Is it me?

[WeekendWarrior]

Or do a LOT of posts here on DU seem to have the same hysterical, the-sky-is-falling tone that you find on all the freeper's forums -- only for the left?

I've been around here for quite a while and it seems to me there are so many people on DU thinking that the world is about to come to an end, that our country is in such a dire place, that we're all doomed for eternity. I'll be the first to admit that things could be a lot better, but generally the world is the same place it has always been. The only difference now is that we have a 24/7 news cycle that reminds us how fucked we are as often as it possibly can.

Nothing has really changed. We have Glenn Beck and Limbaugh now, but back in the sixties and seventies there were similar right-wing idiots on radio and TV -- guys like Mort Downey, Jr. who are pretty much forgotten now, just as Beck and Limbaugh will be once the wackos gets tired of them.

We had war, we had hunger, we had people without health care, we had clueless right wingers and hand-wringing left wingers, third-party fringe movements. We had energy problems, pollution, gas shortages, unrest in the Middle East, a communist threat (the terrorists of their time), corporate power, fear-mongering politicians who spewed platitudes and didn't do much of anything except try to get reelected, crooked presidents, snarling vice presidents, pissed off labor unions, vapid movie stars, yellow journalism, back room deals, religious zealots --

-- in other words, NOTHING really different than it is now.

Yet we've managed to survive. Because this is how our world works. And how it will always work. And while I encourage you to stand up for your convictions, to speak out and cry foul, just as your parents did in their day... just know that the world is NOT coming to an end. The U.S. is NOT headed for a giant fall, any more than it was back then.

Same old shit. New faces.

Take it from me. I've seen it all before. And I think if you asked your great, great, great, great grandfather -- he'd say exactly the same thing.

[FiveGoodMen]

1. It's not you. The sky really is falling.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Here's the deal.

A small contingent of people who want to see the Democratic party fail.

Please try to take in the big picture and understand that the number of comments of a particular flavor are not representative of DU membership or of progressives, generally.

Take care, and take everything with a huge grain of salt.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[WeekendWarrior]

4. Didn't I say speak up?

Just as your parents did? I'm a strong believer in dissent.

It's the knee-jerk hysterics that amazes me. And those 14 points of fascism were just as relevant in the sixties and seventies as they are now.

As I said. Nothing has really changed.

[havocmom]

7. What has changed is the LEVEL of corporate control over governments, all governments

and therefore, over laws, regulations and basically the planet.

[WeekendWarrior]

53. Yeah, I'm sure we're much worse off now

than we were in the dark ages.

I stand corrected.

[havocmom]

84. Talking America then the world myself

You? You seem more inclined to use the sum total of all the bad since man got up on two feet as a means of somehow excusing crap which is inexcusable in a democracy.

[havocmom]

+1

Bollocks indeed.

Neocon tactics abound around here to silence, not only dissent, but fact based dialog. 'Yer either with us or with the terrarists RW' attempts to censor discussion is completely unDEMocratic and, to me, unAMERICAN. It is also a sign of just how far this nation has fallen from what we claim to be.

[WeekendWarrior]

9. And you can go back in time

and find the very same kinds of tactics being used all throughout history. I mean, Jesus Christ -- at one time they burned people at the stake for speaking out or having an alternative view. Are you trying to suggest it's somehow WORSE now?

Cry me a fucking river.

[sudopod]

21. Nope, ur rite.

Though the product itself is a lot more highly refined than in times past, it's the same ol' bullshit.

[havocmom]

82. All through history? For sure. Is it in line with American values, as advertised?

Hardly.

Don't drown, in your imagined river

[Warpy]

5. We're in the end game of conservative rule by both parties

and that's why it looks like the sky is falling. It's because conservative philosophy in practice tends to be both brutal and unsustainable and we're getting to the unsustainability part just about now as banks are shown to be insolvent once the accounting deception is removed, families have largely negative net worth due to years of supplementing falling wages with credit card debt, and there's a class of new money that's giving ostentation a bad name.

The system can't go on much longer the way it is and it's scary trying to face the development of a new system out of its ashes, so Washington keeps trying to paste the whole thing together using tax money it's failing to collect because the rich have shrugged off their burden onto the rest of us.

If you're seeing a lot of sky is falling posts here, it's because the sky really is falling for a lot of people out there.

[WeekendWarrior]

10. The sky is ALWAYS falling

for some people.

We've muddled through before and we'll muddle through again.

