Hope?
Posted by Chortovka 11 years, 7 months ago to Philosophy
I just arrived in the Gulch and what a great place to recover from the outside world, which has been collapsing around us for some time now. I'm a road warrior, a trainer, and travel all 50 states. Every where, I listen to more and more people express their frustration at the decline of America. Our schools don't educate, parents don't teach responsibility and consequences, Congress is only out for themselves, the welfare/food stamp program continues to expand. Many people believe Hillary, if she runs in 2016, will win the election. How much longer can we continue to survive? Is there any hope?
As for Hillary... we need to stop being quiet about HER and everything else that is causing our collapse. Speak loud, speak freely, and speak often. No matter WHO you might offend in the process of speaking the truth. Freedom is on the line.
I hate that.
HOWEVER. Keep in mind that a person can't be talked out of something they weren't talked in to. If you're dealing with reason, you have a chance. If you're dealing with feelings, it's a long uphill road.
GRR, nasty memories and hunger don't go well together [or maybe they go too well together!]. More later.
proudproducers.com has several nice t-shirts with good things like: I am. I think. I will. From Anthem
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d7tyo1m4fraa8e...
also - I never sneak pictures! I'm a photojournalist, so I always make it obvious I'm taking a photo. If the person doesn't notice... nothing I can do about that. I usually need to go up afterwards and ask for name and contact info anyway.
lol, sounds like the start of a joke. "Three Objectivists walk into a Boulder bar..."
aaannnd that's why I make a living on images and not words.
I like your ideas though. "Got a thought?" "Got Liberty?" "Got Freedom?" I'd wear them.
What I fear is that the American people, for the most part, have been "trained", crisis after crisis, to believe that they are powerless.
The necessary personal history: we got ourselves caught up in the giant Bank of America mortgage circus. Like many Americans, we were ruined financially as well as emotionally. Today we got a settlement check for $1000. It says right on it that there is no appeal, and this is one of the larger awards. It's awful, Bank of America acted illegally as well as unfairly, there was a "settlement" with the government for 90+ billion while I lost half a million, and THEY TELL ME THAT I CAN'T DO ANYTHING. Not true, of course, but that's a different, face-to-face conversation.
And there's always another "situation": Idiots elected? natural disasters after which the government says don't do anything, you don't need to, we'll help you....and there you are, sitting in Louisiana or Buffalo. doubts about the validity of the elections? institutions in bed with their competition, the revolving-door that leads to a space at the public trough.......everywhere you look, you see another event that should not be allowed to happen - that did not have to happen - and are told - sometimes explicitly - shut up. sit down. don't worry about it, we're doing the best we can. and on, and on, and on, and on, and how 'bout you just sit there and color.
....cui bono? .
What Eisenhower called the military-industrial complex benefits twice, because ridiculously bad things happen to people, and the first thing that's said is "we can't do anything.ourselves, but the government can", and then they get a government agency to assist them, and lots of money starts flying around and morons who couldn't possibly keep a real job get put in charge of new agencies, and nothing really changes, AND THERE, ORDINARY PEOPLE STOP. They don't know what else to do. They take what they are given and are told to be grateful. So the people at the top - "public" AND "private" get paid in cash and power over peoples' lives.
The people caught up in the boiling molasses of awful don't make the connection that it's awful BECAUSE the government is involved, they figure that if the American government can't make it different, nothing can make it different. It's not that they don't care. It's that they've been carefully trained to KNOW that caring is futile and pointless.
Training complete.
Can I borrow your blue crayon?
Someone passed this on to me a few days ago...
"The moment we no longer have a free press, anything can happen. What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed; how can you have an opinion if you are not informed? If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. This is because lies, by their very nature, have to be changed, and a lying government has constantly to rewrite its own history. On the receiving end you get not only one lie—a lie which you could go on for the rest of your days—but you get a great number of lies, depending on how the political wind blows. And a people that no longer can believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act but also of its capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people you can then do what you please." - Hannah Arendt, 1974.
Hilary is running, not doubt about it.
Is there any hope? Where there's life there's hope.... I hope.
I hope you're right. I see a lot of frustrated, angry, disillusioned, and scared people out there. Unfortunately, nothing will change unless "We the People" fight for change. We've had too much apathy for too long.
Something I learned in Viet Nam was when in battle you protect those around you and they do the same.
People who only try to protect themselves and remain safe will ALWAYS lose.