What will / do you fight for?

[IJesusChrist]

I've been going to many anti-governmental / socialistic / anarchistic meetings and teachings as of this fall. I have been repeatedly told about how opressive the government is, and how "bad" it is - and many of you have conspiracy theories of your own, some conspiracy facts. I live in the US myself and am very well aware of the arguements against the united states government and even those for it, but often I simply don't hear direct goals of which people want from the government.

So, I ask you, what is it exactly that you would like to be changed in your country? What is the reasoning and what's the better alternative? I in no way doubt that you all have very good, complex, and important reasons - so let me hear them!

I think we could all go for legalization of psychodelics and natural medicines, but besides this?

 

[ararat]

fucking balance the flow of money in the national budget. it enrages me how our politicians plan it.

universities here are going down the drain and lack a lot of money. I wanted to look up how much it is exactly, but I can't find it. a few weeks ago, our politicians announced that family assistance payments, off which many students live, will be shortened by two years. that means you formerly got them until you are 26, and now it's until 24. after that, you don't get anything anymore.
this is 4 fucking semesters, or students are forced to start working, if they don't do it already.
now, some people think that this is alright because then they will finish earlier and get in the job market. this doesn't seem alright because then many people will rush through their studies, which won't improve the quality of the education at all. also many will end their studies when they have their bachelor, and to really get into and understand something, you have to have time.

this shortage will bring 250 million € of saving. and at the same time they are planning to build a tunnel for 10-20 BILLION €. that's 10000 millions! for a fucking tunnel!
they argument the tunnel with words like "Future-investment for the good of our country". fuck all about that. if they want to invest for the future they ought to reorganize and renovate the education, since this is what helped Austria to get where it is, we don't have much resources, we have people who know stuff!
with the money they spend on that stupid tunnel, they could do so damn much for the universities, schools, public transport, alternative energies and whatnot.
if I remember correctly, the rector of our university said that they lack 600 million euros. there'd be still 9400 millions left.



however, I don't fight for it. I go to every demonstration there is (last year my face adorned the front pages of several newspaper in context with students protests ), but I lack the energy to be more involved and active for something such as this.

 

[spice]

"it enrages me how our politicians plan it"

well, they dont they're tools, pawns, puppets......let me try another way


politicians are the public faces of industry.


The reason why this tunnel is being built hasnt got anything to do with politics, the change in policies are not politicians doing, the politicians are TRULY puppets, every move choreographed, every phrase memorized, certain smiles from certain angles practiced and re-practiced....they are here as a distraction.

That tunnel is being built because someone stands to make a lot of money from it, period.


To the Op- How do you define 'fight'?

Do you mean, 'who will you pick up arms against'?

My answer is 'no one'


There's no point in fighting, time is short.


Get revenge by living well.


Hey, I like the sound of that

 

[Crimzen]

The current currency system is entirely fucked
we need to push the reset button
soon there will be more debt than there is money, theres already far too much debt to sustain us for much longer
we need to farm plants and less animals for the sake of our own health as well as the planets
we need to put far more money and manpower/thoughtpower into alternative energies
we need to not be so down on nuclear energy, theres literally no pollution from it, any waste can simply be shipped off to orbit the earth
we need to learn to recycle things properly, this is the way of the planet, if we make more waste than the earth has time to recycle its self than we need to balance it out outselves.
stop dumping garbage, any organic waste can be used as fuels or as fertilizer for farming/compost
anything we cant recycle should be crammed into a spaceship and put into orbit until we can deal with it, instead of polluting earth it will just sit there in space polluting nothing, add in some kind of bacterias and we can pick it back up when its all decayed

power needs to be given back to the people, not simply in the form of a vote, i dont know how, i didnt even finish high school, but we need to figure it out
im no communist (nothing against them) but we need to 're-distribute the wealth" its entirely unbalanced the poor are extremely poor and the rich feed off them/us, we work for money right? no we work for a small percent and give the rest to the people we 'work for' who then take a small percent and send it up until the top gets its cut of everyones pie
even if it only gets a crumb, it gets so many crumbs it can run its own bakery

i know there are problems but what can we do about them?
no one wants any kind of radical change, people dont want to be upset by change
fuck that we NEED radical change or things will remain the same and continue down this destructive path

*rant finished*

 

[Psyolopher]

I want peace&Love <3

 

[itsscience]

If you by "fight" you mean physical violence, then I will fight to protect my family and friends - that's about it.

The Beastie Boys will fight for the right to party so no problem there.

 

[kirara23]

Freedom of the press.

