

That's why I took it as a sign - because firstly, I recently raised the topic of religion and diet on the forum and I was thinking about changing my diet to a healthy one, secondly I wanted to find this website for a long time, but I forgot the name and lost the address and suddenly it appeared today - when I thought about her and thought about the diet.

 

This worried me because I don't know what it means: not to try a diet? Don't be healthy, because there are rules, and the author of this post seems to suggest that diets are like religions and religions are bad and Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with God? Or maybe this website is not trustworthy at all because it supports universal salvation which, in turn, is not supported by the Bible or most evangelical churches?

 

These signs disturb me because they seem to point to God or to some great mind that knows everything about me, even knows what I think. And he gives me signs, and I don't know what to do and usually I want to do against these signs and in my own way, so I'm afraid that I will make a mistake and for the fact that I live in accordance with myself and not with these signs, I will be punished in some way or I will go to hell. This in turn leads to the fact that I am afraid to make any decisions again and I turn to the mercy of some fate or signs.

 

2. Yesterday I was in a rather strange, oppressive situation. I was fed up with treating me like a toy, so I made up a lie to get away: I told this person that I couldn't come tomorrow because my father would come to visit me and take me to the lake, so I would be busy for 2 days.

 

Father actually came today. My mom and dad have a bad relationship - they were planning a divorce. I told my mother that my father had arrived, my mother was surprised because he had been in the previous week and had already gone - so why did he come back after a few days? So I told her about this lie I had created in order to get out of the hands of a certain person.

 

Mom was shocked. She told me that she was starting to fear me, that my thoughts had power. She asked me to be in control of my thoughts, because it was not the first time that I had thought about something and it came true. When my mom lost the game (she is addicted to gambling), she started blaming me for being my fault because I hadn't thought about happiness for her.

 

I'm starting to fear myself, I don't know what's going on. I don't know how to explain it, my mother keeps saying it's God or the Universe and I panic that I have to, and don't want to, conform to God's signs, and if I don't, I will end up in hell or my life will go wrong.

 

3. 

Other examples:

 

Last summer I had an interest in orcs. I watched videos of these amazing whales and wanted a killer whale T-shirt. Unfortunately, I couldn't buy any, because they were either too expensive or there were no such ones on Polish websites. This summer I found a killer whale in a store without really looking for it, it was just there and I noticed it. Additionally, it was overpriced. However, to get a lower price, I needed a special code that I didn't have. With regret, I told the cashier that I would not take this t-shirt (it was too expensive without a code), but she asked someone from the queue of people if they had a code and someone had and gave me the code - this person gained points for shopping, and I had a low price of the shirt in orcas. I couldn't believe what was happening.

 

After the orcs, "I had a phase" for frogs. My mom would go back to the old days and talk about the kermit frog. My friend didn't know that I like a frog Kermit sent me some funny memes with Kermit.  Suddenly I saw a kermit frog t-shirt in the store. I felt a strange unease - what is this sign?

 

I've been watching quite a lot of countryballs memes lately (sorry, if someone is sensitive to politics and patriotism, I don't mean slandering or mocking any country, I watched them because I found them by accident and I have a lot of distance to myself, these memes make fun of my country a lot, but I I laugh at it and memes are a form of relaxation for me because I have no other relaxation and jokes are an escape from terrifying religious anxiety). There are a lot of countries and their stereotypes in these memes. As some of you may know I like America / USA and Japan. I dreamed about countryball America, with glasses (maybe someone knows these memes, he knows what's going on). Actually, I was reading about the USA recently and watching the NATO parade and I was moved. My interest grew to such an extent that I wanted either an American flag jersey or an America countryball ball. As I was walking through the mall and waiting for the train home, I noticed a pen - a Captain America pen in the store. Then an American flag T-shirt. Then someone had the flag on their T-shirt. Later I saw the Captain America statue - and although I was happy and bought a pen, I got scared at the same time, because I have the impression that someone is reading my thoughts.

