The real problem is not so much the rich elite controlling us but companies being allowed to form monopolies which stifles competition which nobody seems to be interested in addressing.

Not to mention we have become very unionized which can be a good thing under the right circumstances to protect people from abusive bosses but right now they are demanding compensation the USA cannot afford to give until a better economy.

When the workers rights started voting we had a MUCH better economy back then and able to give things away more but now with TRILLIONS of Federal money vanishing with nobody knowing where it’s being spent is a BIG problem .

Either they truly don’t know due to being incompentent or they are hiding stuff from the public about where the money is going to instead of fixing things that need fixing.

The government conspiracies are just a front end to mislead us into fighting with each other and nobody has the backbone to start fixing this mess.

Both Obama and Bush wanted to do good things but they have had their heads roped in with the communist people likely agents from the UN in charge which makes it so the government controls everything and with both the workers and government unions spiraling out of control in demanding stuff the country CANNOT give these things will only skyrocket further leading to more polarization.

Once we established the UN the morality and trust of the Americans went *pffft*

By endorsing “progressive” policies from 120 years ago (universal healthcare, higher capital gains tax, unlimited social welfare, etc)!

The pendulum swings both ways. Using examples very similar to yours: Did DDT cause the near extinction of the peregrine falcon? No, but DDT was banned because it was thought to have. I and millions of other kids were taught that “truth” in elementary school. Do power lines cause cancer? There’s no scientific proof of it, but there were folks on the “educated” side that thought so. So much so a major Hollywood movie was made based on it.

Again, conservatives are not geniuses because they are conservative or vice versa. It’s the content of the person that determines the validity of the beliefs and that cannot be determined from a simple ideological identification test. That is why I take issue with so many of the ad hominem attacks on these topics.

Lib53,

Imagine someone in the 1960′s making a generalization similar to yours but about African-Americans and imagine how narrow-minded you would think them to be (and rightfully so). Anecdotal experience is of value, but it doesn’t make a generalization true or right by any stretch of the imagination.

The argument that we need unthinking close-minded intolerant people in the 21st century when the artic is melting, GMOs are being rapidly developed, the world is shrinking causing increasing diversity, … You can’t just go around stating that both sides are needed. You need to provide references and evidence for those arguments that look, on the surface, to be completely wrong.