Osama finally killed.

[deu58]

I agree. But with new rules and guide lines of the uhhm. "Patriot act" And special powers granted to" Home Land" security not to mention the rules of the forum itself we are approaching dangerous ground even discussing the topic of some thing bad even in a casual conversational sense.

 

Welcome to the new Amerika comrad.

[HeyYou]

What? You mean they will take offense if I try and organize the next american revolution on the forums? :D

 

Kidding, of course.

[deu58]

Not the forum so much but then again this is a game forum really and they may not like to heavy of an unorthodox conversation concerning solutions to America's growing internal problems. During the Bush administration they caught a lot of flack for implementing the Patriot act and all the other goodies that came about after 9/11. Now the liberals are in the drivers seat and do you see them reversing any of those restrictions of American liberties that the Republicans imposed?

 

The situation here is growing worse. People are unhappy and when people are unhappy that makes governments nervous. When Governments get nervous they begin taking actions against their own people. Remember the Viet Nam war protests? During the Nixon administration there were contingency plans for military action against the demonstrators. People do not like to believe it because they have been programmed to think these things cannot happen here but if say some kind of hidden detail were to be unearthed that caused the people to rise up en masse we would have another Syria right here in the US. It would be a serious mistake to think that the US government or any other government for that matter would not take violent action against it's own people if that government felt threatened by its people.

 

The governments primary goal today is not survival of us as a nation but survival of itself as a governing body. A violent revolution would serve no useful purpose. It would not only destroy the US but many other nations with it due to the new globalization. We are no longer a country where what we do mostly affects just us as a nation. Most of the groups who hint around at this kind of revolution do not even have any qualified leaders to actually lead a country if the revolution were to be successful which I personally do not believe that would be anyway. The selfishness and ignorance that has lead the country down this destructive track that we are on goes beyond politics. It has become the warp and woof mind set of the country at large. Replacing one selfish ignorant group with another selfish ignorant group will achieve nothing.

 

It is not really a matter of "they" are the enemy but "we" are the enemy. Lets say this "revolution" actually took place. The first "revolutionary troops" to hit the streets would be the Looter Brigade. These would be followed by the Pryo brigade which would then be followed by "highly trained" Einsatzgruppen style Lynching squads. Then lets say these people were actually successful in their revolution. They would now have control of the worlds largest nuclear arsenal. This would really make all the other nations of the world very happy and have them sleeping comfortably in their beds knowing that the worlds largest nuclear arsenal was now in in the hands of a bunch of US style "Freedom Fighters".

 

And what other events could this trigger? Now that the US is paralyzed maybe China decides they need a little more food production area and take Viet Nam Laos Cambodia? Maybe the Arab states decide now that Israel no longer has the US to intervene it is time to implement a 21st century version of the Final Solution? There would be a cascade effect of increased global instability and war. As you and I agreed earlier the US is the Global market. We are the big consumer. If a revolution tears the country apart that market will disappear. As will the financial institutions that provide the capital to businesses not just nationally but globally. From the corner offices to the factory floors to the oil rigs to the docks the lights will go out and businesses globally will go bankrupt causing rising unemployment and social unrest elsewhere.

 

And that does not even begin to list the cataclysmic effects the over throw or a serious attempt of an over throw of the US would bring us all.

 

The answer is education. We need to rid ourselves of the idea that there is some kind of McDonalds fast fix for our problems. It took us a long time to get into this mess and it is going to take a long time to get back out of it.

Our education system is in a shambles and yet this very same system is supposed to produce tomorrows leaders. There was a thing on CNN last year about education. The US public education system at that time was ranked at 54th in the world. Viet Nam is 53. That should make you feel warm and fuzzy.

 

Our revolution should be held with the ballot box and not the gun. We know that in recent years there have been "problems" with US elections. We should organize and support citizens groups to monitor the entire election process and demand that these people have access to inspect the electronic voting machines etc or we ain't gonna vote. An organized vocal en masse boycott of polling places will have them scrambling to get things right. A voter protest is not a thing the powers that be want nor can they handle it in a violent manner if the protestors are peaceful. They have no choice but to meet the demands and make things right because the whole world would be watching to see how the "Leader of the Free World" handles the situation. We need to rid our selves of lop sided trade treaties and create incentives and realistic regulations that rebuild our industrial base. Contrary to popular belief it is not the unions that are causing the corporations to head for greener pastures. It senseless repetitive government inspections fee's high insurance costs etc that has much to do with driving them away from the west in general.

