"Seriously? You spend 364 days a year bitching about how F'd up this country is with a history of conquest, slavery, oppression, and discrimination - and institutionalized indoctrination disguised as education, a failed healthcare system, abortion, chemtrails, fluoride, false flags, guns, terrorists, global warming, corporate greed, inequality, immigration, political agendas, fighting and dying in wars that have nothing to do with our freedom, and control by the elite in government slowly eroding our civil liberties...and suddenly your misplaced patriotism surfaces for one day and you get all warm and fuzzy. Do you really love your country or is the 4th of July really just a day off from a job you hate but have to do in order to pay the interest on all the debt you owe for stuff you really didn't need but had to have yet couldn't afford? Is it just another excuse to get drunk enough to blur the perception of your reality - and little else? So let's party like it's 1776 and go back to being pissed off tomorrow about how far we have fallen since the Declaration of Independence. Happy 4th!"
Message from my new unfriend: "You really have become quite a negative Facebook presence- constant ranting. Sorry you are so angry but I'm gonna have to bid you adios because while I am happy to discuss differences of opinion in a civil manner seeing incredibly angry rants is just not something I enjoy or appreciate. May you find peace and an escape from your own anger."
Sorry to rain on your parade...but this is the kind of world we live in. As far as countries go - the US is a pretty good place to be but nowhere near what our forefathers invisioned and falling further away from their original intentions. And for anyone who suggests, "If it's so bad here, why don't you go somewhere else?" You obviously don't realize that unless you are an illegal immigrant coming into the US, moving to a foreign country permanantly is very difficult to do. 93,102,76,0,C
20 comments:
Wow, you can really tell it like it is.
For us old folks, it is just another day. Let the younger folks do the celebration and please don't keep me awake and my old dog nervous with all the fireworks you have spent your hard earned money on just to blow up.
Yeah' I agree with you 'John. I have been oversea's to some first rate rat holes in East Africa and some other places oversea's. America has digressed from true freedom but its still one of the best places to be.
Ditto dizzy
Give me a break. We have more freedom today than anytime in the past. Choose anything you want. Drugs? Colorado and several other state await you.. Guns? Today you can buy guns that were outlawed under Regan. Speech? Twenty years ago you could. Only hope to have a letter printed on the editorial page, today you can post it to Facebook or your own website and have it read by far more people.
Movement? In 1900 the average person never traveled more than 7 miles from home. Also since we are talking about 'us' as Americans,ask a. 80. Or 90 year old. Black if he or she feels like they have more 'freedom' than when they were 20 or 30. Government taking your freedom away by taxing you too much? Check the tax rates of the 50s and sixties,
When I was 20 years old in 1966 I lost two years of freedom and several friends when we were Forced by the government to fight in LBJs and Nixions war. Today kids don't have to worry about that.
I keep hearing people talk about loosing freedom well come on, give me some examples of what freedoms you have lost. And to save you the trouble don't bother giving me Obamacare. Fact is no one is forced to have insurance, your just taxed. If you don't.
The elephant in the room that is talked about very little. Inflation, I would estimate that inflation is in the range of 30% in the last 8 years, as in anyone been grocery shopping lately.
Then we have a Federal Government that cooks up numbers to kill COLAs, just like the cooked up numbers on unemployment. The feckless politicians, regardless of flavor, do little or nothing. Is there any wonder why so many of the folks are angry?
Excuse me. This topic is just plain stupid and shocking. But that is the beauty of this country. Everyone has an opinion and you know what we call them (we all have one-A...... ) and we are all free to express those opinions. (And if the opinions are too radical we could have a portfolio drawn up by the government under our name. Truly. 👴 This is still the best country in the world overall. If someone feels more comfortable somewhere else, then thy should go there. Without everyones input and work, how could we stay great? I think this country is the survival of the fittest (we are a nation of strong individuals) but some people are emotionally sick and can't keep up ---and then we take care of the sick --- how good is that?
P.S. By the age of 18, I had lived at various places outside the U.S. too many years to be an American citizen anymore. But since it was military connected, it was o.k. When I told my children about other countries when they complained, it mostly went over their heads until they went there later. Then they would tell me about the country in shock or pleasure.
An individual's perception of their country is highly influenced by their innate level of happiness, the degree that localized propaganda / sanitized history has been accepted when they were young and the degree of success they have achieved in the system in which they live. As such there are patriots in every country who would die for their beliefs (much less argue the virtues of which they may not truly understand). Obviously some are genetically happy and some are not, often within the same family.
