OUR COUNTRY IS HEADED TOWARDS SOCIALISM

3/23/2010


It saddens me to see my own country heading towards
Socialism , the Democrats have their own agenda and
don't give a dam about the American public. As one
Democrat stated last Summer: " We know what's good
for the American public !" I was shocked by this statement,
excuse me, we tell you what to do, you don't tell us what
to do , remember it states: " We The People, For The People,
By The People." I remember as a kid in the late 1950's and
early 1960's the democratic party was completely different,
now it's turned pure socialist and were in big trouble..


Cheers..Joe

Well, with this healthcare/student loan bill, it's hard to argue.

Of course, some will say that heading towards socialism is a good thing, and point to all those great, socialist European countries (that are going bankrupt).

Hasta la victoria, siempre

Shouldn't you be wearing a camoflauge cap while saying that? lol

3/23/2010

LC...

The last thing this country needs to be is
like europe, we are our own and always will be.
What people need is to be is educated on what
is really going on..


Lin...

What does that mean ?


Cheers.Joe

Oh, that's the Socialism or Death motto in Cuba, Che's slogan. I was being facetious.

This health bill thing is a horrible boondoggle.

3/23/2010

Lin..

I'm sorry to say you and I are alone
on this one , I fear for my country and I'm
glad I'm getting older.....

Cheers.Joe

Unless you lived in Europe, you can't possibly know if it's good or bad.
Thank God for Social Security. Thank God for Health Care for the citizens. Thank God for a basic Educational program that's available to everyone. These programs are for the social welfare of the country and its citizens.

3/23/2010


Abe...

I'm not against health care, I'm not
against Social Security , Education, yes in
this country it's needed because too many
teenagers are dropping out and I blame this
on the parents and the educational system.
I don't want the govt. telling me what to do,
I don't want some politician telling me what to
do , I put them in office, they should do their
job and stop talking down to the American
public, people are getting fed up with it. And
I'm not a Republican nor a democrat, I vote
who's best for the job....

Cheers..Joe

Joe, do me a favor and look at the image below



Can you show me where the lines are that divide one nation or culture from another?

The whole planet is going through a crisis of massive change in the way we view this world, each other, ourselves, and our place in it. If we are going to survive, we need to recognize that we are all connected and related to each other. The push for health care, for decent housing, for a better opportunities for all of us; the need for a spiritual practice that recognizes all myths, faiths, and backgrounds - is not socialism. It's part of a continued evolution toward democratic equality for everybody, everywhere. It isn't easy. We will make mistakes along the way. But eventually we will reorder ourselves into a system that is better than what we now refer to as capitalism or socialism or any other current ism - one where we confirm that we are all more alike than we are different. One that respects that image up there.

Ann

We took our three young children to Europe when they were pre-teens. On one of the first nights my son said, "I think I know why you brought us here, to show us our country is the best in the world."

"Not exactly," I replied.

A few nights later, after a couple of more countries he said, "Now I get it. You wanted to show us this was a big world with lots of different ways of living and how that was a good thing."

Yes, yes. We have a great country. I am very patriotic and think this place is so beautiful with so many resources and freedoms. But we can't just criticize, we each need to keep working to keep this country strong, compassionate, caring. We need to look at what others have that works for them, but need to adapt to work for us.

I've been to 50 countries. They have all been different. Some were communist, socialist, democratic. I loved the people. They were all trying to make their lives good. The most beautiful was when we went to Prague when communistic and later when democratic. The second time was bright, shiny, people were laughing singing, selling crafts along the streets. Freedom is fantastic, but do you use it to make a place bright and shiny or selfish.

Carol

3/23/2010

Ann..

This has been my feelings all my life, since
I grew up in a family with a white mother and a step-
father who was black , a man who was wonderful, he
always treated all five of us as his. I saw for myself
the way people looked at us and that was in the
1950's Bklyn, NY. I've always felt if you took away
someone's skin color , their religion, we're all the
same human beings, we all have the same souls.
I would like to see peace in the world, but that
may never happen because people use religion and
other things for hate, maybe that's why I love
animals so much, they love us no matter who we
are.....


Cheers..Joe

Joe:

Like Audie Murphy has said, "Animals and children are the only all-good creatures left."

If we could all just look at the world the way they do!



Ann

Abe F. March wrote:

Unless you lived in Europe, you can't possibly know if it's good or bad. Thank God for Social Security. Thank God for Health Care for the citizens. Thank God for a basic Educational program that's available to everyone. These programs are for the social welfare of the country and its citizens.

I lived in Germany and socialized with local national friends. Most everyone lived in itty, bitty, shitty apartments with communal gardens. They thought our military quarters were huge. Only the wealthy owned homes. I guess that's what has to happen for everyone to have the same "rights." Everyone gets the same muddy everything, producers and non-producers alike. Sorry, it's not my version of paradise.

If you were connected with the military, I understand your thinking.
I don't personally know anyone living in a itty, bitty, shitty apartment with communal gardens. They do exist just as they do in NYC and other highly populated regions, but it is not the norm. Stop generalizing. That's the same as a person visiting NYC and thinking they have seen America. In America we have slums, thriving suburbs, wide open spaces, etc. So do other countries.

What is homeownership like there now? Do most Germans own their own homes?

