This election process has been a real eye-opener.
We REALLY aren't in Kansas anymore, Toto!
As a matter of fact, each day, the country looks less and less like the country I grew up in. The Democrat candidates are both calling for change... and I'm fearful the changes they indicate they will make will take us "two steps back".
It's true isn't it?... We really don't learn from History. I'm shocked to find we don't learn from some of the most basic courses we all took in college...
Psych 101 and Soc. 101...
By that I mean, reward positive behaviors and negatively reinforce behaviors you want to diminish.
I'm fascinated watching the infighting going on within the Democrat party. I think some had questions during Bill Clinton's denial of human and Civil rights to those women he assaulted and allegedly raped, followed by the acceptance of that violence by Liberal organizations like the National Organization of Women...
Continuing with Billary's idea of how stupid it was for Barack Obama to have "fairy tale" dreams of being President when he was in Kindgergarten...
To Governor Rendell's revelation that White Democrats in Pennsylvania probably won't vote for a Black candidate!
Wow.
It makes me wonder...
Have we finally reached the "Dr. Phil" point in our society?
That point where people take a close look at their lives and ask, "How's that workin' for me?"
To those with years and years of devotion to the Democrat party, voting straight ticket because "Democrats are our friends", looking at the present disaster in Congress I ask...
How's that workin' for ya?
We really are at a point where we have to take a look at what we want from life, what's best not only for us personally , but for the country as a whole.
The Liberals are hoping to gain control.
These are the folks that have passed new laws concerning where and when you can smoke.
Laws about gun ownership.
Laws about where the Marines can and cannot recruit troops...
Marines that will then be forced to defend the lives of those deranged flakes that would, if they could, do away with the Corps altogether.
Lunacy.
Do we want a "Beehive" society?
"To each as to his needs. From each as to his abilities?"
A Liberal loved one once wrote to discuss the country's use/overuse of oil. Now I won't attempt to defend our use of oil, or the situation we presently find ourselves in because of our need for the substance. It sucks.
But this Liberal loved one reminded me that he regularly rides his bicycle to work in order to conserve. And I think that's great... I wish I could follow his lead. But it's 36 miles to my workplace, and although I might physically pull that off in three hours or so, I'd be in no condition to fly a 12 hour shift, then ride the bike home again. Add to this scenario the certainty of 96 degree August heat or January's 15 degrees with 3 inches of snow on the ground, and you can see that even a gas saving motor-scooter is impossible.
In my response to my Liberal loved one I asked, "How serious are you about energy conservation? How big is your home? Since your kids have moved away have you down-sized in order to conserve energy?"
I wasn't surprised when he ignored my question...
It WAS, after all, probably "An Inconvenient Truth."
But it's hard isn't it, trying to be confident about the best route to take? Getting back to the "To each/from each" quote...
Obviously we cannot live like bees... each of us doing only what is necessary to further life for the collective society. We're individuals. We chafe at the idea of others telling us what to do...
at some point, if the control becomes too burdensome, some of us may respond violently.
But there are things I think we could learn from the bees, like collective defense.
Approach the hive and whack it with a stick. What happens?
When do the bees retreat?
Bees have been found encased in Amber, millions of years old, virtually unchanged from the animal we know today. Their longevity indicates they are doing many things right.
Should we emulate them to the degree we can?...
Work together toward a mutually beneficial life, including the defense of our colony as a whole?
I think so.
Now, I think a good starting place would be to go back and review Sociology and Psychology 101.
7 comments:
It is hard to quit the energy addiction. Here is something that is easy. Can't bike to work? Be a vegetarian 2 days a week:
http://tinyurl.com/25cawe
"Pamela A. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius."
Healthier, too.
(and more cramped - have you ridden in a Prius? I spent three days from Florida to Arizona in a Prius. No way that's going to be comfortable long term)
Greybeard - well said.
Listening to Rush the other day and he was talking about oil. Said contrary to conventional wisdom, it is not a fossil fuel, and that there is a regenerative supply of it. He also reminded us that the world's economy is based on oil, and would be for yet a long time to come. Don't believe it? Ask yourself why the Saudis are ordering aircraft 40 years out.
This business of alternative fuels etc. is not the answer. Drilling for the supply we have here in the USA is. The rest of it is just leftist drool.
Andrea
I'm glad to see that you seem to understand liberalism a little. I have still yet to comprehend what Republican's truly want. From my point of view, it looks like they want bloated, beaureucratic, nepotistic, corrupt, and just plain incompetent government. At least, that's what the last 12 years of a Republican Congress and Presidency has produced.
