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Which do you think is the "American Way"?

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leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-28-07 11:39 PM
Original message
Poll question: Which do you think is the "American Way"?
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Change has come Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-28-07 11:41 PM
Response to Original message
1. Other
"It does NOT have to be this way".
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Jed Dilligan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-28-07 11:42 PM
Response to Original message
2. America--FUCK YEAH!
That was easy. :hippie:
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rosesaylavee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-28-07 11:43 PM
Response to Original message
3. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Doesn't happen uniformly but it is what has made us unique.
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Greyhound Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-28-07 11:50 PM
Response to Reply #3
9. I'll second the sentiment, though it happens far too rarely,
and for far too few.
:kick:
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rosesaylavee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:00 AM
Response to Reply #9
13. It what draws people to this country... and it is the hope
many of us here grew up with or we wouldn't be so distraught at what's happening. And its a dream I hope I have instilled in my son.
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TahitiNut Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-28-07 11:44 PM
Response to Original message
4. Actual or ideal?
:shrug:
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leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-28-07 11:44 PM
Response to Reply #4
5. actual
or ideal

just tell us which it is
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TahitiNut Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-28-07 11:55 PM
Response to Reply #5
12. Judging from behavior, I'd say "I got mine; screw you." is as close as any to the actual.
Edited on Fri Jun-29-07 12:11 AM by TahitiNut
Personally, I subscribe to Paul Wellstone's "Never separate the lives you live from the words you speak." My own personal ethical code is akin to Kant's prescription to "Always treat human beings as an end in themselves rather than a means to an end."

For me, "live and let live" is a bit too laissez-faire ... since I believe in collaboration and cooperation ... and random acts of kindness. Thus, I'm inclined to be a bit more active in the lives of others than merely "let 'em alone" while always respecting privacy and self-determination.

PS -- I also believe we have a duty to others and to our community ... just because we choose to remain a part of that community. It's in the very recognition and realization of that duty that we even become a community.
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leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:01 AM
Response to Reply #12
14. nicely put!
:thumbsup:
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TahitiNut Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:07 AM
Response to Reply #14
16. (grin) Thanks! It's not like it's something I haven't thought about.
A lot. :dunce:

But I'm a slow learner. :silly:
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mikelewis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-28-07 11:46 PM
Response to Original message
6. Bliss through ignorance; peace through war; freedom through chains; truth from lies...
" What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate."

That is the motto of America... I do not do what I want but do what I hate. That is the American Way.
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cherokeeprogressive Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:23 AM
Response to Reply #6
24. Humor me. I'm obviously not as learned as you. Where did this "motto" come from?
And how, and when, did it become the "motto" of America?

I'm ashamed that I didn't know that it was our "MOTTO", nor our way.

"I do not do what I want but do what I hate." Yeah, I hate going to work every day, rather than fishing.

I'm not aware of any concerted effort to get the people of America to get that message out there.

Gotta link for that? Or is it just Personal Opinion? You should distinguish.

Your motto comes from the joke I tell coworkers.
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marmar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-28-07 11:46 PM
Response to Original message
7. Denial.....
about a great many things.
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Captain Angry Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-28-07 11:47 PM
Response to Original message
8. There are 300 million+ American Ways.

Some are terribly selfish.
Some are incredibly fantastic.
Some are quiet
Some are obnoxious

I'd like to see the American Way swing a little towards everybody looking out for everybody else. I think the step over the dying woman in the hospital age has run its course.
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More Than A Feeling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-28-07 11:53 PM
Response to Original message
10. "...that a government of the people, by the people, and for the people
shall not perish from the Earth." -A. Lincoln
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rosesaylavee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:01 AM
Response to Reply #10
15. Amen to that.
"...Shall not perish from the earth." Not while I live and can still fight for it.
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More Than A Feeling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:20 AM
Response to Reply #15
22. Bet this thread didn't have as much idealism as you thought it would.
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rosesaylavee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 04:13 AM
Response to Reply #22
29. People are addressing
personal experience here rather than the ideal. I prefer to start with the ideal and see what matches. Not always a practical place but I prefer it.

