It's all the same... it's always been, all the same. The 90s, 80s, 70s,60s, 50s, 40s, 30s and back... it's been the same. The only thing that changes is the reasons people give.
Like, take the example of School prayer being taken out of the Public classroom as the reason for our downfall. Really? Prayer? Does that mean the WASN'T Racism, murder, intolerance, violence, crime or rape when ther was prayer in Public schools? The answer is "YES". All of that existed back then. A bit different back then... it was pretty much okay to rape someone because the girl was usually 'asking for it'. Sure, violence wasn't plastered all over the movie and television screens, it was alive an well in our suburban bedrooms... where it belongs.
The things we are seeing today... in my opinion... are the shifting of powers. The move towards a Global Economy where our Middle class is being migrated to the massive populations of India and China. I mean, look at the bulk of those populations... something like 2/3s of the entire planet's population. Those numbers can support a Global Model for the markets... just like the Middle Class of the U.S. supported the economics of this nation.
Because of these shifts, we... Americans... see our middle class deteriorating. We either have to move up towards the class of management, that will manage the Global accounts (workers)... or slide down to the lower class.
We see these Chinese, Indian and other ethnic foriegners as a threat to our well established way of being. These people are 'taking our jobs' is what we are told. But, in reality. Our employers are giving them our jobs in favor of a greater profit, resulting in a higher stock price. But, we buy into 'Those People' taking our jobs from us... because we believe that Americans would never screw over Americans, right?
So, all of you, 'Let The Markets' decide folks out there... the markets have decided... they picked China over us.
Is it good or bad? Neither. It is just the days we live in. We can fret all we want about it... but, really, it it our choice to make? No. So, quit worrying about shit you can't control and concentrate on those you can. You only have one shot at this... make it worth it.
Do you really think things are the same now as they were in the '30s? Did we not make any progress with the Civil Rights Movement, for instance?
ok, I'm confused...I thought you thought the world was going to hell and no progress was being made...
Is this message board just totally warping my sense of reality?
Of course it is! It “A Moving Train”!
Do you know the feeling you get when playing UNO? I get the opposite feeling if I spend several hours sifting through some of these threads. But it’s worth stopping by every once in a while to gain different perspectives. I just have to log my time so I don’t get too much exposure, sort of like the guys that handle radioactive material . . . I don’t want to ruin my glass-is-half-full outlook on life
UNO?! Shouldn't you call it by its new, American name: ONE?
Yeah, I need to get a TV or something so I'll have some other way to waste time. Of course, I got rid of my TV because it was ruining my glass-is-half-full outlook on life!
Is this message board just totally warping my sense of reality?
Of course it is! It “A Moving Train”!
Do you know the feeling you get when playing UNO? I get the opposite feeling if I spend several hours sifting through some of these threads. But it’s worth stopping by every once in a while to gain different perspectives. I just have to log my time so I don’t get too much exposure, sort of like the guys that handle radioactive material . . . I don’t want to ruin my glass-is-half-full outlook on life
UNO?! Shouldn't you call it by its new, American name: ONE?
Yeah, I need to get a TV or something so I'll have some other way to waste time. Of course, I got rid of my TV because it was ruining my glass-is-half-full outlook on life!
Don't get any form of TV that has a 24/7 news network! You will slowly go insane
Alright, I'm done with this thread. On to more important things like writing to my local representative about changing the name of UNO . . .
Do you really think things are the same now as they were in the '30s? Did we not make any progress with the Civil Rights Movement, for instance?
...
Yes we have... and I don't see us regressing back to the 1930s.
My point is, the enviroment... circumstances... world events... civil events... are different, but the change as a whole is the same. Back in the 30s, the hated immigrants were Europeans. The derogatory term, 'WOP' came from (typically Italian) immigrants 'With Out Papers' or 'Without Official Papers'. In the 40s, big aerospace companies in Southern California had big signs out front that said, 'Jews and Japs Need Not Apply' for jobs. And the 'Faggots Stay Out' sign was up at the Barney's Beanery on Sunset til the 1980s.
