Saxhleel26

Haha. Well besides me debating incognito, I believe we've talked before in the far past. You were one of the members I immediately recognized. It helps that most of you kept your avatar the same after all these years (I remember faces and images MUCH better than names). I'm sad though that many of my buddies are no longer on the Nexus, but I'm glad a few still stuck around!

I like a variety of shows, but I gotta say that my favorite right now is Better Call Saul on AMC. It's a FANTASTIC series if you've never seen it, but if you've gotten into Breaking Bad. I really appreciate BCS because it's a different flavor from BB: it's a slow burn, a cerebral drama, which you really have to pay close attention to if you want to know what the hell is happening. I'm a very visual person and the show uses a lot of symbolism and color theory to communicate it's themes and messages. Just like it's sister show, the cinematography is masterful and the characters are well-fleshed out, convincing, and relatable (more so!). I love a good, thoughtful story, more than just the action itself. Can't say enough good things about it! What else is floating around on the air waves? What's your favorite?

Thanks! Missed this place. I hope everyone is still around!

The forums have changed! I haven't been here since....erhhmm...2014 ish? I'm technically not a Newbie, but it didn't feel as appropriate to put this in Off Topics, so I guess this thread goes here. Anyway, most of the people here aren't familiar to me. Many of the old faces are simply gone I guess. If I remember correctly, I disabled my old account, but my username was Keanumoreira. If any of my old friends see this post and you recognize me, PLEASE add me! I wanna catch up! Good to be back. :)

There is a lot of fear in you friend. Probably pain as well. What you grasp at are but half-truths. The reality is much simpler. Had the two halves of the same whole came together for a common purpose, perhaps all those people wouldn't have lost their lives. Maybe they still would have. Doesn't matter. What really matters doesn't matter much anymore.

To be clear, I don't support the Trump Administration. I share the sentiment that he is one of the most divisive presidents in our history and I don't agree with the argument that he's good for America simply because he helped the economy along. The economy doesn't mean crap if the country, rallied around two political parties, have drawn a line in the sand. Economics doesn't mean much once it all collapses under the strain of civil war. After all, the last one nearly ended the nation. That conflict was so traumatic, that it singlehandedly destroyed the Third-Party political system, so deeply dividing our country that we still feel the effects of it to this day. However big the cracks were before the 2016 election, Trump has widened them past the point of no return. The damage he caused is irreversible. Was it worth it? I sure as hell hope it was. Again, we are a myopic species. We aren't very good at looking forward. We only see our mistakes for what they are once we've committed them (obviously). But as terrible as that man is, I don't think the Democrats have it right either. There is a lot of tribalism in our political system. Americans today can't even discuss differences in opinions without acting like savages. Many of us don't understand who the real enemy is. We scream at each other because that is precisely what they want us to do. There is exactly what the Founding Fathers feared would become of us. They knew this situation might one day become a reality and they hoped to whatever God they believed in that it wouldn't. We don't need Democrats and Republicans. What we need is dialogue. Common ground. We need to learn to coexist if we are going to save our country. Is that magical thinking? Perhaps. You will find that I am not an idealist. And it is likely that it will end the same way that it all began.

Heh, well perhaps I'm just one of those fools that likes to believe he's intelligent and self-aware. Go figure. :pinch: :laugh:

Existing. Writing. Language Learning. Biology. Procrastinating.

I myself am quite the pessimist and cynic, but even I cringe at calling people outright idiots. I think people sometimes jump the gun on this one. I try (emphasis on "try") not to judge people that are most likely uneducated and being ignorant is not the same as being stupid, though the two certainly do go hand-in-hand. By definition, we are all ignorant because we can't be all knowing. One could argue that all that intelligence is lies in the measurement of how ignorant that individual happens to be. Stupidity is the opposite: you know you shouldn't do something, you are aware of it to a certain degree, yet you abandon reason and logic and act against your better judgement. My point here, beyond arguing mere semantics, is that people believe what they've been led to. Our piss-poor educational system where they brainwash our youth is part of the problem. But the issue here isn't that people lack the intellectual capacity to grasp what's really going on, indeed they can if only they took the time to question their circumstances, but they won't, because they've been told to swallow any amount of lies that they immediately default to so that they don't have to think about the reality of their situation. Carlin was a little rough in his delivery (at times disturbing) but I want to believe that was just for the shock factor. I think he genuinely cared for humanity, in his own jaded way, and in my developing years, as I began to shift my priorities, it was refreshing to see someone lay it down so bare and raw without giving a damn. And the thing is, everyone thinks that they're right. Everyone believes they see things for how they truly are. But do we really? I can just hear Carlin now: "bullsh*t!" People like him understood what a trickster life can really be, how ridiculous and nonsensical it all can get. Maybe that's why everything is so screwed up. Maybe it's because the joke is on us. Who really has the answers? Who really knows anymore?

Excellent! Thank you sir!

Hi! I haven't been on the site for several years, so I'm guessing this kind of thread goes here. So yeah, when I try enter into the chatroom, the site keeps redirecting me and then the page crashes. I tried signing in on my laptop, then my mobile device. Neither worked. Cleared my browsing history and that failed too. Anyone else have this problem? Suggestions? Thanks!

I've been following this thread on and off for some time now, and of all the people that have contributed to this conversation, I've found your arguments to be very balanced and closer to the truth than the other debaters (not to kiss ass; just an honest observation). I agree with your sentiment that politicians can't be trusted and as was the case with the 2016 election, we were dealt a bad hand in this one as well. Many people these days seem to operate under the illusion that the people elect their representatives. They're wrong. Money decides the elections. People forget (perhaps conveniently) that there are lobbyists and special interest groups that have bought out our government and have pull with each of the candidates. Political favors are very much alive in our "Democracy", which if you ask me (and no one did), hasn't been a Democracy in well over a century; if it even ever was one! Out of curiosity, I want to know if you've ever watched George Carlin or if you agree with any of his sentiments? I've found his observations on our society and political system to be very astute, if not somewhat offensive at times, lol. Anyway, and correct me if I'm mistaken, I've found your views to be much more in line with his, at least as it concerns thinking for yourself, not choosing sides, and cultivating a healthy sense of skepticism towards the bull. we've been led to believe. Anyway, the Founding Fathers saw this sh*t coming. Forget Nostradamus. These guys predicted these very outcomes almost two centuries in advance. It's funny. Or perhaps, if anything, a strong demonstration of the kind of foresight these men had. I believe it was Madison Monroe, John Adams, and even George Washington at one point that warned the nation that it would come to this as a consequence of the two-party political system. Less than a hundred years after their predictions, we had a Civil War, and over a century later, it seems we're staring down the barrel of another one. People just don't follow the issues anymore. There's no "United" States. It's never been. It never will be. People vote for parties without even knowing who they're voting for. They vote Red. They vote Blue. They don't vote with a brain because we are a myopic species: we don't see past our issues and smarter men and women profit from that. It's a sad situation. Anyway, just ranting at this point. I like this kind of stuff (if you couldn't tell :laugh:).