[azmouse]

6. They've gotten themselves all wee-weed up

and they don't know how to stop.

[leftstreet]

8. The upward transfer of wealth is happening on a global scale

That's the only real difference

It's just accelerating at a very rapid pace

Right now, 'westernized' or 'developed' countries are in a holding pattern of sorts...we're all basically left with selling the contents of our garages to each other in an attempt to maintain middle class-ish lifestyles. While we wait on the current global wage leveling to get us.

[WeekendWarrior]

11. And how is this any different now than it has been

over the last several centuries. Wealth has always meant power and always will. There will always be gaps between rich and poor and there always has been. Sometimes those gaps are big, sometimes they're less so.

You'd think that nobody here has ever opened a history book, for crissakes.

[leftstreet]

12. Ask a 'third world' person about the gaps between rich and poor

Where 'we' once simply stole resources from undeveloped countries, 'we' now have factories there.

But 'we' aren't really part of the global rich. We're becoming part of the globally 'poor'


(It's very difficult for middle class Americans and Europeans to get this.)

[WeekendWarrior]

13. Because we never had sweat shops in the past, did we?

Instead of simply exploiting citizens in their own country as the corporations once did and can no longer do thanks to Democratic reforms, they've taken it to other countries. AGAIN, nothing has changed.

Am I HAPPY about this? No.

But nothing you've said negates my point.

[leftstreet]

14. Um...actually we once worked the sweatshops

They're gone...outsourced to the sweat of others

Not really sure what your point was

[WeekendWarrior]

15. Umm, yeah, that's what I just said.

The corporations used citizens in their own country to work in sweatshops -- meaning us.

My point, if you read my OP is that nothing has changed and there's no need to think the sky is falling.

[leftstreet]

17. I don't think the sky is falling. Capitalism is dying, and I'm thrilled

Google South America and learn about Leftist solidarity

:thumbsup:

[whathehell]

18. "for crissakes" some of us here have LIVED the History you're talking about

and no, this is not the way it always was..Not in this country..

I suggest you open that history book and check out The New Deal..or a time period that is now being called "America's Golden Age"...A time when we had the largest middle class in the developed world...A distinctly different time than the present, when we have the smallest.

"There will always be gaps between rich and poor and there always have been"..."Sometimes those gaps are big, and sometimes they're less so"

"Sometimes they are less so"...Um..Yeah..in fact MUCH less so!....That, genius, is a key phrase..A major objective, in fact, of the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party!...

So my question would be why you would be throwing it out as if it's a meaningless distinction?...Do you even KNOW what board you're on?:eyes:

[leftstreet]

20. It's just their variation of 'the poor will always be among us'

blah, blah, blah

Don't like seeing it here at DU though

:-(

[hex29a]

96. Matthew 26:11 has Jesus saying that...does that make it verboten to repeat here?

I am confused...

[sudopod]

23. WW isn't saying we don't have problems today.

He's just aggravated that everyone seems to think that there was some by-gone halcyon era when these problems did not exist and to which we can return.

Times were simpler back in the day, sure, but that's because we were 10 years old. That doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to improve the world, but we shouldn't kid ourselves that our era will be viewed as the exclusive preserve of creatures like graft-fueled corrupt politicians, oppresive governments and exploitative mega-corporations.

[WeekendWarrior]

25. Thank you

I sometimes think people only read half a post before they jump in to comment.

[sudopod]

26. It makes me happy to not be alone in that belief. :) nt

[whathehell]

50. Well, if that's true...It appears that WW does need better communicative skills

and I don't know what day you are speaking of (really -- we're all of different ages)..But things WERE different in the days of strong unions and bi-lateral trade and tariffs and such..I'm sorry if MR. Depressive was sleeping though that period, or is simply ignorant of it..but it's true, as anyone who lived through it would know....If you don't believe me, ask 58 year Thom Hartmann if anything has changed since that era...The man has written books on the changes.

WW cites absolutely NOTHING. He simply makes blanket statements that we're supposed to take on faith (by virtue of his "world weary" tone, I suppose)

I'm sorry, but IMO he's either a troll or a poseur who has contributed nothing to this argument..Except perhaps, his faux "Ive seen it all" routine.

[WeekendWarrior]

65. And I am, of course, depressed

As we've seen by your astute observations in another part of this thread, you're an amazing judge of human behavior. Maybe you can do a video diagnosis next.

Let's see, I've cited Nixon, the Vietnam War, the dark ages, the consistency of human behavior over the centuries. What exactly is it you'd like me to cite?

