The next time I find a person from Europe here in the the USA

[ACUDANUT]

I WILL CHARGE THEM....To piss and shit 10 times more in our country.  I just returned from Europe.  Not happy a happy camper. They make more money on Human waste than selling their worthless merchandise, food and booze.  I will also charge them for the toxic fumes from their arse too.

[XH29N0G]

These are free,  A little tricky for #2, but possible....

[alfaitalia]

I WILL CHARGE THEM....To piss and shit 10 times more in our country.  I just returned from Europe.  Not happy a happy camper. They make more money on Human waste than selling their worthless merchandise, food and booze.  I will also charge them for the toxic fumes from their arse too.

Just to be clear which country and what where you charged for?

[Mike DC]

  
On the other hand . . .  


My friend's GF broke her ankle during a trip to Denmark last year.  It was a pretty bad break and required surgery to set the bones with pins and stuff.  She spent several days in the hospital.

They fixed it for free.  The hospital didn't even have a billing department.  The quality of care was on par with the States.

[alfaitalia]

Would be the same here in the U.K....the NHS (National Health Service) don't charge for emergency medical care no matter where you come from. Just common sense and good manners as far as we are concerned. Something most Brits are very proud of...even if it's more than a bit underfunded at the moment...as always!

[Kern Dog]

I think that if we Americans started off with Socialized/Government funded medical care, we may have little to no problem with it today. It is the period of transition that we would have to go through that makes it so hard to accept. There absolutely HAS to be a higher tax burden to cover it, taxes imposed on the people that work and produce. With so many losers here getting FREE money for doing nothing, it pisses the working people off to think that even MORE of their money will be stolen and skimmed from their checks when they already have health care coverage through their employers.

[XH29N0G]

In spite of my flip #2 comment on the free public pisser above,  I also hate the pay as you go system!  BUT it has gotten better, and  I never can tell whether pay toilets are socialist or capitalist.

My experience has also been similar to what MikeDC described based on several long duration stays I have had with my family. Further, looking at the math for most of us. Counting kids schooling/college, my health care, and retirement savings as part of taxes gives me a full 'tax rate' that is easily comparable to that in Europe. And those 'other taxes' don't scale with income so making more money means a lower rate.  

I'll look for some more toilet pictures for my next post.

[XH29N0G]

As promised. I usually take pictures of cars, but I found this one amusing and never dreamed it would be put to good use.

[alfaitalia]

We do have pay toilets in the UK....but not many are publicly owned...so the company that owns them are either in it for a profit or just want to cover maintenance/running costs. Unless you really have to go RIGHT NOW you would be stupid (or don't care about paying) to use one when there are so many free public toilets about and if you cant find one just walk into any pub or fast food joint. If its busy they will not notice ....if its nearly empty I just ask nicely....never been told "no!" yet. And if you are a accented tourist they certainly wont say no....we like tourists in the UK!!

[birdsandbees]

Never paid once in Wales and England... of course our longest walk was from one pub to the next so I could hold it that long! 

[ACUDANUT]

I WILL CHARGE THEM....To piss and shit 10 times more in our country.  I just returned from Europe.  Not happy a happy camper. They make more money on Human waste than selling their worthless merchandise, food and booze.  I will also charge them for the toxic fumes from their arse too.

Just to be clear which country and what where you charged for?

London and Italy.   About 3 American dollars to use one in Venice.  I won't get into Politics, but London reminded me Iraq (people that is).

[XH29N0G]

$3 sounds steep to me.  I would be frustrated too.

[seaweed]

Sweden here. we use to be nr 1 in every position, Medical no matter what i only pay about 15 dollar for what ever specialist i need ( for my Children its free, including medicin.).
My charger is tax free ( cars over 30 year) and a very cheap Insurance.
as a father i can stay home whith my Children  for about 90 Days and recive 80% off my pay.
i have 5 weeks payed vacation each year.
But 2015 we tok in about 150 000 Syrian and afganistan men (almost no women or Children) and they can live here whith no jobs.
they get free dental and our goverment give dem appartment and Money to go. and all swedes who have worked and payed taxes are paying for them.
now we pay about 1,5 dollar for a liter of gas, 100 dollar/ month for Electric subscription and 0,1 dollar/KWH of Electric.
The line for Health/dental care is never ending and our taxes has never been higher.
In Sweden, you can never work to be rich becourse our taxes is too high. thats what i like about USA, if you have an ide' you can work hard an get rich.

