How Do You Handle Having Insight

[lynettebro440]

I have a question for the old timers on here (and the newcomers with poetic insight)on how you have handled having insight to all that has happened in the last 50 years.

I started reading DU back in 2004 right after the war had started. I was relieved to know that there were people in this world that at least had a grasp of reality and tried like hell to change the world. It took me almost a year to post after that and was pretty angry at the time around 2005 because I had the insight to see what was going to happen. Those were the days when Republicans owned the world, no matter where you went some red neck mother fucker was shoving in your face their red, white and blue bullshit about how their guy was so great and they would show us, and how they were going to keep us safe from terror. Through all this bullshit I just shook my head and said under my breath, you just wait asshole.

I would like to know from those that have shared these last 50 years of my life in this nation, how you can make some sense of the directions we have gone since then.

I was one of the lucky ones that had the pleasure of growing up in a dysfunctional family (you know the ones back in the 50's, raised on incest, injury and insult), went to school with the crazy ass nuns and priests of the 60's (you know the ones, there just now figuring out they were all perverts). I got to see JFK, MLK and RFK all die in a few years apart. I got to witness racism at it's finest, watching people being attacked by hoses and dogs and called horrible names all because of their skin color. I witnessed the womens movement, Roe vs Wade before and after, civil rights movement.

I became of age just in time for gas shortages where you could only by gas on Thursdays since your plate on your car said so. I bought my first house at 11% interest rate (which was a steal) because the normal rate was 17% on mortgages. My children were born about the time Ronny "I really do have Alzheimer's" Reagan took the office. Oh yeah, the good old days of just say no, abstinence, retardation of the nation etc. I had to much insight during this time with being a person who created an enticement bill in my home state of NE which when following the source of an underground child ring that was happening, landed on the door of papa georges house. (Read Senator DeCamps book Franklin Credit Union). I was delighted when Billy C took office, I was 30 and I sure needed some kind of change from the geriatric, nazi age I had lived in for 12 years with Ronny and Papa George.

But during those wonderful 90's I watched a bad case of greed, bloating and more bullshit and people became more self centered then any time in my life. Although we had battled racism, sexism and abortions I watched my generation become pussies, worried about losing everything, covering there kids in protected covering for fear they might get a few bumps and bruises, buying gas guzzling SUV's and F1 pickup trucks, big over sized houses and watched most of them become over sized themselves. Then came Georgie Jr.

It scary now to think back and realize that I tried like hell to tell people that putting this stupid douche bag in office was one of the biggest mistakes we could make in history. I sat in disbelief that nobody was understanding what all this was meaning. I am not fond of having this insight. I had it back in the days with my dysfunctional family (I walked away as an adult and never looked back), had it with the crazy ass catholics listening in disbelief to some of their crazy shit. It has never caused me to fit well in society because I'm amazed that people don't see it too. I'm tired of being called crazy, liberal, hippie......when in all honesty I simply can see shit before others can. I'm no rocket scientist but has this really been this hard for people to see what decisions they make decide the outcome for all of us?

I'm happy to say that since having this insight I have avoided the numerous problems that come if I didn't have it. I'm not religious, I stopped the crazy dysfunction in the next generation of my gene pool, I stayed under the radar and don't have an arrest record, I simplified my life back in 2001 to a point that most people think I'm weird but hey I didn't bloat so I'm not paying the price.

I guess the death of Carlin has got me thinking. He was probably right, all this shit is bullshit and it's bad for you. Just needed to vent and wonder how other people on here handle knowing shit, watching it happen and then dealing with it afterwords. Thanks for listening.

[Fredda Weinberg]

1. I studied rocket science. It's not that hard and it gives you confidence

When I shoot an arrow in the air, I know where it will land ... every time. That's not something religion offers - reproducible results.

How do I cope? Quite well, thank you, with the help of people I've known longer than the Internet. No, you can't pick your family members, so the strategies you develop to live in harmony work everywhere.

And if you don't have lots of real relationships yet, well ... we can bond in a virtual way. When you're ready, present yourself and you'll find lots of local synergy.

Enjoy the weekend!

[roguevalley]

65. by holding to the belief that all things are cyclical and that in the end

the pendulum would do what it always did, swing back to sanity. I believe we aren't hopeless. It is the most constant belief I have.

[Fredda Weinberg]

66. Amen! n/t

[The Magistrate]

2. By Cultivating, Ma'am, The Faculty For Morbid Curiousity....

About the only thing that keeps me waking up mornings is wondering what new cock-up will be apparent before sun-set, and the prospect of the mental exercise of calculating how it will relate to prevous ones, and what it might suggest about the ones likely to come in the future....

"You can't make things fool-proof. They're too ingenious."

[Warpy]

3. Other than considering changing my name to Cassandra

for spotting this crap every step of the way starting in 1969 and getting no one to listen, not much.

Other than that, what gets me through is knowing everything is impermanent.

[lynettebro440]

4. Like the name Cassandra

and I used to think that 50 was young but the longer these ass holes are in office the older I'm feeling.

[But....]

5. Sis...

Where have you been? :hug:
I always find it amazing that when you cut though all the BS it turns out that everyone the same, it's just that some people don't want to admit it. Carlin and me didn't agree on everything, but he always made me laugh and cry.

