This is a great article. Unfortunately it will fall upon deaf ears. Most of the people in this country that are so polarized at this juncture will not listen to anything outside their normal state of belief. There's no self responsibility out there, no owning up to a mistake, and most importantly, no seeking of wisdom outside what we already believe. One of the things that I pride myself on is that I am, or rather was, open to viewpoints not my own in the past. I know many on the left who I have argued with repeatedly here will laugh at this. But I used to be on that side until I started looking into it more and more. I was a supporter of Obama once upon a time. I voted for him. You've all heard me state this over and over again, but it bears repeating. It wasn't until I begin to really look into the fiscal sustainability of the country when one thing led to another, and another, and I started realizing that where I was going was more and more libertarian. But it took the sacrifice of my ego in order to do it. Without giving up ego, you will never open yourself up to the possibility you could be wrong. People are like that. It's always someone else who is wrong - always someone else out of their mind. I used to want to see someone's view (unless I had heard it before) before resolving my self to oppose it. That's how I became socially liberal in the first place, and it wasn't all that long ago.
Just as another point, I study aiki-jutjitsu, and the art of the samurai. I've been taking martial arts for a long time, but only have been in this deep of a study for the last 18 months. An interesting aspect of the art is "Resheiki", or etiquette. The samurai practiced Resheiki in such a focused manner that it consumed their whole life. Part of this study included the displacement of the ego entirely. It was considered impossible to learn while ego was intact. If your ego could rule your decisions, you could never be open to truly learning something, as learning it first required you to submit that you did not know something. It's very similar here.
WOW!!!!!!! Thanks for posting that! I'm tempted to send that to a Family member who is responsible for organizing the yearly reunion. They will want to know why I'm not coming? "Well, my own blood voted for obama, and here's what I would be talking about IF I show up."
a natural evolution for a reasonable person. there are dummies right and left, but at the end of the day people like us weigh other's best thinking against what we conclude. the veil that conceals the left is not that thick, all it takes is an open mind to see it
If I was young like you I'd be really concerned. I'll probably be dead by the time this happens, if it does indeed happen. If it comes sooner, I'm too old to put up a good fight, so I'll go quick, and that's OK, I've lived a good life for the most part. I have no children, so that is not an issue for me. For now I choose to try and talk some peaceful solution and if that doesn't work, fuck it. I'll gun a few down in the intial riot, be taken out quickly, and on to whatever comes next, if anything comes next at all. I am certainly not resigned to that violent outcome, and will try and prevent it, but it is what it is.
Did I start those threads? One more example of why you idiots got your asses kicked in the real world. Edit, well I started one of them, and came to the correct conclusion, too bad you cannot adapt to new information. But that is the classic characteristic of Angry White Men. Jeez, what a moron.
Other country to America: "How do you run your Country. Well, we let the idiots decide." WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I owe you one for this clip!!!! Thanks!
Wasn't that what Romney did, laying off people, sending American jobs to China? Now I see where you guys sit on America. Prefer it to fail than have others with a choice, or others win an election. I've said it before, I prefer individuals be forced to pay, at least something for their healthcare, why should I? I prefer to keep healthcare out of salary negotiations, like most civilized countries. But, no, we did not get single-payer, but at least now, everyone can pay something towards their needs instead of clogging up emergency rooms. I'm tired of carrying all those who do that.
Agree. I think that is what defined us as a nation at it's inception - the idea out there that their had to be another way.