[Kern Dog]

Thanks for the honest response. Our terribly biased news media downplays stuff like that.

[John_Kunkel]

Around here just about every business has a sign in the window that reads "restroom for customers only". IOW, no free doo-doo or pee-pee, gotta pay.

[Lennard]

But 2015 we tok in about 150 000 Syrian and afganistan men (almost no women or Children) and they can live here whith no jobs.
they get free dental and our goverment give dem appartment and Money to go. and all swedes who have worked and payed taxes are paying for them.
now we pay about 1,5 dollar for a liter of gas, 100 dollar/ month for Electric subscription and 0,1 dollar/KWH of Electric.
The line for Health/dental care is never ending and our taxes has never been higher.
In Sweden, you can never work to be rich becourse our taxes is too high.

This is the same for Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France... etc.

[alfaitalia]

I WILL CHARGE THEM....To piss and shit 10 times more in our country.  I just returned from Europe.  Not happy a happy camper. They make more money on Human waste than selling their worthless merchandise, food and booze.  I will also charge them for the toxic fumes from their arse too.

Just to be clear which country and what where you charged for?

London and Italy.   About 3 American dollars to use one in Venice.  I won't get into Politics, but London reminded me Iraq (people that is).

Bit harsh....but everyone entitled to their opinion I guess. You are never more than ten minutes walk from a free loo in London. I never pay on my visits to the big smoke. I do try to avoid going their too much though....no problems with London but Im a country boy and never been a fan of big cities!!

[alfaitalia]

Sweden here. we use to be nr 1 in every position, Medical no matter what i only pay about 15 dollar for what ever specialist i need ( for my Children its free, including medicin.).
My charger is tax free ( cars over 30 year) and a very cheap Insurance.
as a father i can stay home whith my Children  for about 90 Days and recive 80% off my pay.
i have 5 weeks payed vacation each year.
But 2015 we tok in about 150 000 Syrian and afganistan men (almost no women or Children) and they can live here whith no jobs.
they get free dental and our goverment give dem appartment and Money to go. and all swedes who have worked and payed taxes are paying for them.
now we pay about 1,5 dollar for a liter of gas, 100 dollar/ month for Electric subscription and 0,1 dollar/KWH of Electric.
The line for Health/dental care is never ending and our taxes has never been higher.
In Sweden, you can never work to be rich becourse our taxes is too high. thats what i like about USA, if you have an ide' you can work hard an get rich.

We have people with similar views in the UK...some people call them "racists"....not saying you are of course. But if your country was having the crap bombed out of it by a neighbour of even by there own leader or in the case of the Afghan men a war between taliban/ISIS and the USA that you can do nothing about then id like to hope that countries in a far safer place and with a much better economy might be able to afford to offer a helping hand. We do here and yes it costs us.... but we police it better...after you get here you get looked after for a while....but them you work...you dont live off the state. You do get "free" medical/dental....but so does everyone here. Things might change here (for the worse) soon if Boris gets into Number 10....then we might not be so welcoming...and will have an egomaniac, sexist racist, bigot in change...hope it does not happen. That said the USA went that way and strangely the majority seem to like him.....hmmm. We however did not give him the welcome he might have been expecting with the "special relationship" and all that so hopefully the public (well Party members at least...we have no say) will put in someone a little more moderate and not so far to the right in power....If not he will almost certainly be out at the first General Election....the British public wont put up with him for long. LOL.

