Some folks are still optimistic

[gwd-scouter]

Realizing that I seem to be in the minority on this politics thread, I have to ask: what is wrong with optimism?

 

I am an unabashed optimist. Things always work out for me. I ask myself if things work out because I'm an optimist or am I an optimist because things work out. Probably will never get to the answer.

 

In any case, I am dismayed by the doom and gloom being spouted by folks like Limbaugh and Hannity, republican strategists on CNN, and House and Senate republicans I listen to on CSPAN. I watched Limbaugh's CPAC speech. Even my republican husband couldn't watch it all the way through. I did though. I figure one can't make a reasoned argument for or against something if one hasn't at least tried to hear from both sides. I switch over to Hannity every once in a while, but I'm afraid his show has turned into nothing more than an hour of unashamed Obama bashing.

 

Some of the same people that complain about Obama painting too negative a picture about the economy are themselves negative about it. Personally, I appreciate a President speaking directly to the American people about our country's troubles. Yes, he says it's bad, but I also hear him say that while it will take time, we will get through this.

 

So I ask, does all the negativity really help our economic situation? If all folks want to hear is how Obama and the democrats in Congress are going to be the ruination of our Country, won't this become self-fulfilling?

 

President Obama still enjoys high approval ratings, so it seems the majority of the population is willing to support him and give him a chance. I don't expect the economy to turn around this year and maybe not significantly in the next. That doesn't mean I'm willing to throw our President under the bus because my retirement savings haven't suddenly revived in the mere weeks since he was sworn in.

 

 

[TheScout]

They like Obama because he promises to give a lot of people free stuff. Go figure.

 

Reminds me once again of what the 18th Century Scottish legalist, Sir Alex Tyler wrote,

 

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess of the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.... The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from great courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependency back again to bondage."

[vol_scouter]

We seem to be in the apathy to dependence state. It is great to be optimistic and despite some of my concerns, I have an unfounded optimism. My optimism is that having history at our fingertips and with forums such as this, the country will wake up to its' decline and change direction before we take that final step.

 

It seems to me that liberals and conservatives in this country at this juncture have fundamentally different visions that are not really reconcilable. Liberals see government as the answer to problems whereas conservatives see government as the largest cause of those problems. Those are diametrically opposed views.

 

On top of that set of problems, the country is reeling from the baby-boom generation, of which I am a part, that has proven to be the most ego-centric, selfish, cruel, and foolish generation in the history of this country. The baby-boomers may almost single-handedly destroy this country. We will leave a legacy that I wish I was not a part.

[Hal_Crawford]

As dark as things are I try to be optimistic. You could argue that is because I voted for Obama, that I am "one of them" but I have always tried to be optimistic no matter who was president, no matter what challenges our nation faced. It is rare that I quote Spiro T. Agnew but I am reminded of his phrase, "Nattering nabobs of negativism".

 

Hal

[GernBlansten]

Life's too short to be in the party of Nope.

[packsaddle]

There are no miracles, natural laws are not violated, and I have not been optimistic since Bush turned fiscal responsiblity and our nation's ideals on its head. And I'm not optimistic now.

[BrentAllen]

I'll tell you why I'm not very optimistic right now. We have an administration that likes to exploit any crisis.

 

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," said Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. "This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before."

 

"Things you could not do before." How nice. Scare people into doing things they wouldn't normally do or be in favor of. So much for "hope."

 

This "governing by crisis" appears to be a theme in the Obama administration. Hillary was saying the same thing in Europe:

"Clinton told young Europeans at the European Parliament that global economic turmoil provided a fresh opening. "Never waste a good crisis ... Don't waste it when it can have a very positive impact on climate change and energy security," she said."

 

So, if you can't get your agenda through congress or accepted by the America people on its own merits, just us a huge crisis to scare them into it. So, maybe you don't want to solve the crisis too fast. And if it looks like some of your agenda might fail, let the crisis get even worse. This sounds like something that has happened before - maybe somewhere in Europe in the 1930's.

 

 

 

[funscout]

As a Republican, I guess I should be pessimistic, but I continue to have faith in the American people. I am optimistic that people will see through Obama's false promises, and I continue to pray that all of our leaders will let God guide them to make the right decisions.

 

I have been dismayed over Obama's talk of gloom and doom, because he was supposed to be the candidate of Hope. He and the media fostered the pessismism, I suppose, so that any small improvement would look like a miracle. So, is my disappointment and worry considered pessimism? Perhaps. I think I am being a realist, in worrying, but being an optimist in truly feeling that our country will eventually head back in the right direction. The scary part is how long it might take and how much of my investments will be lost in the meantime.

