The long term view of the world by a fuzzy , tired, old teddy bear

[bear]

This Nation has survived World wars, Depressions, police actions, recessions, Fanatics, political extremism,
slavery, discrimination, incompetent political leadership at yet..........................We the People, have managed
to endure and even prevail, in correcting many of the ills of society. We will undoubtedly have to undergo a prolonged period of hardship, to get out of the mess we are in, but I feel confident that our Nation and our
People will get thru all the issues and will continue to remain the light of hope to the entire world. We are stronger then we know, have more courage then the world gives us credit for and a sense of honor and
decency that will endure. the 21st Century will continue, as  the American Century.

[FilthyBroke]

Yeah, but it will be more difficult for some than others.  Our youth seems to know(or care) little about our past, the struggles to get us where we are.  I often wonder how many of them would deal with real adversity, and if they would expect someone to fix it for them rather than to rise to a situation.   The attitude of so many people like this can be very troubling.

[Scottishmoney]

I must admit, I am rather proud to have been raised more by my grandmother who grew up during the Great Depression than anyone else.  I guess because of that I have an appreciation for what I have and a fear of what might happen economically.  I also tend to take a broader perspective of things, like world events, news etc than a lot of people do. 

I have a basic mistrust of people in power and a mistrust of people in the echelons of our corporate powerhouses that run America from behind the scenes.  I tend to view what is going on in America more as a matter of corporate greed, with the tacit approval of pandering politicians.  At this point in time the American people are too pre-occupied with "more important" matters, but soon they shall wake up and change will once more come as it always has in the past.  There will be holes in the road, bumps, etc, but with perseverance right always wins, always.

[walmann]

Have to agree with Filthy, the attitude of people is  perhaps the greatest obstacle to overcome.

Its almost ironic that while there are so many that only care about their own hedonistic pleasures, that many of those same people do not look to themselves for being responsible not only for their own welfare but also in regards to dealing with the larger issues of communities (at any level local,national or internationally) or society.

If anything often they display an attitude of an impotent victim and expect others to deal with and solve issues of concern.

[FilthyBroke]

I take it a step further than Scottishmoney, and tend to distrust most people in politics and business all together.   Money causes people to do strange things IMO. 

I also cringe at the reasoning behind some people's actions, and at how our politicians can tell you one thing and then conveniently forget all about it later.  Or how two people can see the same thing and report it as two completely different events.  Even the press seems to try to swing votes to their personal beliefs or affiliations. It's true that we have serious issues to deal with, but what can we do?  I registered and voted, but it didn't seem to make a difference.  It's the people as a whole who need to wake up to the smoothtalk and deception, the pandering or the doubletalk. 

It's the people who have to band together to make a change, but it's also the people who seem to be buying the flash and the glitter that is being fed to them.  How do you get through to someone?  You can't, if their mind is made up then they are not open to negotiation or reason.  The fear of being wrong is a tough one to overcome.

These are my observations.

[bear]

It is somewhat amusing what the ears of voters hear and what their brains comprehend.
Some voters hear only what they want to hear.Other voters hear nothing at all. There are
also voters that believe everything they hear, without questioning, comprehending or challenge.
We are in a society of short attention spans, we are angry but are not really sure who we should
be angry with. We are a people comfortable with 30 second sound bites and solutions to every
problem within a one hour tv show. We seem to be more comfortable repeating empty slogans ,then
we are with open minded and serious discussion of the issues of the day. The political problems that
our nation is facing is not the mentra "THE PROBLEM IS BIG GOVERNMENT OR "THE PROBLEM
IS BIG BUSINESS............."THE REAL PROBLEM ,IS WE THE PEOPLE". Until the real problem is solved,
by who we nominate and who we elect and what We The People ,demand from those elected officials,
we shall continue to be the sheep ready to be shorn again.

[FilthyBroke]

Amen, bear!  Nicely stated.

[Scottishmoney]

I guess you pretty much summed up why I have such a hard time watching television in the USA, there are too many punctuations and interruptions, everything is presented in short bursts, it has to be repeated like 20 times in a 60 minute show so that you haven't forgotten what is going on. 

It is obvious that television, and the news are created for ADHD suffering individuals that must have repeated information thrown at them.  It is almost as though people are robotic minions waiting for repeated instruction.

In contrast whence I have watched television in China, the programming is continuous and the commercial breaks are only in betwixt programmes, not punctuating them every five minutes.  Information doesn't get repeated multiple times either.