Are we Americans?

[salinen]

I remember K-12 and learning about the founding fathers, the constitution, Tom Paine, Ben, Thomas, bill of rights, declaration of independence, etc. I came away with the idea that to be an american was not only a right to persue happiness, but that all people were equal, that you should be willing to battle for freedom, and that the citizens had a say in their government.

Fast forward to 2005 and all those guiding principals are under attack. This new enemy to americanism is reminisent of paying taxes to the british throne.

Only this time, the citizens are lazy. They ask for their freedoms to be denied. What americans fought and died to prevent is what america has become.

What happened?

[shadowknows69]

1. we were labeled dissidents

by our new dictator

[wli]

2. election fraud and a self-coup by the neocons n/t

[Fire Walk With Me]

3. Repubs would call our first 200+ years "old news".

[xchrom]

4. no -- the government at all levels

has become infested with corporatist thinking.

there needs to be a radical resurgence in leftist thinking and ideals in this country -- or we are lost.

[salinen]

8. The monopolists

will never stop. Total collapse is the historic way out, Unfortunately.

[tocqueville]

12. what you call leftist is mainstream in Europe

which means that our right wingers are very near American libertarians. They want less state involvement. We call them liberals.

[Postman]

5. Read Howard Zinn's "A People's History Of The United States"

You'll have your answer.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=9S0tx22Cnz&isbn=0060838655&itm=1

OR....

"Passionate Declarations"
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=9S0tx22Cnz&isbn=0060557672&itm=66

[salinen]

6. I will

thanks

[jokerman93]

7. Bunch of stuff happened

Public education became social programming.

Critical thinking became phony intellectual Liberal crap.

Corporations became persons with all rights and privileges thereof

Money became free speech.

Citizens became consumers.

Patriots became flag waving ditto-head zombies.

Forward thinkers and Liberals became dangerous agent provocateurs.

Conservatives became fascists.

Christians became kool-aid cultists.

Someone unlocked the cages in the Monkey House.

[salinen]

9. grotesque

time to build a gigantic toilet.

[tocqueville]

10. you were never really threatened on your soil until 9/11

I think that the main difference between the US and European countries is that the struggle to save the liberties acquired in the Revolution was very limited in the US.

If Canada and Mexico had been powerful monarchies and had run over the US several times, the picture in the US would be probably different.

[marmar]

11. You could argue that the USA has never truly been a democracy...

There has NEVER been equality in this country. Yes, they left Britain to be free of British oppression, but that freedom was exclusively for white male property owners. The ideal of America is a great one - but that's not and never has been the real America. Bush is just an extreme manifestation of that fact.

[lala_rawraw]

13. I just wrote about this...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larisa-alexandrovna/you-are-an-american_b_5928.html