I participate in several forums relating to a variety of subjects, BBQ, Dogs, Boating, Pellets, etc. Each of these forums have a common subject that all participants have an interest in and generally support its existence. The fact that they all agree on the main subject, does not mean that there is any resemblance of commonality among members on politics or religion.  These subjects are personal/deeply held and various comments almost always result it animosity between the participants. For this reason, I would suggest that political discussions be held on forums dedicated to that subject and that are common to your point of view. 

For this reason, I would suggest that political discussions be held on forums dedicated to that subject and that are common to your point of view. 

If you only discuss things where everyone shares your point of view will anything ever change?

I know President Lincoln felt this way...I saw it in someones signature...

We have a lot of people who truly believe that if it's on the internet it must be true...

Before the excessive yellow journalism and out right lying we respected philosophical difference as long as the differences were fact based.  Now politics seem to be more cult like and overly divisive.  Both parties have forced me to be an independent.

Bingo!

Before the excessive yellow journalism and out right lying we respected philosophical difference as long as the differences were fact based.  Now politics seem to be more cult like and overly divisive.  Both parties have forced me to be an independent.

Bingo!

Been an Independent over 30 years. I wish there were no parties. I like to say US politics is nothing more than legalized gangs.

Y'all should be grateful you don't live in Seattle/King County. 

The firmly entrenched liberals here want to tax everything in order to maintain 'safe injection' sites for heroin addicts. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

I guess being a recovering alcoholic/addict I have no issues with that, just DO NOT USE my taxes on Naloxone.  You wanna roll the dice go ahead, just don't expect me to pay for trying to save your life!

The firmly entrenched liberals here want to tax everything in order to maintain 'safe injection' sites for heroin addicts. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Is it just me, or is anyone else sick and tired of being called names, shouted down or being accused of some sort of racism, sexism or some other ism for choosing not to swallow every pill people throw at you?

It seems to be the world we live in.  The PC crowd preaches tolerance until you do not agree with them, then tolerance is thrown to the wind and an all out assault on your personal character begins.  The goal being to silence those that do not think the same as them.  Live and let live seems to have been replaced with agree with me or else I will ruin your life and try getting you fired from wherever you work.

When dealing with the above, I fall back to a quote from Thomas Payne..

“To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.”

Simplified..
“To argue with a man or woman who has renounced the use of reason, is like administering medicine to the dead.”

Hence..  I do not waste breath and brain cells when the conversation hits this type of  'brick wall'. (hard - one sided only)
I sometimes enjoy a lively debate on a conversation point, but when the comebacks resort to only personal attacks - I zip-it, move on and think of the Thomas Payne quote.. and move on..

I guess being a recovering alcoholic/addict I have no issues with that, just DO NOT USE my taxes on Naloxone.  You wanna roll the dice go ahead, just don't expect me to pay for trying to save your life!

The firmly entrenched liberals here want to tax everything in order to maintain 'safe injection' sites for heroin addicts. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Problem is... government doesn't exist without taxes. Your taxes WILL pay for it. What does the government produce that they can profit from? Nothing. Government consumes and redistributes as 'they' see fit.

Problem is... government doesn't exist without taxes. Your taxes WILL pay for it. What does the government produce that they can profit from? Nothing. Government consumes and redistributes as 'they' see fit.

Sorry but do you think the Government should produce a product and sell it?

Problem is... government doesn't exist without taxes. Your taxes WILL pay for it. What does the government produce that they can profit from? Nothing. Government consumes and redistributes as 'they' see fit.

Sorry but do you think the Government should produce a product and sell it?

They do...propaganda

Problem is... government doesn't exist without taxes. Your taxes WILL pay for it. What does the government produce that they can profit from? Nothing. Government consumes and redistributes as 'they' see fit.

Sorry but do you think the Government should produce a product and sell it?

Government can't 'produce' anything for less than the public sector can. Why do government employees have unions? Because the government can't be trusted.


 

Sorry for getting off track here...

At this point in time, I trust very few politicians. I firmly believe that public education, the msm, and social networking plays a huge role in this.
Before the WWW, we had to get our news from reading papers that actually did some research, and a handful of tv stations. Back in the day, folks mostly did some research for their own benefit. It actually took some effort, and we were better off for it.

Todays 'smart phone' is more powerful than the computers that put us on the moon.  The advent of the WWW has made it far to easy for folks to just believe what they read/see. Few bother to actively explore any other side of an argument. 'If my friend posted it on face book, it must be true because he/she is my friend'. If the topic is posted long enough, it becomes gospel.

What our nation is experiencing today would never have crossed our minds 50 years ago. We had 30+ kids on a classroom and there was no free lunch program. You brought yer lunch or paid for it (no discounts for whatever reason). We had a rifle club at school that met every Friday at the metal shop classroom. I could ride my bike down main street with my .22 rifle strapped on the handle bars. No one blinked an eye. Heck, they probably wished they were going with me. We got hacked for being disruptive in school, and the schools made the parents aware of the transgression and the penalty. When we got home, we usually faced the same 'awakening'.

Today, PC has run amok. We enact laws for the benefit of .001% of our population. It's ok to disenfranchise 99.99% of the population now. Where I'm at, we will soon have the option of placing an x on the birth certificate instead of m or f. I kid you not. When the child gets old enough to figure out what they relate to, they can change it.

What happened in such a short amount of time to create the conditions we live in today? I would venture that personal accountability is right at the top of the list, followed closely by not holding folks responsible for lacking the concept.

Todays world is all about feelings in the US. 'You hurt my feelings'. 'You hurt mine first'. 'My feelings are more important than yours'...

Politics.

Lots of interesting thoughts there.  I wonder if it is the same in Canada, England, Australia, etc.

And the people that put us on the moon used slide rules...SLIDE RULES for gosh sakes.  If you gave me one, held a gun to my head and said show me how to get the square root of 229 or we will shoot you I would have a hole in my head.  And that said computer at the time of the Eagle landing had a 1202 error code, to much info to process and yet Neil pulled it off!

Todays 'smart phone' is more powerful than the computers that put us on the moon.

I agree with some of the above, but it also remindes me of a quote I once saw.  It was by a baseball player...to paraphrase...he said that todays players were just in it for the money, they had no love of the game or desire to play like him...the player below.






































That was 1925 and the player was Ty Cobb.