The times they are a changing

Galbally · Post by **Galbally** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:56 am

So, its July 2008. Oil is now 147 dollars a barrel. China and Russia have vetoed action on Zimbabwe and instead continue to buy up the continent in a new version of colonialism, Russia threatens a military response to the deployment of a US missile shield in Europe, Iran fires its latest ballistic missiles, the US mortgage industry is collapsing as part of a general financial implosion trigger by extreme greed and hubris, Hugo Chavez threatens the EU with oil sanctions unless it changes its immigration policies, the repression in Tibet and Burma go on (generally unremarked upon), the UN sits in New York and fiddles, while the G8 leaders sit on a Japanese island and discuss minutia while their nations so called economic leadership is blowing away like so much sand on the beach.

The Iraq war rumbles on with no clear end in sight, afganistan slides further into chaos while NATO argue amongst themselves about whose fault it is.

The West has deindustrialized, turned its back on innovation and science, lost all sense of moral direction, put its faith in its economic future in fashionable high financiers and a business model based essentially on fraudulent land deals, our political leaders when confronted with the reality of the world talk in platitudes about "strong action' and "robust responses" when in reality our straw leaders watch helplessly as the power of the West nosedives and newer, more assertive nations muscle in. Meanwhile people in the west continue to ignore the reality of a rapidly dwindling ability to set our own agenda anymore, and instead bury themselves in personal lives of inanity, luxury, decadence, sex, celebrity gossip, and meaningless moralistic tittle tattle.

Our rich become ever more super-rich while feeling less and less responsibility to the societies which have made them rich, our political establishments become ever more meaningless, our average citizens are being impoverished and disenfrachised by crime and the fear of the thug, our captains of industry and commerce reassure us that they know what they are doing while our nations' infrastructure crumbles, social order breaks down, and basic services dwindle.

Meanwhile the sophists and the cultural relativists bark at us that we must learn to love sharia law, accept the cultures of every one else while rejecting our own as they have become "outmoded", ignore the fact that many of us do not recognize the countries that we grew up in as being our own any more, accept that nothing can be done about criminality, social breakdown, feral children, indigence, laziness, and decay.

The world is changing rapidly and we seem intent on fiddling while our own bit of it burns, is it time for a wake up call yet?

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 5:07 am

Yes, the times are different. Social/political/cultural viewpoints have changed.

All we can do as individuals is be aware of these things, actively work on the small areas we can, remain politically aware and vote.

I do not think everyone is self-centered, and live in a world that revolves around their own comfort. Yes, we take care of our own, and try to extend ourselves towards others. I did think of the luxury aspect of it all yesterday-I stopped into Best Buy to get a new scanner, and was kind of amazed at the technology, the commercial aspect of the whole place, and what the employees said in respect to what probably the average person asks for when entering that venue of gadgets. I asked for some DVD disks to burn, and never having done it yet the guy was pushing this big giant pack of them. I just laughed, said I never watch TV, it was to copy an exercise DVD for someone else. He thought I was nuts! :wah:

Our own personal beliefs-they will remain as long as we allow them to. Some people are not amendable to change in those areas, and will pass them down to the next generation. They may think of them as outmoded as they want to, I know mine will not change.

The power struggles between the larger powers and smaller ones-I think that will always be, a sad historical fact that modern thought has done nothing to improve. It is neither western or orienital in concept, just mankind itself. The disparity between rich and poor, that is always there also. We make our individual choices how to help or not with this. Ah, I could go on too this morning, I think I sometimes live in a shell of a world once known, and do my little bit quite often. But it is my lifestyle. In the middle of summer I am free from stress, but you will never know the difficult time I had in staying at my poor little old school this year. I fought very hard to remain at the lowest ranked school in the area, because if I teach I want to be somewhere where it would matter to the kids. The little things that we do to improve the world, that is the only thing we can do.

Galbally · Post by **Galbally** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 6:33 am

rjwould;915203 wrote: Good Morning to you too, Galbally!:)

Yes I obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed, thank god the calm people have responded as that calms me down. Like CG said, life tends to just happen, and you get on with your own little bit. Just feeling a lot of ennui at the moment, like a lot of people!

Post by **jones jones** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:32 am

OMG! maybe daniyal and mr york are right!!!

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:02 am

Please JJ I don't have time to deal with daniyal on the weekend I have ALIEN'S coming for lunch.