[lynettebro440]

6. I've been hanging on

Carlin was bat crazy sometimes but he usually was square on.

And I've always said humans are all alike, we are born the same way, we bleed the same way and we all die. Can't get anymore same then that:)

[But....]

10. Ya got that right...

You keep on keeping on(oh, 70's song revival) it's time to 'grid my loins' and get to work.:hi:

[John Q. Citizen]

21. Tom Robbins said, "There are two kinds of people in the world.. One kind thinks there are

two kinds of people in the world. The rest know better."

[opihimoimoi]

7. Yup, K&R 37465867x times....good one...

Du is a wonderful place to gaze at the participants and their personas....ya get um all....and it takes an intuitive person to wade through most of it...

Human History will not be kind to W...his results suck big time....thats the surface results....people often fail to realize what we have LOST under Bush.

Clinton had it all laid out for the Dude...We were paying off our National Debt at the time of Administration Transfer...back in 2001. Could it be those Clinton Years were the Last of the GOOD TIMES?...until its FIXED....?

Things would be SO Different had Bush not stole the Damn thing...

Only now do the People see...and are motivated to move toward greener years by Positive Change...

had to hit um in the face a few times...

Obama will mature in his job....he will listen to advice/counsil and go for what works BEST....LONG TERM TOO.

Vote BLUE

Come, we go for it....

[Tangerine LaBamba]

8. Hello, and welcome to DU ..........

I understand your frustration. I've got some years on you, and from this splendid vantage point, I can tell you without fear of contradiction, that I've never seen our country so manhandled by a bunch of power-mad, money-hungry, immoral fucks.

When Dick Nixon tried to do it to the Constitution, good men (and they were all men back then) rose up and forbade it. They crossed party lines and formed a coalition and let him know that he was caught, it was time to go. Back then, too, we had a media that acted honorably - the NY Times and the Washington Post - the publication of the Pentagon Papers - Woodward and Bernstein hunting down the story.

Now, we have Bob Woodward writing kissyface fiction about that bastard in the Oval Office, and then backtracking about it. He's filth, and to describe him as a member of the Fourth Estate is to do harm to the meanting of that appellation.

We had gas shortages, and we gave up being able to buy gas whenever we wanted it, and sat in lines, and bought gas according to the days we were assigned. We never doubted, though, that the prices would be hijacked by our very own government, and yet, here we are today, having that exact thing happened.

This is what happened when the Supreme Court foolishly and injudiciously, but quite politcally, installed that ratbastard as President. This is what happens when the voting machines in Ohio are jammed up and people aren't allowed to vote, even after they stood in line for hours to do just that.

We had a war in Vietnam that ended because my generation protested and protested and never shut up, and finally our parents began to agree with us, and so did other adults, and then the ones in power saw it, too, for the genocidal farce that it was, and the war was finished. So was LBJ, but what we got next was the beginning of our long national nightmare.

Where, today, is the outrage? The fighting back? The holding government accountable and storming the castles? Where is the refusal to keep being taken for granted? Where is the true roar that should have arisen from my fellow Americans when our troops were sent to Iraq, which made no sense? The press kissed the ass of Fuckface and pretended that it all made sense. It did not. But why are the people, who have never, for the first time in history, been asked to give up anything in "time of war," so accepting of these atrocities? Why is there so much silence as people lose homes, jobs, savings? What will happen when hunger becomes normal for the middle class?

(A good read on this is "So Wrong For So Long," by Greg Mitchell.)

I've been bellowing about it since 9/12/2001, and no one wanted to listen. Bushco had already decided that our Constitutional rights would be subverted by a law so badly written, so morally outrageous, so legally ill-conceived - the Patriot Act - that they had it drawn up long before it was presented to our Congress.

And there is our Congress. Gutless, spineless, it's a wonder any of them can draw breath. Sure, there are exceptions, and they are of a quality that matches the good elected officials who took on Watergate and Nixon - the heroes. But the rest of them - and they are the vast majority - are busy working to be reelected, and don't really care about what their jobs entail or what's happening to us, their constituents.

In summation, let me assure you that, having not experienced the Great Depression of the 1930s, I am convinced that we're heading in that direction, only this time there are approximately 3 times the number of people living in this country, and that means it's going to be so much worse. I don't think we've seen the worst of it yet.

How do I handle it? I gave up on all of it a while back. There comes a point when you turn it over to the younger generation, and see what they'll do with it. So far, not much, which is tragic. Keyboards are fine things, but bodies in the streets and on the front lines are what matter, and I wish there were more taste for demonstrations and shows of our own strength.

But, for me, I am convinced, as were George Carlin and Kurt Vonnegut, two of my heroes, that it's all beyond hope now. Obama's message is compelling and seductive and he's gotten my money and my vote, without question. But, can he really change anything, with things in our country, in the world, so badly broken? I am pessimistic, but I reserve the right to maintain a scintilla of hope, just a tiny particle, because, if I lose that, I've lost the last vestiges of my humanity, and I refuse to let Fuckface In The Oval Office, after all he's taken from us, take that from me.

[CrispyQ]

17. Best Post of the Day.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

"Keyboards are fine things, but bodies in the streets and on the front lines are what matter, and I wish there were more taste for demonstrations and shows of our own strength."

