So Where Did We Go So Terribly Wrong … ?

by MsDoc

Posted on 30 July 2010 | 8:54 pm Print This Post
Tags: International Relations, Point of View, Politics

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So Where Did We Go So Terribly Wrong … ?

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… or have we been going wrong for a very long time and I’ve been too dense, too naive, or too centered on my own little microcosm, to see it? Be that as it may, I am left here with my mind scurrying around looking for the path that has led us into what I have come to consider an impregnable morass of lies and deceit and greed and graft and those fun things that make me want to put a bag over my head and pretend to be, maybe, Scottish. If they’ll have me, which I doubt.

There was a time when we used to be pretty well liked by most of the world … at least I thought so. We’ve spilled (and continue to spill) a whole lot of American blood fighting for the rights and safety and even existence of other peoples and other nations. We rise to nearly every natural (or unnatural) disaster with millions and millions of dollars in privately donated funds and goods. We send food and medical supplies and services all over the world on a regular basis and yet our own house seems to be in utter disarray and in need of a thorough cleansing.

Most of us, I suspect, try to live lives of essential decency. We pay our bills, try to live within our means, and re-cycle most of what we can. Most of us don’t kick puppies or drown kittens or pretend to send our children afloat in giant balloons. And as a consequence, most of us are thoroughly and consistently ignored in the eyes of the world because we don’t make headlines … in fact we don’t even make a tiny little ripple in this world of instant awareness.

I’ve come to deeply and profoundly dislike and mistrust the ambulance chasing nature of our national obsession with the news cycles (all thirty seconds of them). And I have come to dislike even more deeply those among us who would use this hungry media to spread lies anad misconceptions deliberately in order to grasp their thirty seconds of fame or to deliberately muddle the waters of political discourse. All this accomplishes, really, is allow the scum to float to the surface and wallow in their fleeting moment of fame and visibility. Once this “floating” has occurred they strive to become the meat and focus of the nine zillion self-appointed pundits who have column lines or commentary minutes to fill. There is, of course, money to be made by becoming an Instant Expert …

I think I want to become an Instant Expert when I grow up … I can just pretend to know all there is to know about something or other and who would know the difference … or have the gall to challenge me since I am now an “Expert”?

But I digress. Big surprise there.

I want to know where our friends have gone. Have we chased them all away with our seemingly national passion to wash our dirty linen in public? Is there any way we can reclaim some measure of national dignity in the face of such constant exposure of our biggest failings? Or biggest fools … take your pick. It seems time to bring some dignity back to the country.

I really don’t look that great in a kilt anymore … and I don’t think the Scots would want me. Oh … and our country deserves better than the seeming greed and foolishness that abounds at this time and in this place. We are still an experiment in the eyes of a far more ancient world … and we really shouldn’t allow it to fail.

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This post was written by:

MsDoc - who has written 27 posts on Free Range Talk.

Raised on a farm in upstate NY, moved to PA during High School. Got a BA in English/Education, taught emotionally and/or physically handicapped adolescents, got an MA in Clinical/Crisis Counseling. then an MS in Curriculum and Instruction, and finally an EdD in Administration/Urban Education. Spent 34 years in Urban Inner City schools as a teacher/ crisis counselor, administrator, and now curriculum specialist. Married twice.. husband of my youth is now on his sixth ( count'em ) wife, #2 was abusive and has gone missing. I don't seem to do this marriage thing very well. Three adult daughters, two married, five grandkids, all for sale at a reasonable price.

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51 Responses to “So Where Did We Go So Terribly Wrong … ?”

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vegasbabe says:

