LividBovine
The Year of the Cow!
+175|6674|MN

usmarine wrote:

very nice for sure
Thanks
"The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation" - Barack Obama (a freshman senator from Illinios)
Macbeth
Banned
+2,444|5879

LividBovine wrote:

Never.

Here is how relwaxed I am:  I wrote this last night at work in about 2 hours.  I will edit it out in a minute.  I am going to keep adding to it for a while to what it turns into though.

On the Subject of Politics

I once believed that the Republicans were the ones who looked out for the rich and that the Democrats watched out for the poor.  I also believed this was a good thing for as long as there remained a general balance between them, neither the poor or the rich would be worse off.  My life was simple.  I paid little to no taxes and had pretty good standard of living.  I went through high school, 8 years of Military, and 4 years in private industry with this simple view.  I did not know or care if one was bad or good for our country, I simply viewed them as different from each other and never dug into it to find out what they actually stood for.  I slowly felt compelled to vote for Republican candidates simply because that is what my family did.  I did know what any of the candidates stood for other than they opposed the Democrats.  The Democrats were becoming the bad guys.

I learned that Republicans stood for a more conservative view and the Democrats stood for a liberal one.  At the time I thought conservative was a very good thing be and began to support, at least in my mind, the things they stood for.  I was very quick to support and defend something that had come from the conservative side.  This of course drove me to vilify the liberal point of view.  Conservative = good, Liberal = Bad.  Simple, right?  It was for a little while.  I would generally support political candidates and their views simply because they had the word Republican behind their name.  I found reasons to knock the Liberal candidates and everything was still simple and easy.  As a general rule I felt that any Republican would hold the same ideals as myself and therefore had my best interest at heart.  I believed that hard work would open opportunities and that laziness would beget failure.  I believed people are basically good and are capable of making good decisions with their lives.  Although these things are true, it did not reflect the mentality of the common Republican politician.  I was blind to the self preserving nature of the political environment in Washington.  I was also blind to the willingness of the common American to trust their freedom to a bunch of career lawyers/politicians.

Eventually I began to see what our country was founded on.  It came as quite a shock to realize the state our country was in and how blind I had been for so long.  It was not simply the Republicans were good and Democrats bad anymore.  I was beginning to realize the whole system was bad.  Who was the bad guy now?  Everyone in Washington it would seem.  What is bad about this government?  I am quite certain that we are moving in a very socialist direction.  We are trusting the federal government with dictating how we are to live our lives.  They should only be protecting our right to live our lives.  Our federal government was never meant to be the size it is now.  The founding fathers envisioned the federal government being primarily concerned with the defending of our country as a whole.  It was not meant to control aspects of daily life.  That was to be up to the local government.  The states were to be far more powerful in the affect that could have on your daily life.  There wasn’t even anything in the constitution about a federal income tax.  What opportunity have we foregone for our own selfishness?

How did we get to this point I have asked myself many times now.  I have come to the conclusion that mankind simply is greedy and at the same time unwilling and very unlikely to give up anything they perceive as a right.  The problem is their greed has driven the system to take away their precious freedom.  Why would we have let this happen to ourselves?  Greed rules over all.  We have extended our debt out into the future so that we can have things now.  By doing this we are opening ourselves up to a whole host of new financial predators.  As a species we are inclined to believe that those that we have dealings with have ours, and their best interest at heart.  We are sadly mistaken.  We have placed our trust in a system that is all too eager to take advantage of our foolishness.  On several occasions I have had people tell me that they think the banks are corrupt and should be punished for their actions.  How is this?  How can we hold the banks accountable for our overextending our finances?  Do we not know what is right for us?  Have we lost all sense of personal responsibility?  It appears as though we have.  By attempting to reign in the banks we are giving up some of our freedom.  The government is all too willing to step in and tell the banks how to run their business.  Didn’t we learn anything from CRA and HUD? 

So what is different?  Are we any different as people?  I think in a lot of ways we are.  We are very reluctant to take it upon ourselves to sacrifice anything.  We are far too comfortable in letting others make decisions for us.  We have trusted a ruling class far too long and may not be able to wrestle control back from them.

Our founding fathers warned us on many occasions of what was to come if we acted in certain ways.  We are now looking back and seeing just how wise our founding fathers were.  But not all are seeing their wisdom.  There are many who view them as relics of a bygone era.  We feel we have evolved beyond what they knew to be true.  We are faced with more complex issues that cannot be dealt with by some 200 year old piece of paper.  So, over time we have moved away from the founding principles and developed our own path.  We have given away our freedoms to secure our safety and have thus given away both (sound familiar).  We do not deserve the freedoms that we do have left.  We have disrespected the good faith sacrifice that so many have made for our freedom.

