Hello ,
As my subject line says , I am Deeply Disapointed. Lately it has been seeming ,to me at least, that our whole society is based on LIES ; UNTRUTH & HIPOCRACY.Maybe it is because my job gives me plenty of tyme to think,I don’t know.I can think of how ,when we first came here,we were GIVEN land and HELP to survive by the Indians,and we repayed them by forcing them off their lands,at first I wanted to say stealing their land but that wouldn’t be true,they had no concept of land ownership,and if that wasn’t bad enough our leaders underwent a campeign of internment and genocide.
I have come to beleive that even though the " Constitution,"& "Bill of Rights"are a couple of amazing well written documents,they were only intended to be used as Enticements to lure settlers to the “New World.”
As an employee I am ethical and I don’t waste my employer’s money, i.e. they get a days work for a days pay.Yet the truth be known,I am treated as nothing more then tool,infact if slavery still existed I would have to refer to my self as a "field slave."No hope for any advancement .I have worked hard for a long tyme and yet I am no closer to the "American Dream,"than when I first started working.
I look at our recent incursion in Iraq and think that if our President did have UNEQUIVICABLE proof of WMD that would mean that he also knows where they are,that being the case I am sure the U.N. would have given our military the go ahead to make surgical air strikes to destroy these targets.
There is so much more I get really depressed thinking about it.Are there others who have similar feelings?
Nada - I’m wondering if you’ve been NadaHappyCamper since you signed on in 2001. I’ll grant you a certain amount of melancholy due to Seattle’s inclement weather, but still…if these things have had you down for a long time, I think you really ought to speak to a professional re: your feelings of hopelessness. I hope it doesn’t sound condescending, b/c I’m serious about that.
I agree that the items of which you speak are disturbing and depressing. Re: WMD and GWB, you’re not alone. I see it the same way. Take into account the tons of posts here from people who agree w/your views.
Re: being disappointed, the way I see it, the problems you list are only part of the picture. For every crap thing you can say about America (and there are a lot of them) there’s at least two good things with which it can be countered. Women’s rights, civil rights, the ACLU; the endless numbers of charities dedicated to accomplishing something positive. Religious freedom and freedom of speech.
Couple of days ago I started a similar post myself in Great Debates, asking about progress in the human race (I called it “Has the World Always been Fucked Up Beyond Repair”). Got a lot of interesting replies. My conclusion is that there’s always going to be a lot of crap in life to deal with, so you’d best spend some time just plain enjoying yourself.
I find it interesting that your post mentions only history/news items and a going-nowhere job. IMHO you need more. Follow a passion, so that when life sucks you’ve got someplace else to go. Music, art, writing, sports, scholarship. Serving others? There’s a wonderful organization working on housing for Native Americans called www.redfeather.org. If you’re not moving forward at work and accomplishing your dream that way, perhaps you’d want to try a different direction. One of the great things about this country, there’s an infinite number of ways of making your life meaningful.
Also, check out the movie “Harold and Maude”.
If I were you, I’d be pretty depressed that my spelling and typing are so bad. I don’t normally say anything about this, but if you are being paid based partly on those skills, that may be contributing to the situation you are complaining about.
That being said, remember how when you were a kid you thought you could do anything you wanted when you grew up? Boy, were you (and I) wrong about that. :rolleyes:
You can’t be serious.
Haj
To Fessie : About the DIVERSIONS you mentioned,the arts,volunteerisim,sports,etc. That is only turning a blind eye,to quote the Dylan song,"…how many tymes must a man turn his head ,and pretend that he just doesn;t see?"I appreciate the fact that you were trying to help me get my mind off the depressing things that are in this world ,but it doesn’t change the way things are.
As to the “feeling of hopelessness,” the o.p. was more intended to find like minded souls among the Straight Dope membership.
I appreciate yours as well as everyone’s reply.THANK YOU
whiterabbit : No ,spelling and typing are not job related skills for me.
Hajario : I am very serious.