You are right though. I thought there would be more of us on this thread.
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leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 09:08 AM
Response to Reply #22
35. I'm a cynic
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Neoma Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-28-07 11:55 PM
Response to Original message
11. Live and let live.
With the occasional 'stop what you're doing please'.
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Rex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:10 AM
Response to Original message
17. Wake up, go to work, come home
Sometimes do stuff. Buy food. Sleep.
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cherokeeprogressive Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:13 AM
Response to Original message
18. Your poll assumes that over 300 million people ascribe to one particular ideal.
Nice try.
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mitchum Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:17 AM
Response to Original message
19. Apparently it's not truth or justice (George Carlin reference)
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More Than A Feeling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:19 AM
Response to Reply #19
21. LOL, that's excellent! I haven't heard that one. n/t
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mitchum Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:19 AM
Response to Original message
20. Looting in the name of piety and jingoism
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ProudDad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:22 AM
Response to Original message
23. Do you mean "the American Way" now?
Edited on Fri Jun-29-07 12:22 AM by ProudDad
That would be "I've got mine, Jack -- now fuck you!"

If you mean the myth that some folks (mostly on the looney left) have been working for all along with a few tiny victories, that would be "Liberty and Justice for all"...
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AndyTiedye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:40 AM
Response to Original message
25. We Gotta Have Our Space
People vary in our ability to tolerate crowded conditions.
People who found Europe or Asia too crowded have been coming to America for over 300 years.
The original version of the American Dream was a farm on the frontier.

MY personal credo is RIDE THE MUSIC
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David__77 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 12:54 AM
Response to Original message
26. I got mind; screw you.
Not that it should be - thems just the breaks.
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southerncrone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 01:11 AM
Response to Original message
27. OK, here's how I see it....
Live and let live. = Buddist Way
I got mine; screw you. = Neocon Way
More, more, more! = Yuppie Way
I hate/fear/distrust them other foreigners. = Backwoods, insecure, Bigot Way
Did you see American Idol? = Mall-lovin', Fingernail-obsessed, Soccer Mom Way

;)
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Raine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 01:55 AM
Response to Original message
28. All of the above
Edited on Fri Jun-29-07 01:58 AM by Raine
or none of the above....Americans are complex people and don't have just one line that describes their way of thinking. :think:
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leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 09:10 AM
Response to Reply #28
36. One could replace "just one" with any IMHO
we are a centerless rabble
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Vidar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 04:37 AM
Response to Original message
30. Caveat emptor.
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leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 09:11 AM
Response to Reply #30
37. LOL
especially with the copororate control of gummint
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baldguy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 06:30 AM
Response to Original message
31. That's a nice piece of land you got there. I'm taking it.
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ThomWV Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 07:00 AM
Response to Original message
32. Equality before the law - something we are missing right now.
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leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 09:12 AM
Response to Reply #32
38. I think this is entirely absent
The USA has no justice and certainly no equality before the law

we are a caste society
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GreenArrow Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 07:21 AM
Response to Original message
33. "A boot up the ass"
.
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Odin2005 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 08:01 AM
Response to Original message
34. "that a government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the Earth"
Edited on Fri Jun-29-07 08:01 AM by Odin2005
-Abraham Lincoln
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leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 11:30 AM
Response to Reply #34
39. I know he said that
but I am hard pressed to find a time in our history when it was true.
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Beelzebud Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 11:31 AM
Response to Original message
40. I like how George Carlin summed it up: "Give me that it's MINE!"
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porphyrian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 11:32 AM
Response to Original message
41. Do you mean as promised or as practiced?
The two are completely different at the moment. As promised, it is along the lines of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" or "with liberty and justice for all." As practiced, it's more like "everyone for themselves."
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Sir Jeffrey Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 11:35 AM
Response to Original message
42. Fuck you, buddy nt
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leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 04:35 PM
Response to Reply #42
44. I hope that's a credo
and not personal

:hide:
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Sir Jeffrey Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 05:26 PM
Response to Reply #44
45. I realized that after I typed it...
it wasn't personal

:)
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Tierra_y_Libertad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-29-07 11:48 AM
Response to Original message
43. I prefer Tom Paine's "way".
The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.
Thomas Paine

Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best stage, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.
Thomas Paine

When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.
Thomas Paine

Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.
Thomas Paine
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