Must we be scientists and economists and shrinks ?

[blues90]

Is this what it has come down to in order to grasp a basic understanding so we know what to do with this mess called the USA ?

Right now I can't think of a thing that is working proper let alone find some way out of it .

With all the issues that surround us , at least those who are concerned what are we supposed to do .

De-regulation seems to be the root of most problems whether it's basic safety issues such as food both human and pet food . the air and the water .

It even involves or at least set the stage for the break down of our government and these wars for oil . It involves the care of injured vets and FEMA screwing up EVERYTHING that has to do with Katrina .

It even involves the media that twists or avoids the truth everytime a tv or radio is switched on .

So now we are not only concerned we now have to build up an education of our own just to attempt to be somewhat safe and safe is a vast term to consider .

Nothing is safe , everything is a risk and there is no way for us to have any control .

Perhaps we as just the normal citizen should have been on a self education program since we were born and then perhaps none of this would have gotten this far out of control . This is where the boomers always seem to wind up being blamed as if we should have , could have bullshit have .

As far as I can see it is now the point in time for the youth of today to dig in whether there is a draft or not and get with the program . Learn how to do without , realize that possessions are not what they are said to be . Wind things back to a simmer rather than a full out boiling pot ready to explode .

There are topics the youth ask about what is different between now and during the 60's or between Iraq and Vietnam , well it was the youth who decided enough was enough . This is the main difference as far as I can tell .

The parents of the boomers were not out there protesting , they were not out there gathering in our outrage , in fact they voted in the government that got things going in the wrong direction . We tried to change this . It takes more than bumper stickers and banners to change things or phone calls , it takes direct personal action . This is not to say some of the youth are not involved but they need more .

[depakid]

1. Short answer- YES

Critical thinking and basic skills in these areas are the ONLY self-defense we have against the incessant far right propaganda in the corporate media.

And yes, de-regulation is the root of many if not most of the current problems in America.

[Xipe Totec]

2. Yes, no, and maybe.

Scientists can agree on the facts.

Shrinks can agree that different people can interpret the facts differently.

But economists? They can't even agree on what the facts are.

[Warpy]

3. We're exactly backwards of what we are supposed to be

Corporations are rich and powerful. People are poor and powerless. The government defends the corporation against the people, instead of looking out for the people's interests over the corporation's.

Instead of a country of free and independent people, we are getting more unfree every single year that our bogus "wars," on crime, drugs, terrorism, teenage sex, pornography, blah blah blah, go on.

The parents of the boomers were complacent. They thought that they had strong unions forever, that the Depression was over and would never come again, and that WWII had defeated all the world's monsters for good.

They were wrong. Their votes created our monsters.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. bingo. well said. bravo

and the corporations are doing their best to keep us stupid and under their control.

[Union Thug]

5. Economists. Right.

I know this isn't universally true, but in general, economists come into the profession with assumptions and points of view that support the position of the smallest percentage of the population. In my view, economies are purely human creations, free from invisible hands and other ghosts and hobgoblins, and we can choose to do whatever the hell we please with our economy, with whatever rules WE (the majority) decide to put in place. Americans have been sold the authoritarian, laissez-faire party line for so long that they don't realize or care that we, as a working people, have the power to take control of our own economic system and subdivide the wealth of the world in anyway we deem appropriate.

But then, again, we live in a system where property is to be protected from the majority at all costs and without fundamental changes to this system, nothing will ever change.