if you can lie to yourself then you accept lies too

[blues90]

This is what I feel about these elections and all the candidates and this bush administration as well as most other things we feel and see and hear in this world today .

There will be no getting out of this until people stop lying to themselves . We have to step back from all the madness and out of this surreal state called reality and get a clear view of where we are and where we are going and where we should be .

People have to realize that for most of their lifes they have been sold on everything , whether it's a mental state or the value of self or what makes up success .

I have no idea at this point if we are even close to a political solution in this country , I certainly don't hold much faith that we are what is called , moving forward .

Mankind has in my opinion started off of the wrong foot long ago and instead of stepping back and evaluating the situation we have simply tried to alter of fix a process that does not work . It certainly does work quite well for the few but it in no way has ever worked for the massess . This has always been the case .

I feel we are still on the wrong path to only repeat the same mistakes as always .

Now we talk about all the money spent on wars and what we could have spent it on here to make things better . I ask if we were not in this war would we have made things better , would we have built new schools and better jobs and had healthcare ? This is in no way to say the war is right of any war is right , it is to question things in a broader manner .

It's always , would have , should have , could have .

[angrycarpenter]

1. self-reflection is a rare trait in America

Most people see themselves and others by external appearance, period. The truest observation of humans I have ever heard is "A man is judged by what he does for a living, A woman is judged by how she looks." Superficial all the way.

If every one suddenly saw themselves as others see them, many would just put a gun to their head.

[sepulveda]

3. everybody to some extent

lies to themself. it's human nature

[Usrename]

2. America, living the lie.

We are damaged as a country, as a nation, and as a people. The support for torture is just an example of it. We do it to them because they are guilty of something, and everyone says that is fine. Many people I know, good and honest people just a few years ago (what we call in the South, God-fearin’ folks) are damaged like this.

I hope that a deep awakening comes with this election cycle. An awareness that the injustice of this war is real. That we are torturing innocents. That we can display the capacity as a nation to try and redeem our soul, our heart. Once this opportunity is lost, I don't see any outcome that will not strengthen the iron grip that these fascist are trying to attain over the entire planet.

If an awakening can occur, then the crimes (including 9/11, which is dwarfed by the magnitude of devastation in Iraq) of our nation, once laid bare, will be all that more useful and instructive, to all people, everywhere, as to why we must force them to slowly, gently loosen their grip on the world.