Baby it's cold outside *

Idk? I’m not a Dreamer...... That whole spill about All Men are Created equal isn’t entirely true. Warren Buffet wouldn’t be The Warren Buffet we know if he was born poor and a minority. Shaquille O’Neal wouldn’t be who he is if he wasn’t 7ft tall!!! Sometimes you get dealt Aces in life and others have to fold.

"All men are created equal" does not mean we will all get the same advantages. It means that all men and women are equal in the eyes of the government. That's different. Obviously, if someone is born with an IQ of 160 they are going to have better options than someone who is a moron. But the state would treat both those people equally. The constitution is not saying if person #1 inherits $1,000,000 then person #2 get the same amount.
 
Two things. I think it is very good that here people are willing to debate. They present their thoughts and others LISTEN. They then consider carefully what they read and write back. Recognising points they agree on and offering suggestions on parts they don't. That is good. People learn things This is totally different in politics and a quest for power and control There people argue. They do not listen. They do not think All they want to do is win the argument.
And to talk about equality for all. To put it much too simply
Equality does not mean everyone gets the same pair of shoes
It means everyone gets a pair of shoes that fit
I like that people here recognise there are different needs for different people but all want everyone to be given the tools and opportunities to succeed. That is as it should be
 
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Two things. I think it is very good that here people are willing to debate. They present their thoughts and others LISTEN. They then consider carefully what they read and write back. Recognising points they agree on and offering suggestions on parts they don't. That is good. People learn things This is totally different in politics and a quest for power and control There people argue. They do not listen. They do not think All they want to do is win the argument.
And to talk about equality for all. To put it much too simply
Equality does not mean everyone gets the same pair of shoes
It means everyone gets a pair of shoes that fit
I like that people here recognise there are different needs for different people but all want everyone to be given the tools and opportunities to succeed. That is as it should be
Oh it can get nasty, it just hasn't on this thread....yet. I am quite surprised at that.
Kind of refreshing that it hasn't though.
Politics can bring out the worst in people-most of the war zones I have been in are a result of that.
 
I imagine that our system
Oh it can get nasty, it just hasn't on this thread....yet. I am quite surprised at that.
Kind of refreshing that it hasn't though.
Politics can bring out the worst in people-most of the war zones I have been in are a result of that.

I wouldn't say "yet", at least not with all involved so far.
As always, there are alot of great people here, and I know this is true...because they put up with me.
 
I have been watching some of the Bush funeral. Funny but I remember when Clinton was up against H. Bush for president. I thought he was the devil himself. At the time I was living in the media bubble. I actually hated the man personally. They I researched him and the Bush family. The more I learned about the person, the greater my respect grew for him. Conversely, the more I learned about the Clinton's, the less my respect for them became. So, Bush who is a man I don't agree with politically I respect; and Clinton, a man I am much more aligned with politically I respect less. Go figure?

Life is complicated. As we weed our way through life we all become compromised and conflicted. The media has a few minutes to hook you, so they flatten everything to good and evil. After all, love and hate are the two easiest emotions to tap into. But nothing is ever that simple.
 
This is one of the best threads I've ever read !!

One reason, I think, humanity. People. People with the same ideal; life. Our individual lives. Our families lives. Living peaceful in our communities.

Another reason; hope. We; people, can do better and can be better. Now; right now; fast. We are accountable to ourselves, to our families and to our communities. Together, being accountable; we can accomplish the impossible, peace ! "... there can be no peace without two; and from two - comes many ..."

As for the US government; like many governments all over this planet; I believe it's time to start over. Unfortunately, the time has come. It was foretold, predicated and prophesied by the US "forefathers." Revolution by the people is protected with laws, written by these "forefathers."

"... That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness ..."

“... But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security ..."

Quotes from the US Constitution and US Declaration of Independence.

This "current form" of the US Government is an aberration of it's true goal and intent. No longer "satisfied" with European rule, the people organized and fought back. They also believed people from all over the planet should be free to live, work and worship without punishment or consequence.