History is written by the victors; schools determine what history to teach and what events to neglect. Blacks were not allowed in my Texas high school in the sixties and our young understanding of why was almost zero. Finally some are driven to success; some are not, again often in the same family. Everyone's definition of happiness and success is a variable as is their perceptions of their country's place in the world. So the greatest country is really in an individual's mind and in there own level of satisfaction with their achievements, sometimes measured by their children's path and sometimes quantified by their own peace of mind. (r1)
Makes sense rj. To add to that, research shows Danish people are the happiest people and that is genetic. I was amazed at the research and found on 10 points that my personality is like theirs. Also, a DNA relative emailed me asking about common Danish relatives but I do not know details so could not answer. Northwest Europe is DNA Germanic (except the Irish) and have the highest happiness level in the genes according to scientists. The lowest level of happiness level was in West Africa ( Togo or something).
And a Happy 4th of July to John Wells and his many friends --------------------------------------- I have read most of John's messages in The Field Lab - since John created the Field Lab Blog. Heck, my twin brother sold John the first tract of land that John built on. I admire John for not posting the name of the hateful fellow that "unfriended" John on Facebook (for very doubtful reasons). I never seen the kind of hateful posts written by John Wells - as described in the UNFRIEND GARBAGE LETTER! I suspect this hateful person is not a fan our Freedom Of Speech Rights- nor Religious Rights.
@Bob Nogueira "... give me some examples of what freedoms you have lost."
OK.
First Amendment: Severely curtailed now.
Second Amendment: Constantly under attack. It's only a matter of time before it's gone.
Fourth Amendment: Too many examples of how the 4th is completely disregarded.
Fifth Amendment: Citizens can now be held without trial indefinitely.
Sixth Amendment: Same as the fifth.
Ninth Amendment: This one has been gone a long time.
Tenth Ammendment: Same as the ninth.
So we only have 3 out of 10 and you think we are still free?
@J
Let's not forget – these amendments were additions/changes to the original Constitution. Constitutionalists agree, the Constitution is a work in progress. We may arrive at a place in time where these amendments are no longer appropriate to the survival or best interest of our country, and can thus, be appealed. So, don't think that just because it's a constitutional amendment you're guaranteed to maintain that amendment in perpetuity – it's not the core Constitution. We may arrive at a time and place where, for example, the bloodshed in this country is too much to bear, and they appeal the 2nd amendment, and replace it with a new amendment regulating use or ownership of firearms, or banning it altogether. Or, perhaps overpopulation will tax our resources to the point where it will be decided that we will adopt a "one child" policy – requiring mandatory terminations of pregnancies if you already have a child. Anything is possible. Just stating the facts here. A constitutional change of any kind is a "heavy lift," but its been done before and it will happen again. Things will change, that's the only guarantee.
@Steve - Bob asked for examples of freedoms we have lost. I think pointing out that we have lost, or are in the process of losing, 7 of the 10 items in our Bill of Rights is more than an adequate answer. Yes, the Constitution can be changed legally by going through an exhaustive process. The rights we have lost were stolen illegally without going through that process.
Not truly lost. Perception is not necessarily reality. Opinions only count in the Supreme Court (when in the majority), although we're all entitled to one.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/department-justice-anti-muslim-hate-speech/story?id=35585946 - freedom of speech is lost.
Https://www.dhs.gov/homeland-security-act-2002 - freedom from unwarranted search and seizre is lost. Right to a speedy trial and right to council is lost.
Yes, truly lost. It's not just perception. It's reality.
J, I trust you believe what you wrote but you failed to actually give me examples.. " serverly curtailed " is not an example, it is opinion. Tell me what action the government has taken that has lessen your freedom of speech today compared to 50 years ago.
As for the second amendment, I appreciate that there are some who want to limit your rights, but having someone suggesting a limit is not a lost of your freedom. Give me the name of a gun you cannot own today that you could own 50 years ago.
Your may feel there are people. attempting to limit these freedoms but that does not mean they will or have succeeded. You are basically in the position of having lost no ground and actually having gained freedoms, but shouting "we are loosing freedom"
C'mon J, that's just silly.
Just because you can't walk into a crowded theater and yell "FIRE!" does NOT mean you've lost freedom of speech. Nor does a law crafted to protect the security of a country against terrorist acts mean you've lost 6th Amendment rights. Granted, with the Patriot Act, they're walking a pretty fine line in some cases. And there will be challenges in court to that, I'm sure.
That's like saying "I have 3 square meals a day, therefore world hunger and famine are a fallacy." Or like assuming that because pedophilia is rampant in the church, all priests are pedophiles.
Perception: "a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression."
Reality: "the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them."
I guess just vote for those that you believe will champion your best interests.
Best regards
@Bob - You apparently did not see the two examples in my last post.
Look, you folks can Google search just as easily as I can. I'm not wasting any more time explaining to the willfully ignorant.
Post a Comment