Will we ever change the status quo in the US?

Post Reply New Topic

We really need a "salute smilie" for posts like that.^^^

People don't need to change the world, just a small piece of it - starting in their own neighborhoods.

Divide and Conquer is what Conservative Politics is all about, in the media, and that does flow into rural life as these folks OVERALL Love a one way thinking type of life spoon fed through the Pulpit, Faux News, Talk Radio Show Hosts, or the aisles of SUPER-WALMART.

IF ONE LIVES in rural RED STATE America which comprises more than 50 percent of it, one find this to be truth, and all one can do is find ways of change to adjust to it in a free individualistic way that the laws of this country DO STILL ALLOW, for one who is versed WELL IN THOSE LAWS and USES THOSE LAWS TO THEIR OWN ADVANTAGE.

THE BEST way to fight DIVIDE AND CONQUER is to practice a way of individualism that contradicts DIVIDE AND CONQUER.

I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM with THE NEWS OF DIVIDE AND CONQUER, AS I go my own way and truly that is the only solution NOW and ONE THAT WORKS AS NO MATTER what the politicians say on TV, the Newspaper, the Pulpit, or on Talk Radio, or EVEN SUPER WAL-MART, I exercise my right as an American Citizen and they can go to wherever they want, including hell, IF THEY WILL, while AGAIN, I exercise my rights as a TOTALY FREE AMERICAN CITIZEN AND AM ENJOYING my citizenship EVERYWHERE I GO.

We live in a Capitalistic Society that is all about the green at core of life, and getting ahead with the green AND getting ahead with the green OFTEN means controlling others through dividing and conquering them.

We also live in a COUNTRY that DECLARES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_Liberty_and_the_pursuit_of_Happiness

I DO NOT GIVE A CRAP about money and that is why through the course of my lifetime working middle class jobs I saved enough money to last a lifetime for all I need for subsistence per FOOD, transportation, a roof over my head that is almost paid for and a Honda Civic that gets great gas mileage allowing MY WIFE AND I, to travel wherever WE want to on about $20 every two weeks now.

AND ALTHOUGH AS OF NOW I am guaranteed a lifetime of health insurance 'benefits' through my retirement government employer, FOR AROUND 6K A YEAR AND RISING, Obamacare will take care of that, if COMMANDER NAVY INSTALLATIONS COMMAND, CNIC, ever decides to revoke that 'BENEFIT'.

I continue to gain riches as I go, as money is NOT MY DRIVING FORCE, loving life everywhere in the art of dance to the dismay of some of my red state neighbors but I have made myself strong enough both through strength training and martial arts at around 230LBS, now, that no so-called 'RED NECK' dares even TO snicker at my martial arts, ballet style of dance walking now AT almost 2800 miles through my metro area at close to the 16 month of LITERALLY EXERCISING MY RIGHT TO AMERICAN LIFE, LIBERTY AND the pursuit of HAPPINESS.

Meanwhile, other folks complain about this country, but I for one LOVE IT AND WILL STILL DIE FOR IT, AS IS, AS I CAN BE FREE HERE, TO MY TOTAL SATISFACTION NO matter what the talking heads say.

SO IN SHORT, my advice is to FIGHT FOR oneSELF, MAKE oneSELF AS STRONG AS POSSIBLE, AS THE best offense is a strong defense STILL FOR ANY ANIMAL, including Humans, however one may do that, and simply exercise one's RIGHT TO LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS in a way that WORKS.

It works for me, and when people complain about this country, IN REAL LIFE, I giggle just a little bit inside but I control it as to hurt no one's feelings IN REAL LIFE, AS I AM THE TRUE VICTOR FOR FREEDOM, and not someone who does not gain it on their own PER THE RIGHTS PROVIDED BY THIS COUNTRY FOR someone who figures out how to adapt to it, as a totally free individual on their own.

So I salute the flag and smile. :)

And if one THINKS they have it worse than me, in a 'boo who' way, and cannot do it, I can provide irrefutable evidence that I have conquered among the worst of challenges of life and succeeded AS AN EXTREMELY WEAK PERSON TOO.

And yes, I have "boo who'd" about my life too, at times for good reason, but that was MY PROBLEM, NOT THE COUNTRY'S PROBLEM, AS I CONQUERED MY OWN WEAKNESSES, EVENTUALLY, AND MOVED ON FREE IN A COUNTRY THAT DOES STILL PROTECT that core human freedom of LIFE LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.

