If our forefathers had better foresight, would we have more accountability now?

First of all, this is a great thread so, thanks to the OP for starting it. When we have a civil discussion, we all learn and get a chance to hammer out our own ideas and compare them to others for the betterment of everyone involved.

reply to post by evc1shop

As far as our citizens wanting to be extravagant with things like the parks, where I am currently living in the Twin Cities, the towns are building all of these beautiful playgrounds but then you go down the streets in every direction from one and you see plenty of people that have just put up their own play structure in their backyard.

I think it is important to point out that when folks have issues with government overreach and it rises to a perceived existential threat, we are generally talking about the federal government.

States and towns have a lot more breathing room because it is up to citizens to vote locally or with their feet to communicate dissatisfaction with tyranny and stupidity.

But, if we let those same issues manifest themselves at the national level, there is no place to run to except out of the country.

reply to post by SLAYER69

The only "empire" talk that makes even the slightest sense to me would be considering things like the Louisiana Purchase and Manifest Destiny creating an empire out of the middle of North America.

It's a real reach, I know. As far as the thousand-year business, that makes no sense whatever. Even if you claim America started in 1492, how optimistic do you have to be to believe we'll be here in 2492?

Transnational corporations don't have your best interests at heart.
Separate the church and state.

Great foresight.

Who let that slide?

reply to post by greencmp
The state and local governments certainly do have more citizens interacting with issues and concerns which does help keep things from running too far amuck. Also, the terms for elected officials are usually manageable enough that change can be effected to turn about a bad run. Local people are also more likely to vote when a tax or levy is to be enacted since it directly affects their bottom line and the politicians in the local circuit are much more aware of them.

reply to post by charles1952
[Off Topic] I like your current avatar, seems like some ominous news is about to befall me when I see it. It is also a bit mysterious to me, I'd say keep it unless you feel due for a change. I haven't even found one to represent me yet so I'm probably not the best judge here.

The Founding Fathers (i think that is what you call them) where businessmen.
The US was founded by businessmen for the benefit of businessmen.

If America has an "Empire" please tell me which others countries Obama is the Head Of State off. An Empire is a group of countries that are governed by a single Monarch or Head Of State.

reply to post by alldaylong

The Founding Fathers (i think that is what you call them) where businessmen.

If the founding fathers were businessmen, then who were they in business for? Who is to gain from their actions?

I just want to believe that our country was founded for each and everyone of us. Are you equating our birth certificates and proof of citizenship which allow us to vote here as analogous to a corporate entity with each of us owning a "share" by birth or naturalization?
Is there some other corporate entity formed that most of us are unaware of?

Originally posted by SLAYER69

Originally posted by rickymouse
Our empire is a young one, there were many empires in history that lasted much longer than the USA has

Hold the phone,

Who in Government has declared us as such?

Seriously who? I keep hearing this "Empire" talk and how it was supposed to last '1,000' years yadda yadda blah blah blah. Now can someone ANYONE quote me where this was declared by anybody in the US Government?!

Please.

edit on 7-9-2013 by SLAYER69 because: (no reason given)

Definition of empire....en.wikipedia.org... the case of this empire, it is an empire of elected officials. We get to vote on the candidates that are chosen by the parties.

I own stocks and we get to choose from two candidates for the offices of the corporation. Now, why even bother, the candidates are chosen by members of the board of the corporation. Both candidates have similar traits, traits that the board want to see in office.

I'm pretty sure that this is relevant to political candidates.

I am not saying the system needs replacing, it is just the way it is. The system could use a little tweeking though.

Originally posted by evc1shop
reply to post by alldaylong

 

The Founding Fathers (i think that is what you call them) where businessmen.

If the founding fathers were businessmen, then who were they in business for? Who is to gain from their actions?

I just want to believe that our country was founded for each and everyone of us. Are you equating our birth certificates and proof of citizenship which allow us to vote here as analogous to a corporate entity with each of us owning a "share" by birth or naturalization?
Is there some other corporate entity formed that most of us are unaware of?

Who were they in business for?

The answer to that is their own self interests.

Who is to gain for their actions?

They were of course. And they did.

reply to post by greencmp


It seems like the local governments, city and townships, apply for federal funding and the parks need a local match from the city or government based on a set percentage. If the project is a hundred grand, the city will have to put out maybe between 20 to 50 percent of the money depending on the grant applied for. This is happening on a big scale all over the country. Private contractors bid on the jobs.