One of the things I do quite often is listen to talk radio. I am not to picky what I listen to, so lately I have had a thought, do you think that a persons political position matters as much anymore? When I grew up you were a republican or a democrat, but now it seems everyone is a liberal, conservative or maybe green party. Does choosing a political party have any clout these days? Seems people flip flop back and forth very easily from one agenda to the other.
I think Liberal and Conservative are what define the two different parties these days, not democrat and Republican. Honestly, it's hard to find any sort of discernible difference from a classic republican and Democrat. You just identify with republican or democrat so you can vote and support conservative or liberal candidates and policies. What's always amusing is when a person thinks they're a Republican/conservative or democrat/liberal and when you ask them about current events and their responses align with the opposite party. Happens quite a bit with college students who think they're liberal but are more conservative in reality.
Well, I am not going to dispute that the current political system is a cesspool with little to no accountability for those contributing to said. However, the left is consistently opposed to the free market, property rights, and firearms rights, so there is next to zero chance that I'd vote for any of them. That's not to say the rights protection of the aforementioned is stellar, but I'll take it over outright hostility to basic liberties.
I'm waiting for the day when we have an American Party. A party that just believes in doing what is best for the country. There is always a good, better, and best choice. The American Party would be the party which always acts on the best choice regardless of who it benefits. So long as it's best for the country; it best for the party. Wasn't it JFK who said "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country". [video=youtube_share;JLdA1ikkoEc]http://youtu.be/JLdA1ikkoEc[/video]
I too would love to see an American party. Current politics has split this country into so many different factions, it is as if we live in entirely different countries. I never thought that I would say this, but I miss nationalism. Both the Democratic and Republican party choose candidates who are well connected and well heeled. The choices from which we have to vote, don't represent the average American. Candidates don't live in our neighborhood, shop in our grocery stores or send their children to our neighborhood schools. How can they possibly represent our best interest? Now that limits on individual political contributions have jumped to a whooping $350K, the chances that we will have a representative "of the people" have all but disappeared. We appear to be wising up... but rather than fighting the establishment, many more Americans are decided that their best option is simply not to vote... Obama said one thing after the midterms that struck a code with me. He said, "I heard those of you who did not vote." It is not apathy that keeps voters away from the polls. It is lack of choice. Rich people represent the interest of rich people. I wish we could start an American party using Kick Starter or something similar. Every American fed up with BOTH parties can contribute $2 toward electing at least one representative who will voice the concerns of average Americans. We desperately need representatives who are members of Main Street, with all the warts, wrinkles and credit blemishes that go with being average in America.
yes we have libertarians and tea baggers and all sorts of sub groups. It's all just a bit crazy if you asked me. If you have to much diversification nothing can get done, to many pulls in different directions for different reasons. It's as if self interest groups are now more like political parties. Environmentalists, and home schoolers come to mind. Since when is that political? maybe as a group they had some clout with political parties in the past- but now it just seems like everyone is some sub group but related to no party in particular.
I'm a fiscal conservative and tend to be libertarian on most social issues. I have strong "tea party" ideals in that I'm for a small, limited government, low taxation, etc. But I am for a strong national defense and foreign policy. I just think the federal govt should do little else. I'm big on states' rights and the Constitution, free markets, etc. I'm not personally religious, but am a big believer in religious freedom. The far left seems to either want freedom FROM religion or to only give that freedom to more radical "religions" while waging war on more traditional religions. I have mixed views on abortion but tend to lean towards pro-choice at the end of the day. I have no issue with gay marriage.
I'm a fiscal conservative and tend to be libertarian on most social issues. I have strong "tea party" ideals in that I'm for a small, limited government, low taxation, free markets, etc. But I am for a strong national defense and foreign policy. I just think the federal govt should do little else. I'm big on states' rights and the Constitution, free enterprise, limited government domestic interference, etc. I'm not personally religious, but am a big believer in religious freedom. The far left seems to either want freedom FROM religion or to only give that freedom to more radical "religions" while waging war on more traditional religions. I have mixed views on abortion but tend to lean towards pro-choice at the end of the day. I have no issue with gay marriage being legal, but these things not things that really factor into my vote either way. On the whole, I identify more with Republicans than today's Dems and my votes reflect that, particularly on the state and national levels. I prefer Cruz or even Romney to Bush or Christie, but at the end of the day I'd see the latter two as not as bad as Warren, Obama, or Clinton and would cast my vote for the lesser of 2 evils. Those who don't vote and "stay home" because "their" candidate didn't get nominated are as much to blame for things going wrong as those who voted for an unqualified or corrupt candidate who turns out to be bad for the country or their locale.
Ditto the fiscally conservative, but socially libertarian. I think grown ups should be treated as such by the state. The government should protect us from the thugs on the outside, prosecute the scuzz on the inside, maintain some of the infrastructure, take care of the limited tasks assigned to them in the Constitution, and provide some kind of minimal social safety net, but otherwise stay out of our faces. The history of big government is not good; from the nanny states (e.g., some countries in western Europe), to endemically corrupt (e.g., some South American countries), to pure evil (e.g., the Third Reich and the Soviet Empire). No thanks to any of that crap here.
I like your responses, but I'd really love to hear what your prepared to do for your country. This all falls in the category of what you expect from our government. Respectfully, I remind you that the government isn't the country. The government administers the country. Analogous to how a pilot isn't a plane, but a plane without a good pilot is useless if not dangerous.
