Spoiled Brats

[guido911]

I got this e-mail that I am sure many have already seen. Sorry about the format:

The author is unknown but he makes a point....If we just open our eyes we can see how fortunate we are....what do we want?  
The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?
The Newsweek poll alleges that 67% of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69% of the country is unhappy with
the performance of the president. In essence 2/3 of the citizenry just isn't happy and want a change.So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What are we unhappy about?''

Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and
heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4% of these unhappy folks have a job?

Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific ocean to the Atlantic ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough.

Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

Perhaps you are one of the 70% of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of
trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your
belongings.

Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, you can shoot him with your own gun, or if
there's time an officer equipped with a gun and a bulletproof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents.

Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people
in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31% approval
rating?

Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11?

The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession?

Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?

The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?

Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?

Think about it......are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the "Media" told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.

Make no mistake about it. The troops! in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom.
There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general''
discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a
''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69% of Americans?

Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds, it leads, and they specialize in bad news.

Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner?

The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by
"justifying" themselves in one way or another.

Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way...... Insane!

Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the
bottom of your bird cage Then start being grateful for all we have as a
country.
There is exponentially more good than bad.

WE ARE THE MOST BLESSED PEOPLE ON EARTH,

WE SHOULD THANK GOD SEVERAL TIMES PER DAY.....

[rwarn17588]

<start clip>

Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage Then start being grateful for all we have as a
country.

<end clip>

I don't watch TV, and I don't subscribe to or read Newsweek or the New York Times. And I consider myself a pretty optimistic guy.

I'm more like you, I guess.

But we can do better. Being content breeds complacency.

[Double A]

Exactly. I think what this e-mail truly reflects is not that people are dissatisfied with what we have currently, or are not thankful for the blessings we have, but are concerned we might face a future where this American lifestyle is not enjoyed by most Americans. The desire for a better standard of living and quality of life for future generations is as American as apple pie. I don't see it as a negative.

[tim huntzinger]

Let them eat cake!

Why fuss about the British, Colonialists? High taxes? INGRATES!  Do not like quatering troops in your homes? TRAITORS!  Fussbudget whiners!

Your country in debt for generations? WORRYWORTS!

[shadows]

The E-mails covers seems everything except that 51% of our females are single.

When one reads about the volunteers they picture the sergeant standing before the line of troops and saying "as I call your name step forward to volunteer for this mission, comes to mind."  

We are no different than all the empires that have marched ahead of us over the centuries down the well trampled road.  From their demise we have learned nothing.   We do have plenty of paper to print additional money where the Romans had to use lead to mix with their gold to make more coins..

Our liberties were formulated in Athens some four centuries BC,

There is a possibility that the next generation will make the corrections and the e-mail might become a truism before the sun burns out.  

[guido911]

Thanks Tim for proving the point of the e-mail.

[cannon_fodder]

The email would do well do leave politics out of it.  Who cares if GW was the president after 911?  Most people dont like him any longer... but we still live better than 95% of the people in the world.

[tim huntzinger]

quote:Originally posted by guido911

Thanks Tim for proving the point of the e-mail.

What is the point? Ask for less? Refuse to hold our gubmint to a higher standard?  Allow the charade of prosperity to continue while our grandchildrens' future is mortgaged through the acquiescence or lazy-minded semps?

What was that Kennedyism, 'Some look at the world and ask why, others look and say why not?'

[cannon_fodder]

"charade of prosperity "

As you sit inside at a computer typing on a forum at 10am on a Monday having survived freezing weather over the weekend.

Times must be tough for Tim.

[DM]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

but we still live better than 95% of the people in the world.

Tell that to the families that have lost loved ones in Iraq or who have lost their jobs and homes. I am very grateful for the things that I have in my life. I worked on an international project for many years that provided aid (health and nutrition education) to third world countries. So I know exactly how much worse it could be. But we are also known as the best country in world yet we still have racism, high crime rates (not just in Tulsa), people living and dying on the streets, poor healthcare, CEO's that make millions upon millions while the working class make less and less. Although we are a great country, I think we could do better.

