I am SO sad...cannot any longer "read"

[laylah]

the "nooze". I am a '50's baby, when things were simple, and ignorance was applauded. I have kept track for the last 30 years...I prefer to go into denial. That may not...IS NOT...pc, but I am tired.

I am SO glad my parents, both very polically active, are gone. What we are experiencing is a travesty.

Those of us who care DO NOT make a difference, we just pray we do.

I have no "elite" words to describe; however, I so VERY sad...so very, very sad :cry:

[freddie mertz]

1. I am about the same age, and I share your disappointment and sorrow.

I am becoming resigned to our national decline.

Hope the "kids" can turn it around!

[Ohio Joe]

2. Paying attention can suck sometimes

There is so much wrong it can be hard to know where to focus. Take a break, re-charge, sometimes you need to.

[xxqqqzme]

156. A good friend and I were discussing

this very topic a few weeks back. It's Pandora's box. How can I NOT pay attention? Once you know, how do you turn it off? Or at least turn it down. Does it always have to be turned up to eleven?

[hlthe2b]

3. I think this debacle in the Gulf has been the last straw for many

I think a fair proportion of us-- entire the population-- is feeling severely depressed and at a loss for how to deal with it. Given the horrendous economy, so many unemployed, underemployed, uninsured and very INSECURE, it is hard not to feel at a total loss.

We can only hang in there together. No magic words, just understanding...:hug:

[laylah]

15. I agree...

:hug:

[defendandprotect]

134. The right wing works to demoralize the left and to get us to stop fighting ...

Please see my post below --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8545951&mesg_id=8548612

[Subdivisions]

4. You are not alone, laylah. The world is going completely insane. The

last time I felt good about the way things were going was just before Bill Clinton's impeachment. I remember thinking "Man, things have never been better." Then came 2000. It's been crazy ever since. I'm afraid all we can do now is watch as humanity commits murder on other species and suicide upon itself.

[azul]

17. The millenial terrorists we were all hyped-up to worry about in 2000

were the corporate backers of the BushCo coup. The supreme court handed us all over like lambs.

Now these hidden pirates are still at it backing ObamaCo, surprise, surprise. And the supreme court is icing their cake with corporate-rights rulings.

At least we recognize them now. And the battle is waged.

[RKP5637]

26. +1, n/t

[defendandprotect]

136. The world has always been "insane" in its violence --

When did the world make sense?

When this government was killing native Americans? Taking this land?

When it compromised with slavery in our schizophrenic Constitution?

Or when that compromise led to the Civil War?

The founders also feared the power of capital to destroy democracy --

They also well understood the threat of CHURCH to democracy and they got that

covered in the Constitution with Separation of Church & State --

However, while the Constitution proclaimed "Equality for all" -- it was about

elite white males.

They got the land grants, they were immediately tapped into the privileges and

benefits of the wealth and natural resources of the nation.

Capitalism is a ridiculous "King-of-the-Hill" system --

The core of capitalism is exploitation of nature, natural resources, animal-life --

and even of other human beings according to various myths of "inferiority."

You can't have democracy without economic democracy --

Without justice and peace -- which we have rarely seen -- it is an insane world.

[RKP5637]

187. +1000 +++ n/t

[Maccagirl]

5. You will get some replies telling you to buck up

but I share your pain. I don't think we're at a tipping point-I think we're past it. As a species we simply don't seem to be able to solve any problem anymore. I don't have any children, but my niece has three precious little ones and I fear terribly for a future that they don't deserve.

[Child_Of_Isis]

8. I think we are past it too...

When I read the original post, the old song.....well we're headed downhill like a snowball headed for hell, came to mind.

Ack! Totally dated myself.

[defendandprotect]

141. I'm not going to say sweet things -- we have probably lost our ability

to save the planet and ourselves --

but I think it is, nonetheless, important to continue to fight for justice and peace???

[laylah]

14. Maccagirl...

:hug: It is all so very sad and scarey!

[defendandprotect]

139. We all understand -- but understand the right wing political violence over the

past 50 years!

Understand the theft of elections and computer voting --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8545951&mesg_id=8548612

Understand the political nature of our Supreme Court --
and right wing fascists now guiding our futures from that court!


Also here's more --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8545297&mesg_id=8548462

JFK also had some words on being "tired" -- but the need to keep fighting!

It will never end -- be assured of that!

[Child_Of_Isis]

6. I actually believd that we were

going to turn it around after the last election. Evidently not.

[Bobbieo]

20. I did, too!!! What a disappointment.

[Mojorabbit]

25. So did I.

I was born in the 50's too. I really really thought we were going to turn things around this last election. The gulf thing has me very depressed. If I was not addicted to this site after all these years I think I might be a whole hell of a lot happier if I just said screw it and tuned into American Idol or some such instead of being informed.

[RKP5637]

30. Same here. I am so damn frustrated and I get really PO'ed at those

that call one far left if not happy. That is pure BS. I'm middle of the road, but I want what is fair and the crap I see anymore is not... It's corporate/gov./SCOTUS shenanigans and pure BS, and this has become USA, Inc.

[Hydra]

48. They keep moving the goalposts

They've gone so far right(wrong) that even some of the people I revile(Nixon comes to mind) are here on the other side of the fence, according to their measure.

[RKP5637]

61. We were talking about that just recently, that Nixon wasn't that bad when you hear/look

at some of the new right...

[Hydra]

62. Ya, and that's the problem

Objectively, Nixon is no better or worse than he was, which is to say "Terrible."

Relatively speaking, he's a saint though.

The further down the spiral we go, the "It not as bad as" reaction destroys whatever good any of us have in us.

[RKP5637]

63. I literally loathed Nixon, and just can not believe I'm saying, well, he was not that

bad... as you say, it's all relative. And that is getting scary.

[Hydra]

64. Don't worry, it's natural

Occasionally Pat Buchanan(who is also someone who comes to mind in this vein) says something that is totally sane and rational as compared to the accepted dialogue.


That's how I know just how far into crazyland we've gone...and it scares me to death every time.

[femrap]

113. thank you for

confirming my realization. I thought I was alone in my own head.

[William Z. Foster]

66. yes

With Nixon at least you could tell when he was lying, we knew where we stood, and his brand of Republicanism was to the left of where the Democrats are today.

[femrap]

111. I've said for a long time now....

Nixon was a teddy bear compared to these evil thugs.

Yes, the world has gone insane. But I gotta say that DU brings a bit of sanity into my world. Once you decide to see The Truth, there's no turning back.

[snagglepuss]

118. Well said nt

[RKP5637]

160. DU maintains my sanity too, I now don't feel so alone in my thoughts! n/t

[defendandprotect]

144. Nixon was that bad -- and Watergate has never ended --

Nixon was paving the way for more right wing crime -- theft -- corruption -

for those like the Poppy and W Bush!

Nixon overturned Brettonwoods Accords -- think he also took us off gold standard/?

Injected "uncertainty" into stock market -- creating more speculation.

What we have now on Wall Street now is a giant Casino gambling house!

Not investment . . .


Also --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8545297&mesg_id=8548462

[RKP5637]

159. So true, "Wall Street now is a giant Casino gambling house!" You have to

be in the big money player's club now on wall street. Yep, Nixon laid the foundation and the rest followed.

[defendandprotect]

176. Btw, that reference to Wall St. as "Gambling Casino" comes from Congressional members ....

using it on the floor of House/Senate --!!

Love it when they actually tell us what's going on!!

:)

[defendandprotect]

138. Nixon was paving the way for this . . . Watergate never ended --

[truedelphi]

91. That comparison comes to mind in this household also. n/t

[defendandprotect]

137. Well, I think we know what's stopping us . . .

and where the betrayals were . . .

We have to keep fighting -- part of the right wing goal is to demoralize the left --

make us all feel like losers.

We have to rid the party of the DLC-corporate wing which is working to move the party

to the right --

Also, keep in mind we are being given the leadership the elites want us to have.

I'm not even saying we are going to win -- I'm simply saying we have to keep fighting.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8545951&mesg_id=8548612

[a la izquierda]

7. Hey I'm 32 and can't handle this.

I hope to move to Europe, where the next ice age can freeze my bones.

[RKP5637]

32. I had a chance to leave the US in the early 60's and elected to stay, now I think

I made a mistake.

[conspirator]

58. Europe is worse off economically, except for Germany. Where would you go? south america? n/t

[RKP5637]

59. It was Canada. That is a good question, where you you go today. I have

no idea where I would go today.

