It's so damn bad. Never been worse.

Listen to this song. See how things from 1965 translate to today:



Back then we thought that our existence would be wiped out at the whims of the politicians. Ask someone that lived through the Cold War. They'll tell you that today is WAY safer than it was then. Let's look at those lyrics:

READ THEM PLEASE:

The eastern world, it is exploding
Violence flarin', bullets loadin'
You're old enough to kill, but not for votin'
You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin'
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin'

But you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve
of destruction.

Don't you understand what I'm tryin' to say
Can't you feel the fears I'm feelin' today?
If the button is pushed, there's no runnin' away
There'll be no one to save, with the world in a grave
[Take a look around ya boy, it's bound to scare ya boy]

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve
of destruction.

Yeah, my blood's so mad feels like coagulatin'
I'm sitting here just contemplatin'
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
Handful of senators don't pass legislation
And marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve
of destruction.

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
You may leave here for 4 days in space
But when you return, it's the same old place
The poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace
And… tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend
You don't believe
We're on the eve
Of destruction
Mm, no no, you don't believe
We're on the eve
of destruction.

artists.letssingit.com...



My point? I think it is that we get bent out of shape on the stupidest things. Things haven't really changed in 45 years(gov't's still giving it to us dry) but we argue about news sources. Political partisanship. THEY are laughing at us people. From their comfortable mansions.

Originally posted by intrepid
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace

Ain't that the truth?

We can moan about the constant waging of war, but there's always more people willing to pick up arms over the most idiotic political/thelogical ideology. Millions die in conflicts in Africa over the past few decades and yet it seems to be ignored. It all comes down to that one line, though, doesn't it?

There's distrust between neighbours. We hardly even know our neighbours anymore. This goes right across the board to neighboring countries. We don't trust other nations either... doubt we ever did. But that distrust now extends into our personal lives. What can we point to and say "This is when it changed!"? Television? Personal computers? Gaming?

I lived through the cold war. I remember Khruschev whacking his shoes on the UN podium and screaming "We will bury you". I remember the Kennedy assasination, Chinese nuclear weapon tests, the Cuban Crisis, the instruction on what to do when the nuclear flash fills the sky.

But, you know what? Back then people cared about their neighbours. People talked to each other. Hell... you even KNEW each other.

Today, it's just like that line I quoted... people are full of the smug self-satisfaction that they're 'right with their Deity' and don't give a flip for anyone else.

Good thread.



My point? I think it is that we get bent out of shape on the stupidest things. Things haven't really changed in 45 years(gov't's still giving it to us dry) but we argue about news sources. Political partisanship. THEY are laughing at us people. From their comfortable mansions.

Originally posted by intrepid
My point? I think it is that we get bent out of shape on the stupidest things. Things haven't really changed in 45 years(gov't's still giving it to us dry) but we argue about news sources. Political partisanship. THEY are laughing at us people. From their comfortable mansions.

Politics have always been problematic. The only time people didn't worry about their politicians ruining everything was when people were the property of kings, and didn't care because it was pointless to care.

The longer I live, the less I think politics matters. The only thing that matters is the weather, and a the few individuals out there in the world who go crazy and cause a lot of chaos. Otherwise, it's all nonsense.

Great Thread. It kills me to look at the crap that is going on now a days, but I guess in reality it has always been the same. The rich get richer and the poorer get screwed. Great songs have as much meaning today as they do when first written.

reply to post by intrepid


reply to post by masqua


So what you guys are sayin is that we're wasting our time here at ATS because things have been worse or at least just as bad in the past and ATS just continues the bickering between us?

[edit on 7/23/10 by FortAnthem]

reply to post by intrepid


Jeez you must all live in crap capital USA. None of this is true for me in life.

Enjoy the hell you create for yourselves. I just keep walking, doing good, and chillaxing. No worries.

Nothing ever changes.

Don't expect it to.

History is an empirical lesson about how to avoid self-inflicted tragedy. The problem is we don't learn from history.... if we knew our history, we would know that.

...eve of destruction was the "banner" song that protestors used to get the voting age lowered to 18 - because, back then, at 18 you could be drafted to go to war but you couldnt vote for which scumbag was gonna send you to war...

...the message in the song is still relevant but, for me, not in the way masqua stated... when i was a kid, it was common to know some of your neighbors but not all - because - if you knew all of them, you were a busybody, an insurance salesman or an eddie haskell, lol... its purty much the same now...

...speaking of the cold war days - "drop and cover your head to protect yourself in the event of an atomic bomb attack"... the first time i got sent to the principal's office was because my response to the drop and cover bs was "thats stupid"... (for the youngsters) back then, you got a whoopin' for thinking outside of the box... all those whoopin's didnt do a bit of good (pun intended)...

reply to post by Wyn Hawks

...eve of destruction was the "banner" song that protestors used to get the voting age lowered to 18 - because, back then, at 18 you could be drafted to go to war but you couldnt vote for which scumbag was gonna send you to war...

Your statement gave me an idea. We need to get the drinking age down to 18 too. With all the economic turmoil, PTSD from troops, and general BS that they got to deal with, people 18-20 deserve a cold one too.

This time we won't fight for voting rights, but the right of adults to self-medicate their way through the bad times.



Or just legalize pot. That should get the hippies quiet for a bit.

reply to post by Wyn Hawks


Yup, my desk was next to the big glass windows,
My self and two others detailed to close the window shades and then duck and cover.

I looked at her and said No.

I was hit ten times with that damn paddle, remember the one with the holes
and I got moved to the back of the room next to my girlfriend at the time

If you wait for things to change you will wait a long time...

The only way to live is to personally change and improve continually so that external forces have little effect.

Originally posted by DINSTAAR
We need to get the drinking age down to 18 too.

...its been decided that the magical age of 18 is when you're old enough to go to war and buy cigarettes... so, it should be old enough to buy booze too - but - of course, its not - because - that would be fair, logical, reasonable and totally against the government's protocols (keep 'em dazed and confused, left means right, right means backwards, up means sideways, etc)...

Originally posted by DINSTAAR
This time we won't fight for voting rights, but the right of adults to self-medicate their way through the bad times.

...uh, did we fight for voting rights?... gosh, i musta missed that one... what year was that?...


...as for self-medicating - i wish everyone could chill by painting something (the house, a room, furniture, canvas, the dog, lol)... i like to paint horse's butts, especially when i'm irked at someone or something... i can do horse faces purty good but theres something about a horse's butt that just fits the bill...