Lost Hope In Long Beach

[Morning Glory]

hahahaha. I can't beleive that you you actaully used the word "CIA" and "fact" in the same sentance with seriousness. I'm sick of all this bullshit that America is so great because we have the freedom of what? speach? you know because they really execute people in every other country for speaking out against the government, even though only redneck assholes that love america have said that and I've never ever seen any news paper or political authority show any evidence of that ever happening. It goes back to what I said about Cuba and it goes back to pol pot... Th US likes to say how wonderful it is and how terrible all these other countries are, and that could be true, but the fact that in those isntances they wouldn't allow american journalists to go to those countries and report on it IE: making us accept what they say and not allow anyone else to even prove that it's true or not..makes me not very apt to trust and believe what they have to say.

what we have in america is the freedom to bitch about how much things suck and then be content with our one electoral decision every four years and not to do anything about it. God Bless the USA

[One Eyed Cat]

hahahaha. I can't beleive that you you actaully used the word "CIA" and "fact" in the same sentance with seriousness. I'm sick of all this bullshit that America is so great because we have the freedom of what? speach? you know because they really execute people in every other country for speaking out against the government, even though only redneck assholes that love america have said that and I've never ever seen any news paper or political authority show any evidence of that ever happening. It goes back to what I said about Cuba and it goes back to pol pot... Th US likes to say how wonderful it is and how terrible all these other countries are, and that could be true, but the fact that in those isntances they wouldn't allow american journalists to go to those countries and report on it IE: making us accept what they say and not allow anyone else to even prove that it's true or not..makes me not very apt to trust and believe what they have to say.

what we have in america is the freedom to bitch about how much things suck and then be content with our one electoral decision every four years and not to do anything about it. God Bless the USA

I don't see measuring literacy rates as a covert activity. Those numbers are consistent with every statistic I've ever seen or been quoted (and I had the mispleasure of being a Poli Sci Major) Unless you can refute the statistics, your argument has no validity. I would only say that the opportunities in the US exceed that of any third world nation that I am aware of.

OEC

[Amelia G]

hahahaha. I can't beleive that you you actaully used the word "CIA" and "fact" in the same sentance with seriousness. I'm sick of all this bullshit that America is so great because we have the freedom of what? speach? you know because they really execute people in every other country for speaking out against the government, even though only redneck assholes that love america have said that and I've never ever seen any news paper or political authority show any evidence of that ever happening. It goes back to what I said about Cuba and it goes back to pol pot... Th US likes to say how wonderful it is and how terrible all these other countries are, and that could be true, but the fact that in those isntances they wouldn't allow american journalists to go to those countries and report on it IE: making us accept what they say and not allow anyone else to even prove that it's true or not..makes me not very apt to trust and believe what they have to say.

what we have in america is the freedom to bitch about how much things suck and then be content with our one electoral decision every four years and not to do anything about it. God Bless the USA

Fair point about the source, but I still think we are doing better on the literacy front than the third world. I've never been to any of the really awful parts of the third world, but I've been to Brazil and the polarization of material goods there is disturbing. They deal with their homeless problem differently from the way we handle ours. Shopkeepers who don't like shoplifting children sometimes hunt them and kill them after work. I don't feel the same thing when I see a homeless adult. I've been homeless and I bettered my situation. But a child who is homeless? That just makes me sick. Especially a child with no adult to even protect them or guide them in any way. Yet there are people whose culture is such that their response is that homeless children should be shot. The third world is A LOT less nice than the United States.

[One Eyed Cat]

UNESCO gives virtually the same statistics. The Nationmaster link he quoted gives statistics in terms of the amount of average years spent in school. The US ranks 14th.
All of the countries above and below it are first world Europe. Norway is #1.

OEC

[Morning Glory]

but it's the same brand of extremism, just a little less extreme. we have homeless children in america, and we have shops that could give things way to those people, but they won't do that and if they try to take what they need to survive, they may not be shot, but they will be subject to criminal proesecution because the same economic system that makes it illegal to get things for free, even though we have enough that we could give food and shelter and medicine to everyone in the country, is the same one that throws kids out in the street and makes people homeless in the first place.

[Morning Glory]

I see your point one eyed cat, but I just don't see that as being the number one issue. you say that the former soviet states all have high litteracy rates, but I know that you know their quality of life is shit, cuz you said it yourself. It just seems to me when there's so many people starving and dying of aids public education isn't the number one priority (although in the case of aids it would be a much needed step since public awareness is crucial to stopping it.)

[One Eyed Cat]

I finally found some exceptions

Guyana at 96.4% Sri Lanka at 88.4% and Vietnam and 87.6% all have amongst the lowest GNP rates in the world. Most of the rest are incredibly low.

OEC

[One Eyed Cat]

I see your point one eyed cat, but I just don't see that as being the number one issue. you say that the former soviet states all have high litteracy rates, but I know that you know their quality of life is shit, cuz you said it yourself. It just seems to me when there's so many people starving and dying of aids public education isn't the number one priority (although in the case of aids it would be a much needed step since public awareness is crucial to stopping it.)

I absolutely agree. I was just responding to previous statements. I definitely think education and health care are infinitely more important than a bunch Ukrainians being able to read up on how poor they are.

OEC

[Amelia G]

So I woke up early and headed off to meet with old friends near one of the more busy docks in what is internationally known as The Port of Long Beach. Not the kinda place most would want to spend time in but for some reason I like watching the massive ships get loaded and unloaded. Killing time for all to arrive I started talking to one of my old friends...within 5 minutes I wanted him to shut up.

He's a smart man with a good amount of high level schooling under his belt both in and out of the classroom but the negativity he spews is murderous. Everything it seems is under the jack boot of larger more corrupt powers with everything being evil and destructive. No one can be trusted, everything is ruled by the rich, etc. I can understand this mentality from teens and college kids but this guy is in his 30's...and while it by NO MEANS should not feel this way...he does NOTHING TO CHANGE IT.

Is anyone else sick of people (all ages really) cmplaining about the world, governments, etc. and doing nothing to change any of it? Worse is having to listen to them say they are smarter and stronger than it all yet all they really do is get drunk or high and spout their views to people and places that DON'T MATTER?

It's as though they use the worlds problems as an excuse to do nothing worthwhile.

I eventually got him to shut up as everyone showed up but I couldn't get over how broken he sounded...so angry...it seemed pointless to feel and live like that. It's not as though he's some poor loner either...he has a family, good cash flow, and truly has the means to do something worthwhile...but all he did was continue to complain about just about anything under the sun.

I've run into that more and more and one has to wonder if all that negativity builds up and CAUSES most of the problems this world has.

Now that I've had some coffee and something to eat, I'm really seeing the humor here. I took someone to task for being a drain on everyone else in the community with their unsupportable negative attitude . . . and you kicked this thread off expressing how much it disturbs you when there are people with unsupportable negative attitudes being an emotional drain on everyone around them. The irony police are soooooooooo turning their sirens on right now.