They already have a plan so there's nothing to step up to. Though steppin gup could accelerate.

Anywho: Leave the middle east, found NAU and go isolationist, remake the American economy by EXPORTING continental oil, use profits for research, American car companies given discoveries, American car companies make hydro-electric cars making us even more richer, go to moon, create helium mines, beam down energy and call it a decade.

this seems a little myopic to me. i am 25 and to my knowledge the media doesn't represent what we're about at all. and this video is a poor example since it's basically a shock-tailored look at rare extremes. if anything i am afraid of the older generation who know that their lives are coming to and end holding onto power as long as possible. bush is pretty old and look what he's doing. we're heading towards third world status because of him. i don't think you need to fear the youth, but more appropriately, yourselves. it's a fact that old people always complain about the generation before it but the fact is that we have to evolve as a species even if that means pushing down the taboos that were resurrected by generation's past. it doesn't mean we're unintelligent or incapable.

edit: i am actually way smarter than my parents and they're always talking about how experience matters. they don't understand that i know a lot more than they do. many times i advised them on financial matters and it always turns out that in retrospect i was right. my parents would have been financially set in a big way if they had listened to me but they have so much pride about their age that they think they can pull the superiority card about it and completely ignore reason.

[edit on 2-9-2008 by nn53x]

also, i don't think people necessarily want fame, but more so a larger social network because if you know the right person you can get a lot more done in this country. i am semi-famous for producing experimental music and it has helped in a lot of ways to be known for that.

Jante law
Around here we have something called Jante Law. It is the Nordic version of the tall poppy syndrome. It was named and described by the Norwegian/Danish author Aksel Sandemose in a novel.

Its like the oposite of how it is in USA, where everyone wants to be famous. Here we have more or less 10 rules that clearly can be seen in this society (less and less in later years though)

The ten rules are:

1. Don't think you are anything.
2. Don't think you are as good as us.
3. Don't think you are smarter than us.
4. Don't fancy yourself better than us.
5. Don't think you know more than us.
6. Don't think you are greater than us.
7. Don't think you can do better than us.
8. Don't laugh at us.
9. Don't think that anyone cares about you.
10. Don't think you can teach us anything.

In the book, those Janters who transgress this unwritten "law" are regarded with suspicion and some hostility, as it goes against communal desire in the town, which is to preserve social stability and uniformity.



A reality in societies
It has to be said that the general understanding of the law was an essential and fully integrated part of the Danish and Norwegian societies long before it was ever written down. Sandemose, however, explicitly said that he had seen the Jante law in operation in all countries he had been in.

The rules are not only applied outwards; Danes apply the rules equally towards themselves. This means that the rules of the Jante Law become a sort of social stabilizer where one does not wish to be either too high above or too far below others socially and economically.


Its realy like that here, people dont like those who think they are something special, and most people dont want fame and publicity (their face everywhere). If they get it, its because they truly deserve it, because of heroics (or something meaningful) and because they are following the rules.


But
In USA it seems to me that one too many thinks they are so special, i feel sorry for them when they one day must get a job, face reality and grow up... cause that cant be easy to adjust to.

Originally posted by nn53x

you're talking to a genius, and to be honest, experience doesn't mean anything when you already know the answer.

That is what is wrong with America, they think that experience matters. I would rather have an intelligent commander and chief than a commander and Chief that relies on experience. Intelligence plays an important role in decision making.

-Kdial1