August 2, 2010 at 11:45 pm

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Maybe we can be summed up to some extent as living in our own little bubbles, never or rarely daring to examine much outside of it and if and when we do, only for small snatches of time, not to long for fear of becoming compromised, infected, jeopardized, overwhelmed, or having one’s personal realm’s disturbed. I don’t understand how such questions surface without deciding that these bubbles are very bad for people and that some of us are so focused on our own personal existence, we could care less about someone else’s. Or maybe’s it’s a “not my problem” attitude when the media, for example, illustrate the disparities in incarceration rates for drug possession, specifically cocaine and crack. The kids with money buy cocaine, do little time and have parents with great jobs, money for attorneys, health insurance for rehab, and back to school in less than 30 days whereas the poor kids cross town may spend months or even years in juvie for the same offense. Why and how is that fair and at what point in time did we decide to close our eyes? Why is it ok for the suburban children to attend brand new schools, state of the art, while the urban children never have enough books, paint peels from their walls and some still have issues with aesbestos? And how come so many parents are without jobs in this country, can’t seem to get a job? Ever look at the workers while out and about repairing our roads and bridges? Especially in a large city such as ..say….Chicago? Why are they all like…white? Where are the black workers? How many blacks live in that city and who engages these contractors who so blatantly discriminate? Why is it ok to hire illegal immigrants for jobs americans can do and need because here in america, our kids sometimes go hungry too? Is there ANY question left how racist republicans, especially, are (though they are NOT alone by a long shot.) Once Obama assumed office, they just came out of the woodwork, seemed to some. Do you ever wonder how much havoc and insanity they’ve been bringing to the table for years and years for untold amounts of people, all the while crying, “oh, it’s the same old thing with these people….always using the race card”. It must be nice to wear all that headgear, keep the noise down to a minimum, just live a life. I wonder how that works?

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SupremeIdiot says:

August 1, 2010 at 9:33 am

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Ummmmm, I know I’ve been on vacation and have been busy with other things but when did the procedure for posting comments change?

Oh well, MsDoc. That’s the way it is. I think we might have to get used to it or move to the woods. I prefer the woods.

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borderorder
August 1st, 2010 at 9:56 am
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If you “Log In” nothing has changed, but anyone can comment, registered or not. Unregistered commenters are limited to what they can put in a comment, however.

There were some who believed we should open up the threads to the public, so we did.

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SupremeIdiot
August 1st, 2010 at 10:31 am
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Got it. Thanks border.

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MsDoc
August 1st, 2010 at 10:08 am
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Log in at forum… that fixes things.

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MsDoc
August 1st, 2010 at 10:15 am
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I’m not moving to the woods. That yields the field to the idiots and the evil and that I cannot do. Silence implies consent…

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kitkatborn
August 1st, 2010 at 10:21 am
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Me and thee. However, if push comes to shove and the idiots take over again, we may have to set up a generator somewhere and do a Radio FRT kind of thing.

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MsDoc
August 1st, 2010 at 10:23 am
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Number the Stars…. remember that book?

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kitkatborn
August 1st, 2010 at 10:26 am
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No, I’ll have to look that one up.

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kitkatborn
August 1st, 2010 at 10:30 am
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I don’t think I ever read that one. Have you ever come across The Forgotten Door?

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MsDoc
August 1st, 2010 at 10:40 am
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Lois Lowery, I think. I taught it when I was trapped in Middle School.

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kitkatborn
August 1st, 2010 at 10:49 am
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Florida didn’t have what I’d call a progressive reading list when I was in muddle school. (spelling intentional.)
And when I got to high school (don’t laugh) we had Anti Communist propaganda as a one semester class, required. I’ll never forget the lady who taught that class.

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SupremeIdiot
August 1st, 2010 at 10:31 am
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I’ve been assaulted by the idiots at almost every turn. Even my oldest son and my daughter spout Rushbo inspired crap. I get emails from my mother, friends and recently had a long email argument with an acquaintance of my wifes. Huffy is a constant fight and the blogs of the Dallas Morning News after I’ve had a letter-to-the-editor published.

I’m getting worn down by constantly trying to fight the pure and unadulterated idiocy of such a large section of the AMerican population.

I’m about done and at the point of saying “Let the idiots have America.”

I told my wife last night that I’ve considered moving to Canada.

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kitkatborn
August 1st, 2010 at 10:37 am
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I’ve seriously considered moving to Australia. The only thing that stops me, beside funding, is the fact that polls to the contrary, I don’t think the idiocy is really that widespread, just loud.

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MsDoc
August 1st, 2010 at 10:39 am
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“…all it takes is for good people to do nothing…”

I suspect many of us expected the President to come out with a flaming sword… we didn’t notice all the fools standing around with fire extinguishers.

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kitkatborn
August 1st, 2010 at 10:42 am
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That is so true, Ms Doc. The court jester position isn’t what it used to be.

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SupremeIdiot
August 1st, 2010 at 10:52 am
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I know, I know, I’m just getting weary of all the obstruction and propaganda. I get tired of debuning the exact same information from the exact same person more than a couple of times.

