Visiting over 40 countries is valuable experience. What is the ethnic community of your suburb? Could you live with a Muslim next to you? I come from a family of many cultures tolerance and understanding is wonderful.
My neighborhood in Nashville is an inside ring suburb. It is not one of the wealthier outside ring suburbs. My neighborhood of Nashville has many Iraqi Kurds. In fact, out of about a thousand or so homes in my neigborhood association, there are about 150 Kurdish owned houses. My neighbor across the street (with his McCain/Palin yard sign) is an Iraqi Kurd that has his own computer repair business. Three neighbors down the street are Kurds. These are some of the best neighbors I could ever want. They love America, and believe it or not, love GWB and McCain/Palin. Also, there are many blacks and Asians and Hispanics in my neighborhood. In fact, I would say that at least half the houses are minority owned. As soon as a house goes up for sale, a new Kurdish family snaps it up.
Oh, forgot to mention (gasp) there are also minorities inhabiting my own house (oh my goodness). My wife is from the Philippines, and my own children are mixed race. And, my wife's parents live with us too... I'm a minority in my own house. LOL
We visit the Philippines every two years and stay for a month. We know what the rest of the world is like, and we live our lives with the concern for other people, and their plight.
Thank you for clarifying what an honest day’s work is from your perspective. I do believe to be at the top of your field will involve some serious time in education plumber, electrician, lawyer or Doctor. Do you realize that everything you bought and use was designed and more than likely engineered -to function for you. Are you saying that people that design bridges, buildings, environmental saving elements etc are a waste of money. Doctors are a waste of money? Stock brokers are a waste of money? You wouldn't have a house (you would like if you made it yourself from local materials) or car if the stock market and associated industries didn't work.
????? Don't think my words above would disagree with this at all, except the lawyers.
Work ethic is essential. Do you enjoy movies? - actors are mostly full time artist. Artist of design make your visuals for computers from google to games. Many fields may not produce 'goods' but need government funding to research life saving elements from cardiac to microscopic elements like hydrogen.
Again I don't see where anything I said would indicate that these fields do no involve work. They are making, designing, building things that are useful and needed.
This election is very important to you, your children and globally. I believe that it is essential to have an educated, articulate, open minded person representing you, not some one you may feel comfortable about but can begin to lead the USA on a path to healing. We are at global crisis financially, food production and delivery, nuclear, religious, war, energy (drill baby drill) is not the answer. You have enormous talent in the USA for alternative energy look at that and who really supports them.
I believe that John McCain and Sarah Palin are very open minded people. Perhaps you don't agree with many of their stands on the issues, but they are less likely to take your rights away from you than those people on the left. The left is very scary, they start with good intentions, but in the end, they wind up taking away more and more of your rights and freedoms.
Alternative energy would be nice, but it is FAR AWAY from being feasible for the biggest part of our energy needs. That is just a fact. We must bridge the gap in technology with "drill baby drill". We have no other choice. I wish we did, but it is not even close to reality.
I have tremendous concerns for my 2 children however I am fully aware they can't grow up in my lifestyle. They face new challenges in every dimension. I would honestly say that given the future now and the predicaments they face and will have to bear and solve as a result our past greed in the last few decades, I would not have had children at all.
Every generation thinks that the problems ahead are too difficult. But, the human race is ingenious, and always finds a way to get through it and thrive. Our future generations will be no different.
My own family has its own challenges, for instance, my second son has Asperger's. (He is the one that has an Australia obsession - it used to be Greek mythology.) He is pretty high functioning, but has difficulties in school with making friends. He is quite eccentric, and has some problems fitting in. Luckily he has found one good friend in his class that is very much like him. I really have concerns about if he will be able to survive on his own when he becomes an adult, but, I have faith, and three other good children that love and look out for him, so I think his future is brighter than I imagine it sometimes. It will all work out.
Why should they have the burden of past generations mistakes? They should be able to be happy and enjoy their lives not constantly battling to over come climate change, war etc.
I honestly believe, as many very competent scientists believe, that climate change is cyclical. Perhaps a little man made, but, before we can blink an eye, and the sunspot cycles come and go, we will be in for a change in the other direction. We only have historical evidence to prove that the earth heats, and the earth cools. There is very little man can do to change it either way. I know you disagree with this, but I can name some very prominent scientists that believe the way I do.
I know that who ever is elected will not be able to solve the problem in 4 - 8 years. Of course you can see the blame game playing out now without a crystal ball.
I respect your answers and beliefs. Not agreeing with them does not make you or me a better human.
Agree - none of us knows everything. You could be right, I could be right, but I suspect the answer is somewhere in between.