roadster Loc: Arizona

Who profits, gains, by keeping YOU activated, involved and upset?

"Everything you say & do is a direct result of your own personal ethics."

People support such a statement on ethics but rarely discipline themselves enough so ethics (mostly deceit) is one of their governing ideals of their character.

If you are like me, patronizing anyone or any entity that has LIED to me, failed to honestly inform me without deceit, any support or encouragement is against (my) their ethics.

Entertainment is based on ratings but news simply cannot use such governing principle. Ratings is what sells, commercials, paying for the network or corporation.

All of us average or middle-income people support the ideal of "Property" encouraging a Constitutional Amendment to relate: Corporations & like entities are property and NOT a person artificial or otherwise. Money (finances) are property and NOT speech. The Legislative Branch shall pass effective legislation so-that ALL incoming donations (funds, property, etc.) are transparent, limited based upon equality and equal to all citizens on the U.S.

Did you know or have ever honestly read the 9th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution? To get you started, if you are aware of someone exercising their (and yours) rights guaranteed in the Constitution, your reaction is to celebrate the right being exercised. The Womens' March in D.C. has been disputed lately. A person who is complaining or not encouraging the exercise of a Constitutionally guaranteed right clearly is unaware, not knowledgeable (ignorant) of our Constitutional 9th Amendment. Or are they? If YOU feel it necessary to communicate some dissatisfaction with the Womens' March maybe you feel your personal ethics of keeping people agitated, activated, is more important than recognizing the 9th Amendment. Is such ethical conduct?

VietNam, is still a Police Action and NOT a War. McNamarra (then Secretary of Defense) never told the President the Gulf of Tonkin never happened (as related in his book). Memories fade so please allow me to refresh your memory. Prior to the "Police Action" the U.S. had a large majority AGAINST any type of war involvement. Waters to the east of South VietNam named the Gulf of Tonkin. Reported to U.S. citizenry, North VietNam (Communists) attacked our Navy vessels (fired upon) costing U.S. lives. The U.S. public were enraged and the attitude against any war changed to encouraging our increased military involvement (still not a war) in VietNam. The Gulf of Tonkin incident NEVER HAPPENED! We were ALL lied to. Greed, Money was more important than the blood & lives of over 58,000 U.S. citizens who died fighting in VietNam. The rich made money hand-over-fist selling military weaponry and supplies to fight in VietNam. Did anyone go to prison for treason? Did anyone in the U.S. relate the Gulf of Tonkin incidents never happened at that period of time? No! Corporations (& like entities are inanimate objects it was [is] people) had a clear conscience making money at the cost of U.S. American lives. I was one who believed I was fighting for my country in VietNam. U.S. citizens died fighting in a Police Action. U.S. citizens died protesting fighting in VietNam.

Did the news media accomplish their goal, their own ideals of reporting the news without deceit to U.S. society? NO!

Are you ever going to patronize whoever/whatever lied to you? Was (or now is) the news media competent in their journalistic ideals in reporting without deceit or were they incompetent?

Lie to me (us) once and it will take a huge amount of effort on your part (whoever/whatever lied) until you can be trusted or believed in again. Until then, do NOT expect me or anyone to trust or believe in you.

That is the problem in U.S. society today. Somehow deceit has become acceptable conduct. It is expected and accepted for politicians, government, media to lie to us. If all of us average, middle-income people actually acted in an ethical manner we would NOT patronize those who lied, even failed to communicate without deceit.

Reality? Such unethical conduct is reality because WE allow it to be reality. LIES from individuals, corporations, government, politicians all have a greater need to keep YOU excited & involved than telling you the truth.

GREED: the self-obsessed, self-important character flaw where the acquisition of property (money) is more important than anything else including U.S. American lives.
MONEY: the property bartered in exchange of some service or other property. It is nice to have money, but to the exclusion of all else (YOUR ETHICS) is a character flaw.
Self-Obsessed: is a character flaw anti-democratic. Was our Revolutionary War fought for individuals to profit from the establishment of a new country or was the War fought for ALL to have their own country? Bleeding-Heart? No, the real question is why doesn't YOUR heart bleed for others, or is your character obsessed with yourself?
LIES: deceit related to someone or others to generate a specific response.

Many of us were raised with the definition of the words "rich" and "wealthy" different than their use today. Rich defined a person or entity with much property, including money. Wealthy was a term used to define ethical character traits admirable in a person or entity.
ELITE: use to mean the best of the best regarding a group. Now elite is a word used to define those with money unequal in the past (well much of the past) who control lives, government, corporations to their own personal advantage. Why, do you think, the average money paid to the so-called elite so many times greater than the average wage paid to workers of that so-called elite? Why is such wage inequality the greatest in the U.S. as compared to the rest of the world?

Nothing will change for the better in the U.S. as long as deceit reigns. When all of us average, middle-income, people start acting in an ethical manner then it will not be to the personal advantage of politicians to lie to us, it will not be to the advantage of government to lie to us, it will not be to the advantage of any corporation to lie to us. When deceit is unacceptable conduct, when YOU make deceit unacceptable conduct, when YOU do NOT encourage deceit, unethical conduct, is when corporations (news media) ALL will start acting in an acceptable ethical manner.

Who lied to YOU today? Who lied to YOU yesterday? Did YOU do anything to research to discover if some topic affecting you with deceit? What is acceptable conduct and unacceptable conduct?

U.S. coup d'etat

Quakerwidow Loc: Chestertown, MD

Thank you for posting.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

We live in a "virtual" world, where fact and fantasy intertwine and are nearly indistinguishable. Most movies employ CGI now, because it's cheaper and easier to fool the public. We used to know that the actor playing Superman didn't really fly, now we think Ironman can. People SHOULD be more suspicious of online content, knowing about photo shop and CGI technologies, but they aren't, they tend to accept every online topic as true.

Here is where we're at; people decide what is true and not, using anything they want as evidence, even in the absence of any evidence whatsoever. One can go online and find "evidence" of anything one wishes, just by using one's search engine. Type in "Trump lies" and get one set of streams, or type in "Trump triumphs" and get another set - and no one checks the veracity of the content. They had already decided what they wanted to hear/read, and fulfilled that need.

The news networks were complicit in this mass deceit, not by changing the content, but by how it is presented. Networks don't present "toddler killed in drive by shooting", they present "innocent little child mercilessly and horrendously slaughtered in needless drive by shooting". All children are innocent, all child killings are without mercy and are horrendous acts - and every drive by shooting is needless. No longer do news networks just present facts, they now sell airtime, competing with each other for the most sensational or controversial content. Owners and producers taint the content with their own views, using the "news" as an outlet for their own agendas.

The truth doesn't matter anymore - because everyone has their own version of it, and aren't going to change their minds over a few facts.

roadster Loc: Arizona

EXACTLY! What you are saying about people and facts is spot-on.
You just reinforced my self-imposed quest. Integrity, ethics really the first part that needs to be mentioned DECEIT.
Yes, I've been down-on people in this country for some time now.
Deceit has become acceptable conduct. People don't see themselves as a LIAR if he/she supports a LIAR.
I have no intention of changing a persons' position between liberal & conservative. My intent is to get a person to recognize DECEIT and do nothing to support it.
Deceit is all around us, hitting us from all directions. I just hope that 1 person realizes and recognizes deceit and do nothing to support or encourage it.
Thanks for your post!