I’m burnt out. If the conservatives want to live in an oligarchy with 80% of the country inpoverty and begging for scraps then I’m at a point right now, in this heat and with a stress level moving to new heights, to juts say “to hell with it.”

I need cooler weather.

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kitkatborn
August 1st, 2010 at 11:05 am
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I hear ya, bro.

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Kiba
August 4th, 2010 at 5:09 am
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It’s not the heat; it’s the futility.

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MontanaHome
August 6th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
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I know exactly how you feel. The idiocy wears on the soul – it’s exhausting.

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Kiba
August 4th, 2010 at 5:01 am
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I know exactly what you mean. If Americans really want to continue to embrace a dysfunctional, plutocratic system, let them have it and get the hell out. I’m more inclined to abandon the farce than keep trying to correct it against massive opposition.

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kellygrrrl
August 6th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
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right there with you. it’s just shocking how many morons are out there.

right now on CNN the top story is about the surgeon from the army who is being court martialed because he’s the poster child for the birthers

they are quoting the figure 27% of Americans are birthers.

27%!!!!

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Kiba
August 6th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
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Cripes. Are they using some sort of insanity inducing chemical additives in the Corn Flakes or something?

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hardybear says:

July 30, 2010 at 3:23 pm

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I was noticing this week MsD, that no matter what the issue it goes directly to the partisan politics aisle. Don’t stop at Go (but do collect your lobbyist dollars), and by all means, don’t do anything positive for the constituents you promised to assist.

Which was illustrated so well by Rep. Weiner’s justified outrage and much-aired rant. Seriously, to deny healthcare to those made ill on/after 9-11 has to be the scummy bottom of the con barrel of shame. I’d like to think it might be the straw that highlights in neon the selfish, self-interested nature of the lumbering elephant blocking the way … but it probably won’t be. Weiner should absolutely roll in a couple of those people denied care in their wheelchairs, sporting oxygen tanks and needing a Dynavox to tell their stories. Bring a little reality to the Hill.

Those god damned conservative hypocrites made a federal case out of Obama not choosing to wear a freaking flag pin every day, then have the unbelievable chutzpah to actually deny basic care to the very people who sacrificed their health to the tragedy that those very flag pins commemorate. It’s incredibly hard to wrap your head around that level of inanity and harmful intent.

Anger is a perfectly normal response, and I would be delighted to see more emanating from the West Wing. I don’t care from whom, Biden, Gibbs, Hillary … anyone who will call these assholes out for the damaging and evil paths they choose.

And don’t even get me started on the GOP stalling of unemployment benefits.

Gaah.

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Kiba
July 30th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
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Yep, it’s just the sort of thing that needs to be held up to the light.

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kitkatborn says:

July 30, 2010 at 10:08 am

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One of the mistakes we make as human beings is trying to say that some one person can be less than human in their goodness. That’s right, I said less than human. If total evil is, as someone once said, banal, total goodness is boring. And, either extreme makes us less than human. The one, evil, because of the sheer meanness of it, and, the other, because of sheer impossibility of it. The saints and Christs aren’t revered because they are perfect, they are revered because they strive to attain perfection.
Weird as it may sound, I honestly think that the universe can never be perfect but is perfection in the trying.

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MsDoc
July 30th, 2010 at 10:41 am
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I can’t get into a metaphysical discussion with you, although I would love to in a different setting. My anger is more because of our seemingly docile acceptance of our own impotence.

As BG&E points out, Evil in all its manifestations has been with us since the Beginning. That doesn’t give us permission to ignore it and simply roll with the punches. It’s long past time for us to remind our leader(s) that he has promises to keep, many of which cost nothing…and to keep a few of our own in return.

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Kiba
July 30th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
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I think people need to learn how powerful they are; all we need to do is get together to be an unstoppable force.

Real, positive transformative social change has to happen on the ground. It can only occur from the bottom up, not imposed from the top down.

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exeye
July 30th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
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Don’t have much time, so Great post, MsD, I like it.

And I agree, Kiba. In spite of the hopelessness professed by too many, there have been many, many instances throughout history where the people have had enough and risen up and changed things for the better. Certainly not perfection, and all change is liable to backsliding or corruption, but change nonetheleass. Things are better now for minorities and women than they were before the 1960’s, and they were better in the 1960’s than they were in the 1860’s.

