The "So, whats The Solution?" Thread

[Ernest Buckley]

First off, thanks to Craig for allowing some politcal threads to bleed into here. However, I have noticed that several threads have been closed by our dear leader with similar tones... whats the solution?

 

So enough politics... enough party propaganda etc...

 

What are your ideas to resolve some of the issues we now face as a nation and beyond?

 

Lets focus on solutions and not who caused them.

[Lee Flier]

Not a whole lot of time to post, but for starters...

 

- Get the $*%# out of Iraq and quit pouring money down the drain there. If they want us to keep any peacekeeping forces there long term (and that should be the sole decision of the Iraqi government), make it an international force, and give other nations who help out a stake in any contracts.

 

- Re-focus our current military efforts to be smaller and smarter. Focus on intelligence and counter-terrorism which is a different ballgame from conventional warfare or occupations.

 

- Antitrust laws that are more than lip service. Limit sizes of corporations so that no company is "too big to fail" (and all the attendant dangers associated with that), which will also prevent monopolies and stimulate more competition, which is healthy for everybody.

 

- Stricter regulations on the stock market and investment banking industry. The "repackaged loans" should not have been allowed to happen in the current crisis, and the mortgage industry isn't the only one guilty of this. Insurance companies do the same thing, for instance, and we may see epic fails from them in the future.

 

That's all I have time for at the moment, but there's a start.

[Music Calgary]

I meet musicians from all over the world and the only ones who ever seem to have any problems on the scene are the Americans, and to lesser extent Canadians. I can't explain it. Everyone else gets along fine.

 

Just something about the way we are raised that makes it impossible for us to solve stuff like this. There are solutions but there is zero chance of them being adopted in any meaningful way. Our society simply isn't built for solutions -- too many barriers. And we don't care. We only complain when we're really and truly screwed.

 

Here in Canada our PM Stephen Harper is kind of like a stupider, less charming version of G.W. Bush jr. He is in the midst of manipulating another election, or scam as we call it, right now so we're in for a lot more of the same, i.e. plenty of cash to bomb Afghanistan but mysteriously no money for health care or schools or subsidies for senior citizens, etc.

 

Things are so profoundly corrupt right now that the only real solution is pitchforks, and we're all far too fat and soft for that anymore, so... feh...

[Ernest Buckley]

 

Here in Canada our PM Stephen Harper is kind of like a stupider, less charming version of G.W. Bush jr.

 

 

Wow, you`re really making me use my imagination...

Possible Solution: elect someone else next time.

[Anderton]

Solution #1 is that people need to get more involved on all levels of existence, from the local PTA to presidential elections. People need to read what the candidates say, not be lazy and accept how it's filtered through liberal and conservative news media.

 

A democracy works only if the people participate in it, and that meams more than voting every four years - and only a relatively small percentage of people even bother to do that.

[Lee Flier]

Solution #1 is that people need to get more involved on all levels of existence, from the local PTA to presidential elections. People need to read what the candidates say, not be lazy and accept how it's filtered through liberal and conservative news media. A democracy works only if the people participate in it, and that meams more than voting every four years - and only a relatively small percentage of people even bother to do that.

 

+300 billion.

[Ernest Buckley]

People need to read what the candidates say, not be lazy and accept how it's filtered through liberal and conservative news media.

 

So you`re saying, we should think for ourselves?

 

 

[Dean Roddey]

 

- Re-focus our current military efforts to be smaller and smarter. Focus on intelligence and counter-terrorism which is a different ballgame from conventional warfare or occupations.

 

 

What a difference it would have made if we'd taken half the money we put into Iraq and put it into building our intelligence aparatus in the Middle East. Osama would be pushing up daisies and his fellow psychos would be well on the way towards following their leader, if not already there.

 

And if course if we'd put the other half into pushing forward alternative energy sources we'd probably also be in a lot better shape.

[Billster]

A little more reserve in general.

 

More reserve from a MySpace generation that blogs their every thought as it happens.

 

More reserve from people that think they need granite countertops (to put take-out containers on) or that they need a Mercedes instead of a Honda.

 

More reserve from elected officials who manipulate laws to suggest their social vision.

 

More reserve from businesses that think money defines success, or even existence.

[MichaelSaulnier]

Not to be completely cynical about our political system... the

[Ken Vaughn]

 

Solution #1 is that people need to get more involved on all levels of existence, from the local PTA to presidential elections. People need to read what the candidates say, not be lazy and accept how it's filtered through liberal and conservative news media. A democracy works only if the people participate in it, and that meams more than voting every four years - and only a relatively small percentage of people even bother to do that.

