Can we overcome the divide?

a reply to: contextual

Yeah, it's right up there with calling someone with a penis a woman.

Again I say the question has been answered.
No, we are not ready.

originally posted by: dfnj2015
Plenty of jobs. Grocery stores are full. Gasoline although probably twice as much as it should be in price is not three times what it should be in price.

Life is good.

Thank You Trump

I know Blue has read this, but for anyone who has not:

Here is my 2 STEP solution on how to begin fixing it before 2024.

Step 1 ~ ONE TERM ONLY
Step 2 ~ REVOLVING PRESIDENCY

******************************************

#1 ~ ONE TERM ONLY

No one serves more than ONE term, after which they are out of politics for good.
Their legacy and reputation will depend on how well they do their job during their single term.
They will be in office to support the citizens – not themselves.
One Term means there will be no career politicians.
With ONE EXCEPTION.

President.

A person who serves their one term would be allowed to run for President.

#2 ~ REVOLVING PRESIDENTCY

The President of the United States will serve only One Term.

They will have only One Term to be the best President they can be, which means making as many citizens as possible happy. Not half the population, not just their party, but everyone. One chance to make the country better off than it was when they took office.

#2A ~ EACH TERM WILL HAVE A PRESIDENT FROM A DIFFERENT PARTY.
Whatever party ends their term in the Oval Office when 2024 begins will NOT be allowed to have a candidate run for the office in the upcoming election. Meaning if a Republican President is leaving office in 2024, only a Democratic or Libertarian (Third Party) candidate may run and be in office for the next four years.

#2B ~ ALL VOTERS WILL VOTE FOR A DIFFERENT PARTY EVERY FOUR YEARS.

Meaning all Republicans and Libertarians will vote for who they feel is the BEST Democrat candidate available. And vice versa, depending on which party is leaving the office.

The reasoning here is to bring a centrist viewpoint to the government, instead of the two opposite viewpoints we now have. Instead of the government swaying from far right to far left and back again, in a political civil war. The political system needs to stabilize for the better. Like a good marriage, it will be constant compromise toward middle ground.

In this way all Americans can vote for whom they think is the best person in each party to be President of the United States.

a reply to: spiritualarchitect

I will put this in the unrealistic bin.
It sounds good but what politicians will vote for it...

That being said I would modify the plan a bit.
Term limits are great but not a single term.
We have positions with 2, 4, and 5 year terms...
Cap it at ten years...

Then the part about done with politics I disagree with..
They should be able to move up the ladder.
If you have a senator that does a good job they should be able to run for president..

You move up or out never backwards...at least on a federal level. I don't care if a senator runs for mayor after he's out.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: olaru12

Agreed, but what area would you recommend that happens?

Currently we live in a cultural quagmire with many people needing to identify with an ideology. It gives their life meaning and an avenue for self-expression. Humans are much more, cultish, tribal, clanish, and caste consciousness than we want to admit.

thus the "people like you" designation for anyone that doesn't subscribe to your particular dogma of the month.

I don't think that will change. Some people try and escape the paradigm with alcohol drugs and religion but in reality they just join another social subset.

Social anthro is a fascinating subject even though my post ed. was in early man archaeology. Currently my work revolves around psychological disorders and how people deal with it. ATS is my main avenue of research for my stories/scripts.

a reply to: Bluntone22

I agree that the US (and other places) appears divided.

But I think at the most basic of levels the populations hold very similar views. They may disagree on the potential solutions but agree on the overarching goals. (i.e. I agree on a cleaner planet for all however I disagree with your assesment on how to attain a less polluted environment.)

The capitalists have an entirely different agenda from the mass of people, disproportionate power and wealth, and use that 'CAPITAL' to force their agenda on the rest of us. They (through media manipulation) bypass the goals and focus on the discord surrounding specific issues as you state.

My idea of government is one that mediates these divides rather then promotes the Captalist agenda.

But ultimately it starts with each individual keeping an open mind, listening to ideas not their own and being willing to compromise for the good of all - not themselves, not their 'tribe'(s), but all. And that includes sharing your ideas and opinions with others but respecting the other's point of view as valid.

That last bit is what I have trouble seeing in todays society. We are so fixated on our 'idea tribes' that we lose all sight of the common goals we all hope for ourselves and our loved ones and, I would hope & pray, for all other people.

a reply to: olaru12

Great observation.
People seem to need a label or a category to be complete.
There is a great push for representation in media, something I'm sure you deal with often in your line of work, that I always find odd.

