For the sheer hell of it...parts one and two (sorry-not-sorry)

First off, let me say this isn't really a rant. It's more of a plea, I guess.

It's no secret that the political forums have largely degenerated into a veritable cesspool of mockery, vitriol and rhetoric that makes most attempts at civil, intelligent discussion an impossible feat. This comes from both of the political parties that have somehow decided that they are important enough to represent the entirety of a nation full of people who possess their own opinions, desires, viewpoints...and voices with which to express them.

The current situation does in fact warrant a need to pick a side, I won't argue that. But the need to choose our battles more wisely going forward is far greater, because the only sides that will (or ever should) really matter are the will of the American people as a collective, unified nation versus the will of those who seek to subvert and enslave the American people...as they have since far longer than most of us have been alive.

The common denominator among all of us; both our greatest threat and our greatest strength, is that we are all becoming...like it or not...painfully aware that there is something insidious going on within our government and that something is far from a recent development. We, as a nation of people from all walks of life, have been lied to and had information withheld from us that has directly impacted the lives of every single woman, man and child in this country, whether we realize it yet or not.

The moment that you give another person or entity the power to feed you is the moment that you also give them the power to control you. No one is "free" in this country right now. Anything the banks don't own under the guise of affording the unwashed masses the opportunity to own it, the government owns. People pay taxes on their own property under duress every year.

Ditto their vehicles and everything else of value...including the money they make for forty or more hours they spend every week working so someone else can make more money off their effort and time. And if people refuse to submit, they can lose everything they think they own. This is a fact.

It is also a fact that some of these people responsible for the subversion of our free will were placed in positions of power by none other than we, the People, and in that capacity we are now being shown why our stubborn drive to compete with one another rather than address the issues of one nation AS one nation has landed us in a situation where idiocies such as how many jacked up things have members of one party done compared to the opposing party seem more important than the fact that both parties seem to be engaged in activities that are diametrically opposed to the interests of the American people as a whole.

The simple fact is we, the People have been lied to by those whom we willfully allowed to wield power over us, when the opposite should actually be true. And the only way to turn this around is to rise up as one nation, put aside our differences...no matter what they may be...and hold those responsible to task. The only way past this division which continues to serve their interests rather than ours is to change the way each and every one of us reacts to each other.

And the only solution I see is actually a very simple one. Anyone who has ever followed a news story about a tornado or hurricane decimating an entire town has seen the seemingly unlimited capacity of people to put aside their differences and work side by side to help that devastated community to recover and rebuild. To rise up together and fix what needs to be fixed. They might go back to hating one another the next day, but for that moment in time, the common goal of helping these people eclipses everything else.

If we've been lied to, we as a nation of people need the truth. It doesn't matter if that truth hurts. We need it. And we need to be supportive of each other while we seek it...together. It doesn't matter if those responsible are one party or the other, or one color or gender or religion or any of the other things they use to divide us, to keep us from coming together and comparing notes.

It doesn't matter how many things this side or that side might appear to have on its karmic scorecard. It doesn't matter if aliens are real or not, or if conspiracy theorists are right or wrong, or if we as a nation of people elected a wolf in sheep's clothing or ALMOST elected one...none of that extraneous sh!t matters one whit.

The only thing that matters...The. Only. Thing...is that we, as a nation of people, have been lied to, abused, misled and mistreated. And we, as a nation of people deserve to be given the truth. And now more than ever, we need to come together and demand that truth.

We need to stop the endless baiting and jabbing and keeping score on each other. We need to resist the temptation of kicking people with opposing views when they are down. We need to build each other up, buffer each other, and come together as one against the corruption within our government.

And most important of all, we need to all be adults and accept that there may indeed be more negative tallies on one political scoreboard than another but it doesn't matter, because Americans should always be Americans first. Anyone who claims to be a "patriot", yet does nothing but belittle and harangue those who exercise the very basic constitutional and Universal right to choose for themselves whom to follow and what to believe is the very lowest form of hypocrite. Following anyone at all other than those who represent the common interests of our nation as a whole is intrinsically unpatriotic.

The American people deserve answers. All of us. Even if we've made errors in judgement, or choose to remain loyal to beliefs that contradict those of others. Using my example of one community rising up as one force, we need to start behaving in a similar fashion.


