What is "The American Dream"? How did this term get coined and what is the history behind this phrase?
Up until about 1980, it meant that people could get married, have children, buy a decent house and car, and one person's income would be enough to support all this, while the other person was able to care for the children and the home. The second person could work but didn't have to. They had things like life and health insurance. Jobs were protected by unions. While life wasn't perfect, it wasn't shitty.Today, what it really means is that with two people working at crappy wages, they might be able to afford to rent a halfway decent house. They cannot afford insurance and rely on emergency rooms and Medicare for what little medical care they get. They cannot buy a house. If they have children, they go to shitty public schools. Life insurance is off the table, and college is unaffordable for anyone in the family. Employment is "at will" and unions are dead. Upward mobility is a bitter joke when people are living from paycheck to paycheck.However, the really good news is that the reduction in living standards for the vast majority of people allows scumbags like Larry Ellis and the Koch brothers to get even richer. You would think they believe they can take it with them.You can thank Ronald Reagan and all your politically conservative friends for this wonderful state of affairs.
Are the Koch brothers religious?
I have no idea whether the Koch Brothers are religious (especially since membership in a religious organization does not necessarily mean that the member is religious); however, I think all of the answers claiming that they worship money miss the point. The Koch brothers are rich, and they tend to support policies that make them richer. The accumulation of money is, I think, simply a by-product of what drives them.The Koch brothers are believers in unfettered capitalism, privatization, and deregulation. They have funded libertarian think tanks, foundations, and institutes to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. They are major funders of the Cato Institute, the Heritage Institute, and more than a dozen other organizations devoted to what some people call “limited democracy.” Arguably, they have given away more than they’ve gained by promoting libertarian policies. It is reported that they believe in no compromises when it comes to promoting libertarian policies, and we can see the fruits of their labors in the current crop of Republican lawmakers.Their crowning achievement will be the privatization of Social Security (if they accomplish it) and the abolishing of public education (if they accomplish it).To get a better view of the future they envision, you might ask the people of Chile how they liked privatized Social Security and the people of the state of Virginia how closing the public schools worked out for them.
Do you think we were born inherently good or bad?
People are not universally ‘good’ or ‘bad’ - what’s good in one place or society could be bad in another. Also, we tend to stick to values that we were exposed to from young, so it depends on where you were born or brought up.Even so, I believe that with the exception of medical psychosis, we are born inherently good and have the potential to promote goodwill and make life-supporting, positive contributions to our society. Even in so-called 'bad' environments, people support their own kind within the restrictions of their beliefs. Even if we have a universal, non-discriminatory yardstick for good and bad for the whole world (which we do, it is called the Noble Eightfold Path) it is unlikely that everyone would share it because the world’s societies are so stratified. Only then would it be clearer to see whether this is true or not, that we are born inherently good or bad. As an optimist, I would say inherently good, but a person would have to be nurtured to follow a selfless way of thinking to stay that way. As long as there is the influence of dogma then values will be distorted to suit the "norm", confusing even the best among us to adhere to these "accepted" ways of life. But we are all born with the potential to be good and do good. Life and its circumstances mold us and determine the outcome.
Democrats is it sad you result to blame game, calling mitt romney mittens, and questioning his legality?
Now come on, don't even try to pretend that only one side does this. "Obozo", "Obongo", questioning his citizenship, etc. If you think this only goes one way you are completely insane. Personally I think both Obama and Romney are poor choices, but to judge it based on whacked-out birth conspiracies and plays on their names is completely asinine.