I agree with you Nada. Life is very depressing and all of our activities are just diversions to keep our minds off of the fact that one day we will die and cease to exist. (of course if I am diagnosed with cancer tomorrow , I will be back at daily mass talking to God, Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary & St. Jude)
And even if we were somehow able to get rid of all the assholes (Saddam, Bush, Gore, Clinton, Lieberman, Martha Stewart, Kevin Trudeau, the North Korean clown, and every murderer , child molester, rapist, ambulance chaser, dmv employee) , we would still have earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, SARS, and comets heading toward the earth.
So the trick IS to turn your head and pretend you don’t see. Life is a great big gag with no real meaning except LIFE itself.
I believe in a power that created it all, but doesn’t really care what happens to us once we are created. It could be some big science experiment.
But I do find that when I am depressed (more than usual) things get to me more. When I am well rested and just in my usual FUNCTIONING depression, I can divert my attention to other things and still function.
ps humans get bored easily because we have a highly developed nervous system and now we don’t have to run from large animals or hunt them for food so Fessie was correct in telling you to find a passion to get your mind off of all the bad things (or maybe this Is your passion) , I know it is mine a lot of the time. The trouble is, it leads to high blood pressure and all that cool stuff. Unless you can satirize it in novels like Philip Roth and Joseph Heller did. Of course both of them were bugfuck. Brilliant but bugfuck.
You sound bored.
Nada, keep in mind, too, that there’s been shit in the soup for as long as there have been people. Probably as long as there as been life. It predates you & will continue after you’re gone.
It ain’t your job to fix it all. Fix one small thing.
“We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.” - Mother Theresa
Bye the way, that last post i made was my 500th post. It has taken me over 3 years to get to 500 (some people here make it in 3 weeks) and I am now going to bow out at 500 because I have become addicted to this place.
I can get nothing done that I really want to do, because I come here and read and read and I admit I am fascinated with the intelligence and talent (and jealous) that I find in here.
I am also in love with Fessie AND Lolacocacola. There, I said it!
And after last weeks “cigarette” thread that got way out of hand and caused me to make a rather large error as I participated in it and tried to work at the same time and then I got scolded by not just a moderator, but an administrator, I am choosing to leave on this, my 500th…
wait, if that was my 500th, then this is…
never mind
Awwww, djf750, if ya loved us ya wouldn’t leave us!
sniff
You’re my only buddy on this board.
Don’t gooooooooooooooooooo!!! 
I am disappointed that you would think you have it bad enough to equate your situation to a field slave’s. Unless you’re a migrant worker picking strawberries for somebody, that’s one dealie of an exageration.
I get depressed too. I’m sad by the fact that I’m surrounded by poor, uneducated people. I’m sad that the streets are always full of trash. I’m sad that I’m so blessed and I’ve done nothing to deserve it. But then I try to get some perspective. It could be a lot worse.
Waidaminit, djf750, you can’t leave! I just got here & only just now figured out how to bold! Plus I didn’t get you your coffee & sugar yet 
ooh, now I smilied (I used to think that said “similes” and wondered why they had codes for “like” or “as”)
It is addictive, you’re so right - isn’t there some kind of stepdown program? perhaps a patch?
::insert pucker smilie here::
How could I leave you two?
And I even like Diane now!
I still don’t know hold to do bold. I just capitalize the whole word.
Ok, I’m staying until my 1000th post sometime in 2006. By then we will probably have one big world government and those flying cars like they had in “Minority Report”
Nada, existence sucks, but its funny so hang in there.
I understand that clinical depression can be debilitating and horrible though I have not experienced it. I honestly do sympathize with you. Nevertheless, comparing yourself to a “field slave” is shokingly ignorant. Unless you experience like 10 hours a day, six days a week of back breaking physical labor with no vacations, will be literally murdered if you leave the job, any children you have will be owned by your boss just for starters, you are in no fucking way like a field slave. For the love of god, stop wallowing.
Haj
YAY!!!
does Snoopy dance
