Haha, fair point. But I admit to being open minded to the possibility I'm wrong.

Most religious people are 110% certain about these matters.

Every life support system is in decline. Biological diversity is decreasing at an alarming rate. Natural occurrences are not to blame. We are.

The earth will, of course, survive. But we may not, nor may many other species. This is of a MUCH higher concern than the economy, which is saying a lot considering how big that problem is.

I understand the need to fix the economy, but the environment has been ignored since before the economy was an issue, so it's not an excuse for our inaction.

Finally, economic issues only plague human generations. Environmental isues plague everything alive.

To me, it's a no brainer.

Real democracy is about collective decision making. But we don't have that kind of democracy. We have the power balancing/sharing kind, and it's not always even great at that. But democracy at its inception was about people coming together and making decisions as a group. I believe "rule of the mob" comes to mind, and though I'm no history buff, that's probably the reason the founding fathers declined democracy in its truest form.

At which point does killing become murder? You can obviously take the lives of fungi, bacteria, and plants without causing an uproar. For animals it's a bit trickier. Insects are ok to kill because they're a nuisance. But other animals aren't?

----------------------------------------------------

I don't have any problem with using animals for food. My problem lies in the fact that they aren't respected prior to the time we kill and eat them. I'd much prefer it if animals were given a lot of roaming space, were killed humanely, etc. I want an animal used for meat to be given the most natural life we can possibly give within a farm setting.

Individual effort is futile in every large-scale problem. But if we all put forth effort, our efforts are no longer individual they are collective.

So this defeatist attitude only works if you are relying on everyone else to fail. If, instead, you hope that some will succeed, then your efforts will join theirs, making a bigger difference than any of you alone could have.

Some have English as their #2 language including some of my bosses. They speak whatever language at home then come to work and I can barely understand a freaking word.

This is probably because you tune out any non-American accent. I have a problem with people coming here and not learning our language, but I have nothing but respect for those that make an effort to make English a second (or third or fourth) language. Sometimes I'll have to ask a non-native speaker for clarification, or to slow down, but if we both make a little effort, conversation is not complicated or impossible.

" In fact, do you know one of the reasons why our codes were unbreakable in WWII?"

Yeah, I did know. ..Thanks anyways. We don't need that anymore.

What makes you think that we won't need it in the future?

Statue of liberty? Yeah, once again this isn't about immigrants it's about culture. So that really is irrelevant.

It's entirely relevant. Tell me what characterizes American culture (the one that we ought to keep unadulterated by any others) that is purely original?

I think the increasing trend towards social networking sites is ultimately bad for the intelligence of society. Sure, they're writing, but what and how? Nothing important and not very well.

People are stupid enough as it is, and I fear that these sites are just making us dumber.

I really wish there were 3-sided debates and I could say, "sort of". I believe that we don't know. I like the idea of a benevolent force in the universe, so I choose to believe that. But I am open-minded enough to admit the possibility that I am entirely wrong.

Believing in God is fine, but believing you know about the nature of God and how he created the world is silly. Nobody can know these things, and so many different religions purport to know, but give such different accounts, that we are better off admitting it's up in the air.

I hate seeing bumper stickers or t-shirts saying, "Do you know where you'll go when you die?" No, I don't, and neither do you.

I don't agree that corrupt politicians have difficulty staying in office. Dick Cheney was given a second term as George W's VP, and he was terribly corrupt. The problem with politicians is they look after their money-makers, who are far more important to them than their constituents.

Politicians may run the country, but lobbyists run politicians. There are 65,000 in Capitol Hill! Everything is motivated by money, and as such, the little guys get no fighting chance.

The FDA is a joke. They recently decided that high fructose corn syrup was natural. They slap health claims on Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms, leaving potatoes and carrots alone in the dust. They also approved bovine growth hormone as safe for human consumption, when it was anything but. This organization is a piece of crap that does nothing to look out for the consumer.

in 99% of the cases working in a sweatshop environment - though deplorable by our standards - beats the alternative of roaming garbage heaps

There are certain rights all people ought to be entitled to. I don't think it's ok for kids to work 14 hour days six or seven days a week just because it is better than the alternative. These jobs attract people because they are desperate. And as soon as a corporation has used up all the desperation that group has, they will move on to a more desperate area and exploit their people. The point of all this is that corporations make RIDICULOUS profits. They could easily afford to pay a livable wage to third world countries just like they could afford to protect the environment, but money is the bottomline so they do not. The most dangerous thing about a corporation is that regardless of what values the people who run them may have, they are literally required to put their shareholders first, which means making lots of money regardless of who or what gets hurt in the process.