How do you keep hope alive?

[LiberalLoner]

I know it sounds like a stupid question, but I really want to hear your answers.

I don't have any hope any more. And I find it very difficult, if not impossible, to find happiness in my own life when I see things getting worse and worse for my fellow Americans. I'm happy for about a minute when I donate money to a food bank and then I'm sad again because I know even if I gave everything I had, it wouldn't be anywhere near enough. And I know, things are not going to be okay.

I think people are going to die of exposure and starvation. I think they are dying right now of that, and diseases that could be prevented or treated.

I don't see anything getting any better. I don't see any route to things getting better. Racism and sexism and homophobia apparently will never end, and the rich will always win.

I'm old and tired and I've run out of hope for this country.

Anybody else there too?

[Taverner]

1. The Morphine was doing the trick until I had to quit

[LiberalLoner]

2. LOL :) You know there does seem to be a really high rate of

substance abuse and addictions of all kinds in the U.S. I wonder how we compare to other nations on that?

Yeah, whenever I've taken percocet, I've noticed a mood lift. I used to think it was all in my imagination but then I learned that was a side effect of the med.

[CTyankee]

23. I don't like painkillers, even when I must take them for pain.

I do, however, look forward to having my red wine with dinner. That and good company can be a real help for these depressing times...

[HillbillyBob]

3. Yes

nt

[mmonk]

4. Because hope is what we have. Hope for a better time and approach.

Without it, it would be hopelessly depressing. Not hope as a slogan or marketing. Real hope. But it will require actions. Powerful interests out there wield millions to crush opposition and spirit.

[LiberalLoner]

5. If it gets bad enough...will it be like the French Revolution was, I wonder? There was

positive change eventually from that even though it was an horrific era.

[mmonk]

15. I hope not.

The people aren't becoming agressive for the right reasons and our society is shaming the desperate. The more violent politically in this country are supporters of the ruling class. We have not seen pure desperation yet. I hope much can be averted. Desperation can lead to ugly outcomes.

[HillbillyBob]

44. Yea kind of soured on that hope as propaganda.

I think all the time. What to do? what to suggest? and can I stop bitchin?
Its not so much bitching as I don't want to see thousands or millions (oh god no) go through the stuff I have. Most would not survive it, I barely did.

[LiberalLoner]

46. I'm sorry for what you have gone through, but I'm glad you survived. The

world is a much better place because you are here. :)

[HillbillyBob]

47. We are doing what we can for the future, from startin an eco farm

so we can survive.
We have a motto " It's all an experiment".
Learning to grow and put up heirloom foods, slow cooking and maybe be able to pass that that learning on.

I have a friend that saw rev fred phelps on a side walk one day and lost her cool and chased him down the side walk with her car. Not really productive, but very entertaining. I see these blow hard rich a**holes on tv sayin folks like me have to take it in the ass yet again, and I want to do the same as she did. That we have to give up the $ that we put into SS when they have already stolen most everyone's IRA/401s in the last year and I want to do something stupid , so I do the next best thing and stay out on our place in the woods.

[LiberalLoner]

52. Wow, that's awesome your friend did that!

I wish I could have seen that! :)

It's really cool that you are doing heirloom, organic farming too. There was a book I read, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" - if you have a copy in your library locally you might like to read it.

I read Kunstler's column a lot about peak oil and changes that will happen, and he says most of us are going to end up being small scale farmers. That will be how we will survive.

I wish you the best.

[HillbillyBob]

54. I have read widely about what peak oil will do..since I got caught

flat footed before. We had hoped to be more established by now, but we are working with a severely limited budget. I do speak up and say some of the things we have done to make the house more efficient. Its a largish modular(double wide 75x30) we bought as abandoned and it was total electric and when we needed to use the heat pump it cost 450 a month now our power bills are 150 to 200$, still more than easy, but we keep replacing things as they die off with the most efficient lowest amp/watt draw with an eye to a pv system and solar water heating. We are actually more cozy in winter and cooler in summer and used a 10.9 seer window unit 1500 watts instead of 4800 that he heat pump used.
Our end goal is to be as close to fossil fuel free as possible. It is near impossible, but if we don't spend $ on oil / coal/ gas that's a raise in pay!
Also that money goes to people who actually hate us..IE the energy companies and those in the MidEast who hate us for raping their natural resources(that goes for ever other corporation that mines for minerals, sucks up their drinking water to sell as bottle water(cocacola).

[LiberalLoner]

57. You are doing really good things with the resources you have...

You are an inspiration. I hope you won't suffer as our empire collapses. Or I should say, suffer more than you already have. :(
Life is so damn unfair sometimes. Most of the time.