 

I started to worry - it has been going on for a year. Finally I told my mother about it, my mother says that the universe cares about me or that God is making my little dreams come true. And I am worried. What God? But if the Bible is fabricated, how is it? Then what? or who And what am I supposed to do with these signs? What should I think? - I'm just afraid of my own thoughts, even if good things are happening, because I don't know what it is, it looks like magic, so my only question is: is there anyone here who has had similar experiences? How did you feel about it? How have you dealt with the anxiety that there might be some great mind reading thoughts in your head, or that your thoughts generate reality and if something bad happens it is your fault? This is what I fear - that it will all be my fault because of my thoughts and signs that I cannot respond to.

 

 

HI Bilbao,  As I have said many times, the Bible is a collection of stories that even educated children can't believe today in light of the mountain of evidence of modern science contrary to the Bible, again Geneses and Revelation are prime examples. There is no connection between dieting and religion excepting as a ritual.

 

The process of dieting is simple, but a very difficult-to-follow process for many people. Self control is the key to dieting. Your mind must be able to control your body whenever you need it to, to reach your goals in life. Very active people with a faster metabolism can diet more easily. Choose your own diet and follow it. If you can't, it simply means you don't have the self control needed for that diet. Simply eat less and any diet will work better.

 

Life is simple for most people in the western world today. Humans are animals that sometimes have to overcome their animal instincts such as hunger. When I want to lose weight I eat nothing at all for an entire day and drink a lot of water. Even better than losing weight, one also strengthens their self control by such fasting. When dieting, I try to do this every other day until I lose the desired weight. Fasting for more than one day at a time is not healthy since you can also lose muscle weight this way.  But most any diet will work if you follow it. Overcoming hunger pains is also a necessary key to losing weight.

 

cheers,  and best regards

 

 

 

[Aibao]

Thank you for the answer - religion has nothing to do with diet, but it does because it can cause guilt just like religion - although for me it is not tiring guilt, as in religion and can become the most important and replace god. Certainly according to believers. After all, it all becomes a sin when you enter Christianity - I wonder if if a person paid attention to deep breathing and appreciated it very much, would breathing also become sinful, so such a person would have to give up his sin, or stop breathing? Then he would have to die. It irritates me in Christianity,

 

But the main thing is that my thoughts are mirrored by reality. So much so that my mother was afraid of me and asked me to control my thoughts. It started to scare me after a while. Believers might say that I am possessed by a demon or have some "law of attraction" or something like that, and that it is demonic.

 

I can't find a rational explanation for the phenomena that I described that happened to me, so my mother explains to me that it's God or some matrix or something, and I get lost in these concepts and I don't know what's going on, but I need to know.If I do not find a rational explanation, all I have is an explanation, either divine, or some spiritual or mystical.

 

Thank you and cheers also

[pantheory]

15 hours ago, Aibao said:

Thank you for the answer - religion has nothing to do with diet, but it does because it can cause guilt just like religion - although for me it is not tiring guilt, as in religion and can become the most important and replace god. Certainly according to believers. After all, it all becomes a sin when you enter Christianity - I wonder if if a person paid attention to deep breathing and appreciated it very much, would breathing also become sinful, so such a person would have to give up his sin, or stop breathing? Then he would have to die. It irritates me in Christianity,

 

But the main thing is that my thoughts are mirrored by reality. So much so that my mother was afraid of me and asked me to control my thoughts. It started to scare me after a while. Believers might say that I am possessed by a demon or have some "law of attraction" or something like that, and that it is demonic.

 

I can't find a rational explanation for the phenomena that I described that happened to me, so my mother explains to me that it's God or some matrix or something, and I get lost in these concepts and I don't know what's going on, but I need to know.If I do not find a rational explanation, all I have is an explanation, either divine, or some spiritual or mystical.

 

Thank you and cheers also

 

Guilt is often related to lack of self control. Adequate self control can be the difference between having a good life and having a bad one. Never feel guilty about anything except stupid beliefs and behaviors.

