I always get surprised when people come with the revelation expressed in the last two lines of your post. If it still is for you - grow up, man, that's how the system has worked for generations. Current system is the system of marketing designed to create the illusion of participation in major events. So yeah, the guy promises mountains, and when he is elected he does the exactly opposite. Since when this is news? When was it any different?Alfred_E._Neuman wrote:That's all well and good, but there comes a point where the things that need to change are beyond the power of the individual. I ride my bike to work, don't eat meat, reduce the amount of shit I buy and reuse and recycle as much as possible. But if I need to travel outside of my city I don't have a single option that's not fossil fuel powered. I could possibly afford solar for my roof, but I can't afford and certainly couldn't get city approval to cut down the trees that shade my roof.Sangoma wrote:We should care about things we can influence. Not tossing the wrapper out of the car, not buying another piece of plastic that will eventually end up in the dumpster etc. As they say, you want to make the world better - start with yourself.dead man walking wrote:so we've got nothing to worry about. good to know.
Some infrastructure level improvements are simply too large to be funded by private enterprise. At that point it's up to our government to make decisions on and provide funding for infrastructure projects that will best prepare us for the future. And what's best for our future is not always aligned with what's best for corporate wallets short term, or even citizens' wallets and convenience short term. That's why we elect our supposed best and brightest to go and make the hard decisions based on the best information. Instead, what we get is a bought and paid for system to maintain the status quo.
From here you can go in one of two ways. One - protest, participate in demonstrations and marches (by the way, for the benefit of another group of lying wankers who use the protest for their interests) and lose your sleep. Two - forget about this shit, stop reading newspapers and watching TV news and concentrate on things that are close to you. I don't think any one of us can honestly say that all of these things have been taken care of sufficiently so that we should now aim at larger targets.
I prefer looking after myself. Not in an egotistic way, but in terms of becoming a better person overall. After all, the better me - healthier, more educated, richer, more relaxed and mentally balanced - will make more difference when necessary.
One example to conclude. Couple of weeks ago I received the patient for a fractured hip operation from the ward where he spent couple of days. The patient stank of sweat and urine; in other words nursing care was bad. I know for a fact that every one of these nurses knows how bad Trump is and why, and you just have to ask one of them once to get the speech of "crazy Americans where such things are possible" etc. If, instead of concentrating on the News they took their own duties more seriously it would make a difference for that poor old guy, and the World would become a little better place. Obviously, cleaning shit is not as glamorous or fun as demonstrating one's political wisdom, but it is unfortunately much more important.