I watched "The Corporation" yesterday (everyone should see this movie!) & the section about the Bolivian water project was inspiring. Control of water was turned over to a subsidiary of Bechtel. The company doubled & then tripled the water rates. Some people were paying over 20% of their income for water. Citizens weren't even allowed to put out buckets to capture rain water. Unfuckingbelievable, huh? The Bolivian people filled the streets, chanting, "The people, united, will never be defeated." Eventually, the contract was suspended & water hikes were rolled back.

If water were privatized in America if the people would even notice? You know the 'news' would not report it. CNN hasn't had a serious newscast about the Iraq/Afghanistan wars since the frickin' primaries. Our 'news' has become nothing but a distraction. Will it take total economic collapse before the American people wake up & what will be left to salvage?

[lynettebro440]

48. That's right

they can't take you away from yourself, it's what has helped me survive this long in my crazy life.

[dixiegrrrrl]

60. Amen to that...

said it better than I could have.

[jimshoes]

9. A lot of us who post here knew in our hearts

that junior would be the disaster he is. Some more than others, some he far exceeded their worst expectations. I knew in my heart that within a year of his taking office we would be in a shooting war with someone. I knew, or rather it became starkly clear, during the 2000 debates that dubya was an idiot of the highest caliber. I knew that he had no command of the English language and that his "presidency" would be littered with malapropisms, mixed metaphors and just plain ignorant statements.

I'm thankful that I found DU in order to vent my spleen occasionally, otherwise I'm sure I would have higher blood pressure than I already have. I had an inkling that he would prefer his "Dictatorship" rather than our beloved Democracy, I knew he'd never let himself be held accountable for any of his crimes and yet I can't help but feeling I did little to stop him.

I posted on this board and helped Democrats get elected in local races but it wasn't nearly enough. And now in the waning months of this nightmare, the best we can hope for, thanks to a bought media and some spineless Congress people is that the living, breathing sack of pond scum leaves when his term has "officially" ended. And I'm still kind of skeptical on that.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. A large sense of humor, and a bit of humility, helps.

Just knowing that I'm not in charge of the world, and thus don't have to fix it all, is a great relief. Having come to that conclusion some time ago, I can do my bit to make it a better place and not fret about the results.

Even the antics of politicians have a sort of morbid entertainment value as they frantically try to run everything and inevitably make a hash of it. All the while telling us that they have a plan for our future that will delight us.

I've come to the conclusion, after many years, that the best we can hope for is that any politician who attains power won't do too much harm while displaying his/her egomania.

[ThomWV]

12. One day I was standing on top of a hill in Viet Nam and at once understood

Not a combat situation either, this was in a Base Camp in the Central Highlands. Sometime toward the end of my second tour I found myself in Pleiku Provence at the Base Camp of the 4th Infantry Division. I had spent 90% of the previous two years in the bush and thought I had a firm grasp on the magnitude of the war. In the middle of that Base Camp there was a small mountain. From what was otherwise a rolling plane this single pinnacle stood up probably 700 feet higher than the surrounding landscape. There was a road to the top and a communications outfit was stationed up there. They ran the microwave communications links for the Division.

So one day I walked up there just to see what the view was like. Sprawled before me was the biggest part of a complete combat ready US infantry Division and most of its support units too. It was a medium sized city. I looked on it in awe and for the first time realized, considering how many similar units were in country, that I could not begin to estimate the expense of all of this. And then there was the Army everywhere else in the world, and then there was the Air Force, and then there was the Navy as well as the smaller branches. There were powers at play that I knew at once were utterly unconcerned with my well being at at the same time in complete control of my destiny. The fact that I was standing there in the middle of a hot war was proof of who was in control and who was not.

That was in 1968.

You make good points, not the least of which is what cowards we have all become. If there is only one thing that I grudgingly admire about most of the Republicans that I know it is that at least they do not sweat the minutia. In the same paragraph I want to say this though; it was Ronald Reagan who destroyed this country. Make no mistake about that - the criminals in charge now found their way into the halls of Governmental power during Reagan's reign of terror and they have bobbed back and forth between there and wherever they have directed our hard earned dollars to land.

As for our chicken-shit Congress, they no more represent our interests than McDonald's does.

[lynettebro440]

13. I totally agree with you

This has been brewing since the Reagan era, the same fucks from then came back and did it again but worse this time. Instead of putting in a puppet, they chose a retard, illiterate moron. I seriously hope they all start croaking so that we never have to hear or see them again. Why don't any of them ever die early, just blows my mind.

[southerncrone]

19. Agree that Raygun years ruined our country....but

it was actually GHWB. That slimy, piece of dung ran Raygun's administration, Ronnie was just a figurehead (bobblehead) that could give an amicable speech. We had 12 yrs of GHWB, & who know how many yrs we're doomed to suffer from his son. :puke:

[tomp]

75. you guys are all wrong if you think our demise is that recent.

we have had one hundred years of u.s. imperialism. that underlying paradigm is bipartisan. that is the source of all our ills.

[tom_paine]

61. "Not the least of which is what cowards we have all become."

Sad agreement here. As a nation of cowards such as the 1930s Germans who allowed/vaulted Hitler into power, are we not simply getting the wolves we deserve, the ones who's arrival became inevitable the moment we became sheep?

