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(10-07-2024, 05:38 PM)Maxmars Wrote: I lean towards not blaming society directly... it's the people society have allowed to 'be in charge'...
of course you do. you're an american. thats what you've been trained to do. america is never a vile corrupt society oh no its always someone else whos the real bad guy. jesus. i mean, do you get whiplash from the cognative dissonance? face it, these blindeye bureaucrats, the billionaire island class, the awardshow tuxedoed couch trolls, the megarecord bling demons, THOSE ARE AMERICANS. you vote for them, herald them as stock marketwhisperer entrepeneurs, let them buy university wings, give them silver statues and glossymag attention BECAUSE YOU LIKE IT. because thats what americans like. because thats what american are like. theyre winners. until theyre not. then of course there something else, why not american at all but some weird corruption gosh who could tell how THAT could happen. you want to see how america wants kids to be treated? look at what happens to the young women in your porn. really look. thats america. oh theyre 18+ and thats all okay ha sure. that craps two click away from anyone on the internet that america built because THATS WHAT AMERICA WANTS and goddamn, goddamn you need to own it.
jesus.
"I cannot give you what you deny yourself. Look for solutions from within." - Kai Opaka
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(10-07-2024, 06:16 PM)UltraBudgie Wrote: of course you do. you're an american. thats what you've been trained to do. america is never a vile corrupt society oh no its always someone else whos the real bad guy. jesus. i mean, do you get whiplash from the cognative dissonance? face it, these blindeye bureaucrats, the billionaire island class, the awardshow tuxedoed couch trolls, the megarecord bling demons, THOSE ARE AMERICANS. you vote for them, herald them as stock marketwhisperer entrepeneurs, let them buy university wings, give them silver statues and glossymag attention BECAUSE YOU LIKE IT. because thats what americans like. because thats what american are like. theyre winners. until theyre not. then of course there something else, why not american at all but some weird corruption gosh who could tell how THAT could happen. you want to see how america wants kids to be treated? look at what happens to the young women in your porn. really look. thats america. oh theyre 18+ and thats all okay ha sure. that craps two click away from anyone on the internet that america built because THATS WHAT AMERICA WANTS and goddamn, goddamn you need to own it.
jesus.
Well... I don't want to exasperate you any further but... but we do have some things called an 'electoral process'.... 'a multicultural social order'... vastly different metropolitan and rural populations... and we don't just violently overthrow our elected officials, as the world's press might love to characterize us.
Yes, those people you describe do exist here... but I suppose those who occupy your equivalent positions of power are picture perfect, and not at all similar. I should envy you.
We are not the same... it's fine to be be proud of that... but don't be vain.
The corruption and social decay we are struggling here with is certainly no stranger to your home turf either.
But I don't think you like it anymore than I do... although evidently you propose that I (or perhaps all Americans) are gleefully acquiescent to this circumstance...
Congratulations on actualizing the perception that 'you have a bead on us.'
Nevertheless, whatever I am willing to "own" is in my mind, not anyone else's.
Many would refuse your characterization through argument... I simply recognize it as yours... and expect that your characterizations adjoin a narrative - a story you believe well enough to slide disdainful words to someone who simply exists in the setting of your narrative. I don't intend to struggle with that unknown and probably preferred outlook.
If you can really attribute this to "a people" instead of individuals, you can do what I can't.
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Okay well two points: first, I want to be clear that I'm in no way addressing this to you personally, or even to any specific American. I apologize if my tone seemed like a "shot across the bow", but as you know this is an issue that, really, we should get worked up about. Personally, I've found to you be unusually levelheaded reasonable and presumably moral and it's in fact thanks to you and the other staff here that this is a place where we can express ourselves to extremes and still maintain a mutual respect. Thank you.
Second, although I am a British citizen, I live here in the USA and consider myself just as much an American as you. This country has shaped me. I'm not excluding myself from my own criticism, and I'm not claiming immunity from hypocrisy. If I sound like I'm on a high-horse, rest assured that it is only because I've spent so damn long kneeling in the mud watching and participating in this shitshow that I really feel I have nothing to lose by taking an opinionated stand. I've been part of the problem.
America is such a strange country. What is a society? Is it merely the sum of the individuals that compose it? If so, consider American popular culture and society. It's crass, vulgar, violent, amnesic, inconsiderate and uncompromising. If that's the average, then 95% of the Americans I've met are, as individuals, above average. Kind, considerate, friendly, with a strong sense of right and wrong. How strange!
And I think it's facile to say there's a shadowy cabal somehow making us want the poison. Sure, I do think there are very evil people who set us up for the fall. But they don't force the poison down our throats. We take it voluntarily, somehow, with some degree of informed consent. The truth is there if we want to see it.
But most don't. It's just so easy to blame others. And being American means being given no end of choices about who to blame, who to hate, who to think "it's their fault!" rather than looking within ourselves and admitting the truth: in some way, this is what we wanted. We want these scapegoats. We want the spectacle. We want the sense of righteousness that a good old-fashioned forum rant can give.
And maybe that's not great, but it's okay. It really is. We're only human. And, I am somehow still an optimist. I believe we can have a better future. But I think it requires looking, really looking, at the society and world we live in, and the society of culture and psychology that lives within us, and being willing and brave enough to be as honest as possible. Owning our shit. That's always the first step.
"I cannot give you what you deny yourself. Look for solutions from within." - Kai Opaka
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(10-07-2024, 08:08 PM)UltraBudgie Wrote: ...