[Kern Dog]

It is not racist to be pissed when your country gets overwhelmed with people from other countries.
Why do countries of primarily Caucasian people have to surrender our security and way of life to other races? This diversity shit is not about helping White people, it is always about helping brown people. Ever heard of Canadian refugees? French refugees? Yeah...me neither.
Why is it that the majority of poverty and suffering is in countries with brown or black people? Seriously, forget your left leaning views on politics, answer that question.
Why is it our job to cure these problems in these shithole countries? If anyone had any sense, they'd eliminate the ruthless regimes in these shithole countries and let these "refugees" stay in their home countries. That does NOT fit the globalist agenda though. Those at the helm want to pollute Caucasian countries with backwards fundamentalist lifestyles and poverty, this keeps the people down and dependent on the government.
Why do we have to lower our standard of living?  It is not racist to want to keep your culture the way that it is. It is not selfish to want to keep what is yours. It is not sexist to clearly identify the differences between the sexes. Too many idiots have surrendered their identities to globalist nonsense.

[XH29N0G]

The immigration debate has happened over and over again. Some of our ancestors were immigrants fleeing bad situations.  Some were vilified.  It was and remains vile and shameful.

[ACUDANUT]

It is not racist to be pissed when your country gets overwhelmed with people from other countries.
Why do countries of primarily Caucasian people have to surrender our security and way of life to other races? This diversity shit is not about helping White people, it is always about helping brown people. Ever heard of Canadian refugees? French refugees? Yeah...me neither.
Why is it that the majority of poverty and suffering is in countries with brown or black people? Seriously, forget your left leaning views on politics, answer that question.
Why is it our job to cure these problems in these shithole countries? If anyone had any sense, they'd eliminate the ruthless regimes in these shithole countries and let these "refugees" stay in their home countries. That does NOT fit the globalist agenda though. Those at the helm want to pollute Caucasian countries with backwards fundamentalist lifestyles and poverty, this keeps the people down and dependent on the government.
Why do we have to lower our standard of living?  It is not racist to want to keep your culture the way that it is. It is not selfish to want to keep what is yours. It is not sexist to clearly identify the differences between the sexes. Too many idiots have surrendered their identities to globalist nonsense.

Well said. I say, stay in your own Country and try to make it better. Don't come into another country and do nothing but demand your way to supersede ours. US/UK ect.

[alfaitalia]

It is not racist to be pissed when your country gets overwhelmed with people from other countries.
Why do countries of primarily Caucasian people have to surrender our security and way of life to other races? This diversity shit is not about helping White people, it is always about helping brown people. Ever heard of Canadian refugees? French refugees? Yeah...me neither.
Why is it that the majority of poverty and suffering is in countries with brown or black people? Seriously, forget your left leaning views on politics, answer that question.
Why is it our job to cure these problems in these shithole countries? If anyone had any sense, they'd eliminate the ruthless regimes in these shithole countries and let these "refugees" stay in their home countries. That does NOT fit the globalist agenda though. Those at the helm want to pollute Caucasian countries with backwards fundamentalist lifestyles and poverty, this keeps the people down and dependent on the government.
Why do we have to lower our standard of living?  It is not racist to want to keep your culture the way that it is. It is not selfish to want to keep what is yours. It is not sexist to clearly identify the differences between the sexes. Too many idiots have surrendered their identities to globalist nonsense.

Lol...in answer to your question....yes that is racist!...very racist in places..it's also very unChristian (if you believe all that old bollocks...but I know lots on here do) and it's also very uncaring for your fellow human being. And just for clarity I vote Conservative (mildly right wing) not Labour (very mildly left wing). Sure ....it's not your job to look after them but it is your responsibility as decent human being surely.  Lots are running from wars they can do nothing about and are just trying to save their families ...some of which we (the West) started and other which we (the West) fund and make fortunes from in arms sales. Acudanut.... We have many differing religious faiths here (UK)..as much as they want to preserve there beliefs and religious heritage I and  I bet most people in the UK have never had anyone trying to change my beliefs or "pollute" my lifestyle. By the way we had plenty of white (Caucasian) refugees in this part of the world. Did the wars in the former Czechoslovakia and many Eastern European countries in the 80s and 90s not make the news in the US?!