 

Corporations cannot cut cost in those areas. The only real place a corporation can cut costs is in wages and benefits and thus the war between labor and management. By the time the corporations finish jumping through one hoop and spending millions to meet standards set by some governing body a new hoop has already been prepared for them. A case that I remember from years ago is Motorola. Motorola did not want to move their factories over seas. They appealed to the US government to help create a business environment that would enable them to keep their main manufacturing here in the US. The government would not cooperate with them so they had no choice but to pack up shop and head below the border.

 

We can change it and we do not have to be violent about it. But we won' because we have become a society of whiners wanting somebody else to fix the problems for us.

[HeyYou]

Not sure if it is wanting someone else to fix the problem, as it is we want a solution RIGHT NOW, that has immediate, and substantial affects. And when that doesn't happen when we elect one group, at the next election cycle, the other group comes back into power, and the cycle simply repeats itself ad infinitum. Trouble is, all that does is give us shifting policies every couple years, that accomplishes nothing.

 

Politics here have become so divisive, that getting 'the people' to cooperate on election reform, or oversight, is pretty much a lost cause. From blogs I have read, and comment sections of various news organizations, there are three main groups. (and many smaller ones) The dems, the repubbies, and the folks that kind of overlap both parties. The overlap folks can actually see that both parties have some good ideas, and both parties have some bad ideas. Trouble is, if you fall into one of the "side" groups, they tend to be fanatically dedicated to their parties views, to the point of, if you aren't a member of their party, then you are obviously mentally challenged, and should be deprived of your right to vote, or, simply euthanized, as a service to the greater good........ The folks in the middle, that I like to think of as the "voice of reason", are an apparent minority, and their voice is drowned out, by the hue and cry raised by the others.

 

Looking at the current political climate, the sad state of affairs we currently find ourselves in, the trouble that the repubbies are having coming up with a candidate for 2012, and assorted other factors...... I don't see anything changing any time soon. I also do not expect the american people to rise up, and take back control of their country, by any means at all. Violent, or Peaceful. I fully expect things to continue just as they are, with america's continuing slide into obscurity, and non-relevance on the world stage. We will remain the major consumer market only so long as we have something left of the middle class, which our government appears to have declared war on, to support tax breaks for the rich, and corporations. I don't expect the middle class to survive much longer, before be actually become the stratified society of haves, and have nots, that we originally fled to create this country. At that point, our economy will collapse, our government will be stunned speechless, with statements of "How could this have happened??" and "We never saw it coming." Which will both be outright lies.

 

The cascade affect of which you speak will then come fully into play, plunging the world into a global economic crisis of epic proportions. I am not entirely sure we would survive such an event, without some serious damage being done to the planet. (world war three perhaps?)

 

The only way I see to avoid such an eventuality, is for the US to take steps to start rebuilding the middle class, the most important step in that process would be to bring jobs BACK to our shores. Sure, this can be viewed as "isolationist", but, I am not saying we should put a 50% tax on every imported product. That would be just as bad as doing nothing. (maybe worse....) I thinking more along the lines of "FAIR Trade", and disposing of tax breaks/other incentives for moving jobs overseas. Trouble is, corporate america would hate that. So, it just isn't going to happen. I do not see a bright future for us at this point. Quite the opposite. I foresee VERY bad things happening, and probably in the not very distant future.

[deu58]

The idea of bringing jobs back to america is not isolationist. It is just common sense. How are we supposed to pay the bills if nobody has a productive job? Looks like you and I are both middle of the roaders. Both sides do have good ideas but neither side will listen to the other. I see it all the same way you see it. Fasten your seat belts because the ride has not even begun yet.

[HeyYou]

The idea of bringing jobs back to america is not isolationist. It is just common sense. How are we supposed to pay the bills if nobody has a productive job? Looks like you and I are both middle of the roaders. Both sides do have good ideas but neither side will listen to the other. I see it all the same way you see it. Fasten your seat belts because the ride has not even begun yet.

 

Precisely.

 

I think "common sense" is a misnomer though, as it appears to be anything but common...... Perhaps we should call it "Extremely, terrifically, sensationally, Rare Sense."