My Liberal Political Views:
I am a liberal because I believe that the largest and most important burden and greatest responsibility of a truly advanced, cultured, civilized "free" society is tolerance. Obviously I do not always practice this, but I do believe it. What I mean by that is if I want my rights-all of them-I have to allow others there rights-all of them-whether I agree with it or not. To further explain, I am one of the most boring people you will ever run across. I spend more time at home or work than anywhere else-certainly than partying or even hanging out. I have never been drunk, high, or had a one night stand. Yet, I believe that in a free society the governmet has little part any of those activities. My feeling is if all involved parties are consenting adults in their own homes-it is none of the government nor anyone else's business what they do. I think prostitution being illegal is asinine and a waste of tax payers dollars and valuable police time and budget. I think an orgasm is perhaps the most honest thing you can purchase in our consumer based culture. I would not personally be a prostitute nor go to one, nor want my child or sister or niece to be one-but I would not want any of them to be soldiers either. Not meant to be an insult to soldiers-I KNOW they protect me and the freedoms I take for granted and I support the soldiers even when I do not support the battles they fight-but I do not want anyone close to me at the disposal of our corrupt governments casual attitude towards war-whether that government leader be democrate or republican. I feel the same about drugs. I would not do them even if they were legal-just like I rarely ever drink. However, I am an adult and as such it is not the governments job to monitor what I place within my body. I do not think people should use drugs, I realize and agree that addiction leads to poverty, neglect, and in general harmful things in society. I just do not feel that illegal drugs are any different than alcohol and cigarettes or more harmful and further more, as an adult, if in the privacy of my own home I want to smoke marijuana that is nobodies business but my own-again, as long as I am a consenting adult. That is the burden of a free society, tolerating behavior that goes against everything you believe to be correct or how you would chose to live your life and yet realizing that it is not any of your business as long as all participants are consenting adults in the privacy of their own homes. I believe that a society that is stifled is not a free society-ever. My morals are not everyone's morals and in my opinion it is immoral to force my morals on others. Once you begin that, where does it end? Many people think by being a practicing witch I am unfit to raise my child and by their morals I am. Thank god we have not yet reached a point that the government-in their effort to police the nations morals-steps in and does something about that. Then there was that couple divorcing that the courts said could not involve their son? In their pagan activities-bizarre. I believe that life begins at the moment of conception and could not ever see myself having an abortion-very easy to say now that I have no uterus-but still, I do not think I would have ever had an abortion unless my life was in danger and maybe not even then. Yet, I have gone with numerous friends to have abortions and not thought less of them for it nor felt they should not do it. For them life does not begin at the moment of conception and my morals are not their morals and they should live their lives according to their beliefs and not mine. I think having the government as the moral police creates more problems than it solves. We as a nation do not agree on morals-how can we ever police them fairly. I do not see that as enabling weaker members of society. I believe in personal choice for adults, not government enforced morals.
I believe in social help programs, I want my tax money spent that way. I believe what makes a society civilized is it's ability to protect and provide for its weakest members. For me that means health care, education and housing opportunities. It means the growth of the middle class and not the shrinking of it. It means in times of economic hardship and crisis not a question of whether or how much the government is going to be there, it should be a given-that is what government is for-or what I want it to be for. I do not consider that welfare, I consider that social responsibility. There will always be those who take advantage, but that is always true in life and yes I am frustrated by them too-but I think cutting the programs is a bit like throwing out the baby with the bath water.
I think families come in all shapes, sizes, religions and genders. I think a single mother or father has the potential to be as stable as a two or more parent family. Personally I think what is really destroying the fabric of family in our society is not single parents or even teen parents-but the decline of extended family support which has not yet been replaced with a positive support system in our society.
I vote democratic not because the party supports all of what I believe-or even most of it- but because in this country for nations leaders we are pretty much looking at republicans or democrats-democrate is closer to what I believe. I think the democratic party is most likely to support the freedoms that are important to me.
I think this country has a violent, racist history and that effects who we are today, how we view ourselves and how we view our society. I do not think this is the greatest nation in the world. I feel lucky to be a citizen of this country-vs say China. However, I think this nation is behind many other industrialized nations in regards to personal freedoms-from issues like drugs and prostitution to issues like gay rights and sex education/contraceptives. I believe that this country is not fair nor equal-never was and likely never will be. There is much worse for sure-much, much worse. However, we are not free, nor equal in this nation and never have been. This nation was stolen from its native citizens in the honest belief that those citizens were less than human, did not deserve, appreciate or develop what they had. I think that history follows us as a nation and is something we will never get away from. The people who felt it was their manifest destiny-god given right and duty-to murder the native Americans, steal their land and exploit labor from my African ancestors, indentured servants, to the Asians who were imported to build the railroads-are the ancestors of this nation and that is seen and felt in every aspect of our society. It is as much a part of who we are as the declaration of independence-we hold these truths to be self-evident-the real question there is what truths and to whom do they apply. In theory this is a country in which anyone can be anything. In some small ways that is true-after all we have Michael Jackson who went from a black boy to a white woman. The reality is that is not true. I can not be anything I want-that dream does not exist for me nor for the vast majority of Americans-and never did.
~~~Where ever you go, There you are......