MY ADVICE IS to forget about BUYING STUFF YOU REALLY DO NOT NEED AS the money will pile UP if you live that way long enough, and then you will find you never needed it in the first place for true human happiness, potentiAlly.

If I could convince my wife of that, I would be a literal millionaire by now, but give and take is what it is about too, as she shops her way to her kind of pursuit of happiness while I SIMPLY DANCE A LIFE OF JOY CONNECTING TO LITERaLLY hundred of people a day with smiles, and yes that is also the scientifically proven number one factor for HUMAN happiness, the TRUE empathy of human connection, SIMPLE AS THAT.

I FOUND A NON-VERBAL WAY of doing that THAT IS 100% SUCCESSFUL wherever I go in FLESH AND BLOOD HUMAN life.

I am a successful NON-VERBAL 'FOOL' of happiness in life AND I'm SMILING all the way to human heaven, every now of now.

THE ANSWER IS so simple: DANCE, JUST DANCE THE DANCE OF LIFE IN WHATEVER DANCE ONE DOES that works.



Yeah, I change the status quo, wherever I go. ;)

Peaceful secession is the only way things will change for the better, otherwise you're looking at a collapse or worse some science fictiony dystopian future. A long decline in our livelihoods and freedoms.

I was just thinking about it. I think Fnord thinks about it in the bottom up sort of way and Goonsquad and I think about it in a top-down sort of way. I don't think either of our approaches are wrong but are different ways of attacking the problem. I align myself more of Goonsquad's approach than Fnord's approach.

Fnord is asking for a solution which is a reasonable question on his part. All of us are trying to prove our own points which honestly has gotten us nowhere. Can we all agree on this?

Fnord, can you go into more detail of your model, what you believe and why you believe it? What is your own personal philosophy about things?

Janissy, you seem to side more with Fnord more than Goonsquad and I, can you go into more detail of your model, what you believe and why you believe it? What is your own personal philosophy about things?

Goonsquad, can you go into more detail of your model, what you believe and why you believe it? What is your own personal philosophy about things?

I will go into mine. I believe everything is inter-connected in some way in one gigantic system. IMHO, one can't just look at one part and implement a solution just for that one part. One has to look at the system as a whole in order to implement solutions. One has to consider many facets of ideas in addition to science, rationality, economics, etc. One has to look at people's beliefs and philosophy and the underlying DNA of our given society.

What would be my solution? The solution can't come from me. Part of the solution would have to come from the American people themselves as a whole. It can't come from one person or a select group of people. To be quite honest, global problems would require global solutions which would require more of a global consensus. To achieve this, would require more of a global culture. For example, Global warming. It would require cooperation from the world's cultures to solve.

I think the idea of the nation state is becoming obsolete and more and more problems will require macro-based solutions, an underlying macro system of beliefs that are flexible in nature and not too rigid. To me, Fnord's way is but a Band-Aid upon macro problems that need macro based solutions. To come up with these solutions one needs to synthesize different areas of understanding like math, science, philosophy, ethics, beliefs, etc

None of us individually can come up with a solution but in a communitarian way I believe we can.

It's already been done, back in 1776, and NO it's not a perfect system, but if someone like me can gain Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness here, AS IS, in the U.S., it just goes to show the system IS NOT BROKE AS IS, OVERALL.

TO IMPROVE what we have, is in the power of the electorate, to ENJOY WHAT WE HAVE, is in the power of each human mind and body working in balance with the opportunity for the freedoms THAT DO EXIST AND WILL EXIST FOR A LONG TIME TO COME, AS LONG as people can work together to MAKE THAT HAPPEN.

IF NOT, a new system, either better or worse, will come, but to worry about that now, is simply wasting precious NOW, in my opinion.

The best way of life is enjoying NOW, in whatever way one CAN.

To gnash one's teeth and wring one's hands over the past of problems or the future of fear is insanity in JUST MY OPINION.

THE PEOPLE in power will make the changes, and all we CAN do about this truly for the grand scale of COUNTRY change, is JUST VOTE, AND OF course that is JUST in the grand scheme of change.

