James Kunstler on Cars/oil crisis etc

[belgareth]

You know, you two, it takes all

the fun out of it when we can sit here and agree. Geeze!

[idesign]

You

know, you two, it takes all the fun out of it when we can sit here and agree. Geeze!

I'm sure

there's plenty of disagreement to be spread around! I just don't want to be accused of having the "asshole gene".

I tend to be strong in my beliefs, but I AM a nice guy, and accept differences. Civil debate is something lost in

our society, I'd like to reclaim it.

[belgareth]

You sound like me. Debate can

be both fun and educational if people can approach it in a mature manner. It is pretty rare though, too find a

couple of people who agree with me about government. Normally, most people are very polarized and don't even want

to think about differring opinions. There is often something I can learn from them but so many refuse to even think

there could be any perspective besides their own.

In my own view of the world, I've found that expecting the

worst of politicians and politics tends to lead to fewer disappointments.

[idesign]

I wonder how the kids growing up

now in this vitriolic political/media environment will turn out? I guess the smart ones will get fed up and

hopefully change the world.

How could they not get fed up? So much of what is said in the public debate is

meaningless, and insulting to even the mildest intelligence. A big concern though is that kids are being brought up

in an environment where politicians can say anything, whether true or not, to get whatever desired outcome. If

things go badly the next news cycle will have something more titillating and your lie is buried under the latest OJ

BS. News becomes gossip and the important issues are not sexy enough.

There are just too many words chasing too

little truth.