[CrispyQ]

14. My husband & I both feel we grew up during the best years of the USA.

Your paragraph about the "wonderful 90s" & the greed & bloating really hit home. I lost many friends during that period as they morphed from people who cared about community, the environment & valued diversity, to greedy monsters whose only concern was the DJIA & how much they could scam off some real estate deal. The college town I lived in went from being a quirky community of diversity to a non-caring community of cookie-cutter yuppies, focused on the almighty dollar.

It's still much better than many communities, I will grant that, but if you were here prior to the 90s, the change has been dramatic.

[lynettebro440]

15. I hope the hell the 90's weren't the best time in my life

they were OK but I expect alot better then that. I just keep thinking that someday people are going to get smart, and it just never happens.

[CrispyQ]

20. Maybe I wasn't clear.

I grew up in the late 50s & 60s, in a small farming community. During harvest time, if a fellow farmer had problems getting his crop out of the ground, due to equipment malfunction, family emergency, whatever, all the other farmers pitched in to help. Not one of the farm families that lived in the area would deny help.

My reflection about the 90s was about seeing so much change in community -- watching people who shared similar values toss them aside for a buck. We went from a "we're in this together" to "you're on your own" mentality.

on edit: the community I speak of during the 90s was not the same as the one I grew up in. I wonder how much true community is left in the town I grew up in.

[lynettebro440]

22. I hopefully believe

that we will once again have to come back to that community caring like we had in the 50's. Nothing meant by what I said:)

[CrispyQ]

24. No problem.

I just wanted to make sure you didn't think I was saying the 90s were the greatest time!

:hi:

[lynettebro440]

27. I had such bigger dreams

then where I'm at now. I'm happy and centered but watching technology that could have been and where we could have been if we would have just shifted a little to the left, makes me sad I might not have the chance in the second 50 to really see this happen. We have a lotta healin to do.

:hi:

[mwb970]

70. The 50s and 60s were America's peak, I'm afraid.

Postwar exuberance led to a "Spirit of America" that has now been completely lost.

The music was better. The schools were better. The government was better. The people were better. Even the TV shows were better!

When I look at the crappy country and world my 14-year-old niece will have to grow up in, I weep for the future. So I watch DVDs of "Leave It To Beaver" with her, and we listen to the Beatles. The comparison with modern "entertainment" is, for the most part, dire.

[southerncrone]

16. We must be twins separated at birth.

You resonate my life & feelings to a T! Complete w/nuns, dysfunctional families (mine actually WAS/IS...2 divorces by time I was 14.) & this cursed insight.

Remember the saying: "Ignorance is Bliss." So true.

I believe our "insight" is actually common sense. The ability, first, of observation; then the ability to place those observations in perspective with other & past observations to obtain a logical end. Actually, not only the ability, but the will to do so.

Most Americans are in such a state of denial. They WON'T look at what is going on, it's really too painful; so they plod along in their state of suspended conscienceness, allowing the "grown-ups" to do the hard work for them (Repuke "leaders" abusing us all.). It's just easier that way. Plus, drugs help, too. (No accident that prozac, zoloft, celexa, etc. are taken like candy now.)

So few today have any sense of personal or social responsibility. That's one of our main problems, & how we ended up HERE!
Just my opinion.

How do I cope? Not too well these days....it's why I'm always angry :grr:, sad :(, frustrated x( & depressed :cry:.

Our Dem Congress critters sitting on their hands don't help these feelings, either. Seems there's very little we can do about it. Hope someone else out there can help me out on this, too.

Hang in there, twin. All we've got is each other. :hug:

[lynettebro440]

18. Awh my long lost sister

I sure could use one, gave my crazy one up years ago. Hang in there we have the insight to survive:)

[southerncrone]

23. And that, my dear, will be our saving grace.

Our insight will be our path to survival. We CAN think & figure things out, because we WILL!
(I knew this brain would come in handy some day!)

I never had a sister, so I'm glad I found one now! :)

[lynettebro440]

25. YAY!!!!

:toast: :pals:

[H2O Man]

26. Three ways:

First, by recognizing that this is "the best of times, and the worst of times." It always has been, and always will be.

Second, by knowing that what "insights" I have come to a direct result of all those things that allow for my individual interpretation. Hence, what may be obvious to me may be hidden to others (just as what is obvious to others may be hidden to me).

Third, by coming to understand that wise people learn from other people's mistakes; most of us have to learn from our own; and fools never learn.

I also find it beneficial to take time to slow down, because the pace of our culture (and the world) is too fast. I am fully convinced that last night, there were more "fire flies" (aka "lightening bugs") in the fields around my pond, than at any other time in history. I enjoyed sitting alone, watching them.

[lynettebro440]

28. Agree

and thanks for that insight. It is about learning and living and I have that slow down to a tee. LOL. I learned to chill about 15 years ago when stress was taking a tole on my body. Love nature...know exactly what you mean.

[dave29]

68. Funny, my response to the OP was simply going to be

fire flies.

Something about the sight of them, and the sound of the woods at night that keeps me sane.

[H2O Man]

72. I have been

spending an increasing amount of time outside of the house, away from the computer and tv. We have a small pond and a one-room cabin, with no electric. I have a couple books that I'm reading, and a notebook to write in. Frogs, flowers, minnows, salamanders, dragon flies, deer, a pileated woodpecker, a cat and two puppies bring about different brain waves than MSNBC, CNN, and the internet. When the sun goes down, and the fire flies start lighting up, it still seems as magical as it did when I was a little kid.