My point being, we are seeing 'Foriegners, Taking Our Jobs' as a threat to our way of being. Like it will somehow diminish who we are. It will only diminish the self-respect of the person who defines who they are, by what they do for a living. These people are easy to spot... Chinese... Indian... Mexican... they are not like us and can be easily demonized... just as the Italians, Jews, Japanese and other ethnicities of our past.
Unfortunately for the Mexicans... their proximity to us makes them easier targets.
...
Off Topic... I wonder about the people whose grandfathers, Great-grandfathers were here illegally in the 1930s... and established a foundation for their kids and grandkids feel about immigration today. If they were alive in 1932, would they have wanted to deport the dirty WOPs?
Allen Fieldhouse, home of the 2008 NCAA men's Basketball Champions! Go Jayhawks!
Hail, Hail!!!
Yes.... I think it is. I have asked this same ? and I usually get a different answer from different people especially baby boomers. Many of whom think(conservatives) that when prayer was taken out of public schools and god taken out of the public sector, the country started going to shit.
My mom thinks around the time that JFK was asassinated things and the way people started treating one another started to go south.
I hope this post is shorter than my usual ones, I'm behind at work because I've spent too much time on AMT over the last two days lol
Feel free to take this with a grain of salt, because I don't hide the fact that I'm agnostic and that may well taint my opinion of religion, but I think religion, all too often, causes more problems than it solves. I went to church until I was 10, and what I took out of the lessons taught in the bible was that you should love thy neighbor, turn the other cheek, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
All of which I have no problem with, and I try and live my life according to those philosophies, even though I haven't been inside a church for anything more than a wedding or a funeral in over 20 years. To me, that's a common sense way of living.
My problem comes when religious extremists (from all religions) use their religion as the basis for discrimination. Gay people can't get married because god created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Black people don't deserve equal rights. Women don't deserve equal rights. That is repeated all over the world, and people from all religions are just as guilty of using their own religion to discriminate. Christians aren't innocent, and neither are Muslims. The pope, when he was a cardinal, covered up cases of sexual abuse, and a senior prelate called the public outcry against the church "petty gossip." Catholics and Protestants have killed countless numbers of people in Northern Ireland. Christians and Muslims have been at war with each other for centuries over who gets ownership of Jerusalem - somehow two (theoretically) peaceful religions haven't figured out a way to share. One man in Germany decided that he needed to wipe the Jews off the face of the earth because they were able to feed themselves while the rest of his country was in economic turmoil - and he managed to turn an entire country against them to help him in his cause.
It seems that a lot of religious fundamentalists have no desire to coexist, and that goes for ALL religious fundamentalists, not just the ones in the Middle East. We all have to share this planet, and by killing people simply because they pray to a different god, all you're doing is ensuring the end will come sooner than it should.
I think the way forward is education. Perhaps if people took the time to learn a little bit more about their neighbors, they might be more inclined to love them. Christians wouldn't be expecting cars to blow up every time a Muslim prayed to Mecca, and Muslims wouldn't be expecting bombs to rain down from above every time Christians knelt before the cross. On top of that, people will stop thinking that those of us who choose not to pray to anything are a bunch of ignorant delinquents who don't respect anyone or anything. Are there still going to be assholes who try to ruin it for everyone else? Yep - and the assholes will be coming from all sides, nobody has a monopoly on that one.
Fire won't rain down from the sky if gay people are allowed to get married. Boobs don't actually cause earthquakes. God didn't really send Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for harboring homosexuals. If the people hanging out on the extreme ends of their worldviews took a few steps towards the middle, and stopped trying to enforce their ideas on other people, the world would be a much better place.
Is it REALLY that hard to respect people who don't look or think like you?
