Reality Vs. Fiction

[Hydra]

Reality: what is currently happening
Fiction: What is not currently happening

Easy, right? Not even close.

Accepted fiction: Perceived reality

Let's look at America for a moment with these things in mind.

Fiction: "We are the greatest nation in the world!"

Reality: GDP From 2006- approx. $13 Trillion. Sound good, right? Not really.
Dollar has lost around 39% of it's value since 2002
Current Debt: $9.35 Trillion(Rounded)
Trade Deficit 2007: $738.6 Billion
Estimated interest payment on National Debt: Approx. $500 Billion/yr

And that's just the money. I could write an encyclopedia on the rest.

Fiction: "We are a representative democracy"

Reality: What percentage of issues presented to our congress critters do they follow through on for normal people as opposed to their more wealthy or corporate donors? It's not democracy when you have to pay for the privilege of playing. Further:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20010205/palast
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.28A.Election.Fraud.htm
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen

Fiction: "We are a law abiding nation"

Reality: We are a rogue nation that no one would like to confront- not unlike the USSR of yesteryear. We no longer honor the Geneva Conventions unless we feel like it, we are developing next generation nukes and space-based weapons while allowing our citizens to starve. We kidnap people and torture them, sometimes from nations like Italy, who would rather we not do things like that to their citizens.

Fiction: "We are a beacon of hope to the world"

Reality: We are proof that any nation can become a force of destruction and terror, regardless of the type of gov't in place. We are also further proof that Democracy is not a spectators' sport. People have to be willing to fight and die for the right to have a voice and control of their nation. Lastly, we are proof that what happened in Germany was not a fluke- any nation can be driven to conquest by their leaders.

We are drowning in accepted fictions. Even the more cynical among us want to believe that change may occur in our system if we just vote correctly and let the people in charge know our displeasure. Let's see how that worked out:

When asked how that assessment comports with recent polls that show about two-thirds of Americans say the fight in Iraq is not worth it, Cheney replied, "So?"

"You don't care what the American people think?" Raddatz asked the vice president.

"You can't be blown off course by polls," said Cheney

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Vote2008/story?id=4481249&page=1

Now, we expect that from Cheney. To think he ever cared what we think would be naive at best. But alas, it's too great a thing to be kept to one party...

"We have to make responsible decisions in the Congress that are not driven by the dissatisfaction of anybody who wants the war to end tomorrow," Pelosi told the gathering at the Sofitel, arranged by the Christian Science Monitor. Though crediting activists for their "passion," Pelosi called it "a waste of time" for them to target Democrats. "They are advocates," she said. "We are leaders."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/09/AR2007100902006_pf.html

Apparently, they are confident in our collective acceptance of the fiction that they are representing us. I admit, their brazenness shocks me. "I'm in charge- what are you planning on doing about it?" would be a good paraphrase of their attitudes.

I think the greatest fiction of time is that our Government is salvageable.

I think reality shows otherwise.

[ladjf]

1. I like the way you are thinking. It is very dangerous for one to

base their actions upon fictional concepts of reality.

[Hydra]

2. I keep running into the people who are accepting the fictions

And they are very dangerous people. People fight to the death to hold on to their illusions.

[ladjf]

7. Not meaning to "open a can of worms" but that is the basic

problem with religious thought. And that wouldn't be so bad if they didn't force their superstitions on everyone else.

[Hydra]

8. To them, it's the "truth"

And you are a poor, misbegotten, damned soul if you don't accept the "truth" as well.

Funny that the worst cases of such are so-called "benevolent" religions.

[ladjf]

9. I believe that the only truth is what happens when anything encounters

anything else, i.e. a block of ice and above freezing temperature, a skull and a suddenly stopped vehicle, an erupting volcano and a sacrificed virgin.

I am saying that everything that exists, including any so called "truth", exists as a result of preceding events, which means that Existence itself is an array of related events.

[SCBeeland]

3. The fiction is reality and the reality is fiction

Cheney's such a dick.

"Two-thirds of Americans say the fight in Iraq is not worth it."
"So?"

What a dick.

[Hydra]

4. As Xander Cage said:

"Don't be such a Dick, Dick!"

Welcome to DU- I see you've studied your Orwell. That will serve you well.

[raccoon]

5. Rec'd. nt

[Hydra]

6. ty! n/t