Where do you get your political believes from

[Guest Some Guy]

What are some of the jokes?

[Guest J*ingus]

morality, religion: liberal.

which means?

I'm a bit of a moral relativist, and believe in a pretty strict separation of church & state (i.e., I think taking "under God" out of the pledge is a good idea).

[Guest chirs3]

They aren't anything funny - maybe jokes is the wrong word. What I mean is... here's an example from today.

 

Me: Damn it, the 7-11 was out of Dr. Pepper!

Dad: Duh. Look who's in the White House.

 

Or after seeing a truly boneheaded news story (People wanting "The Two Towers" renamed, for example)...

 

Me: How can there be so many stupid people in this country? Do they not know what common sense is?

Dad: They're Republicans, Chris, of course they don't know what common sense is.

 

Not to mention any time there was ever a single possibility of a Republican snafu (he's having a field day with Bush right now), he sings it out to the whole family many times over.

 

He usually is just kidding around (but he really is loving all of Bush's hypocracies), but even if he's just joking, 17 years of that will get into your head.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Damn, seems more like bitterness.

 

I have my own subjects that I'm forever bitter about but damn, don't let it take over your life.

[Guest chirs3]

Bah, he's joking. He doesn't say it in a serious tone, he's always smirking. I know (and so does he) that Republicans aren't why the 7-11 ran out of Dr. Pepper.

[Guest EricMM]

Hah sez you.

 

It couldn't be the Democrats (following the logic that nothing a democrat does will ever cause anything bad to happen, ever)

 

...

 

BAHHH!!

[Guest chirs3]

I personally don't even know too much about Rep's and Dem's.

 

I think Dem's are tree-huggers and Rep's are religiousers... something like that...

 

Anyone? I'm in the dark. What are the general ideas and, for lack of a better term, beliefs of Dem's and Rep's?

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

"I know (and so does he) that Republicans aren't why the 7-11 ran out of Dr. Pepper."

 

They're not? Damn, and I thought the GOP did it because it was the favorite pop of the poor, minorities and women.

[Guest Shaved Bear]

well, I consider myself a moderate-conservative Republican and I get my beliefs from several places

living in NYC I see TONS of government money being squandered on helping the homeless people etc.

Now dont get me wrong, I am for ending poverty but the money gets lost in administrative fees and noone actually gets helped. The government that is less involved in our lives is the best government that we can have. If someone cant survive...then its Darwinism

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

"living in NYC I see TONS of government money being squandered on helping the homeless people etc."

 

Not really -- all that money keeps those pencil-pushing bureaucrats with jobs that keep them from living in a cardboard box.

[Guest Shaved Bear]

please huge amounts of money are spent and it seems as if no progress has been made

 

but politically i blame everything on one person

 

Al Sharpton, but that is another can of worms

[Guest EricMM]

Yes, that is a big can of worms. It's a can of RACISM worms.

 

Thusly it deserves it's own topic!!

[Guest KoR Fungus]

Hating Al Sharpton isn't racism, it's just logical. Al Sharpton is a racist nutcase that hasn't done anything positive for society in years.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

You mean Twana Brawley (sp) wasn't a crusade for justice and the truth?

[Guest Shaved Bear]

Yes, that is a big can of worms. It's a can of RACISM worms.

 

Thusly it deserves it's own topic!!

no, because I know that not all blacks worship Al Sharpton, I hate him because he is a leech on society, I am actually probably the least-racist person around

[Guest spiny norman]

My beliefs came from my father really. He's in a trade union. The rest of my family is also fairly liberal, so that's the way I am.

 

And at big family get-togethers and the like, there would always be a large discussion on politics, and then my grandmother would turn to me and tell me I had to be liberal. It was rather annoying, because I was liberal, but I put up with it and it's helped me survive many a family debate.

[Guest gthureson]

Where do I get my own political beliefs from?

 

From a variety of places. I was the youngest and more than likely unexpected, so my parents were a bit older when I was born. They were born in 1938 and 1937 respectively. My dad is a life long Liberal (Canadian political party) and my mother usually voted Progressive Conservative.

 

My dad served 32 years in the Canadian Infantry, while my mother taught elementary school in the fifties and sixties. Why does this matter? Cause that is where there basic political philosophies come from, and they are the early influences on mine.

 

I wouldn't call my father a modern liberal, because he is rather set in his ways and is 65 this year, but he is far more open on a lot of issues than I would usually give him credit for. My mother is the same way. But their base politics would probably have to be called moderate liberalism. They both still go to the United Church every Sunday, even though I am an atheist.

 

What I get from them is a general idea that society should try and help people that want and need help. But not do everything for them, or give them an excuse not to do things for themselves. Just a bit of boost when they really need one.

 

My high school teachers, namely my History and Geography teachers also had a big influence. My history teacher was a bit an odd guy. While I would have called him a liberal, he was also critical of the Kennedy administration, and generally called them like he saw them. My Geography teacher was more conservative than him, but really pushed critical thought and forming your own opinions. I remember him having the local Amnesty International person talk in class, and after she was done, having a discussion on the group where he allowed a vigourous debate on the merits and flaws of the group. There was little respect given for opinions that couldn't be backed up.

 

And the university professors I respected the most where the ones that respected all positions as long as you had a solid argument. Didn't matter if they were to the left or not. If you could support your argument, you got the marks.

 

So what does all that mean?

 

It means I have generally ended up with a philosophy that I will accept your argument as valid even if it disagrees with mine as long as you bring the support for it. Myself? I am quite liberal, with strong dashes of libertarian and occassional flashes of anarchism showing through. But I generally only get into arguments only with people who make blanket statements pulled completely out of their asses that I'm supposed to accept without questioning it.

 

Now, if only I had cable television or a subscription to an American paper, I'd probably be a touch more active on this board, but alot of internal American policies don't interest me, its mainly foreign policy and international relations that I keep track of.