Lord.

[whathehell]

74. And I've cited

The New Deal, tariffs, bi-lateral trade, the past times of union strenghth...You've not addressed those at all.

We seem to be talking about different things..I'm talking about POLITICS..If you want to get into some "dark night of the soul" discussion on the tragedy of human nature or something, fine..But I'm not sure a GD forum on a political board is the place for it. Maybe you could sponsor an Ingmar Bergman night somewhere.

I just don't find it helpful or particularly germane to our current political situation.

[WeekendWarrior]

81. I'll tell you what

Let's start over for a second.

The New Deal, etc. -- all wonderful things. All great changes. Much of which has been reversed or is potentially being reversed by corporate interests. I get that. And I agree.

But that doesn't mean we weren't as fucked back then or in the decades before, or in the decades since, than we are now. There are ALWAYS problems in a society as massive as ours. Those problems change. They evolve. But our problems NOW are no more important to people than they were back THEN. And we have always survived. So we really, honestly, don't need to go running around shouting "we're doomed! We're doomed!" and stirring up the hysteria -- because history has shown that humans continue to pull through matter what.

Now is THAT such a bad attitude to have?

I don't think so.

[whathehell]

87. Okay...Good idea.

I think we have misunderstood each other...I get what your saying, and I agree with a lot of it (I agree that we have always had problems..I'm not sure I'd agree they were all of equal severity)..Having said that, I'd add that it's probably not too important a disagreement.

The difference between my response and yours to people you've called hysterics, is that when I see posters like that, I generally don't engage them....If they're outright despairing, I usually just "move along", as well.

So no..Yours is certainly not "such a bad attitude to have"...Fair enough.:-)

[WeekendWarrior]

97. Glad we cleared that up.

Thanks.

[whathehell]

98. Sure. n/t

[uppityperson]

93. +

[WeekendWarrior]

24. I'm nearly sixty years old

and, yes, I've lived it as well. I know what I've lived through. I've always been politically active. I've campaigned for left wing candidates all my life.

And I KNOW what the world was like when I was growing up. I am a student of history and I know what the world has ALWAYS been like. Crack open a book, if you don't believe me.

NOTHING has changed.

And, again, my point is that the sky is NOT falling, despite what a hysterical few might think.

[leftstreet]

28. Nothing has changed? So, we have a strong Left in this country? Unions?

There's a strong Socialist party? Communist party?

Wow. Who knew.

[WeekendWarrior]

30. Suggestion:

pick up a book. Read about this country's past. Read world history.

Yes, there are things that change. Details. Players. Tolerances.

But by and large, HUMAN BEHAVIOR does not. Yet we still manage to survive.

[leftstreet]

39. I'd agree that 1st world Working Class Solidarity is currently hiding in books

True dat

[EFerrari]

31. Good regulations, Fariness Doctrine, no globalization, sane taxes. Long list.

Things were NOT simpler in the 60s and 70s but they were very different.

[sudopod]

33. Like the Vietnam War,

Richard Nixon, the Cold War, Jim Crow, and so forth.

Good times, amirite?

[WeekendWarrior]

36. Well, I did try to make that point

in the OP. But again, people probably didn't get that far before commenting.

[EFerrari]

37. Right. It wasn't simpler, it was different. Each era has its hazards

and most of them are more deadly for working people, like the Viet Nam war.

[sudopod]

38. Exactly! That is Weekend Warrior's point.

I don't see why everyone's bagging on him. :/

[EFerrari]

43. I can't speak for everyone. I've been in a very bad mood for four years.

lol

:hi:

[WeekendWarrior]

46. I was in a bad mood for EIGHT years

and then the darkness lifted in November of 2009.

Do I think Obama is amazing? No. I didn't even support him at first. I was a Kucinich guy.

But for crissakes, people, how short are your memories?

[EFerrari]

48. My memory is fine. n/t

[WeekendWarrior]

40. The Vietnam War is the perfect example

58,000 troops died in Vietnam. That's just unbelievable. And Vietnam was a war based on bullshit. A trumped up incident. We had a draft -- kids being forced to die or flee the country for something a lot of them didn't believe in.

How could anyone even suggest that times were better then?

[WeekendWarrior]

35. Go back a few years more

Then a few years more than that. Then a few years more.

There is an ebb and flow. Things are worse, things are better, things are worse, things are better.

I think we're headed in a better direction now, after a long period of Bush/Reagan darkness. Hopefully it'll last a while longer than the last good patch did.

