@Omnedon It is “The Democratic Party”, please don’t use “The Democrat party” to show disrespect like Republicans do.

I hate to be the one to break the news, but our republic is already gone. It was taken over by two groups the KKK and the NAZI party years ago. They just took control 4 years ago. Enjoy the last days of “freedom”.

@Detritus Do you vote?

@Omnedon HUGE DIFFERENCE between the two parties. The real problem is, liberals do not VOTE! Why they don't is a mystery.
Oh you can think of all kinds of 'reasons,' but they are meaningless compared to the bald-faced fact they just don't seem to care.
Say what you will about conservatives...they VOTE!
That's the simple truth of the matter.
And if they don't care, there's really not much more to say, is there?

@Storm1752 yes, not that it does any good.

@Omnedon Oh I don't know...W., Cheney, et al., killed hundreds of thousands and irreparably upended an already hopeless Middle East.
Too bad we couldn't have at least taken over the Iraqi oil industry, as planned.
(Oh...just checked: Western oil Giants have moved back in after being shut out since 1973.
Mission Accomplished!
Iraq has oceans of oil, second only to Saudi Arabia, so...
Well done!)

@Omnedon Oh...well I stopped following the news after he got elected, so not up to speed on all that. I'll take your word for it.
But for sheer greed and criminality by the oligarchy, W.'s hard to beat.

@Omnedon You mentioned not being too into politics. That said, watch the ‘false equivalency’ that's unfortunately become rampant.. Most of those claiming “they’re both the same” regarding party politics in the USA know very little about either party. Take if from someone with loads of experience - there’s a shit load of difference(!).

@Varn, the parties are like day and night. Like you, it amazes me some otherwise (apparently) intelligent people say they are similar in any way.
They (apparently) know close to nothing about the situation in which we find ourselves, on the brink of ideological Civil War, with practically NO cooperation between the two warring camps.
Risking very little exaggeration, Republicans are now lying about anything for an advantage, corrupting our electoral system, running amok over civil liberties, debunking science, doctoring textbooks, making a mockery of the separation of church and state, debasing the free press, silencing critics, the list goes on and on...and for what?
To further empower and enrich the ruling elite, and strengthen a fascist oligarchy, leaving ordinary people bewildered and impoverished.
It is disgraceful what is going on, which is why I've stopped following current events.
The scary thing is, it could get much worse.

Swedes have this lovely worldview of "lagom". Meaning "just enough" or "just so". Not too much, not too little Never outstanding. Whereas Americans have this "it's all about me" perspective. When you interview for a postion in Sweden, you don't talk about personal achievments, you talk about group achievements. I prefer Sweden.

@Kymmacg sounds great. People who have never lived in a society like that generally just have no idea. I think the greatest thing America could do for world peace would be to require all students to spend at least a year out of the US living in several different countries a few months at a time. Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East.

@prometheus I love your idea that college students should live outside of the US for a period of time. It's a great idea.

@Kymmacg I never realised I was Swedish, there you go lols, another nationality to collect.

@prometheus many Brits have gap years between college/ school and Uni where they travel. Many Aussies back pack. Plus in both of these cultures there are exchange programs where school age kids swap parents with a child in another Country in order to study and live there for a period; it tends to be a European or Asian(oriental) families that swap.

@girlwithsmiles unfortunately that's not too common in America - unless you have rich parents or feel inspired to do a voluntary service overseas kind of plan. The only kind of travel I hear kids obsessing about is spring break where they focus on a couple of weeks of intense hedonism in some remote beach or lake location like Cancun - and it's only overseas so they can escape US licensing restrictions. Not exactly the kind of eye-opening world travel I had in mind.

@Omnedon No anger or ire at all, as least none I felt or tried to communicate.

To me I was simply being technical, as specific as possible.

"There's a lot of anger and disagreement about almost everything", I see this as a sympton of tribalism, of which religion is but one aspect. I am not very tribal, I prefer trees to most humans.