[Kern Dog]

Why is it that in MOST cases, the refugees from these shitty countries are ALL MEN ?? Mid 20s, able bodied (Likely former soldiers) and strong willed?
Nobody ever sends their hot, lonely women to another country. 
It isn't racist to want to protect yourself from others that want to change or pollute my way of life. I don't care if it is a group of polar bear colored Russians or eggplant colored pygmies. If you are escaping a shithole, leave the ways of that shithole behind you. Idiots do that here....Leave BLUE states that are overcrowded, overtaxed and fucked up and move to a RED state...THEN vote for the same bullshit they ran away from.
I don't need more poverty, more Muslim activity, more homeless scumbags begging and robbing to buy drugs or booze. We have that already, way too much of it.

[Mike DC]

Why is it that the majority of poverty and suffering is in countries with brown or black people? Seriously, forget your left leaning views on politics, answer that question.

I can think of some reasons just off the top of my head.  

Europe has a ton of coastline & rivers for the land area so it's conducive to building ships & traveling around.  They have just the right weather/temp range to promote tech development: cold enough to need more survival help in the winter, but warm & fertile enough in the summer to be able to work on those problems.  

Europe ended up with a population that had good/experienced ship fleets and motives to invent stuff.  When you invent stuff and travel a lot, you trade with others a lot.  When you do that, you get tempted to conquer others for their natural resources.  You want to keep your shipping lanes from being pirated.  Etc.  Pretty soon you want an empire to keep the money rolling in.  

The 1300's bubonic plague in Europe gave the survivors more disease resistance than anyone else.  Europeans didn't really conquer the Native Americans, so much as bring over some diseases that wiped out 90+ percent of the natives for them within a century.  Same happened in some of the other places the Europeans eventually went.  Today white people are still genetically more resistant to HIV thanks to after-effects of those old plagues.

When Europeans conquered Africa & the middle east in the 1800s-1900s they didn't just leave those regions as they were. They re-drew a lot of the border lines with no concern for where the existing cultures were, and that has caused serious division to this day.  Example: the different groups in Iraq don't get along today because 'Iraq' is a western creation from the early 1900s.  (Imagine combining several southwest US states with a chunk of Mexico, and calling it one country. "Ugh, why won't those people just grow up and get along?")

Why is it our job to cure these problems in these shithole countries? If anyone had any sense, they'd eliminate the ruthless regimes in these shithole countries and let these "refugees" stay in their home countries. That does NOT fit the globalist agenda though. Those at the helm want to pollute Caucasian countries with backwards fundamentalist lifestyles and poverty, this keeps the people down and dependent on the government.
Why do we have to lower our standard of living?  It is not racist to want to keep your culture the way that it is. It is not selfish to want to keep what is yours. It is not sexist to clearly identify the differences between the sexes. Too many idiots have surrendered their identities to globalist nonsense.

The USA doesn't have any room to talk about 'eliminating ruthless regimes.'  Look at our history with Iran going back to the 1950s.  Today they would have to be clinically insane to trust the USA in any way whatsoever.  That's just one example.  Panama 30 years ago is another one.  

And then there is Saudi Arabia.  We cannot pretend to be against ruthless regimes and supporting that ruling family.  Pick one or the other.  (The Saudis having the biggest oil pumping capacity in the world?  The Bush family having a long financial history with them?  I'm sure these are just coincidences.)

If we want to stop dealing with these messes then perhaps we shouldn't be worsening them.

[Kern Dog]

Holy shit. That made sense. I appreciate the viewpoint.

[Mike DC]

 
Glad you found it relevant/interesting.   

[ACUDANUT]

 Where is the thread "I am moving to Mexico" I loved it.

[alfaitalia]

Here ya go!!!

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,121710.0.html

[John_Kunkel]

The USA doesn't have any room to talk about 'eliminating ruthless regimes.'  Look at our history with Iran going back to the 1950s.  Today they would have to be clinically insane to trust the USA in any way whatsoever.  That's just one example.  Panama 30 years ago is another one.  

And then there is Saudi Arabia.  We cannot pretend to be against ruthless regimes and supporting that ruling family.  Pick one or the other.  (The Saudis having the biggest oil pumping capacity in the world?  The Bush family having a long financial history with them?  I'm sure these are just coincidences.)

