Do You Feel Overwhelmed by Our Current Political State of Affairs?

[Yavin4]

I feel so overwhelmed by our current state of political affairs that I'm finding myself becoming more and more apathetic about the world around me. I'm just tired of being angry and frustrated all of the time. I feel that greed has overtaken common sense and common decency. Our elites are so concerned about their tax cuts, property values, investments and their retirements that they're willing to allow a Christian Theocracy to take root. They're willing to allow an illegal and expensive war to continue indefinitely. They're willing to allow our deficits to careen out of control. They're willing to allow all private sector jobs to be outsourced overseas. In sum, no one is willing to stand up for the people without money and power.

I'm 40 years old. I don't want to spend my golden years marching and protesting my country's illegal wars. I just don't see a long term future for me as an American. I'm just sick and tired of being angry and frustrated all of the time.

[MichiganVote]

1. Getting expensive living in the USA

[Ilsa]

2. Yeah, and I have friends that are disengaged because they feel

overwhelmed by the corruption. I asked my friends if they'd like to leave to go to Canada or some other country, but they won't go anywhere they can't take their guns with them. They aren't militia-types, they just want to be able to defend themselves, even agains tthe govt if necessary. They are talking about forming a commune. Funny, they used to vote GOP all the time, even though they are more Dem and Libertarian.

I really fear for our nation with these bizarre twists and turns to the right these idiots are trying to drive home. I'm willing to leave without a gun if I have to.

[rzemanfl]

3. I'm about to be 58 and have a lot more reason to feel that way

than you do. I found something last night that I have posted now for the third time, as it just has me saying WTF over and over again:

"Poll: Clinton's approval rating up in wake of impeachment
December 20, 1998
Web posted at: 10:48 p.m. EST (0348 GMT)
(AllPolitics, December 20) -- In the wake of the House of Representatives' approval of two articles of impeachment, Bill Clinton's approval rating has jumped 10 points to 73 percent, the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows.

That's not only an all-time high for Clinton, it also beats the highest approval rating President Ronald Reagan ever had.

At the same time, the number of Americans with an unfavorable view of the Republican Party has jumped 10 points; less than a third of the country now has a favorable view of the GOP."


http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/12/20/impea ... /

[SudieJD]

12. Constant Anger

Is what I feel. I fear that the state of affairs will ruin this country forever.

When are the Dem's going to step up and start doing something???

Sudie

[H2O Man]

4. No. I do not feel that way.

Take time for yourself. Being angry every now and again is okay. Being frustrated will wear you out. Everything is exactly as it is supposed to be right now, or else it wouldn't be. Today is simply a consequence of yesterday; likewise tomorrow will be a consequence of today. So if we want to make meaningful change, we need to be well-rested and calm and positive.... and maybe a little angry.

40 years old is a good age. There are many, many ways to live your life that are in opposition to the unconscious machine we know as the Bush administration. There are things for you to do that are of more value than marching and protesting. No one else can tell you what they are; take some time and think about things from outside the normal frame of reference.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. Good advice

Sharif Baba, a shaykh in the Rafai Order of Sufis, has said it is important for everyone to pray for peace, and to meditate on peace. I think this means to find peace within your spirit. Here's how I do it: while reading discouraging news on DU this morning, I stopped and listened to the birds singing, greeting the dawn. My husband and I stopped on our way to work to watch the sunrise. We felt the peace and power of nature.

Today, we shopped at the local thrift stores and local grocery stores and gardent stores-no Wal-Mart or Home Depot for us. To my mind, this is another way to protest, perhaps one that makes a difference (if not to Wal-Mart of Home Depot, definately to the mom/pop stores we frequent).

We are both 54, and know that it is our choice to make-to look for peace where you can find it, to make a difference economically when you can.

[H2O Man]

10. That's great.

I spend time with my wife and our four children. They are my "filling station." Although my wife and I are from different religious faiths, we share the same values, and our family spends time in prayer every day.

