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This is why I wanted to make the point that what we have been enduring  
the last eight years was fascism. Socialism is a step BACK from the  
brink.


On Nov 6, 2008, at 11:28 AM, SJC wrote:

> Lynn Wigglesworth wrote:
> > ....I didn't vote for him, but I'm willing to give him a chance.
> Yep, what she said.
>
> I also didn't vote for McCain, but if he'd won the election, I'd have
> said the same thing.  Because if we close our minds to the facts (as  
> in
> " "X" is president and I don't like him") we'll just be 1) frustrated,
> and 2) unable to see/enjoy what progress is made, no matter our  
> personal
> viewpoint/s and so on and on.  I can think of many reasons to drop it
> and go forward.
>
> When I was about 20 or so years old, I remember reflecting on my (very
> rough, abusive in the extreme) childhood:  that it stunk, and that  
> if I
> ever had kids I didn't want them to have to grow up the way I did,  
> so I
> set about at that point in my life to make sure that would come to be.
> It was a good lesson for me, and ever since then, I try not to repeat
> over and over (in my mind or in my life) the things that didn't work  
> for
> me and to always be looking and working toward the future.  Just as
> there's no reason to suck our thumbs about the past there's no  
> reason to
> quit working toward change.
>
> So this new president will bring some sort of change.  I'll wait to  
> see
> what it is before I start wailing.  I'd do the same thing if it had  
> been
> McCain prevailing.  If I predetermine that the new president, no  
> matter
> who he (or she) be, will function poorly, I'll never be able to see  
> the
> positives, and therefore I lose, even if everybody else 'wins'.
>
> That's rather awkwardly stated, but I hope you get the drift.
>
> Maybe I should also state that I am not afraid of the word I've seen
> thrown about (often erroneously, if you look up the meaning) on this
> list and many other places recently:  socialism.  Some years ago I  
> read
> a book about personal contentment; many persons were interviewed and
> quoted therein concerning their level of personal contentment.  The  
> two
> things that seemed to make the most difference in people's lives, as
> reflected in that book, at least (wish I could remember the title, but
> maybe I will at 3AM; I'm getting to that stage of my life) were a
> personal faith in some sort of spiritual system, and a feeling of  
> being
> a part of a subgroup of their culture (family, local community, etc;  
> it
> varied considerably from culture to culture).
>
> It was some time after I read the book that we a series of exchange
> students from a communist country in our home for a year each and they
> well all very much discontent with life here, and although none of  
> them
> were rude or complaintive, could hardly wait to go home.  That got  
> me to
> thinking: that many of the persons interviewed for the afore-mentioned
> book were or had been residents of either communist or socialist
> countries and never once had anyone mentioned their system of  
> government
> as a source of personal angst.  Since then, just a year or so ago, I  
> saw
> the results of a survey that purported to measure both personal
> happiness and personal contentment, by country of residence.  The 4
> countries having the highest marks were Norway, Sweden, Finland, and
> Denmark.
>
> So, I guess I'm not too scared to try much of anything.  In our  
> current
> system, taxes are extracted from specific groups to be of benefit to
> other groups.  that has been called socialism by many....yawn...   As
> near as I can see, many systems stand a chance of working well so long
> as corruption is held at bay.  Seeing as how we humans don't seem to  
> be
> able to do that, all systems stand a chance of not working
> well......maybe an equal chance?
>
> In the end, I think I am probably more responsible for my personal  
> state
> of mind than is anyone/anything else.
>
> SusanJane, in Maine
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