If we want to stop dealing with these messes then perhaps we shouldn't be worsening them.

Couldn't have said it better. I've long been of the opinion that much of the unrest in the world today is because of U.S. meddling in the affairs of other countries. The current immigrant influx from the south can be laid directly at the feet of that great American Ronnie Raygun.

[Kern Dog]

No.

[alfaitalia]

Oh most definitely yes......unusual to hear it from an American though..so respect to that. Would you have got involved with Iraq after they invaded Kuwait is there had not been oil involved?...probably not. Then having invaded  (with us supporting you due to false info on WMDs) you got rid of Sadam...the one man who was "just about" keeping the men who would become ISIS radicals in check. The rest is history.

Copied...due to be written better than the text I just deleted!

.....To be clear, then, ISIS is blowback from the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. And don't just take my word for it. Listen to David Kilcullen, a former adviser to both Gen. David Petraeus and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, considered to be one of the world's leading counter-insurgency experts. "We have to recognize that a lot of the problem is of our own making," Kilcullen told Channel 4 News in March 2016. "There, undeniably, would be no ISIS if we hadn't invaded Iraq."

There are many other examples of similar...and we in the UK are not exactly innocent of doing similar either......Most of it was rather further back in history though. You could say that the English Crusades triggered Muslims hatred of the West in the first place...and fair enough really. They were from 1096 to 1291..so nearly 200 years of going there and killing them for pretty much no other reason than their religion....that would be slightly annoying to even the most patient I think and not easily forgotten!

[odcics2]

Ahhh, The Crusades!!

A lot of folks don't know about them!! 

Yes, killing people in the name of your "god"!   (AKA, my belief is right, yours is wrong, therefore you die!!)

Sounds twisted, doesn't it??

I suppose the Crusaders forgot to read the part about 'Thou shalt not kill' in the 10 Commandments

[gtx6970]

Well said. I say, stay in your own Country and try to make it better. Don't come into another country and do nothing but demand your way to supersede ours. US/UK ect.

Agreed,
I have zero issues with anyone coming to this country or any other country in an attempt to better themselves or there family.
Its the ones that do come here then demand we change this country's foundations it was built from and for only to accommodate them is my problem.

Don't even get me started on high schools require a foreign language to graduate yet cant teach a basic cooking or money mgmt class

[Kern Dog]

Oh most definitely yes......unusual to hear it from an American though..so respect to that.

It is not unusual to find self loathing "America bashing" from "Americans". Too many assclowns here take pleasure in bashing traditional American values.
Idiots that live in freedom and prosperity only to shit on the whole thing.

[XH29N0G]

I disagree.  I don't think there are many self loathing "America bashing Americans".  It is important to consider what a responsible country that leads in this world should do, but I would say that is  American values.  American values should equal values related to life, liberty, dignity, and pursuit of happiness.  Sometimes the actions have not stuck with these values.  In that case, as people who have those values, it is our responsibility to point them out.

I had not spent much time learning about Reagan's policies, and that prior post prompted me to look into those.  I learned something new.  I think we own the responsibility for our actions. If things our country has done have resulted in the situation we are in now we should recognize that.  Maybe the alternative would have been worse, but we take responsibility for our actions, especially if we say we are taking the high road.  

[Kern Dog]

Be careful the sources that you pick when trying to do research. Liberals have a habit of trying to rewrite history. Statutes get removed, plaques get changed, suddenly the history looks different because they want to paint themselves in a better light.

[Mike DC]

History has always been written by the winners.  There never was a non-biased version. 

[Kern Dog]

Well, that used to be the case. History was written but it has also likely been altered. Books cannot be changed but electronic media can. It isn't hard to dig into a database and rewrite history and anyone that comes along later may have NO idea that what they are reading is a REVISION. Books, newspaper articles and other evidence from those historical dates are not easily changed but anything on a computer can be changed with almost no evidence of it being done.
Liberals have almost completely taken over the education system. It is highly likely that they could or have already erased actual history and rewritten it to suit their agenda.With historical statues removed, plaques replaced and a constant propaganda attack, todays kids are getting an altered version of history.
How can anyone with any integrity be okay with this? If you are on a team that cheats to win, are you such a weak person that you go along with it instead of showing some spine and honesty?