Like a gay person in every movie makes them any more of a human.
They are legitimate either way.

But I'm with you on thinking nothing will change.

a reply to: FyreByrd

Many true statements in your post.
We don't have to agree on the solutions at this point but we need to be willing to admit there are problems and compromise on the solutions.

I do disagree with you on the capitalist part.
Not to say it's perfect by any means but I do think every other "ism" is just as corrupt and top heavy with the power and wealth.
Every system has a top and bottom.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: olaru12

Great observation.
People seem to need a label or a category to be complete.
There is a great push for representation in media, something I'm sure you deal with often in your line of work, that I always find odd.

Like a gay person in every movie makes them any more of a human.
They are legitimate either way.

But I'm with you on thinking nothing will change.

Exactly. Our culture is very competitive in the extreme. The media "capitalizes" on that fact because that's what people identify with and expect. We in the media would be foolish to not exploit that. If everyone had an epiphany and became all sweet and loving; our stories would exploit that as well.

Alex Jones is a genius at identifying a demographic and capitalizing on it. Pure marketing media brilliance!!

a reply to: olaru12

I think Hollywood tends to swing and miss on many of the trends they are trying to capitalize on.

Maybe after light is brought onto a lot of different corruptions in our Government we can all be chill again. I don't know though. The ones with the wool fully over their eyes may be disinclined to admit they were wrong, and join the silent majority once again in support of our country.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: olaru12

I think Hollywood tends to swing and miss on many of the trends they are trying to capitalize on.

They sure do. I'm at work now here in tamalewood working on a show that stinks. Should make a ton of money, which in the final analysis, is what it's about. Netflix rocks!!

It's like gambling...the blockbusters pay for the garbage. All the billions from GofT and BrkBd is recirculating in our local industry.

At least as long as we keep pumping out content, perhaps people will stay home and watch, smoke the herb and eat Doritos, instead of fighting in the street.

Bread and circus....

a reply to: olaru12

Yeah, netfix is one of the worst offenders...
Enjoy that money while it lasts, they are heading for financial trouble in the near future.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: olaru12

Yeah, netfix is one of the worst offenders...
Enjoy that money while it lasts, they are heading for financial trouble in the near future.

Thats very true, The marketplace is restructuring and the competition is keen. Sony SFX is coming back, NBCadvantage came to town, and Amazon media group is here building a glass and chrome office, Google down south of town with a yuggggeee complex.
The political campaign offices have already started gearing up and hiring media geeks. 2020 should be fantastic.
Political campaign ads not just for networks anymore. Don't worry about me!! I was hoping to retire but the money is just to good and I love working with this community of creatives.

Union Proud Union Strong....

Topic....If everyone is working their ass off, that should help overcome the divide. I will credit trump if that happens.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
I'll start with my list.

*Climate change. We could argue forever on that one, but we should all agree on a cleaner planet.
Wind and solar are not feasible.
We need to invest in nuclear.
The science is there if we only look.

Agreed, as long as you are talking about the safe nuclear reactors like the Thrium/Molten Salt reactors that can even use all of the spent fuel rods we are trying to safely store for 30,000 years (yeah right) for fuel, and have no danger of 'meltdown'.

*Border control.
I'm not for closing the border, but I am for registration apon arriving at the border.

Sorry, no way I'm for unlimited entrance.

I am in favor of work visas, but they have to apply and be approved beforehand, and only a limited number should be available.

Also, no - zero - government freebies while they are here, including healthcare, but not sure how to handle that.

*abortion
I dont like abortion but I believe in a woman rights.
That being said, women should have access to free or extremely cheap birth control.

I do too. Women have the right to not engage in behavior that could result in pregnancy. If they get pregnant, they have the obligation and responsibility to see it through, with the only exception being some problem with the pregnancy that actually threaten s her life.

As for birth control, good condoms are cheap, and the decision not to have unsafe/protected sex is cheaper.

*guns
I did say realistic goals...
We need to have a huge discussion on mental health issues. Not sure this one can be fixed to satisfy everyone but it needs talked about.

Any discussion of taking away someones Rights based on their mental health state must entail full due process of law - no anonymous 'red flag' BS laws.