Oddly, the US Government has become a "dictatorship of wealth." Companies, corporations, and special interest groups controlled by the wealthy selected few; govern the people. They rewriting historical events, make laws, policies. treaties and "entertainment" for global dominance. The U.N., The Group of 8 and World Government Summit gets it taking points from this wealthy selected few. It's the true, "trickle down effect."

As seen by the respect, admiration and decency shown on this thread, people are not the problem. Governments instituted and controlled by the wealthy selected few is the problem. These different governments don't have their many people, cities/states/provinces or county's best interest in mind.

Control, power and money are their interests ! Religions and wars being their most effective and preferred tools. War over religion, how useful is that tool ?!!! "... two birds, one stone ..."

When are we, the billions of people on this planet, going to stand together ?

"... if you're not working on something; then something is working on you ... good things don't come easy ... anything worth having, is worth fighting for ..."

Together ... Strong !
Divided ... Gone !
 
This is one of the best threads I've ever read !!

One reason, I think, humanity. People. People with the same ideal; life. Our individual lives. Our families lives. Living peaceful in our communities.

Another reason; hope. We; people, can do better and can be better. Now; right now; fast. We are accountable to ourselves, to our families and to our communities. Together, being accountable; we can accomplish the impossible, peace ! "... there can be no peace without two; and from two - comes many ..."

As for the US government; like many governments all over this planet; I believe it's time to start over. Unfortunately, the time has come. It was foretold, predicated and prophesied by the US "forefathers." Revolution by the people is protected with laws, written by these "forefathers."

"... That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness ..."

“... But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security ..."

Quotes from the US Constitution and US Declaration of Independence.

This "current form" of the US Government is an aberration of it's true goal and intent. No longer "satisfied" with European rule, the people organized and fought back. They also believed people from all over the planet should be free to live, work and worship without punishment or consequence.

Oddly, the US Government has become a "dictatorship of wealth." Companies, corporations, and special interest groups controlled by the wealthy selected few; govern the people. They rewriting historical events, make laws, policies. treaties and "entertainment" for global dominance. The U.N., The Group of 8 and World Government Summit gets it taking points from this wealthy selected few. It's the true, "trickle down effect."

As seen by the respect, admiration and decency shown on this thread, people are not the problem. Governments instituted and controlled by the wealthy selected few is the problem. These different governments don't have their many people, cities/states/provinces or county's best interest in mind.

Control, power and money are their interests ! Religions and wars being their most effective and preferred tools. War over religion, how useful is that tool ?!!! "... two birds, one stone ..."

When are we, the billions of people on this planet, going to stand together ?

"... if you're not working on something; then something is working on you ... good things don't come easy ... anything worth having, is worth fighting for ..."

Together ... Strong !
Divided ... Gone !
Very well put Sir.
 
When are we, the billions of people on this planet, going to stand together ?

"... if you're not working on something; then something is working on you ... good things don't come easy ... anything worth having, is worth fighting for ..."

Together ... Strong !
Divided ... Gone !

When the aliens come down and scare the poop out of everyone? Just a thought. Great post, thanks for taking the time to post it.
 
Most people in Washington are not idealogues. They are Republicans or Democrats because that is their team and their power base. But as far as what they believe, it's no different than the little league team you were assigned to.

But before we tar and feather politician's fake positions, how can a Christian support a president who lies constantly, dishonors women, and who steals? How can a conservative support a president who constantly degrades law enforcement and the intelligence community? Or how can conservatives support a president who spends money like it's going out of style and quips to his staff that he "won't be here to pay the consequences"?

The bottom line is the voters are responsible for this government. We let ourselves be swayed by issues like race that have nothing to do with our livelihoods. Voters facing a future without any health insurance at all vote against Obamacare because it's named after a black president "from Nigeria". If we, the people are suckers, can we complain about being taken advantage of?

For most of this country's existence, Democrats and Republicans were only slightly right or left of center. This made compromise possible, and indeed made the system functional. The right initiated this ideological arms race, but now both sides have retreated to the extremes of left and right. Compromise is not possible - the system is failing.