[femrap]

115. Brazil is doing

well. Of course I don't speak Portuguese.

Costa Rica is filled w/ Americans.

Argentina has tango 24 hours/day...which tells you something about a culture.

Austria will let you become a citizen for $400,000 (it may have gone up since the voilcano though).

[Joe Bacon]

83. I had a job offer in Canada.

It was 1978 and a position in their civil service. My father just tore into me and said I had no business leaving the greatest country on earth. Even then I was disillusioned with America. Carter was making the same hard right moves that Obama is doing. I wanted to leave, but Dad put up such a stink I turned down the position.

Turning that job down was the worst mistake I've ever made in my life. It's the biggest regret I have that I didn't go. Now, I am sick with both diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis and I'm still forced to work to keep my insurance going. If I was in Canada, I wouldn't be in this situation because I wouldn't have to worry about health care. Now, with 2 strikes against me, there is no way I could even get accepted for landed status.

What's even sadder is seeing that the rest of my family has mutated into right wing ¢hri$tian$ who have their TVs set on the Je$u$ channel or Fox News and they go to church every $unday to get the latest Republic Party talking points from their prea¢her$ or prie$t$.

This country is finished and I'm afraid we're going to see it break into pieces the same way the Soviet Union did and there is nothing I can do to stop that.

[femrap]

112. I'm sorry you feel you

made a mistake.

But, if the US does break up, one could move to an area like Vermont which is Left and one wouldn't feel the pressure of the Je$u$ folks.

I'd just like to build a small home in the country and get off the grid. Wake up to Mother Nature everyday instead of the noise of neighbors and cars. Have a garden, some animals, and maybe some like-minded folks nearby.

Take care of yourself.

[RKP5637]

163. I've been concerned about that too, "I'm afraid we're going to see it break into pieces the same way

the Soviet Union did and there is nothing I can do to stop that." I was reading recently that more and more people are concerned about the political climate about where they live/move because some areas are becoming so polarized one way or the other, so people want to be with those with similar political views, etc.

Of course it was always a little that way, but never so extremely polarized IMO.

[DesertFlower]

76. i'm 68, hubby is 62.

if we were young -- 30s or 40s we would definitely move to europe.

[a la izquierda]

98. I'm getting my PhD in December (or May)-

this year regardless-and I'm telling you, we're keeping all options open. I'll keep my citizenship, no doubt. I may end up in Mexico, a country that is aware of political corruption and crappy leaders-they have no delusions like Americans do.

[Angry Dragon]

9. I also am a child of the 50's

This is not the world that I grew up in. It has become a hateful place.
Our leaders have let it become a hateful place.
They promote fear in people's lives and then it turns to hate.

It is hate, hate, hate........who are we going to hate today.

[laylah]

19. ...

bike rides whenever we wanted, out until twilight, safe existance...i remember. this so SUCKS. the 50's may be an era of derision for many but for those that LIVED it, as children,it was safe, secure, and real!

OH, Angry Dragon...:hug:

[Angry Dragon]

27. It was a time where you thought you could be anything

you wanted to be. That may have been an illusion, but we had that at least.
They have tried to take that illusion way today.

[RKP5637]

34. I see so many youth today that look beaten down, they are only kids, but how

can one have a hopeful outlook in this hateful corrupt mess we call a country today.

[Joe Bacon]

86. Until you got into high school...

Teachers were very efficient in implementing the American Caste System, grooming the jocks and the cheerleaders and grooming the ones they considered chosen. All the others were just treated like factory rejects to be shipped off to the blue collar jobs.

I know that full well since teachers treated me like trash all the way through school, telling me I wasn't college material. That didn't stop me from getting a master's degree. Still remember the day I came home with my MA and running into a couple asshole teachers when I went grocery shopping for Mom. It was a treasured moment when I rubbed my MA in their faces.

The same sclerotic system is still in place in the schools, sadly, the blue collar jobs are gone and won't come back. Look at the faces of today's teenagers and those who aren't jocks, cheerleaders or the chosen ones you see faces of despair and alienation.

[DebJ]

114. What is this system that you speak of today?

I went to school in the 60s and 70s, and I understand what you are saying. But I don't see that in my school today, not at all, nor in the neighboring schools where I have observed classes. More on that at the bottom of this. But first, the system I see today...

I am a middle school teacher working in an inner city school. Our battle is quite the opposite...every day we do all that we can to get all students to realize and accept their own potential, and to want to use that potential. I've just finished my first year of teaching, and my experience showed me that the biggest issue that I need to address in future years is the students' opinions of themselves. The 'system' I need to battle is the SOCIAL system (NOT school system) that destroys their self-esteem, and their ability to dream for themselves at all.

One of the reasons I became a teacher is because I am by nature someone who has a burning need to help people grow, to be the very best they can be, to reach for the stars. My greatest pleasure in life is to see other people learn how to reach for their dreams, and to make themselves happy. When they smile, I can smile. I did all that I could in this first year to do that, in every way that I could, addressing both individuals, and classes as a whole. I insured they could succeed. I stretched them, cheered them, applauded them, rewarded them. I pulled them aside when they struggled and tutored them as often as I could. I called their parents and encouraged the parents to assist them, and asked the parents to applaud them. I pulled students aside for chats to try to see what their issues were, and to help them get through them so they could enjoy success in spite of hard personal lives. This does not by any means make me exceptional...rather, this is what motivates people to become teachers. This is standard, normal, the routine.

In this first year of teaching, one of the most valuable things I came to see, to FEEL deep in my gut....which is much different than an intellectual understanding....is how systemic their problem/their vision and self-vision, is. They can't see outside of their own little world within our little city....they have no connection. They are immersed in the misery of their poverty like the birds we've seen struggling in the oil. The events of their personal lives batter them like the waves that batter those birds washing up on the shorelines. And their despair is a community thing, reinforcing itself. That is the systemic problem that I see.

Near the end of the year, when I was asking a class for feedback on a lesson, exploring the nature of their difficulty, one student said "Hey, what do you expect? We are from the city." In other words, of course we are losers, and that is all we can be. Now this student has a particularly horrendous home life/past herself. But the damage she was doing to her peers was an unspeakable horror to me. And I didn't see it until the very end of the year. The other students bought her talk, until I kept urging them out of it, calling it out for the BS that it is. Until she made those comments to me (twice in a week near year end), I didn't really see the contagion of despair. I saw individuals with individual issues, but I just didn't FEEL the community-wide contagion. I was trying to pull students a,b,c,d,e etc up one at a time, not realizing that students x,y, and z were a much stronger, peer-based undertow sucking the entire community down into their own pits of despair. And the students don't hear the opposite arguments, don't hear them enough, as a group, as a unit.... when I started giving the counter-arguments, and offering proofs, they did listen. They did want to hear. They need to hear that type of voice, over and over and over and over again, non-stop, addressing them as a whole community, not just as individuals. I have also come to feel how acute their need for peer support is, not just as middle-schoolers, but as inner city students. Often the best 'family' they have, is their family of peers. Unfortunately, this is not a good source of guidance, but rather more like a 'misery loves company' club. I was teaching based upon the American Dream of the rugged individualist, and now I see their is very little to no 'individualism' in the city. All sink, or all rise, but they do it together. Only the rare student is confident enough to be strong enough to be an individual. This is the 'system' I see that is robbing our country of its most valuable resource....active, confident minds. This is the undertow I will battle going forward. This undertow drags them down long before they reach high school. A huge percentage of our city kids have given up on academics by 9th grade, and are just waiting out their time until they can quit (we need to up the age from 16 to 18 IMHO). IMHO, if we don't reach them by 8th grade, it is too late.

On the other hand, regarding your comments: I went to school in the 60s and 70s, and students were 'sorted' into classes based upon academic performance. This worked very, very well for students like myself, the self-motivated learners. We spent our time in the pure pleasure of learning, constant learning and wonderment and enjoyment, without suffering a loss of that precious time with constant interruptions from students who were behavioral problems. That system worked well for us. In that top 5% of students in a very large school, many got advanced placements in college and achieved advanced degrees by our ten year reunion ...but I agree this system tossed out everyone else. Expelling a student in those days meant they were gone forever. (Now expelling is really just a long-term suspension, and those students continue their educations all the while through the (expensive) measure of the system paying for teachers to tutor them privately at home while they are not allowed in the school building.) In the past, we really did throw people away at quite a young age.