*schools
Can we all say that our school system sucks?
Time to get back to basics on this one.
Reading, writing and arithmetic.
Bring back the hands on classes like wood shop and auto mechanics.
My daughter had a class in sports management....da fuk...

Agreed. Eliminate all political courses except for basic Civics courses, and all non three R's courses.

*college
Time to streamline the money pit of college.
You dont need a masters degree to teach 3rd graders.
Engineers dont need gender studies classes.
Free college for students in s.t.e.m. majors with certain stipulations and requirements of course.

No. Just no.

Get the government out of the student loan business, ban predatory loan practices with respect to student loans, and require all colleges to co-sign on all student loans for students that they accept.

I wanted to add term limits to all elected positions but as I said earlier, pipe dreams...

The others aren't?

As for term limits, I'm totally against them, but I am in favor of banning incumbents from running for any office after their term and require them to wait at least ... 1 year? 2 years? ... before they run for any other office again.

While we're at it...

Abolish/outlaw all public sector unions (unions for government employees).

a reply to: tanstaafl

Nuclear is actually extremely safe.

But the whole point of the op is asking if people are ready to discuss the problems and come to some compromises or are we destined to stay in the same black and white argument circle.

I'm thinking it's the latter..

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: tanstaafl

Nuclear is actually extremely safe.

Ahem.

Current nuclear reactor tech (and existing reactors) are about as far from 'extremelyt safe' as you can get.

What happens in the event of a major prolonged power failure? Meltdown, massive radiation exposure poisoning (see Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island).

They produce extremely dangerous radioactive waste that has half lifes in the thousands of years.

Liquid Thorium/MoltenSaltr reactoirs will automatically safely shut down in the event of a power failure. No danger of metdown.

They don't produce any dangerous radioactive waste that must be safely stored for thousands of years.

They can consume the existing spent fuel rods that we have no clue how/where to safely store them, so we just shut our eyes and hope the containers they are stored in will last the thousands of years necessary.

But the whole point of the op is asking if people are ready to discuss the problems and come to some compromises or are we destined to stay in the same black and white argument circle.

I'm thinking it's the latter.

I'm ready to discuss it. I can't speak for anyone else.

originally posted by: Xcalibur254
The problem with primary and secondary schools isn't due to the fact that tech ed classes don't have the same emphasis placed on them. A key issue is that not enough money is going to the schools.

Ahem.

Pure BS. The problem is the teachers unions, and the push to turn them into indoctrination centers instead of simply teaching people the three Rs.

a reply to: Bluntone22

But I'm with you on thinking nothing will change.

Something really is changing however. Its hard to describe and its hard to quantify, but in the real world outside Facebook and Social Media forums, something is changing. The change is being propelled by 50 years of open borders and the migrant crisis at the border that has been going for the last ten years.

Yea, there is a divde; actually there's multiple divisions along many fault lines and identity groupings. The result of this is that many more US residents no longer really identify with the whole USA and the Flag thing. They identify along other lines. And you see the results all around.

Example: activists are pushing the City Council of San Antonio to abolish Columbus Day and replace it with Indiginous Peoples Day......and they probably will and no one is complaining or really cares anymore what the City does.

Example: The local high school cant field a full football team anymore because so many students have left to home schooling networks that the School Board is being pushed to allow the HS to recruit from the home schoolers to play on the football team.

What I am trying to describe is kinda weird but yea, what the divisions are producing is a total collapse of national identity. The last historical example of this is the final days of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The Empire had outposts of Military and Intelligence facilities all about North Africa and the Levant. An author whose book I read years ago documented the plight of an Ottoman Intelligence Officer stationed in Tripoli, Libya. He kept sending dispatches to Istanbul.........but replies started peetering out to nothing. No response. The "Fort's Commanding Officer" kept requesting more supplies and troops; no response from "Central". Finally one day, he simply disbanded the garrison; blew up the cannon and left for home.

Same thing is happening along the US southern border. The Border Patrol is operating so thinly that all they really do is catch and release.......at our towns bus station.

In an odd sort of way, at least as far as the Naton State is concerned, the Divides are slowly erasing.............the nation state. And in that way, they are slowly erasing the national political divide. Fewer and fewer care anymore. Just ask CNN........who loses more viewership every week.

a reply to: tanstaafl

Start a thread on nuclear power.
I would love to discuss that topic and why thorium doesn't work...


Now just get everyone on board to compromise.....not sure how though...lol