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The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
- Thread starter FreshFish
- Start date
manurespreader
Still upright
Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
O M G. all this time I thought it was rush that caused that!
O M G. all this time I thought it was rush that caused that!
Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
Biggest problem is the enormous, and constantly growing federal budget deficit. We as a nation are spending ourselves and our children into oblivion, and there isn't remotely the gumption from either politicians or the public to honestly tackle the issues. The question of how to achieve fiscal sanity, what mix of revenue increase or spending decrease is needed, is really secondary to somehow getting there. This has all sorts of negative impacts. Like the world moving away from the dollar identified below. If the dollar was strong and sound and the feds had things under control fiscally, I'd be there would be far less impetus to move away from the dollar.
Biggest problem is the enormous, and constantly growing federal budget deficit. We as a nation are spending ourselves and our children into oblivion, and there isn't remotely the gumption from either politicians or the public to honestly tackle the issues. The question of how to achieve fiscal sanity, what mix of revenue increase or spending decrease is needed, is really secondary to somehow getting there. This has all sorts of negative impacts. Like the world moving away from the dollar identified below. If the dollar was strong and sound and the feds had things under control fiscally, I'd be there would be far less impetus to move away from the dollar.
FlagDUDE08
Banned
Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
What about people allergic to that sort of thing?
What about people allergic to that sort of thing?
FlagDUDE08
Banned
Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
That's because the country's sheeple have been taught that those who caused a problem should be responsible for fixing it, hence why the important thing is not how to solve it, but who is to blame.
We have ideas. How do we execute them?
That's because the country's sheeple have been taught that those who caused a problem should be responsible for fixing it, hence why the important thing is not how to solve it, but who is to blame.
We have ideas. How do we execute them?
Kepler
Si certus es dubita
Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
The most serious (real) problem is the deficit of trust. Without trust we will never be able to compromise, and without compromise we will never be able to face any of these other problems. If x and y are on opposite sides in a debate, x does not accept or address y's stated reasons, assuming he "knows" what y's hidden motive is. Often x thinks y's motivation is hidden even from y, and that y is a dupe for some other z. This makes y (understandably) defensive and angry, since who is x to tell him what he really thinks? Of course, y is probably assuming the same things about x simultaneously.
We can't defeat distrust but we can at least try to take the opponent's statement at face value and critique it, and try not to leap off to make other assumptions. After all, even if y is actually being disingenuous, the stronger argument is the one that ought to win the day, so the best we can do is address the opposing argument itself. If it's weak, it can be shot down. If it's strong, it doesn't really matter who brings it forward or what their potential agenda is... it's still a strong argument.
The most serious (real) problem is the deficit of trust. Without trust we will never be able to compromise, and without compromise we will never be able to face any of these other problems. If x and y are on opposite sides in a debate, x does not accept or address y's stated reasons, assuming he "knows" what y's hidden motive is. Often x thinks y's motivation is hidden even from y, and that y is a dupe for some other z. This makes y (understandably) defensive and angry, since who is x to tell him what he really thinks? Of course, y is probably assuming the same things about x simultaneously.
We can't defeat distrust but we can at least try to take the opponent's statement at face value and critique it, and try not to leap off to make other assumptions. After all, even if y is actually being disingenuous, the stronger argument is the one that ought to win the day, so the best we can do is address the opposing argument itself. If it's weak, it can be shot down. If it's strong, it doesn't really matter who brings it forward or what their potential agenda is... it's still a strong argument.
bronconick
Yep, still here
Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
We tend not to let things rattle us - but that woman clearly is REALLY PO'ed about something! 
Here's a picture from the last Canadian protest. I don't think we have to worry about anything:
We tend not to let things rattle us - but that woman clearly is REALLY PO'ed about something!
Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
maybe the stoat-hearted among us can ferret out a solution?
I'm sure we can recruit Badger, Mr. Toad, Mole, and Water Rat to help!
maybe the stoat-hearted among us can ferret out a solution?
I'm sure we can recruit Badger, Mr. Toad, Mole, and Water Rat to help!
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Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
I agree with this observation.
It seems to me that this trust deficit is a symptom of a deeper problem, which is that people no longer know how to win graciously and accept victory (an alternate way of stating that people are too invested in themselves and not sufficiently invested in social relationships, I suppose....).
