Apathy

[Dan Sierpina]

So many people believe the talking heads on TV who want to tell them how to think.

This is a good reason to be glad most people don't vote!!!

[tightloop]

So many people believe the talking heads on TV who want to tell them how to think.

This is a good reason to be glad most people don't vote!!!

I am sorry to disagree with you...but there is NO good reason not to vote...Cut off the radio, turn off the TV, don't read the newspaper...just use your instinct then...I don't need to give you a civics lesson here, but the democratic society's foundation is based on individual choice....your choice when you vote is one of the most important you can make...if you don't vote, you have no bitch coming..just suck it up...

Tell all these folks on welfare to do this: get a job, stop breaking the laws, take control of your life, stop fathering babies you won't support, stop having children to increase your welfare check...stop being a drain on the rest of us.

For those that don't want to participate in the democratic way of life here and try to make a difference, I'll buy a bus ticket out of the country...my treat.

It just bums me out to think of what we are loosing because of those that do not contribute in any way...

[Chris Keen]

Amen Brother Sunshine

[GentlemanJim]

The Loopster has touched on a most important point!!!

The least productive and the most immoral and irresponsible segment of our society has gained the LOUDEST voice.

Britinusa called this the two americas and he is correct.

One segment of our society works very hard to better themsevles and to serve our country.

The other segment cares only about what they can take from society and will put forth NO effort to become a productive member.

As the population of non productive members spirals out of control..(face it! if you dont have to support your children...you can have a bunch of them!!)

And as the productive members have to shoulder the burden of more and more non productive members ....they in turn have less and less children of their own.

This trend is VERY evedent if you have the courage to see the facts for what they are!!

The only advantage to this division...is for a few to gain political power by using this artifically created under class ..as a power base.

Its ugly...but it is truth!!!

Jim

[Dan Sierpina]

So many people believe the talking heads on TV who want to tell them how to think.

This is a good reason to be glad most people don't vote!!!

I am sorry to disagree with you...but there is NO good reason not to vote...Cut off the radio, turn off the TV, don't read the newspaper...just use your instinct then...I don't need to give you a civics lesson here, but the democratic society's foundation is based on individual choice....your choice when you vote is one of the most important you can make...if you don't vote, you have no bitch coming..just suck it up...

Tell all these folks on welfare to do this: get a job, stop breaking the laws, take control of your life, stop fathering babies you won't support, stop having children to increase your welfare check...stop being a drain on the rest of us.

For those that don't want to participate in the democratic way of life here and try to make a difference, I'll buy a bus ticket out of the country...my treat.

It just bums me out to think of what we are loosing because of those that do not contribute in any way...

I never did say that I didn't agree with you, now, did I? All you have to do is listen to the garbage coming out of candidate's mouths about giving this, giving that, free stuff courtesy of the "Rich". That's why I made my comment.

I'll make no more comments before Flex pays us a visit.

Edited October 11, 2007 by Dan Sierpina

[SiG Lady]

Another thing people generally don't do is take initiative in educating THEMSELVES. There's PLENTY of information out there prior to elections about issues, measures, etc., and locally I admire all our media for providing COPIOUS quantities of easy-to-understand information about voting and the issues. Criminy, what's so tough about sitting down for an hour here, a half-hour there and reading up on these vital matters?!?!?! The more you read up on it now the less you'll need to read later because you've begun a stream of permanent information about your community that builds on itself with each election.

Get to know your local candidates and representatives. Cripes, they all have Websites now (they didn't used to, way back when) and information is easier and easier to access as time passes. Schools need to seriously steer kids (especially teens) to these information sources and have them attend meetings (yes, field trips) that are geared to the young vote and issues that WILL AFFECT THEM. Then come up with ideas of their OWN for change. (Some schools ARE doing this and that's great... but not all of them are).

I recall when I first became interested in local politics... a newcomer (fe) named March Fong Eu in Oakland, CA showed promise so I was fired up to vote for her as I sensed her potential. She went on to become something greater and stayed in politics for ages. And look where she is now: http://www.smartvoter.org/2002/03/05/ca/st...e/eu_m/bio.html I later got involved in volunteering for campaigns in the 80s and helping state-level folks write and produce their radio commercials... among other things. It was FUN and I LEARNED a lot about local issues and met a lot of local movers and shakers. I was the proverbial pig in s**t when it came to waving local flags.

But then, you know me... volunteering my a** off about something all the time. But I, too, have voted in every election since March Fong Eu days, and am proud of it.

[raz-0]

My thoughts - If you don't care enough about this country to serve it in some fashion - No vote - No say in how things go. A large segment of our population is parasitic and do nothing but suck the lifeblood from the host...ie: Me and those like me who contribute to the economy in a positive fashion. As long as those parasites have a say they will vote more sugar tit and mines feeling kinda raw...

I agree with the underlying sentiment, but your position is logically flawed.

You don't like people voting themselves a paycheck, especially taken out of your wallet. However, you advocate that only people who have served their nation in "some fashion" (I'll assume you are willing to consider serving in other than a military capacitty as valid), shoudl be able to vote. These folks are likely all drawing a paycheck off of taxes. Out of your pocket. So the only people to get a say about taxing the citizenry to death are those that will profit form the taxation.