Today, we don't do that. Everyone is included, and included in the classrooms with everyone else. The focus and advantage is to those who struggle to have an interest in school. The advanced students are now the ones quite often left behind. Two years ago in a local school district, everyone's test scores were increasing.....except the gifted student population.......their scores were tanking fast. What can we expect to happen, when we take bright, potentially self-motivated learners, and put them in classrooms with students whose desperate needs for attention are focused on 100% disruption, all the time? Yes, these better students are capable of and sometimes do motivate the lower performers....but this is done at the cost of the truly bright students being able to develop their full capabilities, and too often at the cost of them totally losing any of their own motivation. NCLB/inclusion comes with the price tag of dragging high performers down. Are we in an era in this world where we can afford to draq down our brightest minds? That's the down side of the current approach. We need to somehow work both ends into a middle position, to better help both ends of the specturm, and therefore, our future as a nation.

In conclusion, yes there are 'systems' in place that are dragging our young people down. I can see them now, FEEL them now. But these systems (with the exception of gifted students above) are not based in the schools....they are based in the communities, in the social systems. And goodness, only Obama has had the guts to mention the impact of parents, which was well-recognized and quoted in the 60s an 70s as the number one influence on academic success. When my students had parents that valued education, they succeeded, unless they had some overwhelming mental condition preventing or deterring success (like ineffective meds). Together, the parents or guardians and I cajoled, rewarded, punished and forced these students to succeed. The systems dragging kids down are NOT based on the motivations and efforts of individual teachers. Yes, as in any profession, there are some people who just really should not be there, and who do more harm than good. But most teachers are continuously motivated to do all that they can, because the rewards of seeing that one student become a success, and to become motivated, is just the most powerful force in their lives. To see a human spirit rise and flourish is the most awesome, miraculous, wonderous experience ever. It is addicting; one is compelled to get another 'hit' over and over again, and it is just never enough. And without this type of motivation, I don't see how anyone could go into a classroom for a fresh fight for our nation's future every day....I just don't see how anyone could do it.


PS- At my 10 year reunion for high school, the jocks and cheerleaders had become rather miserably unhappy human beings. 'Success' in high school really doesn't mean much down the line....when you get into the real world, having lots of peers thinking you are cute, perky, handsome, or athletic isn't going to do enough to get you anywhere!

[snagglepuss]

122. Excellent post. Should be a separate thread.

:applause:

[laylah]

167. Your post is AWESOME...

and DOES deserve a thread of its' own. Thank you for all you do. I have worked with "at risk" kiddos for many of the last 35 years. I know of what you speak :hug:

[Joe Bacon]

179. I applaud you, but

If I had had even one single teacher with even 10% of the enthusiasm you describe, I might be able to forgive what all the other monsters disguised as teachers did to me.

The sad truth is that the overwhelming majority of teachers just go through the motions. The kids I see in my apartment building and neighborhood just do not have any hope that things are going to get better. I've never seen such alienation, despondency and nihilism in so many so young. It seems the younger the kids are, the more despondent they are. I hear them talk and they are so filled with sadness and fatalism. At least when I was growing up in the 60s and early 70s there was some sense of optimism that things would get better. But the optimism is long gone. It's so sad riding the bus or subway to and from work and hearing how despondent kids are. Most just want to get the hell out of school and they just do not care what they do with the rest of their lives.

And as for teachers, I've hired several ex-teachers to work in my office over the past dozen years. Every one my office has hired hates the kids they taught. Their contempt for kids just oozes out of every cell of their body. And yes, they did say that when they were teaching they were just going through the motions until they burned out and they couldn't take it any more from the kids. So I can only tell you the negative views I have about schools from what I've seen and heard.

I wish I could come up with a solution to this problem, but I don't have the ability and because of the way I was scarred, i just don't feel like lifting a finger except when I go to the ballot box and vote NO on any school bond requests.

[snappyturtle]

95. The illusion is gone in my book. I grew up in the 50's and life

had so many possibilities! In a little speech the President made this week he referred to the you can find your dream, work hard, only in America meme. I turned the teevee off. How delusional his words were. Sad.

[Joe Bacon]

180. But you can still find your dream if you match 6 lotto numbers!

It's sad. The worse the economy gets, the longer the lotto lines are.

[AnArmyVeteran]

50. So true. I walked everywhere even when I was 6 and had no worries.

What is becoming of our species?

[juajen]

97. I was a child of the fifties, and believe me, it wasn't as safe

as you think. I walked to the library every afternoon, until a man pulled up alongside me and tried to get me in his car. The car looked like my Dad's (I was only 10 yrs. old) and it wasn't until I got closer that I realized it wasn't. When he opened his door, I saw that he was naked, and I ran, and kept running until I got home.

This man stalked me for the next 24 years, and did until I moved away from the city I lived in.

Believe me, things always seem better than they were. We still had crimes against children, they just weren't talked about openly then. Today the news is everywhere; but, back then if you didn't read a newspaper, you got very little news. For instance, only my Uncle, who was a detective, cared about my problem, and he tried for years to catch this idiot. He said I wasn't the only child threatened.

[snagglepuss]

124. You're spot on that the 50's weren't as safe as people make out.

The belief that the 50's were safe simply proves the saying that ignorance is bliss. Plus no one points out the 50s were the hey day of massive unregulated industrial pollution.

[defendandprotect]

147. Agree with you both . . . PLUS we're depressed . . .

How are things in the ME going -- would we rather be living in Gaza?

Or Iraq?

Or in Iraq and being threatened by the US government?

Would we be a native American here in America?

No matter how demoralized and tired Americans may be we cannot stop the fight for

justice and peace!

But we have to understand what we are fighting --

Patriarchy/Organized patriarchal religion/Capitalism -- the Unholy Trinity

Capitalism is a ridiculous "King-of-the-Hill" system --

You can't have democracy without economic democracy --




Here's more from this thread --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8545297&mesg_id=8548462:)

[femrap]

119. I,too, grew up in the

'50's...but I had run-ins w/ preverts, but knew to scream and run. And this was small town, everyone left their doors unlocked.

But,yes, the music was sweet...The Beach Boys and The Beatles. TV was fun....'Lucy.'

It was a different culture...but the Cuban Crisis scared me. I wouldn't go to bed unless I had a transistor radio on beside me. For some silly reason, I wanted to know if the bombs were headed our way...guess I thought I could 'duck and cover.' lol.

Thank you for bringing up this subject...I have been so sad for so long.

[CountAllVotes]

35. you are so right

I often feel hated because I am getting old and need help now (damn it!; and yes I HATE it!).

To hell with respect for the elders; that went out the window too it seems to me.

What the hell happened to you America?

:kick:

[tpsbmam]

171. Respect hasn't entirely gone out the window.

I see some very bright spots. True, it's one-by-one, but I see them. I was in a warehouse store one day not long ago, using one of their electric carts with my walker standing up in the basket. There I was with my almost completely grey, thinning hair (due to kidney disease). A box of Asian pears fell out of the basket just as a young boy walked by with his father. I guess the boy was about age 9. He immediately stopped and, with a smile, picked up all of the pears and situated them in their box more safely in the basket. I thanked him profusely, to which he smiled and simply said, "you're welcome." And I just said quietly to Dad, "great parenting." He just smiled at both me and his son, clearly & justifiably proud of his son.

I've had a couple more encounters similar to that. One was interesting. I was in my wheelchair and approaching heavy, double doors (no automatic doors). Mom (I assumed....could have been any adult female with him -- they were clearly together) just kept walking through both sets of doors, letting them close behind her. It was the kid (I guessed around age 12 or 13) who stopped and held both doors open for me. I thanked him profusely -- I really wanted to mush both of those kids with a big hug!

I see hope in some of the kids I encounter. I know there are more out there like them. They may be few and far between, but I keep the hope that some of them will grow up to be leaders, and a different kind of leaders than we have now.

It may be a silly hope and I'm well aware that I'm reading too much into simple short incidences, but it's something I cling to. At the very least, it's something that brightens my here and now.

[awoke_in_2003]

175. I saw an instance just yesterday....

that shocked the hell out of me. First off, I have no physical impairments (well, except maybe the 12 pack abs :) ). I was walking into a gas station, and an 18 year old kid opened the door saying "let me get that for you, sir". I thanked him but thought "holy hell, I am only 42- not even eligible for AARP". The moment you REALLY realize you are no longer 21 is shocking.

[snooper2]

193. Yeah, the 50's were just fucking awesome weren't they

I won't post the picture since it's too graphic...You combine the link and view for yourself


http://www.anglonautes.com/voc_race/ voc_race_1/voc_racism_lynching.gif-

[CTyankee]

10. I am so sorry. I feel the same way. Just got back from my dear family member's memorial service.

And things are as bleak as can possibly be, financially and health wise for me.