For an example of what is lacking, look at Truman and Marshall and MacArthur at the end of WWII. Quite soon after the war was over, they reached out to the people of Japan and Germany and helped them begin to rebuild their countries. The message was clear: we have no quarrel with you, we were not fighting against you, it was the fact that your leaders went to war against us that caused you all this devastation. Now that those leaders have been removed (i.e., now that we have won); there is no longer any need to continue fighting, let's rebuild together and become allies.
In the past several decades, we've had some fractious societal debates about some "hot-button" topics, and eventually one side carried the day. However, even after they won, they did not declare victory and make peace with the vanquished; instead they kept fighting anyway. This subsequent overkill in turn engendered resentment and passive-aggressive resistance, and rather than both sides together enjoying the fruits of the peace that was easily at hand, we remain stuck and divided.
One of the clearest examples of this failure to accept victory is in racial relations. Hey, guys, the war for civil rights and equal treatment under the law and acceptance of you for who you are regardless of the color of your skin has been over for a long time. We all get it, we all agree, and for just about everyone under 25, they don't even have an experiential clue what all the fuss and bother is about, really, since all these events happened before they were born and they have no first-hand experience of these problems (outside of a few isolated pockets).
The most serious racial problem today is black-on-black crime, and it has been for years. However, there is a certain group that remains embedded in the past, because the so-called "struggle" became permanently institutionalized (which is probably why they could not declare victory! else they'd be out of a job). Now look at all the bizarre contortions they have to go through to try to turn the unfortunate death of Trayvon Martin into a racially-motivated incident, while dozens of black teens are killed by other black teens every month and these deaths go totally unnoticed and unlamented except by their immediate communities.
now just imagine instead if, 15 or 20 years ago, civil rights leaders had said, "great, we've got everything in place that we need now, the only thing left to do is make sure our children all grow up insulated and free of this past racial animus,*" and they reached out across all society to focus on human rights and human dignity and community safety for everyone regardless of color (i.e., they truly valued the "dream" of MLK Jr!!). We all would be so much better off under this latter scenario than we are under the current situation. A few people would have had to reinvent themselves, which, granted, can be challenging and difficult. Yet to say "I kept behaving badly because behaving properly was just too difficult, so cut me some slack, okay?" doesn't really come off all that well.
Outside of a few isolated pockets, just about the only vestiges of racism that remain today are, as Kepler so succinctly put it, inside the heads of those who accuse others of racism. Take away the (usually bogus) finger-pointing accusing others of racism, and there is hardly any racism at all left in the news!
There's two other prominent groups that also won their battle yet refused to declare victory that I'd like to describe as well....
* there was a great story in a letter to Jon Wertheim in his weekly tennis column in si.cnn.com this week that gives us a glimpse into this putative alternate universe:
The most serious (real) problem is the deficit of trust. Without trust we will never be able to compromise, and without compromise we will never be able to face any of these other problems. If x and y are on opposite sides in a debate, x does not accept or address y's stated reasons, assuming he "knows" what y's hidden motive is. Often x thinks y's motivation is hidden even from y, and that y is a dupe for some other z. This makes y (understandably) defensive and angry, since who is x to tell him what he really thinks? Of course, y is probably assuming the same things about x simultaneously.
I agree with this observation.
It seems to me that this trust deficit is a symptom of a deeper problem, which is that people no longer know how to win graciously and accept victory (an alternate way of stating that people are too invested in themselves and not sufficiently invested in social relationships, I suppose....).
For an example of what is lacking, look at Truman and Marshall and MacArthur at the end of WWII. Quite soon after the war was over, they reached out to the people of Japan and Germany and helped them begin to rebuild their countries. The message was clear: we have no quarrel with you, we were not fighting against you, it was the fact that your leaders went to war against us that caused you all this devastation. Now that those leaders have been removed (i.e., now that we have won); there is no longer any need to continue fighting, let's rebuild together and become allies.
In the past several decades, we've had some fractious societal debates about some "hot-button" topics, and eventually one side carried the day. However, even after they won, they did not declare victory and make peace with the vanquished; instead they kept fighting anyway. This subsequent overkill in turn engendered resentment and passive-aggressive resistance, and rather than both sides together enjoying the fruits of the peace that was easily at hand, we remain stuck and divided.
