Despair is not the alternative to futile hope,

[Greyhound]

yet that is how it is always presented. This blind, and baseless, faith that somebody else will fix things is the conviction of a child and we have become a nation of children. Acknowledging what is and taking actions to change it is not despair, it is the first necessary step to the solution.

Homelessness, as one example, is a result of that attitude, an entire nation that sees horrible (and easily corrected, I might add) injustice and simply shrugs it's collective shoulders and dismisses it because "I'm only one person, I can't do anything about it", or "that's just how it is".

The solution is really quite simple, just stop playing the game. Deny their authority, force them to expose the naked violence that underlies their indefensible position. Refuse to spend your life in the pursuit of another's goals, unless you share both the goal and the rewards. If even 10% - 15% of our people did this, the whole thing would collapse and an equitable solution could be implemented, but the thought of that is very scary to most, especially the very comfortable since their comfort is utterly dependent on the theft of others talent and labor.

There is more than enough for everyone, that is a fact. The only reason for the lack we see around us is the unbridled greed and inequity that dominates our world-view and our personal conduct. I would love to see Barack move to real solutions, but I see absolutely nothing to indicate that this will happen, he has demonstrated numerous times that he will not risk criticism to stand up for principle.

OTOH, change is the universal constant and I have been wrong before, let's hope that is the case here.

[barbtries]

1. that was beautifully written

i want to add that i have been without a home, and now i have a home. i don't own it, i rent it, but the point is i overcame hardship. i do believe that hopelessness is the worst of all possible feelings, and that it entertains despair. but it's not forever. hope alone cannot change the circumstances that lead to despair and hopelessness, action is required.

There is more than enough for everyone, that is a fact. The only reason for the lack we see around us is the unbridled greed and inequity that dominates our world-view and our personal conduct.

agreed. wonderfully put. thank you.

[Greyhound]

2. Thank you for your kind words, they are appreciated.

I think the personal conduct thing will greatly limit the replies, people don't like to be reminded that they are at fault.

[tabasco]

3. Sounds like you want to convince people not to vote.

Why could that be?

[Greyhound]

4. Well that is certainly an odd interpretation.

I want just the opposite, I want everybody to vote and to vote their beliefs and follow up those vote with strident demands that their views are represented. I want an interested and knowledgeable constituency to demand immediate and complete accountability, and I want national referendum to remove those that do not immediately comply.

I want to churn the waters so much and for so long that the ruling class assholes are afraid to go near it for fear of being dragged out of their mansions and executed in the streets by the people they steal from.

I want the abolition of political parties and the electoral college. I want 90 day, publicly funded, campaigns and mail in paper ballots that are all counted by hand, completely open and observed by anybody and everybody that cares to watch.

What I don't want is another manufactured cut-out of a candidate who's sole purpose is to give the republiks a scapegoat to blame all of our ills on because he stands for nothing and will, therefore, put up with anything. I want someone who will represent the people without any consideration for political donations or "economic stability" or whatever bullshit excuse they come up with for why it is so important to allow the thieves to continue stealing from us and why we should be grateful to them for leaving us anything.

And what I especially don't want is for a bunch of groupies to promise or imply that an empty suit with no principles will save them from their own stupidity, for that will lead to President Jeb or something equally horrible in 2012.

[Two Americas]

7. another component of the confusion

Your post is a tacit admission that there is a danger that people "will not vote" - which really means "see through the ruse and lose their illusions" - and that this is increased by talking about things and applying any critical analysis, and that there is little of substance to be voting for. For you, a shallow and unrealistic hope may be all that is motivating you, but projecting that unto others is not useful.

Obviously, discussions such as this increase interest in politics and expand the discussion, and that clearly would lead to more, not less participation.

So what could your statements mean, what could the connection here be between the OP and your strange remarks? It is not that you so much want people to vote as you do want them to look at voting in a certain way - even if the net affect of that is to suppress the enthusiasm about voting and reduce participation. It is how we participate that concerns you.

There is apparently an unresolved conflict going on in your mind, or otherwise why would you see voting and thinking and talking about voting as mutually exclusive and oppositional to one another. "Vote, but do not think or about it." What sort of conditions are those to place on voting, and by what stretch of the imagination could that help get out the vote? No, it suppresses the vote. Vote on your terms and only on your terms (or, by implication do not vote at all) is your message.

Your illusion about voting and desperate need to keep it in place is more important to you than actual voting. You sound like you are trying to convince yourself to vote, and wrestling with that. Only by scaring yourself and avoiding thinking about it too much can you find resolve to vote. That is very weak, and it is wrong to project that weakness onto others. Threatening people with covert loyalty tests and making insinuations is also counter-productive, as well as deceptive and dishonest.

[Two Americas]

5. they are the same, basically

Futile hope is unacknowledged and unexamined despair. Not acknowledging the despair, avoiding it and denying it with the drug of hope, may feel better for a little while, but it takes a terrible toll. It makes it impossible to change anything and locks the despair into place in our thinking. People are at war with themselves, and we see it played out here everyday. The awful grinding pressure from the conflict between what people know to be true and what they are hoping to be true is driving people crazy.

Hoping more and more, and harder and harder (not sure how you would do that, but people claim that they are) and demanding that others do, does not make things come true. We have been bombarded by New Age spirituality propaganda and self-actualization bootstrap nonsense that has convinced us that wishing things to be a certain way will somehow make them become that way. This makes it very difficult if not impossible to organize politically, adjust tactics and strategy to make them more effective, to accurately assess and perceive objective reality, and to move toward any real world goals.

Question people's hope, and they react as though you are causing them to be in despair. They think that without the hope, "we" will "lose" through some mysterious process. They think that hope is what keeps them going, and that the alternative is to do nothing and collapse in a heap, and they project that unto any and all critics. The truth is that this hope is what keeps us doing the same things again and again, the same things that keep failing, that keep producing the same results again and again. Hope is their denial of despair, and the despair comes from relying on hope for decades now. It doesn't work. We are trapped in a loop of futility.

[Greyhound]

9. Thanks, I suppose I should have spelled out the difference between

hope and false hope.

Of course , I understand the actions of politicians during a campaign, but voting for a heinous bill and then saying that, "after it passes, I'll try to do something about one component of it" is, let's say somewhat less than honest and requires a total lack of understanding of how laws work.

In the first place, it will require another bill to be passed by the legislative branch, which he cannot guarantee, and it will have no effect on the crimes excused under the original bill, further, it ignores the basic fact that the whole idea is unnecessary, ineffective and renders the 4th impotent. His position simply ignores the fact that this a nothing but a blatant power grab that further subjugates the electorate, regardless of party.

The idea that one President will, or that one can even become President and, correct the last 30 or even 8 years is ludicrous and guaranteed to disappoint the "true believers".

I still think that things will have to get much worse before they can get better.

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. Yep, this is greed attempting to permanently establish its precedent.

It is also the opportunity to establish freedom and equality. If we are willing to do the work.

[readmoreoften]

8. Yup. Well put.

It's like teenboppers cheering at an empty concert stage these days. I'll be the first to post an apology if the bad ever shows up and plays.