I share all of this sadness with you. WE must pull together and yes, I am glad my parents are not here to experience this.

Please try to cope. I know that is a lot to ask. But I am trying myself and sometimes I don't feel that I CAN! It is just too much...

Take care...

[laylah]

39. ..

my heart goes out to you:hug:

[CountAllVotes]

11. born in the 1950s too here

and yes, it sucks like all hell.

Both Dad and Mother are deceased.

However, my Mother's best friend who is almost 90 is still alive. She is in poor health to say the least. I haven't talked to her since the spill but I know she is very thrilled with Obama as our president.

It is very depressing. It is as if that life we had living in the hills sliding down them on large pieces of cardboard never really happened.

Those days of walking home from school alone as age 7 never were either. I really wonder what the hell happened. Maybe my late father was right - the problem is simple: too many damn people he used to say.

Try to hang in there and know that you are not alone. :hug:

:dem:

[grilled onions]

18. We Didn't Have The Me Generation

During the wild sixties the hippy movement was born. While the hard crusted,financially tight fisted and in general crass populace condemned them at every turn from their clothes,lifestyles etc a lot of good came from them. Many detested war--violence of every kind. Make love not war became their mantra. They planted flowers,trees and some groups took care of and fed the homeless. Many did not become hippies but a lot of their ideas did spur others into thinking of others instead of just themselves.
Now we have a very uninspired youth generation. Too busy with texting,video games and never thinking about others who have less. Some of this new generation actually torment the homeless,those with medical deformities--anyone not their equal. They are bored,uninterested in the world around them. Many have little desire to read books of any depth of other cultures,of other political views. The animal world--nature in general is to be used but not always appreciated nor preserved.
It's this shallow thinking that I find depressing. The children,the grandchildren of all those of the sixties mindset have gone in a different direction or no direction at all. There is so much to do even more now then than and "we" are starting to run out of steam physically. Will the younger generations ever care enough to take the reins??????

[CountAllVotes]

22. there was no room for a "me" generation

when I was growing up everyone had a distinct role in the family group. You break that role, you'd pay for it with a slap on the ass and were perhaps punished.

Everything ran in cycles not to be broken or disturbed.

No one seems to honor the earth nor its cycles much less one another much it seems to me.

I mentioned that I hear no frog chirping any longer. A young man nearby said he has one frog in his backyard and he hears it now and then. He laughed and could not understand why I was obviously upset by the ways that life has been decimated by US. We all must step-up to the plate and take responsibility as long as we are still living on this earth, our Mother.

I can only hope the world wakes up and notices before I pass.

:dem:

[Child_Of_Isis]

28. I can give you some hope here.

I have a 22 year old daughter. She is a geologist & very interested in environmental & social issues. She is heading to Lousianna in a month or so for further studies. I'm sure she will be knee deep in the crud.

I no longer have faith in our government, our institutions, our corporations...but I still have faith in our people...minus the teabaggers of course.

[defendandprotect]

148. Also have faith in Americans -- unfortunately they've never really been political . . .

we got lucky with Unions -- FDR -- fighting for justice and democracy vs capitalism.

Well, now it's been overturned by 50 years of right wing political violence --

and theft of elections --

but we have to keep fighting!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8545297&mesg_id=8548462

[Angry Dragon]

33. I read your post and got to thinking

Perhaps we have to show them how to care. Not all, but it seems a lot.
another thought is perhaps it is not all their fault.
The look and see the leaders of this country boast of torturing people,
They hear hate on the air waves, they hear hate in their churches, they hear hate wherever they go.
The leaders need to change or this country will self destruct and they will be to blame.

[pscot]

40. I thought we voted for change in 2008

I'm surprised and more than a little angry.

[Angry Dragon]

47. That is what I voted for

I have not seen it yet.
I believe this Ecocide in the Gulf is going to
be the deciding factor in this term of office.

And our side is not looking good.......

[iamforobama]

102. CHANGE CAN BE PAINFUL

and if I remember right, Obama told us it would be. HOLD ON! the baby is coming and it's beautiful!!!

[snagglepuss]

127. Are you saying the gulf disaster is beautiful?

[Hydra]

54. Some of us care

And even tried to do something about it.

We were killed by "Realistic Expectations of Change"- Aka: "You people are morons and will continue to serve us"

Too bad they were right.

[Hydra]

53. The Me generation is there

But you're missing another part of it. I was an active activist for years. I even made some solid conversions of people who should have been unturnable.

You know what happened? I was told to sit down, shut up, and let whoever the demagogue of the day was do the lifting.

Torture? We don't do that. Capitalism? That's certainly not to blame. Great Depression 2.0? Nah, just a blip. Disaster oil spill? It'll never happen.

There's nothing for me to do, because the people I was trying to save don't realize they need saving...until they do.

Lots of us wanted to change the world. There were too many people protecting the establishment.

Take the reins? Everyone tells us we're not allowed, that they're the only ones who can do it.

Makes me wonder why I don't smoke. I may as well kill myself with purpose rather than let some fool help drive me to the grave.

[femrap]

123. Amen and Awomen.

Our party doesn't want Leaders....they want sheeple to go out and convince others of THEIR decisions.

We desperately needed a Fighter for Prez and that is not what we got.

I quit smoking too...but now can't stand the smell of it. Now I drink wine! Helps me sleep.

[snagglepuss]

129. I want to suggest to every poster on this thread to read Chris Hedges'

Empire of Illusion. His conclusion addresses the feelings you and others express and how people burnt out by caring and who accurately understand the enormity of the problems can move forward.

[DonCoquixote]

65. This generation

Actually, if you look, you will find some of the best activists out there among the youngest, but the cameras do not shine upon them Also, the 60's generation did not have the media assault that the modern generation did. Those who stand out stand out well, especially as they are in a culture that not only discourages them, but that, for all the supposed "youth worship", very often treats them like trash.

[Art_from_Ark]

100. The media assault in the '60s was more subtle

An early episode of Hawaii Five-0, for example, had McGarret lecturing to hippies (in 1968) about how they shouldn't rag on the police. This was shortly after the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

The Wild, Wild West, as much as I love that show, seemed to have it in for people who wanted to save the world. A lot of the "bad guys", especially in the early episodes, were actually people who wanted to do some good: prevent Indians from signing disastrous treaties with the Grant administration (which presided over the slaughter of untold numbers of Indians), stop people from polluting the oceans, create countries that would be free from tyranny. But they were all bordering on the insane.

Even the cartoon George of the Jungle took a jab at hippies, portraying them as people who just dressed funny and went around chanting "Love, love, love".

And of course, it didn't help much when Charles Manson and his "hippies" made the national news in August 1969.

[defendandprotect]

151. RW propagandized the Youth Revolution of the 60's ...

suggesting that it was simply about "sex."

It wasn't -- I'll try to drag up the Mae Brussel article on that which is eye-opening --

but the Revolution was a total challenge to authority -- across the board in America --

food, medicine, relationships, government, wars, violence, communities, lies of government

re rw political violence in America -- on and on --

And it was such a forceful and successful challenge that the right wing had to do all they

could to restitute FEAR of authority --

The GOP gave start up funding for the Christian Coalition -- GOD being the all time favorite

in creating fear and reestablishing patriarchy --

And right wing money kept creating new religious organizations -- Scaife/Dobson/Bauer.

Using religion is one of the oldest traditions of patriarchy --

FEAR in the form of the Drug War -- and look where we are today --

That gave a firm footing to MSM to suggest kids taking drugs and your neighbor's might be

your enemy -- fear them!

And the violence that MSM showed day after day -- much of it hooked to drugs -- and back to

the Youth Revolution.

Meanwhile, it's all been about creating a safer world for capitalism/corporatism which is

fascism.

Keep fighting!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8545297&mesg_id=8548462

:)


And here's the link to Mae Brussel -- I lifted out the part about the "sexual" revolution --

"I realized that in this country we had a revolution--of housing, food, hair style, clothing, cosmetics, transportation, value systems, religion--it was an economic revolution, affecting the cosmetics industry, canned foods, the use of land; people were delivering their own babies, recycling old clothes, withdrawing from spectator sports. They were breaking the barriers where white and black could rap in 1967. This was the year of the Beatles, the summer of Sergeant Pepper, the Monterey Pop Festival, Haight-Ashbury, make your own candle and turn off the electricity, turn on with your friends and laugh--that's what life was all about."

