What's wrong with out country/gov't/people?

[DrifterXRPS13]

So i've never made a thread in here but have posted in several threads but here goes

So as everyone knows, this country as well the rest of the world is in dire situations with the recession. Everyday i hear about this and that on the news or in the paper or online and even here in this forum. I hear peoples ideas and our elected officials say they are doing this or they are doing that but nothing ever happens or changes.

What happend to for the people by the people? Isn't the constitution for us? Doesn't it state somewher that if we the people don't like something int he gov't we can change it?

I mean look at how fast they impeached rod blagojevich, or clinton. An even bigger example would be prohibition and then the repeal of it.

But yet when it comes to things that really matter like our economy and saving jobs, peoples homes, no one stands up for the cause. If people really wanted to fix these problems within our gov't isn't it our right to do so?

We elect our officials and they are supposed to work for us but it seems like as soon as they get into office they do their own thing and forget about the people.

Why can't we just sit down and figure it out for the better of the country and the rest of the world.

sorry, i just get so frustrated reading and seeing the same things while nobody does anything about it.

[OriginalWheelman]

If I'm honest about it, I think the cause of a lot of it is the political parties. It's an unfortunate fact that the less popular political parties have almost no chance of getting elected. So people who really want to get elected join one of "The big 2". These people do not necessarily agree with the party on all fronts, and I believe in most cases they don't. However, to get anywhere within the party once you are there you need to push the party agenda. So then we have people elected who don't believe in what they are preaching. Then, they get caught doing something they spoke out against, because even thought the party wants it they don't and scandals and stuff happen. I'm wondering if we can really even consider our gov a democratic republic anymore. The idea in that is that we elect men and women to represent us. What we do with the system the way it is now is elect people to represent the party.

[bobotech]

A large amount of liberals would be happy if the Constitution was considered a living document, ie a document that is altered and changed with the times but its not a "living document", it is a document that should be taken literally for the most part.

Government for the people by the people goes against liberals beliefs in large government and being a nanny state.

The elected officials also want to soften the blows of a terrible economy however that will just make the pain drag on for a longer period of time. Such as bailing out companies. Just let them die, people will come in and rebuild the remains.

What we need is a MUCH smaller government with much less regulation and control over our daily lives.

If you do something stupid and it hurts, you will learn a lesson. Don't rely on the government to protect you.

[480sx]

A large amount of liberals would be happy if the Constitution was considered a living document, ie a document that is altered and changed with the times but its not a "living document", it is a document that should be taken literally for the most part.

No one across party lines has enough respect for the constitution. This is not a liberal or conservative issue, this is a government issue.

Government for the people by the people goes against liberals beliefs in large government and being a nanny state.

You gotta get away from partisan politics on this. Look at the reality of the last 8 years. A republican dominated government passed some of the most questionable and shady legislation after 9/11 that has ever been passed in a long time, stuff that takes a very 'liberal' interpretation of the constitution, and thats saying that they cared about the Constitution at all. Then, dems gained control and voted the same legislation back in. Then the bailout bills, that 'nannied' wall street and the big 3.

Look at the government in its current state with its tendrils in everything. They have access to all of our 'private' telecom information, and god only knows what else. Any phone call at any time from almost anywhere around the world goes through US telecom sats, all available to anyone with the clearance. All of this has been made 'legal'. 4th amendment much? I dont feel like going into a long dissertation about other things because i have done it a few times already here.

The elected officials also want to soften the blows of a terrible economy however that will just make the pain drag on for a longer period of time. Such as bailing out companies. Just let them die, people will come in and rebuild the remains.

What we need is a MUCH smaller government with much less regulation and control over our daily lives.

Agreed.

OP - Dude i hear you. Lots of people feel the same way. Public apathy or a feeling of powerlessness held by most might prove to be the death of this implementation of 'democracy'.

