The Daily Radar
Monday, 26 June 2006 | 87 readers so far
Social Isolation Growing in U.S., Study Says
Freedom Democrats wonders about a recent study that concludes social isolation is growing in the U.S. The decay of American culture? I don’t know. I would call it an unhealthy shift towards stupidity. I blame the growth of the nanny state coupled with what I consider foolish use of technology.
Whereas nearly three-quarters of people in 1985 reported they had a friend in whom they could confide, only half in 2004 said they could count on such support. The number of people who said they counted a neighbor as a confidant dropped by more than half, from about 19 percent to about 8 percent.
Seems to me a lot more people are hiding behind keyboards and LCD screens or relying on their glowing TV tubes to keep their minds occupied. Lots of time on the Internet can be good or bad. I suppose that depends on your subject matter and the amount of two way talk that is going on. Someone who is addicted to downloading porn, for instance, is getting a totally different and completely non-social experience from someone who spends most of their time in an amateur astronomy chat room. Sadly, most people seem to favor the porn downloading to the other. Lots of time in front of the TV is plain unhealthy. While some of us continue to grow intellectually the trend is toward dumb.
Iraq the Model comments on Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s reconciliation plan.
It seems like this plan represents a real will for reaching a form of understanding among the different rivals in this country to make the country move forward and build the country without having to resort to violence through adopting dialog and talk instead of violence and alienation.
However, this honest will is not be enough to make this project succeed unless it’s combined with a workable formula and here I think insisting on classifying armed groups and declaring some of them as “honorable resistance” and legitimizing their acts while they are yet to recognize the new political system and drop their weapons is totally wrong.
The violence has to be stopped somehow. Forgiveness is one method that could work, I suppose. I for one, am not a fan of forgiveness where crimes of violence have already been perpatrated. Punish criminals and terrorists, while finding ways to encourage those who haven’t yet become such by their deeds to be constructive instead of destructive.
‘Homegrown terrorists’ arraigned in court
Outlining an alleged plot to bomb the Sears Tower in Chicago and a federal building in Miami, Gonzales told a Justice Department news conference: “They were persons who for whatever reason came to view their home country as the enemy.â€
I’m pretty sure I know the reason. Can you say Islamic religious fanaticism kids? It’s worse than any other kind of religious fanaticism, because, taken as a whole, it is more prevelant and more violent, and thus the primary threat to world stability that I’m aware of in the year 2006.
Saddam believes U.S. needs his help
Saddam Hussein believes the United States will have to seek his help to quell the bloody insurgency in Iraq and open the way for U.S. forces to withdraw, his chief lawyer said Sunday.
Good luck with the whole living in a fantasy world thing, Saddam. Iraq needs your help like a crack addict needs a nicer pipe from which to smoke the product. If God was actively meting out justice, Saddam would drop dead of a massive embolism today. Of course, I don’t suppose I know what God is thinking. And neither do you.
Israeli tanks entered the Gaza Strip after Hamas militants tunneled into southern Israel, launching an attack in which they killed two Israeli soldiers and took one hostage.
The uncharacteristically sophisticated abduction, nine months after the army withdrew from Gaza, evoked Hizbullah’s kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers within months of Israel’s exit from Lebanon in 2000. But in this case, Israel sees itself as free to reenter Gaza to punish the recently elected government that it considers to be led by terrorists.
Maybe fences don’t work so well after all.
The attack came just hours after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza to finalize an unprecedented agreement on sharing power that includes a moratorium on attacks inside of Israel, precisely like Sunday’s raid.
Neither side is pure, but the Palestinians aren’t helping themselves any by continuing to pursue violence as a means to solve their problems and greivances. They’re completely outclassed militarily speaking and Isreal has a history of coming out on top.
1 June 26th, 2006 at 9:32 pm
Elizabeth says:
Re: Social isolation. That’s sad. I’m not sure whether technology is to blame. I think rather it may be that people have to work such long hours just to make ends meet, they no longer have time for bowling leagues, meeting for drinks after work, etc. Also, so many people can’t afford housing near metropolitan areas that they are moving farther out to more isolated areas and are spending three or four hours a day driving in their cars to and from work. Then they come home, eat dinner and go to sleep.
I just posted something on my blog related to the reasons for terrorism, one of which I believe is the increasing alienation in our country and the increasing gap between the rich and everyone else…
2 June 26th, 2006 at 9:39 pm
Elizabeth says:
I just realized the article you linked to said pretty much the same thing I said..I guess it’s obvious…by the way, if you have never seen it, the film “Taxi Driver” is a classic in terms of showing how alienation can contribute to violence.
3 June 26th, 2006 at 9:43 pm
Trevor says:
I thought there had always been a gap between “the rich” and “the poor.” What has made it increase? If anything, America’s middle class is bigger than it ever has been.
True, taxes are way up, but so is materialism. I commute two hours a day when I’m not fighting wars. I do it because I don’t really want to live in a city. My wife and I wanted land. Now we have acreage.
How can you blame terrorism on the gap between rich and poor? I’ve been poor and I didn’t attack anyone. Being poor is not an excuse for murderous behavior.
4 June 26th, 2006 at 9:47 pm
Trevor says:
I would like to hear more about how alienation can lead to inhuman behavior though…that sounds more plausible but is still inexcusable.
