Staredit Network

Hey.

I'm pretty pissed off with the way things are going right now in the world. AIDS is endemic in Africa, its sweeping through like no one can imagine. Genocide is killing thousands upon thousands in Sudan. There is an unneccesary and unclear war going on in central Asia. And many, many other pressing issues such as poverty, hunger and rampant pollution of our planet.

I, in the past months, have been quite active, I inform most I know of what is going on, and I express my views on the war in Iraq. While I'm at it, I think U.S. troops should get out IMMEDIATELY. They are there for no reason but oil, oil to make the rich in America richer, thats all. Sorry if you think otherwise, but its a sad truth.

Back on topic now, I hope that people of the world will see such corruption going on basically everywhere on the planet (excluding parts of Europe). I ask that people look things up and learn of such problems. I just ask that people become informed of what is happening. Knowing whats wrong is the first obstacle.

Second, I hope that people spread thier knowledge of such things, its the only way to get everyone informed and to let others know that you do care. It's also the only way change is ever going to happen.

In writing this, its pretty obvious that my biggest priority is the U.S. occupation of the Middle East. I think the most important thing is that people realize that the invasion of Iraq has been planned for years and 9/11 only acted as a catalyst. We have no right being there and if we did intend to liberate the area, we would go about it another way. Just imagine what kind of things the U.S. could do if it didn't spend so much money in this god-forsaken war.

Just think about what I said, and I hope some come to the same thinking as me and spread the word like I do everywhere I go. If you honestly care, make a contribution to different organizations and support rallies, protests, organizations, food drives, or even just donate money.
I apologize in advance for the jumbled post, I get kinda annoyed on such topics.

You can't change these things through a rally; Life isn't a movie.

If you're going to change things, just do one at a time. And specify which one you want to change first.

You misinterpret me I guess. I knew it would be unclear since I typed in a rage ; P
I didn't really nail down a good point up there.

I hope the change that occurs is that people become knowledgeable of the worlds problems on thier own. I don't want you to hear it from the media or any politician. Learn for yourself and spread the word.

Notice how many of the problems I mentioned which still exclude many, like poverty, hunger, AIDS, genocide, and pollution are never sufficiently talked about in the media. I hope people learn for themselves instead of being ignorant.

Many of the claims you have made are just opinions at the moment. You may have good intentions, but they aren't directed at hard, solid facts.

Show me one opinion please.

This cannot be proven.

This cannot be proven (unless you know everything about everywhere, which I doubt).

This cannot be proven.

...You are way too literal. I cannot prove many things with such limited capabilities...
1. Maybe I cannot prove it with solid evidence, yet it is extraordinarily clear thats what the war is for.
2. You're right, I dont know everything about everywhere, I mostly meant we should follow a model of Sweden or Switzerland, I am sure there are small acts of corruption there, but nothing like America's.
3. Same as one.

Why do you argue me, do you not agree that people must know?
If you have any time at all:
http://www.worldcantwait.net/Stream10-30-06/part1/index.html
^very good organization, however the teach-in had a crapty host. I hope you at least watch some of Larry Everst (middle of clip, dark shirt light hair) and Chris Hedges (end of clip, blonde hair & brown corduroy jacket)

1. It is extraordinarily clear that we should all pluck each others eyeballs out, maybe I should start a rally for that.
2. I believe America has ten times less corruption than Sweden.
3. Seriously though, eyeballs lead to sin.

You're begging the question. You claim that we should follow a different country's model because it is less corrupt, but you haven't indicated corruption in our government yet. Demonstrate that and I'll believe you.

Of course I agree that people should know about the problems in the world. But the only way to learn about it for ourselves would be to visit and see them firsthand--anything else will always be skewed by the source.

1. and 3. That's totally unreasonable though. Is it not obvious to people that informing eachother of lies to the common people would be a great place to start? Someone is gonna say what lies, then I'll respond by saying the cause of war, the amount of deaths in war (Bush says 65,000 and another bi-partisan source says over 650,000), etc. All that is in an effort to keep support for the war.

America has less corruption than Sweden? Thats utterly ridiculous. Look... Most of it being the US.


Some of many instances of corruption above.

You're right, sources skew information, some less than others, some only to make people see thier view. Get the right sources, it's not too hard.

Wealth isn't the same as corruption. Just because a person has a lot of money doesn't mean they're evil.

Oh, those people are becoming richer though because Bush is boosting economy only for the rich and his great job of getting more oil is helping them too. Thats called corruption.

ADDITION:
Nothing the Federal government does is supposed to benefit one demographic more than another.

One word: welfare. Is welfare corruption? It benefits poor people more than the rich, so it must be corruption by your definition.

And give some examples of how Bush is changing the economy to help only the rich. I'm not disagreeing with you, but I want to see some proof.

Yenku. You totally misconcept, U.S's ignorance is actually below average the world's ignorance.

Yenku, I would have shared your views almost exactly a few years ago. But then I came upon an epiphany of sorts. Its that this corruption works for some people and anyone who has ever tried to change this system has failed in the long run, simply because we have drilled it into everyones mind that we can have the hope of achieving such success. We have given those people who swindle us legitimate authority to do so, as long as we are not directly aware of the costs. (Which currently run roughly 15% of what the average American makes, for each person. In taxes.)
Now instead of fighting the system, and trying to tell them all to change, which I already have a sense that none of them will, I plan to simply let them go about their own way, and I will go a different direction. You can never convince people that they are wrong. Although I don't really know why. I know for certain that every belief I currently hold is wrong, and will not work in the long run, and we can only improve the way we live by admitting our faults. Of course this is not a very convincing path to follow, although the most respectful path is never the first chosen.

