Why I'm depressed about the future of America.

Before I start: I'm not a partisan. I describe myself as a conservative libertarian, but I don't associate with the Republican or Democrat party.

To put it simply: I believe that the United States has lost a certain measure of dignity. Over the last hundred years or so, politicians came to realize that they could garner mass support by promising anything and everything to their constituents. I'm not referring only to social programs here: I also speak of corporate welfare, the military industrial complex, and sweetheart bailout deals.

Frightening things are happening. I couldn't even list it all: drone bombings, increased surveillance, a growing police state... the list seems to grow each day. But these aren't the issues at play for most people. The election was about who will get the tax cuts and who will get the free healthcare and whether employers should pay for condoms and all this bread and circuses nonsense that distract people from the very real damage to freedom that the government perpetrates every day.

It seems to me that the government is little more than a giant engine designed to take from some and give to others, and of course, to use the Federal Reserve where needed to make this happen. Meanwhile, we're turning into a totalitarian police state and few people actually care.

Apparently Jamie Foxx described Obama as "our Lord and Savior" recently. Really? At this point, I'm not convinced that anything can save America. The addiction to government is very real and will continue until we've run ourselves into the ground.

It's an interesting period.

We have a lot to be cynical about, your OP outlines a lot of that pretty well.

But at the same time there seems to be a lot of areas where we are on the brink of positive revolutions. Mainly technology...nanotech, biotech, computing, genetics etc. But also there is way more information available than ever, and in a decade or two we will have adults who grew up in a time of plentiful information and because of this we may have a more intelligently managed society.


So, there is reason to be hopeful. I'd say if we can scrap our way through the next 10 years or so without ruining everything our society will start truly reforming: economically, ideologically, ethically.

Originally posted by PatrickGarrow17
It's an interesting period.

We have a lot to be cynical about, your OP outlines a lot of that pretty well.

But at the same time there seems to be a lot of areas where we are on the brink of positive revolutions. Mainly technology...nanotech, biotech, computing, genetics etc. But also there is way more information available than ever, and in a decade or two we will have adults who grew up in a time of plentiful information and because of this we may have a more intelligently managed society.


So, there is reason to be hopeful. I'd say if we can scrap our way through the next 10 years or so without ruining everything our society will start truly reforming: economically, ideologically, ethically.

Agreed. Part of why it's so "depressing" is because for the first time in human history The Peasants actually KNOW ENOUGH to be depressed in the first place. LOL.

The depression and malaise is actually a good thing, I think...it shows that we still have a conscience and are DISTURBED by things we are doing.

Considering a hundred years ago women couldn't vote or run for office, I'd say there's a lot more freedom there.

Same with minorities. If you were a minority a hundred years ago, you would have thought you were living in a police state and you had no rights, or at least much different rights than the ruling white majority.

Let's see what else? Most people were uneducated and lived on farms. Nothing wrong with that, my grandpa lived on a farm his whole life, but he didn't really have a lot of opportunities to do anything else. Never even left the state he lived in his entire life. There's a lot of people that have jobs that give them better opportunities than working 16+ hours a day 7 days a week on a farm. I'd call that a little progress.

There's a lot of progress to be seen if you don't allow yourself to live in the echo-chamber of political rhetoric.

Originally posted by SpookyFoxMulder
It seems to me that the government is little more than a giant engine designed to take from some and give to others...

Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies. – Balzac

reply to post by SpookyFoxMulder


SpookyFoxMulder, do some more reading on the socioeconomics conditions and political practices in the U.S. 100 years ago.

You might be surprised just how far we have come as a nation in regards to civil liberties and political corruption.

Originally posted by milominderbinder

Originally posted by PatrickGarrow17
It's an interesting period.

We have a lot to be cynical about, your OP outlines a lot of that pretty well.

But at the same time there seems to be a lot of areas where we are on the brink of positive revolutions. Mainly technology...nanotech, biotech, computing, genetics etc. But also there is way more information available than ever, and in a decade or two we will have adults who grew up in a time of plentiful information and because of this we may have a more intelligently managed society.


So, there is reason to be hopeful. I'd say if we can scrap our way through the next 10 years or so without ruining everything our society will start truly reforming: economically, ideologically, ethically.

Agreed. Part of why it's so "depressing" is because for the first time in human history The Peasants actually KNOW ENOUGH to be depressed in the first place. LOL.

The depression and malaise is actually a good thing, I think...it shows that we still have a conscience and are DISTURBED by things we are doing.

This first time in human history? History has shows one simple thing over and over again cause and effect. This is how oligarchies take control and the people welcome it with open arms.


A good way to prove my point is ATS. You see many posters demanding the wealth be spread around by force if need be. Never seeing this has been the plan all along. But TPTB will still sit at the top while the rest of us fight over the now even smaller amount of wealth.