The constitution is a liberal document. The idea of giving power to the people, filtered only by representational oversight, was radical in a world still full of kingdoms. In it's time it stood as an accomplishment as grand as a walk on the moon. But as enlightened as our founding fathers were, they never contemplated that Americans would purposefully crash the system.
liberalism works with the understanding that men/women act in goodwill... FOR THE PEOPLE/BY THE PEOPLE... we alllllllllllll contribute..... we alllll work towards a common goal..... no FREE anything... society has changed... forming this CRAZY liberalism bordering on communism.... BAN GUNS? things have gotten soooo crazy that we cant even agree on what constitutes gender anymore.... it is a real debate.... smh… not good guys.... not good..... IN THE END.... right will be called wrong/ and wrong will be called right..... where have u heard this before? word of caution..... WE KNOW that communism doesn't work... it corrupts almost instantly and BRUTALLY,,, we don't have to look far to see this.... its history...we should FEAR ending up like the soviet union... history guys.... on a positive note.... democracy WORKS.... as much as he is hated..... he was ELECTED(Trump)... and a conservative holding the higheast office and going back and forth with liberals is a good thing.... right after the so called "racist voting pool" put a BLACK man in the highest office in alllll the land..... make whatever excuse u want.... a black man was elected president..... and nobody saw THAT coming... FOR THE PEOPLE/BY THE PEOPLE.... this is the radical experiment..... but for the love of god.... we cant let the government (in any flavor) disarm its citizenry... if anything.... we ought to disarm trump.
 
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So welcome to the fray Ali! There are a few things about systems of government and economic systems that you are mixing.

Capitalism is driven by greed and the strong surviving. While Capitalism is undoubtedly a superior motivator, it is an ever unbalanced system that drives conflict (wars). With Communism, where resources are owned by all. Supposedly, Communist societies would see greater efficiency in the use of resources and a reduction in greed based conflict (hasn't happened). Socialism goes one step further and no one owns anything, people use resources as needed, but are careful not to over consume (again, hasn't exactly happened).

None of these systems exists today. Native American societies were the closest thing to socialism, but most are gone today. Part of the reason this worked for them is because a nomadic society has little need for materialism, and eating enough and shelter are the main needs in life. There are very few truly Capitalist societies today. We have all sorts of price incentives and controls to meter our economy, so our system is not purely driven by supply and demand. In some Asian countries a more pure form of Capitalism reigns, and those places are basically unlivable for more than a few weeks due to the environment, crime, and filth. There are also no Communist societies currently in existence.

Democracy is a political system. Russia, China and Cuba have elections just like we do. The United States of America is not a Democracy, It is a Republic. That means we elect representatives, our rule is not direct majority rules.

Basically all societies stem from some version of feudalism. Kings or a ruling class. This obviously doesn't work, as it leaves a majority of the people out, breading revolution. In France there was a revolution that led to a more common adoption of democratic governments in the west. The USA being the most aggressive attempt at letting the people rule themselves. In Russia, when the Czars fell Communism (government by the people) replaced feudalism. China came to communism very late. China managed to sustain a feudal system much longer than western societies, adopting communism mainly to integrate better into the modern world.

So I hear a lot of anger expressed out there but it is often people swinging at everything and not really understanding what is really going on. No American president has suggested going to a true socialist (or communist) system. Obamacare is a republican system which was developed from a long history of Republicans including Ted Roosevelt, The Rockefellers, and Nixon. The actual Obama care system was a direct adaptation of Romneycare (republican governor of Ma. and no, not the Utah Romney).

Guns are a dilemma. Most of the 350+ million guns in this country are in the hands of 20% of the population and they are becoming more and more radical. What a mess this is. Try to take those guns and the second civil war starts immediately.
 
For every reason not to have a socialist system there are the coal.mines of Ohio and Pennsylvania from not that long ago. Thus were the unions formed to fight for the downtrodden until they themselves started to think they were more important than the investors risking their money in companies. A true capitalist govt would have let Chrysler and GM fail. But in truth that was not good for America and so all the tax payers help the poor management get back on its feet. There is a blend. A balance to be had between The Left and The Right which builds a strong civilised nation. I hope this current deep divide can be bridged. That is what will make America great again in my humble opinion
 
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