[EFerrari]

41. Right. My field encompasses the 16th & 17th centuries. I have no problem "going back".

There is an ebb and flow and there are benchmarks that make a lasting and profound difference to the culture which adopts them. Like enclosure, for example. Like the printing press or transcontinental railroad or privatization (taking the long view, it's really re-privatization because, iirc, British settlement in this country was mostly started by few corporations. :) )

It's not really "all relative, like the universe" as one of my students liked to say.


/typing, ack

[WeekendWarrior]

44. Benchmarks are great

and they're just proof of what I'm saying. That human behavior doesn't change (the benchmarks demonstrate that), that we continue to move forward and innovate and muddle our way through the bullshit -- which will always exist. We are survivors.

But there have been and always will be major problems in this world -- the SAME problems with different clothing -- that we will continue to prevail against.

[whathehell]

47. I am already

that age, dear.

And, as your post count tells me, I've been here much longer than you. So together with you're egregiously erroneous statement that "nothing has changed"...I wonder about your stated age, and also your claim of being "always been politically active"....I think not....at least not for our side...On the other hand, maybe you're just depressed today and forgot to take your meds.

As to your repeated suggestions to "crack open" a book?...I'd say you should crack open your crack and put your condescenion there.

[WeekendWarrior]

51. Okay, tell me

what about human behavior has changed in the last several centuries?

Because I'd really like to know.

We can always talk specifics when it comes to different societies, different countries, different tribes.

But the behavior remains the same. And because we're human, we muddle through. That doesn't change. And I refuse to be drawn into the world of hysterics and doom and gloom because some President is doing things I don't agree with. If we lived through Nixon, Reagan and Bush, we can live through anything.

[whathehell]

55. I don't need to tell you...Crack open those books you're always telling us about

I'm not into remedial education...and frankly, I find you unpleasant...I'm afraid you're going to my ignore list...Sorry.

[WeekendWarrior]

58. No need to apologize.

I'm happy to be ignored by someone who has apparently been ignoring what I've said anyway. I'm not asking you to educate me. I'm simply asking for examples from you that might prove whatever point it is you're trying to make. I gave a lot of examples in my OP. Is it so terrible to ask for the same?

[whathehell]

63. Not at all...I simply don't agree with your premise

and I don't like your bullshit condescension.

[WeekendWarrior]

72. I don't think you even get what my premise is. nt.

[whathehell]

80. Yeah...another ploy by those whose arguments don't make it..

..Implying the other person is too dense to "get" them...LOL

Enjoy your time here..And like I said.."buh bye":hi:

[WeekendWarrior]

83. Yeah, my argument of doom and gloom is just so depressing.

:eyes:

[Odin2005]

75. Typical reactionary argument.

"Economic injustice is the natural state of things and because it has always existed it always will" is typical Ruling Class BS.

[WeekendWarrior]

77. Not reactionary at all

Simply realistic. I'm not suggesting we don't fight against it. In fact, I'd say that BECAUSE we've fought against it over the years, we've managed to survive.

This has nothing to do with Ruling Class bs. It just is what it is.

[EOTE]

86. Well, for one thing, we used to have a top tax rate of 90%.

Now it's 33%. Having a high top tax rate did quite a bit to ensure the gap between the rich and middle class would never get to obscene levels. That gap is growing way too fast, it's already way too high. Yes, things have been bad in the past, no shit. But things are getting worse at a rather alarming rate. The sky may not be falling, but that doesn't mean that we're not all fucked.

[havocmom]

89. Students of history will note there have been periods where there were more than kings and slaves

But go on and blow that off in the exercise to justify ANOTHER dark age coming upon us

[Tailormyst]

16. This is a political forum

The people here are not hte types to bury their heads in the sand. Sure- we will all be alive tommorrow. But we also recognize that the country is heading down a path we do not like and it is up to us to speak out. Sticking our fingers in our ears and singing lalalalala until something DIRECTLY effects our family is does not make all the bad things go away.

[WeekendWarrior]

19. There's a big difference between discussion

and hysterics. It's that simple.

[Tailormyst]

22. Well, I suppose the difference depends on who is reading the post.

Since we don't have tone or facial expressions we must rely completely on written word. Also, what you consider hysteria, might be different from what joe considers hysteria, which might be different from what jane calls hysteria.

Posts like this one tend to try and quiet speech the poster finds disagreeable, no matter what point of view the poster has.