[dave29]

79. riding home to Bloomington Indiana

from my first and last Cincinnati Reds game as a small child (I got to see my childhood hero Johnny Bench), we were passing through a remote part of Eastern Indiana when our car was overtaken by flashing lights. My adoptive father pulled over the car, and we stepped out -- revealing an unforgettable stretch of moonlit meadow at the edge of a forest. The most remarkable thing was the hundreds upon hundreds of fire flies dancing along the edge of the beech trees, up to and around the road. A completely captivating moment, which for the first time in my life made me realize a profound connection with nature. I did not know at the time that my biological father was half native American, and half Irish frontiersman by blood. The resonance was lost to me, but came to make sense over time.

It is one of the many powerful memories I have of my youth, one which has stayed with me, and calmed me during moments of crisis as an adult.

Now in Austin Texas, I have noticed over the last few springs a remarkable increase in the number of fire flies. I'm glad someone else has noticed. I have wondered what it has meant from time to time, whether or not it is a result of global warming, or random migratory patterns... but mainly, I just allow myself to enjoy the beauty of the dancing lights.

[happydreams]

29. One thing I do...

is put things in perspective. I'm much better at it than a few years ago. What we are seeing is the culmination of a long history of economic forces consolidating their power. What we now see is nothing new. What is new is the Internet and the exposure of it all. That has helped me to not only deal with alot of what is going on, but to humble myself to search out the history. What we are seeing is the result of that history. I want to publish what I've found.

[lynettebro440]

30. Very true

It isn't like the old days of hiding the evidence in a locked safe for 40 years like the kennedy crap. It's all out in the open and they can't get away from it.

[trof]

31. My insight: We aren't going to hell in a handbasket.

Nay, nay.
Handbasket too small.
We now go in fleet of double-hulled suezmax tankers.
:-(

[lynettebro440]

35. Need a hummber

to handle all the obese people going to hell.

[mnhtnbb]

32. It's a great burden to have insight. Perhaps that's one reason why

so many Americans have so much vested in maintaining their denial systems.

I'm 57. I remember exactly where I was when I heard JFK had been assassinated. In a Republican family,
I was the only one glued to the tube all weekend watching the national mourning. My mother's response, when I told her what had happened, "It's about time!" was probably the trigger of my first insight
that I did NOT want to grow up to be like my mother.

MLK, Jr., Bobby, VietNam, Nixon, the trashing of Carter, the election of Reagan/Bush and the headlong
rush to elevate corporatism in this country over caring for each other and behaving responsibly
as world citizens. I've watched it all and predicted that we would be on the road to fascism by the time
2000 rolled around. And then Bushie boy. Jeebus, what a disaster. I could see the media working
so hard to elevate that piece of $hit into being equal to Al Gore. Stupid, stupid, Americans swallowing
all that BS and then the Florida fiasco, the traitors on the Supreme Court, and voila...we have a coup d'etat in the USA. I was screaming about it at the time. I kept wondering why people weren't in the streets. Stopping traffic in DC. Shutting down the government.

Then it happened all over again in 2004. I didn't see how Kerry could possibly lose (and of course, he didn't).

So hubby and I decided to handle our insight by finding an escape hatch in another country. We considered a lot of places, but due to factors of our age, preference for warmth, receptivity
of other countries to retirees, and hurricane chances, we ended up buying property in Panama in 2005.
We have our permanent resident visas, and after dealing with strikes and greedy developers it looks
like we just might, finally, end up with a place of our own there before summer is out.

So our insight has prompted us to hope for the best and plan for the worst. Our investments have been converted almost entirely to cash and real estate. After our house burned down here in Chapel Hill last year we wondered what to do and whether we'd be able to afford anything after the insurance
company tried to screw us out of paying us what we were insured for. Finally, with help from a public adjuster we recovered enough to pay off the mortgage so we didn't have to sell the lot. Then a small house on the same street came on the market, and we bought it. After remodeling it, we'll be downsized from our 3000 sq ft that burned down to 1850 sq ft, and we'll still have the lot and the detached garage/studio apartment which didn't burn. We'll hold the lot for a year to see
what it's like living in smaller digs, whether we decide to split our retirement between Panama and Chapel Hill, or whether to plan to move to Panama permanently in another year or two.

A lot depends upon how long and deep this recession will be.

So, having insight creates a burden to plan. To consider options that aren't desirable, but may be
life saving, or at least life enhancing. To balance the seriousness of the insight, it's imperative
to find ways to enjoy life's little pleasures: take walks, smell the flowers, watch the hummingbirds,
play with the pets, enjoy being with family and friends.

[lynettebro440]

34. I know what you mean, I had set up a job in Ontario Canada

in 2004 with an insurance company. I said when this gets bad I'm out of here. I have told my children that if they steal this next election and McSame gets in, we are definitely moving out of the country. I'm with you, there is no allegiance when it starts taking a personal tole, and this government doesn't care if you are dead or alive. Just pay your fucking taxes.

[mnhtnbb]

36. Even if Obama wins and has coattails for Dem Congress, look at what

he inherits. It's not going to be pretty turning things around in this country. The Bushies
have been looting the treasury for 7 years to the benefit of their buddies. The haves and have mores
have even more...and where does that leave the rest of us.