One of the clearest examples of this failure to accept victory is in racial relations. Hey, guys, the war for civil rights and equal treatment under the law and acceptance of you for who you are regardless of the color of your skin has been over for a long time. We all get it, we all agree, and for just about everyone under 25, they don't even have an experiential clue what all the fuss and bother is about, really, since all these events happened before they were born and they have no first-hand experience of these problems (outside of a few isolated pockets).
The most serious racial problem today is black-on-black crime, and it has been for years. However, there is a certain group that remains embedded in the past, because the so-called "struggle" became permanently institutionalized (which is probably why they could not declare victory! else they'd be out of a job). Now look at all the bizarre contortions they have to go through to try to turn the unfortunate death of Trayvon Martin into a racially-motivated incident, while dozens of black teens are killed by other black teens every month and these deaths go totally unnoticed and unlamented except by their immediate communities.
now just imagine instead if, 15 or 20 years ago, civil rights leaders had said, "great, we've got everything in place that we need now, the only thing left to do is make sure our children all grow up insulated and free of this past racial animus,*" and they reached out across all society to focus on human rights and human dignity and community safety for everyone regardless of color (i.e., they truly valued the "dream" of MLK Jr!!). We all would be so much better off under this latter scenario than we are under the current situation. A few people would have had to reinvent themselves, which, granted, can be challenging and difficult. Yet to say "I kept behaving badly because behaving properly was just too difficult, so cut me some slack, okay?" doesn't really come off all that well.
Outside of a few isolated pockets, just about the only vestiges of racism that remain today are, as Kepler so succinctly put it, inside the heads of those who accuse others of racism. Take away the (usually bogus) finger-pointing accusing others of racism, and there is hardly any racism at all left in the news!
There's two other prominent groups that also won their battle yet refused to declare victory that I'd like to describe as well....
* there was a great story in a letter to Jon Wertheim in his weekly tennis column in si.cnn.com this week that gives us a glimpse into this putative alternate universe:
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/news/20120509/mailbag-madrid-blue-clay/#ixzz1uZrMO5Yx
Last edited:
JF_Gophers
2147483647
Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
I think i've been pretty patient. I've waited 37+ years to get my way. So really, I'm due.
Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
Well, then they are part of the problem and they need to go too.
It all starts with the pillow and moves out from there...if you can't agree to something as intrinsically vital as feather pillows, then go find another country.
And Kep - it isn't lack of trust if both parties are continually bad actors, then it is just a fact. It may have started as a lack of trust, now it is a lack of character, ethics and fortitude compounded as both x and y seek to not only prove they are without sin but the other guy "started it all". Works for 6 year olds, fails in most other settings.
America = two wrongs equal a right as long as the other guy committed the first wrong (or at least you think he did, who could keep track?)
Well, then they are part of the problem and they need to go too.
It all starts with the pillow and moves out from there...if you can't agree to something as intrinsically vital as feather pillows, then go find another country.
And Kep - it isn't lack of trust if both parties are continually bad actors, then it is just a fact. It may have started as a lack of trust, now it is a lack of character, ethics and fortitude compounded as both x and y seek to not only prove they are without sin but the other guy "started it all". Works for 6 year olds, fails in most other settings.
America = two wrongs equal a right as long as the other guy committed the first wrong (or at least you think he did, who could keep track?)
Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
I guess one good result of this would be that the cost of foie gras would go down. yum.
Before you make the law, though, let me start a goose farm, so that I can profit.
I guess one good result of this would be that the cost of foie gras would go down. yum.
Before you make the law, though, let me start a goose farm, so that I can profit.
Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
The most serious problem in the world is that Mitt Romney apparently picked on a kid in prep school 50 years ago. Also that "Cranbrook Tower" is even more phallic than most cylindrical, brick, pointless (in every way) towers.
The most serious problem in the world is that Mitt Romney apparently picked on a kid in prep school 50 years ago. Also that "Cranbrook Tower" is even more phallic than most cylindrical, brick, pointless (in every way) towers.
Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
Yah, the lack of trust at this stage is actually wise, given the nonsense that goes on in the Beltway and by both major parties. Really, if someone put a lot of trust in either the Dems or Reps in recent years, I'd question that person's wisdom in doing so.
FlagDUDE08
Banned
Re: The Most Serious [x] Problem We Face Today
Not liking having slightly sharp stick-like things piercing my skin is un-American. Got it. -_-
Not liking having slightly sharp stick-like things piercing my skin is un-American. Got it. -_-