[WeekendWarrior]

27. I find it hilarious

that anyone would think this. If you read the post, my whole intent is to say CALM THE FUCK DOWN, the world ain't coming to an end. There's no need to go batshit crazy over this stuff. It hasn't changed.

I'm not suggesting that people shut up. I'm actually trying to REASSURE you. We will survive.

[whathehell]

29. More likely

it's the differnce between being one of the "Haves" or "Have nots"...

More likely, than that, perhaps, it's the difference between being a DUer or a troll.

Don't you have a Republic to Free, somewhere?

[WeekendWarrior]

32. That's another similarity

If you say something that no one has an answer to, you're called a freeper or a troll. Just the same as it is when a freeperland idiot calls someone a libtard.

The last resort of a bankrupt thought process.

[whathehell]

49. Well, if you don't like it here...You DO have another place to go, I'm sure!

Please, dear..I think you're depressed..Go back on the meds.

[WeekendWarrior]

52. Have you read a SINGLE one of my posts?

I mean, seriously?

I don't think so.

[whathehell]

56. Uh...Yes..and if you'd read any of mine, you would know that.

Buh-bye:hi:

[WeekendWarrior]

59. Ooookay.

So, in your world, saying "the sky is not falling" and "we'll prevail" etc. is a sign of depression?

That explains everything.

[whathehell]

62. No...Saying "NOTHING has changed"...with precisely that emphasis

is a sign of one of two things, imo..Depression or Ignorance..I was going to say "I'm sorry" but I see you don't like that...Fine.

[WeekendWarrior]

66. And if you actually DID read my posts

you would understand that I'm telling the hysterics in the crowd to relax, to chill out. That things are no worse now (or better) than pretty much any time in history.

But nice way to turn it back on me and call me the depressed one. Good tactic. The kind of tactic that seems to work well for politicians. I see a great future for you.

[EFerrari]

34. Yes, it's you. n/t

[Egnever]

42. Most of it comes from a fairly small contingent.

There are certainly people that agree with that fairly small contingent as well, However the Vast majority of DU does not think the sky is falling.

If you pay attention though the majority of the most hysterical OP's come from 6 or less people many of whom have been declaring doom and gloom for this admin since the beginning of the primaries and some even further back than that. I could name them but that would be bad bad bad.

[WeekendWarrior]

45. Maybe my problem is that I'm an optimist

and always have been. Maybe I need to let myself get more and more depressed about the state of the world and run into the streets shouting for everyone to look out!

Look, I get worked up about our state of affairs just like anyone else, but honestly, we have gone through a LOT worse times than an Obama administration. In fact, if I think back just two years....

[Egnever]

57. Life is too short.

I think this admin is doing a bang up job considering where they came into office at, and considering the senate they have to work with.

[county worker]

54. I heard a woman on Rush's show today saying the same things I see posted here

by a lot of DUers. Her husband lost his 401K money, their business is doing poorly. She is mad and frustrated and she blames Obama!

There is a lot of anxiety and frustration in the country and people are looking for some place to place the blame. What is a damn shame is that the "sky is falling people" fan those flames that keep people apart and away from working to find good solutions.

It is a good thing to point out the problems and have a good debate about them but to post all these end of times scenarios really gets old!

[WeekendWarrior]

61. But WHY on earth blame Obama?

He just inherited this crap, has said it will take a LONG time to fix it. I can see freepers complaining. Or those who are politically out of touch. But EVERYONE here should know that while Obama isn't perfect, the shit we're going through right now is certainly not his fault. Which is why some of the hysteria here on DU amazes me.

[leftstreet]

64. Aarrggh!! So this whole thread was about Obama?

:banghead:

Thought you wanted to talk about the plight of the working classes



Meh. They've got GD:Obama for this stuff

[WeekendWarrior]

67. Sigh.

................

[leftstreet]

71. I'm not stifling yer freedom of speech

Just sayin this ObamaStuff plays better over in that other forum

:-)

[WeekendWarrior]

73. This isn't Obama stuff

This is human behavior stuff. Obama only happens to be part of it in this decade.

[county worker]

90. There is no rational reason to blame Obama by this women, it's the wing nut radio she listens to

that does here thinking for her.

[Marr]

92. I agree that he inherited this crap. But he's also *doing* this crap.

I don't think "fixing it" is is really on his agenda, though he probably thinks it is. Look at what he said to Fox News just recently. He said, and I'm paraphrasing here, 'I rejected a lot of ideas the left wanted (on healthcare reform), because they would've been too disruptive to the system'.