[LiberalLoner]

59. I just went and turned on my christmas tree lights. Maybe someone will walk past and

see the pretty lights and be happy. My one act of hope for this afternoon I guess.

[HillbillyBob]

71. LEDs I hope, smile.

nt

[mmonk]

60. I wish you had video on your friend's action.

It would have been entertaining indeed.

[HillbillyBob]

68. Oh I do too but then again she would be open to legal action by phelps

She has enough crap going on with being laid off from work repeatedly and health issues. I sure don't want to identify her.

[mmonk]

83. I certainly understand that.

[HillbillyBob]

88. and thank you..i got busy

5 dogs and a snow storm in and out and all that entails. Lots of feets to wipe dry or muck to clean up later.

[GoCubsGo]

87. Yup.

It's either that or slit my wrists. Got no other choice but to try to remain hopeful.

[polichick]

6. It's a crazy and dangerous time - but when it looks really grim it helps to...

...think of things that have gotten better in the course of your life. When I was a kid Lake Erie was dead and Pittsburgh was swaddled in a cloud of soot. Blacks and whites still used separate water fountains in the South - I was shocked to see that on our vacations. For days I couldn't sleep because I was so worried about my brother being drafted. As scary as things are, I am grateful for the way some things have changed.

But honestly, I don't think this country will make it in any recognizable way if we don't take back the gov't from the corporations and end America's permanent war economy and culture.

[LiberalLoner]

9. Thank you for the reminder of how some things have changed for the better. And you know,

none of it happened without a big fight.

How do we fight back against the corporations and government and media collusion?

I read once that facism tends to burn itself out in a decade or two. I guess I can hope for that.

[polichick]

26. I know what you mean - sometimes I feel like I've been fighting my whole life...

First got involved as a kid on behalf of the environment and it has never stopped.

The only way I can see us turning things around is for citizens of all stripes (teabaggers to liberals like me) to stand together against corporate power and the military industrial congressional complex. It could happen through dozens of grassroot organizations who band together to elect populists, or it could happen with the creation of a new populist party led by somebody already well-known who could speak in a strong clear voice about the need to put our cultural differences aside in order to save the country.

I don't know if it's possible - maybe, as you say, it'll just burn out, or maybe the end of empire is on the horizon.

[LiberalLoner]

32. I don't know how we can unite with some of the teabagger candidates talking about

"open season" on liberals and "second amendment remedies." There is just no way I can find common ground with a person who wants to kill me, that I can see.

[polichick]

40. Well, I think many of those voters could be informed about what's really...

...going on and could support candidates who would stand up for the middle class. They're right to be angry, but have been manipulated into turning their anger on the wrong people and voting for those who don't have their best interests in mind - but Dems have also been manipulated and sometimes we turn our anger on teabaggers when they're not really our enemy either. Divide and conquer is the game played by corporations and the parties.

[HillbillyBob]

53. I don't know that to be true since the backing and orgs/ familys

groups however you want to gather them up have been simmering neo nazis since WWII. The evangelicals really started to turn to the crazy in the late 70s as were the militias ...now they sort of overlap and some of the teahadists would be their leaders if they could. The only good SP is doing on that front is they are so busy worshiping her or lusting after her they can't seem to think straight enough to ignite that revolution they've been harping about since I can recall(attended a few of their meetings. churches etc in the 70s 80s by the 90s it was too dangerous.

[polichick]

56. Good point - we have a lot of those people here...

...in PA. One tried to run me off the road because of my Obama sticker.

Still, I think there are a lot of angry Republican and indie voters who sort of jumped on the bandwagon without really knowing who they were getting involved with. Already viewers are seeing a different Sarah Palin than they imagined by watching her show, and she's having trouble selling her second book - crowds have really diminished. Those voters are still going to be angry and could be drafted for a populist movement.

[HillbillyBob]

70. I had an Obama sticker and a rainbow flag on my pickup

I live in NC near Danville Va, I had several try to push my little pickup and tail gate me all the time..until I put an NRA sticker on it.
There are not many around here who make trouble.
Caswell county's early settlers were mostly Quaker, and now we have many Amish and Mennonite. Its like living in 'Mayberry'. Other parts of NC have baggie idjits, but mostly its fairly progressive.
The agressive drivers I have seen mostly have Va tags.
One woman in a Camry has tried to run me off the road 2x, I am just about to start carrying the pistol in the car with me(the pickup motor blew out last year and I haven't the $ to get a new motor). She had teagag nation stickers on her camry. I should/would report her to the cops but both times I have not been able to get a good description other than its a gold color late model with va tags.