I am a liberal because I believe that the largest and most important burden and greatest responsibility of a truly advanced, cultured, civilized "free" society is tolerance. Obviously I do not always practice this, but I do believe it. What I mean by that is if I want my rights-all of them-I have to allow others there rights-all of them-whether I agree with it or not. To further explain, I am one of the most boring people you will ever run across. I spend more time at home or work than anywhere else-certainly than partying or even hanging out. I have never been drunk, high, or had a one night stand. Yet, I believe that in a free society the governmet has little part any of those activities. My feeling is if all involved parties are consenting adults in their own homes-it is none of the government nor anyone else's business what they do. I think prostitution being illegal is asinine and a waste of tax payers dollars and valuable police time and budget. I think an orgasm is perhaps the most honest thing you can purchase in our consumer based culture. I would not personally be a prostitute nor go to one, nor want my child or sister or niece to be one-but I would not want any of them to be soldiers either. Not meant to be an insult to soldiers-I KNOW they protect me and the freedoms I take for granted and I support the soldiers even when I do not support the battles they fight-but I do not want anyone close to me at the disposal of our corrupt governments casual attitude towards war-whether that government leader be democrate or republican. I feel the same about drugs. I would not do them even if they were legal-just like I rarely ever drink. However, I am an adult and as such it is not the governments job to monitor what I place within my body. I do not think people should use drugs, I realize and agree that addiction leads to poverty, neglect, and in general harmful things in society. I just do not feel that illegal drugs are any different than alcohol and cigarettes or more harmful and further more, as an adult, if in the privacy of my own home I want to smoke marijuana that is nobodies business but my own-again, as long as I am a consenting adult. That is the burden of a free society, tolerating behavior that goes against everything you believe to be correct or how you would chose to live your life and yet realizing that it is not any of your business as long as all participants are consenting adults in the privacy of their own homes. I believe that a society that is stifled is not a free society-ever. My morals are not everyone's morals and in my opinion it is immoral to force my morals on others. Once you begin that, where does it end? Many people think by being a practicing witch I am unfit to raise my child and by their morals I am. Thank god we have not yet reached a point that the government-in their effort to police the nations morals-steps in and does something about that. Then there was that couple divorcing that the courts said could not involve their son? In their pagan activities-bizarre. I believe that life begins at the moment of conception and could not ever see myself having an abortion-very easy to say now that I have no uterus-but still, I do not think I would have ever had an abortion unless my life was in danger and maybe not even then. Yet, I have gone with numerous friends to have abortions and not thought less of them for it nor felt they should not do it. For them life does not begin at the moment of conception and my morals are not their morals and they should live their lives according to their beliefs and not mine. I think having the government as the moral police creates more problems than it solves. We as a nation do not agree on morals-how can we ever police them fairly. I do not see that as enabling weaker members of society. I believe in personal choice for adults, not government enforced morals.
I believe in social help programs, I want my tax money spent that way. I believe what makes a society civilized is it's ability to protect and provide for its weakest members. For me that means health care, education and housing opportunities. It means the growth of the middle class and not the shrinking of it. It means in times of economic hardship and crisis not a question of whether or how much the government is going to be there, it should be a given-that is what government is for-or what I want it to be for. I do not consider that welfare, I consider that social responsibility. There will always be those who take advantage, but that is always true in life and yes I am frustrated by them too-but I think cutting the programs is a bit like throwing out the baby with the bath water.
I think families come in all shapes, sizes, religions and genders. I think a single mother or father has the potential to be as stable as a two or more parent family. Personally I think what is really destroying the fabric of family in our society is not single parents or even teen parents-but the decline of extended family support which has not yet been replaced with a positive support system in our society.
I vote democratic not because the party supports all of what I believe-or even most of it- but because in this country for nations leaders we are pretty much looking at republicans or democrats-democrate is closer to what I believe. I think the democratic party is most likely to support the freedoms that are important to me.
I think this country has a violent, racist history and that effects who we are today, how we view ourselves and how we view our society. I do not think this is the greatest nation in the world. I feel lucky to be a citizen of this country-vs say China. However, I think this nation is behind many other industrialized nations in regards to personal freedoms-from issues like drugs and prostitution to issues like gay rights and sex education/contraceptives. I believe that this country is not fair nor equal-never was and likely never will be. There is much worse for sure-much, much worse. However, we are not free, nor equal in this nation and never have been. This nation was stolen from its native citizens in the honest belief that those citizens were less than human, did not deserve, appreciate or develop what they had. I think that history follows us as a nation and is something we will never get away from. The people who felt it was their manifest destiny-god given right and duty-to murder the native Americans, steal their land and exploit labor from my African ancestors, indentured servants, to the Asians who were imported to build the railroads-are the ancestors of this nation and that is seen and felt in every aspect of our society. It is as much a part of who we are as the declaration of independence-we hold these truths to be self-evident-the real question there is what truths and to whom do they apply. In theory this is a country in which anyone can be anything. In some small ways that is true-after all we have Michael Jackson who went from a black boy to a white woman. The reality is that is not true. I can not be anything I want-that dream does not exist for me nor for the vast majority of Americans-and never did.
~~~Where ever you go, There you are......
posted by Laileanah at 11:58 PM
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