Of course Obama isn't solely to blame for the situation we find ourselves in. He's just one player in the system. But he *is* a piece of that system. His interest is in playing politics inside the boundaries that 'the system' deems acceptable. In other words, he's not wired to 'fix' anything. If he was, he wouldn't have been considered a "viable" candidate in our corporate media.

[walldude]

60. You've got a low post count.. were you here during the Bush years?

It was exactly what you described. The sky is falling, and it seemed like it was, but the rhetoric was so over the top it was hilarious. The only thing I see that happened after the election was the crazy switched places. During the Bush years you could come on here any day and see threads about how the police state was coming, how they were building concentration camps for all of the liberals, how we were heading into fascism. Now you have to go to Freeperville to see those posts. The same exact posts only coming from the other side.

The more things change the more they stay the same. What's funny is to watch the other side make fun of the side that thinks the world is going to end, and then watch the two of them switch places in a heartbeat.

[WeekendWarrior]

69. I mostly lurk -- and I've had a few different names here.

I come here and read and continue to be amazed by some of the pettiness mixed in with the really GREAT posts. It seems there's a faction in DU that is just very, very unhappy and when I point it out, I get attacked.

So I go away for a while, but this place is like crack, unfortunately. I'd like to think I'm drawn back by the more stimulating posts, but unfortunately they're usually hijacked by people whose only agenda seems to be negativity.

And yes, I can be negative as well -- and maybe my own communication skills are at fault -- but I was actually trying to say, hey, it's not so bad in the world. That things have always been shitty to some degree, yet we're still standing.

I guess that's the wrong thing to say around here.

Go figure.

[uppityperson]

95. What "few different names" have you had here?

I too tire of OMGness!. I disagree that "it's not so bad in the world" though as for a lot of us, it is, and find your ignoring that distasteful.

[LWolf]

68. Er..

"quite a while" is not since last September.

What you are seeing is the end result when a large community of people join together for 8 long years in their opposition to the Bush administration and the Bush doctrine, who believe the Democratic Party will be the saviors of the Bush disaster, who are betrayed by said Democratic Party.

There are, of course, the centrists, the partisans, and the personality supporters who just like to play the game and "win" elections, regardless of issues.

Putting them in the arena with those who put issues at the top of the priority list guarantees some pretty heavy action.

[Odin2005]

70. Yeah, we'll survive, as WAGE SLAVES in a FASCIST STATE.

And you are blissfully ignorant, just like our Corporatist-Fascist owners want us.

[WeekendWarrior]

76. On the contrary

Not blissfully ignorant at all. We've been wage slaves in a fascist state for a couple centuries now. Do you seriously think it's different now?

[Odin2005]

78. Wrong, the Fascism started with the Corporate Takeover of the MSM in the 80s.

[WeekendWarrior]

79. Take a look at some of the factories at the turn of

the 20th Century.

Whatever label you want to put on it, we have always been slaves. I mean, come on. Think about it. Minimum wage is what? Seven bucks? If that ain't slavery, I don't know what is. And we've always been at the mercy of big business.

[WeekendWarrior]

85. AMAZING

I write a post that says this:

"Yet we've managed to survive. Because this is how our world works. And how it will always work. And while I encourage you to stand up for your convictions, to speak out and cry foul, just as your parents did in their day... just know that the world is NOT coming to an end. The U.S. is NOT headed for a giant fall, any more than it was back then."

And I get attacked for it. Am told I'm depressed. I'm a naysayer. I don't understand how bad things are.

Yeah, and black is white.

Jesus.

[LanternWaste]

88. Not a lot...

Although there may be a few, I'd hazard that they're simply aren't as many by any stretch of the imagination as the RW sites have. I imagine though that we all see what we want to...

[Marr]

91. I don't think the country is in the same place it's always been.

We've been in a very similar spot before, but it's been quite a while. For the last 25 years or so, corporate power has been greatly increasing. More and more of the nation's wealth has been accumulating into fewer and fewer hands, and that imbalance has been accompanied by all the problems you would expect.

I suspect people will eventually get fed up with it and push back in a meaningful way. But things do change for the worse as well as for the better, and right now I think our changes are still solidly in the "worsening" category.

[Stinky The Clown]

94. The world isn't ending

It just could have been so much better.

it didn't have to be this way.

[AngryAmish]

99. PEAK OIL!

[spanone]

100. it is you