[HillbillyBob]

89. I grew up just South of Cumberland Md in rural WV

I remember going to Pittsburgh for a Pirates game..oh around 68 69.
I remember all the soot too. I also remember the bald mountains around the paper mill where my dad worked in Westernport Md. I also remember how there were no fish in the Potomac and I have thought ever since that the Potomac being WDCs water supply affects the minds of those in government. I mean it was stinking no fish, but carp nasty. There was the paper mill, a tire plant and a chemical plant that made rayon dumping their wastes into it.

I just f ing love how the right bitches about regulation. idiots.
I had to go to town for some shopping to fill stocks back up in case we were stuck at home with the snow and the woman at the check out in front of me had Glenn Becks latest authorial attempt and the two women were cooing and I love beck from the cashier it was everything I could do to not light into them. I kept my face bland and managed to get to the car before mutterin about f ing idiots.

[DFab420]

7. Well, you are your own worst enemy at the moment

The only thing that can keep your hope alive is you.

If you truly find no joy in life than I think you have forgotten about life in a very real sense. These are hard times indeed, but there have been far harder we have faced, and will face in times we can't even begin to fathom.

Everyday there are tragedies and miracles. Everyday there are people dying, and people being saved. At this very moment a child is born, an old man dies, a dog will be hit be a car, and another dog will be missed by a car. Racism is alive, but not in your heart, sexism is alive but not in your heart. Just because there are ugly people in the world doesn't mean the world is an ugly place.

I may be beaten, but I am not broken.

If you want to keep your hope alive, just keep going.

I know that sounds silly but if you stand strong against the storm...If you weather the slings and arrows of life, if you refuse to allow the ugliness of others trump the beauty of your own heart then you can keep hope alive.

If you refuse to say die, if you never quit, no matter the cost, physical or spiritual, you will keep hope alive.

No one can take hope from you except yourself. So pick your hope up, carry it on your shoulders as it has done for you, and make sure you keep stoking the coals..the fire will begin to burn again.

From Emily Dickinson:
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

[LiberalLoner]

10. Thank you for this beautiful and inspiring post. n/t

[cilla4progress]

27. Thank you.

Your words heal. Esp. like the Dickenson. There is much truth I think in what you say. Perhaps the arts are where to turn and, as you say, ultimately, no one can take hope away from you, if you don't let them: you own your hope. It can be damn difficult to hold onto in these times, however.

[Amonester]

8. This species will soon have amused itself to death.

Maybe that un-deniable truth will ease the way down a little.

There's nothing you and I, individually, can do against it.

The last hope that remains, is that one day (before it's too late, but it's highly un-likely), something will change for the better, but as it is, nothing points in that direction.

This planet will outlive the Homo-Sapiens, like it did the big mamals, and the dinosaurs before them.

[LiberalLoner]

12. I think there's going to be a big dieoff too. Not sure how it will go down. n/t

[Gregorian]

11. It's even harder to be hopeful when you look at the bigger picture.

Yes, the thing you mention are immediate and important. But I spend a lot of my mental time looking at the effects of global warming. Of population. I recently met someone who just got back from living in China for the last fifteen years. He went into a village, and by the time he left it was a massive city with highrise buildings. The carbon footprint of China is going to push this planet over the edge. I lost my hope in the 70's. I saw the fields turn to cement. I've edited this post. Hope is not knowing that China WILL push the planet over the edge. I don't know that it will. I caught myself going into hopelessness again.

I wanted to say that regardless of the situation, hope comes from having a sense that tomorrow will be at least as good as today, for me and for you. It comes from a level of certainty.

It's this certainty that we are lacking. Things look like they are going to be worse tomorrow.

Avoidance works. But it stops working.

I don't have a good answer, except to say that the human mind is limitless. That, right now, is the only thing giving me hope. Who would have thought that Wikileaks would be so brilliant as to get the evil monsters in a huff? And everyone isn't a Dick Cheney. There are good people out there.

We aren't guaranteed any hope. We have to manufacture it.

[LiberalLoner]

14. Maybe that's what it is...I'm having a hard time being happy with reality right now, LOL...

someone once said to me that my problem was that I just didn't drink nearly enough. He might have been right.

I've never been very good at denial. I've always kind of marvelled at people who are good at denial. It seems like it would be a very useful skill to have as a person must be more comfortable when in denial.

Well, maybe things can still change. Sometimes things do change very quickly, and in surprising ways. Sometimes good things happen too.

[LaurenG]

13. This can't be about pinning our hopes on anyone anymore except us

Congress and the President are going to do what the majority in the beltway decide. The senate is a lost cause unless the republicans finally see through their own party's shenanigans.

