24 years of prosperity depending on where you fall in the class system. Parts of the population have done amazingly well. While most have lost ground against inflation. Serious reform of capitalism (or just getting back to it really) is needed but our lawmakers and politicians don't serve us anymore. I'd vote for anyone who said they were going to enforce antitrust laws to re-establish some sort of competition that is desperately needed in most major industries.

I used to be much more optimistic about our republic. But the older I get, the more I realize how ineffectual a vote is now. Citizens United was the proverbial nail in the coffin of our system of government.

Citizens United led to the creation of Super Pacs. That is the wrong direction for any republic. To have a few large interest groups influencing the results of the election so a certain corporation/ industry gets the benefit of the policies instead of the general public.

Any political system lives on long enough, it will be cluttered by corruption and stranglehold by big businesses or local power that threatens and influences the country's main functions.

Like a river that stops flowing because of all the mud and dirt that accumulates under the river bed, these special interests are exactly that.

The mud and dirt that slows and eventually chokes the flow of our republic.

A friend sent it to me. I really hope it’s not true.

It's not. Don't forward false information without taking a minute to fact check it. That makes the left look as bad as the right.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tr...-card-fordham/

Good to know. Thanks Crystal. I'll do research next time.

No worries, didn't mean the above comment to seem pejorative, just suggestive. I don't like Trump either, but he does plenty of stupid shit without needing to make new stuff up (or forward it). :thumbup:

A lot of the stuff we get on social media platform seem like sensational news if true.

Most of them I discard right away, some, like this one seem like it maybe authentic. But even if it seems true you still need to vet it carefully from reputable sources.

You just can’t blindly believe anything online anymore.

Part of the pitfalls of the Information Age. Fake information are Easily used as a way to propagate certain agendas.

Which is why I don't have Facebook, Instagram, or any other social media account other than Youtube and forums. I value my privacy, my data, and my sanity.

Which is why I’ve been contemplating deleting this one as well. I have not been on social media since 2006. The only account I have is this one.

It's the way of the world. People in charge want the most efficient way of controling its subjects.

It's the same in the business world. The major players want the most efficient way of selling products and services to its intended customers.

With the advent of social media, this can be done much quicker and with less cost.

I began seeing targeted ads on my most used browsers couple of years back.

The algorithms are getting smarter and quicker in figuring out what we look for online.

It's all about business. You don't get any genuine and useful messages or information unless it's from a family member of close friend who isn't retweeting or resending useless commercials unknowningly.

The politicians use the same platform to send us tailor-made messages and ideologies to make themselves appealing to us.

So Trump, Biden, and the countless public servants of today are all doing the same thing. Some at larger scale than others.

I think universal chipping and tagging are not that far from today.