I simply meant to point out that even among Atheists there is not some uniform agreement. Plus that is a very common steriotype placed upon Atheists in general and myself more than I can count. The language and terms are evolving in real time, and that irks a lot of people who oft pigeonhole me into a claim I am not making and never have made, that there is no God. Hell, I don't even have a clue what most folks mean by that term, and on closer inspection neither do they.

@Omnedon You were correct in your statement.. The detractor has an agenda of denial when it comes to Atheists. We do not believe in a god … so carry on

My grandmother used to say that all the time. I have to laugh now.

Churches have been fighting for eons … with their main shared concern being their fear of ‘non believers’ (us).. Brilliant deductions, though.

The “sociopaths and psychopaths” are deadly, and it appears society - even so-called civilized society - continues to fall for them Our only hope is education, as you’re doing.. My youngin’s learned all kinds of psychology & sociology in both high school and college, and were/ are quick to identify it. My age group ..not so much. Hopefully, if it’s recognized, it’s avoided…

"The statement, "All men are created equal," (initially conferred only to white male landowners) has been expanded to include women and all races and creeds."
Has it? As a member of a minority, women, I challenge that. Is there any legislation that directly deals with male healthcare? Is there a reason why egalitarianism has not been legally codified for women?

@Kymmacg Understood, and I accept your point--the brush I was painting with was perhaps too broad. That said, the Declaration of Independence is not a legally binding document, and the point I was trying to make was that rights once attributed only to property-holding white men have been expanded, not that we've arrived.

I recognize that the struggle for full equality has been a never-ending one, occuring little by little, state by state, law by law, and ruling by ruling. I support the ERA, which will codify the equality of women in the 'law of the land.' I don't understand, however, how minority status may be ascribed to women in a country where females represent 51% of the population. Perhaps I'm missing something.

@p-nullifidian If I may redefine minority as other than it's most pedantic meaning?
"Minority, a culturally, ethnically, or racially distinct group that coexists with but is subordinate to a more dominant group. As the term is used in the social sciences, this subordinacy is the chief defining characteristic of a minority group. As such, minority status does not necessarily correlate to population." I'm sure you would not deny that, as a minority by this definition, women continue to be discriminated against on several socio-economic levels?

@Kymmacg While I don’t consider myself a pedant, I do feel that accuracy and consistency are important regarding terminology and definitions. I may be open to a broadened definition of a minority, however class would seem to be the strongest factor behind minoritarianism, as we appear inclined to allow ourselves to be led by plutocrats and even kleptocrats. Votes effect change or maintain the status quo, and 10 million more women than men voted in 2016. But when presented with the opportunity to elect the first woman to be president, 42% of the female vote went to a misogynistic grabber of female genitalia!

@p-nullifidian If I may inject humour into our oh-so-serious topic....
Stockholm Syndrome???

@Kymmacg Your humor holds a somber and unfortunate kernel of truth. In the context of our conversation, the Stockholm Syndrome may be seen as equating to gaslighting--the psychological and perhaps physical intimidation of women at the hands of men. I find such a concept as unbearably cruel.

I looked up the definition of "creed". As in the latin base. Our word credit is based on the base.

I find the oft repeated meme that social media (or the internet) creates isolation somewhat jarring. We existed for millennia without social media and the internet, never understanding or even knowing about other opinions and cultures, but now this tool that allows us to communicate with people around the globe is supposedly making us more isolated?

Whether we label them a club, or a church, or a political party, what we blithely call echo chambers have, and probably always will exist. People are most comfortable when sharing their commonly held ideas and, yes, prejudices. This is just part of what makes us human. Our ability to better discern, collect more data and to analyze it doesn't necessarily present a new trend. Just because we may now see the landscape in greater detail doesn't mean that the land itself has changed.

