"Ask not what your country can do for you ..."

[IQ57]

Yet another world/word sale/salad of micromanagement .

Did I stutter?

Who reverts back to the latter?

When will it end?

You speak well but provide no solutions.

 

[Crovax]

You're into jingoism and against environmentalism, humanism, and wisdom.

I'm into Pina coladas and getting caught in the rain

 

[IQ57]

I'm into Pina coladas and getting caught in the rain

Ever dance with the devil in the pale moon light?

 

[Craig234]

JFK was a good orator and his speech sounds good on the surface. I just read the whole speech. He played both sides quite a bit. One example:

"Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed."

Good observation. The way I describe JFK's speech is that he tried to package peace in cold warrior language - for example, the title of his book of speeches is "The Strategy of Peace". "The strategy of" has a cold warrior-like strong sound - but it's of "peace". That was the political tightrope he walked when the nation demanded a cold warrior (following Eisenhower). The country wanted peace - on our terms.

His speeches, with his speechwriter Ted Sorenson, are filled with that sort of double-language of the 'never negotiate out of fear' - the cold warriors loved that part - 'but never fear to negotiate'.

 

[IQ57]

Interpolated intermingling of the finest sort. Do you feel you are getting the run around? Would you like to have a conversation? Say when……

 

[Craig234]

JFK was a good orator

Trivia: he developed that by spending a long time practicing trying to sound like Churchill. IIRC he'd sit alone with recordings of Churchill practicing.

 

[IQ57]

 

[IQ57]

No daisy at all.

 

[IQ57]

 

[IQ57]

Say when,

 

[IQ57]

The MAGAnatude of what you are dealing with is yuuuuuge!

 

[IQ57]

You won’t know what hit you until it is too late.

 

[IQ57]

 

[IQ57]

 

[holbritter]

"And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

It's not the early 1960s anymore. I never did buy that line. It's very outdated. The better line for the modern era is:

My fellow environmental and humanistic Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you - demand that your government stop destroying Earth and stop dominating the globe economically and militaristically."

I wish I could write a nastygram to congress, file a nastygram with my federal income taxes, and opt out of all of the destructive the USG does.

You can.

 

[Rexedgar]

“Peace, love and understanding”

 

[Luckyone]

"And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

It's not the early 1960s anymore. I never did buy that line. It's very outdated. The better line for the modern era is:

My fellow environmental and humanistic Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you - demand that your government stop destroying Earth and stop dominating the globe economically and militaristically."

I wish I could write a nastygram to congress, file a nastygram with my federal income taxes, and opt out of all of the destructive the USG does.

Unfortunately for your wishes to be accomplished, you need to change human nature and change it on both sides (government and the people themselves). Fear, greed, search for power, desire to do what is best, understanding equality, knowledge, etc have to change.

In addition and probability more importantly, the ability to compare and measure the benefits or negatives and understand that the best we can ever get is to have more benefits than negatives (as negatives will always exist everywhere) is what needs to be done.

As an example of what I am saying, would you rather be here in the U.S. or in China, Russia, or just about most other places in the world?

 

[Antiwar]

Unfortunately for your wishes to be accomplished, you need to change human nature and change it on both sides (government and the people themselves). Fear, greed, search for power, desire to do what is best, understanding equality, knowledge, etc have to change.

In addition and probability more importantly, the ability to compare and measure the benefits or negatives and understand that the best we can ever get is to have more benefits than negatives (as negatives will always exist everywhere) is what needs to be done.

As an example of what I am saying, would you rather be here in the U.S. or in China, Russia, or just about most other places in the world?

View attachment 67381401

I was with somewhat with you till the end. I don't buy the 'human nature sucks' bit. No, most human nature is good or not horrible.

For the last part: The overwhelming majority of nations aren't misbehaving. The USG allowing free speech and dissent (to an extent) doesn't negate the fact that the USG's "we're good world cops" behaviors use barbarity and the threat of barbarity.

I'd rather the USG stop fomenting barbarity; stop selling barbaric weapons; stop propagandizing that barbarity is justice; etc; etc.

A significant part of the USG is a military machine. Federal income tax revenue pays a significant part of that. American workers are used to fund the world's largest military machine. I wish my federal income tax money was going toward positive solutions instead of perpetuating very negative problems.

There are good solutions.

 

[Noodlegawd]

All industrialism is destroying Earth. US militarism is the engine for American industrialism, that engine burns fossil fuels, is a massive polluter, and has gargantuan opportunity costs. There's a reason they call it the military-industrial-congressional complex.

Yawn. Spoken by a hypocrite using a computer, created through "industrialism."

 

[Antiwar]

Good observation. The way I describe JFK's speech is that he tried to package peace in cold warrior language - for example, the title of his book of speeches is "The Strategy of Peace". "The strategy of" has a cold warrior-like strong sound - but it's of "peace". That was the political tightrope he walked when the nation demanded a cold warrior (following Eisenhower). The country wanted peace - on our terms.

His speeches, with his speechwriter Ted Sorenson, are filled with that sort of double-language of the 'never negotiate out of fear' - the cold warriors loved that part - 'but never fear to negotiate'.

It was a more eloquent version of "speak softly, but carry a big stick."

That big stick was a nuclear arsenal in the 1960s; became two gargantuan nuclear arsenals in the 1980s; we drastically reduced the two nuclear arsenals some years after that; but we still have two massive and massively stupid nuclear arsenals; and a few others are trying to be members of the big idiots club.

The obvious solution is to abolish all nuclear weapons. The "but they won't" reason given for not abolishing all nuclear weapons is bogus.

 

[Antiwar]

Yawn. Spoken by a hypocrite using a computer, created through "industrialism."

I have to be perfect and perfectly out of the overwhelmingly dominant industrial system that one can only truly escape by being dead?

 

[Antiwar]

You can.

Maybe. With what repercussions?

 

[Antiwar]

“Peace, love and understanding”

Are you an advocate for the opposites: war, hate, and confusion?

 

[Craig234]

That big stick was a nuclear arsenal in the 1960s;

The basic history of the military in that period is that Eisenhower wanted to lower military spending, and he moved the US to rely enormously on a hair-trigger nuclear response as our only option. JFK rightly saw this as incredibly dangerous and perhaps his top priority entering office was to chance course and create more robust conventional military response options to help prevent nuclear war - over the objections of the Pentagon.

 

[Questerr]

All industrialism is destroying Earth. US militarism is the engine for American industrialism, that engine burns fossil fuels, is a massive polluter, and has gargantuan opportunity costs. There's a reason they call it the military-industrial-congressional complex.

Yet for some reason you never are willing to put the blame on the root cause: Capitalism