Are you proud of the fact Congressmen and Senators can now be bought and sold like cattle? Are you proud that you are spending your children's money to fund your current lifestyle? Are you proud that you were duped into a protracted war in Iraq? Are you really proud of what the Republican party has accomplished in the last 10 years?
I like your bee-hive analogy. I like the community it seems to imply. Bees have a singular purpose. Protect the Queen at any and all costs. It's not "protect the hive" or "protect the honey." The singular goal is to protect the Queen. So what is our Queen? Is it our houses, our economy, our freedom, our ideas? I believe our Queen is the ideas that were enshrined in our Constitution. I believe it is the "idea" that is the United States of America.
Now we get to different threats. You think the biggest threat to the Queen is Islamic Radicalism and Illegal Immigration. I would argue that those things could never truly hurt the "idea" that is the United States. Sure they can plague our population, hit the hive over and over again and threaten our honey supply, but they can't ever really touch the principles that make up our core.
The only way we can hurt the queen is by betraying those ideas. Our nation will not be conquered by Islamic Radicals or immigrants. It will eat itself inside out by the fear and corruption sparked by those events. Great nations like ours are not conquered, they disintegrate like so much dust. The queen is ailing right now. She is bogged down with corruption, incompetence, fear, and irresponsibility. She will not survive another decade of that.
Answer me one question, FF-
How did you feel about the Carter Presidency?
I wasn't alive during the Carter presidency, so I can't really speak as one who lived through it, but he did do one very important thing for our economy. He established the Federal Reserve.
After Vietnam, inflation started to climb out of control because the government was way over it's head in debt paying for the war. The government started to print more money and inflation hit the roof. At the same time, economic growth slowed way down, and these two processes combined to produce "stagflation." This was the economy that Carter inherited. Carter established the Federal Reserve to set interest rates and get the economy back under control. Interest Rates went sky high, up to over 20%, but this brought Americans back to the reality that they were spending too much money. Had Carter not established the Federal Reserve, inflation would've continued to skyrocket. You can look at the history of developing economies like Peru and Mexico to see how fast inflation can get out of control.
It's funny how history repeats itself. Currently, we are deluding ourselves. We have been spending way too much money for the last 10 years and instead of trying to bring it back under control by hiking interest rates, the federal reserve does just the opposite. I'll bet you a hundred soon-to-be-worthless dollars that inflation will be in the double digits within two years.
I think Carter did the best with what he had. Now you have to answer two questions:
1).Are you proud of what Republicans have accomplished in the last decade?
and
2). What did you think of the Carter administration?
You've got cojones, guy.
I like that.
I'm also not gonna surreptitiously make fun of you anymore because you've been honest, admitting you're too young to know much about politics. I'll also cut you some slack by pointing out to other readers that the old adage about younger people being more likely to be Socialists, then get more and more Conservative as they age was true for me, and will probably be true for you.
First, I'll answer your questions.
1. No, not so much during the last 10 years, but I am proud of parts of the last 14. And I know you no doubt aware that responsibility for Bill Clinton's ability to brag about balancing the budget during his tenure can be laid totally at the feet of the then Republican Congress of 1994. I don't care that Clinton takes credit for something he had little control over... I'm just glad it got done. I wish the Republicans of the last few years, and Democrats since time began, would take a look back to 1994!
2. I think the Carter years were the most miserable I've lived through. I think history will show him to be one of the worst Presidents ever, and he continues to embarrass the country since leaving office. He's, just, sad.
Now, I have to admit to having had the top of my head blown completely off!
Jimmy Carter established the Federal Reserve?! Really?!
Please, tell me more.
Now let me teach you some truths-
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a Liberal Democrat, dramatically expanded our role in Viet Nam which led to our involvement there.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, a Liberal Democrat, holds most of the responsibility for the 58,000 of my brothers that died there. Responsibility for the huge deficits that we accrued during that war can also be laid directly at his feet.
Richard Nixon, a Moderate Republican, got us out of VN, but his Liberal Democrat Congress cut funds to the Vietnamese, and the lives of those Vietnamese killed when the Communists took over the country can be laid at their feet. That Liberal Congress is also responsible for the 2-3 MILLION Cambodians sacrificed in The Killing Fields.
And finally, most economists agree that isolating Saddam Hussein without overthrowing his regime would have been more expensive than our present war. Say what you want, economics are not a good reason for opposing it.
Don't be too upset...
I have an unbelievable advantage over you when it comes to these matters. I lived 'em. I participated in them.
Be well, my friend.
Post a Comment