What is wrong with us Americans these days???

True, computers are a medium for cybersex and such, but they can be a tool for our advancement and betterment. I can write letters and have them arrive moments later. No postage stamp needed. Computers can also enhance productivity. Computers can also save paper, tons of documents can reside on a disk the size of my hand. It's all in how we use advancing technology. We can destroy ourselves with it or better ourselves with it.

I think an improvement in the educational system would do a lot in helping raise the reponsibility level of the future adults of our world.

Troy

The siren is cool, but seriously people from other countries can't say that they don't see a chnge in there homecountries. There is a global change. It is a constant. It varies from contenent to conenent but it exists everywhere. And I would like to see astrong argueent against that Change IS human nature.

As a youg person I was recently in school and I am no going to deny an evergrowing group of people unwilling to work learn or even participat in life but I ink the numbers will flux and eventually die dwn when kids start t see how horrble it is to be homeless, broke, struggleing.

I figure once we hit bottom were gonna hit hard. Then slowly heal and rebuild. Meanin us is gona have some ruff times bu when we hit the worst point a social depression if yu will we will rebuild.


America is still growin, struglin, fightin. Were still young!

Canada I don't kow how you do it.

I bet it has to do with hockey, or free drugs.

go sabres!

[edit on 26-6-2006 by eyeblack42]

Originally posted by eyeblack42
when kids start t see how horrble it is to be homeless, broke, struggleing.

Very interesting observation! You mean when they get a healthy dose of reality they will wise up. Most likely true. We humans have a way of buncing back when we are down at the bottom.

But its sad that we have to wait that long before we wise up

I think that most people dont know much.
In america and all other countries. When you
come to a site like ATS you are looking and are
interested in answers. Hence every here seems
to be of the same mentality...at least the curious
mentality i mean. When at ATS you are in a very
small group of people (compared to population)....
make sense ?

Originally posted by cybertroy
True, computers are a medium for cybersex and such, but they can be a tool for our advancement and betterment.

Oh yes no denying that. Without computers our live would not have improved as much as it has, and they are excellent tools. But the other uses like cybersex and games is more alluring and addictive, hence less thought goes to using the tool side of it and people get swallowed up.

I have mused with friends about the Holo Deck on Star Trek. Imagine for a moment they were real. How many people in our present state could resist the urge to hide in them? You can get anything you want in there and it seems real, even physical. Talk about addiction then.

ya....
Thats the question....
blue pill or red pill ?

I think we may have a problem with this in the future.

Red pill! Red pill! the NWO is behind it......sorry i am just being a bug!!

I got the feeling that globalization is all about greed and the economy, maybe the wars in Irag and Afgantistan are not just about oil and WMD. It may also be to bring global consumerism to them and soon the world. If everything when according to plan, maybe war will come to Iran and North Korea, maybe it still will.

After all I think China and Russia have already join in the global market. I wonder what country is left? remeber "Greed is Good".....

Makes one wonder what the NWO is all about? heheheee..

Originally posted by ixiyIt may also be to bring global consumerism to them and soon the world.

Yes yes that plan was working so good. Bomb the crap out of them then send our contractors in to rebuild, and in the meantime sell em Coke, McDonald's, and Jeans. [I remember news reports about people in Russia paying 7.00 US , almost a weeks wages in Russia, and travelling across the country to buy a hamburger at Comrade McDonalds. I still have a can of Coke in Russian. Making them want our goods is a good way to control them.

But now China... well they are getting ready to beat us at our own game. And we are helping them. We are training their workers. Our companies are sending work to them that americans used to do. When the Pres of China visited here recently, his first stop was Bill Gates house for party and deal making, where he promised he would see what he can do about China's copying of stuff. THen he went to meet Bush.

With the numbers of cheap labourers they have in China, and the lack of labour laws, if they become our competitors on the world market...

WE ARE DOOMED

With the numbers of cheap labourers they have in China, and the lack of labour laws, if they become our competitors on the world market...

WE ARE DOOMED

Until their billion+ people wake up and realize they can get treated just like the West and revolt Which will happen eventually. They had like what, 25,000 uprisings/protests against the government's actions in 2005.

Contrary to popular Belief, China has Labor laws, i have a company in CHina and must observe them. If i dont i am fined HEAVILY, and may lose Business license if it recurrs. Are companies in the US still hiring illegal aliens..? and is there a fine?
Most competative companies in China pay insurance, feed and even house employees who sometimes travel by bus to their work, these are chinese owned and operated factories.