They cause the problem and then wait for the sheep to beg for the solution. And then guess what------they give it to us.

Originally posted by Isee1111
Considering a hundred years ago women couldn't vote or run for office, I'd say there's a lot more freedom there.

so now the states and the fed have made shambles out of voting, if not so much the corrupt vote counting to owning the media so as to sway votes. i don't think women voters had that change in mind do you?

Same with minorities. If you were a minority a hundred years ago, you would have thought you were living in a police state and you had no rights, or at least much different rights than the ruling white majority.

we have made progress in racism, unfortunately the govt has seen fit to remove everyone's right's little by little. i don't think blacks had that in mind when they wanted equality.

Let's see what else? Most people were uneducated and lived on farms. Nothing wrong with that, my grandpa lived on a farm his whole life, but he didn't really have a lot of opportunities to do anything else. Never even left the state he lived in his entire life. There's a lot of people that have jobs that give them better opportunities than working 16+ hours a day 7 days a week on a farm. I'd call that a little progress.

There's a lot of progress to be seen if you don't allow yourself to live in the echo-chamber of political rhetoric.

i'm missing all them jobs you speak of and in fact people are having to work several part time jobs in order to survive and many small farms are loosing everything to GMO corps.

the education system is in shambles and we have, as a country, fallen behind most first world countries in our students educational levels. that's no surprise though, since all our public schools have one directive and that's push them through pass or fail, so they can get their FED money.

many people would rather stay home now instead of flying the TSA highways and byways since the groping and sexual harassment is mind numbing if nothing else.

i fail to see how things are improving in our world and in fact if anyone sees big change for the better, please let me know, because i've lost all sight of it.

Well, the weel turns, an empire of sorts is crumbling, and a few others will fight over the scraps to replace it.
That's just history. These things happen. We all want the things we know to last forever. They don't.

If we did away with the imaginary lines we draw in the sand, there would be much less dissapointement. And we could start caring about the things that really matter, like our species as a whole, instead of worrying about what's going on inside our imaginary boundries.

That's why I don't really get patriotism. History says the horse you back will always lose, eventually.

reply to post by SpookyFoxMulder

Relax, it is the American way to go from one extreme to the other; to go from one boom,one bust to the next. We are in the Bust phase right now, a phase when most people are enduring, suffering and being woke up to reality. When this extreme has gone as far as it can; when the lies and abuses are so many that people don't think they can stand another day, the next Boom will come. If you are a Globalist,a Marxist, a Luciferian, a Humanist, a Feeding at the Public Trough Obamanoid, this would of course be the reverse for you..a Boom Phase...enjoy your ride while it lasts.

Originally posted by SubTruth

Originally posted by milominderbinder

Originally posted by PatrickGarrow17
It's an interesting period.

We have a lot to be cynical about, your OP outlines a lot of that pretty well.

But at the same time there seems to be a lot of areas where we are on the brink of positive revolutions. Mainly technology...nanotech, biotech, computing, genetics etc. But also there is way more information available than ever, and in a decade or two we will have adults who grew up in a time of plentiful information and because of this we may have a more intelligently managed society.


So, there is reason to be hopeful. I'd say if we can scrap our way through the next 10 years or so without ruining everything our society will start truly reforming: economically, ideologically, ethically.

Agreed. Part of why it's so "depressing" is because for the first time in human history The Peasants actually KNOW ENOUGH to be depressed in the first place. LOL.

The depression and malaise is actually a good thing, I think...it shows that we still have a conscience and are DISTURBED by things we are doing.

This first time in human history? History has shows one simple thing over and over again cause and effect. This is how oligarchies take control and the people welcome it with open arms.


A good way to prove my point is ATS. You see many posters demanding the wealth be spread around by force if need be. Never seeing this has been the plan all along.

But TPTB will still sit at the top while the rest of us fight over the now even smaller amount of wealth.



They cause the problem and then wait for the sheep to beg for the solution. And then guess what------they give it to us.

Yeah...and you know what's different this time?

You are actually aware of how the plan works thanks mostly to the internet. At any previous point in time you would have been all gung ho about the "solutions".

