While serving in the South Pacific, JFK once wrote a letter home, essentially, marveling at the multi-faceted nature of his crew. He bemoaned how a lack of action quickly dulled his crew, causing them to become lazy, apathetic and inattentive, [itch bay]ing about the poor tasting rations, fighting with one another, etc. - but these same men immediately coalesced into a well-oiled machine, willingly enduring every hardship, even ferocious fighting, and with enthusiasm, when the mission, and fighting, began. And that after the danger had passed, and despite having been under fire and operating on little sleep for days, they would be like brothers in celebrating a successful team maneuver / effort. He finished the letter by making a broad generalization of Americans, saying that they either had to have it extremely good or terribly bad - and that they were best at either extreme, because being anywhere in the middle brought out the worst in them, and each other. Schlesinger (served with JFK, and one of the foremost experts on the man), said that Kennedy took a great deal out of that lesson he learned on that PT boat, and which served as the seed of so many of his challenging ideas as POTUS, and to the American people - to reach the moon, to start the Peace Corps, to challenge our notions on peace with the Soviets, etc. I think there’s a good deal of truth to that.
There comes a point where we have to head back to the middle though. Even if it repeats the process. It beats the alternative.
True. You can’t live on the extremes of either side. Too hot or too cold leads to the same result. Hopefully folks are finally tiring of everything (and I mean EVERY. THING. ) being a sword fight, from politics to social issues to deciding what to have for lunch... if people could get to the point where they realize how (and by whom) they are being played against one another and stop taking the bait every single time hopefully we can get back to a place where we can disagree on stuff without demonizing the people we disagree with. If we continue down the path we’ve been on for the past several years it’s not going to end well for much of anyone.
Are those all aborting a living a fetus or is that figuring in miscarriages? I posted this earlier, my wife had a miscarriage. The procedure to remove the miscarriage is, medically, an abortion.
No, I disgaree. We are an easily bored and restless people, making us particularly susceptible to the downward spiral that accompanies idle time and relative ease. Americans need a challenge, a goal, or something to aim all of that energy towards, or we inevitably turn it on ourselves, and each other. China would be a great rallying point, if it wasn’t racist for someone to say so. Climate change is perhaps THE most excellent endeavor, but we’re either too stupid or greedy to get it, we are too distrusting of the “experts” who claim it, or some combination of the two. And, let the shouting at me begin, but too many people seem to now and truly believe that America is not uniquely special, and in fact, that it’s somehow wrong to see us as different and “other” from the rest of the world, and any other country. We are adept at living up to the expectations that are set for us, but we’ll also live down to them, too.
Americans certainly see themselves as uniquely special, which is sometimes good, sometimes not so good. We definitely don't lack for confidence as a people.
I don't buy this balkanization of America, either. The individual states aren't the smallest metric for reflecting values and identity, anyway. I'm as liberal as can be and I sure as shit aren't moving to Vermont or California. There are liberal conservatives parts of every state, hell, even cities (This is also a basis for my support of eliminating the electoral college, but there's another argument). Perhaps we divide ourselves into communities, but we've always done this as it is and, even then, people might be surprised at the variance in ideology. I grew up (partly) in a small town in the Midwest and plenty of my friends and classmates are of the lefty variety. We've always been like this and probably always will.
<0.5% Victim of Rape 3% Fetal Health Problems 4% Physical Health Problems. 4% Would interfere with education or career 7% Not mature enough to raise a child 8% Don't want to be a single mother 19% Done having children 23% Can't afford a baby 25% Not ready for a child 6% Other I don't think all D&Es (or D&Cs) are considered abortions, just because it is the same medical procedure, it doesn't count in the abortion stats.
In a sense, yes. It's good when we use this to pursue some monumental, seemingly unattainable task with bravado and gusto, going to the moon or similar,which should make something like dealing with climate change right up our alley. It's a negative when we become arrogant and think the rest of the world doesn't have anything to offer, or, worse, matter. Tenny's unfettered-type love of American Exceptionalism has always been more complicated to me.
why would the stats make me feel bad? it just seems like I hear of miscarriage/medical-related abortion as being higher.