[QUOTE]OMG! maybe daniyal and mr york are right!!! [/QUOTE]

Post by **jones jones** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:04 am

CARLA;915399 wrote: Please JJ I don't have time to deal with daniyal on the weekend I have ALIEN'S coming for lunch.

you have?

wow! can i come to lunch too?

Jj:-4

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 2:03 pm

Galbally;915130 wrote:

Meanwhile the sophists and the cultural relativists bark at us that we must learn to love sharia law, accept the cultures of every one else while rejecting our own as they have become "outmoded", ignore the fact that many of us do not recognize the countries that we grew up in as being our own any more, accept that nothing can be done about criminality, social breakdown, feral children, indigence, laziness, and decay.

The world is changing rapidly and we seem intent on fiddling while our own bit of it burns, is it time for a wake up call yet?

Yippers Galbally, and now the UK took a giant step backwards:

Revealed: UK’s first official sharia courts

Galbally · Post by **Galbally** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 2:15 am

I deplore that decision, for what was once a global and European powerhouse of commerce, culture, empire, technology, engineering and just, well power Britain is completely losing its way in the modern era. It has turned its back on Europe, tried to follow American social models (which may work for a continental-sized colonial immigrant nation, but not a small, densely populated European Island Nation State) without the sense of National Pride and historic mission that keeps America somewhat more cohesive, whereas British (particularly English) people displaying disquiet about the wholesale, government-backed dismemberment of traditional British social customs, laws, and culture are branded as racists or bigots by their own media.

In terms of hard politics, in reality now Britain has become so entwined with the US, its economy, its politics and its cultural whims, that its hard to make out which component of the Anglo-Saxon world is actual British anymore. Following the collapse of empire, what has been left is this residual rejection of its European heritage and a delusional belief that Britain remains the focus for people of the ex-empire possessions across the world, to which Britain owes some kind of debt (a sort of 21st century "white man's burden" in reverse, which still seems to beguile the middle class of London and the SE of England) a fantasy that has facilitated the pretty rapid cultural dismemberment of its own society while encouraging its replacement by a variety of fashionable, crazy ideas, and ultimately self-destructive ideas, labelled "multi-culturalism".

I simply can't understand what the attraction of multi-culturalism is, or how people think you can have the rapid mass importation of totally alien, hostile cultures into a geographically small, heavily populated nation and there not being terrible political and social repercussions down the line. Being an Irish person I suppose I could take some pleasure at the discomfort of our one time imperial masters, but strangely I don't, I find it saddening, and alarming at how foolish and short-sighted the current generation of British leaders are. :-1

As to the rest of my opening post, I don't often get the chance to say this, but given the recent events on Wall Street and elsewhere I can finally say: I TOLD YOU SO! :wah:

Fordie · Post by **Fordie** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 6:58 am

Hello everyone.............im new to this game so take it easy on me......I've found myself recently shouting at the TV while slowly but surely getting to grips with the issues i'm confronted with in my life. I'm a big fan of the Dylan song that the thread name recalls and boy i feel old when i speak to people whose whole lives have been dominated by the internet......

I feel it when i tell the kids I know that the internet wasnt around when i was their age!!!! or at least not easily accessible. What I think has changed the most in this immensely complicated world we live in is us. Humans.

Information gathering and sharing is now the hottest commodity in the world. Media magnates fully understand that whoever controls the supply of information to the public holds in their hands the ability to mould opinion, carve acceptance of war and suffering into our brains and turn it into an acceptable form of reality TV.

I love how all the warmongers and thieves and sadists in our society are more than happy to watch other people risk their lives bombing more people in the middle east but shy immediately away from volunteering to fight themselves!!!!!

Hypocrisy is enjoying a golden age. We no longer think for ourselves, fulfill our own wishes or empathize with the suffering of others. Times are changing...i just fear where they are going. For our children and for the world I hope that empathy and love really are the overriding factors in our genes that make us all able to live together - but we'll see i suppose.

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 6:38 am

I totally and utterly oppose Sharia law. I suppose that makes me a racist?

When in Rome etc.

If they don't like our laws, then they can **** off back to their own countrie's.

What next, will we be stoning women in the street for adultry?

Cutting hands off thieve's?

The British Government slipped in Sharia law un-noticed by many. We should have had a referendum.