What are we to do?

What are we to do?

People are more and more divided when this doesn't need to be the case.

We're given several terrible choices at who to elect to be our president - But we rarely talk about the hundreds of mostly old white men that make decisions that mess up our country as well. Either way, we need better choices. People that will really make a difference, rather than embellish the old stuff to look better than it ever was...

So, what are we to do?

We need to fix this, and it needs to be sooner, not later.

But it seems like David vs Goliath, but we don't have a weapon...

Because Maxine Waters has done a bang up job..

You ask what we should do about division and immediately inject race and gender into the topic.

You complain about the country being divided and then you proceed to divide some more by singling out "hundreds of mostly old white men"...

Goodbye.

a reply to: Wardaddy454

I'm a white male, for the record.

There's broad paint strokes because something like 80% of congress are white, 80% male.. etc.

It applies. It's not a judgment, it's an observation - Is it the cause of things that are bad? I don't know.

a reply to: deadlyhope Run for office. If young people are unhappy with who is in office then they should get involved and replace them. Not with a weapon as you implied. Your weapon is the ballot box. Everyone likes to complain but no one wants to get involved. The media has ensured us that smart people stay away from public life since reporters feel it is their duty to bring out every ugly skeleton they can find on everyone who sniffs at the idea of running. Whether that skeleton has anything to do with the job or not. Mr. Trump is trying to take on the media and expose them and it is obviously an uphill battle. Ethics in journalism simply does not exist anymore. I majored in Journalism for two years but changed because I could not agree with some of the ethics they taught. The media seems to think it is their duty to be a watchdog, reporting to the people when politicians exceed their authority. On paper, ideally, that should work but it doesn't. Too many writers are in it for selfish reasons and not for altruistic reasons. If they would stick with the facts and report them, that would be one thing. But they don't. It gets personal too quickly. Look at CNN and their stance on the guy who made the fake video of Trump body slamming a CNN person. They are basically blackmailing him by saying they are withholding his name but will make it public if he ever trashes the CNN name again.

Anyone with any brains stays out of public life. We all have things we do not want made public and there are no limits to what the media will report. Rather than report the news the media tries to make news, the cardinal sin of journalism.

I take exception to your statement that "old white guys" are running everything and screwing up. Were it not for many "old white guys" like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson we would be a third world nation. There were 57 "old white guys" who signed the declaration of independence and that took loads of courage given the circumstances in 1776. Many construed it as a death warrant but they did it anyway for the greater good. It takes courage to change. It takes courage to get involved. It takes courage to stand up to tyranny and demand a better course. It takes no courage to complain anonymously on the internet and to not take constructive action. Get involved if you are dissatisfied.

a reply to: icewater

fantastic post.

originally posted by: icewater
a reply to: deadlyhope Run for office. If young people are unhappy with who is in office then they should get involved and replace them. Not with a weapon as you implied. Your weapon is the ballot box. Everyone likes to complain but no one wants to get involved. The media has ensured us that smart people stay away from public life since reporters feel it is their duty to bring out every ugly skeleton they can find on everyone who sniffs at the idea of running. Whether that skeleton has anything to do with the job or not. Mr. Trump is trying to take on the media and expose them and it is obviously an uphill battle. Ethics in journalism simply does not exist anymore. I majored in Journalism for two years but changed because I could not agree with some of the ethics they taught. The media seems to think it is their duty to be a watchdog, reporting to the people when politicians exceed their authority. On paper, ideally, that should work but it doesn't. Too many writers are in it for selfish reasons and not for altruistic reasons. If they would stick with the facts and report them, that would be one thing. But they don't. It gets personal too quickly. Look at CNN and their stance on the guy who made the fake video of Trump body slamming a CNN person. They are basically blackmailing him by saying they are withholding his name but will make it public if he ever trashes the CNN name again.

Anyone with any brains stays out of public life. We all have things we do not want made public and there are no limits to what the media will report. Rather than report the news the media tries to make news, the cardinal sin of journalism.

