The US federal government might shutdown Friday. WTF?

[Flake]

I think Yahtzee put it best. We really need a good WW3

It's the experience of those who have seen war that there are no 'good' wars. Beyond that, a third world war is an impossibility now. That's a totally different conversation.

What we really need is some kind of collective hardship or obstacle for the country to unite and overcome together, to restore that common ground that makes debate and compromise possible. Everything in the US is so polarized right now, to the point that it is more important to disagree with your opponent then actually have your own stance.

I have no clue what could do that, though. It briefly happened after 9/11 - everyone was falling over themselves for awhile to work together. But the opportunistic administration in place at the time created an untenable situation wherein this infighting and flag waving was a foregone conclusion.

[J T]

What we really need is some kind of collective hardship or obstacle for the country to unite and overcome together, to restore that common ground that makes debate and compromise possible.

That gives me an idea.

[Flake]

Okay, it wasn't till just now that I realized how much my idea resembled the plot in Watchmen. Thanks for making me feel derivative on a Friday morning, JT.

[Hatta]

What we really need is another revolution in thought, like the Enlightenment. It's amazing how much ideas reshaped society then. But we're more likely to get more Dark Ages instead.

[YoshiEgg25]

I blame No Child Left Behind and the general rape of public education that has gone on in this country for the past 10 years. From where I sit, all that bullshit is now creeping into higher ed and we're going to be much worse for it.

I'm convinced that we're sliding towards Idiocracy at alarming speed.

Oh god I hate that movie.

Also, on the No Child Left Behind Act, there are plenty of issues with it, one being that it unfairly punishes children that are farther ahead. My school district had one of the best gifted student programs in the country, but had to essentially stop it because of it not getting enough funding. That and the original head left and the person who replaced her didn't give two shits. ¬_¬

Some kids can't learn as fast as everyone else, whether it's that they have a disability or that they refuse to. You can't teach the latter. Why does the government threaten to withhold funding if these kids refuse to learn?

I saw a story that Obama wanted schools to have 80% of their students hitting the standards for NCLB. Not one high school in my county could do it. And there are some damn decent schools in my county academically. You can't expect this to happen overnight. It's ridiculous. You want 80% to meet standards or improve? It's gonna take more than two years to happen.

Sorry, ranting. Just...I don't want an Idiocracy. But this isn't the answer.

[saturnfan]

These threads are always pretty comical to me since everyone pretends to be an intellect when it comes to politics. Unfortunately, one can't convince another people to change their entire worldview when they probably don't understand their own preconceived world view to begin with. Many blindly ally themselves to politicians and political ideologies but don't fundamentally understand the issues or how to relate them to the past, present and future.

In my days, some of the dumbest people I have met have claimed to belong to all sorts of political parties or held certain unwavering ideologies: liberals, conservatives, anarchists, libertarians, moderates, republicans, democrats, etc.

[BoringSupreez]

What we really need is some kind of collective hardship or obstacle for the country to unite and overcome together, to restore that common ground that makes debate and compromise possible.

That gives me an idea.

We were hoping for something that involves less death, I think.

[AppleQueso]

These threads are always pretty comical to me since everyone pretends to be an intellect when it comes to politics. Unfortunately, one can't convince another people to change their entire worldview when they probably don't understand their own preconceived world view to begin with. Many blindly ally themselves to politicians and political ideologies but don't fundamentally understand the issues or how to relate them to the past, present and future.

And this is why I've distanced myself further and further from politics I think.

I guess I've learned enough to realize that I don't actually understand anything .

[o.pwuaioc]

These threads are always pretty comical to me since everyone pretends to be an intellect when it comes to politics. Unfortunately, one can't convince another people to change their entire worldview when they probably don't understand their own preconceived world view to begin with. Many blindly ally themselves to politicians and political ideologies but don't fundamentally understand the issues or how to relate them to the past, present and future.

In my days, some of the dumbest people I have met have claimed to belong to all sorts of political parties or held certain unwavering ideologies: liberals, conservatives, anarchists, libertarians, moderates, republicans, democrats, etc.

Paragraph two makes paragraph one looks pretentious. Was it a relaxing of sophistication or an attempt at erudition?

[noiseredux]

These threads are always pretty comical to me since everyone pretends to be an intellect when it comes to politics. Unfortunately, one can't convince another people to change their entire worldview when they probably don't understand their own preconceived world view to begin with. Many blindly ally themselves to politicians and political ideologies but don't fundamentally understand the issues or how to relate them to the past, present and future.

In my days, some of the dumbest people I have met have claimed to belong to all sorts of political parties or held certain unwavering ideologies: liberals, conservatives, anarchists, libertarians, moderates, republicans, democrats, etc.

some of the dumbest people I've ever met eat turkey sandwiches. Some of the other dumbest people I've met get their hair cut on Thursdays. What's your point exactly?