#136 - The eternal pessimist.

[reileen]

*reads about poor people being kicked out of their trailer park homes in the name of development at Slacktivist*

*reads about the thoughts of an ex-Marine officer turned peace activist on Truthout*

*reads about an illegal immigrant being held and subsequently forgotten in a cell with no food, water, or toilet at Orcinus*

The real world sucks. I wonder why I bother trying to live in it.

-Reileen
it's my life, it's now or never

Comments

[dantaron.livejournal.com]

lol, Rolling Stone. XD I'm not sure how reliable they are in terms of serious news articles like that (literally, I'm not that familiar with the magazine beyond that they were primarily a music magazine and dabble in some tabloid magazine). But... I'm guessing that's true. >_< In which case, holy shit. Some people need to clean up their mess.
But, you're right, for the most part. ^_^ Like the ex-marine said, for one you need to pay for the injured war veterans who are coming home - for example, say you got both your legs blasted off in an explosion - you get some disability for being a soldier, sure, but nowhere near enough to actually -support- anything, nor do you get the proper care. You basically'd just langour...
But, being Canadian, I know all about troops not being properly supplied. >_< Under Jean Chretian the military's budget was slashed to -nothing-... and as a result, or twenty-year old Sea King helicopters were literally falling out of the sky or crashing back down after lifting maybe, 15 feet? And then there was the electrical fire on a really old submarine which claimed the lives of some more Canadian soldiers, as well as us not having enough ships to patrol our own waters, and basically all around having shit-all to work with. =/
... well, depends on the soldier, in regards to baby-killers. I know there's a video on youtube of an Iraqi soldier throwing a puppy off a cliff, or so I hear. o_o
But essentially, you're right in most respects. ^_^; The Iraq war may be an exception to that rule, but still, keep in mind... Saddam Hussein carried a pistol for the express purpose of shooting any who opposed him, gassed Kurds and other people, his -own- people, by the tens and tens of thousands - remember all the mass graves? The very fact he was still in power at all was a slap in the face to the 'free world', so to speak, and only made dictators like Kim Jong Il even more audacious (on the flip side... they may still be so, 'cause America's busy with Iraq). America, methinks, may have done the right thing in going to Iraq - even if it was for the wrong reasons, and it's destroying the economy, oy. =/

If there truly was an enemy or tyrant like that, and he crossed whatever line the UN has set today... America wouldn't be acting alone in taking them out (or so one would hope). That's why we have the United Nations.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of jingo undertones, there, and in a lot of policies these days - personally, I'm all for world diversity. ^_^ But, how do you know where to draw the line between 'doing the right thing' and 'infringing on another country's sovereignity'?
As for the people part, that's very true - but there's always disgruntled refugees, and one can't always except the -government- to ask for help - in many cases, they're the problem.
However, as you pointed out, that's an idealist point of view - the real world doesn't always work like that (look at Sudan - they've had to pull out aid workers because the fighting's too intense, and Kenya, which up until recently was the second most stable African country, is dissolving into civil war - my friend in class just told a story about how her friend had to go to Kenya to rescue a relative, because militants had stormed a school, shot all the teachers, locked the doors and then burnt it with 300 children inside. o_o).
But... I honestly believe that by thinking of the idealist way, and striving for it... even if you don't succeed, you'll make the world that much better of a place. ^_^; Ideally, anyway. =D

XD Nah, don't worry about it! ^_^ It's good to have a skeptical/cynical point of view around - keeps us idealists in check, and 'sides, it's a good counterpoint. =)

[reileen.livejournal.com]

But... I honestly believe that by thinking of the idealist way, and striving for it... even if you don't succeed, you'll make the world that much better of a place. ^_^; Ideally, anyway. =D

Road to hell, bitch. XD

You idealists can be, like, the inspirational speakers and such to brainwash lead people to a worthy cause. Us skeptics and cynics bring the facts so that we all understand what we're getting into. It all works out!

[reileen.livejournal.com]

Aaaand my HTML fails.

[dantaron.livejournal.com]

Exactly. ^_^ It's a win-win relationship between us idealists and cynics.

Oh, when are you going to be on msn next? =( There's a few things I wanted to bug you/tell you, as well as sending you what's totally Sigma's fight song (the song "Dancing Mad" by the Black Mages, that prog-rock FF band).
Oh, well, I can tell you one right here. XD I haven't actually tried it yet, but I'm almost certain that BMJ DVD you sent me will work on my laptop - so all your hard work won't have been wasted, after all! XD