And I listen for the voice inside my head... nothing. I'll do this one myself.
Do you really think things are the same now as they were in the '30s? Did we not make any progress with the Civil Rights Movement, for instance?
...
Yes we have... and I don't see us regressing back to the 1930s.
My point is, the enviroment... circumstances... world events... civil events... are different, but the change as a whole is the same. Back in the 30s, the hated immigrants were Europeans. The derogatory term, 'WOP' came from (typically Italian) immigrants 'With Out Papers' or 'Without Official Papers'. In the 40s, big aerospace companies in Southern California had big signs out front that said, 'Jews and Japs Need Not Apply' for jobs. And the 'Faggots Stay Out' sign was up at the Barney's Beanery on Sunset til the 1980s.
My point being, we are seeing 'Foriegners, Taking Our Jobs' as a threat to our way of being. Like it will somehow diminish who we are. It will only diminish the self-respect of the person who defines who they are, by what they do for a living. These people are easy to spot... Chinese... Indian... Mexican... they are not like us and can be easily demonized... just as the Italians, Jews, Japanese and other ethnicities of our past.
Unfortunately for the Mexicans... their proximity to us makes them easier targets.
...
Off Topic... I wonder about the people whose grandfathers, Great-grandfathers were here illegally in the 1930s... and established a foundation for their kids and grandkids feel about immigration today. If they were alive in 1932, would they have wanted to deport the dirty WOPs?
Yeah, you could take what I wrote and replace the various religions with various races, and have the same effect. People seem to be fearful of anyone who is different, and they hide behind extreme patriotism (note: regular patriotism is cool, but when you take it to an extreme and use it as an excuse to discriminate against people, then you're just being a dick).
If we all celebrated our differences the world would be a better place. Have a Guinness on St. Patrick's Day AND a Corona on Cinco De Mayo! Travel the world and learn about other cultures first-hand, instead of letting the 24-hour news networks define your worldview for you.
I've been to China before, and I found the Chinese to be very welcoming, and unbelievably respectful. One of my sisters has been to Japan and she says the Japanese are light years ahead of the Chinese when it comes to respect, which is really saying something (sorry Byrnzie). Does that mean ALL Chinese people are good, respectful humans? No. Should people hate all Chinese people on principle because some of them are bad? No. That's like saying Tim McVeigh is a fair representative of Americans. The news networks here love to carp on about how China is a major polluter, but they also ignore the fact that China is a world leader in new green construction, and they're taking tips from Japan on how to improve their environmental practices.
Americans often get a bad rap overseas for being cocky assholes who think their country is the best, yet they know nothing about other cultures. Most of the people I've met here haven't fit that description at all (well, a lot of them know very little about the world outside their border, but they're also not shy about asking questions to learn about it, which is cool).
If people had more stamps in their passports, we might not be nearly as xenophobic.
And I listen for the voice inside my head... nothing. I'll do this one myself.
Last weekend I was kayaking, a friend and I stopped at a big boulder in the middle of the river, anchored our boats and just were chilling on the rocks. A helicopter circled above us and with a loudspeaker told us to leave the area.
I have a warrant out for my arrest for driving on a suspended license. But I've proven to the State of PA that there was never any reason to suspend it. They did so because they said I was driving without insurance, which I have proven to them to be untrue. But the DMV and the State Police apparently cannot communicate because the police are looking to arrest me, even though I went to the county police station and resolved the issue there.
On NPR this morning they presented 2 ways to deal with Iran's nuclear capabilities: Preemptive attack and regime change. So... the liberal media says we must go to war with Iran.
My employer gives me 7 days of vacation the entire year, which includes days I call off sick. I had the flu earlier this winter so I'm down to 4 days the rest of the year, and I live paycheck to paycheck because the dollar's purchasing power is a fraction of what it once was. Basically, I'm an indentured servant.
Any brown person is now suspect in Arizona.
Medical pot is going to be much harder to get now in CA.
