World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[marurun]

I'm registered as a Democrat, but I consider myself a democratic socialist (please don't crucify me or try to tell me why I'm wrong; I'm just sharing my affiliation), so I really don't totally agree with any major American politicians aside from Bernie Sanders (who also identifies as a democratic socialist) and Elizabeth Warren (she's not a socialist, but she's very much a populist, so there's a lot of common ground when it comes to worker and consumer protections).

We are new best buds, I just want you to know that. You may not have realized it before, but search your feelings. Deep down you know it to be true...

*vwawn, vwoo*

[ElkinFencer10]

I'm registered as a Democrat, but I consider myself a democratic socialist (please don't crucify me or try to tell me why I'm wrong; I'm just sharing my affiliation), so I really don't totally agree with any major American politicians aside from Bernie Sanders (who also identifies as a democratic socialist) and Elizabeth Warren (she's not a socialist, but she's very much a populist, so there's a lot of common ground when it comes to worker and consumer protections).

We are new best buds, I just want you to know that. You may not have realized it before, but search your feelings. Deep down you know it to be true...

*vwawn, vwoo*

It's not official until we're friends on various gaming platforms. Fortunately, I keep all of my information in my signature.

[Ack]

Well, other goings on in the world:

On December 31st, China's Central Military Commission announced a new wave of military reform, creating the Rocket Force and Strategic Support Force. The Rocket Force now maintains control of China's stockpile of nuclear and conventional ballistic missiles. The Strategic Support Force's jurisdiction is to maintain China's space, cyber, and electronic warfare capabilities, including all military satellites, electronic countermeasures, and cybersecurity operations.

South Korean sociology professors have announced that South Korean citizens in their 20s are more hardlined on North Korea and conservative on foreign affairs than citizens in their 30s and 40s, most likely in response to North Korean provocations.

At least 30 are dead in a terrorist attack at Bacha Khan University, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. Pakistani media claims 8-10 individuals carried out the attack, at least four of which were killed before they were able to detonate their suicide vests. The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan Geedar group has claimed responsibility, though at least one Taliban spokesperson has denounced the attack. Both Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have condemned the attack.

Russia has pulled out of financing Kyrgyzstan's large-scale hydropower projects, including the proposed Kambar-Ata 1 dam on the Naryn River. The Kambar-Ata 1 is a minor portion of the US proposed CASA-1000 plan to provide electricity to Afghanistan and Pakistan and would help Kyrgyzstan become an electricity exporter. However, Uzbekistan, which sits further down the Naryn River, has claimed the project would endanger agriculture and cut into their own electricity exports. The nation has gone so far as to threaten war against Kyrgyzstan should dam construction proceed.

The government of Lesotho has decided to receive a report from the Southern African Development Community(SADC) Commission of Inquiry about the assassination last year of Lesotho Defence Force former head General Maaparankoe Mahao. The Lesotho government original claimed it would not receive the report, until the SADC threatened suspension from their organization.

The International Criminal Court has announced that victims of atrocities carried out by Lord's Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen will receive reparations only if Ongwen is convicted. Ongwen is one of five LRA commanders charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Ghana has deployed soldiers in the capitol Accra and around the country in the wake of a terrorist attack last week in neighboring Burkina Faso.

[ElkinFencer10]

So shifting this back to the in-depth analysis of the failures of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, get a load of this text conversation I just had.

Principal: How many kids are in your 2nd period?

Me: 30 when I checked yesterday.

Principal: Ok. I'm gonna try and shrink them.

Me: That would be great. I've only got, I think, 26 desks. I've got a table, so I could finagle two more if I scrounge up some chairs.

Principal: I may teach a class.

Our school's history department is so overloaded that our PRINCIPAL may end up teaching a class (and her job is tough as it is; we've got about 1,000 kids in one of the roughest school districts in the state). Last semester, I originally had a class of 42 kids, and we had to dump half of that onto one of our EC teachers and make him be a makeshift history teacher for the semester.

The superintendent, bless his heart, has been trying since August to scrape together money to get us another history teacher, but there's just no cash. There would be, but the damn General Assembly keeps dumping tens of millions of dollars into charter schools and private school vouchers while the actual public schools are staving to death.

[samsonlonghair]

Do you not think this is a brilliant way to look at the world? Sure, the reality is that most people will never get very far economically, but the sheer belief that you can has driven some individuals to succeed that never would have been able to anywhere else in the world. Hell, our entertainment industry alone was pioneered by people who felt this way and in many cases is still fueled by them.

No, not at all, I think it's self-denial. One should be aware of the actual possibilities of "success" and realize that the possibilities of turning into a millonaire are incredibly small.

I also don't think this "American work ethic" is something that has driven the American film industry to succeed, it's a footnote compared to the inherent benefits of its technological advantange and political hegemony after WWII. Personally, I feel this way of look at the world is dated and rooted in American exceptionalism more than reality.

And ultimately, even if it were true I would rather have a country with less superstars if that means people don't have to declare bankrupcy because they got ran over by a car or fell ill.

Actually, I was thinking primarily of the foundation of the American film industry, in which just about every major studio and some of the more notable minor ones was founded by an immigrant or the children of immigrants in the US, building off of technology designed in part by Thomas Edison, also the son of an immigrant. Much of this foundation is pre-WWI.

Sure, the possibilities are small...yet we somehow managed to defy those odds quite often. Yes, perhaps as part of our dated view of exceptionalism. We created new forms of communication, art, music, management techniques, weaponry, and a variety of other advances before we ever became a superpower. We then continued making creations, some great, some terrible. We raced another behemoth to put men into space and then onto the moon, created miles of infrastructure larger than anywhere in the world, developed new means by which to power our growing cities, and developed a mass communication system that is now global and almost impossible to comprehend in its size but provides near instantaneous contact between almost anywhere in the world. We've helped form world governments and organizations, provided aid to all manner of peoples everywhere, and grown food that feeds the hungry on the distant corners of the globe.

Sure, we're not perfect, not by a long shot. But I'll take what we've got and hold my head high. American exceptionalism isn't that dated in my opinion. We're a marvelous country that has done some amazing things in an incredibly short time frame. I'd rather live here than anywhere else in the world.

You tell 'em, Ack!

[Pulsar_t]

....

[Erik_Twice]

You know, as an outsider, everytime I hear something about Bernie Sanders, I get sad. It doesn't matter what he does or what kind of track record he has, people are so entrenched in their ranks that they will jump on any possible opportunity call him a racist who hates women and minorities.

I can't help but think that if even him is considered to be a racist homophobic traitor to the "liberal" tribe, there's absolutely no hope for me so better not to try

[Ack]

You know, as an outsider, everytime I hear something about Bernie Sanders, I get sad. It doesn't matter what he does or what kind of track record he has, people are so entrenched in their ranks that they will jump on any possible opportunity call him a racist who hates women and minorities.

I can't help but think that if even him is considered to be a racist homophobic traitor to the "liberal" tribe, there's absolutely no hope for me so better not to try

Strangely enough, I haven't heard anybody say this about him internally. There are some questions among the Democratic Party about whether someone calling himself a socialist is capable of winning the general election, but beyond that...not much in the way of insults.

[Erik_Twice]

Keep in mind that 99% of my knowledge about Bernie Sanders comes from NeoGAF and other gaming forums

[Ack]

Keep in mind that 99% of my knowledge about Bernie Sanders comes from NeoGAF and other gaming forums

Ah, yeah...that would be your problem right there.