If you're further interested ....

http://www.maebrussell.com/Mae%20Brussell%20Articles/Ballad%20of%20Mae%20Brussell.html

[defendandprotect]

150. Interesting --

This would make a good separate thread --

Right wing has always tried to make youth "dangerous" --

from "Juvenile Delinquent" to today's generation which are allegedly blowing up their

own schools! Not sure about any of that --

Keep in mind what Cheney has said, which echoes the past lies -- from VN to JFK assassination.

"WE/right wing create the reality and the liberals live it" --

Except we do know that our youth are always more peaceful than our adult generation.

So the right wing has to keep working on that -- and they do!

PLUS, 50 years of right wing political violence --

[AnArmyVeteran]

69. Those were the truest and saddest words I have read describing what is happening

So eloquently stated...

[Starbucks Anarchist]

74. Yes, times were so wonderful back then.

What with the legalized discrimination against damn near anyone not a straight white male.

I find it hilarious that a lot of the "young people suck" crowd are some of the same who voted for people like Reagan who brought on our current situation. The current young generation voted 2:1 for Obama and are far more tolerant of diversity and far more exposed to the wealth of information out there than any generation before them. If your age group ever managed to vote 2:1 for Dems, we might actually bring about some of those changes we want. But I suppose projection against young people is your only solution.

[EFerrari]

84. You got to vote for Obama? You have access to a wealth of information?

Gee, how did that happen?

lol

[Hannah Bell]

87. yes, your generation is so enlightened. it's like deja vu. lol.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

92. And we manage to read something besides WSWS.

:eyes:

Your Reagan-worshipping generation is partly at fault for this mess. Go after the idiots in your age group before going after one of the most liberal generations in history.

[Hannah Bell]

93. lol. deja vu all over again.

[defendandprotect]

152. +1000%

[DesertFlower]

77. so true. nt

[femrap]

120. I agree with your

father. TOO MANY PEOPLE. I've read about those experiments w/ rats and that over crowding leads to an ugly way of life. Remember growing up and the big discussions on Overpopulation?

And to be frank...so many unwanted or unplanned children. This puts a strain on a planet with dwindling resources.

I'm so glad I didn't reproduce. I see so many angry and sad kids today...they've covered their bodies in tatoos and pierced every body part that can be pierced. Maybe they subconsciously know what they are facing?

[BrklynLiberal]

12. It is really getting to me now..

[laylah]

13. I am SO very grateful

for all the responses. All I can say is...I am hiding. I don't know what else to do!

For those of a like mind, as you all appear to be, may our Creator of All That Is/God/dess/the Great Spaghetti Monster forgive us for what corporate/governement/mankind has done :cry:

I am devasted...as I know you are :grouphug:

[Bluebear]

41. Love and solidarity with you

I know exactly how you feel.

[AnArmyVeteran]

51. I love how you stated that. Perfect...

[Altoid_Cyclist]

105. It's not much, but I always find that this short video helps lift my spirits.

A little background. This was filmed during a trip to Nepal in 2007 by Bruce Cockburn and some friends and recording crew.

This is a brief description of what the video is about.

Bruce Cockburn: We visited with a farmer today, and when you see the film we end up with at the end of this, you'll see what a remarkable guy he really is.

He went to extreme lengths to establish himself as an organic farmer in this area. And that might sound strange because you might think... well... there's people living in these remote mountains that have always grown organically, but it isn't always that way because the corporate reach extends this far.

He is very careful to point out, and is grateful for the involvement of USC Canada in enabling him to carry out his plan.

It was an interesting encounter, and they demonstrated to us how they cleared their field of these enormous Volkswagon sized rocks, that surrounded everything else around him but he had this useable garden that he'd created out of... volcanic debris basically.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWheIjoxFnU&feature=player_embedded

I can only hope that Monsatan doesn't find out about these guys.

The world is without a doubt in sad shape, but hopefully there is still time to alter our present course. I doubt that it will happen in my lifetime, but let's hope that at some point the human race will awake from their stupor.




:grouphug:

[Lorien]

16. I understand. My Mennonite environmentalist grandmother was born in 1911

and she died shortly before election 2000. I remember her saying "I pray that Mr. Gore wins, because George W. Bush makes me shiver!" She would have been beyond heartbroken hard she lived long enough to see all of what has transpired since them. She was spared from that knowledge, and for that I am grateful. I find it difficult to read the news anymore. I feel that it's my duty as a citizen to know what's happening, but that knowledge does take a toll. :cry:

[DesertFlower]

78. my grandmother was born in 1895. she

gave birth to 8 children. when my son was born in 1961 she said to me "child don't have any more children -- the world is not a nice place". What would she think now?

[femrap]

126. My grandmother told me

the same thing.....'Don't have any children.' She had given birth to five. I took her advice.

[DesertFlower]

181. i took grandma's advice and didn't

have anymore. actually i wouldn't have anyway -- 1 child was enough for me.

[jwirr]

21. I was born in the 40s and I share your feelings but what keeps me

going is my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

They need us if for no other reason than the knowledge we have from the past. I watched my father garden and I am passing that on. My 3 year old great-grandson helped me plant a small garden in his back yard last week. (we spilled the carrots all in one place so had to replant) We all need to take care of ourselves so we are there for them.

We were all raised in good times and that is one reason we feel so deeply about this - what we need to remember is that it wasn't always like it was when we grew up - our ancestors had it hard and they survived.

[Joe Bacon]

88. The best decision I made was to have no children.

I don't regret that decision one bit. In the apartment building where I live, there are people with several kids, struggling just to keep their heads above water. It's bad enough for me dealing with the double whammy of rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. The bills insurance doesn't pay are high, I couldn't afford some of my medicines to keep going if I had any kids.

And my "born again" family tells me that the Lord always provides. What their religion provides is a promise of pie in the sky when you die as long as you do whatever your corporate masters tell you to do here on earth. There was a time when I looked up to people who went to church every week, but when the Republican Party hijacked the churches and turned them into incubators for the Moron Majority, that was the last straw for me. On Sundays, I'll sleep in my bed instead of sleeping in a pew while the pulpit pimp spits out the latest Republican propaganda. I can remember as a kid hearing people sing "Jesus Loves Me" in church. Now all I hear from churches is Jesus Hates Gays, Lesbians, disabled people, the poor and anyone with a darker skin color.

[jwirr]

153. Keep in mind my own children were born during those "good" days.

If I were looking at life today my decision may be different. My grandchildren were also born then, but I sometimes wonder why they have chosen to have children. One has chosen to stop at one child. Most of them are doing okay but they will never be rich. But in our family that has never been a goal.

[snagglepuss]

135. Well said nt

[gleaner]

23. I'm a 50's baby too ...

and I sympathize with you too. I find myself sometimes thinking how secure things seemed. Even Reagan seemed trivial until part ways through his term I realized how serious his war on the middle class was and how nothing would ever be the same again. It hasn't been, but it got much worse than I could ever have dreamed and it seems to be getting worse still. I don't watch the news either. I know they don't tell the truth. I do keep in touch, but I find other places to get my news and I sometimes feel that I can't do it anymore either. Maybe the security I used to feel was an illusion, and I know it was not the best of times for many, many people but I felt safe long ago and I don't think I will ever feel safe again. But whatever happens, we have each other and we can tell each other how things are and how they feel and in some tiny way that makes it better. Take care of yourself. We need you.

[RKP5637]

24. I was thinking similar recently, "I am SO glad my parents, both very politically active,

are gone. What we are experiencing is a travesty."

Each day now I wonder WTF next. I watch the news, check the internet and all to see if the country is still intact and/or what next outrageous event has occurred.

We have so many outrageous and clueless people in politics today, many could care less about the country. They are self-serving, cruel, interested in their supposed fame, and power and money. What we are witnessing today are the ingredients that cause a country to fall apart.

It feels horrible to say, but I'm glad I'm at the end of my life and not starting out. I hope our youth can get this place straightened out, but I think a fair number of my generation have been absolute failures in doing what was needed to make this country better for all.

[CountAllVotes]

29. what disgusts me is this

the fact that a large majority of the infrastructure has never been touched since it was built by my parents and my grandparents!

SHAME ON US FOR LETTING THINGS JUST "GO" LIKE THIS!

We should have known it would not last forever!

:cry:

[snagglepuss]

143. A harmful myth which you are perpetuating is blaming particular

generations rather than owners of capital who have profited from massive deregualtion and globalization. Americans' dislike of anything that smacks of Marxist analysis simply serves those own and control corporations. It is inane blame your generation for present day problems. Put the blame where it is due and that is on capitalists and those in govt who protect their interests.

