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Originally Posted by Riddil
First part... media. Whenever I read American headlines I want to scream at every last American, "Are you blind?? Can't you see there are real issues that need attention?"
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I agree completely - it is sickening to watch the local or even the national news anymore. The alternative used to be the cable channels, but nowadays they lean so far to one side or the other, its tough to stomach them anymore too. Not just the stations or channels themselves, but also the anchors. They should be required to wear a button or a hat or something that lets you know their political stance. The only alternative for real news is on the net and thats becoming a crapshoot! Getting the information from someone with integrity seems relatively impossible if your views are somewhere in "the middle." If you lean way right - you have Rush, way left log onto kos... On top of that all the misinformation they spew... Very unfortunate. This has and will continue to hurt the US in the long run.
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Originally Posted by Riddil
2nd point... the lazy, short-sighted nature of Americans.
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The vast majority of Americans are sheep - we are, as a whole, fat & happy. We want what we want and we want it right now. The worst of us seem to have much more than the best in many countries, and have it, relatively speaking, "given to" them. Our system is set up so that no one fails - everyone gets a do over and its all about how it makes you feel, not what it "should be." (no, I am not gonna define should be nor say according to whom. Just a rant.)
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Originally Posted by Riddil
Third point... the political system is a MESS. Seriously. ~snip~ it's a travesty when you have a mass of Neanderthals able to vote someone into positions of power, and you have special interest groups able to buy political clout to get things put into law.
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Pretty much sums up my opinion on our system of electing leaders. Thank goodness we don't simply use a majority vote - In that respect it could be much worse.
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Originally Posted by Riddil
Fourth...
- We always preach about "family values", but honestly it's the farthest thing from reality. We're only OK at maintaining the core family, but for most people the extended family isn't anything resembling the tight-knit sense of FAMILY that I see in China.
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Seems no matter how hard I try, even with my own kids, their is always something else to do, or a party, or a school event - something that eats into the time I try to get my family to spend with my parents. The other thing that seems to be a factor here is that we are so much more spread out now. Family is hours away and that makes it so much more difficult to achieve the sense of unity that I would prefer to have. I wonder now, is this a cultural issue or really a degradation of the family unit due to a lack of conviction or values?
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Originally Posted by Riddil
If you're Christian stop preaching about how you're being oppressed. If you're atheist, stop crying that the world is shoving religion down your throat.
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Amen!!! I have my religion, I'm sure you have yours or a lack thereof (your choice) - It's great that we live in a country that affords us so many choices and options to live and believe openly what we think and believe. I agree that the vocal minority is getting out of hand though. In some cases they need to be heard, but too many times it simply gets glorified and causes more issues than needed.
I find this perspective is very revealing and disheartening at the same time, at least for me it is. It almost ties into several other threads circulating now and some of the things that many of us as Americans are blind to.
Thoughts? Opinions?