BUSINESS: America: #22; 49; 54 and Falling Fast, page 4

Originally posted by Odd
You and I percieve America differently due to our vastly differing lives; to be honest, I doubt either of us knows the whole truth. There is no way to express the 'quality' of an entire nation with objective mathematics, and that is that... saying otherwise is just bad science.

That was one of the most sensible things I've ever read on ATS. It was certainly the most sensible thing I've ever read coming from you.

I gave you a way above for that little tidbit. I ask only one thing in return...

Ackowledge the fact that your idealogical enemies are not enemies of America. We want America to be strong, healthy, and long lived, just like you. I personally don't think 'the red state comrades-in-arms' have any clue how to run a country. The blue-state-dirty-hippies or whatever you want to call them, similarly have no clue what to do besides bitch and moan. The problem is extremists on both sides, crushing the already-slim middle. People think they have to join one side or another! That's ludicrous, we need original thought right now.

We need to fix our problems. We need each other to do it. Divisive politics and rhetoric from both sides has not helped, it has only exacerbated the problem. If America is to ever live up to its creed, we have to make an honest analysis of the problems, come up with a plan resonably representative of the wishes of the average American, and institute that plan without bias or corporate favoritism.

I have no illusions about politicians. I've never met one I liked, and I come from a long line of politicians, so I've met plenty. For the most part, they're criminals who couldn't find honest work and were too rich to go to prison. The small minority are well intentioned people who want to give back to the community (those ones are corrupted in short order and transmuted into the first variety). The problem is the politicians are not working for us. It's time we work for ourselves.

It amazes me how a country as rich as America can have such a terrible literacy rate. It absolutely cannot be unintentional. There is no way. It's a calculated decision, akin to marketplace eugenics, and it has to be stopped. The people need to be educated, the corporate goons need to be stripped of their money and prestige, and the America I held dear to my heart as a child must be reborn.

Back to politics for a sec... I tend to like democratic constituents more than republican ones, and here's why. Democrats would never elect men like: David Duke. Strom Thurmond. Jesse Helms. Rick Santorum. These men are unfit to clean litter from the streets. They should have been neutered before they had a chance to impregnate the help. They are representative of all that is wrong with Republican politics. How can you ever have any respect from your opponents, as long as you choose to protect and employ such pathetic, racist, mouth-breathing parasites?

Now that I got that off my chest, let's talk about Democrats. They are idealists and hypocrites mostly. They take money from the same corporations, and pretend to represent the people. They are liars, and anybody who takes them at face value should have their sanity questioned. The saying goes something like this "If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, and if you're still a liberal at forty you have no brain." I'd like to add another line, which is "if you're still partisan at 50 you should be exiled and beaten with pointy sticks."

The answer to our problems isn't necessarily legislation, or litigation, or impeachment. It's education, pure and simple. If critical thinking was taught in middle school we wouldn't have half the problems we have today. Americans decided a long time ago they wanted a hands off system of politics. I think it's high time we reevaluate that decision because it's hurting us.

Here's the painful truth: Most people aren't qualified to govern their own actions, nevermind the actions of their fellow men. The only kinds of people fit for governance (myself for example

) wouldn't touch poltics with a ten foot pole. That is a fundamental problem with the system we have. The people with power don't deserve it, can't use it for anyone's benefit but their own, and the people who do care about the fate of the country entire are usually bums, artists, and writers (not high society at all and certainly not representative of the society as a whole).

Hollywood can't deliver. The political dynasties can't deliver. We need a new system. What that system might be, I haven't the faintest clue. So let's figure it out already! We've had several hundred years to improve, but it seems we've done just the opposite...

Of course when you consider the roots of America, it's no surprise we're lying, cheating, and murdering. The whole country was founded on saying one thing and doing another. If we're ever going to cure the disease, we have to assess the reason for its existence. Hypocrisy runs as thick in American veins as Patriotism, it's part and parcel to the American way of life. Every SUV with a "no blood for oil" sticker is testament to that fact.