I have posted a poem before about an old friend from Onondaga, who says a prayer of thanks every time he gets a drink of water. I like to think about the differences in consciousness, from this elderly wisdom keeper who draws water from a well; from people like myself, who have a kitchen sink; to the youngsters who but bottled water from a machine.

It is important to take time every day to move away from that machine, and even from the kitchen. It's good to go to the well .... and to say thanks. That is a filling station, too.

[Just Me]

16. The greatest part about living in rural America,...

,...I can step outside, hear the soothing sounds of the river and the chattering of squirrels and songs of birds; watch the dogwoods blossom (I am so happy spring has returned), hug my dogs, tickle my kid and enjoy feeling a breeze on my face. If I didn't get a good dose of the beauty in this world, each day,...life would suck *LOL*.

[Just Me]

5. I'm a bit tired. However, a part of me feels rather excited.

I sincerely believe we are in the most incredible shift,...one that will ultimately favor true human compassion. Word is getting out that we've been duped and screwed by crooked, greedy corporacrats and I sense a shift in the winds of change.

[MasonJar]

6. I am a lot older than you and I do not intend to spend the rest of

my life angry at the neo-cons. Number one we must insist on a paper trail. If another neo-con, fascist Pug is elected I am buying a place somewhere else. The West Indies or Europe are a very appealing option. I will also give up my citizenship so I do not financially support these monsters.

[CrispyQ]

8. You are not alone.

Yes, I'm overwhelmed & discouraged & frustrated & like you, I am fearful that I am becoming apathetic, like so many of my Dem friends who vanished from the political scene on Nov. 3.

You state: "In sum, no one is willing to stand up for the people without money and power." You are so right. Our 'elected' officials & corporate elite are simply looking out for themselves & making sure that they will get a bigger & bigger slice of the pie & the rest of us can just f--- off.

As a result, the middle class gets squeezed harder & harder & have less & less free time to do things to work for change. We have a jobs, daily commitments, & sheesh, forgive the heck out of us for also wanting some free time to enjoy with our families! How do you fit all of this & political activism into a day? How do you battle corporations who have legions of lobbyists & tons of money & time to entice to our corrupt public officials to do their bidding?

I've started writing some LTTEs, but it seems so trivial in light of the massive problems & issues we have to deal with. But I will write & mail them anyway & hope they bring some facts & a bit of light to at least one misguided person on the right.


:crazy: Arghhh!!!! I'm bringing myself down! Gotta go!

Hang in there, you are not alone! And we cannot give up! (A little "Go team, go!" motivation for you. Hope it helps!)

[pinto]

9. No. Politics has always been a pendulum kinda thing, no?, I'm OK, not

overwhelmed here, at all. And it looks as though we may be making some hits, as a minority party...

[deadparrot]

11. Hey, I'm 18.

I'm supposed to be happy and idealistic. I just feel like crap. I attend school smong conservatives, and have done so for the past twelve years.

Sometimes it seems so overwhelming and hopeless. As one of my liberal friends put it, "Why do I have to be liberal and care about people? Why can't I just be conservative and not care?"

[H2O Man]

19. 18? That reminds me:

"My friends and I became preoccupied with the common nostalgic assertion that 'these are the best years of your lives.' We could accept the fact that the college years are exhausting, confusing, boring, troubled, frustrating and meaningless -- that we could take in stride; we'd seen hard times before. But that everything subsequent would be worse was a concept difficult to grasp and, once grasped, impossible to accept. ......

"People want to know who e are, and some think they know who we are. Some think we're a bunch of snot-nosed brats. It's difficult to say really who we are. We don't have snot on our noses. What we do have is hopes and fears, or ups and downs, as they are called.