@Omnedon @p-nullifidian Omnedon is on track with what I am implying. P-null, while we are more connected to people at a distance, we are biologically predisposed to deeper and longer connection to those immediately by our side. Effectively, quantity cannot replace quality. The isolation I speak of is the isolation from your neighbors and community and in-person, which is what humans are primed to respond to, with positive brain chemicals and feelings of connection. On-line connections are stevia compared to real sugar, hotwheels to a real mustang. Perhaps a more succinct metaphor is empty calories to good calories. When the gov't puts Cheetos and Doritos on the "available with food stamps" list, but not fresh broccoli, people end up with diabetes, but felt full every step of the way. Social media is a diet of cheetos, and the equivalent diseases to diabetes is already being seen, with greater depression and anxiety in those who were raised on it.

@Omnedon I understand. We should recognize that social media and the internet in general act much like alcohol, apparently removing one's inhibitions and sense of propriety. But just like alcohol, it doesn't alter who we really are, at our core; rather it exposes it. Alcohol is nature's truth serum. A mean and vulgar drunk is but an exaggeration of who one really is, just as a happy and sensitive inebriate is an amplification of his/her personna. The internet tends to expose who we truly are.

@Omnedon, @APaleBlueDot I somewhat disagree with the notion that proximity is the key to connection. Mind you I live and have worked for decades in Silicon Valley, however I have many friends or co-workers who met on line, connected and eventually--sometimes after more than a year--decided to meet and later wed. Here, the connection was sparked and fueled without any face-to-face interaction. A distinction should be made between "Likes" or "ReTweets" vs. the intimacy that can occur over great distances via person-to-person interactions over this medium.

@p-nullifidian @omnedon In an effort to be above the board, I deleted a post of mine that was in reply to you (p-nullifidian), because it was a little off-base, and snippy to boot. I'm going to step out of this discussion with you. I get some of what you're trying to say, but we're coming from some very different angles. I think it is a mistake to imply that on-line interactions can be a 1-1 replacement for in-person interactions. It's simply not how the brain works. In our brains, 200,000 years of evolution, behavior, and interaction-types cannot be appropriately supplanted in 30 years by the offerings of the internet and the new ways we are communicating. Yes, there are similarities, but they fall far from being direct replacements. Cheers!

@OwlInASack Well said. You appear to be talking about Republican types, to whom decency, humanity, selflessness, and, esp. fairness, seem to be a joke. I have to avoid those people or not talk about anything meaningful that involves values, because they may as well be on a different planet from me.

@Omnedon Yes, I do think this. I have met very few Repub types who do not see those who seek equality and fairness as "losers" who should just shut up and be grateful for what they have as peasants.

@Omnedon if you support drump, IMO you either overtly or secretly admire his "work"/stance/outlook. To continue to like/admire/associate with those kinds of people is a personal choice which I cannot ascribe to.
He is without doubt the most divisive person on the planet. Before him, a thin but strong veneer of Commom Courtesy was expected...no longer.

@OwlInASack exactly, like trying to talk diversity and human rights with a Nazi

Really? His spy organisations are called GRU? Lols. (Sorry, it’s relevant to the Despicable series of cartoons, the name of the main protagonist ).

I find it entertaining and a good example of Darwins law.
There are people who also don't allow sex, I was told the Shakers are dying , the only way to sustain the number are new recruits. That doesn't sound like a great survival plan.

@PondartIncbendog , I thought the Shakers had died out. There's a Shaker village close to Bowling Green Ky. Friends and I went once. There are separate dorms for the men and women. The main staircases are even separate. I remember the tour guide talking about the separation being the main reason for the religions demise.

"Homo sapiens rule the world because it is the only animal that can believe in things that exist purely in its own imagination, such as gods, states, money and human rights."
Interesting. I must read it.

@PondartIncbendog it's an excellent tool and resource. I use it all the time.

Tribes

@Omnedon Its been going since the beginning of time when tribes got too large. All it takes is a little environmental stress and divisions will start.

@Omnedon, @Frannyfrann Monkeys!