[RKP5637]

162. Good point and well taken! Thanks! n/t

[laylah]

31. I had a GREAT response; however,

it was blown up!!!!!!!!!!!! I am confused!

[Bobbieo]

36. I was born in the early 20's and have seen more then I ever wanted to.

I am glad I am at the end of my time and wish it would end soon.

[CountAllVotes]

38. I know the feeling!

should have died myself in November of last year but was saved by a surgeon in the middle of the night. I was wishing after the surgeries and the $200,000.00 in medical bills that I'd checked out.

I was ready to go then but didn't go obviously.

They tell me "it wasn't your time". Well, it was my time and I should have died but I was saved by another human being.

Why? I'll never know.

:dem:

[DesertFlower]

80. does make you wonder.

[Urban Prairie]

43. My mother was born in '27, she has also said that she is glad that

her time on Earth is coming to an end, she told me on the phone recently that she is very saddened by what has taken place in our country, esp since the turn of the century, and I have to agree with her, as it little resembles what my overactive imagination thought the 21st century would be like, when I was a child during the late 50s-late 60s.

I can only tell my wife just a little bit at a time, about the bad news that I have read and watched recently on the internet, because she now breaks into tears quickly and easily, and cannot bear to see many if any of the images of the wildlife deaths in the GOM.

[DesertFlower]

81. my mom was born in '23. she always talked

about the "good old days". she passed in 12/08. she wanted to die.

[femrap]

132. My mom

was born in '27 as well. She recently said she wanted to focus on 'the end' and not on 'the future.'

I guess I shouldn't tell her all the Truths of this world. It's depressing...but once the blinders are off, one can't put them back on. I've always searched for the Truth even though it is sad and disgusting.

I have enjoyed this thread immensely. I feel so less alone.

Thank you. :grouphug: :yourock:

[laylah]

70. ...

:hug: YOU are my roots, what happened to them?

[DesertFlower]

79. i'm almost 69. i know how you feel.

[Ladyhawk]

37. I just dropped by to say I'm there with you.

I'm trying to stay away from all news, including DU. Yeah, yeah, ironically I'm here posting this.

In the meantime, I'm going to do something I would have found abhorrent at one point in my life: I'm going to make my own reality for as long as possible.

Now where's that prescription of Fuckitol?

[laylah]

44. Ladyhawk...

I need you! I have no words just now...I am so very tired; however, i am aware of you. Grandfather loves me, I am so discombobulated. I look forward to seeing you, if you so choose.

[AnArmyVeteran]

52. Wow, that's the post of the month in my opinion...

Can I have a drink of your 'Fuckitol'? I am at the point where I could drink it by the gallon. Weariness seems to be the one common denominator every American shares and feels right now.

[laylah]

170. ...

:hug: So many of us are so very tired and disillusioned. I have no answer, that is probably what sends me to the depths of depression :cry:

[Ladyhawk]

172. Our puny human brains were never meant for this global community.

We're wired to deal with personal and small community problems. When we were hunters and gatherers, the harm our knowledge and ignorance wrought was limited in nature. Now both have global implications and it's just too much for our small minds to handle.

[AnArmyVeteran]

184. Well said and very true. Thanks for those words...

[northernlights]

42. same here

another 50s baby. So very glad I never had children. I just can't bear to watch this catastrophe.But I make myself look at the pictures to bear witness. If I could, I would head south to rescue as many birds and other critters as I possibly could. :cry: :cry: :cry:

[E_Olenska]

103. I keep thinking things couldn't get worse, and then.........

I too am a child of the 50s and am also glad that I never had children. But, I do have nieces, a nephew, and four greatnieces about whom I worry constantly. What will happen to them when I'm gone? They have far fewer options than we had.

[pscot]

45. If it's really getting you down

There are certain readily available herbs which, when ingested in the form of smoke or baked goods can offer considerable relief.

[laylah]

46. I need to sleep,,,

you are ALL my anchors. Will responde in the morning. I LOVE you all. This is all so very sad..........:cry:

[cwydro]

49. Me too sister.

50's baby here too.

Giving up on the Democratic party and I was a yellow dog Dem my whole life.

But I cannot in good conscience stay as one.

I know what you mean about the news; I can't bear it.

[laughingliberal]

72. Another 50's baby & lifelong Yellow Dog Dem, here.

Never would have imagined life here could get so bad & I would find myself at odds with our party.

:hug:

[tilsammans]

55. With you all the way

I'm 57, almost 58. I KNEW things would be bad under Reagan, but I never thought THIS bad. And when we thought it couldn't get worse, we got the Bushes, Cheney & Co. It's amazing any of us are still around.

Two things: 1.) Glad my parents are gone, and 2.) Glad I didn't have kids.

:grouphug:

But I am still ready, able, and willing to fight!

[KT2000]

56. Thinking of my father

and how I am glad he did not live to see this world.
He had values and was honest. Today that is considered something to be fired for.
He was committed to designing airplanes so that people would not die in crashes.
They used triple backup systems for military and commercial planes and jets because they cared deeply about the safety of the people who flew on the planes.
In those early days of aircraft, there was not much room for arrogance, shortcuts or faking it. The work required diligence, honesty and skill.
He was a serious man as were those with whom he worked. It mattered to them when there were accidents.

He expected that people would be true to their word and there was a shared sense of values.
Scammers and thieves were considered criminals - not the foundation of our business world.
If he had lived to see this - his heart would be broken and his faith in his country would be broken too.

I am sad too.

[snagglepuss]

146. Well said nt

[MissDeeds]

57. I am right there with you, laylah

I'm sad, disappointed, disillusioned, and just about out of hope that things will improve. Never would I ever have imagined feeling this way...but never would I ever have imagined what has come to pass.

Thanks for your post, and the other great posts here. :grouphug:

[laylah]

60. I am SO grateful for all of you!

Off to bed, I am an "early bird". :grouphug: We are all in this together, like it or not (I don't!) but I know I am in good company.

See you in the ayem :loveya:

jenn

[Still Waters]

67. Another 50s child here

and I feel the same way you do. Today my husband and I were musing about the old saying those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. What have we learned as a nation? The robber baron era, that Teddy Roosevelt boldly confronted, is now upon us again. The sacrifices of the labor unions who paid with blood to gain workers a fair shake and the programs of the New Deal are now being stripped away--and how sad is it that the DLC Democrats are as quick to stab the middle class in the back as the Republicans. The energy conservation measures that Jimmy Carter tried to establish in the 1970s were ignored (and ridiculed.) How far might we be if we had committed ourselves in 1975 to a Moon Program or Manhattan Project type of national undertaking to develop alternate fuel sources? Would there be this horrendous oil spill if we had been willing to wean ourselves from this oil dependence starting back then? What would the whole Middle East situation be like if oil were not even part of the equation? I was very disheartened by the Arkansas primary result, but especially sickened by the report that somebody once again played with our ability to cast our votes by severely restricting the voting locations. After the election was stolen from Gore we turned right around and pulled a stunt like this? How could we ever dare to show up in any other nation and claim we are monitoring their voting--obviously someone needs to come here and monitor ours. We were lied into Vietnam and a generation later lied into Iraq, which I thought could never happen again after the mass protests of the 1960s and early 1970s.

My father fought in World War 2 and I often think, is the way the US is now what these men fought for so bravely? Did these men risk all so that their children would see our jobs sent overseas, would see insurance companies scheme on how NOT to pay claims, would see credit card companies be allowed to charge usurious rates, would see higher education become an almost impossible dream, would see companies push employees out the door when they turned 50, would see retirement security become increasingly nonexistant?

So what do we do about any of this--what can we do? I feel that we are truly in perilous times, times that call for bold and imaginative leadership. We just aren't getting it, and I'm afraid I'm not going to see it in my lifetime. The corporations are so entrenched now in all our decision making and so blatantly own our politicians that I often just despair. I don't want to watch the back and forth on shows like Tweety or Meet the Press anymore--it accomplishes absolutely nothing. We are in trouble as a nation, and a planet, and no one is telling the truth.

I often feel that our only hope is in our young people and pray that they will be able to do a better job than my generation did.

[Faygo Kid]

107. Welcome to DU and keep posting.

Enjoyed the read. Born in '51 here.

[femrap]

140. Great post

Maybe when we have nothing more to lose, we'll decide to take back what is ours.

If it's true that the Mayan calendar is correct, then this horrid, violent age is to end and we will face a cooperative and sharing beginning.