Start networking with like minded people, move forward living your life the way you want to live it. If you see/hear others spouting racism say something, if you see someone in need lend a hand, if you see someone dying of disease be compassionate and lend comfort. Do what you can and really live your life.

Work with the people from wishadoo, send money to feed America, volunteer at your local food pantry, homeless shelter or hospice. Do what you do best and apply it to helping others. We can be of great service to each other if we try.

http://wishadoo.com

http://feedingamerica.org/take-action/donate.aspx?convio_source=YXXOXSEM&convio_subsource=feedingamerica&gclid=CLuV9f_z0KUCFU1-5Qod5RzDDg

http://www.familyhomelessness.org/


typo

[LiberalLoner]

16. Thank you. Helping others has been the only thing that has made me feel any

better. For a little while.

[cilla4progress]

33. Definitely agree with this.

Helping others - retaining one's integrity; exercise; and drugs! That'll normally do it for me...one or all of the above!

[immune]

17. This, too, shall end.

And there will be a new beginning. Some of us might not be around to see it, but it'll happen. I just hope the new people are a little smarter than we've been. I guess that's about the only thing left to hope for.

In the meantime, it would be helpful if we understood what and who brought us to this pass. Unfortunately, somebody doesn't want us to know the answers and we leave it at that.

[Hannah Bell]

18. solidarity & perspective. we're all going to die & the world is eventually

going to turn into a dead rock no matter what we do.

bad times come, bad times go, & people still manage to love and enjoy each other.

fighting the good fight & being as kind as we can is about the most we can achieve in our brief existences.

hang in there -- the bastards win when they succeed in making people feel hopeless & powerless. your little mite has an effect in the world whether you know it or not.

[cilla4progress]

19. Sadly, yes.

Disappointed. Pessimistic. Cynical. Angry much of the time. Struggling. Even though I finally got a job in my field after 12 mos. of unemployment, like you, I hurt for my country. The country I used to know.

I give up on Americans, as much as anything. I wish I lived somewhere else. There. I said it. Come and get me.

Going to pour myself a drink. It's 12:30 pm. Fortunately, this is rare for me. Other than exercise - and I'm hanging out, depressed on my couch today - alcohol is the only thing I presently have on hand to tweak this reality.


:hangover:

[LiberalLoner]

21. I wish I lived somewhere else too....I understand (((HUGS))) n/t

[Arugula Latte]

42. Me too. I wish I had been born in Europe.

I have a deep-seated feeling that I should have been born on that continent. Whenever I think about trying to emigrate I think about how my extended family lives here and that is one huge stumbling block to leaving. Elderly parents to think of and the like.

[madmax]

20. "I'm old and tired and I've run out of hope for this country".

I'm with you, just trying to keep us alive.

Up until recently I did have some hope but, the cards are so stacked against us, the system so fully corrupted and entrenched that I'm on the verge of saying fuck it.

[LiberalLoner]

22. I feel like about all I can do is try to be kind to the people around me as much

as I can and try to help when I can and try to fight back against the right-wing hatred and the corporate agenda as much as I can. But I feel about as effective as one of those Polish heroes throwing rocks at the tanks when the NAZIs steamrolled through their country.

[madmax]

48. Yes, yes - you're analogy is spot on. nt

[HillbillyBob]

74. I know exactly how you feel . I hope you can cope and feel better

I had to go to bed.

Today is a new day and we are supposed to have snow.
So off we go to the shopping to make sure we can hold out stranded for a few days if it comes to that. It likely won't, but we try to be prepared.
Where we live snow is a chance thing. It usually lays on the ground for a day or two, but can stick for a week sometimes, we live up a dirt trail that becomes impassible unless you have an ATV or 4wd, we have a front wheel drive Versa which does fairly well, until the snow freeze/ thaw freeze into an ice slick then we are not going anywhere.

[cilla4progress]

35. Isn't this bizarrely ironic,

given our hope when Obama was elected? Maybe that's the cause actually, we got our hopes up too high; crash was inevitable.

[LiberalLoner]

38. I think that was the case with me, for certain. I really got my hopes up way too high. n/t

[madmax]

49. My hopes were very high when Obama was elected.

I would tell everyone that if he does half of what he campaigned on he would go down as one of the best Presidents ever. Along with FDR and JFK.

Ouuuch! The fall to reality really hurts.

[Parker CA]

24. Always find one aspect of good even in the most dismal situations. Stay happy in areas of your life

that offer your more opportunities to do so and be sure to use them as a counter-balance to the less happy areas. Keeping perspective too.