One may ask what is wrong with a socialist state.  There are many attributes that are appealing.  Socialism is designed to provide for all.  It is the great equalizer for the classes.  You will be provided for no matter what happens.  These are all goals of a socialist state.

So, what is wrong with all those ideals?  Socialism promotes the idea of entitlement and kills the drive to excel.  Whenever someone realizes they can receive the same compensation for doing less work, they will.  If there is no mechanism to reward hard work, there will be very little.  What incentive do people have to innovate or achieve?  None.  They will tow the line as they are told to do and not strive to improve their lot in life because there is no better lot for them to aspire to.  In addition to killing all ambition, it also fails at taking care of the people.  Because of the stated effects on personal ambition, the system slowly spirals downward till the collective can no longer sustain a decent standard of living for the individual.  To make gains as a society, there has to be a driving force.  If the driving force is sustainment of the system, then failure will surely come.  If the driving force is to improve one’s well being and their station in life, then that society will thrive.  T maintain a true republic, we must remain vigilant of the pitfalls born to us.  We are naturally inclined to let others do the thinking for us.  This can be very dangerous because there are very few who will hold your best interest ahead of their own.  There is always a trade off between liberty and safety.  The more you expect your government to keep you safe, from both others and yourself, the more freedom you must sacrifice.  It truly is a choice, and not all are against giving up their freedom.  What they fail to realize is the degradation of the human spirit as the government takes their worries from them.  It is also extremely evident how a pattern of behavior is created by a welfare state.  Those who become accustomed to the assistance invariably have a hard time giving it up.  They are after all working less and getting more.  What need is there to change?  Not all are as susceptible to this pattern, but most are. 

What needs to be fostered is a sense of self reliance.  A personal responsibility in our own lives.  People/children need to be taught throughout life that they are their own keepers and that no one should be expected to care for them when they are perfectly capable of it on their own.


Maybe I am taking this too serious.
got to the second paragraph before I quit. Was enjoying it but next time don't put it in sub.
LividBovine
The Year of the Cow!
+175|6674|MN
Didn't want to post a WOT.  Was just to make a point.  I could change it if you want.  Or you could just edit yourself when you Quoted it.
"The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation" - Barack Obama (a freshman senator from Illinios)
Macbeth
Banned
+2,444|5879

LividBovine wrote:

Didn't want to post a WOT.  Was just to make a point.  I could change it if you want.  Or you could just edit yourself when you Quoted it.
Lurkers can't quote and edit. Just saying. I'll finish it off once I get out the shower.
LividBovine
The Year of the Cow!
+175|6674|MN
It excited you that much?
"The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation" - Barack Obama (a freshman senator from Illinios)
Macbeth
Banned
+2,444|5879

LividBovine wrote:

It excited you that much?
Naw just got to clean the piercing. But it was interesting enough.
Turquoise
O Canada
+1,596|6699|North Carolina

mcjagdflieger wrote:

On the contrary Turq, I believe if that scenario happened, Texas would more likely try to boot all the mexicans out, or shoot them if they refused...and it nots like there would be nobody to do the menial jobs, with the influx of Americans into Texas after such a secession, most should gladly take over those jobs, at least one would hope, I for one wouldn't mind being a trashman or whatever, as long as I got  paid and was allowed to stay...its all gravy baby. Gotta love hypotheticals
I don't know.  Considering how many illegals Texas has and how many legal relatives they have in Texas, I'd say Texas will be Mexas in the near future.  California will be Mexifornia.

I'm not saying I have anything against Hispanics, but if current trends continue with regard to illegal immigration and birth rates, yeah...  They will be very different culturally than they are today.

Arizona will be quite different as well.

Last edited by Turquoise (2009-06-28 19:26:22)

Harmor
Error_Name_Not_Found
+605|6842|San Diego, CA, USA
We may not have to amend the 14th Amendment of the Constitution do the following:

The parent of a citizen born in the United States who is not in the United States legally and not here on a visa must be deported.  To parents may leave their new born to guardians in the United States or bring their new baby with them back to their own country.

The newborn is a United States citizen and may freely enter the country.



OR we do Plan B which would require us to amend the 14th:

If both parents of a baby born in the United States are illegal then that baby is NOT an American citizen.

Plan B will never get though 2/3rds of Congresses in the States.
Turquoise
O Canada
+1,596|6699|North Carolina
Plan B would probably get through most states actually.  You'd have a harder time getting it through Congress.

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