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JackBP2001

Listed below are comments made by JackBP2001 between Monday, 13th October 2008 and Wednesday, 5th November 2008.

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Stretching America 5:26pm on 05 Nov 2008 to Mark_WE:

I could be wrong, but I think its the widest margin in popular vote since 1964 when Johnson got elected after the Kennedy assassination.
Stretching America 4:06pm on 05 Nov 2008 First I must say what a happy day this is to be an American. I am only 19 years old, much too young to have witnessed Martin Luther King. This is the first time I have felt this kind of pride. To be in Grant Park with all those thousands of people - I'm choking up just thinking of it. People of all colors. Of all religions. Of all ethnicities. I can only hope that THIS is the America that wins out over the coming years.

As many seem to fear, and rightfully so, Obama may struggle to make any important changes. He is left with an economy in shambles, destroyed foreign relations, and a plethora of other failed policies of the last eight years. It is not just the last eight years though. It is Eisenhower's economic policy; produce more and more and more and try to sell it. It is Vietnam. It is all we have done to South America, to Indonesia, to the Middle East. We like to think of ourselves as the beacon of light. Great rhetoric sure but we have not at all lived up to that label.

As a young American though, there is hope that America is shifting. As a white American that grew up in a black area, I have love for all my black brothers and sisters. I have love for every person on the face of this earth. We are all one people, and I hope that it is this mentality that wins out. I will be fighting for it.

We all possess a desire for self preservation. Sometimes this desire manifests itself singularly through greed (Bush, Mugabe ect.) But it can also shine through communally, for the greater good (MLK, Gandhi). In a world that is physically deteorating, in a world where inequality and conflicts have always existed, this sense of community needs to prevail.

Obama may struggle, but his ability to mobilize this country has been truly incredible. His campaign collected email addresses and cell phone numbers. These could be used over the next four years to gather our opinions and thoughts. A government truly run by the people? Who knows? We have proven today that anything can happen.
Fast food nation 06:15am on 13 Oct 2008 Traveling through Europe this summer as a 19 year old American confirmed a suspicion I had previously held. That Europeans stereotype Americans. As someone that is very critical of American society, particularly the trend of politics since World War 2, I accepted these stereotypes as something that is sad but not surprising. I don't necessarily blame people for these opinions, but they are still uninformed and unfair. Throughout my trip I considered it my duty to reverse anyones negative stereotypes of today's Americans.

My dad moved from England to America when he was 30. Obviously, he taught me things that many other American children don't benefit from. Things like the importance of being wary of ethnocentrism, skeptic of the media, and skeptic of politics. It seems like many Europeans hold their stereotypes due to the fact that Americans elected George Bush not once, but twice. I must admit, this left me scratching my head as well. But thats just the point. Many, many, many Americans do not support Bush or any of his policies. He just barely won a majority in 2004, and he didn't win in 2000. The problem lies not in the people, but in the government that has slowly but purposefully moved against democratic ideals. The Republican party was able to turn the 2004 election into a fight for morals (abortion, gay marriage ect). They knew that if people voted based on the real issues, such as the war, the outsourcing of jobs, the corporitization of America and the widening wealth gap, and the many other real issues that I could continue to name, that they would lose the election. In fact, it would be a landslide loss.

It is true, there are many ignorant Americans. There are people that get their news from Fox and that really believe that Obama is a terrorist because his name rhymes with Osama. There are people that voted for Bush even after he lied to us about Iraq because he was against abortion. But what many don't realize, and what this blog is attempting to point out, is that there also exist millions of young, brilliant Americans that know the truth and are trying to change the world. America was created based on the ideals of freedom and equality, which means the foundation of America is the greatest in the world. The problem is, our society has never truly prescribed to these ideals. But let me assure you, there is still hope. There are those of us that want America to finally become what the rhetoric of our constitution laid out for us. There are those of us that want to spend our tax dollars on inner city education, aid relief to africa, ect and not on national defense and the Iraq war.

Again, the real problem is not the American people. The problems are the greedy CEOs, the corrupt politicians, and all the others that have manipulated the democratic system for their benefit. The problem is the "American Dream" that has been drilled into every Americans head. The idea that buying that nice car or that nice house in the suburbs or that diamond ring will bring you happiness. The problem is that most politicians don't care about the African Americans in the ghettos. "Statistics show they don't vote, so why should my policies help them?" The problem is the lack of accurate news that is readily available to us. Most people don't get their news from BBC or Al Jazeera. I could go on and on, but the problems of this society run much deeper than just a simple ignorance on the part of its people.

I apologize for the length and lack of organization of this post, but I'm procrastinating on a paper about the portrayals of the Iraq war found on BBC compared to Fox News so I'm in the mood to vent.

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