I don't personally care if, in the end, my perceived version of the truth is not the accurate one. I want the actual truth, warts and all. My utter lack of political affiliation at all probably drives this urge a bit harder, because be it ego or perceived dignity or whatever creates these phenomena where people go so far in defending their side that they don't mind if they sound completely unhinged in the process.

If other, like minded individuals are interested in having a productive discussion about the future of we, the People, as a unified nation, please feel free to sound off. We've got options, no matter how dismal things may appear to be.

Those who prefer to remain stubbornly adhered to the present paradigm; while I respect your right to your opinion no matter how much I happen to disagree with it, I will not reply if your opinion appears to be voiced entirely with the intent to push some political agenda either way. That is precisely the type of behavior that has created our current situation.

Bottom line, we have the right to make decisions for ourselves, but those choices must be made when we have been given the entire truth by our government. Until that happens, we will continue to be enslaved, and it won't matter much what our political slant...or lack thereof...happens to be.

The knee jerk tendency here is to expect an overwhelmingly negative response to this post. I can't even definitively articulate a reason for this, other thangut feeling. But goddammit, I will probably never...

Cont...

One thing I think we need to stop doing is talking about taxes and work as monetary amounts. No more tax the rich and I would gladly pay more. I think we need to talk about taxes in one way in which every human being is equal - time.

Every human being has the same amount of time spent to work. We all have the number of hours and days when we can work.

We should be trying to balance time. Why should we be asking someone to spend more than half their week working for the government instead of themselves and their families? Why should we be asking people to work more than a certain percentage of their weekly hours for support?

How do we find ways to balance all this out? If this a function of government to do or attempt to force us to do? As human beings, what are our responsibilities to ourselves to try to keep this all balanced?

...understand why, but I continue to retain some spark of hope that things really can change. Maybe some would scoff that I'm a Pollyanna...but at this point, I don't care.


I would just like to see all of the brilliant minds on this site come together as a group, regardless of views of any variety, and use the combined power of our intent and intelligence to find that common need for the truth that we all share, for better or for worse.

That's basically it. Just...you guys, we all need to work together or we risk our future, not only as individuals, but as part of a greater whole. I would just like to see a concerted effort at taking our country back, and no matter how positive I try to be, continue to see a widening divide rather than a coming together. This probably won't amount to much, but these are the thoughts that are occupying my conscious mind this afternoon, and I felt compelled...for whatever reason...to share my thoughts.

Peace and Light to you all...even if we disagree. Thanks for taking the time to listen.

~Tiger

a reply to: tigertatzen

You've been very reasonable and thoughtful in the recent political threads I've seen you in, Tiger.

a reply to: tigertatzen

You called it....Pollyanna

Some peoples hate is so pervasive; it's their reason for living. And it makes them sick but they just don't see it.

www.health.com...

www.bodyandsoul.com.au...

a reply to: tigertatzen

I agree with everything you've said so far. WE elect people to represent us and our interests. WHY are we now in a constant state of fear and anxiety because of basic human rights being taken from us.

Is anyone else tired of going to bed, wondering what bad news the morning will bring? Is anyone else tired of hearing that our elected representatives are meeting in the dead of night to pass legislation what will ultimately harm millions?

There is no middle ground anymore in politics, only polarization, name calling and deadlock. Side A wants this, and Side B does everything in their power to prevent Side A from having it, for no better reason than Side A wants it. There is no progress being made in this country any more, because of the political deadlock that's been going for years, with no sign of stopping.

That same attitude has penetrated into nearly every aspect of daily life. Read a news article about something completly innocuous, say, cute puppies being rescued. Go to the comment section, and see just how long it takes before the comments devolve into political name calling and arguing.

It's almost like TPTB want this to happen. We're all so busy arguing over political crap we can't see our own government is one big lie, destabilizing itself until it crashes down around our feet.

Tiger T-excellent thread, and well thought out.

a reply to: tigertatzen



This is how I feel.......

a reply to: tigertatzen

That was very well said and it is difficult to disagree with pretty much everything you said.

a reply to: ketsuko

I absolutely agree with you. And I don't really talk about it much on here because I just don't have the energy for the backlash, but I believe that time is one of the oldest and most effective means by which the people in question control us.

