How are we ever going to fix this entire mess ?

[blues90]

I don't intend on coming off as a doomer and gloomer but man , everywhere you look there are immense problems .

If it's not the war issues it's the infrastructure , education , good jobs , poverty , the economy , global warming , free trade with toxic products . Lies upon lies and a lineup of candidates that makes one wonder if there will be any real change even if we do have 2008 elections .

I get the distinct feeling that before and during and probably even after many people will suffer and die and this seems acceptable or at least justifiable to many people as long as if is not they who do the suffering or dying .

The citizens of the US who suffer and die are not just the military but from all walks of life and all sorts of problems . Many have no way of fighting back if they are even seen or heard .

As many know these problems have always existed however are much worse than before and this is a different time where you can't just run off and live off the land to survive .

Does it seem acceptable for these people to just fall away to you , it certainly does not to me and I really have no means of changing this .

If we are held under the control of corporations then our only means to fight back is to cut way back on consumption . If the corporations control the government and are part of the military industrial complex then where is a realistic starting point , many don't feel a stop consuming is an answer . Protesting seems not to work .

Hell I don't even have a close to clear idea of how many americans are even aware of the position we are in , there are no polls or numbers I can find .

It seems clear that the killing will go on as will the pollution and wars machine and death until the day comes when the people rise up having had enough , so this could be decades and the deaths will all vanish as this is normal and acceptable .

[coco77]

1. Have you been reading my mind?

[izzie]

2. I can see why you feel that way. Bet they did when Hoover was in

office also. If you read about 1929 and the start of the 30's most of the world felt that way also. Isn't their some thing about getting good minds together and people will vote in those good minds if you wait long enough. Some type base rule of what happen or some such thing. You have to recall that Bush was not really the one the people picked for office but the silly way the game is played he ends up in office. Does any one think if he had not got in that first time we would have had him the second time around? The oddity that made a mess, I call it, and we just sort of have to get back on track. We were born a progressive country and took over our own rule in a progressive way and I hardly think we will go back to the Middle Ages and be ruled by some type 'elite' that are like the cats on the TV ad that can not find the litter box which they them self smelled up. We will move on and fix the mess these walk in place 'know nothing' has left us in. I just believe that. Things will get better and we will move on. It is a shame we have to always redo some of the steps we have already made but it seems to go that way.

[AndyTiedye]

10. We DID Vote in a Very Good Mind in 2000. The Repiggies STOLE THE ELECTION

As soon as people started questioning a theft…
and
…and there were no more questions.

Then they started gearing up for Iraq.
Senator Wellstone did not agree

…and there were no more questions (and the Repigs got the Senate back).

I hardly think we will go back to the Middle Ages

Well, ** said it was a Crusade, and this looks like the Inquisituion to me:

[coco77]

12. Recommended...

[izzie]

22. Some may look like the Middle Ages but who can say that all

the voter thinks that way. I am willing to bet that the people who voted for Bush the second time around and put him in, do not think that putting people in such places as beating etc. think it is wrong. I think we for get some of our own history. Just a few things. Look how long the KKK did it bad things and if they were not terrorist I will eat my hat. Think about the Am. Indians to see a strange way to take from people. Japanese/Am.? If it does not hit right home people will not seem to get to up tight about it, will they? If you go with a culture that any thing the preacher tells you is right and you must abey him, to go with Bush who tells us he is speaking to God or some such crazy thing, is not far off the mark to such people. All one has to do is hear them on c-span to see a different mind set than you or I seem to have. Have a few boys in town killed half way around the world often even makes these people think for them self. It does seem to be a shame we have to keep repeating the same steps just to move a head a little but that does seem to be the way it works. I will say that I love getting up each morning and I am a person that is sure that their is a pony in all that shit if I just keep looking.

[uppityperson]

3. sometimes I feel we are just playing a game, then reality hits, it is a HUGE mess

We won't fix it. We will continue to work on pieces, but it won't get fixed. Things have to get really bad before people, en masse, will stand up for fixing things. Bits and pieces. Even though I feel this way, the glass barely has anything in it, still must try and do what I can.

[coco77]

4. The thing is ...

that people don't realize how bad it really is.