Yes, most are homeowners. It can be disconcerting to see how people live. The older folks live frugally, the reason they have what they do. In the village where I live, many own vineyards. Their wealth is not put on display. Many inherited what they have and their children will inherit from them. City dwellers cannot be compared to those living in the country. The same can be said in the States. Employment often determines where one lives. Where one will eventually choose to settle down on retirement varies.

Everything I've read about Germany says the opposite -that most Germans are NOT homeowners, and the reasons vary. Such as the 20% "transfer" tax (whatever the hell that is) on purchases, and the abundance of rent controlled apartments there.

Paying rent your whole life is not the way to create wealth.

LC,

I visited Abe a couple of years ago. There were no itty bitty apartments. In fact we stayed in quite a nice apartment, and Abe's house is lovely, as are others in his town, which is similar to many towns in Germany.

We have also visited relatives in France in quite adequate homes.

Carol

Well, itty-bitty and "nice apartment" is relative. How many square feet are we talking about?

And to clarify, my understanding -and everything that I've read- is that most Germans are renters, whether they're in a house or apartment.

Ann, your writing with the world picture was lovely. I think every mother wants her children to live in a peaceful world of plenty; every father wants to provide for his family - the world over. Everyone just does it differently, and that difference changes as we evolve. And we are evolving whether we like the direction or not. Technology is increasing at a rate to outpace science fiction......and changing humanity.

About the politicians. I don't think our forefathers envisioned career politicians. I think they thought of elected people from the community who took the opinions of their white, male counterparts to Washington, implemented them for a while and returned to their towns, offices, farms, etc. Then, another set of citizens would be elected to carry the message of their white, male, neighbors to Washington. As the places from which they were elected changed, so would the candidates.

This is not the case today. Therefore, to try to model today's government decisions according to the thoughts of the forefathers is out of sync with reality. However, they did have the foresight to create a document that has stood the test of time as a guide to a type of democracy that changes leadership without a war and for which people actually do get the chance to vote, though a small percentage exercize that right.

I have lived and worked for extended periods of time in Europe , Asia and the Caribbean. I spoke the language, lived "on the economy" and received some acceptance as a local. I loved all three experiences and thoroughly enjoyed the country and the people and the culture right up to departure. I love my country more because I was born here. My country is the right one for me for that reason. It is among the great countries of the world; I'm fortunate to be a citizen here. Our country is young and struggles to know its place, but I admire its grit and determination to present itself as a place of ideals even if it fails. I don't need to use outdated political labels to understand that our democracy is not pure, but a blend of many political strands trying to serve multiple interests. It never ceases to amaze me that it works as well as it does. One thing we have, however, is the right to debate about our politics and our leaders again without fear, without being told we are unpatriotic. I'm grateful, whatever label we are using these days.

Germany was one of the countries in which I lived for four years, two in an itty, bitty, quaint apartment above a bar in Butzbach and two in a mammoth apartment carved out of a monstrously large house. My friends in Butzbach lived up the hill in a lovely, large home with a wonderful garden. Their daughter lived on a ranch with horses. What I loved the most was the preservation of the beautiful forrests around the town that more than made up for the smaller dwellings in town. I loved the little shops and the friendly neighbors calling to each other across the cobblestone streets.

My friend's mother once said that when she and her daughters were crouched in the basement of the apartment house they owned in Frankfurt as the bombs fell and her husband was fighting at the Russian front, if her husband came home and they all lived through the war, wealth forever after would be her family around her safely in a humble home with food to eat and a modest life. Nothing but family would ever matter again.

Their home was comfortable; but her husband rode a bicycle down and up a high hill to and from work. They chose not to have an automobile, using the wonderful public transportation that was available on time to everywhere.

We all have different needs within our same culture. To generalize about a culture is to say unique differences do not exist. My little family found families like us in the countries in which we lived and formed lasting friendships. We had differences; but our core values were similar. My immediate task in a new country was to learn the language and customs thoroughly; so much of our culture is tied to our language.

LC wrote:

Everything I've read about Germany says the opposite -that most Germans are NOT homeowners, and the reasons vary. Such as the 20% "transfer" tax (whatever the hell that is) on purchases, and the abundance of rent controlled apartments there.

Paying rent your whole life is not the way to create wealth.

I don't know, LC. I think owning property and having stuff is a cultural thing. We can't really judge other countries by our standards. For one think, we have lots of land.

When we visited Hong Kong some years ago, we saw the wealth concentrated in the city, where the rich lived in leased high rise apartment buildings and hotels.

Different strokes...

Ann

I remember a friend of mine who grew up in the projects (Cabrini Green, Chicago) with drugs, filth, danger and poverty. She pulled herself and her six children out and made a success of her life.

We were driving by some $3 million condo's advertising for buyers. She was shaking her head, "You couldn't give me one of those! I spent my youth getting out of the projects, I'm not spending my adult years returning."

It's all in the eye of the beholder.....

DK,
It’s refreshing to hear the views of people who have experienced other cultures. It is often frustrating and difficult to respond to comments made out of ignorance. Do they want to be enlightened or are they trying to antagonize? Giving someone the benefit of doubt is the right thing to do. When ignorant statements continue, sooner or later a serious response stops.