It's disgusting what these a$$holes have done to the country. What's more disgusting is the
lack of concern by most Americans. Now that it costs $60-$100 to fill up the gas tank, people are starting to wake up. But it's late. Very late.

You're lucky if you can get into Canada. They don't want retirees (burden on the health care system).

[lynettebro440]

84. I had a conversation with a Bosnian guy the other day

we started talking about war and stuff. I found myself telling him that I'm humiliated at my own country. I have always felt good about being an american but lately it's an embarrassment and we know better then this. I feel like we are moving back wards daily and should be ashamed at how dumb we look.

[mmonk]

33. I don't handle it, at least not very well.

I seem to be aging quicker lately as well.

[Karenina]

37. The earth shook and I got the hell outta Dodge.

[blues90]

38. I look back through it all and realize it was all one long sick joke

With times that were better but never great.

I have always felt Carlin was right on about everything he said.

I have to look at life as a short time here on this planet where it's all a game of winners and losers with always changing rules that never really make a whole lot of sense.

It's only easy to look at the past if the present is good and the future looks better and it doesn't. So I try not to look back any more.

I do feel we have gone from bad to the worst I have ever seen even worse than Reagan we are. Lost a lot of good people this year alone.

All we seem to do is repeat and speed it up and modernize but never change.

It's like a recording re-recorded so many times that it makes no sense and has become a blur.

[lynettebro440]

39. We are like in a really bad day

like Groundhog Day, over and over. It amazes me that it hasn't stopped in a half of century. I keep thinking I'll someday wake up and everyone would have some sense. Still waiting.....

[Blue_In_AK]

40. When I get really distressed about earthly things

I try to look at the cosmic and realize that our world is merely a speck in the universe, and that we as individuals really have no significance at all in the grand scheme. Somehow that's comforting to me. :shrug: It's why some of my favorite shows on TV are the ones on National Geographic or the Science Channel about how we could all get wiped out in an instant by a comet or asteroid collision, by the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano, a giant tsunami or whatever. I love that stuff.

We really are so full of ourselves to think that any of this matters AT ALL.

[Lorien]

42. But we and the life on this planet are all we've got

apathy is killing us both spiritually and literally.

[Blue_In_AK]

44. Oh, don't get me wrong,

I'm not apathetic in the least. I always study the issues and vote in every election. I'm very actively supporting and volunteering for my candidate for House of Representatives because I feel like I can have more impact locally than in the presidential race, but I will definitely vote for Obama, even though I have reservations. I have very strong opinions -- many of which I don't express here because I don't care to be bashed by people who don't know me -- but, still, they're good, reasoned opinions, in my mind, at least. :P I still believe in peace, love and justice, just as I did 40 years ago. ... It's just that I'm realistic enough to know that whatever is going to happen is going to happen, and that maybe George Carlin was right -- someday the earth will shake us off like a bunch of fleas. And that might be a good thing.

[Lorien]

41. I grew up in a community of freethinkers and without television

so thankfully I spent at least a small portion of my life not feeling entirely isolated and alone. I went to a "hippie commune" private school where there weren't any desks. Just a few tables, so cushy chairs, and rugs to sit on. Sometimes school was held in a forest, barn or cave. My parents got rid of the TV when I was about six or seven, and that was a good thing. I grew up either playing outdoors or reading books. It wasn't until college and my first few jobs that I realized that the rest of the world was filled with lemmings. Borg people, pod people, group thinkers....you know, CONSUMERS, not citizens. They have been programed by mass media and one another to believe that the ultimate goal in life is wealth and aquisition. If you have more than someone else you ARE more than someone else-and being "more" than others in society is of the utmost importance. Love, friendship, honesty, compassion, self sacrifice,knowledge, the environment, the less fortunate,health, community...EVERYTHING I had grown up believing in as "what is important in life" was being rejected by the rest of society. Love meant getting diamonds, cars, sex, or a free ride from someone else. "Friends" are now people who are useful to us, not people we would lay down our lives for. The rest are all alien concepts to most people. How do I handle it? Not well. I work at home alone, with only cats and the occasional neighbor for company. I don't like going out in the world because it's so mean spirited and ugly, but I'm not a recluse by nature either. Most of the time I'm just very, very depressed. Last week I went to a week long workshop called "the illustration master class" http://illustrationmasterclass.com/ . About eighty artists all working, eating and living together for 16 hours every day. I suspect that all of us were "sensitive misfits" because we were there in the first place. Over and over again I heard my fellow students say "this has been the best week of my life"! The instructors felt much the same way "I don't want to go back to working in isolation" one told me, another said "if we could just win a lottery, take over Amherst college and live and work like this together for the rest of our lives..." I think the reason why everyone was blissfully happy was because they were doing what humans were MADE to do; interacting with one another, supporting one another, talking and laughing and working toward a common goal. We all felt safe, too; the faculty's expensive art was left unattended in unlocked studios overnight, purses and bags were left on the floor while everyone went to lunch and dinner. We trusted one another. Another factor; there were no distractions like television or video games.

Now the only chance I have to interact with others is through email, phone, and the internet. My emails go unanswered, my phone calls aren't returned, and rarely are any of my posts responded to (generally people only respond if I piss them off). Everyone is busy working and shopping and playing their Wii and watching reruns of LOST...they can't be bothered with other human beings, unless, of course, I could be useful to them.Ronnie Raygun's legacy lives on, and on, and on.