That's always the first step.
Truly, no need to explain as far as I'm concerned.
It got my hackles up... but then... maybe they should be up.
I have faced apathy and disregard from many people, including loved ones and esteemed acquaintances when I have said, "It's not the people's fault." But even I know that at some point, that concession doesn't quite satisfy in the face of the pain and suffering of others... and I know it really shouldn't.
But apathy and passive acceptance of the status quo is not what people are made of... and where so many young victims are concerned, even less so.
It merits some response, even an agitated one, especially when the subject rises to this level. I respect your passion.
(I only offer that I believe in extreme caution when casting guilt upon any person, let alone an entire community. But it is sometimes hard for me not to.)
If my response seemed too abrupt or overly rude, I apologize, I'm only human after all.
But I will admit, American people are well-conditioned to the spectacle... it's taken generations to imprint... and it definitely has.
If I may presume to advise: Optimism is a hard gift to bear - but it is both vital and precious - never lose it. It represents the kind of goal-seeking people should cultivate.
All I can say that's definitively "on topic" is that whatever the authorities are doing to stop this - it's not enough.
And if the federal government is complicit in a malicious way, then SOMEONE ELSE is not doing enough.
Clearly, this is NOT a "front and center" topic in the media... and if it was, the story would be immediately poisoned by partisan bullshit lickety-split.
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10-09-2024, 06:43 AM
This post was last modified 10-09-2024, 06:47 AM by Raptured. 
Watched these videos a couple of days ago and it's still resonating, and not in a good way.
It left me with a few questions, especially since this has been going on for decades.
SPECIFIC to child labor (not sex/organ trafficing)
WHAT ispecific ndustry, complex or system
- needs that much unlicensed, unregulated labor that they would require child labor
- has enough power and money that they can basically "own" our government oversight segments, allowing this to happen
- is able to do this on a massive scale yet is able to fly under the rader at the locations where this is occurring.
#2 is the big one of those points. The amount of money needed to buy off basically everyone, for decades now and go unnoticed .. certainly not some lettuce farms in CA
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10-09-2024, 10:27 AM
This post was last modified 10-09-2024, 10:31 AM by KrustyKrab. 
(10-09-2024, 06:43 AM)Raptured Wrote: Watched these videos a couple of days ago and it's still resonating, and not in a good way.
It left me with a few questions, especially since this has been going on for decades.
SPECIFIC to child labor (not sex/organ trafficing)
WHAT ispecific ndustry, complex or system
- needs that much unlicensed, unregulated labor that they would require child labor
- has enough power and money that they can basically "own" our government oversight segments, allowing this to happen
- is able to do this on a massive scale yet is able to fly under the rader at the locations where this is occurring.
#2 is the big one of those points. The amount of money needed to buy off basically everyone, for decades now and go unnoticed .. certainly not some lettuce farms in CA
They’re working in all the trades from the sound of it, eg; factories, food packing plants, textile companies, construction, meat packing plants and I’m guessing everything in between and wherever else they can get away with it. And then there’s the sex trade which there’s many that have been forced into, much harder to be tracked by authorities.
Here’s a article that goes into some of it
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/25/us/un...ation.html
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(10-09-2024, 10:27 AM)KrustyKrab Wrote: They’re working in all the trades from the sound of it, eg; factories, food packing plants, textile companies, construction, meat packing plants and I’m guessing everything in between and wherever else they can get away with it. And then there’s the sex trade which there’s many that have been forced into, much harder to be tracked by authorities.
Here’s a article that goes into some of it
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/25/us/un...ation.html
Thanks for the reply. That article is behind a paywall unfortunately.
Still...don't you think there would be some sort of outcry at a local level if kids were seen working manual labor in a building?
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10-10-2024, 03:43 AM
This post was last modified 10-10-2024, 03:45 AM by KrustyKrab. 
(10-09-2024, 10:58 AM)Raptured Wrote: Thanks for the reply. That article is behind a paywall unfortunately.
Still...don't you think there would be some sort of outcry at a local level if kids were seen working manual labor in a building?
You’d think wouldn’t you? ……but somehow they’re getting away with it. Why any of this isn’t plastered all over the news is baffling especially the sex trafficking of children.
I see it getting talked about extensively by Dr Phil and at certain congressional hearings by a handful of republican senators but oddly (kinda) enough not a peep from a single democrat. I think they know it would expose them in a negative light for flooding the country with illegals. Sadly this shouldn’t be a partisan issue as it appears to be. I can’t think of one democrat that’s spoken out against it.
Wow, that’s strange because you’re right about NYT being behind a paywall, that’s always shut me down from reading their articles but what’s strange was that I was able to access and read the complete article through a duck duck go link. But yes I just got the paywall when I hit the link. Really weird.
It basically covered some kids stories about them working in plants/factories and construction. I believe they were from the ages of 9-15 years old.
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(10-10-2024, 03:43 AM)KrustyKrab Wrote: I see it getting talked about extensively by Dr Phil and at certain congressional hearings by a handful of republican senators but oddly (kinda) enough not a peep from a single democrat.
I also wonder about that.
By the way, I don't really have a side when it comes to politics, I just want the truth to win.
If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter - George Washington
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Imagine being totally dependent on your employer for everything... food, shelter, daily survival... anybody feeling warm and fuzzy over the the scenario?
Now imagine your a child...
How this can be 'overlooked' by the politically expedient completely eludes me.
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