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1. MBarrettMiller
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   Don’t Lose Hope!
   Quite a while before now I lived in Moscow, Russia. I was there when the godless communists were in charge of every layer of society. Everybody worked, everybody had medical care, everybody had housing, and everybody spent endless amounts of time slogging through their days in pursuit of basic staples in the state run shops. Everybody carried a “just in case” bag should a particular product pop up in a store for sale. Men usually carried mostly empty briefcases and women carried string bags, “just in case.”
   Everybody was extremely cautious about expressing opinions, as the legacy of informers and punishment had touched most people directly or indirectly.
   Everywhere, and I mean everywhere, Lenin looked down off building facades, from park and square pedestals and up from the money in your hand.
   “Lenin lived, Lenin lives and Lenin will live,” called out to remind the citizens that their sacrifice for the motherland was well worth the few challenges.
   I didn’t think the Russian people would ever demand a better life!
   I travelled through the wall in Berlin confidant that the East Germans would never give up that slice of power.
   I read about Nelson Mandela feeling secure in my oft-voiced opinion that he would die in prison.
   I never thought Idi Amin Dada would be chased from his murderous ways in Uganda.
   I never thought peace would come to Northern Ireland.
   Well, I was wrong about all those closely held beliefs.
   When I walk along the parade in Freemont looking at a statue of Lenin I can only shake my head in wonderment, as his step down in history was an impossible consideration when I walked various streets across the Soviet Empire.
   I hear a lot of talk today that we are in an impossible situation here in America. Yes, we have challenges but we also have opportunities few referenced above ever had-We have the ability to speak up!
   We have the ability to organize.
   We have the ability to call on elected officials reminding them of who they work for-
   We have the right to run for office or support any candidate.
   Most importantly we have the ability to educate ourselves rather than being feed government speak!
   Times change.
   Don’t look back wishing you had done something-

   Posted 9 months ago #         

2. mpento
   Member Profile

   I wish I had not read this post :P Ah yes as my poor grandfather said in the old vodka factory, better to light a candle than to curse the darkness....oh crap!

   Posted 9 months ago #         

3. MBarrettMiller
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   Hey, it's hopeful.

   Posted 9 months ago #         

4. JanS
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   Yes, it is...thanks !

   Posted 9 months ago #         

5. DP
   Member Profile

   

   Righteous!

   By the way, not all of Lenin's ideas were bad ones. His execution left something to be desired, though.

   Posted 9 months ago #         

6. MBarrettMiller
   Member Profile

   

   Lenin died of stroke complications. Trotsky was killed in Mexico by a blow to the head with an ice pick, the climbing kind. He had been tossed out of the Soviet Union by Stalin who sent killers after him. Frieda Kaylo and her hubby Diego Rivera were questioned by the cops about the assasination-great story.....

   Posted 9 months ago #         

7. ws4ever
   Member Profile

   Share some wisdom with us, MBM. I hate the tunnel, think the buses should not be cut, think the Republicans are bleeding our country because they want more, always more, and look away from the mess they make, because they don't give a shit about others. I think the mess we're in is trickle-down from Bush idiocy. And yet, I just don't know anymore. Maybe I'm the one who's brainwashed. What insight do you have?

   Posted 9 months ago #         

8. ws4ever
   Member Profile

   No suggestions. Hmmm.

   Posted 9 months ago #         

9. JanS
   Member Profile

   

   patience is a virtue :)

   Posted 9 months ago #         

10. JoB
    Member Profile

    JanS
    on oh so many fronts..

    Posted 9 months ago #         

11. MBarrettMiller
    Member Profile

    

    ws4ever-
    I share every frustration you voiced and feel the same about the issues you listed.
    My only hope, only hope, is that enough people, like you and others, will realize we are at a crossroads and need to define/demand what type of country we want tio live in-
    I have lived in some tough places where the people realized they had tuned out when they should have been tuning in.
    As much as I try to avoid group gatherings I am attending political events in hope of saving something of our collective dreams.
    I think if Wisconsin pulls off the impossible this Tuesday it may energize others out of their "what can I do about it" view.
    Any ideas???

    Posted 9 months ago #         

12. Jiggers
    Member Profile

    

    I.P. address alert!

    Posted 9 months ago #         

13. JanS
    Member Profile

    

    jiggers...elucidate, please...

    Posted 9 months ago #         

14. ws4ever
    Member Profile

    Thank you for sharing your experience, MBM.

    Posted 9 months ago #         

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