 

Your mother probably loves you and cares for you more than anyone else, so listening to her can often be a very good thing. But remember, she believes in Santa Clause (God, Christianity). It's up to you to determine what you want to believe in. IMO nothing at all in reality is too complicated to understand, only in the quantity of its detail.

 

have a good one Albao

[Aibao]

9 hours ago, pantheory said:

 

Guilt is often related to lack of self control. Adequate self control can be the difference between having a good life and having a bad one. Never feel guilty about anything except stupid beliefs and behaviors.

 

 

That's right, I guess that's my problem - I feel guilty about everything, because of being myself, being different from someone else, being an introvert ... I don't know if it was because of reading topics related to religion or I was like that before - I got lost in my own psyche.

 

Thank you for saying that religious beliefs are not worth blame. Actually, I even felt angry with religion - I'm fed up, I'm too exhausted mentally, but if I think - hell? This is gone now.

 

It is stupid that hell seems so real to me, while for others it is not, and in synchronous events I can find God's actions.

 

Or maybe these are cases and not special signs? Once, I was joking with a friend about a stereotypical Pole - a person wearing Adidas tracksuit, often with alcohol in his hand. After a week, I began to notice Poles dressed either partially or fully in such a tracksuit. But what is this sign? this is my rational explanation and self-response to strange events. But not enough for me to go any further ...

 

Have a good day or evening  

[pantheory]

4 hours ago, Aibao said:

That's right, I guess that's my problem - I feel guilty about everything, because of being myself, being different from someone else, being an introvert ... I don't know if it was because of reading topics related to religion or I was like that before - I got lost in my own psyche.

 

Thank you for saying that religious beliefs are not worth blame. Actually, I even felt angry with religion - I'm fed up, I'm too exhausted mentally, but if I think - hell? This is gone now.

 

It is stupid that hell seems so real to me, while for others it is not, and in synchronous events I can find God's actions.

 

Or maybe these are cases and not special signs? Once, I was joking with a friend about a stereotypical Pole - a person wearing Adidas tracksuit, often with alcohol in his hand. After a week, I began to notice Poles dressed either partially or fully in such a tracksuit. But what is this sign? this is my rational explanation and self-response to strange events. But not enough for me to go any further ...

 

Have a good day or evening  

 

Yes, it's stupid to believe in demons, the devil and in hell IMO. Life can be easy, so it's stupid to worry about imagined problems. Concentrate on smart things such as healthy eating, your health in general,  and dieting as desired.

 

all the the best Albao

[Wertbag]

On 8/6/2022 at 11:58 AM, Aibao said:

Or maybe these are cases and not special signs?

I think a lot of what you describe can be pointed to as pattern seeking behaviour.  We automatically look for patterns in life, in numbers, events, colours, even spoken words.  We think patterns should have meaning, so we attempt to apply meaning where coincidence is the only explanation we need.

Take the example of finding American branded clothes, if you had walked passed that same store a day earlier you would have looked at the same clothes with no interest, but since you thought of America suddenly you are looking for things that were there already and assigning a special meaning to them.  The clothes didn't magically appear and you didn't cause those clothes to exist with the power of your mind, it was just that you put special focus on something that was already there.  If you hadn't thought of America then those clothes would have still been there, you just wouldn't have paid attention to them.

 

As for dieting, it certainly can be taken too far.  Anorexia is a terrible thing, and even just a diet lacking the right nutrients can have negative results.  There are lots of good reasons to diet; weight loss, health benefits, moral reasons, cost reduction etc.  A really good idea is to set the goal in advance.  Don't just diet for the hell of it, but say "I want to get down to 75kg" or "I want to reduce my monthly food bill by $50".  Then once you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, you can figure out the best plan to reach that goal.  Perhaps it is increasing exercise as well as diet.  Perhaps it is eating home cooked meals rather than eating takeaways.  Perhaps its dropping sugar and eating more fruit.  With a set goal you can see your progress and you know what positive result you are aiming for.  