There is an unlimited amount of things that TRUE PIONEERS OF FREEDOM CAN DO on micro-local community arena of change TO BREAK STATUS QUOS.

That is the way this country is designed to work, both on the macro and micro community ways of LIVING LIFE FOR LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.

THE naysayers continue to live in naysayer land, and THAT IS A place I refuse to live, in REAL LIFE UNITED STATES FREEDOM WAY.

I AM THRILLED TO SEE that people here are actually doing something to make that a reality, no matter how small a scale it may seem.

Everything is interrelated in life, as science even shows now, so the butterfly effect thingy is a SCIENTIFIC FACT, and well worth pursuing in whatever way one can, in ONE'S micro view of life that is part of CHANGE IN the much bigger MACRO THINGY.

NO CONTRIBUTION TO THAT MACROCOSM OF REALITY IS TOO SMALL, WHETHER IT IS FLAPPING OF BUTTERFLY WINGS, or the watering of a sapling tree, where the beauty of THAT tree as STRONG AND ALIVE MAY INSPIRE, eventually, the saving of the earth, depending on who IS inspired by the life AND BEAUTY of that tree, and the butterfly of the boy who watered the tree allowing it to survive IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THAT FULL SURVIVAL EQUATION.

PASSION FOR LIFE, THAT IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT, AND WITHOUT THAT, IT'S JUST THAT, AND NOT THAT, PER TRULY LIVING HUMAN LIFE.

Fnord and Goonsquad (and me) are actually doing the same thing: local civic action. I work to get out the vote in local elections (which people often disregard because they think it's too small to matter but it affects their daily lives in ways they don't realize) and do volunteer municipal cleanup.

My philosophy is like that bumper sticker "think globally, act locally". I think change on a global scale is so overwhelmingly a huge task that it is paralyzing to individuals. It's too easy to wind up just talking about it instead of doing things. The things that can be done locally are small but cumulative and above all possible. It's a bottom up approach.

Consider the endless threads saying "wouldn't it be great to have an autistic country". There's one that's active in PPR right now. Threads like that can never be anything but threads....talk. If you plan too large, you wind up just talking instead of doing because the scale is overwhelming. Meanwhile, WP poster Vicky Glietz has started an autistic cooperative in Pueblo, Colorado (contact her for details). It's a very small action but it's an actual action. Small things add up. That's my philosophy- small things add up.

"Social Change Begins With the Self", "Think Globally, Act Locally", and "We're not asking you to change the world, just a small piece of it" are all part of the same bottom-up philosophy of improving society by doing whatever you can wherever you are right now.

What You, Goonsquad, Vickie, and I are doing is in stark opposition to those who merely whine on about how bad society is and how "We" should do something about it. Those who advocate organizing active or passive revolt against the status quo are really not interested in effecting change, but in having society change to please them. Those who instead advocate abdication from social responsibility and secession from society itself really don't matter, as they have already given up on effecting any meaningful social change.

Those of us who are more civic-minded (and less self-centered) are the ones who are already on the front lines of the Social Revolution, while those-who-say "We" sit back and complain that there is no Social Revolution because they see no social changes taking place.

Well, maybe if they would get their butts out there and try to change someone else's life for the better, they would actually see the very change they are looking for!

Because the Social Revolution is already in full swing, and it is not being fought by those who complain that there is not yet a clear victory, but by those of us who volunteer our time, our material resources, and our labor to better the lives of others.

"We" need to wake up, get up, get out, and get busy if "We" expect anything to change; otherwise, "We" should just get out of the way, stay silent, and let the rest of us fight and win the Social Revolution instead.

It doesn't take any deep philosophic analysis or debate. No "ifs", "what ifs", or "yeah, buts" about it.

So, you guys are right about acting locally. If you really are concerned about making things better you do need to go out and do something about it. That's one of the reasons I changed majors from History to Social Work--because I NEED to do something more than b***h about the problems I see.

And if everyone went out and volunteered and did something to help fix the problems in their community, it surely would change the status quo...

Still, it's gonna take more than "a thousand points of light" to make things better.

That transitional housing project I mentioned, takes a lot of money to run. We could never raise enough money locally to keep it going. That's where the 'macro-level' stuff comes in. Most of our clients enter the program with a history of substance abuse (they have to be sober when they start the program), and mental and physical health issues. In addition to teaching life and stress/coping skills, we have to get them healthy and stable too. That kind of care is expensive, and we couldn't provide it without Federal grants.