[blindpig]

25. Hope is useless.

Worse, it defers action. Stop waiting for some person on a white horse to lead us to the promised land, particularly those of the ruling class or their lackeys, the political class. The working class can only liberated itself, can't expect our enemies to do it for us.

[JoseGaspar]

30. And while you are at it...

...let some of the people out who are pinned under that bus. They were imprisoned there in an orgasm of "progressive respectability". Respectability will get you killed.

Who was the first one under that bus? Reverend Wright? Whay did he have to say?

With three years of wisdom, since... was he wrong?

Who else is under there?

[LiberalLoner]

34. I would LOVE to hear all of Rev. Wright's sermons because he speaks the truth,

at least from the little I know about him.

[cilla4progress]

36. So true.

[HillbillyBob]

77. Being gay and having had many Af Am friends who

spent a lot of time educating me I knew what Rev Wright was talking about when all that silly ass rpig nonsense was going on. When I tried to say anything in his defense I was a nazipinkofagcommie..and I was right about Rev Wright.
I did not just go to Dominionist churches and snoop on kkk meetings, I also went to a few black churches.

I came to understand what he and other preachers were railing against the unfairness etc of 'white murikkka'. Of course I had a step up in understanding after having folks that seemed like 'aunt bea' show me their uzis and talk about the revolution of white folks against N*****s, F**s, K****, on and on.

We really do have something to be afraid of them for, they are mal-informed selfish, self centered etc and armed some have full armories in the basement.

[rug]

28. What is peddled by politicians is not and never was hope. Look closer to home for it.

[county worker]

29. I'm willing to bet most anything that what I say here will be really put down by most but I don't

really care what others think about it because it has worked for me.

I was homeless at one time and got back to where I had a typical middle class life. Then a job loss that lasted a long time. I lost our house and just about everything. I was clinically depressed and was in a safe house because I was so suicidal. My wife's family were telling her to leave me. We spent Christmas eve that year walking down the street and looking into windows of houses that had decorations that you could see and went home and cried ourselves to sleep. We had no money for presents and very little of anything.

I had started doing something when I was homeless before that I learned in AA. It is the idea of a god box or a symbol of turning your problems over to a higher power. I connected that to the idea of positive thinking and the power of attraction. The idea that what you think about or can have a vision for you can bring to your life. It is also the idea behind the book "The Secret."

I have been OK through most of the years since then and have lost wealth because of the poor economy but we are no where near where we were. I am about to close on a new house in a few weeks.

My thinking is that what happens to us can be singularly different from what is happening to others around us. We are not all in a roller coaster all heading for the same disaster or what ever.

I really believe that your out comes can be different than the general population as a whole if you believe they can.

I know it is not a popular thought around this board but it doesn't matter to me.


I found this back then

There are times in every life when we feel hurt or alone. . . But I believe that these times when we feel
lost and all around us seems to be falling apart are really bridges of growth.
We struggle and try to recapture the security of what was, but almost in spite of ourselves, we emerge on
the other side with a new understanding, a new awareness, a new strength. It is almost as though we must
go through the pain and the struggle in order to grow and reach new heights.

[LiberalLoner]

37. Thank you for this. I am glad you are doing okay now and I'm glad that you

didn't commit suicide when the times were so bad for you and your family. I hope there will be good things for you in the future, and comfort.

I think that's part of what makes me feel so sad to be honest. I have a roof over my head and wonderful food to eat and health care and I know I'm the luckiest person on earth because of all of that. I feel survivor's guilt. I feel like I have no right to have all these things and to be happy when there are people suffering.

[county worker]

43. I feel the same most of the time. I can't be truly happy for myself when I know there are so many

people suffering. My wife and I give food to the pantries and we give money to people on the street. I try to encourage others to help where they can.

This thanksgiving my mother-in-law was ranting about all the people on the corners asking for handouts and making it sound like they were just too lazy to get a real job or something. I think it was her way of not feeling bad about them since all this poverty is overwhelming to lots of us.

I tell people that it isn't my place to decide why these people are asking for money but if they didn't need it they wouldn't be asking. I think the karma you create is in the giving and we should feel good that we have the ability to help out if we can.

[cilla4progress]

39. No, I respect your honesty and your truth, absolutely.

I mean, this is the basis of the spiritual impulse: to recognize there is something larger than ourselves, and that ultimately, we have no control over it. Call it god, universe, Buddha, creator, religion, "order," whatever it is, it is clearly universal.

Thank you.