There should be no guilt.  You are doing a positive thing to improve your life.  That is good and something you should be proud to achieve.

 

[Aibao]

14 minutes ago, Wertbag said:

I think a lot of what you describe can be pointed to as pattern seeking behaviour.  We automatically look for patterns in life, in numbers, events, colours, even spoken words.  We think patterns should have meaning, so we attempt to apply meaning where coincidence is the only explanation we need.

Take the example of finding American branded clothes, if you had walked passed that same store a day earlier you would have looked at the same clothes with no interest, but since you thought of America suddenly you are looking for things that were there already and assigning a special meaning to them.  The clothes didn't magically appear and you didn't cause those clothes to exist with the power of your mind, it was just that you put special focus on something that was already there.  If you hadn't thought of America then those clothes would have still been there, you just wouldn't have paid attention to them.

 

 

 

I thought about it that way too. For example, today I was talking to a friend about US history. I saw a woman wearing an American Flag T-shirt. Maybe if I hadn't focused my attention on America, I wouldn't have noticed? So one day I did an experiment: I concentrated on the pattern from the new bowls that I bought for my mother. The pattern was blue with tiny white flowers. While sitting on the train, I saw a woman wearing a dress with a similar pattern to the bowl through the window. So you are actually right, there must be something about this that I am assigning patterns.

 

But what scares me is the phenomenon of videos that start to sound magical and prophetic: lately I try not to watch them, but skipping the Christian video whether I wanted to or not, my eyes hit the title while scrolling YouTube.

 

The title spoke for itself: God will make someone come back to me or something. Just today, a friend wrote to me a moment ago, with whom I had no contact for a few years and we definitely ended our friendship. In addition, I recalled him today while talking to another friend.

 

So how do you not take it as a prophecy and worry about it? I almost started crying, it's anxiety because the videos are Christian. However, I am trying to "pick myself up" from all of this, if the fulfillment of the prophecies from the movies indicate evidence of God from the Bible, in fact there is a reason for fear and there are only 2 options: either convert and submit yourself and your life to Jesus, or be condemned to eternal torture. I don't like either one or the other, but as people often say: "nobody asks you if you like something or not, you have to do it and then and now". I am powerless to explain these things in the videos (my mind cannot grasp what is happening) and powerless against the Christian God. Just.

 

thank you for your comment

[Wertbag]

On 8/9/2022 at 9:10 AM, Aibao said:

So how do you not take it as a prophecy and worry about it?

For me its easy, I've looked into supernatural events, claims and people and 100% of the time it has been fake, incorrect or vague nothingness.  After you look at a hundred fake claims, hearing yet another one it is easy to just disregard it as more junk.  There is only so many times you can bang your head against that wall until you have to admit that its not achieving anything.  I'm basically a materialist now, as the old saying goes "insanity is repeating the same thing and expecting different results".

You look back at claims through history, where god was put as the cause of all sorts of things.  Lightning, pregnancy, tides, celestial bodies, seasons, disease etc.  Every single time the answer has been natural and not god.  Until this day that pattern has continued.  

 

On 8/9/2022 at 9:10 AM, Aibao said:

only 2 options: either convert and submit yourself and your life to Jesus, or be condemned to eternal torture

Christians cannot agree on salvation, on heaven or hell.  Some say salvation is universal, others that it is faith alone and still others that it is works plus faith.  Some view heaven as a physical place where we will be ourselves, others that it is pure energy so we won't exist in our physical forms.  Hell can be annihilation, separation from god or a pit of fire, there is no agreement.  How can you come to any conclusion on which of these various ideas is the true answer when Christians for centuries have argued without end?

I've heard some people say that if God was actually all-loving then He would not judge us for confusion or ignorance.  It is not within our power to control those things, so to be punished for such things outside of our control is not all-loving.  God would not do that, and that has lead to the idea of universal salvation.  If you are a good person then God will not punish you.