And all throught these changes, and during major changes such as the American and French revolutions, there were people sitting by saying it couldn’t be done, that all efforts were useless, that the system was fixed and it couldn’t be changed – but it did get changed because the PEOPLE took the power BACK into their hands. The power has ALWAYS rested in the hands of the masses. Authority may seemingly control everything, but they are ALWAYS a minority, and can be overwhelmed by popular uprising.

The lack of anger and outrage has been exccedingly difficult for this old 60’s activist to take. I keep waiting for the next generation of activists – and we have one – the teabaggers and the neocons, and the evangelicals. They’re changing things to the way they see fit. Meanwhile, we sit by, especially younger generations, and bemoan the helplessness, the hopelessness of it all. Like I said in my rant, get pissed.

Now I need to do stuff. Wish I had more time to weigh in on this, but this’ll have to do. Later all.

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Kiba
July 30th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
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A big part of the problem is that when there is protest from the left, the media ignores it, downplays it, or marginalizes it by characterizing the protesters as fringe loonies. 50,000 people gather in SF to protest the war, and that’s what you get. 500 Tea Partiers get together to whine about OMFG TEH SOSHULISMS and it’s a mass media event lionizing them as patriots.

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kitkatborn
July 30th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
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That is a very big part of the problem, Kiba. I did not know , for instance, that the motorcycle clubs were trying to keep those idiot Bpts from getting to close to the funerals of the soldiers until somebody mentioned it on huffy.
Our so-called liberal media isn’t that liberal anymore. They bow to the corporations that own them.

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Kiba
July 30th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
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Another big problem is that for every person on the left who stands up and says “This bill is a sellout to the [insurance industry, energy companies, Wall Street, etc.],” you get ten others on the left who say, “Shhh! Don’t rock the boat! Don’t criticize! Don’t make waves!”

It’s only by speaking up, criticizing, yelling and screaming for our rights that we can hope to get anything progressive accomplished. Obama is no FDR, but I think of what FDR said to a group of activists on the left who sought his support for legislation. “You’ve convinced me. Now go out and make me do it.”

FDR knew what his job was. It was to maintain the status quo for the ruling class. That’s it. In this system, power is massively tilted in their favor, and the ONLY way to tilt it back in favor of the people is to have a massive social movement behind it.

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Kiba
July 30th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
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Well, I say that Obama is no FDR, and that’s rather ungenerous. Obama doesn’t have a massive socialist movement pulling the balance of power to the left like FDR had. What would FDR have been without that? Probably not very different from Obama.

This is really the key. “Leaders” don’t matter. The people make the difference. That’s why I say social change must come from the bottom up.

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MontanaHome
August 6th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
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Excellent point. FDR had a lot of long time Progressives on his side – a lot of really, really bright folks who had been pushing for good policy change for years. His presidency opened the door for them.

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Kiba
July 30th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
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You made me think of Lao-Tzu. You cannot have an up without a down to exist in relation, a light without a darkness for it to shine in, warmth without cold to establish the contrast. As the Dao De Jing puts it:

When the world knows beauty as beauty

There arises the recognition of ugliness

When it knows good as good

There arises the recognition of bad

Therefore being and non-being produce each other

difficult and easy bring about each other

long and short reveal each other

high and low distinguish each other

sound and voice harmonize each other

beginning and end follow each other

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hardybear
July 30th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
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Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

~ Lao Tzu

Or, as I often think of it, ‘want what you have’.

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Kiba
July 30th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
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It’s remarkably easy for a person to get caught up in the illusory pursuit of happiness. “I’ll be happy when I find a girlfriend.” “I’ll be happy when I get a new car.” It’s always off somewhere else, in some new possession or experience, and it always flits away from them as soon at they reach it.

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Kiba
July 30th, 2010 at 11:22 pm
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I mean, you look forward to that new car and what happens? When you get it, you’re happy. Wow! New car! Very cool!

But after a couple of months… meh, it’s just a car. The goddamn wipers are crap. And what’s that squeaky noise when I decelerate? So the dissatisfaction starts up again somewhere else. “I’ll be happy when I get a new computer!”