5 June 27th, 2006 at 12:53 am
Elizabeth says:
Trevor:
“I thought there had always been a gap between “the rich†and “the poor.†What has made it increase?”
The growth in the gap between the rich and the poor took off during the Reagan years, due to changes in the tax structure primarily. I’m surprised you don’t know this, since it has been widely reported in the media and elsewhere. I think the gap may have leveled somewhat during the Clinton years. Now it is growing again. Bush cut taxes for the very rich, but taxes have not really decreased for the middle or working classes. You think taxes have increased? I guess you don’t know any rich people. My father is a multi-millionaire and he can’t believe how much less he is paying under Bush. You and I, however, aren’t seeing this benefit from the IRS, because we are ordinary people, in other words, not Bush’s constituents.
Lower-wage workers’s wages have remained stagnant at the same time that their taxes have not decreased, leading to a net loss of income due to inflation.
How is it that you don’t know any of this? Bush’s tax cuts for the rich have been widely reported.
6 June 27th, 2006 at 2:20 am
Dale says:
Trevor, the middle class is shrinking not expanding. Outsourcing and offshore work have been huge contributors. Mfg jobs and customer service phone work are going overseas.
Dale
7 June 27th, 2006 at 11:38 am
Trevor says:
Dale,
Neal H. Rosenthal says the middle class is “holding its own.” I’m somewhere in the middle class and I am holding my own. If manufacturer and customer service work are going overseas then I would recommend that we all start training for other careers.
Elizabeth,
Lower wage workers wages remain stagnant because lower wage workers are not very skilled at anything. Some people would say hmm, I’m making $6.50 an hour, what can I do to change that. Education? Job skills training? But you appear to want the government to fix it for people by taking more money as a percentage of income from the rich and redistributing it to the poor. That’s wrong - it’s theft.
Bush’s tax cuts for the rich are fine with me. If the tax is 10%, it should be 10% of whatever you make no matter who you are. The graduated sliding scale that punishes achievers is bullshit.
8 June 27th, 2006 at 12:49 pm
Elizabeth says:
People who make 1,000 times more than other people are not working 1,000 harder. Nor are they 1,000 times smarter. That isn’t possible. How are they making 1,000 times more money? Think about that for awhile..
Not everyone is capable of going to school and learning more skills. The average IQ is 100. You need an IQ of at least 90 to be a skilled worker. Where does that leave all the people who have IQs of 80? That’s a lot of people. Furthermore, if no one can make a decent wage doing unskilled or semi-skilled labor, then no one will do that work (if they can’t get a better job, they will just become criminals). Who benefits from this scenario? No one benefits, we all suffer. Thus why would we want to have such a society? It doesn’t make any sense. Even rich people don’t want to live in a society in which no one is willing to pick up the garbage, it collects in the streets and every time they go out they have to have an armed guard so they don’t get robbed.
9 June 27th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
Dale says:
Tevor, the article you cite talks about 1972 thru 1983 and then draws some parallels to 1995.
This is dated material and does not apply to 2006.
10 June 27th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
Trevor says:
Dale,
OK, here is an article that says the “middle class” did see a reduction in wages.
However, I personally did not experience a reduction in wages during the same time period, I experienced an increase. Had I experienced a reduction, the first thing I would do is look for things I could do to improve my marketability to employers. Blaming Bush for my problems seems counterproductive, since he plays such a small role in my life. I didn’t vote for him but I don’t resent him either.
In 2006, I’m more interested in reducing the government interference in my life than I ever have been before. Some may consider that ironic considering I’m also a full time government employee this year.
11 June 27th, 2006 at 10:21 pm
Dale says:
Thanks for this link. It is helpful. Dale
12 June 27th, 2006 at 11:26 pm
Elizabeth says:
Trevor, are you aware of who is trying to get the government to tap our phones and emails, read our bank records, bypass numerous laws, hold people indefinitely without charges, commit torture, and deny voting rights to black Americans? It’s Bush! Perhaps he seems to play a “small role” in your life currently, but since you claim that you are “interested in reducing the government interference in my life” I’m surprised that you are so unconcerned about Bush and his cronies…is it that you think, “well those things are happening to other people, not to me”? Well Trevor, it starts with other people! By the time they get around to you…you won’t have a chance…
13 June 27th, 2006 at 11:35 pm
Elizabeth says:
So, Trevor, you still haven’t told me whether you think the CEO who made $30 million last year worked 1,000 times harder than the junior police officer who made $30,000. Well, of course, the police officer could get more skills and get a better job…he could go to law school and become a corporate lawyer, and make $170,000 a year! But then–who would be a police officer? Well, the rich won’t have to worry–they can hire their own private bodyguards and even start their own private armies…who needs police!…I can’t afford that so I guess I’m screwed, probably literally…gee, Trevor, do you think the CEO making $30 million a year maybe got that money by…ripping people off? Like consumers and shareholders??
14 June 28th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
Trevor says:
Elizabeth,
I think most athletes in professional sports are drastically overpaid but I’m not campaigning to legally limit their salaries anymore than I am going to campaign to pay all cooks a set fee.
You are entitled to whatever salary you are able to negotiate legally.
If companies are breaking the law they should be punished. If they are lying they should be punished. Other than that, I don’t think I have a right to take other people’s money away from them.
Working 30 times harder for your money isn’t the issue. If the only factor in how much you are paid had to do with how hard you work, I would be making millions for producing this blog.