[lynettebro440]

43. It sounds like your beginning life was bliss`

and I understand the aloneness. I have given up on trying to belong. I live with my 24 year old son, we share the bills and get along well but lease is up in September and we are going our seperate ways after 2 years. I have my cats (and by the way yours are beautiful). I don't get depressed anymore, went through so much therapy for all the sexual abuse I endured in my family. I guess my major emotion is amazed. I'm amazed that people don't seem to care about the real important stuff, instead they can give me a detailed outline of what happened on what reality TV show is the hit that week. You ask them about politics and they stare at you like you are talking a different language. Hang in there, we do have each other and somehow that does make it better when it gets real bad.

[Tashca]

45. I read this earlier

I went for a walk and thought about your post....I ran it through my mind.....over and over.
I witnessed the things you talk about too. I suspect we are close in age.
My answer to your question is probably not what you are looking for.
But...it brought back many memories.
I was 6 when JFK was killed. I remember my teachers going into the hallway and holding each other...they were crying. Quite an impact on a 6 year old. I remember my mother crying for what seemed like 3 days...this too terrified me. I knew something was terribly wrong, but not a clue as to what it was.
I remember going through grade school and doing drills from time to time....we were taught what to do in case of a nuclear attack. I would ask my mother how close an atom bomb would have to be to kill us. All this is again....terribly frightening on a young child.
My teachers told stories of how Soviet children would turn their parents in to the authorities for doing something wrong.....that one stuck with me ....I never wanted to be forced to do something like that.
I could go on and on.....but those early memories made me realize how we have been propagandizes with fear from the earliest days of our childhoods. People talk about 9/11 and the fear factor. Nonsense....it started long before that. It has been pervasive in our daily lives from early childhood....we didn't even realize it....or at least I didn't.
I am tired of it....and becoming abit angry about it....

Thank you for stimulating an exercise within myself....:hi:

[lynettebro440]

46. In 2005

I wrote a hell of a rant back in the day

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4822145

I was quite proud of it. It still carries how I feel today. I just want people to stop and do something other then bending over and taking it up the ass, and then trying to fuck you at the same time. I have aged some since that rant, but I'm still as pissed off as I was back then. If life doesn't change soon, man.......

[mnhtnbb]

49. Wow. Indeed. Helluva rant.

[lynettebro440]

50. Don't piss me off

O8)

That feeling just comes pouring out of me.....LOL

[Tashca]

64. Yes....that is quite the rant

You and I are on the same page.....I'm sure it feels good to let it out like that....and have so many people support you!!

I am by nature a quiet person. But I have a rage simmering....and it has for many years. Caused by the lies and manipulation. So many times I think fear has kept it in check. Fear of losing something. Raising children kept me in check. They are now adults and can take care of themselves.
I personally am at a place of rising above the fear. If I lose everything I have....if truly doesn't matter to me if it's for the right reasons.

If another election is stolen....I can't live with that.
If it's won by a politician who promises change and delivers none.....I can't have that either...

[lynettebro440]

47. And any time I can stimulate

internal thought, I am awfully glad to help:)

[NancyG]

53. I remember cringing when an airplane flew overhead.

Early 60s

[lynettebro440]

57. I went to catholic school

about 10 miles from offut airforce base. We would do the hide under your desk drill at least twice a week. And while I'm doing it as early as 5 wondering why this would fucking work, but hey they tried their best to brainwash me. Didn't quite work.

[latebloomer]

59. I too remember being traumatized by the threat of nuclear war

as a child. It never does stop, does it?

We have been through and are going through so much. We need to show some compassion for ourselves, take joy in the present moment, be with the people we love, enjoy the little things, remind ourselves of how precious our lives are.

[proud patriot]

51. hanging on by my fingernails shouting for help

:patriot:

[rucky]

52. Live a life of quiet desparation.

Like everyone else.

[drexel dave]

54. I predicted the Los Angeles riots two years before they happened, from APPALACHIA

Yes, while i was listening to a lot of the first round of "gangsta" rap coming out of Southern California, I told everyone I knew that Los Angeles was going to go up in flames fairly soon.

They all looked at me like I was crazy.

[Fire Walk With Me]

55. You've witnessed an incredible amount of change, are and still doing so.

What is happening is change. It takes a supreme amount of bullshit to get people mobilized enough to change things, and yes, this is a supreme amount of bullshit.

Fear of losing what you have, and fear of not getting what you want are two main ego drivers. BushCo are sadists and are pushing these things around, for fun. Such supreme bullshit mandates more change.

[Cleita]

56. Good history in a nutshell.

I was thinking the same and feel that the only way we are going to change anything is to take back our country by the people and for the people. Our elected officials aren't going to do it. How, though remains the conundrum. I can't see having a revolution or civil war because too many innocent people get hurt. We need a smart and workable plan to do this.

[lynettebro440]

58. Just making sure

they don't cheat us on the voting machines. We have to get these crazy fucks out of there now.

[dixiegrrrrl]

62. that curse of insight thing...

My son complains about it all the time.
I wouldn't have it any other way for me or for him.