As a side note, i honestly think that the Constitution needs to be gone back and have a lot of it re-written. The English used in that time has been outdated and needs brought up to speed. In addition so many things have changed that things you would assume would naturally be covered by a literal definition of the Constitution arnt viewed that way by many in the government. The most important set of laws, the most important document in our country needs to be airtight to these a$$ lawyers with disgusting interpretations of our current constitution.
Modified by 480sx at 12:54 PM 2/18/2009

[DrifterXRPS13]

OP - Dude i hear you. Lots of people feel the same way. Public apathy or a feeling of powerlessness held by most might prove to be the death of this implementation of 'democracy'.

This is what i'm talking about though, why does it have to be the death of it, shouldn't the people rise up and demand action much like our forefathers did? If our elected officials do not listen to what we are saying we should call for their heads/recall/impeachment, something.

It seems like the only time these things happen is when the multiple politicians are involved in something that crosses party lines. It shouldn't even be about what party you represent or like it should be about the best interest of the nation and listen to what people want.

I hate the fact that new politicians get drug along into the party that which they affiliate with and have to agree with whatever the party wants. A lot of the time i read what these third party candidates have to say and it makes sense but nobody cares. The thing is though, even if these third party guys got elected somehow somewhere it would be the same thing, they get elected and do nothing that they said they were going to do.

I'm not as well versed in politics as the rest of you are and with technical terms but i know how i feel and i'm sure a lot of others feel the way i do to but don't know what to do about it or if we even can do anything about it.

[480sx]

Dont think for a second your a minority. The majority of active people here in this sub-forum are truly the minorities.

When a better option presents itself just support it, talk about it to everyone you know, and vote. Until then were stuck with what we have.

[liquid_cool]

There are a few fundamental things wrong with this country..#1)education..and i dont mean my spelling!..i mean educating the population and getting them involved...as a population we are easly swayed due to the bombardment of the press and the lack of interest in politics becouse the average american believes that there vote does not count....#2)marketing..we as a people get flamboozled by people using marketing technics on us during elections..hence the phraze " The candidate with the most Money wins" thats becouse marketing -vs- dollors spent on advertizing works..and the average person is uninformed about what the candadate really is about or has done to the or for the people in the past...#3)....greed and class envey...this in my book is the largest problem we face as a nation with our young people.....the willingness to want to take from those producing and give to those not producing...to the young this is acceptable as it is tought in the scew-ools to our kids that its unfair someone has more than someone else....im afraid our kids will not learn to work for a living and when out generation is gone we will have a nation of weeklings in servatude to the strong few in government....the governmet trick used to promote this is a pay for vote scheam...big oil..the rich!..big biz..ect.....thats my thoughts on this.

[C-Kwik]

A large amount of liberals would be happy if the Constitution was considered a living document, ie a document that is altered and changed with the times but its not a "living document", it is a document that should be taken literally for the most part.

No legal document or contract of such complexity could ever be interpreted literally. Life is much too complicated for that to exist. There are always going to be grey areas. Therefore, there must be interpretations of the Constitution. And where disputes exist, it is up to the Supreme Court to determine its interpretation for a given circumstance.

And it is a living document. The Bill of Rights and Amendments are actually proof of that. The Bill of Rights was ratified after the Constitution and the last amendment to it occurred in 1992.

Government for the people by the people goes against liberals beliefs in large government and being a nanny state.

Perhaps you can define what you mean by liberals. Being that there are different ways it can be viewed, and perhaps how its counter-part could be defined, we could point out examples of where both sides contradict themselves...

[audtatious]

Dont think for a second your a minority. The majority of active people here in this sub-forum are truly the minorities.

Agreed. The majority of us have our strong beliefs but are willing to give and take to make things better for everyone. Then you have those that blame only one side or the other without being willing to admit that their pot of gold may actually be some gold plated pennies mixed with gold painted scrap metal

[themadscientist]

no doubt, I have more respect for the hard lefties here than average people. While I disagree with almost anything they say at least they care enough to gain some grasp of events and form a somewhat educated opinion like I try to do. I can't talk to someone who's reason for voting for someone is a catchword.

[EmKayThree]

It's all about money to them, they could care less about the people as long as they get their paycheck.