Burn your own flag?

Trickster, you can generally tell the state of someone's attitude by what they write, it has nothing to do with age, except that many of us may have the habit of thinking back to our lives at 15 and remembering how little we knew.

Its dangerous to think so highly of your opinions at 15, I'm trying to avoid it at 21. Its created a lot of monsters on Hipforums.

Anyway before you respond, i think you should read this post again, its spot on:

 

I don't put down opinions, I refute them and debate them. There's a difference.

Also, under this flag many good things have happened. A successful precedent for democracy, ending WWII, providing a livlihood for people who left Ireland dieing (potato famine; not a lovely life, but better than death). People want to move here for a reason; it's better.

You assume to much. My views aren't fascist because I support reverting Social Security, welfare, and other programs to their designed status. (I'llr emind you SS was originally for providing extra money for the elderly to stimulate the economy, not live off of). Just because I believe people don't take responsibility for their actions, and should recieve the result thereof isn't fascist. ITS RESPONSIBILITY, something hippies (among other groups) tend to lack. Protesting comes second to providing both for your nation and for your family. Like JFK said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Good advice. If all people took appropriate financial, family, and political action, most of today's problems wouldn't exist.

Yeah, it was juvenile, but I didn't want to write a conclusion paragraph, thanks

 

By the way, I used to be much more liberal, and with age gained more understanding. Please note I used to live in less than rich (read, poor) areas in SoCal. Don't assume I'm a rich white kid. Also, please note I've visited more countries than the vast majority ofpeople, and have more experience in other countries than most of you would assume.

 

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My point wasn't that toke trip's age had nothing to add, that he is somehow less intelligant, or that me being 2 years older is a big deal. I also didn't imply (at least not intentionally, sorry if you inferred it that way) that age = open mindedness. My point is that people could look at a 15 year old, OR a 17 year old, either one, and say "What do they know, they are just an ignorant teenager." By citeing what I was like 2 years ago wasn't to imply that it was several years ago. I haven't started changing my outlook on life until the past 7 or so months. My point was that age is something that usually indicate inexperiance, or a dependance upon other peoples thoughts until you are mature enough to form your own. Some people never do (like Bush for example, just like daddy...) and some people do at a very young age. The thing is that your age will show some ignorance (not stuppity, ignorance is NOT an insult it means just that you haven't learned something. For example, I am ignorant to about everything under the hood of a car), unless you prove otherwise. I also don't think that trickster being 26 or Dancer Annie being 23 is really much differant than me being 17 or TokeTrip being 15 because people in their 30's and older will look at Trickster and Dancer Annie as ignorant, just like a lot of people will look at TokeTrip and I for being younger.

By the way TokeTrip, please don't bring up ending WWII, because the atomic bombs were horrible devices that should have never been used on ANYONE, ESPECIALLY civilians!

 

Excuse me, but only an arrogant moron would look at someone in their mid twenties and think they're ignorant. You get to an age where there is an assume knowledge. Whether you've travelled, studied or whatever. YOu've been on the planet for 25 years which is a huge amount of time and while not as long as someone in their 40's/60's etc, it's enough time to discover things and have a worth while opinion. I know teens, twenty somethings, that have more worldly knowledge and insight than other years older because of the way their lives have taken them. Sometimes age can mean a nievity but sometimes not. All i know is, i would listen to a teen just as much as an older person. They can also teach you things, maybe because they can see the world a little differently than we do, like my age can for those older etc.

 

Would you rather the US have invaded losing both huge numbers of Americans, as well as even more Japanese? Or is that just okay.

 

The fact that everyone gets a vote from a certain age whether its 18 or 21 suggests to me that the opinions of an 18, 21 or 80 year old are all relevant because the X on a piece of paper can have a direct effect on what happens in your country.

Your parents and upbringing do have an effect on who you are, as do schooling, the television, your friends, the people around you and the things that you see.

My parents are Liberals. My best friend is a Liberal (he votes liberal democrats in the uk because they are going to legalize drugs, dumbass). I am a right wing conservative. (not to the point of being a xenophobe or racist, I do however feel the need sometimes to point out that white people can be as discriminated against as black people).

Its a difference of opinion that makes democracy work. Its the fact that you can have a difference of opinion that should make you proud of being American or British or Australian or Danish.

Age is not important. The ability to respect that someone may think differently to you whether you agree or disagree is very important. In a democracy everyone gets their say whether they are so far right that they are evil or so far left that they would happily take an ass raping for the fear of being called racist if they didn't.

 

You were going fine and actually making sense until you got up to that sentence. Poor Gary. You, as one of the most favoured races of people in the past 500 years, living in one of the wealthiest nations in the world...tell me how exactly are you discriminated against? I know you probably have a point, but that talk is so typical of right-wingers. The harm being that its often an excuse for racism, even subtle implicit racism, its all hate.