People are still killing each other over fairy tales.
My net pay is 52% of my gross pay because spousal support is ridiculous... even though she left me.
I can't go camping in this state without paying $23 or going to a private campground.
The US is still fighting 2 wars in the middle east, but the primary hotbed of terrorist activity is in southeast asia.
Mankind just ruined the Gulf of Mexico.
The US has over 5,000 nuclear weapons but doesn't want any other countries to have any, unless those countries are the UK, France, or Israel (and Russia is okay because of MAD). The logic behind this baffles me.
Global climate change is unquivacablly real, but for some reason people are denying it. I guess so they can continue driving SUVs and living in 5,000 sq ft mansions guilt-free.
Bill Foster: I'm the bad guy? Sergeant Prendergast: Yeah. Bill Foster: How did that happen?
That is a fantastic movie. These guys both have an excess of shit cast upon them, yet one of them is able to remain stoic. Kind of like Buddha keeping his hand on the ground amidst the tumult of the world. Then again, Bill Foster shows us all how crazy this world has become and may have done a greater good for society by exposing these injustices.
It is eerie how similar my life is to Bill Foster's. Divorce, PFA (even though SHE hit ME... I didn't do shit), was laid off, and all of the fucked up things that I posted earlier...
I guess the point is that everyone goes through these bad times, in every generation, in every part of the world. It is important to “go placidly amidst the noise and haste." I think Joseph Campbell said that... The Hero's Path. Yeah, walk the hero's path!
Everything not forbidden is compulsory and eveything not compulsory is forbidden. You are free... free to do what the government says you can do.
I don't know if it is getting worse or not. It seems like the 24 hour news cycle has made it seem like it has. It also makes it seem like the murder rate in the country is increasing.
I am concerned about MTV and the combining of fiction to reality tv and the influences of that behavior on the kids who watch it.
So i don't know if it is getting worse or not, but it sure is getting more coverage.
that’s right! Can’t we all just get together and focus on our real enemies: monogamous gays and stem cells… - Ned Flanders
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
Bill Foster: I'm the bad guy? Sergeant Prendergast: Yeah. Bill Foster: How did that happen?
That is a fantastic movie. These guys both have an excess of shit cast upon them, yet one of them is able to remain stoic. Kind of like Buddha keeping his hand on the ground amidst the tumult of the world. Then again, Bill Foster shows us all how crazy this world has become and may have done a greater good for society by exposing these injustices.
It is eerie how similar my life is to Bill Foster's. Divorce, PFA (even though SHE hit ME... I didn't do shit), was laid off, and all of the fucked up things that I posted earlier...
I guess the point is that everyone goes through these bad times, in every generation, in every part of the world. It is important to “go placidly amidst the noise and haste." I think Joseph Campbell said that... The Hero's Path. Yeah, walk the hero's path!
'The Hero with a thousand faces'. Great book.
'Is the system going to flatten you out and deny you your humanity, or are you going to be able to make use of the system to the attainment of human purposes?' Joseph Campbell
'Every religion is true one way or another. It is true when understood metaphorically. But when it gets stuck in its own metaphors, interpreting them as facts, then you are in trouble.' Joseph Campbell
'God is a metaphor for that which trancends all levels of intellectual thought. It's as simple as that.' Joseph Campbell
'Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.' Joseph Campbell
Last weekend I was kayaking, a friend and I stopped at a big boulder in the middle of the river, anchored our boats and just were chilling on the rocks. A helicopter circled above us and with a loudspeaker told us to leave the area.
I have a warrant out for my arrest for driving on a suspended license. But I've proven to the State of PA that there was never any reason to suspend it. They did so because they said I was driving without insurance, which I have proven to them to be untrue. But the DMV and the State Police apparently cannot communicate because the police are looking to arrest me, even though I went to the county police station and resolved the issue there.
