Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
They asked young people to decide between two different options. For instance, what's your highest priority...lowering the tax burden for all Americans or ensuring affordable access to health care? (lowering taxes lost) Or, what's the highest priority in this case...creating jobs and lowering the unemployment rate or protecting individual liberties from government (jobs wins...in EVERY matching with any other subject).
It also points out something some of us have been saying for a long time: Young people today are not a lost generation of selfish video game players. They are alert, informed and involved.
It is magnificent, but it is not reality.
You claim they are "alert, informed and involved" yet their responses indicate they are totally ignorant.
They can want "affordable access to health care" all they want, but unless and until they figure out a realistic way to pay for it, it will never happen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stillkit
Nobody seems to want to leave their own little comfort zone and consider new ideas or, God forbid, that they may actually be wrong.
I'm all for new ideas, so long as those new ideas do not require me to fund other people's life-styles, which is basically what you all want, yet are too ignorant to understand that there ain't enough money to do that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stillkit
So, basically, the trouble with America is the people in it?
You might want to read Plato, or any other ancient philosophers on Democracy:
Every form of government tends to perish by excess of its basic principle. Aristocracy ruins itself by limiting too narrowly the circle within which power is confined; oligarchy ruins itself by the incautious scramble for immediate wealth. In either case the end is revolution. When revolution comes it may seem to arise from little causes and petty whims; but though it may spring from slight occasions it is the precipitate result of grave and accumulated wrongs; when a body is weakened by neglected ills, the merest exposure may bring serious disease.
"Then democracy comes: the poor overcome their opponents, slaughtering some and banishing the rest; and give to the people an equal share of freedom and power".
But even democracy ruins itself by excess–of democracy.
Its basic principle is the equal right of all to hold office and determine public policy. This is at first glance a delightful arrangement; it becomes disastrous because the people are not properly equipped by education to select the best rulers and the wisest courses. "As to the people they have no understanding, and only repeat what their rulers are pleased to tell them" (Protagoras, 317); to get a doctrine accepted or rejected it is only necessary to have it praised or ridiculed in a poplar play (a hit, no doubt, at Aristophanes, whose comedies attacked almost every new idea).
Mob-rule is a rough sea for the ship of state to ride; every wind of oratory stirs up the waters and deflects the course. The upshot of such a democracy is tyranny or autocracy; the crowd so loves flattery, it is so "hungry for honey," that at last the wiliest and most unscrupulous flatterer, calling himself the "protector of the people" rises to supreme power.
This...
"As to the people they have no understanding, and only repeat what their rulers are pleased to tell them" (Protagoras, 317); to get a doctrine accepted or rejected it is only necessary to have it praised or ridiculed in a popular play (a hit, no doubt, at Aristophanes, whose comedies attacked almost every new idea).
....is so amazingly accurate it isn't even funny.
You can substitute "popular play" with anyone of the following, and it is still valid: MTV, blogs, twitter, internet, Mainstream Media, cable, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc etc etc.
Realistically...
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigJon3475
Our country isn't in a mess because people have preconceived notions.
Our country is in a mess because people don't understand the difference between states, nations, nation states and countries.
Our country is in a mess because some of the most basic history of this nation has be rewritten with a horrible slant towards naivety, lies and lies by omission.
Our country is in a mess because people can't possibly fathom sacrificing their lifestyle for the good of the country. they'd rather blow the budget in the here and now and leave the consequences to the future generations.
Our country is in a mess because people no longer cherish the idea of saving up to purchase something and instead look with great fortitude on how to get it right now and push off the burden of paying for it to a later date.
Our country is in a mess because people still can't get it through their thick skulls that globalization is real and it's happening at the speed of light, literally.
Our country is in a mess because people can't seem to do basic 5th grad math despite having all sorts of accredited degrees.
Our country is in a mess because its people are apolitical up to about 5 minutes before an election then they vote like they would if it was American Idol.
Our country is in a mess because its people are too lazy to do some of the most very basic things that are required of them to be born on this planet and, no, it's not spend other people's money till you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Our country is in a mess because our political system simply changes sides like a two-faced ***** every 2, 4, 6 and 8 years. Each year gets worse and they rationalize that gross incompetence with severe partisanship.
^^ This ^^
Concurring...
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by 11thHour
With all due respect, times have changed. Even the most menial of jobs now want a degree just to apply. Those who are able to find a job now, as a young person, that pays well without a degree are rare exceptions.
Even the most menial jobs?
True story. Cincinnati Public Schools. Idiot high school janitor uses wrong chemical cleaners on the toilets and caused injury to several women (teachers).
It is not always enough to be able to read or write, because it also requires decision-making and the practical application of theory and common sense.
