Or at least the US…we’ll work on the world next week.
10,000 members is a pretty strong force to be reckoned with. I say we use that power for something useful out in the real world. We all sit here bitching about one subject after the next. Well, let’s do something about it! Let’s change a few laws around here. Let’s team up and write in to Congress and ol’ William Jefferson Blythe about a law we want changed. Can you image the headlines? Illegal substances gone (“Dopers eliminates Drug Problem”), or Prostitution a thing of the past (“Cecil solves She sells down by the shoe store”)!
We’re intelligent, we’re persuasive, and gall darnit, we’re all as annoying as hell when we don’t get our way.
So…the only question remains: what law do we want to change first?
I do realize that you may have meant this as a tongue-in-cheek thread.
In case you are serious, I would like to say that we change the world one person at a time. I believe that if each one of us did the best they could whenever they could, the world would be an idyllic place.
I volunteer because I want to make the world a better place. I try to be courteous because sometimes when someone receives courtesy, they pass it on to the next person they interact with. I forgive because when you hold onto anger, it hurts you more than the person you are angry with. I smile at strangers because sometimes it makes their day to have someone smile at them.
Most of the time, being kind is easy. It is so little to give, and means so much to some of the people who receive it.
I know that some of you will think I am a sap. I don’t care. I try to move through this life with love, and if I get hurt along the way, at least I will know that I tried to leave this world a little better than it was when I entered it. I pray that I succeed.
I think that we should all get tax deductions for fighting ignorance by posting to this message board.
Cecil, of course, should be completely tax exempt, if not declared a National Treasure.
a) There aren’t 10,000 people here. Some registered to post once in the Comments Forum then left, some stopped coming, etc. The usual guess at the number of active posters is 500, I think.
b) We don’t agree on anything. Have you ever been to Great Debates? I’d be very surprised if you could find any issue all Dopers agreed on.
c) A lot of people here are already trying to change the world, like matt_mcl. Except he’s trying to change the world, starting with Canada.
d) A lot of regular posters don’t come to IMHO, and won’t see this call to arms.
Those are just excuses, Yue Han. Excuses, Excuses, Excuses. Well, excuses never built Rome. In fact, that’s precisely the reason it wasn’t built in a day. Nothing good ever came from excuses with the possible exception of me getting out of having to do work.
In a somewhat serious tone, I know it ain’t gonna happen, but we could really accomplish something if we put our minds together. I think this board brings together some of the greatest minds on the internet. I think that’s plainly evident just by reading many of the posts here. Further proof can be seen by going to other message boards and looking at the feces that passes for intelligent conversation and correct grammar usage.
With varied and colorful backgrounds, different ethnicities, different religions, different sexes, different native languages, we still have at least one thing in common: our love for completely useless information, just for the sake of knowing it. Curiousity drives us…so let’s use that drive to move from the abstract to the concrete. I’m merely asking how. Perhaps there isn’t an answer. Ob-la-de Ob-la-da
I think that at a certain, predetermined time each day, all of us should take a few minutes to pray, meditate, or otherwise think positive thoughts about our unified goal.