Currently I find myself drifting farther and farther away from wanting anything to do with the federal system, simply because it is broken, and the only way it is going forward is with constant patching of leaks and problems.
I have found myself more inclined to search out the anti-federalism beliefs, and tried to allude to that in my topic on freedom, but nobody seemed to undertand what I was saying in that topic.
Ahem, most corruption is done outside of one nation. Because keeping inside of one nation makes it easy to find. If you want a story of corruption in Sweden, take a look at Tax Shelters in America. One case I can think of, is when a bank buys the majority of stock in a company, manages it so that it passes through at least 4 other countries and firms/owners, then is delivered back to the original owner. This voids most taxes that the company must pay, and many major companies actually find loopholes wide enough to pay negative taxes, that is, the government ends up paying them money. PepsiCo. and Pfizer are two that I can think of off the top of my head that pay negative taxes, but I know there are others.

The tax cuts that he wanted to make permanent.

The thing is, he wanted to get richer. His oil company. imo. Hes rich too. Just cause hes president doesnt mean he doesnt pay the taxes.
But. I support the federal system. We right now do not have a new system we can revolutionize into, and that means anarchy. Not a very bright idea.

Its not the system that is at fault, its the aristocracy we have now. Have people not heard of how Bush gets his corporate buddies all into positions of power? For example the head of FEMA. The problem will be less evident in the government all around now because of how democrats won the house and senate.

Lithium, if that is true, than the world is very uninformed and the problem is bigger than I would expect. But I don't think thats true because my mom has traveled outside the US many times since the war and she is always questioned about why things are the way they are in the US with Bush and all. Even so, that goes along with my point, people themselves must become informed on what is going on.

Rantent, I don't expect my fervor to last long either, but I do believe that there is an enormous problem that we can keep from getting worse, and that is the war. U.S. troops are dieing fighting whatever they are fighting, and violence has risen greatly since the occupation. People are dieing, every death is a tragedy.

Maybe a little off topic but its an interesting thing I spoke about during an activism class. We were talking about how the research on how many have died in Iraq, 650,000 compared to the 65,000 estimate by the Bush administration. We concluded that the numbers don't affect many as you think it would because such numbers don't themselves show much. A number is cold and hard, people can't relate to them as well a single death of one they know.

To a great extent I agree with Yenku. I too am somewhat pissed off at lots of things that are being done in the world (as well as lots of things that aren't being done), and at all the greedy, corrupt jerks perpetuating these problems. When you start to think about it, it really becomes extremely frustrating just what people care about and what they don't care about, what they believe and what they don't know. And I also agree with Yenku in the sense that I consider my time spent engaging in conversations on the Internet to be at least partly going towards waking people up and getting them to solve all these problems. I think his basic idea makes a lot of sense and even that this kind of thinking may yet be necessary to save our civilization from turning into 1984 (or destroying itself completely).

However, I don't entirely agree with Yenku about what should be done in Iraq, or that the Iraq War is the most pressing issue the american public faces.

No, it most certainly is not.

...until someone stops you? Doesn't sound like a very good plan to me.

Buying products in America is helping Bush. Are you going to now?

That was John Obeirne's fault, or someone like that, who has been since removed from office. (I know thats not his name, it was something like it though).

Um no, by buying products in America, you are helping corporations, which are the ones who pay the least amount of taxes. To add to this, much of the nations policy is influenced by corporations, as opposed to the other way around. (Government officials don't lobby corporations to get them to change...)

greenmeklar, thanks for giving some support while still disagreeing in part. I don't like it when people are condescending when I make some valid points.

Oh, about what I buy, how do you know what I purchase? For all you know, I may go to the small grocery store/farm for food, I may have chickens to lay eggs for me, I may have a garden for food, I could buy furniture and clothing by other local businesses etc.
I do all of those things, well at least my family does. I don't have anything against corporations. Its when they take too much business from others and trust bust others and don't spread the wealth around. Thats when corporations are bad.

wow this is hilarious.

I agree that the people need to be informed of world problems.

but I do not agree with:

Bush has some agenda to make the rich, richer.

We are stealing oil.

Massive corruption in the US government (lol the democrats won, hence not massive anymore haha)

So why is it a bad thing that America has a lot of money?
Also the rich already pay more in taxes then the other classes do. If the tax cuts help them so much as to them paying less then the other classes, then I would have a problem with it. But it does not, even after the tax cuts, the rich are still paying more in taxes...

I mentioned the recent elections and how they could bring change, but still, Bush's administration is in power, that is where the corruption is.

Why do you not believe the other two when obviously the poor working class falls through the cracks and the rich get such tax cuts. It's utterly ridiculous people don't see it.

You really think the Bush administration didn't make oil its main priority? Seriously, look how much we need in this dependent country.

So we invade for oil, but then why did Bush pass a bill to increase the research and development for alternative energy sources? Seems pretty contradictory to me...

Yeah I don't see it, cause I live on Mercer Island (right across the water from Bill Gates, same island as Paul Allen) and I have to go to school with these rich snobs and live next door to them (Im not rich, middle class) and yeah i think I would know more about rich people then most people do. What ever "benefits" they are getting isn't really "benefiting" them... They still pay more...

Oh yea? Bill to increase research and development of alternate energy? Why aren't we all driving hybrids, electric or hydrogen, bio-diesel, or ethanol fueled cars then?
Bush said we couldn't use ethanol because we don't have enough corn in the U.S. Do you know how big a load of BS that is?