Originally posted by MajorKarma
reply to post by SpookyFoxMulder

 

Relax, it is the American way to go from one extreme to the other; to go from one boom,one bust to the next. We are in the Bust phase right now, a phase when most people are enduring, suffering and being woke up to reality. When this extreme has gone as far as it can; when the lies and abuses are so many that people don't think they can stand another day, the next Boom will come. If you are a Globalist,a Marxist, a Luciferian, a Humanist, a Feeding at the Public Trough Obamanoid, this would of course be the reverse for you..a Boom Phase...enjoy your ride while it lasts.

edit on 27-11-2012 by MajorKarma because: (no reason given)

It's amazing how fast we can turn from an observation of the cyclical nature of politics/economics and the enlightening aspect of suffering, to equating satanism and Obama supporters. Perhaps a bit of Aunt Sally on my part and I would happily retract that if you were to discuss the commonalities that caused you to join the 'ists, 'ians, and 'oids you specified.

reply to post by milominderbinder


Yes, and I believe keeping the internet open will be the success or failure of our time. At the moment the internet is a chaos of extremes, but adolescence is always this way. Over time the chaos will congeal into a bell curve of intellectual realists with real solutions and willing compromise.

Eventually those in power will find that the people they controlled through fear no longer have those fears. They speak with those they formerly feared and find their commonalities along with their differences. I feel this is a generational process, not a process of a fear years or even a decade or two. We may look back at this time and see it is being as significant as the enlightenment or the industrial age... or even those two combined.

I don't know what the future holds for America, but I think the future for the world, as a whole, is very bright.

reply to post by SpookyFoxMulder


America is past it's prime and beyond redemption. It's been on a sure and steady decline since the start of the millennium.

reply to post by milominderbinder


"The depression and malaise is actually a good thing, I think...it shows that we still have a conscience and are DISTURBED by things we are doing."

i think the real reason is because people are disturbed by what OTHERS are doing and we have no real way to control it. other than some trumpt up feel good vote system which means complete $%^& once that person is in office. even then if a populace is brainwashed enough, they will keep voting the same insanity in, or when you are left with nothing but the bottom of the barrel and choices are rotten fish or rotten fruit, you are pretty much screwed either way lol.

America will never again have a white president unless its a woman,the seeds its sown in Mexico will come back to haunt it,its bankrupt and will soon lose the only thing propping it up the dollar,as it will very soon no longer be used as world oil currency and the only way out for this ailing giant is conquest which atleast it seems well able to undertake.

reply to post by SpookyFoxMulder


Our war was began with slavery. Once employers realized that not only could they profit from their business and product, but also from the pockets of those that they employ, it's been a problem. There has been an ongoing war with employers since the first act of employment. We currently live in a society where slavery is not only practiced, but encouraged by the same standards that are supposed to protect us.

I'll give you a hint, if you work and just make enough money to pay for rent and food, your a slave, there isn't any nice way to hide it. Employers have been not only allowed but encouraged to run our slaves into the ground. It's so bad that most people that work for entry wages also qualify to be fed through food stamps from the state. Walmart is a big offender, our tax dollars are going to walmart to support their poor wage pay outs.

Do you find yourself feeling sad and depressed? Are you anxious? Worried about the future? Feeling isolated and alone?
You might be suffering from capitalisim! Symptoms might include homelesness, Unemployment, Poverty, Hunger, Feelings of powerlesness, Fear, Apathy, Bordom, cultural decay, loss of identity, extreme self consciousness, loss of free speech, incarceration, suicidal or revolutionary thoughts, death.

Just to show you how much the greed can affect on you. I remember years ago when we had a spike in our employment. This was followed with a dip. People were getting laid off, and they were filing for unemployment because it paid better than a minimum wage job. In a way, people were striking. The employers struck back by cutting all hours so that they no longer have to pay into an unemployment fund, it was just an easy way to be greedy.

The problem is that the greed started way back when you took the job, they didn't pay you enough to afford anything other than rent and food, what about the other things in life you need like health insurance, car insurance, a car, the electric bill, gas for the car. They demand we show up everyday, on time to our shift because we are important, we just aren't important enough to pay a decent wage to.

Obama raised the minimum wage, and what followed was an immediate hike in the cost of everything around us. Business owners refuse to allow their profit margins to be toyed with, even if it means paying the employees a crapy wage. This is why Obama forced health care, we are worth it, and we do deserve it, in fact we deserve so much more, but its just a start. We live in a shaky time, and I agree it's big mess.

There are petitions from all 50 states wanting to secede from the united states. It's only a small amount of people, but basically its the republicans or business owners wanting to seperate from the union so that they can take their slaves and do how they see fit with them.

reply to post by SpookyFoxMulder


I can think of worse periods in our history. I think the civil war was worse... our country at war with itself with foreign powers circling to fight over the scraps. you can view this moment in our history the same way but no one is dieing in the home land... yet. or maybe never.

On Facebook I saw some girl say to respect all authority. Her status got 30-40 likes. My friend had an argument with her and asked if the authority should still be respected if they oppress the people, cause mass genocides, etc. She still said to respect the authority. She wouldn't even have a good argument with him and was ignorant of what he was saying. Some people in this country are just so ignorant..