Like I mentioned before, our modern system of political economy is so dysfunctional that we never know from year to year what our funding will be like or IF we will have any funding at all. That makes it really hard to plan ahead or expand the program.

To really fix the big social problems, we need federal funding and support. If I had the power to reform our social welfare system, I'd abolish a lot of the fed-level bureaucracy and concentrate on giving block grants to state and local level nonprofit agencies.

Having local people fixing local problems is a much more efficient and effective approach, in my estimation. The results are always going to be better when the people working on the problem are there because they care rather than simply to collect a paycheck. I think this approach would also help to take some of petty politics out of the funding process too.

...I dunno if that's making sense. It's kinda rambling, but it's been a long day.

And hopefully a move away from the heretical prosperity theology.

I can tell you, That won't work for those who need sex reassignment surgery.

The topic of so-called "sex-reassignment" surgery is irrelevant to the topic of this thread.

The "status quo" in the US won't change any time soon for two reasons:

1.) Although most people can find something to complain about, few are unhappy enough to do anything, especially if that might impact their own lives in a negative way.
2.) As for those who would act, there is broad disagreement as to what sort of change they want.

I would have to put myself in the first category.

To understand my point, consider Egypt about 3 years ago. Most Egyptians were unhappy enough to take to the streets and bring about change (this may have been facilitated by Egypt's unique geography). The US is nowhere near a situation like that. I would not welcome our being in such a situation because it would imply some really bad stuff had happened. Who (apart from some "radicals") really wants that?

If you want to make a difference, act individually in a positive way. Give money to local organizations that you know help people directly (the Salvation Army is amazing, even an atheist should feel good about supporting them). If you have no money, then volunteer to help in some way. Helping to care for someone who can't care for their self, so their family members can get out to attend to business, will be greatly appreciated. You could probably even find such an opportunity within your own family. Or you could just sit at home and fret over the fact that in the US people aren't entitled to such help from the Government.

/\ This!
If only more people could just grasp that and stop waiting for "change" to develope and come take them by the hand...............

People don't want to be the instruments of change if it means stepping out of their safe, secure comfort zones.

Would they volunteer to work at a homeless mission? Not if it means that they have to leave their iPads and other electronic toys at home, and risk being touched by someone who may get a chance to bathe only once a week.

Would they distribute groceries to elderly shut-ins and poor families? Not if it means going out into the cold rain to carry 30-pound boxes and hand them to people who cry at the sight of so much food in one place.

Would they take in a stranger (with good references) who just happens to be down on his luck and help him get back on his feet? Not if it means that they have to endure the inconvenience of having to share their living space.

It seems that when people say something like, "We should do something about ...", they really mean, "Someone else should do something about ..." instead.

/\ This.

@Fnord, that was about as well stated as anything I've seen on WP.

Sadly, my autism mostly stops me from the "hands-on" stuff, but I try to be generous with my money (within reason given that I'm married with two (soon to be one) dependent children). I am thankful to have enough money to be generous. I could have well ended up not having any, like probably most on WP.

Aghogday and Janissy

My friend, this is very well thought out answer to what I say. So, is Janissy's response. They're well thought out and thought through. I never thought about the butterfly effect, Aghogday, and it is a wonderful response and I will have to mull over this.

I don't know what will help and I don't know what solutions there are. I know what will not help or provide solutions. Fnord gave a bumper sticker slogan that is empty and devoid of substance. In fact, I looked it up and that quote doesn't even come from Gandhi at all. Anyone who wants to help, Please, don't use bumper sticker slogans that amount to nothing because they're vague and ambigious.

Another thing I can tell you all not to do is don't call someone a whiner or imply that someone is whining. Don't say whining doesn't help. Again, this says nothing and it is an old rusted sardine can. If you want to help me and others then show me and others where our logic and rationality is off and erroneous. If you provide information, it may conflict with other info so I may ask questions. I'm not being combative or having a negative attitude.

Speaking of attitude, telling people to be positive, yourself and confident says nothing. Bumper sticker slogans say nothing and do not help. Rationality and Logic does at least with me. If my thinking is off and I understand how and why, I will alter that. Janissy and Aghogday, provided me with information that's already getting me to see things another way.