When you look at the world.....

[Ace Rimmer]

I remember a message on this board with this title just after the release of ATYCLB before 9.11, how the world has changed since then....

I see a world in chaos run by corrupt and power hungry people.

I see people using religeon as an exuse to wage war and terror. Pray by day, murder at night.

I see fear in the faces of children in Iraq and America.

I see children holding AK47s and burning flags of countries they know nothing about.

I see people afraid to leave their homes and speak out against
opression and hiding like mice in cages.

I see drugged up kids robbing and beating up their grandmothers to feed their habit.

I see children dying from diseases becuase of the greed of drug companies.

I see people wanting a War because it makes good TV and will fill in the time between the football and the evening movie

I see the media talking non stop about War and Terror. They want War because it makes "good news"

I see millions marching because they belive there must be still some hope and goodness in the world.

so

What is it that you see???

 

[melon]

I saw most all of this happening before 9.11, but we were all too self-absorbed.

The fantasy is over. The question, now, is if we want to do anything about it to solve it--or if it can be solved...

Melon

 

[follower]

I see all of that as well, Ace Rimmer, unfortunetaly.

But I also see thousands of decent human beings, fathers and mothers, that just want to have a job, so that they can feed their children. They are not greedy. They don?t want charity. They want dignity.

I see hope in the eyes of many human beings that, despite all the difficulties and poverty, devote their energy to help others that live in worst conditions. They don?t want a payment. They want to help.

I could see a city, my city, flooded by 100.000 people from several NGOs from all over the world last month, participating in the World Social Forum. They don?t want the world the way it is. They want another world and they believe that it?s possible.

 

[The Wanderer]

melon is right, one of my favorite all-time posts that from this website was a thread where he talked about people romanticizing the past, it's maybe the greatest flaw with conservative ideology, and it's something that idealists don't seem to grasp (or just don't want to accept) when they look at history and the human race. history is brutal, it's ugly, it's cruel. this idea that civilization is suddenly eroding has no merit.

 

[foray]

I see opportunities to intervene

 

[sulawesigirl4]

I see what has always been. A broken world full of hurting people and people hurting each other. And possibilites for change and for hope. But hope can only come if there is a reason to want a future that is different than the present.

 

[Saracene]

I see absolutely nothing new.

 

[Beefeater]

The way of the world has always followed the tails of who can dominate with overwhelming force, and Peace has trailed right behind with no complaints...

Why do people think the situation now will be any different?..

Beefeater

 

[Lilly]

The fantasy is over. The question, now, is if we want to do anything about it to solve it--or if it can be solved...

Melon

well said melon.


i think i am one of the youngest members on this board, and probably the youngest fym regular. and this thread really puts me in a strange position. yes, i see all of the things ace posted. no, clearly i'm not too happy with it.


but right now, i'm becoming more and more willing to live through what is a dangerous and technical (as in complicated) war and revolutions to see these things become less rampant. i think it's easy to be living in a later stage of life and say "goodness, look at how wrong the world is! those poor children!" and completely overlook 18-20 year olds (who generally don't have a position in society) become almost completely forgotten. not too many people are paying attention to social security and how i'm never going to see a cent i put in, or the fact that my generation will not be able to get any job that doesn't involve "would you like fries with that?" without a college degree. not to mention how obtaining college degrees is becoming increasingly difficult due to cost.

when i look at the world i see an american government that can't do 2 things at once and i recognize that their incapacity to do so is going to hurt me and my generation significantly for decades to come.

 

[BAW]

i think it's easy to be living in a later stage of life and say "goodness, look at how wrong the world is! those poor children!" and completely overlook 18-20 year olds (who generally don't have a position in society) become almost completely forgotten. not too many people are paying attention to social security and how i'm never going to see a cent i put in, or the fact that my generation will not be able to get any job that doesn't involve "would you like fries with that?" without a college degree. not to mention how obtaining college degrees is becoming increasingly difficult due to cost.

I think about this all the time Lilly...my kids and stepkids range in age from 15 to 27 and I don't like what the future of this country holds for them. Only my youngest is interested in a college education and I really don't know how I'm going to pay for that. I know he can't expect more than a menial job without a degree but the cost involved gives me a stomach ache when I think about it.

When I look at the world, I see a really harsh place for my kids to try and make a life in. I know its always been this way but the hard realities are even harder when you realize what your future generations have to look forward to.

 

[Lilly]

FAFSA - federal grants that you don't pay back, they're great!*

















*only eligable to those students whose parents make less than $60,000/year combined, regardless of school price, will not pay more than exceed tuition (no help for dorms, books, fees [what makes college actually expensive]), rules becoming more stringent as economy goes down, many universities if they give your child a grant will take away FAFSA amounts (your son gets $2,500 scholarship from his university of choice, and he actually receives FAFSA and gets $1,000, then many universities will take the scholarship down to $1,500 because you got outside grants), this is taxable too, by the way. MMM!! FAFSA!**





**

 

[melon]

Well, how else are we going to pay for $675 billion in tax cuts for the rich?

Melon

 

[Lilly]

*raises hand*

i know!! i know!!!

make college students pay special "learning taxes"!! YEAH! we have SO much extra cash, we should be donating it to the federal government!

 

[melon]

Fuck tax cuts. They've been piling up since the last few times the Republicans messed up our economy, and they never go to the right people. My payroll taxes never seem to go down.

Melon

 

[The Wanderer]

payroll taxes don't count, melon, according to the conservative voices, when talking about how much rich americans pay in taxes, they include payroll taxes, but when talking about how much the poor or middle class pay, they don't factor in the payroll and sales taxes

"but poor people don't pay taxes!"

uh huh

 

[bonoman]

Dont be bitching about taxes, the US taxes are alot less then us up north.

Lilly is definetly right, i and many like me pay way too much for schooling. It ridiculous, every year my gov't and many other gov't aprove hikes on schooling. Soon enough it is going to go inversely and people without the money to go to school are going to be making the money. You might scratch your head at this but let me explain. If this fucking generation would get off their asses and do a bit of hard work, labour, countries that are devolped would see alot less people looking to go to school and prices would decrease. A trained journyman in most any trade can easily make 30-35$ a hour. How much does your avg. pencil pusher make? My old man made 180,000 last year, how much did the accoutant make, 60k?

If only we had people with the heart to do real hard tough physical work we would be better off.

 

[The Wanderer]

US taxes are not much less than up north, and we dont get anything in return

 

[bonoman]

oh yes they are. 48% is what my old man pays.

 

[The Wanderer]

like i said, the gap is narrowing

 

[bonoman]

please dont put healthcare into your equation. I read a great article about healthcare in the Us and Canada and it says Americans spend more money per captia then Canadians. I'm not saying thats what you are looking at but i couldnt believe what i was reading.