Kirara (from Italy)

 

[Sprax]

There are things I'd like to change, but imo the governments of the western world recieve far too little credit for what they get right. Look back a few hundred years, THAT'S bad government. In fact, we're constantly improving, even if it's a slow process - historically speaking, it’s actually very fast. Being a lawyer and actually knowing how things work - how the government and business are organized in certain ways, why they are, etc - I find it increasingly difficult to discuss politics, because while the average person has plenty of opinions, they do not tend to know how things work. For instance, I don't know how many times I've seen people oppose things that don't exist or already work the way people demand they should.

People will always complain. It's in our nature. The government is an easy target.

As for socialism. The communist regimes of eastern Europe - arguably an extreme form of socialism - were toppled by the people of those countries. My own country was ruled by a socialist government for almost 70 years straight. Personally I'm so sick and tired of hearing about socialist BS I can rarely be bothered to complain about it anymore. How everything good automatically comes from socialism, despite most of Europe having a similar development regardless of government. Conveniently forgetting about cooperating with states like the DDR, or trying to ban foreign tv. The worst part of socialism seems to be an inherent naivety. All the rhetoric, good intentions and well meaning but utterly naive, unrealistic, impractical and ill-conceived plans to improve the world..... etc etc etc.... I ran out of energy. Fuck socialism.

What will I fight for? Minority rights, down to the individual. Freedom of the individual, similar but different from the former. Human rights. Transparency and accountability of government. Rationalism. Standing up for what one believes in. I oppose religion as traditionally seen, but believe that humans being emotional beings need a "spiritual dimension" to our lives (whatever that may be, I haven't found it)

End of rant

 

[Sprax]

The current currency system is entirely fucked
we need to push the reset button

I don't get it.

soon there will be more debt than there is money, theres already far too much debt to sustain us for much longer

Isn't that the point of debt? You borrow money because you don't have enough. Having said that, assuming you're speaking about the US, yes you do seem to be digging yourselves into an increasingly deeper hole.

we need to farm plants and less animals for the sake of our own health as well as the planets

Unfortunately you are probably right. I like beef though. Perhaps we could grow protein...?

we need to put far more money and manpower/thoughtpower into alternative energies

Agreed. Most countries are investing more and more into these fields though, even if it's now going as fast as one might like.

we need to not be so down on nuclear energy, theres literally no pollution from it, any waste can simply be shipped off to orbit the earth

I agree, despite what has just happened in Japan. The incident clearly demonstrates the dangers of nuclear energy, but also how even the worst case scenario actually isn't that bad. Afaik so far no one has died from radiation caused by the accident and at current levels - based on what I've seen on the news - it seems unlikely that more than a few people will. Compare this to traffic accidents, the dangers of smoking...

we need to learn to recycle things properly, this is the way of the planet, if we make more waste than the earth has time to recycle its self than we need to balance it out outselves.

Yup.

stop dumping garbage, any organic waste can be used as fuels or as fertilizer for farming/compost

Yup.

anything we cant recycle should be crammed into a spaceship and put into orbit until we can deal with it, instead of polluting earth it will just sit there in space polluting nothing, add in some kind of bacterias and we can pick it back up
when its all decayed

Seems impractical and unnecessary. If the waste comes from earth, why not let it stay here?

power needs to be given back to the people, not simply in the form of a vote, i dont know how, i didnt even finish high school, but we need to figure it out

Absolutely. A few ideas:
1. TOTAL transparency of government. The benefits by far outweigh any arguments about "national security" and the like, a popular argument among the dictators of the world.
2. ACCOUNTABILITY of government. If you fuck up, you’re responsible, just like anyone else.
2. Funding of government campaigns cannot ever be provided by companies of individuals. Elections should not be about who has the most money.

im no communist (nothing against them) but we need to 're-distribute the wealth" its entirely unbalanced the poor are extremely poor and the rich feed off them/us, we work for money right? no we work for a small percent and give the rest to the people we 'work for' who then take a small percent and send it up until the top gets its cut of everyones pie

I believe capitalism works because it harnesses the inherent selfishness of all individuals. We world for ourselves and therefore we work hard. However, this is only meaningful / beneficial for society as a whole, if we tax part of that income and redistribute it.

Communism, imo, doesn’t work. It’s ineffective because rewards are not based on performance, which means people are not motivated to work, innovate etc. Consequently, even if everyone gets an equal share of the pie, that share will be small because the pie is tiny.

even if it only gets a crumb, it gets so many crumbs it can run its own bakery

i know there are problems but what can we do about them?
no one wants any kind of radical change, people dont want to be upset by change
fuck that we NEED radical change or things will remain the same and continue down this destructive path

- Keep in mind, if you live in the west you are probably living in the best of times. Even if you’re poor, you probably have things like: a roof over your head, running water indoors, a toilet, a shower, somewhere to cook food. Those and many other things are not for granted and have not been available for most people for many generations. So no, I don’t want radical change. Society has improved immensely in the last few hundred years. But yes, we still have a long way to go.