[blues90]

7. I think so too ,

But what if we are wrong and people do know and this is the best we can do and all the rest will just let it happen ?

[coco77]

9. Those people who do know...

will begin to change when it somehow effects them or their families in someway or they begin to see that they can run but they can't hide because it will effect them wherever they go because what these people are doing is affecting the whole world.

It will never be the best that we can do, I do what I can where I am no matter how small. I see people who were never aware beginning to speak up and speak out. There also seems to be a lot of incidents lately that are bringing things into the light and truths are being revealed daily,no matter how hard bushco has been trying to hide things.

[IDemo]

5. I have tried saying that before here

It's the only thing short of a 10 million person march that I feel will have the slightest effect on the criminal cabal (including voting in 2008).

Let me tie a boat anchor to the bottom of the page and you can see what happens to this post..

[blues90]

6. I know , I know .

[mopinko]

8. draft al gore?

i'm right there with you, and some days it just knocks the stuffing out of me.
and the game that they all play, not talking about it. like families with an alcoholic parent. this is why al is the only one.

[OneBlueSky]

21. I'll second that . . . and add RFK Jr. as his running mate . . .

I trust that Al is aware enough to know that electing Hillary or Obama or Edwards is going to result in negligible change re: the environment -- or most anything else . . . if he's serious about the human race making massive changes or risking extinction, he'd best get off his high horse and into the trenches . . . and soon . . .

[MissWaverly]

11. I think the answer to much is local

I think that our States are not as plagued by the Beltway mentality as the Feds are. Look at California and the progress it is
making in asking for better autos and much of the progress on health care is being made on the state level.

[napi21]

13. I know what you mean! I keep wondering WHY anyone even wants

the damn job as President after the idiot made such a BIG MESS!

things sure won't get fixed in one term. A Dem Prez will instantly fix some things like the heads of all the Fed. Departments being replaced. Get some qualified people in there will help a lot! The mess with the DOJ will be fixed by replacing Gonzo with a competent and independant AG. All the rest of the mess will take a very long time!

[porphyrian]

14. You are the people you are waiting for. Fix it.

I don't know, either, so don't ask me. How can you fix it?

[ThomWV]

15. It can not be fixed unless two things come together at once

The first and most important thing that will be required to 'fix this mess' is a concerned populace - and we do not have one now.

The second thing we need is a Leader - and not only do we not have one now but none of those on the horizon - those who have announced they want the job - are it.

[philly_bob]

16. Emergency Measures

Short term to solve financial problems:

(1) Bring back estate ("death") tax with near-confiscatory rates.

(2) Legalize -- and tax -- Internet gambling.

(3) Legalize -- and tax -- marijuana.

Long term:

(1) Charismatic leader who communicates American idealism: get kids to study enivronment the way Sputnik got them to study science, the way JFK convinced youths to join Peace Corps. This leader links current problems to "greed is good" conservative individualism and brands this as unAmerican.

(2) Rebuild the social safety net and infrastructure. Like Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps. With jobs for artists, writers, etc.

(3) Tell the world not to judge us based on actions of an election-cheating cabal of Conservatives and then recalibrate foreign policy to idealism and not pragmatic shady allies.

Just a thought.

[Hydra]

17. How badly do you want it?

That's what it boils down to.

The fixes for these problems are easy. Pathetically so.

What are you willing to do about it?

Did you worry about these things before, when they didn't affect you?

How badly did you want change then?

The fix is easy...if you really want it.

[mzmolly]

18. The solution

[tom_paine]

19. Chances are likely we will not. The New Totalitarianism is on it's way and

The Old American Republic has fallen and is NOT likely to get back up again.

However, I will say this in counterpoitn: NEVER underestimate the resiliency of the human spirit. I may be entirely worng about this and the "longshot may yet come true of a restored old American Republic with strong system of checks and balances as well as a strong vigorous, independent free press.

But, like you, I don't see it.

[Hydra]

20. it could go either way

either the fascists win, or we do.

I do think that the democratic republic model is dead. It's too easy to gain majority by wealth and influence.

I think that whatever replaces it will be rule by one, and all others will be silenced.