[Independent_Liberal]

31. How do I keep hope?

Well, I hang onto it by signing petitions relating to good causes and reading daily email updates from organizations seeking to do something good, whether it be something that's helpful to the environment, helps people who are hurting financially, seeks to correct what's wrong with the justice system, etc. That's one of the ways I hold onto it. Also, donating change every so often to help those starving and in need of shelter makes me feel good.

Basically, I try to focus on the little things. The little things people do to help out and things I can do to help out as well.

At a time of massive despair, hope can be a hard thing for many to hang onto. That's a for sure thing. I think it's best that we not let ourselves be defeated by hopelessness. Rather, I find it better to take what could be fueling that self-defeating energy and transform it into positive energy by doing something you feel will be productive and helpful to yourself and others in the long run.

Many battles aren't won over night. Some take longer than others. But if you know in your heart you'd love to do what's right and would like to get past your despair, it's best you start with something small and that can eventually lead to bigger changes.

Hang in there.

[LiberalLoner]

41. Thank you - I do those things too :) I just wonder if any of it really makes any

difference. Doesn't it feel like trying to sweep back the ocean sometimes?

Today for instance I bought a box of food at the grocery store for the food pantries locally. I do that or give money every time I go to the store. I felt happy for about a minute and then I immediately thought - that's only one box of food. What about the millions who won't have food now because of unemployment assistance ending? What good will one box do?

[LiberalLoner]

45. And I'll admit something else - I feel afraid all the time. I have no idea what I am

afraid of exactly. I just wake up with that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach and walk around with it all day long. I am on two different drugs so far for high blood pressure and it's going back up again. I know the fear is driving that but I can't seem to reassure myself or make myself less afraid. And I don't even know what I'm afraid of, exactly.

It just feels like it did when I grew up in a household with an abusive alcoholic. It's that "the shoe is getting ready to drop" feeling.

[Independent_Liberal]

64. I know that feeling...

It's kind of a sinking feeling. When things are at their worst, you have a tendency to become nervous about what may be in store for you. Yes, I think we've all been there at some point or another.

Anyway, as to whether or not what you do does any good, I agree that at times it feels like you're fighting back against the tide of an ocean. Usually how it is when the problem is so big, it's just overwhelming. When I do the small things, I just take comfort in knowing that there's others like me who are doing the same thing and if I, and others, make contributions over a period of time, it will begin to have an impact with time. It may not be much, but it can go on to help in a big way for some folks, depending on what their situation is.

[saras]

50. Live a life that's worth it

Learn to fix things, in case you can't buy new ones.
Learn to feed yourself without corporate food.
Get to know your neighbors, and start cooperative projects with them.
Fill your life with arts made by people with hope.

Weed the toxic input out of your life, in whatever order you can manage it.
Stop indulging in corporate media.
Stop being a consumer.

If you live somewhere you can't do any of these things, make moving your first priority.

[Gold Metal Flake]

51. Denial and booze.

[H2O Man]

55. Fair and Interesting Question.

I'm not exactly sure how to answer it. But I'll take a shot.

I grew up in poverty and violence. I tend to think that I was the angriest teenager in American history. I liked to fight -- far too many street fights, but mainly I channeled my rage into boxing.

As a youngster, I was outraged by injustices, big and small. Perhaps by chance, though I doubt it like hell, I became friends, through the mail, with the angry former middleweight boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Our friendship helped me get through times of being a homeless teenager, and then dealing with all the legal problems that can come as a result of being angry, homeless, and capable of physical violence. These aren't times that I take any pride in -- I am convinced that it is a miracle that I'm not either dead or a flint-hard convict.

But I survived. And part of that, I think, was because I had the only innocent Hurricane, not simply scaring me straight, but also because he convinced me that I had self-worth. I ended a heck of an amateur boxing career, and walked through the doors of a college -- something that I never had considered as an option before.

I had a career in social work. My favorite parts included working with angry teens and young adults, including many who were incarcerated. I also furthered my informal education in the schools of low-income neighborhoods (I grew up in a very, very rural setting).

More, I worked on Carter's case, and then many other related types of issues and causes. I became a fair community organizer. I found that everything is connected.

A decade ago, I was seriously injured in an ugly three-car auto wreck. My employer retired me. I've been frustrated -- well, even really angry -- that this body no longer can do what it once did. I decided to withdraw. I enjoyed time with my family, of course, but I was very comfortable in isolation.

Many of the people I had solid friendships with had died. But one of the friends that I continued to speak with was Rubin. One afternoon, I was talking about the comforts of isolation. Now, I'm not the teenager I used to be, but he gave me a stern lecture! He let me know that it is not okay to just withdraw, that there is way too much important work to do now. Of course, I kind of resented that. But I thought a lot about it, and decided to roll back the stone.

