Well, as far as dealing with things seeming to go downhill by emigrating from the US goes... It's fortuitous that we now have an embassy in Havana, so one now can emigrate to the Workers' Paradise.
An American with just their Social Security would live 'high on the hog' indeed in Coobah. Or is it Cuber? And the Cubans would be foolish indeed to not allow that.
My response to FF went over your head entirely - the liberals succeed in pushing an agenda because they cast everything in true/false or black/white or any other test that you want which results in an all or nothing proposition. If you don't agree with lefty cause you are either racist, misogynist, homophobic, bigoted, christian, or <enter your favorite slur here>. This is how the left silences honest, open, and meaningful discussion on issues. And you tried to do it to FF. Hence my caution to him - he can't do that because someone will make an attempt to deny him his right to his opinion and to speak it if he chooses.
I think all Sarah is trying to say is that you don't have to agree with someone's lifestyle to try to understand and love them. We all have faults and problems of our own. You don't have to buy off on the gay agenda and you have a right to voice your opinion without being labeled a bigot, or a hater, etc. Actually we waste a lot of time in this country arguing over whether 2% of the public is "NORMAL", when a big problem is 51% of the populace is on entitlements and more people should be providing for their own and not expecting the government to provide them a "free lunch". I agree with Sean, as you get older you tend to complain about crap just because it is hard to see change, and you feel like your looking at life through the review mirror instead of looking ahead.
I've become more open to change as I've gotten older, not less. Example, growing up, I would laugh at Nova's, Duster's, anything with four doors... Now, there are so few of any of them left that I now appreciate and respect almost all of them. I would have only owned one or two types of old iron back then, now I'd happily own almost any of them. I'm really liking 40's and 50's cars much more too. The other day, I was at a stoplight with my boy (12) when he spotted an 80's vintage BMW. He remarked "Hey Dad, there's an old car, what is it?" At first I thought pfffft, that's not an old car. Then, I thought about what would have been a 30+ year old car when I was 12. It would have been a late 40's, early 50's something. Before the first Ranchero even. And I would have though that was indeed an old car. So, I told him yep, you still see some old cars out there. Learn to appreciate them all!
Oh yeah ! Starting to understand the feeling the older guys had when they spotted an "A" or a "T" still in action. For me it's still slightly disturbing to realize all those cars I first drooled over in the showrooms are now ancient history. Finally learned to not cull any brand from the past, it's called maturing John. Roll with it, it makes your choices endless and not boxed into a small category of possible candidates.
What if I don't want to try to understand and love someone? Do I have to try to understand and love Ted Bundy? I don't think I do. I was gifted something called free will, which among other things allows me to make my own personal choices. And, I really don't want to hear anyone say that there's a single living human that loves and understands everyone, because that's a farce. I think all our good friend Sarah was really trying to do was pass judgement on others, which is fine, since we all have that right. Problem was, she decided to say that someone else's judgement was wrong, which is really just a matter of opinion, and lashed out when she was called out for it. No worries, we're all a big forgiving family here.
I 'understand' maybe a handful of people, and they are leaders, not whiners. I'm cool with not caring about the rest.
I don't even understand myself. I'm fine with not understanding or loving almost everyone else. No one's going to tell me when to sing Kumbaya!!!!!