[Aibao]

On 8/10/2022 at 12:05 AM, Wertbag said:

For me its easy, I've looked into supernatural events, claims and people and 100% of the time it has been fake, incorrect or vague nothingness.  After you look at a hundred fake claims, hearing yet another one it is easy to just disregard it as more junk.  There is only so many times you can bang your head against that wall until you have to admit that its not achieving anything.  I'm basically a materialist now, as the old saying goes "insanity is repeating the same thing and expecting different results".

You look back at claims through history, where god was put as the cause of all sorts of things.  Lightning, pregnancy, tides, celestial bodies, seasons, disease etc.  Every single time the answer has been natural and not god.  Until this day that pattern has continued.  

 

 

thanks for clarifying this. Again I found a video that fits my situation today, but I don't have the strength to worry about it that much, I can only ask if you are not afraid to be a materialist in today's society (did you mention that you are)?

 

Today, despite a lot of freedom of opinion, etc., I have the impression that there is social pressure to do what everyone else and be like everyone - I found out on the Internet myself that I have many syndromes, I do not fit into society so much, so I admire your courage to be a materialist

 

On 8/10/2022 at 12:05 AM, Wertbag said:

If you are a good person then God will not punish you.

But what does it mean to be good? Who defines good if there is no God?

 

If good defines society then I am on the road to hell, because I am not only an introvert who does not like or engage in society (but I like to help single people, e.g. I bought a dinner for a homeless man - but people find it naïve, but I talked to him) long with this man and I do not regret what I did, I will never forget the conversation with this man, in my opinion a valuable man, I raised the spirit of my friend who is under great stress - but people may consider me a hypocrite, because I cannot myself help, but I do not like to get involved in social actions, where there are a lot of people and you have to take care of all of them, it makes me tired of wanting to do something else at this time, so I will be considered selfish) but I also have many syndromes, i.e. "social" sins - so it is possible that I am not good in public opinion (I do not include my family who always thinks well of me). In addition, I do not want to change - I accepted myself like that and my family and friends accept me like that, although after reading these syndromes I broke down, but I would rather be stoned to death by society for being myself and the syndromes than to be tortured forever by the biblical god.

[Wertbag]

21 hours ago, Aibao said:

courage to be a materialist

It would take more bravery depending on your environment and country. Here in New Zealand we are a majority secular society, so materialism feels more like the norm. Really it comes up so rarely in conversation that any such labels should be looked at as a personal thing. Most people will never know or care, so what labels I use effect little externally to myself. 

 

I could write an essay on why I've come to that conclusion, but I'm sure you've heard it all before. The thousands of religions and hundreds of holy books look exactly as they should if they are man made. Happy to dig deeper if it is of interest. 

 

21 hours ago, Aibao said:

But what does it mean to be good? Who defines good if there is no God?

Look to your personal moral standard before worrying about comparing yourself to vague social ideals. Can you say "I've made the world a better place?" even if it's in tiny ways; feeding the homeless, picking up trash, holding the door for a person carrying boxes, helping someone carry their shopping, bringing joy to friends and family, or making people smile and laugh. Most people who aren't actively trying to do bad, do good by default. We have empathy and care for our loved ones. That is enough. 

[Henndigo]

On 8/11/2022 at 8:17 AM, Aibao said:

 

But what does it mean to be good? Who defines good if there is no God?

 

The universal rules that seem to be found in just about every very culture around the world which makes society function as best as it can in a cooperative way.  We humans thrive on cooperation.  So regardless of which god is worshipped, agreed upon values have independently developed I.e do not murder, do not steal, do not defame, be faithful to the person you have publicly (or privately) committed to, do not lie, help the poor and disadvantaged etc.

 

If only a deity could define what was good, you would get a lot more difference in absolute moral values around the world.  I am not saying that some countries have varied from this (Nazi Germany come to mind) but when this happens those societies eventually fall apart because they don’t work.  Humans tend to punish those who are greedy and do not cooperate, whether individuals or countries.