This sounds like a bad plan long term. Heck, just look at the NJEA, and NJ elections. It pretty much is a case study of what you suggest. A state with voter turnout so low, the NJEA (i.e. teachers serving the public) get to pretty much run the outcome of elections, and vote themselves ever more expensive benefits. I'll give titeloop's original gripe the big AMEN, becuase according to the latest polls, something absurd like 80% of NJ residents are sick of the government corruption and taxation, but only about 30% wanted to see the democrats out of office (they have a majority in both houses here, and are the one behind most of the taxation and the ones at the other end of what criminal investigations we have going on). How they expect to change what they don't liek without changing those causing the problem is beyond me.

You want good sensible people making the decisions, that I understand. The "public service" route won't get you there though. You either wind up with a minority makign the rules for everyone with impunity, and power corrupts, or everyone does token service, and we wind up where we are anyway.

The trick is to make people care enough to educate themselves n the subject, care enough to vote, and also understand the implications of what they ask for.

[Coach]

"All that is necessary for bad men to prevail is for good men to do nothing."

It is frustrating how many people do not vote in elections in this country. The blood, sweat, sacrifice that has gone into securing the right to vote and yet many refuse to exercise the power of the ballot box. Ridiculous!

Perhaps in the case of USPSA it is a matter of most people were happy with the status quo. The silent majority has spoken yet again.

Perhaps it more of a case where most member don't care about the national organization and they simple go shoot their club matches and that is the depth of their concern. Most don't hit the major matches and most don't go to nationals.

[G-ManBart]

I was thinking about this today while driving through the middle of nowhere and it brought a question to mind.

How many inactive members do you think we have?

I know for a while after I wasn't able to shoot regularly I still had a membership, but I probably didn't vote (can't recall) and wasn't keeping close tabs on what was happening in the sport aside from reading the magazine. If we have a decent number of members who are inactive, they probably didn't vote and that could have had a pretty large impact on the number of votes returned.

[tightloop]

My thoughts - If you don't care enough about this country to serve it in some fashion - No vote - No say in how things go. A large segment of our population is parasitic and do nothing but suck the lifeblood from the host...ie: Me and those like me who contribute to the economy in a positive fashion. As long as those parasites have a say they will vote more sugar tit and mines feeling kinda raw...

I agree with the underlying sentiment, but your position is logically flawed.

You don't like people voting themselves a paycheck, especially taken out of your wallet. However, you advocate that only people who have served their nation in "some fashion" (I'll assume you are willing to consider serving in other than a military capacitty as valid), shoudl be able to vote. These folks are likely all drawing a paycheck off of taxes. Out of your pocket. So the only people to get a say about taxing the citizenry to death are those that will profit form the taxation.

This sounds like a bad plan long term. Heck, just look at the NJEA, and NJ elections. It pretty much is a case study of what you suggest. A state with voter turnout so low, the NJEA (i.e. teachers serving the public) get to pretty much run the outcome of elections, and vote themselves ever more expensive benefits. I'll give titeloop's original gripe the big AMEN, becuase according to the latest polls, something absurd like 80% of NJ residents are sick of the government corruption and taxation, but only about 30% wanted to see the democrats out of office (they have a majority in both houses here, and are the one behind most of the taxation and the ones at the other end of what criminal investigations we have going on). How they expect to change what they don't liek without changing those causing the problem is beyond me.

You want good sensible people making the decisions, that I understand. The "public service" route won't get you there though. You either wind up with a minority makign the rules for everyone with impunity, and power corrupts, or everyone does token service, and we wind up where we are anyway.

The trick is to make people care enough to educate themselves n the subject, care enough to vote, and also understand the implications of what they ask for.

The "trick" is to get them off their dead A** and at least do something...I can live with doing something even if it is wrong...I can teach them wrong from right but not if they do NOTHING....

[LPatterson]

Since the age of Majority (ability to vote but not legally drink) has been lowered to 18, I think all 18 year olds should be provided a free 2 year vacation at government expense. It used to be called a draft but with the enlightened society I'm sure we can think up a new name for it, maybe a work/school sabatical. Once our youth understands what it takes to work together to complete a task, then they will comprend how difficult it is to complete a task without help.

Only by working together can this country hope to get back to the status it had at the end of World War II. The Korean conflict showed the rest of the world that while we had the power to destroy anyone we did not have the will to use it. The military told President Eisenhower not to get envolved with another Asian intervention but he sent troops to Viet Nam as advisors.

Then when we started loosing those advisors President Kennedy sent in some more. President Johnson decided the military didn't know what it was doing so he ran the war from the white house (intentionally lower caps). See the military had this plan to bomb an open pit coal mine outside Hanoi with incendiary bombs so they would lose most of their electricity but North Viet Nam was selling 75% of the coal to Japan and it would hurt their economy. So better to lose a few thousand more American lives than to hurt a previous enemy's economy.

Then the fiasco in the desert when a bunch of terrorist took over the American Embassy and President made one lone sneak attempt to bring our citizens home. Land a couple of divisions of Marines and take back the embassy and we wouldn't have the problems we are having now.

I am sure most people know that Israel has nuclear capability and the will to use it, which is why its enemies are trying to chip away the support of government policies. Should any of the Muslim countries use weapons of mass destruction, then that country WILL become a glass parking lot for the next several hundred years. And I believe America may have to adopt the same attitude.

The CIA had shooters ready to take out Fidel after the Bay of Pigs but they weren't allowed so we had to worry about the Cuban Missile crisis. The CIA had shooters ready to take out Ossama Bin Laden but were told no so we lost the World Trade Centers. Iraq was the result of poor intelligence and is now a fight between religions that we can't hope to win because the muslims have been fighting each other as well as the rest of the world for hundreds of years.

One old soldiers opinion.

[GentlemanJim]

You have to love those old soldiers....they have a habit of telling it like it is

Jim