"A lot of the time we are very unhappy, and we try to cheer ourselves up by thinking. we think how lucky we are to be able to go to school, to have nice clothes and fine things and to eat well and have money and be healthy. How lucky we are really. But we all remain unhappy. Then we attack ourselves for self-pity, and become still more unhappy over being sad. We're unhappy because of the war, and because of poverty and the hopelessness of poverty, but also because we get put down by girls or boys, as the case may be, or feel lonely and alone and lost.

"But sadness is not despair so long as you can get angry. And we have become angry at Columbia. Not having despaired, we are able to see things that need to be fought, and we will fight. We have fought, we are fighting, we will fight."

-- The Strawberry Statement; James Simon Kunen; 1968

[Joey Liberal]

13. I live in a very red state - Oklahoma

Hey, I live in a red state. It's really depressing here. Okay, I'll admit that I live in Oklahoma. The republicans here love Bush, even though he has been terrible for this state. They support him without thinking. They elected right wing morons to represent this state in the Congress. The budget deficit? They say its no big deal. The trade deficit? Again, no big deal. Closing bases? They say we have too many now (and these are the same people that screamed that Clinton cut the military too much). They are unconcerned about the impact it will have on local communities if we lose one or more bases in this state. They support the war in Iraq 100 percent. Then fact that Bush lied about WMD's in Iraq and that Osama Bin Laden is still a threat is of no concern to them. Bush cut the COPS program, resulting in the local police Department losing a million bucks per year. Farming is big in this state. Yet, while Bush is proposing major cuts in farm aid, nobody here seems to care. They all watch Faux News, Clear Channel dominates the airwaves (no Air America here folks), the newspapers are all right wing, and the Preachers here all preach exactly what Rev. Dobson and Rev. Falwell preach. If you live in a blue state, you are real lucky.

[shanti]

14. yes

and i believe it is planned to be this way.

[oneold1-4u]

15. Nice at 40!

I have a son older than that, and he still doesn't have the common sense to take a look at what is going on outside of his own money grabbing realm. Guess I will just let things go and walk backward into apathy as long as he can afford me! If I'm still around when he can't, I'll just give him all I can afford, of sincere love, as a mom and a friend! This may well prove the most important necessity of the times, because love is being left out of this god shoving thing today! The fears of a vengeful god will never rule me!

[elfin]

17. I am in my 60's

and constantly outraged and depressed - not so much for myself, as for our country. I think I will be able to manage through the economic debacle to come as long as my pension doesn't fold and the market doesn't tank irretrievably.

I mourn for what might have been with a Gore who wouldn't have dismissed the warnings, for a Kerry who would have tried to set things straight. I mourn for future generations who will not know things could have been different because everything they see and hear is skewed to the neoncon fantasy that things are just fine.

I clip news articles daily with appropriate pithy remarks for notebooks for future grandchildren so my progeny do not fall into the trap. I do not know if it will make a whit of difference - but it makes me feel just a bit better for a moment.

[rzemanfl]

18. I have a huge pile of stuff on the stolen election of 2004 for my

grandchildren when they get older (if by then we return to being a free country). Even got them a full deck of blank Florida punchcards from 2000. We know what the historians in the free World will say about the first half of this decade, I just hope the U.S. is part of the free World again by then.

[BigBearJohn]

20. I'm depressed because I have never been confronted with so much evil!

[zippy890]

21. Yes, and frustrated. I work for a public housing agency

and the cumulative bush cutbacks have made my job so difficult. There is a huge and growing need for rental assistance and the federal government keeps hacking and hacking at the budget.

Everybody's getting hacked, the tenants, the applicant families and disabled people have no chance of getting housing assistance.

things are bad and getting worse, meanwhile my job has become a nightmare of trying to figure out how to cut costs so that we can keep the current families funded for the whole year.

and I haven't had a raise in 3 years, together with increased health insurance, I may be homeless myself.

The fat cats--'elites' as you call them have hijacked this country from the rest of us..

I, too am tired of what seems to be continual head bashing-against the wall, trying to fight the good fight. Spinning my wheels it seems.