And America Continues to Show it's True Colors. . .

[snichols1973]

This is what I said before: by illogic, I shouldn't comment on the issue either because I'm white and heterosexual and all that crap.

But, at the same time, I'm also part Native American: my great-great grandfather was a full-blooded Cherokee, so by that token, part of me feels like I have a right to tell these white people who claim that this is "their country" and that they're "taking it back," that, in fact, this is not their country, because they stole it from the Natives, and therefore, they don't belong here and they need to get out of my country. But again, that's just as illogical as them saying blacks, Jews, and Muslims don't belong here and need to get out of their country. Besides, despite my blood relation to the Cherokee nation, most of my ancestoral roots trace back to Scotland and Ireland, so I'm also here as the result of immigrants, just like, well, a majority of Americans are.

We can all thank/blame Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson for forcibly evicting the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Seminoles and Muscogee Creeks; I have 1/4 Muscogee Creek ancestry from my late grandmother on my father's side) from their ancestral lands and allowing the white Southerners of old to take their lands for their own so they could turn the lands into plantations of cotton and tobacco...

Another dark chapter of American history...

 

[Old Thunder]

And we still have over four more years of this **** to go.

Oh, so he's not getting impeached. Snowth is dah tru psych!

 

[Old Thunder]

One thing that a visiting pastor said one day, and I believe I posted about this in another thread, was that those who accept Jesus and become Christians are pre-destined to do so by God. That really rubs me the wrong way, because it comes across as suggesting that God is conditional and picks and chooses who He wants to bring into Heaven, which I don't believe at all: God gives us the free will to make our own decisions for ourselves, and that includes whether or not we choose to accept His one and only begotton Son - I can't imagine God would actually just sit around and be like, "Okay, you're in. You're in. You're in. Nope, not you. Sorry, not you either. Nothing personal, but you're not in either."

But remember, apparently God knows already what happens in the future, including when you accept him.

 

[Old Thunder]

This is what I said before: by illogic, I shouldn't comment on the issue either because I'm white and heterosexual and all that crap.

But, at the same time, I'm also part Native American: my great-great grandfather was a full-blooded Cherokee, so by that token, part of me feels like I have a right to tell these white people who claim that this is "their country" and that they're "taking it back," that, in fact, this is not their country, because they stole it from the Natives, and therefore, they don't belong here and they need to get out of my country. But again, that's just as illogical as them saying blacks, Jews, and Muslims don't belong here and need to get out of their country. Besides, despite my blood relation to the Cherokee nation, most of my ancestoral roots trace back to Scotland and Ireland, so I'm also here as the result of immigrants, just like, well, a majority of Americans are.

I'm still moving to Scotland.

 

[cjd874]

I was gone for two days, and 90-something messages were added to this thread. Holy moly, this thread is taking on a life of its own...

Recently one of my friends wrote a long FB post about white nationalism and how the Charlottesville melee is threatening to unravel the country. Here's what I wrote back to him:
"There is no denying that our current leader is acting in an irresponsible and unreliable manner. The thing that we all need to do is find courage within ourselves to learn about these harmful issues, talk about them, and fight them to the death. Some people [Note: I am NOT trying to call anyone out here on this forum] are too afraid or simply too ignorant to do anything about it. But now is absolutely the time to step up and take action in any way possible, not just against white nationalism, but also against racism, gender inequality, education gap, economic disparity, etc."

 

[CensoredAlso]

Some people [Note: I am NOT trying to call anyone out here on this forum] are too afraid or simply too ignorant to do anything about it. But now is absolutely the time to step up and take action in any way possible, not just against white nationalism, but also against racism, gender inequality, education gap, economic disparity, etc."

Well what can ordinary people do? Serious question.

 

[cjd874]

Well what can ordinary people do? Serious question.

Literally anything you can. In my opinion, it starts with daily things like small acts of kindness. Doing that can often lead to better interpersonal habits. Volunteering in your community is great, too. At a higher level, you can sign petitions, write to senators or representatives, or participate in a peaceful protest. Do whatever you need to do to make your voice heard, as long as you don't cause harm to yourself or other people.

On a related note, today I signed an online petition for a Congressional censure against Trump in the wake of Charlottesville. The petition now has over 75,000 signatures and counting...

 

[CensoredAlso]

Literally anything you can. In my opinion, it starts with daily things like small acts of kindness. Doing that can often lead to better interpersonal habits. Volunteering in your community is great, too. At a higher level, you can sign petitions, write to senators or representatives, or participate in a peaceful protest. Do whatever you need to do to make your voice heard, as long as you don't cause harm to yourself or other people.

On a related note, today I signed an online petition for a Congressional censure against Trump in the wake of Charlottesville. The petition now has over 75,000 signatures and counting...

Great ideas, especially volunteering! Bottom line though, a lot of this will dissipate if the economy and jobs improve. It's frustrating that both parties are just buffoons.

 

[D'Snowth]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but for once, Trump actually said something that I actually agree with, if only because I've been saying the same thing for years:

He's attacking Amazon for hurting retail in America, and honestly, he's actually right about that. Online retail is exactly the reason why so many stores across the country are closing, why malls are turning into ghost towns, and why stores that are still open have ever-dwindling inventory: because everybody just wants to lazily shop online anymore. Seriously, people are too lazy to leave the house, travel to the store, browse for what they're looking for, go throughout check-out, and travel back home; they'd rather order from their computer or phone, risking possible identity and credit theft, wait several days, then see if it suffered any shipping damage when it's delivered.

 

[Censored]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but for once, Trump actually said something that I actually agree with, if only because I've been saying the same thing for years:

He's attacking Amazon for hurting retail in America, and honestly, he's actually right about that. Online retail is exactly the reason why so many stores across the country are closing, why malls are turning into ghost towns, and why stores that are still open have ever-dwindling inventory: because everybody just wants to lazily shop online anymore. Seriously, people are too lazy to leave the house, travel to the store, browse for what they're looking for, go throughout check-out, and travel back home; they'd rather order from their computer or phone, risking possible identity and credit theft, wait several days, then see if it suffered any shipping damage when it's delivered.

I see your point and I often long for the good old days of brick and mortar, snail mail, books and news that you can hold in your hand, etc. Having said that, it's all a natural effect of advanced technology and innovation and I don't think you can put the genie back in the bottle. People are going to use whatever resources are most convenient for them and merchants are going to supply what is in demand. Personally, if I think I can get something cheaper online, I'm going to buy it online. If I think there are better deals in the store, I will go there. Remember, the future really doesn't belong to us. It belongs to the next generations.