If you fear China as a competitor on the world stage, you should. They are building universities that will teach tens of thousands of Students each, connected by 3G communication systems to each other and the world. The number of Students coming to China from the US for graduate studies doubles each year.....because you LEARN at Chinese universities.
There are over 280 Universities under construction in China today, these are massive insitutions of Education, complete with state of the art technologies from Germany and Sweden, US and Japan. China graduates 600,000 Engineers each year...and they are just getting started.
How to compete..? The USA had the best education system in the world....the California university system was one of the examples China used for themselves........today California spends 45% of the education budget on Adminstration costs...that is why its failing. Its not how much money, its WHERE the money is being spent.
start spending money on educational materials and technologies again. its not brain surgery.

If you fear China as a political or military force....that is your government filling you with fear and Using CHina as a scapegoat. That seems to be the only thing this administration can do, instill fear and place blame somewhere else.
China will become a superpower on Par and then exceed the US, only because we dropped the ball too many times and wasted so much of the Nations goodwill and economy on truly shortsighted endeavors like Iraq.

we are spending a Billion dollars a day in Iraq....to what end..? if we are looking for terrorists, they are not in Iraq. they came from Saudi Arabia...has anyone even gone there to interview the house of Saud..?..they are supporting extremist schools, yet our government whimpers under their hand. Its a bit disgusting how this Administration has become the lackey of middle eastern oil interests.

the post regarding JFK truly hit home with me...He was one of the best chances this Nation had to become a force of Good in the world. We had the right man at the right time and killed him. Just like Patrice Lamumba, just like RFK, just like malcomX and MLK and so many others who try to raise us out of the Human condition and become more than we are.

Maybe thats why people are apathetic... we dont need an election as much as we need an American Revolution.

Originally posted by toolman

Contrary to popular Belief, China has Labor laws, .... Maybe thats why people are apathetic... we dont need an election as much as we need an American Revolution.

Quote shortened so I don't get in trouble with a Mod

Great post, and refreshing to see. All too often American paranoia and xenophobia gets the best of us. We are afraid to admit that we are not the top dog anymore because doing so would expose one of this countries greatest problems, laziness. We have watched the rest fo the world catch us, and in many ways surpass us. We are focused on fame and making a quick buck. This is not the America I grew up admiring. I think that America faded away with the echoes of an assassin's bullet in Dallas.

May-be. But take a look at Isreal's response to a single kidnapping vs. our latest news:

www.cnn.com...

Maybe Americans aren't all that bad after all?

Originally posted by toolman

Contrary to popular Belief, China has Labor laws, i have a company in CHina and must observe them. If i dont i am fined HEAVILY, and may lose Business license if it recurrs. Are companies in the US still hiring illegal aliens..? and is there a fine?
Most competative companies in China pay insurance, feed and even house employees who sometimes travel by bus to their work, these are chinese owned and operated factories.

If you fear China as a competitor on the world stage, you should. They are building universities that will teach tens of thousands of Students each, connected by 3G communication systems to each other and the world. The number of Students coming to China from the US for graduate studies doubles each year.....because you LEARN at Chinese universities.
There are over 280 Universities under construction in China today, these are massive insitutions of Education, complete with state of the art technologies from Germany and Sweden, US and Japan. China graduates 600,000 Engineers each year...and they are just getting started.



If you fear China as a political or military force....that is your government filling you with fear and Using CHina as a scapegoat. That seems to be the only thing this administration can do, instill fear and place blame somewhere else.
China will become a superpower on Par and then exceed the US, only because we dropped the ball too many times and wasted so much of the Nations goodwill and economy on truly shortsighted endeavors like Iraq.

we are spending a Billion dollars a day in Iraq....to what end..? if we are looking for terrorists, they are not in Iraq. they came from Saudi Arabia...has anyone even gone there to interview the house of Saud..?.. Its a bit disgusting how this Administration has become the lackey of middle eastern oil interests.


Maybe thats why people are apathetic... we dont need an election as much as we need an American Revolution.

I liked your post .