On NPR this morning they presented 2 ways to deal with Iran's nuclear capabilities: Preemptive attack and regime change. So... the liberal media says we must go to war with Iran.
My employer gives me 7 days of vacation the entire year, which includes days I call off sick. I had the flu earlier this winter so I'm down to 4 days the rest of the year, and I live paycheck to paycheck because the dollar's purchasing power is a fraction of what it once was. Basically, I'm an indentured servant.
Any brown person is now suspect in Arizona.
Medical pot is going to be much harder to get now in CA.
People are still killing each other over fairy tales.
My net pay is 52% of my gross pay because spousal support is ridiculous... even though she left me.
I can't go camping in this state without paying $23 or going to a private campground.
The US is still fighting 2 wars in the middle east, but the primary hotbed of terrorist activity is in southeast asia.
Mankind just ruined the Gulf of Mexico.
The US has over 5,000 nuclear weapons but doesn't want any other countries to have any, unless those countries are the UK, France, or Israel (and Russia is okay because of MAD). The logic behind this baffles me.
Global climate change is unquivacablly real, but for some reason people are denying it. I guess so they can continue driving SUVs and living in 5,000 sq ft mansions guilt-free.
I guess I was thinking more about lack of empathy and critical thinking skills. (Which is not to say that everything's not intertwined.) Anyone have thoughts on this?
I guess I was thinking more about lack of empathy and critical thinking skills. (Which is not to say that everything's not intertwined.) Anyone have thoughts on this?
Talk to the hand!
0
unsung
I stopped by on March 7 2024. First time in many years, had to update payment info. Hope all is well. Politicians suck. Bye. Posts: 9,487
It started when people had to be politically correct.
oh thats just bullshit.
Oh really?
Care to offer anything to say otherwise?
It started then because that is the time where a generation stopped being told no. It started when kids weren't given trophies for the winning team, instead everyone got one so nobody would feel bad. It started when they played a organized game such as baseball or soccer and they didn't keep score because nobody wanted to be a loser. It started when Mommy and Daddy would rather just buy that candy at the grocery store than listen to a temper tantrum. It started when parents would buy their kids video games instead of making them go outside and play. It started when parents turned the television into a babysitter.
Like the song says it started when the boy was something that Mommy wouldn't wear.
It started when people had to be politically correct.
oh thats just bullshit.
Oh really?
Care to offer anything to say otherwise?
It started then because that is the time where a generation stopped being told no. It started when kids weren't given trophies for the winning team, instead everyone got one so nobody would feel bad. It started when they played a organized game such as baseball or soccer and they didn't keep score because nobody wanted to be a loser. It started when Mommy and Daddy would rather just buy that candy at the grocery store than listen to a temper tantrum. It started when parents would buy their kids video games instead of making them go outside and play. It started when parents turned the television into a babysitter.
Like the song says it started when the boy was something that Mommy wouldn't wear.
how is any of this being politically correct???
society started regressing when it all became about the individual and NOT society. when governments started kowtowing to big business. when no one would take responsibility for anything and when people started excusing anti social behaviour.
hear my name
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
It started when people had to be politically correct.
oh thats just bullshit.
Oh really?
Care to offer anything to say otherwise?
It started then because that is the time where a generation stopped being told no. It started when kids weren't given trophies for the winning team, instead everyone got one so nobody would feel bad. It started when they played a organized game such as baseball or soccer and they didn't keep score because nobody wanted to be a loser. It started when Mommy and Daddy would rather just buy that candy at the grocery store than listen to a temper tantrum. It started when parents would buy their kids video games instead of making them go outside and play. It started when parents turned the television into a babysitter.
Like the song says it started when the boy was something that Mommy wouldn't wear.
Please provide a definition for political correctness.
Your last few examples are of lazy parenting, not political correctness.
I'd love to know Ed's thoughts on your interpretation of his lyrics.