I've read the heartfelt comments in the above posts and have a need to say this...
We are the vanguard.
We are experienced enough, old enough, wise enough to be the vanguard.
From what I have read on this post, most of us were the vanguard all along, in the 60's and 70's and 80' etc.

You would think there is a limit to the parade of naked emperors.
But they seem to have an innate power to outdo the insanity of their predecessors.
Those people we describe as being blind and deaf to reality are not ready to be in the vanguard.
Whatever is pinching our toes is not yet pinching theirs.
They may fall over the cliff without ever knowing what happened.

Shouting at their deafness rarely works.
Acting out our insight and courage sometimes does.

The most important thing I need is to know someone else sees and hears what I do.
That keeps me sane.

thank y'all on this board tonight for doing that.

[lynettebro440]

63. Helps me to

just knowing there are others. Keeps me sane :)

[Echo In Light]

71. Curse the lesson and bless the knowledge

[autorank]

67. You make "knowing" the highest value. Then you're never disappointed.

Also it's a very good plan to never,ever have "faith" in any political leader and that means
never trust them.

You trust your family and friends based on experience over time. On occasion you may trust
someone you just met based on a strong intuition (which is just logic too fast to describe).

But don't trust these politicians.

Back to knowing - it's the most gratifying experience available, the most useful, and rewarding
since it takes work.

When I learn something new and confirm it to my satisfaction, it's "my moment of Zen."

:toast:

[tomp]

76. beautiful. thanks. nt

[midnight]

69. As funny as Carlin is and was...... You need to be part of this

govt. You need to vote.....Support those in office by letting them know that FISA is wrong, and why......
Post St. Ronnie, I was studying design, and loved solar energy and what could be done with it. When Al Gore and Bill Clinton where in the White House they started using more thoughtful kinds design choices on the remodeling of the White House....There is a movement a foot in the solar world still that is growing despite the ever greedy oil policies. But I know how you feel about the greed.....Way out of proportion to what is neccessary....

[old mark]

73. I am a published poet, and a painter and photographer.

Over my 60 years I have learned:
Most people have about zero insight.
Most people are afraid/mistrustful/angry at/those people having insight.
You (and I) can not control there people.
Their vote is just as good as yours (or mine.)
Fuck 'em.
Live your life - they probably won't notice you too much unless you want them to. They are too busy watching NASCAR on TV.
They will do what they want, and take us along with them.
We will on occasion manage to do or cause some event that may help put things on a better track, or this may just happen from time to time as the bad persons prove themselves to be such incredible assholes even the people mentioned above can no longer tollerate them.

Vote for Obama.
Get him elected president.
Vote for a lot more democrats for any office for which they are running.
Get them elected.

Write, call, etc, get them off their lazy asses, doing the right thing -
remember once elected to congress, they become politicians, and are no longer trustworthy. Monitor their actions, prepare to throw them out as necessary.

Remember. in another ten years or so, the Republican scum will be back in force and it will all seem new to those people with zero insight.

Have a great day.
Have a happy July 4th (last one under bush)
The great American summer holiday - eat a lot and blow shit up.
mark

[Echo In Light]

74. "Most people are afraid/mistrustful/angry at/those people having insight"

Brings to mind this John Lennon line from Working Class Hero:

"They hate you if you're clever, and they despise a fool."

[lynettebro440]

77. Thank you for your insight

you are right. You can only do what you can do. Obama in the house should make this life a little simpler. I just like to know that some people are on the same track as me, take it easy, take it strong and don't go crazy till then:)

[RandomKoolzip]

78. I thought the war started in early 2003...

...Anyhow, that's around when I joined: June of 03. And I was lurking for almost a year before that, just reading. DU seemed to be the only place in the world not controlled by zombies.

[lynettebro440]

81. It did start in 2003

I didn't find DU till early 2004....sorry for the confusion :)

[Greyhound]

80. Much as you do, I have a very small circle of close friends and,

aside from my constantly rebuked attempts to educate the ignorant, I keep to myself.
:kick:

[lynettebro440]

82. Glad to know

I'm not alone:)

[Janeite]

83. This is the best discussion on DU

in a long time. We need each other and we need to keep it real in order to survive. Thanks to everyone who has posted.

[seemslikeadream]

85. It's just a ride

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMUiwTubYu0


The World is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real, because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round, and it has thrills and chills and is very brightly colored, and it's very loud. And it's fun, for a while.

Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they've begun to question, 'Is this real, or is this just a ride?', and other people have remembered, and they've come back to us and they say 'Hey, don't worry. Don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride.' and we KILL THOSE PEOPLE.

"Shut him up! We have alot invested in this ride! SHUT HIM UP! Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real."

It's just a ride.

But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that. You ever noticed that? And let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter, because ... It's just a ride.

And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear wants you to put bigger locks on your door, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead see all of us as one.

Here's what we can do to change the world right now, to a better ride:

Take all that money we spent on weapons and defense each year and instead spend it feeding, clothing, and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and WE CAN EXPLORE SPACE, TOGETHER, BOTH INNER AND OUTER, forever ... in peace.

-- Bill Hicks (1961 - 1994)


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6552634076155820342&q=bill+hicks+just+a+ride&ei=k-RnSP7eLIvA4ALy0aD6Aw&hl=en

[lynettebro440]

86. Well I love rollercoasters

maybe that's why my life feels like one sometimes. Thanks for the insight.