No need for a reality check. I see the writing on the wall. I'm just not sure that the approach we take of voting for the lesser of two evils isn't setting the bar too low, and perhaps it's time to realize that fighting for true change is our only viable option.

I pay more in local property tax than federal income tax, I should pay more attention to local races.

(April 15, 2015 at 1:04 pm)Faith No More Wrote: No need for a reality check.  I see the writing on the wall.  I'm just not sure that the approach we take of voting for the lesser of two evils isn't setting the bar too low, and perhaps it's time to realize that fighting for true change is our only viable option.

How are you going to do that?  The game is rigged.  The only thing the parties agree on is that there should only be two of them.  The plethora of state election rules is designed to erect a roadblock to any challenge to the status quo and, as Citizens United demonstrated, the courts are firmly in the pockets of the power structure.

(April 15, 2015 at 1:07 pm)Minimalist Wrote: How are you going to do that?  The game is rigged.  The only thing the parties agree on is that there should only be two of them.  The plethora of state election rules is designed to erect a roadblock to any challenge to the status quo and, as Citizens United demonstrated, the courts are firmly in the pockets of the power structure.

Me personally?  I'm not.  Not unless I win the lottery soon, that is.  The game is rigged, which is why I think participation is a farce, and even though we think voting will matter, statistically, my individual vote couldn't be more worthless.  

That's why I think voting in this country is the equivalent to getting kicked in the balls and saying, "Thank you, sir! May I have another?"

(April 15, 2015 at 12:51 pm)Minimalist Wrote:

Quote:Never underestimate the power of one voice, your voice.

How did the Arab Spring work out in Cairo? 

If you recall that began because there were no jobs; unemployment was sky high, and kids with college degrees were shoveling camel shit at the Giza Pyramids and that was a good job if you could get it.  They took to the streets and brought down the government and now are right back in the same shit hole they were before.

I kept wondering why American kids weren't out protesting since they were suffering from the same problems with the added fillip of crushing student debt.  They were content to stay in mommy's basement waiting for the next app to come out for their cell phones.

I have to say, I can't remember a prior post that bothered me at all from you in any serious sense until now. Comparing their politics and religions to ours is apples and oranges. If you want to in any case, Christianity was able to climb out of it's dark ages, and to say assume there are no cracks even in the Middle East is flat out wrong.

I can link you to several Arab and former Muslim websites with people who want that change. And if you value the likes of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, you do a disservice to her and tons of Arabs who do want that change. You do a disservice to the lady from Pakistan who wrote a letter to Ben Afflack after he falsely accused Bill Maher hating all Muslims.

No one is asking you or forcing you to be public or famous or be a super hero. But if all you do is simply converse here it may make you feel good, but it takes more than that and it isn't accomplished overnight. If all you do is post online with a nickname, no one needs find out who you are, but your voice does add up. You think about where our collective species was 2,000 years ago, to our modern west and modern secular law, it is not impossible.

---

(April 15, 2015 at 12:57 pm)Minimalist Wrote:


Time for a reality check, FNM.

Um no, if you want to be pessimistic you can. GOP is the problem and you know it and giving up is not going to solve shit. 

---

(April 15, 2015 at 1:07 pm)Minimalist Wrote:

(April 15, 2015 at 1:04 pm)Faith No More Wrote: No need for a reality check.  I see the writing on the wall.  I'm just not sure that the approach we take of voting for the lesser of two evils isn't setting the bar too low, and perhaps it's time to realize that fighting for true change is our only viable option.

How are you going to do that?  The game is rigged.  The only thing the parties agree on is that there should only be two of them.  The plethora of state election rules is designed to erect a roadblock to any challenge to the status quo and, as Citizens United demonstrated, the courts are firmly in the pockets of the power structure.

If you want to give up and say "what can I do" you can. I wont. 

Brian!  You're an optimist.

That usually doesn't end well.

Most likely will vote for Jill Stein like I did for the last election, but I would be willing to vote for Marco Rubio over Hillary Clinton (I'd rather vote for a Republican who calls themselves a Republican than a Republican who labels themselves a Democrat). If we actually had one of the liberal Democrats (aka an actual Democrat), then I would be tempted to vote for them; we haven't had one of those in decades.

(April 15, 2015 at 11:03 am)Faith No More Wrote: I think the only viable option at this point is to be against the established system in its entirety and refuse to vote.

If the system is broken, help fix it.  If the game is rigged, refusing to vote just sends the message that people are fine with the system as it is.  If you're not an activist, if you don't want to go out and make the changes through petitions and lobbying, your vote is the only way to can tell politicians what you want or don't want.

(April 15, 2015 at 11:23 am)Brian37 Wrote: I really wish Warren would run, I think she would clobber all the GOP nutbags.

I don't know much about her but what I've seen I've been really impressed by.  I kind of hope that if she doesn't run in 2016 that she'll at least consider it in 2020 or 2024.

Warren is the only mainstream candidate since Carter that is worth a damn. All else have been corporate stooges with Bill Clinton being one of the worst.

(April 15, 2015 at 2:53 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Brian!  You're an optimist.

That usually doesn't end well.

Um dont confuse optimist with delusional idealism. I am in no pursuit of a utopia. If you don't at least try you don't get anything at all. If you want to give up, you can. I wont.