You're right ....... its all just a matter of degree ....... we all are in need of enlightenment that can only come from self awareness.

Self-awareness is hard and takes lots of work.

I do know that we have been conditioned by the culture and the school system.

I do not know all the causes ...... all the entertainment media available ???? tv, internet, video, games, ipods ???? prescription drugs ????? but the people in our culture are asleep ...... in a trance of some type ......

I don't know what it will taken to awaken us from the "dream" we have allowed others to create for us.

Both right as well ........

Poco ......... politicians see elections as an inconvenience and the electorate are stupid sheep easily manipulated by pushing the right emotional buttons ...

Mr. Rohan ........ I remember when a man's reputation ...... "his name" was more important to him than money ......your integrity was "all you really had" ......... and a handshake meant more than today's legal contracts ........ "anti-heroes" ....... the worst of the worst, now control the country ....

About selling your ass for money ......

And George Bush with his "protest zones" ......

I think we all should become sex workers ....... that way none of us will have to do any of that hard, boring, draining, unappreciated necessary work that the world actually needs .....

Wait a minute ........... that wouldn't work ........ somebody has to do some useful productive work to generate money ...

Is worth a thousand ho's or strippers.

Yeah, its called giving of yourself.

"Sex workers" (what an appropriate euphemism)in my opinion are predators ..... preying upon the, for better or worse, sex drives nature has given men (sure men who use such services have other problems as well ......... trying to escape something)......

If you really think sex is nothing but a commodity, let's put some ho's in the back of every Walmart.

making a good martini or baking a souffle are not useful productive activities either .......... self-amusement perhaps

The last defense of small-minded females who have no rational arguments .......

As a matter of fact, I have a low opinion of the clothes wearing monkeys who call themselves homo sapiens ....

Look around you ......... read some history ....

"Truth, Justice and the American Way" ........ an oxymoron it seems ....

Frankly, I'd be satisfied with a 6th grade dropout for president if he/she was honest and had integrity.

Ultimately, educational background is irrelevant as it has no connection to either ethics or "substance".

There are lots of lawyers who have graduated from Harvard.

There are lots of children from single parent and dysfunctional families who have gone to college and done well.

There were probably lots of Harvard lawyers involved in the subprime mortgage thievery/debacle.

So what?

My own experience with lawyers is that they are trained to be amoral tricksters and liars.

In fact, I would support a Constitutional amendment forbidding lawyers from holding public office.

Obama has obviously had to work harder to get where he is at and I recognize that.

Still, with all the flip-flopping from both candidates, we really have no way of knowing what either candidate will do when they are in office ....... my own opinion ...... nothing ...... SOS under a different name.

I hope I am wrong.

They'd fuck that up too ....

People still hate lawyers, even when they need them ....... why deal with people you hate.

Vigilante justice is the best.

Never mind needing a lawyer ........ are you denying they are trained to be amoral tricksters and liars?

Would you believe anything a lawyer said to you if it somehow involved something in his interest?

Actually I agree with most of what you said.

The american people are a mystery ........ they seem to be stupid...... apolitical ........... conditioned to consumer and value money as the measure of their own worth ....... you cannot expect people who won't even hold their own elected representatives accountable.

Generations previous worked hard so that their children might have easier lives .............. now we have a generation that does not seem to care what happens to their children (or they would be concerned with the environmental problems, overpopulation, pollution, etc)

Perhaps that is the problem ........ easier lives ...... a friend once told me that nothing could ruin a culture faster or more completely than success ....

Perhaps a depression and food lines would awaken these people from their trance and bring into focus what is really important about life

From the richest of the rich to the poorest of the poor.

Obviously have too much time on their hands and are mentally ill .....

When we invaded Iraq. We're in no position to criticize any country who arbitrarily invades any other country.

Bush will say nothing significant because he knows Putin will laugh and throw his own hypocrisy back in his face.

We have lost the right to criticize others and we have lost the right to complain about the treatment of american pow's in future conflicts.

Why aren't the american people crushing all politicians ...... and throwing all their asses in jail ????

http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/12/news/economy/corporate_taxes/index.htm?cnn=yes