It is no secret that China's economy and military are growing extremely quickly, and what they did is pretty admirable. But what happens if it slows? A war, or energy crisis or economic sanctions could do this (I doubt the economic sanctions will happen anytime soon though). Not to mention, Chinese people's standards of living will rise eventually, forcing the western corporations and businesses to find a new area where they can take advantage of. Also, I am not saying it is absolutely horrible for Chinese people, but they don't have as much rights as the west does. The Chinese government can take a citizen's land and build (a powerplant for example) on that land. Not to mention there are huge ghettos in China. Most of China is still relatively poor and the standard of living is low, despite the government's determined fight to combat this. Also as I mentioned, there were 25,000 uprisings/protests in China in 2005.

Don't get me started on America's economy! haha. The only thing that America has is the military. And spending for the military has not decreased. Out of all the nations in the world, we spend a lot more to manage and increase military means. Our economy is #, but military makes up for that.

America's economy is extremely superficial, and I expect a great amount of inflation and problems, soon. I don't know if America's economy will CRASH though. As the EU nations and China (as they are doing now) will try and pump money into it so their economies don't suffer immensely as well, some may even crash.

And who knows, energy crises, Taiwan, US military build up in the Asian region, etc. can open a can of worms that NOBODY wants.

A shift in world power is coming, the US is not going to be the only big gun anymore. China has man-power. A serious advantage over the rest of the world. China has over 4
times as many people as the us. Facts
I am going to have to agree that there is power in numbers, BUT only if they have a clear cut leader, goals, or group of leaders. Yousee India the second largest country in the world is hard to take seriously in the global economy but China only a portion larger is scaring the crap out of the us. ????? LEADERSHIP makes the difference. We'll see what masseducation in china does for ther leadership. Its scary for the us who has been a big power for so long to se another country to shoot up so quickly.

Originally posted by zorgon

Originally posted by cybertroy
True, computers are a medium for cybersex and such, but they can be a tool for our advancement and betterment.

Oh yes no denying that. Without computers our live would not have improved as much as it has, and they are excellent tools.

I have often pondered the very same thing that you are saying in such a positive light ... I'm not so sure I agree with it.

A quick look at history (I'm talkin' long term ... back to the cave man) shows quite the opposite in my opinion.

When we were hunter-gatherers, we only "worked" while there was available light. That left time for family, thinking, telling tall tales, and socializing, and interpersonal procreation exercises.

We invented farming ... We still worked pretty much in available light. We still had time for family, music, thinking, hobbies, tall tales and socializing, and interpersonal procreation exercises.

We invented all the gizzies that made up the industrial revolution. We worked more hours for seven days a week, and even invented child labor. It left less time for family, music, thinking, hobbies, tall tales and socializing, and interpersonal procreation exercises ... But there was still some time for most of it.

We invented television, the Atomic Bomb and all that goes with it and we still had some time for family, music, thinking, hobbies, tall tales, and socializing (remember Leave it to Beaver?) ... Oh, and interpersonal procreation exercises.

Then the space program and computers ... Ahhh computers.

We have come so far due to computers that people, like you and I, will socialize by interchanging small bits of typewritten thought. And yet, I could not pick much of anyone on this forum out of a crowd of two, or even buy them a non-virtual drink.

We spend hours upon hours working in support of computers at most of our jobs nowadays. My family is split hither and yon, because we all have jobs, or are going to school to acquire jobs that support automation. And while that is going on, the companies and their computers that we are living and dying to support here in the good ol' US, are shipping those jobs out of country. This tends to make for less income, more jobs at McDonalds, and Wal-Mart, with no benefits, not full time pay, and a definite decline in educational requirement. But... The unwashed masses do seem to have more time for that interpersonal procreation exercise gig. Except for me, that is. I am under the impression, from the myriad emails I receive daily, that I must check with my doctor to see if I am physically capable of doing that little interpersonal procreation exercise thing.

Another little by the by. When Computers first started coming into their own there was a vision of only needing seven for the whole country. where oh were did we go wrong?

No... I'm not so sure the automation gig was/is a good thing... Inevitible, yes... Good? Not necessarily, but then I am getting old and cynical. OH... And close to retirement. Whereupon, I will move to a place with little or no computer access, and I will have time for family, music, thinking, hobbies,and tall tales, and Good Lord Willing and the body holds out a bit longer, some of that much maligned interpersonal procreation exercise.

