"Sen. Warren: role of government 'fundamental question'"

[applegrove]

Sen. Warren: role of government 'fundamental question'

By Trevor Jones at Wicked Local Newton

http://www.wickedlocal.com/medfield/features/x90721623/Sen-Warren-role-of-government-fundamental-question#axzz2Uo7NtXfM

"SNIP......................


“The fundamental question that is going on in this country right now is – are we a country that believes ‘I got mine, the rest of you are on your own,’” said Warren, “or are we a country that believes we are in this together.”
The ability of government at all levels to function properly has been called into question, Warren said, but she feels strongly that people working together can make a better nation.

“I believe in a world in which we come together,” said Warren.

Warren called it a “great honor to be in this room today with so many good people.”


....................SNIP"

[MannyGoldstein]

1. What's wrong with this woman?

Greed is good, no?

All joking aside - I suspect if the headline is changed to

Warren: "I got mine, the rest of you are on your own"?

It will get a lot more eyeballs and recs. Of course, I'm wrong a lot.

[ananda]

5. Wrong is the new right (wing)!

If you go left you'll be right, if you go right you'll be wrong.

[LeftInTX]

2. Kick!

[madokie]

3. I feel it a great honor to have her in the Senate

[LastDemocratInSC]

4. There is a loss of a sense of civil community.

One reason for the nation's economic and social successes following WW2 is that the war affected everyone and we learned how to work together toward common goals. That sense of shared purpose seems to be on the decline. Even the word "collective" is a bad thing today. The "I've got mine" perspective may be the product of a fracturing of culture along religious / political lines - competing camps of self-interest.

It's interesting, however, that those who complain about government and "collective" activities the loudest are the ones who believe that "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." They don't mind being a little cog in the big wheel of a mega-church and they don't mind the government of their church with its intrusive rules on all aspects of personal and family life. Collectivism, it seems, is a fine thing one day a week.

Maybe they can tolerate only one form of government at a time. Maybe secular government on top of sectarian government is overload to them and because civil government can't work the magic that lets them live forever, they ditch one for the other.

There is no doubt that the notion that we are "in this together" is viewed skeptically today. How can someone with whom you have basic disagreements "be in" anything with you? Best to stay close to your ideological comrades, perhaps.

Shared experiences, especially life threatening experiences, can be the tie that binds dissimilar parts of society together. It seemed to worked from the early 1940s into the 1960s.

Elizabeth Warren is speaking truthfully but she is doing it from far left field in the eyes of many. Until the multitudes hear it from their neighbors and family, or until a national emergency occurs to bring the nation together across all lines, I'm afraid the concept of being in anything together may remain out of reach.