0
unsung
I stopped by on March 7 2024. First time in many years, had to update payment info. Hope all is well. Politicians suck. Bye. Posts: 9,487
It all flows together. When people said spanking was abuse and we became hyphenated Americans is when this started. We are raising a nation of crybabies and are so afraid to offend someone.
It also started due to a decline in family values.
It all flows together. When people said spanking was abuse and we became hyphenated Americans is when this started. We are raising a nation of crybabies and are so afraid to offend someone.
It also started due to a decline in family values.
Oh give me a fucking break! :roll: People chosing to hyphenate their names caused society to lose their empathy & critical thinking skills? Please demonstrate how this is true. OtherwiseI think it's one of the most stupid things I've heard in a long time.
0
unsung
I stopped by on March 7 2024. First time in many years, had to update payment info. Hope all is well. Politicians suck. Bye. Posts: 9,487
Not their names, duh.
I'm talking about Italian-American, African-American, German-American, instead of just being Americans.
0
unsung
I stopped by on March 7 2024. First time in many years, had to update payment info. Hope all is well. Politicians suck. Bye. Posts: 9,487
'Is the system going to flatten you out and deny you your humanity, or are you going to be able to make use of the system to the attainment of human purposes?' Joseph Campbell
'Every religion is true one way or another. It is true when understood metaphorically. But when it gets stuck in its own metaphors, interpreting them as facts, then you are in trouble.' Joseph Campbell
'God is a metaphor for that which trancends all levels of intellectual thought. It's as simple as that.' Joseph Campbell
'Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.' Joseph Campbell
Thanks for the tip. I'm gonna check out a couple of his books now. Actually sounds damn close to what I've been looking for to complement my reading of the bible recently. (Not a convert, just reading the damn thing to see what it actually says, and I'm halfway through the OT, and the status is still "horrified" on my part.)
Peace
Dan
"YOU [humans] NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME?" - Death
"Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty." - Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965
Society isn't changing, its the growing use of mass media and communication brings people out of their bubble and see how f'd-up people can be. People are still the same as they were 5000 years ago, you know get to see this in real time all over the world.
My only problem is that its one sided, you only hear about the bad shit because it sells, there are just as many good stories and people out there that never get the attention.
Comments
ok, I'm confused...I thought you thought the world was going to hell and no progress was being made...
UNO?! Shouldn't you call it by its new, American name: ONE?
Yeah, I need to get a TV or something so I'll have some other way to waste time. Of course, I got rid of my TV because it was ruining my glass-is-half-full outlook on life!
No, I feel like progress has been made and now we're regressing. (Overall, that is. That's not to say no progress is being made anywhere.)
got it...
well, sometimes things tend to be worse before the get better...
as I've stated earlier, if one focuses on the negative, it's hard to see the positive....not saying that you're doing this, I'm just saying...
I think the 24 hours news cycle doesn't help much either...
Alright, I'm done with this thread. On to more important things like writing to my local representative about changing the name of UNO . . .
Yes we have... and I don't see us regressing back to the 1930s.
My point is, the enviroment... circumstances... world events... civil events... are different, but the change as a whole is the same. Back in the 30s, the hated immigrants were Europeans. The derogatory term, 'WOP' came from (typically Italian) immigrants 'With Out Papers' or 'Without Official Papers'. In the 40s, big aerospace companies in Southern California had big signs out front that said, 'Jews and Japs Need Not Apply' for jobs. And the 'Faggots Stay Out' sign was up at the Barney's Beanery on Sunset til the 1980s.
My point being, we are seeing 'Foriegners, Taking Our Jobs' as a threat to our way of being. Like it will somehow diminish who we are. It will only diminish the self-respect of the person who defines who they are, by what they do for a living. These people are easy to spot... Chinese... Indian... Mexican... they are not like us and can be easily demonized... just as the Italians, Jews, Japanese and other ethnicities of our past.
Unfortunately for the Mexicans... their proximity to us makes them easier targets.