That is my hope and belief.

[saracat]

68. Me too! I want to be in denial or alternate reality. I do not want to know what I know.

Cynical as I am, I did try to hope. Now that is gone. And yes, I am angry. We deserve better.Some of us tried.

[laylah]

71. saracat...

i KNOW what you are saying; however, we must NEVER give up hope. folks like me can post these sad threads, but there is always hope. maybe not in my lifetime, but soon...very soon :hug:

okay, i'm REALLY off to bed. was there, had to get up to check things out.

i am SO very blessed to have ya'll :grouphug:

[DesertFlower]

82. sometimes i feel like i am in an

alternate reality.

[femrap]

142. I am constantly

saying....'Please pinch me. This must be a nightmare.'

[laughingliberal]

73. I believe many of us grieve with you. I know I do.

:hug:

[M155Y_A1CH]

75. 50's baby too,

I feel your fatigue, but I can't advocate the rose-colored glass view.
Everyone wants to unplug from the disasters unfolding,
seemingly endlessly,
but there is no security in being uninformed,
just a false sense of it.

I would hope that anyone who doesn't
try to stay informed
would also try to stay out of any decision making.

[EFerrari]

85. I hear you, sister. '55 here.

:grouphug:

[ready504]

89. Cheer up, Dear......

this too shall pass.

[Shining Jack]

90. I'm pretty sad and despaired too...

And scared,not really for myself but for the younger ones.All because of a handful of greedy cold blooded parasites that are never satisfied and always want more,the World is getting a hellish place
to live.And it's the only place we have.:(

[barbtries]

94. same here

i come to DU with a heavy heart, and maneuver away quickly. just gotta keep on keeping on.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

96. Born in '51 and deeply sad. We've passed the point of no return.

[yellowwood]

99. Oh, Come On!

My parents grew up during a Depression. My ancestors grubbed a living out of a rocky, hilly farm. They never gave up. They just kept slogging away,

It's always been like this. We were indoctrinated to believe that we had some individual power. We even believed that there was even a "higher power" that cared for us. For a while there was a "golden window" of opportunity that made it seem that we could go on using the Earth's resources without concern for its limitation. It was unsustainable.

I believe that the Internet has revealed to us the true state of affairs. We know now that we are pretty powerless. But we always were.

So here's the situation: You do what you can with what you've got in your limited circle of power. You don't get tired. You just keep on slogging.

Remember George Carlin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYIC0eZYEtI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o

[SalmonChantedEvening]

101. A line from Gandhi sums it up for me.

"Why must I be forced to read these kind of things in the Paper?"

The headline read of Gandhi going on a fast, and this was Nehru's reaction to it. A flabbergasted aide could only shrug.

I can barely stand 30 seconds of what passes for TV news. Some days I can only read so much here on DU or other pages. It's numbing, it's draining and it can leave you with nothing but Why, and tears of anger and sadness.

:hug: :loveya:

[WCGreen]

104. My parents were frightened for me....

They said I cared too much...

K&R

[femrap]

149. Recently someone told

me that Mark Twain 'cared too much.' As a result he became quite the cynic in later life. I seem to be following in those same footsteps.

But I do keep laughing at the insanity of it all. I HAVE to or I would be :cry: ing constantly.

I hope my doctor will give me a 'script for that 'Fuckitol' cuz I need it bad!!!!!

[defendandprotect]

154. True, if you actually realize the corporate onslaught vs nature, it can bring you to tears....

but also remember what Howard Zinn said about sentimentality . . . .

"Sentimentality without action is meaningless" --

Keep fighting!

[laylah]

161. And mine always said I never

met a stranger. Said the same thing, different words. We have always meant well, WCG, ALWAYS; however, for the sensitive folks like us, there are many lessons it took us a very long time to learn. A lifetime for me :cry: YOU, dear person, are blessed and I am priviledged to know you :hug:

jenn

[Golden Raisin]

106. Vintage late 1940's here.

Totally understand your sadness. The Decline all around us, and on so many different levels and aspects of life, is so severe as to be almost incomprehensible to many people of our generation. I wish there was something I could do to help my grandnieces and grandnephews but the world they are going to have to confront is going to be a very ugly one, which frankly, I'm glad I won't live to see.

[Festivito]

108. Not exactly the best way to join forces.

The only way a government of the people can also be for the people is if the people stand by the people.

You picked an unusual place to stand and attract people.

Do as you must.

[cwydro]

109. kicking

[laylah]

110. Thanks to you all for your

thoughts and responses, even those that disagreed with me.

Yes, the 1950's, in reality, was not the "golden" decade I choose to remember is as. There was racism, child molestation, war, bullying at school, et. All those things, unfortunately, are still alive and well.

But, I felt safe. It WAS a simpler time. Memorial Day, Arbor Day, Veteran's Day parades, sumer movies on the lawn at the old band shell, 10 cents bought you an ice cream AND a soda, rainy Saturday afternoons curled up in the Queen Anne chair in the childrens room at the library my grandma oversaw for 50 years...it was my childhood and I'll wax poetically about it if I so choose. No one can take that away from me.

Like some have said, the destruction of the Gulf was my tipping point also. Watching, and knowing to the depths of my being that those people that caused this will, somehow, some way, walk away from this less unscathed than the human/ecological/animal/bird/fish victims. My hopes of change have been dashed by the reality of what really is.

Oh, I have no plans on giving up, but from here on out, I'll be looking clearly (when I do look), after finally having lost my rose colored glasses for good.

Thank you again.

:grouphug: jenn

[Bluerthanblue]

116. the last straws...

for me have been this oil spill, and blatant racism.

I watched "Taking Woodstock" with my sons last weekend,(16&25) and they really enjoyed it- It depressed me more than I can say. I remember the optimism and potential- the possibility and maybe in a strange way the innocence that filled life back then.

I don't think you are choosing 'denial' Laylah, I think you are doing what you need to do to get through this hellish time. Being aware, being sensitive, and being overwhelmed by what is going on can destroy us.

You aren't alone, and as hopeless as we may feel, there is a future.

:grouphug:

[snagglepuss]

117. For uplift, run don't walk to get a copy of Chris Hedges' Empire of Illusion

(the surprising uplift comes in the conclusion of what could be considered a depressing read).

I say this as someone who completely understands where you are coming and shares your feelings. For years I have been a complete news junkie and now I take it in small doses and some stuff like the oil disaster I avoid totally. I had also been deliberately avoiding reading any book by Hedges even though I have found his articles extremely insightful. I felt that I just couldn't handle reading his bleak analysis of the present state of affairs. However several months ago on an impulse I picked up his book and I couldn't put it down. I can only say that it might be a perfect antidote to what you are feeling, it really affected my outlook in a positive way.

[femrap]

145. Great read....nt

[gauguin57]

121. A friend and I were just saying yesterday that, while we feel it's our duty to keep up w/ BP mess ..

... we are so overwhelmed that we're taking the weekend off to read books and NOT watch TV.

Everyone needs a break from it now and then. You'll be able to read the "nooze" again once you've given yourself some space.

[pundaint]

125. There is exactly one cause for that sadness - the quality of the men and women occupying seats in

Congress for the last 30 years. They have not done their job of stewardship of America in the People's interests. They are responsible for the rules governing Congress, they are responsible for who sits on the Supreme Court, they are responsible for the continuing wars, they are responsible for removal of the laws that protected Americans from those who would prey on us. They are responsible for removing protections for American Jobs, and our very way of life. In fact Congress has joined those who would prey on us.

Go ahead and be sad that We have been pushed into a position where revolution is the only answer. Fortunately for us, that revolution could occur at the polling places if we just do what was once unthinkable, but now the only reasonable approach: vote out every poseur who isn't doing the People's business. That's about 425 of 'em.

There is not reasonable reason to imagine that Congress, with it's current occupants, will do anything better next term than they have for the last 15.

[Waiting For Everyman]

133. + 1 n/t

[kstewart33]

128. We're all sad.

I'm cutting back on my web reading, too. So much bad news and there's nothing I can do to change any of it.

So I'm taking a time-out. There's no better time to do it than in the summer.

Don't we all need a break?

[Waiting For Everyman]

130. born in 1950, and agree. Message in this...

IT WASN'T ALWAYS SCREWED UP LIKE THIS! There used to be a better quality of life, and it doesn't HAVE TO be like this.

I worry that later generations don't realize this. Because they never saw it, and can't believe it.

And on boomers electing Reagan... the "greatest generation" had more to do with that than ours did.

