The only thing that will change anything is the coming World War III. And, no, we are not in a World War...yet. A few dozen "gang fights" (Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Yemen ... etc) doesn't make a World War. When we see the mushroom clouds from Thermal Nuclear Weapons then we are in a World War.

We can still avoid it, in fact I think we have.

I too would like to think so. But the reality is that certain parties (Israel, United States) want it all and are willing to kill to get it. Since that isn't going to change, then World War III is inevitable.

You sound like the United States is the righteous country in shining white armour that won World War II single handed. That is bullshit! The United States were equally as ruthless and cruel and evil as the Red Army or the Nazi's. Stop reading the American school system History books as they are propaganda (read: lies). And yes, it is directly because of the evil United States and Israel that makes World War III inevitable. Russia, China and Iran are not a threat to world peace - the United States is.

Lol I am in full agreement with what you just said and I’m not sure what I said to make you think otherwise..

Lol. Well, when the Red Army is cited for something and no mention of the other side(s) then it sounds single sided.

The Red Army raped between 10-15 million German women

Indeed. If we do not want to go too far down the rabbit hole, the United States of America was never supposed to be one country. We were supposed to be a confederation of Sovereign states all in a voluntary union, under compact.

That could've worked, and that was the grand experiment (which failed, because of debt - it's always debt). Our history was completely revised and erased after 1871 (after the Civil War). We've been lied to about the founding, the founders, hell... damn near everything. It's truly a crime against humanity, what TPTB have done and still continue to do, to this day.

A real kick to the balls is, that we may have never truly won our independence from the Crown, and every 4th of July, we celebrate defeat. Think about that for a second, and how sick and fucked up that is.

Tri-Sovereign States.

Rome never fell, it just restructured itself (Vatican - spirituality, City of London - banking, The District of Columbia - military).

I agree with much of what you say and I do feel your pain, however I do believe that democracy can work especially with the technology we have today. It is most definitely a lie in the form it has taken. In this present form, money has bought literally everything and democracy most certainly does not exist, other than as an illusion of choice. But I see real democracy taking place when the people truly decide and in order for that to happen people are going to have to play much more of an active role in democracy. I'm talking about direct democracy, where the people are tasked with deciding directly who will be responsible for policy implementation and the direct content of such policy.

This would be what I think would be the evolution of democracy to a point where it is truly back in the people's hands. For the most part, i feel people are not interested generally in politics because they really know they don't have a real voice that matters, well that all changes once they have a real responsibility to actively play a role in shaping their country.

There would be a real reason for people to understand issues that directly affect them and assume social responsibility that could lead to real change that is entirely in the public's interest. It won't be easy to relinquish control from the corporate oligarchy that is entrenched within the western political systems, but it is entirely possible.

You seem to think that there's not much hope and I totally get it, but I also think that much of what we are surrounded with such as the entertainment industry and sports and much of this superficial crap is there for a reason, they want us to think that we need them and that we are unable to make informed decisions for the betterment of ourselves and others. But when we are tasked with deciding directly the course for the country, our loved ones and ourselves, you would be amazed at what could become possible.

Single humans are fallible, they can be bought and will sell their every good intention for personal gain. But this all breaks down when we truly are deciding through a direct democracy type system, nobody is going to be able to bribe the masses, it's just not worth it.

In that sense at least, direct democracy is entirely possible and in my opinion the natural progression that should have happened years ago. Getting there will be difficult but not impossible and that's if enough people realize its potential.

I’m simply saying that our society is brains washed

It is a program of mass domestication with the intent on reducing "undesirable" people into commodities. If we as a society really cared about people we would be empowering them with skills and knowledge. But this scares the power mongers at the top because an empowered individual is unpredictable and uncontrollable.

If we really want to throw a monkey wrench in the works then we should all start strive to become as self-sufficient as possible while helping others do the same. Then can we just choose to stop interacting with TPTB (or get pro-active and deal with them) and their schemes crumble. But that is just my two cents.

They require a bit of out-of-the-box thinking.

