How do you view yourself?

Racially?

Socially?

Economically?

Politically?

Philosophically?

Intellectually?

These two words mean different things to different people when referring to different topics: e.g. Politics, Social Relations, Economics, etc.

Which are you:  Politically?

                       Socially?

                       Economically?

WHY?

All nations have some form of government. This Institution has pretty well understood responsibilities, in the case of the US, well stated in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituited among Men, driving their just powers from the consent of the Governed.

Just how far should government go in securing and insuring those rights? Do rights include old-age and medical protection? Care of the environment? Enablement of communication and transportation? Protection from foreign invaders? Enforcement of the nation's foreign policy? 

In a democracy should we enforce the rights of minorities, or should the majority always rule unchecked?

Is tolerance a good thing? How tolerant should a person be? 

Is prejudice ever acceptable?   

The heading says it all: What is Love?

Often nowadays, aspiring politicians refer to "Fairness in taxation" or "Fairness in regulation".

What is Fair in government relations with citizens? What is Fair behavior in citizen interactions?

What is the Individual Citizen's responsibility toward his nation?

What is the Nations responsibility toward its citizens?

Is Man [or Humankind, if you prefer] the measure of all things, or is there some other overriding cosmic force which makes human considerations irrelevant?

What is the Human place in the Cosmos?

Thanks for all the comments (most of them anyway). 

Let's try a discussion of an oldie but goodie - one of the basic questions of philosophy - the Nature of Reality and Truth.

Thanks to the_eyes_of_a_painter  for the suggestion

My student, Plato thought human perception was not enough to really know Truth. He expressed this idea in his "Cave" allegory where he likened human physical perceptions of reality to those of a man chained in a cave who could only observe the shadows on the cave wall of those passing by, but could not turn around and see true reality.

Was Plato right, is physical perception insufficient to really know "Truth"?  What is "Truth"anyway?

Across the Xanga web there seems to be a general move away from serious websites. Perhaps this is because of the rise of competing forms of social media [Facebook, Twitter, Chat, etc] or perhaps people are just not as interested in discussing basic philosophical questions.

For over a year now, there has been a sharp decline in response to Soc's questions.Perhaps viewers just don't find them relevant or interesting, perhaps viewers find them simplistic or redundant, or perhaps viewers are just finding other interests - this does seem to be a complaint of other discussion-oriented sites Soc monitors.

In any event, Soc wants your input about this decline, if you would be so good as to offer any.

Soc won't offer any new or continuing discussion until he gets some response. If you have any thoughts about this site, please comment below.

Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.