How about food service? This isn't 1930. There is a tremendous amount of information you need to know in order to handle food safely; everything from proper serving and reheating temperatures to which chemical cleaners and other agents can and cannot be used safely with foods.
One of the things that comes with advanced technology is increased decision-making and responsibility. You can't always just throw a warm body out on the floor and expect things to run smoothly.
Menially..
Mircea
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guamanians
What did Winston Churchill say? (I don't want to misquote him)
When he was drawing the maps in the Middle East? I don't think it's possible to misquote the fat slovenly drunkard and mass murderer Churchill on that: "Burrrrrrrrpppppp! Ffffaaaaaaarrrrrrrrttttttt! Oh look, a new country was magically created. Let's call it Kuwait."
I don't anticipate growing any less liberal as I get older. When I have children, I anticipate becoming even more socially liberal (the same as my parents who became much more accepting of gay marriage and such even though both of their children have opposite sex partners). I am a cancer survivor, which means that with my last breath, I will fight for universal healthcare.
As I grow older, it seems that the mere ideology that I had to my liberal beliefs have grown teeth with experience.
great post What did Winston Churchill say? (I don't want to misquote him)
The point is that young people have a different idea of the world because they have less life experience than older people. The problem that we have now is that the majority of colleges are abusing their authority and preying on these young people. Liberalism seems so much more sexy and exciting when you're 20 than it is in real life. I think the older liberals are either stuck in a time warp, or brainwashed to the point that they can not change their thinking.
I infer this is the quote you refer to...
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. Winston Churchill
It was a generalization and as I said, not comprehensive. I know it's not exactly on topic but what's your opinion on why so many start off liberal in their youth and then move over to the conservative side as they mature?
A lot of people do, but not everyone. Then, there are those who move the opposite direction and even more like me and the poster above who not only don't change our basic political mindset, we even grow more active and convinced as we get older.
It's as impossible to generalize on this as it is to generalize about young people.
What is important to young people? 1 word. Entitlments.
Really? What sort of entitlements do young people get? I'm 28 and I can't really think of one.
I know older people get Medicare, which is America's biggest entitlement program. I also know that they are the group who supports Medicare the most. The AARP is probably the biggest lobbying group for America's entitlement society.
What is important to young people? 1 word. Entitlments.
Medicare, Social Security... you mean those entitlements? The ones that will be long gone by the time we are old enough to use them? You mean the ones we are paying for now?
I am a "Millennial" (though I prefer the term "Generation Y") at 25 years of age.
I see this study as accurate.
In some way, Gen Y is different from Gen X, the Baby Boomers, etc. But when it boils down to it, most care about the things people have always cared about:
> A job
> A house
> Kids / family / spouse (about a third of my class is either married or has a kid by now, per FB)
I agree with this. I am 33 so am considered a Gen X, a young one, but I don't see the Millennial generation as wanting anything different than what past generations have wanted.
Quote:
Originally Posted by charolastra00
Medicare, Social Security... you mean those entitlements? The ones that will be long gone by the time we are old enough to use them? You mean the ones we are paying for now?
I also agree with this. It is amazing to me that older people talk about younger people wanting "entitlements." We don't get entitlements to the extent that older people do. I don't even expect to have SS when I get old and if I do, I sure as hell don't want to work until I'm 72 or 75 whatever age they will raise the limit to in order to get it. I consider it a donation to the elderly that I am paying right now. I used to feel good as a 20 year old thinking that all that SS was going to my grandmothers but both are dead now so I'm paying for all the older people who sit and ****** and moan about young people only wanting "entitlements."
I agree with this. I am 33 so am considered a Gen X, a young one, but I don't see the Millennial generation as wanting anything different than what past generations have wanted.
I also agree with this. It is amazing to me that older people talk about younger people wanting "entitlements." We don't get entitlements to the extent that older people do. I don't even expect to have SS when I get old and if I do, I sure as hell don't want to work until I'm 72 or 75 whatever age they will raise the limit to in order to get it. I consider it a donation to the elderly that I am paying right now. I used to feel good as a 20 year old thinking that all that SS was going to my grandmothers but both are dead now so I'm paying for all the older people who sit and ****** and moan about young people only wanting "entitlements."
Yeah, but many older people don't consider Medicare or SS to be an "entitlement," regardless of how much these programs rely on the revenues from the general fund.
They don't understand how the system is funded, and if you try to explain it to them, they don't want to hear about it. It is just garden variety denial.
But the last part is the truth; it's surreal how many older Americans are living on the dole, while complaining about other peoples' "entitlements." Then they turn around and talk about how patriotic they are, while bankrupting these programs for future generations.
Every once in a while, one of them comes onto this board, we argue, until they fess up: they just don't care if their entitlement spending leaves the country bankrupt.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What did Winston Churchill say? (I don't want to misquote him) 
