World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[J T]

Thank you for an exceptionally polite and considered post Forlorn Drifter. I am especially appreciative for the list of issues that led you to vote for Trump, rather than just the reasons you did not want Hillary. As I am trying to understand what happened, these kinds of explanations help. I also am happy to hear others struggle in the voting booth with how to best balance voting for self interest and voting for what appears will do the most global good, because this is always something I personally struggle to balance when voting.

[Tanooki]

Tanooki, I am not sorry that I am wrong and a message board trolling jerk.

Let me fix that for ya. And if I can find an ignore feature to block your stupidity I'm setting it.

FD that was a well thought out post and a good read, but I do not feel you should be apologizing for the actions of others or your vote either as that's not right. Transferring blame onto yourself solves nothing.

And really had I thought someone like Evan McMullin actually would have been able to carry a campaign and win it I'd have voted for that guy, but before that I was hoping for Rubio and had Trump been out of it and it was a Cruz and Hillary vote, holding my nose I would have picked Cruz instead of not voting at all as the guy at the least is a constitutionalist even if he is nuts in other respects. The pendulum demanded swinging in the other direction to a point and Clinton was more of the same.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Tanooki, I am not sorry that I am wrong and a message board trolling jerk.

Let me fix that for ya. And if I can find an ignore feature to block your stupidity I'm setting it.

FD that was a well thought out post and a good read, but I do not feel you should be apologizing for the actions of others or your vote either as that's not right. Transferring blame onto yourself solves nothing.

And really had I thought someone like Evan McMullin actually would have been able to carry a campaign and win it I'd have voted for that guy, but before that I was hoping for Rubio and had Trump been out of it and it was a Cruz and Hillary vote, holding my nose I would have picked Cruz instead of not voting at all as the guy at the least is a constitutionalist even if he is nuts in other respects. The pendulum demanded swinging in the other direction to a point and Clinton was more of the same.

You had an ignore on me before. Do it again. It will not stop me from calling you out on these delusional fantasies you continue to weave. I was not taking a contradictory point to spite you, I was taking it because you are genuinely wrong and should not be able to wave such statements with social impunity simply because you believe them. It doesn't make you less wrong.

[jp1]

I'm going to state my piece, and do my best to be as even-handed and honest as I can. I'm hoping not to anger anyone, and to say what I mean to say in a correct, inoffensive fashion. I've had trepidation about posting anything, being as things are so hot around the election currently. However, I feel as though another voice I believe would be similar to Sarge's would be useful, and maybe it can help me work out some of my own feelings about the election.
*SNIP*

Wow. I wish you had joined this thread a long time ago. Respect the hell out of that post Forlorn.

You made your choice and it sounds like it was well thought out and you have a social conscience about it. Not much to argue with there. Thank you.

[jp1]

Some people just don't want to accept that their failures are their own and despite having every opportunity short of being born rich they didn't reach their full potential. Someone must take the blame, and it isn't them.

I don't think this is an accurate, appropriate, or healthy way to look at the issue of white privilege. White privilege is not some magical boost or get out of jail free card. It doesn't mean white people can't be victims of the system or downtrodden. What it means is if you are not white (or not male in the case of male privilege) you face additional challenges or barriers to success or fairness in American society. These barriers don't require folks to be racist or sexist to implement them. It is a set of assumptions about the "average" American (white) or the average business-person (white male) or the average criminal (black male) or whatever that subconsciously shapes our behaviors.

White privilege doesn't mean rural whites are responsible for their better-paying blue-collar jobs drying up. That is absolutely a function of the modernization of the economy and globalization. White privilege doesn't hold small towns together when those jobs disappear. Now, Trump's offered solutions won't fix these problems (and I'm not sure they can reasonably be fixed to the rural white votes' satisfaction). But it is unfair to blame them for their misfortunes. This also doesn't mean that privilege doesn't exist. We are not a post-racial, post-sexist society, and to claim we are ignores the vast challenges non-whites and women still face in America. And it doesn't make light of the challenges ALL Americans face. But not all Americans face the same challenges, even if they otherwise have relatively equal circumstances.

To be fair, I did say "some people". It wasn't a statement intended to address the issue in full.

Actually, I grew up poor with a single mother who has some mental disorders that left her on disability. I'm quite aware that real issues exist that are out of our control that have nothing to do with race or sex that affect the course of our lives. It doesn't change the principle in my opinion, I've messed up several times in my life but I've also worked hard to get where I am now. Having mixed race in my immediate family I'm pretty familiar with the struggles of black people.

I wrote more about it that went in detail about some of those issues and things family members had been through...but then I figured it would simply be dismissed.

[Forlorn Drifter]

Well, thanks guys. I'm glad to know my intended meaning and what was actually read were the same for once.

[CRTGAMER]

Well, thanks guys. I'm glad to know my intended meaning and what was actually read were the same for once.

Good post! As mentioned, don't feel guilty on your post concerning the protesters. I can respect a protest as long as no laws are broken such as stopping traffic and damaging property. Sadly, some did not even vote which makes their protest voice ironic.

I voted for Trump because I do want change. I also voted for Obama twice for the same reasons and saw too much a political washover from the Clinton years, especially in the Health Care waste. Free Birth Control Pills, Viagra and Sex Changes, what happened to taking care of the sick! I still respect Obama, but felt his change message really did not come thru as I expected.

I think Trump will make solid changes, cutting down all the waste in government and getting rid of excess pandering (NAFTA and Money Aid) to other countries over our own. Really, crack down on the government waste; the perception "the Federal Government will take care of it" of of all the Taxpayer funded programs. We ALL pay (except "Non-Profits" which do profit) for every program be it low cost housing, environmental, free phones for hearing loss, smartphones for low income to call their kids, security, infrastructure, etc.

How many watched 60 minutes a few weeks ago when they followed the Syrian family path to the U.S.?

1. Taxpayer funded American offices in Syria interviewing potential immigrants.
2. Taxpayer funded airplane transport for approved immigrants to the U.S.
3. Taxpayer funded housing, meanwhile we have so many homeless.
4. Taxpayer funded new job created and schools for kids.

[MrPopo]

You do realize the President has no legislative power, right? There's a limit to how much change he can effect.

[CRTGAMER]

You do realize the President has no legislative power, right? There's a limit to how much change he can effect.

I know, its a compromise with the House and Senate which now are Republican majority! Hopefully we will see some solid changes for the better with all this in place. Looking forward to the Trump interview this evening on 60 minutes.

[marurun]

How many watched 60 minutes a few weeks ago when they followed the Syrian family path to the U.S.?

Do you have any idea how few refugees the US takes in, especially compared to other countries? Even in cases where we helped create the chaos that drove them out of their home countries we refuse to take in more than a scant few. It is easy for us to justify this to ourselves because we are so far away, physically, from the conflict. We only see tidbits on the news. This nation has more than enough room and resources to help a few refugees, displaced in part due to our well-intentioned (sometimes) and long-term-stability-devoid (almost always, recently) interference. We should consider aiding refugees part of the price we pay (along with massive military spending) for our involvement in conflict spaces.