For instance? I fully agree, but what are the most creative solutions you've heard of? Most of what I hear people put forth is completely unrealistic. If we could get people as individuals to a place where they have the options to turn their backs on all these shenanigans, I think the situation would resolve itself. But what other options are open to us?

I’m afraid that some of the calamities we face are not logical situations.

And do any of us truly have control over these calamities or whether or not they come to pass? We see these things and think "there must be people at the top directing all this for a specific purpose" and the apparatus surrounding them seems insurmountable, so what then are we to do? Fight? Protest? Strike?

You say we must think outside the box so I ask you: Where are all the righteous vigilantes when we need them or the heroes?

If we can't expect them or some other intervention by forces just as unlikely, then I say we start by making ourselves incompatible with TPTBs design and go from there. We must strive to be civilized not domesticated. Beyond that I couldn't be too confident nor win much support for anything more exotic than that. Am I missing something (I am honestly asking)?

thinking outside the box might include such things as violence or self sacrifice.

Violence isn't thinking outside he box, it's a common tactic throughout history. And self sacrifice doesn't help anyone. If these are two things considered to be outside the box thinking, then we should acknowledge and salute the death of human imagination and creativity.

So I'll ask again: What are the most creative solutions you have heard of?

Self sacrifice is the single most powerful tool we have. I am inspired by people who do this. We all are.

I must disagree with you here, sacrifice yourself and you're done. No guarantee your sacrifice will be understood and a good chance someone will take your act and twist it to suit their own needs. I am not inspired by anyone who lets themselves die to make a statement.

Let us look at the Jesus example. When looking at the base message Jesus and the first Buddha (Siddhartha), they preached basically the same message (just tailored to different audiences). Both reached their enlightenment around the same time. But Jesus allowed himself to be killed where Siddhartha spent another thirty years making sure people understood what he was trying to communicate. As a result we see multiple groups use the image of Jesus for their own ends, yet I can't find many examples of the Buddha being co-opted for an individual's (or a group's) selfish ends.

Self sacrifice (imo) is also cowardly. When one does this they check out to leave everyone to live in the mess still here. How is this an act of compassion or caring? If one truly cared they would stick around to help as many as they can for as long as they can.

you can look around today at America and see that those options are outside of the box.

Maybe, if one were to limit their views, but how can violence be outside the box with so many serving in the military? I think you are over generalizing and marginalizing the people in this country. If this is what you believe then why care if democracy is a lie? Also, you need to revise what you think living off the land is. You don't have to go full on paleolithic.

If you can network a local group of people to form their own society within society

No, we should focus on individuals not groups. Individuals must be developed into non-dependent citizens who make an active choice on whether or not to interact as a society.

I think that the goal is to make Washington obsolete.

And violence is an option to do this? Violence will only validate their existence (Industrial Military Complex). If you choose to meet them with violence it must be violence both unexpected and overwhelming. You let me know if you find anything that fits those criteria, so far you are simply promoting tactics that have been tried time and again (definition of insanity maybe?). Or to put it another way; you're still in the box. ;)

What you're talking about is direct democracy, like what they had in ancient Athens; the United States is a constitutional republic with a representative democracy. Our elected representatives are constrained both by our constitution and our independent judiciary, which is itself constrained by the executive branch, which is selected not by a direct vote but by the electoral college to avoid a tryanny of the majority; the executive branch is of course constrained both by the constitution and the legislative branch, closing the loop.

The reason the founding fathers implemented this system is to avoid the pit falls of ancient Greece; like the Greeks however, originally only land owning men could vote in America, the idea being that they had a real investment in the country and so their interests aligned with the well-being of the nation, a good example of why the idea while distasteful had some merits is the democrats today, shutting down the government to try to help illegal aliens rather than the nation or her citizens; they're more invested in their own power than the good of the country.

Anyways, a Winston Churchill quote comes to mind:

"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…"

Constituional Republic is best, a democracy with voting limited to landowners.

"but we’re two or three Hitlers away from that."

offensive