Originally Posted by
MAGGIO
i went to my sons middle school grad ceremony (a whole nother subject why we are over praising our youth without significant accomplishments) and we stood and said the pledge of allegiance which included GOD. I was shocked because according to all the shit I read on facebook they dont do that anymore.I think its American to make concessions for others because I feel like its the right thing to do, but we need to work on preserving our own heritage to some extent as well. we cannot continue to worship a book written thousands of years ago and take it word for word, and I also feel that we cannot continue to abide by a document hundreds of years old as well. Time change, people change, and hopefully the progression is for the positive. I feel that our country is divided by two segments, ones that want to progress and ones that will not let go of old standards. Between the two groups NONE can find common ground and thats where the mud starts to sling.your UC example is not a good one IMO because its a private organization and not a public one. but I get your point.I think American needs to worry about Americans FIRST and that goes for with in our country and as well as globally. I cant stand that our government sends aid to starving children in other countries while we have hungry children right here in our back yard. I dont mind helping out but we are in a bad spot right now and we need to constrict our aid and refocus on our country.personally i think we are screwed because many of our simple problems have such massive ramifications if adjustments are made. The "free market" got us in quite a bit of trouble, and the fact that our "classes" widen in difference as time goes by is a major issue. My first job, I was paid min wage. it was $4.16/hr if you ad inflation that same $4.16/hr would now have the value of $10.48/hr. The current min wage is $7.25 federally. We need to raise it but how do we raise it without hurting tens of thousands of small businesses? The costs of materials is skyrocketing (as our dollar becomes weaker by the day) and we are now asking consumers to spend more money on everyday items which many cannot afford. Imagine what the raising of the min wage would do and compound the that issue.our government is reactive only and not proactive. not only that but our policies are so far behind the curve of real time events. if you want assistance you have to qualify under standards that are over a decade old. meaning you have to make less that $20,000 (for example) well the 20k ten years ago was much different than what 20k is worth today.Do some math, 7.25/hr x 40hrs x 52 weeks... its about 15K wtf can you do with 15k? you cant afford rent, a car payment, health insurance, car insurance, food for yourself much less a child, we havent even talked about utilities like water, and power...we are not talking about shitty jobs like mcdonalds and shit either. in the mall i work at there are over a hundred stores. if you make 10/hr as a sales associate your doing pretty good. you have to be a manager of some sort to start making any money. its just not kids working in these stores. quite a few adults nowadaysthe cycle is vicious and has no mercy... then to have people complain about people on "the system" taking hand outs etc.... dont be ignorant, open your eyes. sure some suck off of it, but MOST of the time assistance is needed for basic survival. Sure the media is going to find someone talking on their obama phone, or wont work and has 10 kids, or is "illegal" but I promise you that is the media leading you down the path of hate and resentment. its not always so cut and dry.the part of the country that is really going down the tube is the segment of the population that will watch news all day, rant and complain all ****ing day about shit, but wont lift a finger to do anything about it. voting every few years is not getting it done. if you want your country to change it begins in your community, then your town, then your city, county, state... get out and do something rather than sitting on your *** and pointing out all the problems. We have enough people doing that already.The problem is not the president, its the people (this was not written directed at Dogma at all and I am certainly not insinuating is ignorant or anything like that. this is a broad statement directed at ALL)