Quote:
Originally Posted by August
Well I had a great Independence Day celebration. I'm glad such unwarranted negativity does not permeate in my social circles.
It's sad to see how many of my fellow countrymen have become blind to the many good things about our homeland and now can only see the few bad parts. I have lived in other parts of the world. We have a good thing here, we really do but it seems that increasing numbers of us want to just throw it all away, burn it down, with little heed to what horror will likely replace it.
I guess it's basic human nature that we tend not to respect what we don't earn. The easier we get something the easier we tend to loose it and maybe that's why all the great human societies eventually crumble.
The people who built the society, nurtured it into something great, defended it against powerful enemies eventually die out. The effort that it took becomes an increasingly distant memory as the generations pass on. Eventually it becomes distant enough that people take what they created for granted, they don't feel any connection to it, find it's values obsolete and now can only see it's few remaining or invented flaws as insurmountable obstacles.
What to do about it? I don't know. As I get older I find it increasingly difficult to care very deeply because the world is going to do what it will do regardless of what I want, but I don't have any kids so I would imagine that it's a lot easier for me to feel that way than a parent could.
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"Unwarranted negativity"? More like the reality of the country. We are not free, we have the illusion of freedom, not actual freedom.
Not blind to the few good things about this country, but we are in terrible shape and have been for some time. Things could be much better but we have rigged system designed to prevent substantial social change, to maintain a order that increasingly does not work for most people. Some people, especially older ones choose to ignore this and live in the false mindset instilled via propaganda during their formative years, the Cold War era.
I am always reminded of the great George Carlin's quote "It is called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it."