...
Off Topic... I wonder about the people whose grandfathers, Great-grandfathers were here illegally in the 1930s... and established a foundation for their kids and grandkids feel about immigration today. If they were alive in 1932, would they have wanted to deport the dirty WOPs?
Hail, Hail!!!
I hope this post is shorter than my usual ones, I'm behind at work because I've spent too much time on AMT over the last two days lol
Feel free to take this with a grain of salt, because I don't hide the fact that I'm agnostic and that may well taint my opinion of religion, but I think religion, all too often, causes more problems than it solves. I went to church until I was 10, and what I took out of the lessons taught in the bible was that you should love thy neighbor, turn the other cheek, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
All of which I have no problem with, and I try and live my life according to those philosophies, even though I haven't been inside a church for anything more than a wedding or a funeral in over 20 years. To me, that's a common sense way of living.
My problem comes when religious extremists (from all religions) use their religion as the basis for discrimination. Gay people can't get married because god created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Black people don't deserve equal rights. Women don't deserve equal rights. That is repeated all over the world, and people from all religions are just as guilty of using their own religion to discriminate. Christians aren't innocent, and neither are Muslims. The pope, when he was a cardinal, covered up cases of sexual abuse, and a senior prelate called the public outcry against the church "petty gossip." Catholics and Protestants have killed countless numbers of people in Northern Ireland. Christians and Muslims have been at war with each other for centuries over who gets ownership of Jerusalem - somehow two (theoretically) peaceful religions haven't figured out a way to share. One man in Germany decided that he needed to wipe the Jews off the face of the earth because they were able to feed themselves while the rest of his country was in economic turmoil - and he managed to turn an entire country against them to help him in his cause.
It seems that a lot of religious fundamentalists have no desire to coexist, and that goes for ALL religious fundamentalists, not just the ones in the Middle East. We all have to share this planet, and by killing people simply because they pray to a different god, all you're doing is ensuring the end will come sooner than it should.
I think the way forward is education. Perhaps if people took the time to learn a little bit more about their neighbors, they might be more inclined to love them. Christians wouldn't be expecting cars to blow up every time a Muslim prayed to Mecca, and Muslims wouldn't be expecting bombs to rain down from above every time Christians knelt before the cross. On top of that, people will stop thinking that those of us who choose not to pray to anything are a bunch of ignorant delinquents who don't respect anyone or anything. Are there still going to be assholes who try to ruin it for everyone else? Yep - and the assholes will be coming from all sides, nobody has a monopoly on that one.
Fire won't rain down from the sky if gay people are allowed to get married. Boobs don't actually cause earthquakes. God didn't really send Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for harboring homosexuals. If the people hanging out on the extreme ends of their worldviews took a few steps towards the middle, and stopped trying to enforce their ideas on other people, the world would be a much better place.
Is it REALLY that hard to respect people who don't look or think like you?
Yeah, you could take what I wrote and replace the various religions with various races, and have the same effect. People seem to be fearful of anyone who is different, and they hide behind extreme patriotism (note: regular patriotism is cool, but when you take it to an extreme and use it as an excuse to discriminate against people, then you're just being a dick).
If we all celebrated our differences the world would be a better place. Have a Guinness on St. Patrick's Day AND a Corona on Cinco De Mayo! Travel the world and learn about other cultures first-hand, instead of letting the 24-hour news networks define your worldview for you.
I've been to China before, and I found the Chinese to be very welcoming, and unbelievably respectful. One of my sisters has been to Japan and she says the Japanese are light years ahead of the Chinese when it comes to respect, which is really saying something (sorry Byrnzie). Does that mean ALL Chinese people are good, respectful humans? No. Should people hate all Chinese people on principle because some of them are bad? No. That's like saying Tim McVeigh is a fair representative of Americans. The news networks here love to carp on about how China is a major polluter, but they also ignore the fact that China is a world leader in new green construction, and they're taking tips from Japan on how to improve their environmental practices.
