As bloomsbury and fuzzo already pointed out, altruism and compassion are not mistakes, problems, or irrational. Rather it is precisely BECAUSE we are all connected that we feel compassion and altruism.

One of my favorite Buddhist expressions is "when one lights the way from someone else, he lights his own way as well." When you help, ultimately you help yourself. Compassion is literally self-interest, even though it is motivated by selflessness.

The oneness of self and environment is a Buddhist concept that is 3,000 years old. There is unlimited potential in each moment of life, and it is the tendancy of the self to be "swept up" in the moment by the happiness or unhappiness of the lives around the self, and the environment where the self exists. The life-condition (how happy or unhappy) the self is also permeates the environment simultaneously.

Because we are all individuals with our own perceptions, it is difficult to believe that we are connected to the environment. As western religion teaches, we see the world as this place that was created before we got here, and we were thrown onto it. The Budhist view is to understand that there is no life without an environment and vise-versa. The illusion is to see the self as seperate from the environment, and other people. Reality is to understand that we are connceted to the environment the same way that fish are connected to the water in which the swim. One doesn't exist without the other.

I believe that this will be a paragigm shift in thought, because I truly do not believe the human race can exist any longer without without developing understanding and consciousness to this principle.

Because when you ask me if I "can take it" I get a little confused since I am voting for her.

I don't know if you "journalists(?)" are aware of this, but just because the media decides I hate someone, that doesn't mean I hate them.

Seven years ago, the media started informing me how much I like George W Bush even though I find him to be the most immoral and irrisponsible President America has ever had the misfortune to put in power.

See, I decide if I like or don't like someone based on what they actually DO. Understand? Like when Bush DOES something wrong, that makes me dislike him. Until Clinton DOES something wrong (and I'm sure you all feel she has) I will continue to like her.

Now, it would be nice if your Hillary bashing were proportionate to your Bush bashing, considering Bush actually DESERVES it, but Democrats always have to get at least twice the moral indignation Republicans get. Hell, a Republican can break the law and the press will STILL paint him as a hero. All Hillary Clinton has to do is be herself and the public gets to read non-articles like this about how much we all hate her. Try doing some work.

If the press treated Bush the same way they treat Hillary Clinton we would have impeached his sorry ass a long time ago. Neocon males get a free pass, but bring up Senator Clinton and suddenly everyone's talking about honesty and integrity and whether we can trust her. Please!!!!

Paint it any way you want it Tim (and Joan) but Sen Clinton is in fact a woman, and as a result, does not get treated the same as the men.

This may be hard for most people to accept, but if Hillary Clinton were a man we would not be talking about any of this. She may not be my ideal choice, but Kucinich can't win anyway, and I still believe Obama lacks experience. I'm going with the female on this one.

To me it is reasonable that the so-called "self-reliant neoconservative tough-guy warriors have their careers created for them by their moms and dads." That is exactly why they are neoconservatives. Take away their wealth and they would be as helpless as a junkie on the street.

I personally believe that deep deep down rich people know they are no better than anyone else, and it frightens them. So they compensate for this fear by preaching to the whole world how wise they are, tough they are, religious they are, when in reality they aren't really ANY of those things. They never have to worry about anything normal people worry about, so they have to justify their cushy existence to themselves by acting that way, and believing their own bullshit. It would actually be more surprising if they had all that money and power and still behaved the way a real wise person, or a real soldier, or a real religious person behaves. Rich neocons are empty suits with giant bank accounts. They live for themselves and their own kind.