The backlash against drug use in the 1970's was used by the RW to discredit the young left and to sweep away all the other kinds of useful momentum that we DID achieve for a short time. We got NO SUPPORT for moving in the right direction, and it was undone, and then made 1000 times worse.

Civil rights is about the only part of it that improved and lasted. But now, EVERYONE'S personal rights are diminished so much more, that even that seems like a "break even" at best. Now, there are some minority middle and upper class, but otherwise, what's better? In general, for everyone, it's MUCH WORSE.

[laylah]

157. No it wasn't, and the

naysayers have NO idea. We DID have hope then, a bright future, so many opportunities...and now "they" blame us for this fiasco. I didn't vote for Raygun...did you :sarcasm: :hug:

[defendandprotect]

131. Understand, but the point of the right wing is to demoralize us and

to get us to give up ---

This battle is never over -- the right wing will always keep trying to

move to do vile things.

Wish I had it at hand, but JFK said that -- we may be tired, but we have

to keep fighting -- and NO, it will never end!

Yes -- one of the major points of the right wing battle is to make us all feel like losers.

Whatever the score, the battle for justice and peace has to continue on.

Corporatism/Capitalism has pretty nearly now destroyed our ability to live on this planet --

it's based on exploitation of nature -- and other human beings.

FDR managed to stop it --

Others managed to end Slavery --

AA's fougnt almost alone to overturn Segregation, Inc. --

Gays and Lesbians continue to fight against their oppression --

and women will be the last oppression to be ended --

Patriarchy/Organized Patriarchal Religion/Capitalism -- The Unholy Trinity --

[mike_c]

155. me too....

On all accounts. :cry:

[The_Commonist]

158. There are too many people on the planet.

We are going collectively insane, because our systems cannot keep up with our "needs" and wants."
Once the Great Culling happens, we may have an opportunity to build new systems.
If we don't destroy everyone and everything in the process.
I personally plan to watch the game to the end...

[RFKHumphreyObama]

164. Hi Laylah

I hear what you are saying and I agree with every word of it. And I am not from the '50s' generation

I was born in 1981 and my interest in politics was at least partly stirred by the fact that my earliest memories are of the impossible seemingly happening. I can remember watching the news when I was nine or ten and seeing the reunification of Germany, the release of Nelson Mandela, the collapse of the Soviet Union and a whole lot of other hopeful and inspirational news events unfold before my very eyes. Even at such a young age, I was aware that what was going on was absolutely surreal. I can remember the hope, idealism and optimism that seemed to be everywhere around me as I was growing up -the peace, prosperity and genuine purpose of the Clinton years, the Oslo Peace Accord, the peace process in Northern Ireland and so on

The world that I live in today just seems like a distorted parody of the world in which I grow up. There are some days when I read the news and it feels like I am reading one of those futuristic novels about the world in which everything seems to go wrong. Extremism, fundamentalism, prejudice, bigotry and everything else which I thought that were dead and buried a long time ago seems to be flourishing these days. I hardly recognize the world anymore and it just seems to get worse. I've had to take a step back from following the news -and, if you knew me, you'd realize what a change that was from about 10 years ago. I just can't believe what this is the same world that I grew up in

I know that some people are blaming President Obama for some of the various problems and I can understand their frustration and anger, even if I don't agree with it. I happen to love President Obama -I find him to be the one source of optimism and hope for the future and am awed by his brilliance and his vision -but I think the world has become such a frightening and out of control place that I think he is essentially powerless to stop the way in which it is heading. And that frightens me

[laylah]

169. You are a dear!

My oldest is your age...and has your wisdom (and more only because she is my daughter:P ) We depend on you, our future. On the other hand, I apologize to you, our future.

I KNOW President (MY PRESIDENT) Obama was handed a plate that that BASTARD bush* and his minions KNEW would cripple him for some time. I still support MY PRESIDENT...HOWEVER...

I want MY PRESIDENT to take over the mf's from BP, take CONTROL of this environmental DISASTER, and not look back!

I am so glad you are here...we are blessed because of youngsters like you :hug:

[CTyankee]

182. I am much older than you but your words are so true IMO.

We DO seem to be in one of those futuristic novels or movies like "Alien 2." The 24 hour images of the spewing of oil in the Gulf is so horrifying to me. Never in my lifetime have I seen such destruction on the planet Earth. People who lived during WW2 must have had this feeling. The awful death and destruction from the (then) weapons of mass destruction raining terror, death, conflagration on them (the firebombing of Dresden and Nagasaki, to name just two instances). The discovery of the death camps and the mound of dead, skeletal bodies....

I know that if we read history we can read about some very dark times indeed for humans on this planet. I don't know if that knowledge helps or hurts or if it just doesn't matter. It is amazing to me that out of the darkest years of the Bubonic plague came the Italian Renaissance, the flowering of some of the most beautiful art known to humankind. How is that possible? How can such longlasting beauty be born out of such misery, suffering and death?

Perhaps it is true as someone wiser than me once said: Art always saves you.

I think about that and it helps...then I turn on Mozart...

[burnsei sensei]

165. In 1990, I read my local newspaper

with much confidence that I was being informed.
I felt encouraged to think for myself.
Six years afterward, I suspected the media was manipulating.
And by 2001? I believed that they were without reservation.
2010 and nothing has changed. I do a hunt and pick job in gathering my news.
But the point is that I'm forced to gather it myself.

[colsohlibgal]

166. Forces of Evil

The Ruling Class runs things more than ever. As the Randy Newman song says, "It's money that matters". They have gazillions, almost all of us don't.

The beginning of the dark period is clear to me, 11/22/63. A punch to the American gut, followed up by the knockout punch in 1968, MLK,RFK murdered. The forces of evil play for keeps. Nuts shoot at republicans, pros at liberals.

Since then a few periods of hope but now the control is almost complete, they have the airwaves monopolized and the Supreme Court in their pocket and have instituted perpetual war which is big money for big money players. All very "1984", Orwell was quite the visionary, sadly. As was DDE in January of 1961.

They all but let us know, like the Borg on STNG, that resitance is futile.

However, all that said, this lady is not going down without a fight, is going to be one hell of a thorn in their side, game on.

[patrice]

168. Even those of us with the words, elite or otherwise, are sad too. I have just about had it.

[laylah]

173. Kick! I want more input! nt

[laylah]

174. Awesome Mods...please close.

This topic has worn itself out. Thank you! jenn

[cwydro]

177. kick

[Irishonly]

178. 50's baby here

I am sad a lot of the time. I agree with what's been posted and I am glad my parents aren't around to see the mess we are in. My dad was a proud union member and would hate to see what some democrats are trying to do to them.

[laylah]

183. My dad laid upon the barn roof

in 1929, with a shotgun...watching for union busters, as my gramps held one of the first Union (Teamsters) meetings in the barn. The first Missouri Teamsters was born...I heard about this all my life, lived it! Unions are FOR the people, unlike our falsely "elected" nimrods these days. There are few "elected" assholes who give a damn...they just aren't there!

[AnArmyVeteran]

185. Good for your dad and what he did to make our country better.

Thanks for that

[Irishonly]

186. I hear you

My dad was a teamster. When I was able to teach I always belonged to the union and to this day I will not cross a picket line. When the grocery stores were striking a few years back I found local markets and have never gone back. Unions are for the people.

[apocalypsehow]

188. Then your "dad" was a criminal - and I hope he was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for

threatening violence against innocent people walking down the street.

And 1929? Baloney. Even assuming your "dad" spawned you in his forties that would make you well into your late eighties.

I don't buy it.

[laylah]

190. My dad was born in 1916, my mom 1919...

I was born in 1951. Take your hate somewhere else. You don't know me, how DARE you call me a liar! I can "do" disagreement, or even challenge, but hatefulness has NO place, invho.

Trying to Unionize in Missouri in the late '20's was a dangerous business. As for "threatening violence against innocent people walking down the street"... they lived on a farm of many acres far from town, re: PRIVATE PROPERTY.

Now, go away!

[cwydro]

189. Kicking for the weekday crowd

[laylah]

191. Thanks for the kick,

cwydro. This has been, for the most part, a very positive thread. It warms my heart to know I am not alone in my feelings of sadness and desperation :hug:

[blindpig]

192. Anger is what is needed.

The destruction of our environment accelerates as does the assault on working people worldwide. This is not garden variety greed, not just the character flaws of a handful of individuals. This is Capitalism in it's worst crisis yet, it will consume us and the planet in pursuit of the next quarters dividend.

I'm staying angry until I explode or Capitalism does.