I've discovered that there are many posters here who are very firm in their political worldviews and that wasting time trying to sway minds or present views is as pointless except as a writing exercise.

Some of the new folks here have a bit more open minds but do you really expect almost anyone else to change their views? I mean really! These folks don't go around with nametags that say "radical leftist" but listening to their views one can't help but see how that label is an apt description of their views. Naturally, like a sore spot, anything that mentions the term is rejected wholesale.

It's a combination of factors that create these worldviews.

Perspective... or more properly a lack of it is a crippling factor. The past few days I have been going through satellite imagery and when one compares residential regions from around the world, one sees how terribly provincial are the outlooks of most folks. One sees how big Fallujah or Najaf are, and how poor the residents, and naturally these mostly uneducated slum dweller folks will be led around by their religious figures and even being part of a stupid insurgency gives these sad cases a small shot to their pride and ego.

California literally appears like a paradise. Tom, you live in an industrious era where corporations and the profitability of business and capitalism is self-evident. Scan over silicon valley and the endless landscaped office buildings and industrial parks paint an ideal picture of corporate life. Scan through Irvine in Orange County and it's more of the same. Folks who have lived in these regions are blessed - literally. They get to live in the prosperous corporate areas where tree lined drives, perfect lawns and well planned communities make life somewhat of a paradise. Najaf and Fallujah on the other hand seems like a collection of alleys, apartments and small stone structures almost completely desolate of plant life, no lawns and so very few trees.

In the cities where poverty reigns, the masses develop a liberal, entitlement mentality. They feel screwed over by the system, are envious of the wealthy and feel it's time for redistribution of wealth, social programs galore and so forth. Sadly, it is their minds that destroy the communities where they gather. Many neighborhoods have been renovated from slums only to return to slums. Nice conservative neighborhoods are generally turned into slums when enough liberals or folks with an entitlement mentality move in. This will generate heated resentment, but it is unfortunately borne out by statistics a hundred thousand times over. I can scan through the ghettoes of the liberal bastions and see the poverty perpetuated generation after generation - and only the creative, industrious types escape to create new paradises, new prosperous zones. These zones too will eventually be overrun after decades, and the point of industry moves on to a new location. Nothing beats living in a community where folks are creative and capitalistic. Nothing. The new centers, new ideas and freshness are like riding the crest of progress.

The internet brings people together, but you have to remember where their body resides and that their immediate environment, personal experiences, etcetera can vastly alter their worldviews. An appreciation of capitalism that you have simply can't exist without serious expansion of their perspective - and your words, any words, alone just can't do it.

You may have it, your neighbors probably have it...but some folks here just won't get it.