A while later, my best friend and wife told me that she was glad that I was alive again. And I have given that a heck of a lot of thought, too.

How do I keep hope alive? A large part of it, to me, is knowing that there are plenty of teenagers out there, who when given just a little bit of support, will recognize their self-worth, and reach for their full potential. They are the future. And that's my hope for the future.

I'm not sure if this makes any sense. But, as I'm working on some projects related to Rubin's new book, it s what I thought of when I read your OP.

[LiberalLoner]

58. Thank you so much for this! It makes a whole lot of sense to me. It reminds me

of something else I read a long time ago...I read that all of us are powerful spiritual beings, and we affect others for ill or good, much more than we realize.

Thank you for reminding me of the power for good each of us can have. :) I needed to hear that today.

I struggled a lot with anger too. I think it's kind of a miracle I didn't become a mass murderer. To be honest I still struggle with blind rage sometimes.

[asdjrocky]

61. Cannabis, a little more cannabis,

and then I try to concentrate on growing more cannabis.

Seriously though, for me, my life is turning inward. I'll focus on me and a small circle of friends, and spend the rest of the time ridiculing the oligarchy, and the wide eyed folks that believe them. It really does make me fell better.

[MilesColtrane]

62. Lately I do it by logging off of DU for awhile.

[chowder66]

63. ...think of the people with less than you that still have hope.

People all over the world, no matter their plight have some of the most immense hope, that is something to remember when you feel hopeless.

I'm sorry you are running out of hope for this country. Maybe it's time to take a break and enjoy the little things. Find your hope again, you will be a better fighter for change.

[rucky]

65. This thread may help...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9684786

[NuclearDem]

66. I once lost hope...but then I found DU

Just being surrounded by people who truly believe in a Progressive America gave me the feeling that I'm not alone in how I felt about America's direction.

But if you need any more hope, just take a step outside...look at everything around you. Every. Little. Thing outside your window you can thank American progressives of the past for fighting for. You have to realize we've all been given a heavy burden to bear, and some gigantic shoes to fill; but I believe we can take up that struggle. I believe we can do our predecessors proud. We just have to realize it's never over.

Whether Wall Street, our own political parties, our system of government, or the right in this country like it or not, WE WILL PREVAIL. That's simply how this is gonna end.

[TK421]

67. I curl up with a good book, by my radiator heater that doesn't work

because my landlord is a slumlord that doesn't fix heating ( but I like to pretend it's warm ) a bottle of beer, or a glass of Sauvignon Blanc...all with a good book

If that doesn't help things....I just force myself to go to sleep

[B Calm]

69. The rich bastards have been riding on the back of a tiger and the

tiger is getting hungry! I see interesting days ahead!

[mstinamotorcity]

72. How about a little ACTION!!!!!!

Listen, when things get me down, and believe me I have been all the way below bottom and back up on more than one occasion, I get up swinging!!!!!I become pro-active in my own recovery!!!!First things first. Pick your head up!!! Wipe off your chin and wash your tear stained face!!!Then look in the mirror and say, I and the people around me need me to advocate for us!!!!My life and the lives of my fellow citizens deserve better!!!!Look corruption as what it is CORRUPTION!!! It cannot CHANGE!!! But YOU can.Time to do things differently. We have been trying to solve these old problems with old ways of thinking!!!

TOMBStone

[OneGrassRoot]

78. You're singing my song...

:thumbsup:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9656969&mesg_id=9679395

[mstinamotorcity]

79. Thank you

Check the Date. Would you believe that I have no choice in what I am seeing??I must voice what I know is extremly controvesial. But it must be said.http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=255x2364 and http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=255x2365

TOMBStone

[OneGrassRoot]

80. Not sure what you mean...

Sorry, not enough coffee yet. :(

If your comment about "I have no choice in what I'm seeing" refers to my comments about choosing to have hope, trust me, I understand that much is out of our control and the suffering of so many is, and always has been, horrific. How we respond to it is where I feel we have a personal choice.

And, I do believe we should respond, not turn away. To me, that's NOT a viable option, not one with any integrity.

As to your links and attempts to engage people in action, it is a very, very hard thing to do here on DU!!! I've tried several times. What you suggest would be ABSOLUTELY AWESOME and would definitely create change. It is indeed a Herculean effort to get enough people to choose that action for it to be effective, but I ABSOLUTELY SUPPORT you in working toward that.

If you start a campaign for that, consider me on board.

:thumbsup:

:hi:

[mstinamotorcity]

85. maybe I stated it poorly.

