05-22-2016, 07:17 AM
(05-22-2016, 12:54 AM)taramarie Wrote:(05-22-2016, 12:40 AM)Galen Wrote:(05-21-2016, 10:09 PM)Danilynn Wrote: there comes a point where it can't be fixed and is easier and more realistic to burn it down, knock it down and start over so that it does make sense, because eventually the damage is so great, like now. So I second the burn it down and start over.
The current system is going down and in general the Xers know this and they know who did it. Saving it is not possible and so Generation X on the whole will not try.
So, if they will not try it is up to the civics to do so huh? Pretty much sums up my frustration of the xers who i know of who like to whine but cannot be bothered doing anything about it. It is that lack of civic spirit in them that frustrates me. But least i now know what it is that is frustrating about them! Oh well, roll up sleeves fellow civics! We have a lot of work to do!
It's not that we won't or can't. But we are a small generation in comparison to the boomers and millies, realistically, our votes mean nothing in the grand scheme of things when stacked up against the mega generations on either side of us.
Gen. X was written off a long time ago, ergo, at this point, I and so many other gen X I know have resorted to almost a Christopher Titus stand up comedy of mindset....he has a line that says, no wait, this will be good. In reference to a kid sticking a fork in a light socket. So watching this is sort of our entertainment, stress, and vindication all in one.
It's not so much that I want to see it burn, so much as it seems inevitable. And the foreplay is tedious, do it already so we can rebuild it.
Every point Kinser made when saying what he wanted to see I can second.
Most especially the welfare thing. Charities at a local level not affiliated with the government do it a lot better and with much more dignity and compassion and less waste than what the government does. I have been involved in numerous charities in my little city. My church bought out an acre of land in conjunction with other churches across all denominations of Christianity and planted with all the youth groups a garden. All the food goes to the food banks, or did. Until the government stepped in and said that we couldn't give that out because it was "unchecked food of unknown origin", same with the safely preserved and processed deer meat, and safely preserved produce from other people's surplus out of small family backyard gardens.
So now, each youth group, just delivers this to people who used to come to the pantry. We still have it, but none of what we can give is really nutritious stuff. It is mostly canned and boxed crap that we are allowed to give out. So yet again, gen x, the main bulk of the people who run this little pantry had to come up with a way to get food to people to "rich" to get food stamps, but too poor to actually buy their food, mainly seniors and millies just starting out, and a few families.
We've been experimenting with a time bank style barter system to help people in our church. people who need say a plumber, but can't pay, donate however much time the plumber spends doing their work to someone else who needs it. We have seniors who donate it back in the form of driving youth groups around to donate food to our secret list of who needs the garden and deer meat and fresh caught fish. Or babysitting for the sweet young couple who's baby is sick and they need to work, and daycare is out of the question because of an ear ache.
My town is black, white and Mexican. And between the 12 churches of varying size, we have kept this place from falling into oblivion. Our town is actually re-vitalizing slowly in areas. But it has taken the stubborn, tattooed, weird hair-colored gen x that didn't play well with others to do it after infiltrating the church ladies and men's groups in numbers high enough to break it from social hour gossip society to one of action.
People come to us way before they go to government agencies after say, a house fire, an unexpected death with funeral costs. The reason why is because we fix it. We scout around and organize whatever needs doing and see that it gets done, locally. Our food bank is never hurting because of the way we run it. We have the government appeased with how it appears, and the community taken care of by how it actually gets done. We even have a totally free clothes bank, and furniture stored all over in everyone's sheds, barns, and garages, that is free for people truly in need after disaster. And here's the kicker, the government nearly killed our food pantry, for the sin of growing fresh food and giving it away to people who are hungry.