[Kern Dog]

Truth.

[odcics2]

You'll find that in Civil war times, Democrats were conservative.
Republicans were liberal thinking.    

I figured I'd add these facts before this thread gets locked! 

[Mike DC]

It is highly likely that they could or have already erased actual history and rewritten it to suit their agenda

It's possible that such a thing might be tried at some point.  But I see nothing specific to the left wing about it.  If you don't see the right wing doing incredibly crooked shit too then you must not be wanting to find it.   (IMO there is really one political party in Washington these days and it represents the oligarchy.   Whenever it comes time to screw the public for some billionaires, the two parties suddenly get bipartisan as hell.)


Either way I don't see it working.  The internet/digital age has made communications harder to control for those in power.  The big threat is not that real news will be suppressed/changed, but that it will be drowned in a sea of bullshit.  

Lately we are having a flat-earther outbreak.   It's not because of any new evidence for it.  It's because the internet gives people unprecedented ability to choose only info saying what they want to hear.  



Wanna hear about how Obama was born in Kenya?  Wanna hear about how he's going to declare martial law instead of leaving office when his term is up?  The internet will gladly supply that info. You won't be subjected to any of the arguments against it unless you want to be.  

Would you rather hear about how Trump is a Russian Manchurian candidate?  Wanna hear about how he takes orders from Vlad Putin every morning?  Ditto.  

Everyone gets to customize their own personal version of reality now.  Lots of crazy-ass views can be backed up with cherry picked & distorted facts.  And once somebody has gotten emotionally invested in an idea, it's a lot harder to talk them out of it using only inconvenient facts pointing the other way.

[Kern Dog]

Hey, man...I really like what you are writing. I appreciate the honesty and your efforts to be reasonable. I too agree that the two main parties are not so different when it comes to who they actually care about.
I have wondered many times if they are all just putting on a show and laughing at us. Maybe they play-fight as if they are serious but in their off hours or in the shadows, they work together to secure financial security for themselves at our expense.

I also agree that the internet has given us access to a vast expanse of information and MOST of it is opinion, not fact.
I have wondered if we have MORE freaks and molesters today than 100 years ago. I am not convinced but I suspect not. I think that these freaks simply are in the spotlight now due to worldwide spreading of information.

[XH29N0G]

I have a different take on some of the points that have been raised.

There is no debate that history gets written with a perspective and sure it is not entirely accurate, but it can be argued in most cases, that while biased, those doing it do so with good intentions. Overall, I would say that while history, and that written by those in universities and colleges likely has bias (everything has bias), it is not, by and large, written with a super strong agenda.  But some other sources may have bias.  e.g., The guys on youtube who have videos with flames in the background, big numbered lists, and big special effects, some of whom claim other histories are all part of a 'liberal' agenda. Our job is to assess the information we have while recognizing it has a level of bias.  I agree that the truth (or true story) is what we seek.

Second, I don't see all politicians or parties being inherently against the people. The fact that there are arguments that part of the government supports programs that align with a welfare state, a socialist state, health care etc.... indicate there are parts of our political system who are for the people in general terms. I won't deny that some parts of the political system are against the people in general terms, placing priority on other things.  Nevertheless it is clear that there are parts of government that are for the people in general terms.

[Kern Dog]

I think the longer these politicians are in office, the more they are in it for themselves. The ones with the longest political careers are the ones with the MOST net worth. That is NOT an accident.
Term limits, man! Go to Washington, represent your people and get the hell out. No more John McCains, Chuckie Schumers, Nancy and Dianne or anyone else that overstays their welcome by 40 years. They are not in the game to improve others lives, they are power hungry and trying to maintain their standard of living. Rush Limbaugh said that Politics is "Show Business for ugly people." I agree completely.