We focus way to much on things like illegal immigrants and rebuilding other nations once we have blown them up when we are nation built on immigrants and could use some rebuilding in our own nation. Don't get me wrong illegal immigration is a problem. But so are school shootings and dropout rates. Where is the minuteman project to prevent this? I would much rather have a volunteer project protect our schools then our borders. We are better then many other countries. But we can still do better and should strive to do better.

[tim huntzinger]

How dare you, DM, ask for a higher standard?  How presumptious to compain about your one broken finger when you have nine other digits!  When labor fought for a minimum wage they should have been grateful sheep; when children were slaves to sewing machines in the US their parents should have thanked the Almighty for such benevolent Masters; why should the children of slaves have fought Jim Crow when they had plenty beans in the cupboard?

'You have not because you ask not'? Phsaw!!

[iplaw]

quote:Originally posted by DM
Tell that to the families that have lost loved ones in Iraq or who have lost their jobs and homes.

What a foolish thing to say.  You are not entitled an easy and carefree life.  You are not entitled to a job and a home by virtue of your birth.  As far as you Iraq comment, it was in poor taste and a miserable non-sequitor.

quote:
But we are also known as the best country in world yet we still have racism, high crime rates (not just in Tulsa), people living and dying on the streets, poor healthcare, CEO's that make millions upon millions while the working class make less and less. Although we are a great country, I think we could do better.

Let me grab a tissue before I continue...

quote:
We focus way to much on things like illegal immigrants and rebuilding other nations once we have blown them up when we are nation built on immigrants and could use some rebuilding in our own nation. Don't get me wrong illegal immigration is a problem. But so are school shootings and dropout rates. Where is the minuteman project to prevent this? I would much rather have a volunteer project protect our schools then our borders. We are better then many other countries. But we can still do better and should strive to do better.

My god.  I can't even begin to count the number of non-sequitors and logical dumps taken in this paragraph.  Why aren't the Minutemen helping with drop-out rates?  Probably for the same reason police officers don't come to your house at night to tutor your kids in math.  Sheesh....

[grahambino]

we're already fat & dumb...but why cant we be happy?!
[V]

[Conan71]

People living and dying in the streets, all these millions without healtcare but, yet we waste too much time on illegal immigration.  Yes, let's give jobs, welfare, and healthcare to people who are not U.S. citizens and let our own live and die in the streets and go without healthcare.  [B)]

FWIW- America is essentially at full employment.  For everyone that is capable of working or wants a job, there is a job.  Those who are not working either are not physically or mentally capable of working, or just don't want to work.

Please quit confusing the personal choices of individuals with a cruel government that doesn't care about it's poor.  People drop out of high school as a personal choice.  The gov't didn't force it on them.  Should we dumb down the schools so everyone will pass and not drop out?

Please quit confusing lack of ambition, work ethic, and skills with lack of good-paying employment opportunities.

How many of you who spout this liberal clap-trap of social and economic parity would be willing to take a $10K per year pay cut, just so your neighbor who doesn't have the same ambition and work ethic can enjoy the same standard of living as you?

There will always be entry level jobs and doctorate level jobs.  Pay will always be commensurate with the amount of training and skill necessary to perform a job.  Some people dream to be at the top of the heap, those people get a post-high school education of four years or more.  Other's don't have the same ambition, thus they bring fewer skills to the table and will never be paid as much as those who are better trained for higher-paying jobs.

People responsible for properly managing a company to provide jobs for 4,000 people should be paid more than the person pushing a broom or loading trucks and should not be met with scorn for their own success in providing jobs and benefits to others.

If companies raised the wages of the "working poor", then the next whine job would be how high our inflation is because of greedy companies.  

Socialism is a failure.  All it does is inspire mediocrity and wide-spread poverty, not wide-spread prosperity.

[tim huntzinger]

Talk about non-sequitors!  Conflating OJ Simpson's ability to secure a book contract with the war in Iraq!  Cheerleading our television sets while ignoring the $7 TRILLION national debt! Applauding our low unemployment rate while ignoring the fact that we work longer, harder than our 'industrialized' peers (when is Tax Freedom Day '07, anyway?)!

G'head, drink that kool-aid.  Say, is that not W hunched over the writer of the email? Ignore that golden stream, fool, it must be rain.