Americans often get a bad rap overseas for being cocky assholes who think their country is the best, yet they know nothing about other cultures. Most of the people I've met here haven't fit that description at all (well, a lot of them know very little about the world outside their border, but they're also not shy about asking questions to learn about it, which is cool).
If people had more stamps in their passports, we might not be nearly as xenophobic.
Great post. Hits the nail.
Sergeant Prendergast: Yeah.
Bill Foster: How did that happen?
Excellent!
That is a fantastic movie. These guys both have an excess of shit cast upon them, yet one of them is able to remain stoic. Kind of like Buddha keeping his hand on the ground amidst the tumult of the world. Then again, Bill Foster shows us all how crazy this world has become and may have done a greater good for society by exposing these injustices.
It is eerie how similar my life is to Bill Foster's. Divorce, PFA (even though SHE hit ME... I didn't do shit), was laid off, and all of the fucked up things that I posted earlier...
I guess the point is that everyone goes through these bad times, in every generation, in every part of the world. It is important to “go placidly amidst the noise and haste." I think Joseph Campbell said that... The Hero's Path. Yeah, walk the hero's path!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... cades.html
I am concerned about MTV and the combining of fiction to reality tv and the influences of that behavior on the kids who watch it.
So i don't know if it is getting worse or not, but it sure is getting more coverage.
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
'The Hero with a thousand faces'. Great book.
'Is the system going to flatten you out and deny you your humanity, or are you going to be able to make use of the system to the attainment of human purposes?'
Joseph Campbell
'Every religion is true one way or another. It is true when understood metaphorically. But when it gets stuck in its own metaphors, interpreting them as facts, then you are in trouble.'
Joseph Campbell
'God is a metaphor for that which trancends all levels of intellectual thought. It's as simple as that.'
Joseph Campbell
'Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.'
Joseph Campbell
oh thats just bullshit.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
Talk to the hand!
Oh really?
Care to offer anything to say otherwise?
It started then because that is the time where a generation stopped being told no. It started when kids weren't given trophies for the winning team, instead everyone got one so nobody would feel bad. It started when they played a organized game such as baseball or soccer and they didn't keep score because nobody wanted to be a loser. It started when Mommy and Daddy would rather just buy that candy at the grocery store than listen to a temper tantrum. It started when parents would buy their kids video games instead of making them go outside and play. It started when parents turned the television into a babysitter.
Like the song says it started when the boy was something that Mommy wouldn't wear.
how is any of this being politically correct???
society started regressing when it all became about the individual and NOT society. when governments started kowtowing to big business. when no one would take responsibility for anything and when people started excusing anti social behaviour.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
Please provide a definition for political correctness.
Your last few examples are of lazy parenting, not political correctness.
I'd love to know Ed's thoughts on your interpretation of his lyrics.
It also started due to a decline in family values.
Oh give me a fucking break! :roll: People chosing to hyphenate their names caused society to lose their empathy & critical thinking skills? Please demonstrate how this is true. OtherwiseI think it's one of the most stupid things I've heard in a long time.
I'm talking about Italian-American, African-American, German-American, instead of just being Americans.
This is what I'm talking about. Things like suspending a first grader for bringing a set of finger nail clippers, stupid crap like that.
while this is stupid, how is this leading to any sort of regression in our society...?
Thanks for the tip. I'm gonna check out a couple of his books now. Actually sounds damn close to what I've been looking for to complement my reading of the bible recently. (Not a convert, just reading the damn thing to see what it actually says, and I'm halfway through the OT, and the status is still "horrified" on my part.)
Peace
Dan
"Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty." - Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965
However, in terms of economic disparity, politeness & selfishness, our society is going to hell!
My only problem is that its one sided, you only hear about the bad shit because it sells, there are just as many good stories and people out there that never get the attention.
just my 2cents