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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ILCUL8R who wrote (100368)	8/30/2011 1:39:22 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 149317

Young people who can and desire to are moving to parts of the country where they find social compatibility, and do so before starting careers and families. At the other end of the age scale many retirees who have social mobility cluster in communities of like-minded individuals. It is mostly those in the middle, like me, who are too invested in the part of the country where I have job, real estate investments, friends and associates. It is difficult for me to relocate but I am getting more and more angry when too many around me no longer share my views and values. For example, if I could, I would move to Seattle or Portland and for sure would avoid So. Carolina, Georgia, and other SE parts of the country, to say nothing of Texas. I am one of those caught in the middle abandoned by his political parties that have moved so far to the right or left that there no longer is a middle ground of compromise with which our political institutions can effectively govern. And things will only get worse to the point that wholesale relocation may be the only way to find peace of mind thus splitting our country apart. I think we need to start talking about it now before the hostility gets much worse and we say and do things that we will all regret. From your post, I take it you live in a red state. You are like Mac who tends to be more moderate but lives in a red state as well. In the meantime, my entire life has been spent living in blue states with the exception of a short stint in SC. I could not live in a red state for any length of time. And this is not as unique a stituation as we might think. My German friends grew up and live in the West. They could not imagine working and living in the East. However, Germany at one time was divided.........the US has not been divided except for a short time during the civil war. In any case, I don't see how we maintain this pretense of being "one nation, under God" when we can't stand to even talk to each other. Its gotten to the point where Obama says the sky is blue and some R jumps up and says its red. Relationships with some members of my family have deteriorated even as we never ever discuss politics. The fact that I voted for Obama is enough to make me an outcast. Its a mess and I don't see how it improves from here.

To: ILCUL8R who wrote (100368)	8/30/2011 2:47:00 PM
From: one_less	Respond to of 149317

"Young people who can and desire to are moving to parts of the country where they find social compatibility" Young people, to a large extent, are a product of the time and are simply riding the currents of discord we have sewn for them. We have brought them scripture, indoctrinated them with our cultural texts, schooled them in Western thought and trained them to be productive citizens. What we have failed to bring to them during their education is an appreciation of basic knowledge and truth. We have not allowed them self examination of their circumstance. To do so risks rebellion. But not doing so risks the gradual stagnation and ultimate doom of society. Why is there something instead of nothing? If you consider first what it means to be a "being in time" or simply what is meant by "being in time," which is a more foundational question, you have a paradox that most are willing to give up on after some concerted effort. Assuming, and it is a huge assumption, we start with nothingness ... which science prefers to think of as uniformity absent the time dimension (singularity), then the simplest form of encoding is binary. Nothing (uniformity) which is disturbed becomes something even if it is just a waffling of what was uniform nothingness. Then bang, cappow, zzoom, zip, wahoo ... you can get a universe with the complexity which comes with incremental changes in the disturbance. Life? A separate paradox... Awareness and consciousness, yet another one. Let's skip past those two and jump up to the current topic 'Personhood'. What is knowable? Basic observation and scientific enquiry allow us to know through the extension of our senses. So we gain intelligence which is a referent of that ability to observe. Morality, another referent, is also knowable as a self evident awareness of common humanity. Whether it is derived from our naturally evolved social condition or a condition authored by God may be argued. However the commonality of basic good and evil is universally agreed upon by human beings. Conscience, a word meaning with (con) science involves your awareness, which is accessible via senses, and your self-evident sense of morality. Persons who base their views and decision making on conscience, are generally persons most likely to be found living by high ethical standards. It is these persons who are equipped to serve honorably in a representative form of government like ours, regardless of their group affiliation. For that reason we would be wiser to select them based on this measure than based on party, religious, group membership, or philosophical affiliation. How then shall I live? suum cuique pulchrum est