[shortridge]

I wasn't optimistic before the election, and I'm not optimistic now. I do think President Obama was the better choice in November to put things right (though my initial candidate of choice dropped out before I could vote for him).

 

Personally, I'm pretty jittery. I'm fairly sure that my job will be eliminated within the next year, if not the next few months. I'm not buying anything above basic necessities, except for my daughter. And yet I know there are people in my area right now who are a lot worse off than I am, by far. I consider myself fairly fortunate.

 

funscout wrote: "The scary part is how long it might take and how much of my investments will be lost in the meantime."

 

To me, the scary part is how long it might take (I'm expecting at least two years before things really turn around) and how many people are going to be hurt in the meantime. There are a lot of people on the edge right now - people who haven't been there before and never expected to be there. It's going to be painful.

 

The positive side, for me, is that I have family around who I can rely on in emergencies. A lot of people don't even have that. And thanks to Scouting, if the worst happens, I know how to live in a tent and cook over a fire. (This message has been edited by shortridge)

[hops_scout]

gwd-scouter,

 

You talk about the "gloom and doom" from conservatives, but really the only difference between what is being said now and what was being said 6 months ago is the party that is spouting it off. Really, I'm not a fan of any of it.

 

In order for this country to get back on its feet, EVERYBODY needs to work together. That isn't happening and hasn't happened for quite some time.

[scoutldr]

Pass the Soma...

[John-in-KC]

This isn't rocket science, it's politics.Obama can and should be optimistic. He has to be, imo. He owns the bully pulpit. If he says something, anything, a sound bite of it will be on youtube, googlenews and the old ways in minutes to hours, and in old hardcopy newspaper the next day.

 

FDR knew it: What was his first inagaugural address theme? " I AM certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our Nation impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itselfnameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days"

 

http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres49.html

 

I don't fully agree with FDR's policies, but I agree with his style (and style matters):- He was upbeat to the American public ... always upbeat. Even his call for a declaration of war was not negative.- He took decisive action designed to provoke the confidence of the American people. We're bloody well muddling through the financial garbage. Go read about the Bank Holiday. Close everything, get the examiners in there. The banks that are sound, re-open. The banks that aren't... are gone.- We're approaching 10% unemployment. That's not 25%, but it's not full employment either.

 

Real people are hurting. Where is the President, calling on us to help our neighbors through our church hunger pantries and clothing closets? I'm not talking income re-distribution here, I'm talking about simple help, one set of neighbors to another. Where in the Sam Hill is BSA National Council right now??? IF THERE WAS EVER A TIME FOR A NATIONWIDE SCOUTING FOR FOOD DRIVE, THIS IS IT!!!

 

Vision and goals. Those of us who are WB21C folk heard that more than once. Both sides of the political debate need to look away from their platform positions and try to find what really matters. Sure, the Democrats can run through whatever they want right now. That's not a way to run a railroad. Sure, the Republicans can be a monolith against everything. That's not the way either.

 

Thank you for letting me vent.(This message has been edited by john-in-kc)

[TheScout]

But the Bank Holiday was not constitutional . . .

 

Oh wait, I forgot, the Constitution doesn't matter in emergencies, right?(This message has been edited by TheScout)

[John-in-KC]

Neither was Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus.

 

The point is, UENI (or our grandparents really, both my parents were way under 15 on Inauguration Day 1933) needed confidence in the banking system. FDRs method gave it to them. It worked.

 

We have a bunch of political floundering going on now. Our politicians need vision and goals.

 

Do you have a better policy idea to give confidence to the American people? If so, articulate it.

[TheScout]

"Neither was Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus."

 

Which was also wrong.

 

"The point is, UENI (or our grandparents really, both my parents were way under 15 on Inauguration Day 1933) needed confidence in the banking system. FDRs method gave it to them. It worked."

 

Did it work? The Great Depression continued to get worse. Look at unemployment numbers in 1933 compared to 1939.

 

Even if it did work. Is that right? Did you take an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States except in an emergency? There is no such thing as a good idea clause in the Constitution. Something can be a good idea and still not constitutional.

 

"Do you have a better policy idea to give confidence to the American people? If so, articulate it."

 

-Balance the budget. So Americans know the government will continue to be fiscally sound.

-Eliminate the Federal Reserve It has destroyed the strength of the dollar since 1913 and allowed cheap credit to spread, bringing the current crisis

-Let bad banks fail- Bankers will forced to run sound banks or they will be ruined. People will know any surviving banks are sound

 

Anyway if people have to look to the government for confidence or self-esteem they really need to look at themselves. The idea is kinda funny.