This has been in my head since I was a child.Getting old now.So its out there!!!

[Vickers]

73. Bourbon.

Although I did have a martini this morning.

[Hubert Flottz]

75. You are not alone.

On 12/12/2000, the SCOTUS started America into a crash dive when they selected a pResident.

[OneGrassRoot]

76. I choose to have hope...

Every moment it is a choice, but it is one of the few things within our control in a world which feels so out of control.

Every single one of us has a right to feel angry, frustrated, demoralized...hopeless. I'm so sorry you feel as you do. I've been there...it feels awful. :hug:

I can't exist in this world without having hope. I may dislike people in many ways, but I have tremendous confidence in Humanity as a whole. I have hope that we can turn things around, and I firmly believe that if we have any strength left, there are things we can DO. Venting our feelings is necessary; staying immersed in the anger and hopelessness gets us nowhere. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I grew up around apathy and hopelessness, and rather than embrace that (even though outwardly it probably seemed that I should have given my experiences and challenges...lol), I went in the opposite direction. I maintain my sense of hope not only by choosing to believe things can get better, but also by taking steps -- however small they may seem -- to work toward creating the world I choose, and empowering others to do the same.

But, they have to make that same choice.

I've linked to several recent posts which speak to this same subject, and have included words I just read this morning that inspire me, no matter how Pollyanna-ish it may seem to others.

:grouphug:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9656969&mesg_id=9679395

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9656969&mesg_id=9679341

"You can call it the Godspark, the 100th Monkey, The Reunion, Critical Mass, or whatever you like, but, regardless of what you call it, it is coming. People are going to be lifted up and out of this encumbered mindset into a freer, more exalted place. We may or may not leave this Earth, however, the days of being a slave to another man's whims, the days of having our happiness tied to how much money we have, the days of us harming ourselves for reasons we are unaware of are coming to an end. It will be a huge relief and a release such as we have never felt before. We'll wake up one morning, and everywhere you go you'll see people happy and smiling because they will be being given everything they need freely and lovingly.

"Consider what happens when you strike a match. There is a critical point when just enough friction occurs to cause a spark to spring forth and a fire that wasn't there a moment before to burn brightly in front of you. It's the same with mankind as we move into the new millennium. It doesn't take all of us to bring about the change; it just takes enough of us to intend that we live in a world of peace and freedom and joy. It will happen in an instant. One moment we may still be shuffling through the shadows, and then, suddenly, in the next moment, one inspired person breaks a lifelong pattern and opens up to the highest good - and with this simple act of love, the entire human race reaches a critical point. A spark of light flickers, then bursts into flame, heralding a new standard and the life that we all deserve to live.

That person could be you." (from intenders.org)

[TexasObserver]

81. I really wonder if it's possible, any more.

I think that's my biggest disappointment in the president. He's really given HOPE a beatdown.

[OneGrassRoot]

84. It's not easy to have hope lately, that's for damn sure. ;) n/t

[TorchTheWitch]

82. really thick rose colored glasses

Unfortunately, they don't work for me and never have.

It's one big club and we ain't in it. Never has that been more blatant and obvious in my lifetime than now.

[Tsiyu]

86. I have more and more days like that

but I'm trying to remember that I'm grieving over something that never was in our "leaders'" minds.


And it isn't in the minds of enough Americans.




"Do what you can
With what you have
Where you are."


One of my friend's bumper stickers.




1) Isolation feeds crazy

2) Turn off TV...Turn on Music...Dance...repeat

3) Nature always has something to say. Get close enough to hear.



:)

[DesertDiamond]

90. Since you say you are truly looking for anwers, I hope you don't mind if I repost this:

My reply to another poster who was feeling no hope was this:

There is indeed hope! At some point enough people will realize that just by changing themselves they can change their environment. This is not just a theory but has been proven time and again both by individuals and in larger segments of society in some parts of the world. In that light, may I share a quote?

"Where can we find the royal road to reformation and change? Emerson declared: 'Not he is great who can alter matter, but he who can alter my state of mind.' He strongly urged us to undergo an inner reformation. I want you to be assured that the challenge to which we set ourselves day after day—that of our human revolution—is the royal road to bringing about a reformation in our families, local regions and societies. An inner revolution is the most fundamental and at the same time the ultimate revolution for engendering change in all things." - Daisaku Ikeda

Nichiren Daishonin said enough people will catch on to this principle and we will have peace and prosperity for the entire planet, "as surely as an arrow aimed at the earth will reach its mark." So, please defeat your dispair and replace it with hope!

[Forkboy]

91. ....