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MsDoc
July 30th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
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This seems to be referring to a matter of balance and the definition of one force by definition of the other. The thing that bothers me so much is our seeming unwillingness (or inability) to stand against those forces which would demean and denigrate those things in which we profess to believe.

I am not capable of this… I owe it to myself and my professed belief system to identify and object to the emperor’s poor taste in apparel.

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Kiba
July 30th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
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Oh, I agree. I thought of this in reference to a perceived totality of good or evil in something or someone.

It is definitely time — and well past time — for people to come together and stand up against the insanity.

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kitkatborn
July 30th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
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kitkatborn
July 30th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
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Up the rebels!!!!

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Kiba
July 30th, 2010 at 7:02 pm
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We Can Do It!

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kitkatborn
July 30th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
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You’re damned tooting.

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BeyondGoodAndEvil says:

July 29, 2010 at 9:36 pm

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Perhaps we all believed in a mirage and through the information age, we are having the wool removed from our eyes for the first time.

It can be disconcerting to have one’s illusions shattered.

Everything you learned, you taught was part of the propagandized message; to keep a society going, to keep people subservient, believing in something that isn’t real, that never was, that never can be.

I don’t see that anything has really changed.

Corruption has existed throughout several millenium. Greed is part of the human condition, and so is fear, tribalism and the survival instinct – all of which can cause societies and the people who control societies to commit atrocities and genocide.

Humans have always sought to imprison, oppress, enslave and coerce other humans for their own ends. In the past, kings and emperors did it through birthrights or conquering armies. You can’t force an animal to produce, but you can force a human to work, to labor. But it’s so much more effective if you let them think they’re choosing it on their own. They become more productive with the illusion of democracy, always with the pot of gold (the American dream) at the end of the rainbow as the carrot. And on the other side of that, we have the laws, imprisonment, disapproval, the ostracizing of those who won’t comply, as the stick.

The US and the corporations who run the US manipulate humans and exploit human labor through capitalism and mass propaganda. Dope the masses with television and shiny objects. Make them think they live in a democracy. Convince them to consume for the sake of the corporations who have something to sell, and reap the benefits of their wages.

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MsDoc
July 30th, 2010 at 10:27 am
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All you say is true (and cost me some sleep last night) but I finally came to the simplest explanation that I could find for my anger…It isn’t rape unless someone says it is…otherwise it’s consentual sex. I, as one small voice, cannot simply be silent.

I suspect I would echo Exeye’s anger but I haven’t got the vocabulary for it (love you, Exeye).

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hardybear
July 30th, 2010 at 11:02 am
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That’s a powerful analogy about rape MsD. Any woman who has ever been harassed, abused, violated or worse knows how deeply horrifying it is to then have to prove the veracity of the assault in order to have it acknowledged and addressed.

It’s demoralizing. And at a time when you can barely move on, never mind relive and fight to be believed.

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BeyondGoodAndEvil
August 6th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
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It’s rape if they don’t know any better. Take a child, who doesn’t know that adults aren’t supposed to have sex with them, but the adult knows very well he’s exploiting the child.

Same with capitalism. Just because the masses don’t know they’re being exploited, it doesn’t make the exploitation any less.

Yes, Americans were bought off, for the price of an iPhone and a vote on American Idol. Did they know any better? Do they now understanding that the seduction of those shiny distracting objects was the ways and means to their own demise and the destruction of the middle class? No, not really. They still don’t understand where it all went wrong, although, some of them have various “ideas”, supplied to them through propaganda from both parties and the msm.

Did the capitalists, the human farmers, the CEOs who exploit labor to maximize profits understand that they are exploiting human beings and understand where that all leads? Yes, they knew. The exploiters always know they’re exploiting, and the exploited never know until it’s too late. This is the nature of exploitation.

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kitkatborn
August 6th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
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Very good point, BGE.

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Kiba
August 6th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
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Yep, most people never figure out how badly they’ve been screwed until afterward, and then they buy into the bullshit explanation given by the exploiters so they can continue screwing them.

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hardybear says:

July 29, 2010 at 9:12 pm

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Nicely done, MsD. I often wonder what happened to the brilliant promise we embraced when Obama was elected and we were awash with relief that W was no longer our most visible anchor.

Apparently the global issues we’ve committed to are too complex to grant anyone a completely clean slate and a fresh start.

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