is anyone else concerned with where we are going .....with our so called land of opportunity life... or am i the only one who is concerned with our loved ones givivng their life for a cause that is not just .... and a gas price that is dictated by speculation on wall st...and our own country inundated by natural disaster yet they have no govt to assist them.... before you even start on take care of yourselves.... we pay taxes upon taxes upon taxes so dont give me that .... i live in one of the most taxed states in the country and im happy to pay my taxes if it goes to a good cause and i will not sit here and pretend that i am a rhodes scholar or even have a fantastic degree blah blah blah but i willl sit here and tell you that i am an average citizen who feels that our country is on the wrong path and whoever wins in the next election....better do something otherwise the country that we all know and love will be just a pisshole in the snow

I think you should sit around and wait for Big Brother to bail you out, and not lift a finger in your own behalf.

You say in one sentence to "not give you that" in regard to take care of yourself then finish with "better do something." Good idea.

Try taking of yourself instead of expecting others to carry you. We probably wouldn't need those taxes you mention if not for people with your dependent mentality.

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You can't always be first .... but you CAN be NEXT

No.

You are the only America concerned with the future of the nation.

Odd, isn't it?

You'd think that out of nearly 300,000,000 of us, there'd be at least two people concerned with the nation's future.

But no...the rest of us are sanguine as hell about our futures

You are the only one who sees any potental problems whatever.

I suggest you seek professional help or at least smoke a bone now and again to chill out.

Just remember, the government is there every day protecting us.

There, now... feel better?

dgirl wrote:On another message board, a few years back, a poster asked: "Where are we headed?" I posted this:
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Where are we headed? Well, let's take a look at some things. At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, our Founding Fathers wrote into the Constitution of the United States a monetary system of gold and silver coin. They completely rejected a paper money system. Why? The main reason given was that it could be inflated to the point that it would require ever more and more paper to keep the economic system going, and, although those who worked for a living would seem wealthier with more and more paper, they would get farther and farther behind. An "income tax" system was developed so that some of the money that the wealthy made would be used for the support of government. It was noted in the Congressional Record that "an income tax will not touch a hair upon the head of a laboring man in the United States". Also: "no man by his own industry and exertion can honestly earn an annual income for a long period of years of over $25,000". These things were written in 1894, and $25,000 was considered to be a considerable sum at that time. Those who made that kind of money and more were taxed. Those who made less -- mostly the working man -- were not. It is noted, in the Bill of Rights, that "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated", and yet, every year, Americans fill out forms telling government about their business. The paper money system has been so inflated that now a working man is "bracketed" up into the stature of the 1894 wealthy man, and is made to believe that he is "liable" for the same kind of taxation, although the Congress of the United States was never granted the power to lay a direct tax upon the inhabitants of the States. And, in spite of the fact that Americans are "secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures", they "pee in a cup" for their Master so that they will not be deemed to be a criminal who uses drugs, and therefore, bypassing the dictates of the Criminal Procedures Acts.

Several years ago our government created an agency, with American tax dollars, to move American businesses from the United States to foreign lands where labor was much cheaper than here in the United States, and regulations were practically nonexistent. Trade agreements were passed through Congress to facilitate these business arrangements, and we were told that Americans will just have to accept a lower standard of living. Well, here we are. This is it.

Where are we headed??? Downhill!!! Americans don't deserve to have a Bill of Rights; and every year we celebrate our "independence".

BOHICA
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What does bohica mean?

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Bend
Over
Here
It
Comes
Again

I could be wrong, but I suspect the point was that we're pouring ridiculous amounts of money into a war of choice and letting things fall apart here.

Seems to me, anyway....

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"Trust none of what you hear And less of what you see" Springsteen
When the Founding Fathers protected our right to free speech, I think that meant we were supposed to use it.
59 days left http://www.backwardsbush.com/

Indago, you pretty much described the typical trend of every empire.

While the specifics of what happens might be somewhat different, the outcome is fairly routine.

Power corrupts.

I'll posit, not so much a theory, but at least something to think about.

When the ruling class of the WEST had the Soviets to worry about, they really and truly needed America strong , and its people to be reasonably comfortable and hence very loyal to the nation.

After all, we stood between our masters and the monsters who'd have taken their power and money away...the Soviet monsters.

But when the evil empire fell?

Well, guess what?

They don't really need us all that much anymore, do they?

So many are getting poorer so they can get even more stupidly weathy then they were to begin with.

Remember now, when the cold war first started out the super wealthy didn't really mind (remember, also that IKE was POTUS) being taxed at a rate of 90%.

That's the kind of taxation it took to create the superpower military we created in the 50s and 60s to hold off the Reds.

The rich didn't like it, but 10% of a whole lot is better than 0% of nothing -- which is what they would have had had the commies rolled over us.

I think the Neo-cons are now breaking the fiscal back of this nation and the spirit of the American people, now, simply as an excuse to end all social programs.

This will, in the not so long run, make the American people are as poor and as desperate, and as easily manipulatable as most third world people already are.

Once again, no secret sconspiracy is necessary for this trend to be taking place.

I didn't invent the term "starve the beast" and that has been on the agenda of the Neo cons for at least a decade that I know of.

The Chicago school of Econ. and the various "think tanks" which are spun off from that intellectual cabal (like the Hoover institute or the Heartland Institute) are fairly open about their plans to "starve the beast" to get their way.

This is, I think, their modus operandi for Atlas shugging, you see?

They really do imagine that they and they alone are responsible for the wealth of the world, and since they own the means of production, the government and the structures which we have all come to depend on, they may be metaphooically correct in that accessment, too.

Few of the objectivist libertraians I know have really given much thought to what happens when we drive the majority of people into real poverty.

They are so conceited that they really do think, because they are petty bougiouse businessmen and members of the local Rotary, they'll be invited to the John Galt compound.

Now I hope that I am just being paranoid.

Frankly, very little I see happening leads me to think I am, but hey! one can always hope.

What cause is not just that people are dying for? I think democracy is a wonderful idea and I served in the military and shed blood to defend it.

I have yet to see my taxes put to good use and I feel that my tax money should not be spent so some lazy mother fucker doesn't have to get a job.

And if people like you win in the next election, I REALLY will be concerned about where the country is going.

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The greatest happiness is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed in tears, to clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters.

Genghis Khan

Leroy Green: The truth will be revealed only to eyes unclouded by desire.
Sho'nuff: It's mumbo jumbo like that and skinny little lizards like you thinkin' they the Last Dragon that gives kung-fu a bad name.