As a child, I was taught to fight.

[Ravy]

Fight against a government intent on imposing its way of life upon all of the other countries of the world. A government that secretly controlled information, restricted the rights of its citizens, and spread self-serving lies through the media.

When I was a child, it the name of that government was the Soviet Union. Did we win the Cold War, or simply switch sides?

[Angela Shelley]

1. That was the propaganda

We didn´t switch sides.

We didn´t learn from their mistakes.

[Boojatta]

2. "We didn´t learn from their mistakes."

Are you saying that just as Afghanistan was the USSR's Vietnam, Iraq will be the USA's Afghanistan?

[Fovea]

3. Win? Well, they called it ''the cold war"

but really, it was a way to speed up the rat race.
We won, and are officially the leading rats.

The Soviets never could have won a hot war, and
what we call cold war, was just a competition for other folks resources. Sugar, Oil, Rubber, Coal, Rice... it is always about one or more.

[Boojatta]

4. Is sugar from Cuba fueling the relatively good

economic performance of Russia? Is the Cuban government concerned that the people of Cuba are being exploited by Russia?

[Fovea]

9. Sugar, and the spread of the glorious workers struggle

tavarich.

[tomreedtoon]

5. As a teenager, I was taught not to fight.

I was taught that to raise a fist in anger was wrong. I was told to let violence "roll off my back like water off a duck." I was told to take the abuse of other children and pretend that it didn't hurt. Because to use violence was absolutely, always wrong.

The result: Daily fear, a punch from a psychotic kid that left one cornea torn and permanently astigmatic, a near-rape by a black football player in a hallway that I never told my parents about, and most of my life lived under a cloud of self-hatred and low self-esteem.

In other words, I became exactly like a Democratic Congressman who never takes a stand and bends over a dumpster when Bush cracks the whip.

If I had a kid, which isn't likely because I'm ugly and uncomfortable for women to be with, I would teach the kid to fight. Hell, I'd probably teach him to do everything short of killing or crippling his enemies.

Oh, footnote: if someone says "Get help" I'll beat the crap out of you. Psychiatry is a fraud.

[Boojatta]

6. If you ever have a kid, there are martial arts instructors who can help.

You wouldn't need to teach your child to physically fight.

As for you being uncomfortable for women to be with, you might get help from a psychologist (not to be confused with a psychiatrist).

[tomreedtoon]

11. No. Fighting is not simply physical combat.

By "fighting" I mean the will to resist those who wish to use you and do you harm. That's what has happened to the Democrats in Congress; they've been taught that fighting is wrong, that standing up for a principle just causes hurt feelings, that giving a little...well, everything...makes everybody happy.

And as for me, I'm not uncomfortable around women; they're uncomfortable around me. I'm hideous. I have nothing they want that would obviate that (like a fortune). And a psychologist is nothing more than a defrocked psychiatrist, who at least had the money to get all the way through medical school.

And nothing and nobody can help you from the outside. They can't even shed a light on your problems. You have to do it all by yourself. Psychiatrists admit that; they have never "cured" a patient. The patient either cures himself or he doesn't. All a shrink does is cash the checks.

[Boojatta]

12. Do you really want to be wanted for your money?

Is there not one woman who rates in attractiveness as a woman at roughly the same level that you rate as a man?

And a psychologist is nothing more than a defrocked psychiatrist, who at least had the money to get all the way through medical school.

How does a psychiatrist's money help a client/patient?

[tomreedtoon]

14. The shrink's money helps himself...screw the patient!

Are you from this country? Is English your fifth language? Are you even from this planet? Your naivete is astonishing.

The psychiatrist isn't interested in helping any living being, only in helping his bank account. That's why all the promises and nonsense and years of therepy. Anyone who's ever been to one, or known someone who has gone to one, knows this. It is always the patient who cures the patient; the shrinks are just cheerleaders, and cheerleaders (like real-life cheerleaders) are only in it for the bling.

And as for women, money is a traditional way of getting a woman to like you if you're unattractive. If you don't know that, perhaps your extraterrestrial race does not have women and you're learning about them belatedly.

And yes, I don't want to be known for my money, especially since I have none. So therefore, I have given up on my failed attempts to have relationships with women, and spend my time doing something useful, like teaching babes in the woods such as you about the realities of life.

[Boojatta]

15. Touché

Is English your fifth language? Are you even from this planet?

Well, at least I don't find myself pre-emptively telling people to not tell me to get help.

The psychiatrist isn't interested in helping any living being, only in helping his bank account.

What then makes you respect psychiatrists more than psychologists?

[tomreedtoon]

16. Okay, fair question. Psychiatrists are less likely to rape you.

Damn near anyone can be a "psychologist" or "counselor." They can slip you date rape drugs, convince you that heroin use would give you courage, advise you to pray to Jesus to cure a brain tumor, any number of things. Most states have little control over who can hang up a shingle. Some have none.

A psychiatrist has to obtain an M.D. before he can become a psychiatrist. That filtering process gets rid of many of the overt manipulators and psychos. Not all, but many.

And the reason that I pre-emptively said "Don't tell me I need help" is that everyone likes to play psychologist...for reasons outlined in my first paragraph. In fact, there is little difference between the psychiatric professions and evangelical preachers. (Ever hear a strict Freudian arguing with an Adlerian or a Jungian? It's a small-scale jihad.)

I repeat what I said in an earlier post in this thread; patients cure themselves. Shrinks of whatever style or cult are just cheerleaders, and can stop a patient from curing himself as often as they may help him. They are in it for the money, and I believe that even on your planet, the concept of exploiting people for financial gain is not unheard of.

[Boojatta]

17. I didn't use the word "counselor", did I?

There's a national association for psychologists in the USA:
http://www.apa.org/

Perhaps there should be a national institution to regulate the professional conduct of psychologists, with the power to discipline or "disbar" psychologists. Given evidence of criminal misconduct, I suspect that such a professional governing body would refer the matter to law enforcement authorities.

[wake.up.america]

7. Da Da - eto pravda.

[Kansas Wyatt]

8. I never back down from anything and stand my ground.

I do not seek fights, but I will never be intimidated either. The older I get, the more I distrust the United States Government. To the point that I do not believe anything that comes out of it.

I will die before I am ever intimidated by the U.S. Government, and I now truly understand, 'Give me liberty or give me death.'

[Rex]

10. The Cold War was not a victory for anyone but rich people.

And please understand, I am not talking about what most people think is 'rich'. I am talking about the 1% percenters that start and stop most wars.

[Boojatta]

13. Are residents of the part of Berlin that used to be East Berlin all rich?