[edit on 27-6-2006 by sigung86]

I think computers have only bettered our ability to communicate and have time for just talking and thinking. Computers can spark a thought or urge to learn. Back to communication cell phones, im, internet have enabled us to work around the stress of life not nescasaraly created by computers. If something is inevitible why complain???? Instead find a way to make something inevitible enjoyable or at least bearable. I'd say computers are just that finding a way around stressors of everyday life. Computers make our life safer and more enjoyable. I'd like to see anyone in the us go through a year without computers and still enjoy everything they do today. I dont know maybe Im just speaking for me but I think the world is dependant on computers. The future of the world IS dependant upon computers be it good or bad.



The world has a great demand for higher education which China is struggling to meet I'd like to see the US do the same. The future is in education.

Originally posted by eyeblack42
I think computers have only bettered our ability to communicate and have time for just ...
The future of the world IS dependant upon computers be it good or bad.

The world has a great demand for higher education which China is struggling to meet I'd like to see the US do the same. The future is in education.

If you were aiming your reply at me, I don't disagree at all. I was actually, more or less, taking a humorous look at where we have arrived, and I didn't touch where I think we are yet to go. That is a post for a different day, and may not be nearly as humorous.

But thanks for the input. I just love good discussion that doesn't include phrases like, "So's yer mama!" ... or ... "My God! You ARE a moron"!

Hope things go well for you.

Dan

What’s wrong with us Americans these days?
First there is nothing wrong in American that is not wrong everywhere.

Absentee parents are probably number 1 on the list. Our children are being raised by teachers who no longer care, childcare workers who do not care and a society that cares more about politics than what’s best for our children. As long as we don’t do anything perceived to conflict with this damned Constitution nobody cares if it’s good for our children or not. Teachers are political activists and no longer teachers. Our children barely know their parents. Family and community are no longer the center of their lives.

We are no longer judged by our character and who we really are. Our entire lives revolve around wants instead of needs. Successful means you have lots of money and possessions. Success is no longer measured by the important things like honesty, decency, family and community. It’s OK if our children are violent monsters as long as we don’t do anything un-Constitutional like punish them. It’s OK if our kids spend their days surfing for porn and playing violent games as long as their Constitutional right to do so is protected. It’s OK if the TV shows our children watch are full of profanity, sex and violence because the 9th District Court says so. It’s OK if the schools teach our children things we do not believe in because we are to stupid to know what is right. It’s OK if teachers, without our permission, teach our pre-pubescent children about oral and anal sex and the Gay life style because the courts say it is. It’s OK if a doctor gives our 13 year old daughter an abortion without telling us because the courts say we do not have the right to know. It’s OK if local gangs keep us locked in our houses afraid to leave because the police just don’t have time to deal with such petty issues. It’s OK for our politicians and those in authority to lie, cheat and steal just as long as they belong to the right political party. It’s OK if businesses cheat us and trick us because “they aren’t doing anything illegal”.

That’s what is “Wrong with Americans [and the rest of the world] these days”.

Dang, and so close to the Fourth of July we gotta talk about what's wrong with Americans!

I think the world is too hard on us. They expect us to know everything about us and them and everything in between when our lifestyle is more about paying the bills and getting the kids socialized enough so that one day they can pay their bills like good lil captives too. There is nothing wrong with not knowing that there is a genocide on the other side of the globe. Somebody is sure to mention it to you sooner or later, and what will that change in your life, seriously? All you can do in your lil american world is say "dang, that's messed up."

The way I see it is...just because our lifestyle is different doesn't mean theirs is superior. Just cause a brain surgeon can fix a brain doesn't make him any better man than the mechanic that can fix a car.

I do my part and I know what I know, knowing that I can't know everything and I can't fix everything just because I know. Sometimes, all I can say is "dang, that's messed up." Why should we let folk that aint never lived in the heartland and prolly aint never seen the movie Hoosiers tell us we're idoits because we don't know who their bum prime minister is--why I should know it? Do you know who Norman Dale is? Well then! And, I'm not calling you an idiot for it...am I now.

btw...rent Hoosiers still dope.

Stop being so hard on us. We need a lil time and understanding and sometimes a lil patience.

The rest of the world thinking that a global problem is a US downfall is flattering in a sense. You can't tell me the very same problem isn't happening in other countries. The fact the finger is pointed at the us is almost flattering. The world expects great things from the USA and seeing HUMAN problems, and asking whats wrong is saying you expect better out of the great country USA.

So thanks Im proud to live in this heavily problemed country.