 

I def would NOT burn my own flag in a protest. My flag is a symbol of where I am from/my culture/my life/the way I live.

 

Thats what everyone has been saying, please elaborate.

I don't see how being born into the same nation as millions of other people is going to define you as a person. I don't believe we are are countries.

 

First of all its not hate. I don't hate black people for fighting their corner. I don't hate muslims, jews, anyone for getting what they think they deserve. We also have to fight our corner and get what is right for us.

The idea of racism is that people get treated differently because of their colour of skin or where they are from. Therefore as a world we are all striving to get to a point where noone is discriminated against.

As much as we push for the rights of other minority groups thee must be a sense of when to say stop because its discriminating against us.

Take the whole Christmas thing. Every year a little part of Christmas is taken away from us because the political correctness brigade suggests that it may offend other religions. This year it was the nativity play.

I know for a fact that most of the time it is not the minority groups complaining about this but the political correctness idiots thinking it might offend and this is what I wish to defend against.

A great example of the political correctness gone too far this year is that the pantomime "snow white and the seven dwarfs" must now only be called "snow white" because it may offend the vertically challenged. (little people?).

Aaaagh. The dwarfs in "snow white" happen to just be small but they also happen to be actual bloody Dwarfs. The whole reason some "little people" were called dwarfs in the first place.

Hopefully you get my point in some of this.

Take this danish cartoon business. What is printed in Denmark for Danish people is up to the press and government in Denmark.

If the cartoon gets printed in Germany it is up to the press in Germany and the German government.

it is not for the muslim community to say what the Danish people can and can't do unless it directly affects them.

Now muslims will say it does affect them because it abuses the name of their god but I would say to that "get a sense of humour". Why haven't the muslims targeted South Park yet or Eminem.

 

I would RATHER we didn't go to war in the first place! But since they did, they should have fought military against military. If every member of both military died, it would have been very tragic, but that is a risk you run when you go to war. You sign up (or get drafted) a good chance is that you are gonna die. It is bad enough they have to die. It is worse that they dragged civilians into it. It just shows me how careless our government is about citizens of other countries. Take my advice: Never EVER EVER trust the government about anything! They will lie and kill to get whatever they want (a fascist world impire).

 

Yes I do get your point, but DONT EVER call that discrimination. Its just political correctness gone too far...don't play the victim and upscale such trivial things to that level. You get my meaning?

The danger in such thinking is
1. It gives racist people further excuses for being racist
2. It downscales our own responsibility in trying to achive equality
3. Its just plain exaggeration

I am very passionate about this issue, when white people say that they are 'discriminated' against, it makes me want to puke. If you say that our traditions are under attack from political correctness, then i'm more likely to listen...but hardly do we suffer as much as other races.

 

My flag is too important for me to burn, it represents where I'm from and I'm proud of it. No way in hell would I show any disrespect towards it.

 

So what is your view on positive discrimination? This is where a government will pay a company extra for employing so many minority employees.

I don't see anything positive in that.

 

Listen, think. Who's responsible for such an occurence? Politically correct white people. I never said we should enact positive discrimination, and even if such a thing occurs, its nothing compared to the discrimination suffered by minority groups all the time. I know this is going to go on and on while you continue to justify your idea that even white people have a right to say we're 'discriminated against' in our own majority white countries.

Its ludicrous, get over it. You're not hard done by.

 

I don't think IMO that it is neccesarilly being discriminated against, I think it is just somewhat of a disadvantage. If I go into a place to get a job and it is between me and an African American, and we are similarly/equally qualified, the buisness is most likely going to hire the African American. But I am willing to sacrifice for this if it means that buisnesses will not be able to discriminate againt my brothers and sisters of other races, sexual orientation and the like. While I don't think that this is right, I think it is the only way, at least this close to the civil rights movement and a lot of people were openly racist until the 70's and 80's (although a lot of people STILL are, I dont' mean the KKK members, neo-nazis or anything, I mean just regular guys like Archie Bunker form All In The Family) and a lot of people still are racist but just silent about it. So for that reason, this is the only way we can ensure something near equallity, although it isn't equallity exactly. I think it is a sacrifice, as a straight, white male, I am willing to make for others who would otherwise be at a disadvantage.

 

I'd burn the american flag any day, but never any other countries flag (even if I lived in a different country). I'd do this because I think not just the government but a large majority of the people and even the "average american" or "standard american" is corrupt, bad, and inherently evil. We waste so much, we destroy the environment, we worship money, we suck. I hate america, when I turn 18 I'm moving to amsterdam or jamaica (AND NOT JUST BECAUSE OF THE WEED! everybody I mention that to says "you fucking stoner" but that's not why.)

 

lol... why do you want to move to those places then? I'm especially interested to hear why you would want to move to jamaica.