I take exception to your statement that "old white guys" are running everything and screwing up. Were it not for many "old white guys" like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson we would be a third world nation. There were 57 "old white guys" who signed the declaration of independence and that took loads of courage given the circumstances in 1776. Many construed it as a death warrant but they did it anyway for the greater good. It takes courage to change. It takes courage to get involved. It takes courage to stand up to tyranny and demand a better course. It takes no courage to complain anonymously on the internet and to not take constructive action. Get involved if you are dissatisfied.

That was 1776. This country is vastly different than they had envisioned.

The people making the laws don't have the same motivations that the Founding Fathers did. Their ideas aren't based on morals or values but on greed and profit.

Self service has replaced altruistic goals.

originally posted by: deadlyhope
What are we to do?

Unless you are a multi-billionaire, a pundit, a politician, a PAC member, or a celebrity, then about the only thing you can do is live your life and hope that the bastards don't screw up the world while you're living on it.

And drink.

I mean crap-loads of booze.

originally posted by: DBCowboy

originally posted by: deadlyhope
What are we to do?

Unless you are a multi-billionaire, a pundit, a politician, a PAC member, or a celebrity, then about the only thing you can do is live your life and hope that the bastards don't screw up the world while you're living on it.

And drink.

I mean crap-loads of booze.

Don't you mean hope they don't screw up further? I mean the world is pretty crazy...

Around 70% of the population of the USA is white. This is the reason why the majority of lawmakers are white. The majority of white people also voted for Obama. Under a democracy the majority rules. Maybe we should have them put on costumes & masks, so we can't tell what color they are. I'd rather vote for someone based on the quality of their character, not the color or their skin. Once artificial intelligence advances, we could upload the constitution into it & let it regulate society, instead of voting for corrupt croni-capitalist career politicians. I have a feeling AI following constitutional parameters would be more fair for all. It might take greed out of the equation.

originally posted by: deadlyhope
What are we to do?

People are more and more divided when this doesn't need to be the case.

We're given several terrible choices at who to elect to be our president - But we rarely talk about the hundreds of mostly old white men that make decisions that mess up our country as well. Either way, we need better choices. People that will really make a difference, rather than embellish the old stuff to look better than it ever was...

So, what are we to do?

We need to fix this, and it needs to be sooner, not later.

But it seems like David vs Goliath, but we don't have a weapon...

Maybe people could stop worrying about the age and melanin concentration of people, for starters... because those have nothing to do with the content of one's character, you know.

Seriously, you do understand how that first paragraph sounded right?

a reply to: deadlyhope

"Several?" No, we're only given two. The other two or three are fortunate if they get a mention.

a reply to: deadlyhope

You are not the first to ask that question.

Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov asked us...

en.wikipedia.org...

So there is a historical precedent.

Dispense with the democratic process and murder your political opponents.

Institute a political thought police.

Kill those who disagree.

It was not a success the last time.....

Perhaps democracy is better?

a reply to: AkontaDarkpawYou have made my point. The people in office today are not cut from the same cloth as the Founding Fathers and why is that? Because the media makes it there duty to tear down anyone they do not agree with by exposing anything they can to virtually ruin lives. That was my message to the previous person who complained about the old white guys. Get involved. Come with a message and a plan. Something more than getting rich off of the public tax payer.

We must have enforceable laws to regulate the behavior of our public servants. I am not sure term limits is the answer since it may demotivate someone who is not wealthy to get involved in politics. It takes patriotism, commitment, a work ethic, and the vision to see how things can be. We used to teach the importance of patriotism in our schools but no more. We used to teach work ethic but no more. We used to demand commitment from our young people in the form of inter-scholastic activities...sports, student government, different clubs, but even those have been diluted by political correctness. Students now days are not taught critical thinking. They are taught there is one way and one way only. They are taught a pace that is the slowest of the group, particularly in public schools. If one excels one is racist.

We must do better as a society. While there are elements of the 50's and 60's we never want to repeat there are things we should return to. But we always throw out the baby with the bathwater and just label everything racist because of the association with that era.