[odcics2]

I think the longer these politicians are in office, the more they are in it for themselves. The ones with the longest political careers are the ones with the MOST net worth. That is NOT an accident.
Term limits, man! Go to Washington, represent your people and get the hell out. No more John McCains, Chuckie Schumers, Nancy and Dianne or anyone else that overstays their welcome by 40 years. They are not in the game to improve others lives, they are power hungry and trying to maintain their standard of living. Rush Limbaugh said that Politics is "Show Business for ugly people." I agree completely.

And SOME experience in governing at State level before you get a Washington job.... 

[Mike DC]

Hey, man...I really like what you are writing. I appreciate the honesty and your efforts to be reasonable. I too agree that the two main parties are not so different when it comes to who they actually care about.
I have wondered many times if they are all just putting on a show and laughing at us. Maybe they play-fight as if they are serious but in their off hours or in the shadows, they work together to secure financial security for themselves at our expense.

I also agree that the internet has given us access to a vast expanse of information and MOST of it is opinion, not fact.
I have wondered if we have MORE freaks and molesters today than 100 years ago. I am not convinced but I suspect not. I think that these freaks simply are in the spotlight now due to worldwide spreading of information.

I think the longer these politicians are in office, the more they are in it for themselves. The ones with the longest political careers are the ones with the MOST net worth. That is NOT an accident.
Term limits, man! Go to Washington, represent your people and get the hell out. No more John McCains, Chuckie Schumers, Nancy and Dianne or anyone else that overstays their welcome by 40 years. They are not in the game to improve others lives, they are power hungry and trying to maintain their standard of living. Rush Limbaugh said that Politics is "Show Business for ugly people." I agree completely.

Thanks. 

I think we over-estimate how divided everyone is.  The extremes dominate the conversations (nationwide, debates on issues, laws being passed & protested, etc).  As for the politicians there is probably a wide range among them too.   But governing positions attract a lot of corrupt & power-hungry types, that's a human constant.  

The information flood that we have access to now . . . . this is unprecedented.  We don't have the psychological equipment to cope with it.  Our brains are designed around living in tribes of a few dozen people.  Now we are in uncharted territory.  We'll need to learn how to manage the effects it has, both personally any society-wide.  

I don't think people today are any more twisted than they ever were.  Humans were always capable of some very messed up crimes.  And the news makes everything seem worse now because the coverage has no per capita adjustment.  (Are there twice as many violent crimes in the news every day as there were in the 1950s?  That would make sense - the US population has doubled since then.)

--------------------------

I have a different take on some of the points that have been raised.

There is no debate that history gets written with a perspective and sure it is not entirely accurate, but it can be argued in most cases, that while biased, those doing it do so with good intentions. Overall, I would say that while history, and that written by those in universities and colleges likely has bias (everything has bias), it is not, by and large, written with a super strong agenda.  But some other sources may have bias.  e.g., The guys on youtube who have videos with flames in the background, big numbered lists, and big special effects, some of whom claim other histories are all part of a 'liberal' agenda. Our job is to assess the information we have while recognizing it has a level of bias.  I agree that the truth (or true story) is what we seek.

Second, I don't see all politicians or parties being inherently against the people. The fact that there are arguments that part of the government supports programs that align with a welfare state, a socialist state, health care etc.... indicate there are parts of our political system who are for the people in general terms. I won't deny that some parts of the political system are against the people in general terms, placing priority on other things.  Nevertheless it is clear that there are parts of government that are for the people in general terms.

It's true, not every history book and politician and govt program is morally equal.

I get dismissive about the current state because I think things have been getting worse.  It seems like we are in the later stages of the US empire.  Partisan divides & unraveling govt are the standard outcomes for that. (Along with lots of unnecessary wars & military spending.  Inflated currency.  Increased tax cheating.  Scapegoating immigrants & minorities.  Fewer decent jobs and more entertainment.  Sound familiar?)  

[John_Kunkel]

Be careful the sources that you pick when trying to do research. Liberals have a habit of trying to rewrite history.

OH, and your side never does that? 

[John_Kunkel]

You'll find that in Civil war times, Democrats were conservative.
Republicans were liberal thinking.    

Don't confuse KD with facts/logic. He's entrenched in dogma.