Look at time clock fraud, for one commonly identifiable example. You can be incarcerated for that if the monetary amount exceeds a certain threshold. Even if it is something as innocuous as forgetting to badge out. Not only do we depend on them to feed us, they decide what governs our laws of time and assign a value to it. It sounds melodramatic, but it's true.

a reply to: tigertatzen

Great rant and hopefully people heed the message.

originally posted by: IAMTAT
a reply to: tigertatzen

You've been very reasonable and thoughtful in the recent political threads I've seen you in, Tiger.

Tat, thank you...that has been the result of some serious conscious effort. I was a Hillary fan to a degree that was uncomfortable for me to admit. I'm still not a Trump fan, but I don't need a map to see the web of corruption in the would-be Hillary administration, and to know that we'd be far worse off had she been elected.

My favor of Hillary was largely due to the romanticism that I believe lives in a whole hell of a lot of her avid supporters, and possibly most of those who were the most affected by her defeat...and that was the amazing hope that I might actually see a woman POTUS in my lifetime. It might sound stupid, and that's OK...but it's the truth. I'm still disappointed...but not over her loss. I'm disappointed at myself for being so blind.

I feel very strongly that I almost lost my way. And I feel even more strongly that it was on an almost spiritual level. I'm not afraid to admit that I too, was caught up in the fervor.

Now, I just want the infighting to stop and the truth finally come out. I think it's going to come from both parties, and I think we all need to be ready to lift each other up when the proverbial S hits the proverbial F.

I don't care if I sound bonkers. Whatever. Something is coming. I can feel it. And these days, when my gut tugs at me, I pay attention.

a reply to: tigertatzen

Infighting is the order of the day now. Given how Trump supporters acted after this past election and still are, I don't see the democrats giving them an inch. Now or any time soon.

And now that conservatives have something to hold over everyone's head (we won the election!) I don't see them admitting fault for anything no matter how bad it gets. Such is politics.

The secret is to step back, laugh, and never lose sight that the only politics that matter are cosmic politics. Everything else is nothing but the rattle of insects in dry places, signifying nothing.

originally posted by: knowledgehunter0986
a reply to: tigertatzen

Great rant and hopefully people heed the message.

Thank you so much.

originally posted by: kurthall
a reply to: tigertatzen



This is how I feel.......

As much as it saddens me to read that, I can understand it, too. It may not matter, but I just have this feeling that if we can come together, everything will be OK. Better than OK, in fact. I know it sounds sappy, but it is what it is. I hope someday you'll find reason to believe it can happen.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: tigertatzen

That was very well said and it is difficult to disagree with pretty much everything you said.

Thank you. It's from my heart...and I was scared as hell to hit that button.

originally posted by: tigertatzen
Thank you. It's from my heart...and I was scared as hell to hit that button.

I could certainly tell and I think we all appreciate and respect the candor. Never be afraid to speak your mind, especially in the manner that you went around putting it to words.

a reply to: underwerks

I know there will always be a certain amount of infighting with regard to politics. I mean, when you break it down, politics is actually a performance art of sorts. And with it comes the requisite drama.

I respect the hell out of your opinion, but I have to tell you...you're doing precisely what I am talking about, right here in this post. I know some conservatives have lorded it loudly and often since the election...and I personally have called them out on it, right here on these forums, many times.

But I've also seen at least an equal number of threads leaning the opposite direction that are just as bad. It's time for someone to finally be the adult and put up the white flag. Not surrender...just agree to disagree and stop the endless sniping and taunting and bitching long enough to come together and exert our power and force these weasels to tell us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

United, we stand. Divided, we fall. It sounds cheesy. It does. But it is the absolute truth. It's time to check our egos and delicate sensibilities at the door.

a reply to: tigertatzen

Don't be scared.. it takes a great amount of courage to wear your heart on your sleeve like that. The sincerity and humility you have shown is very inspiring, and hopefully your message can resonate enough that people will open their hearts and minds just a little (or a lot) more..

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: tigertatzen
Thank you. It's from my heart...and I was scared as hell to hit that button.

I could certainly tell and I think we all appreciate and respect the candor. Never be afraid to speak your mind, especially in the manner that you went around putting it to words.

Thank you. Seriously.