 

 

And don't they make it difficult to do that! If we could vote by phone, internet or otherwise, more people would be involved. I don't know what the ratio of voters to non is but the strategy seems to be to circumvent the not totally dedicated. They are the now lazy, unimportant and ill informed non voters that can be ignored. -Hanging chads- Ha stopped ya! Yeah there are going to be issues. It is harder to control the outcome of a larger gig if the people that didn't used to vote now do because it is much easier. It actually becomes a democracy. We should have an American Idol Presidential Election! Text your vote now!

[Beck]

[hogberto]

the solution is ultimately a spiritual one.

 

it's hard to talk about spiritual issues without people thinking you're a goddam crazy hippy who's into drugs and love-ins or that you're on about religion. that's not what i'm on about.

 

seriously. if more people focussed on finding some spiritual contentment then a lot of our bewilderment and anxieties would simply not exist.

 

our current anxieties relate to the credit crunch, imminent economic meltdown, iraq and so on. but these are just symptoms of a wider spiritual malaise.

 

address the malaise and the symptoms will resolve.

[Ernest Buckley]

 

Wow, you have proof that Jesus had an affair with Mary Mag?!

[Will Chen]

 

Let's assume for a moment that the top 2% of the people who control over 85% of the money do what they need to do to get their way with our government...   They invest in... err... contribute to... candidates they support, (and just to be sure, any candidates they believe will win). They hedge their bets, so that either party in power still is dependent on them to finance their never ending quest for re-election. Don

[bbach]

 

Not a whole lot of time to post, but for starters... - Get the $*%# out of Iraq and quit pouring money down the drain there.

 

 

That and quit blowing billions mindlessly for our own political agenda throughout the world. Sorry to sound like the Iranian president, but we need to focus more on what's going on within our boarders. I'm not preaching a philosophy of isolation, just some wiser international politics.

[bbach]

 

Solution #1 is that people need to get more involved on all levels of existence, from the local PTA to presidential elections. People need to read what the candidates say, not be lazy and accept how it's filtered through liberal and conservative news media. A democracy works only if the people participate in it, and that meams more than voting every four years - and only a relatively small percentage of people even bother to do that.

 

 

There are far too many people that think our system is too broke and too complicated to fix. The feeling is that they think they don't count and nothing will change. I agree with you that we all need to be more involved.

 

And compromise. Has no one in our highest political offices ever heard the word? Why do they always seem to get locked up in stalemate when decisions need to be made? Have none of them ever made a marriage work? Do they not have a budget in their household?

[Music Calgary]

Possible Solution: elect someone else next time.

 

You mean like you did? HAW!!! Good one...

 

to MichaelSaulnier

[Billster]

And compromise. Has no one in our highest political offices ever heard the word? Why do they always seem to get locked up in stalemate when decisions need to be made? Have none of them ever made a marriage work? Do they not have a budget in their household?

 

+1000

[Ernest Buckley]

 

And compromise. Has no one in our highest political offices ever heard the word? Why do they always seem to get locked up in stalemate when decisions need to be made? Have none of them ever made a marriage work? Do they not have a budget in their household?

 

 

Besides ego... most politicians are so far removed from the everyday common man (even though they try to act like one), and his plight, they really have no idea how to behave, let alone towards each other. And you mention "budget in their household"... McCain owns something like 9 of them. He would ask, "Which household are you referring to?"

 

When you own that many houses, a budget is not something you have to deal with.

 

These are the people we voted for!

We can only blame ourselves.

[Music Calgary]

These are the people we voted for! We can only blame ourselves.

 

There are tens (if not hundreds) of millions of Americans who did not vote for anything like this. You can only speak for your own personal blame, not theirs.

[Billster]

 

When you own that many houses, a budget is not something you have to deal with.

 

 

Au contraire!

 

When you have lots of properties, you need to keep an eye on the budget. Ask all those bankrupted former sports stars who thought $20 million was a lot of money.

[Super 8]

The solution?

 

The solution is simply a matter of faith.

If each of you send me your faith vow of a thousand dollars, God will bless you with health and prosperity. You just need to take that step!

[FireWithin]

A good start to this would be for people go get their priorities straight....stop bitching about alt. fuels and saving the trees while you take out another loan for a monster truck SUV.