This latest battle, the one between anti-gun left wing proponents vs pro gun right wing proponents, has me strongly against the Democratic left position and constantly arguing with my friends. I find myself repeatedly for or against hot topic political issues on one side of the spectrum or the other, and it seems that behavior among my friends is absent or very rare. If you see yourself as a Democratic, the blue team, a liberal leftist, you're for gay marriage, abortion rights, welfare, social security, anti-war, regulated guns (or no guns at all), not necessarily religious, pro-environment, etc. If you live in America you know what I mean. On the other hand if you see yourself as a Republican, the red team, a conservative hawk, you're against gay marriage, against abortion, suspicious of the government, see welfare and social security as entitlements, pro-war, pro-guns, global warming is a hoax, religious, etc. The left sees, and divisively remarks on, the right as ignorant, stupid, religious zealots, racists, Capitalist (yet both are pro in reality), and unenlightened. Likewise, the right says the Democrats are hippies, trusting of the government, morally soft, irresponsible spenders, worshipers of global warming, against the troops, fags, and godless fetus killers. Just for starters. Whatever the issue if your chosen team is for it, that's where you stand, and you rally around it and its leader. That leader right now is Obama. Never mind that Obama has done nothing to stop the wars, reduced military spending, curbed environmental destruction, allowed marijuana to be legalized, or reigned in Wall st. NOTHING! Quite the opposite actually, yet people who consider themselves democrats are largely against these things. Talking about any of these things - war, drugs, gay marriage, global warming, guns, abortion, debt, Capitalism - has you defending your team over the other, and its quarterback. Can we not think for ourselves without becoming a color team and falling in line? Have we become the mentally vacuous cheerleader pom-poming the team on to victory?
For instance, you can't even argue the gun issue that is now going on in this country because whatever side of it you stand, you're labeled with the whole team and all its other opinions. I can only speak for myself, that on the issues that our world faces, I am my own thinker. It is my own opinion. I care not for the sport that we call politics. When it comes to these things I am not a team player, but it doesn't seem to keep people from pigeon holing me into various definitions - conservative, liberal, progressive, socialist, communist, and other countless political derivations. So let's clear it up so you know where I stand.
Guns - I think we should all be free to arm ourselves and carry on our person (without a permit, I see it as a inalienable right), except clearly defined mentally unstable pts and violent felons. I support a strong background check before any gun purchase which should include a mental history. I am strongly against banning assault weapons or high capacity magazines.
War - Strongly against. Unless our country is directly attacked by another country I see no justification. We are the worlds leader in possessing nuclear weapons, so I see no need to have a huge military.
Drugs - Drugs should be legal, all of them, and a national campaign funded to treat and inform people of the dangers. Smoking cigarettes is at a all time low because of similar measures.
Abortion - Morally, I see it as murder, but I don't support legislation that would force a woman to do anything or to regulate her body. It is her burden, one way or the other, to carry or forfeit to whatever moral consequence.
Government spending - I don't believe in deficit spending, printing to prosperity, or ignoring the debt. So bottom line we should not be spending more than we take in through taxation. This means, and neither party wishes to admit it, we are in a major depression right now because if you were to balance the budget the cut in government spending would be so severe that GDP would fall greater than -12%. That's a fact. We're pretending to be in a recovery by spending deficits and running up trillions in debt. There is no solution, thanks to the reckless budgets of the last dozen presidents and their political cohorts, that will fix the budget and make everyone happy. Actually, it won't make anyone happy because it means austerity the likes of which Greece hasn't even seen yet.
Environment - AGW is deadly serious, it's happening, and if we don't radically curb our fossil fuel emissions we are headed to extinction. I think it's a given by what I currently see, so its a horrible depressive subject for me personally. I see no indication that either party GETS IT. Population control, no more than 2 kids recommended (but not enforced). Similar to the campaign against smoking, just get the message out there that you are helping the planet by limiting yourself to two kids.
Gay marriage - none of the goddamn governments business. Also, whatever sexuality you were born with is your private business, and your rights should be equal to any other poor chap born into this world. It shouldn't even necessitate a debate over legislation. It's inalienable.
Healthcare - Available to all. Universally paid for by all working participants. Simplified and effective. Big Pharm should be highly regulated. Medical schools need to add seats, they haven't done so in over thirty years. If doctors don't make 600k a year under this type of system....too bad. 100k to 150k is reasonable unless you're talking about major specialists doing cutting edge treatments. More general practitioners. Instead of buying bombs we should be funding the curing of cancer and paralysis.
Nuclear power - OMG no. Japan should be a lesson. Enough said. This stuff last for so long that god only knows what might happen in the future for humanity, but whatever it is it isn't anything human beings can predict. About the only safe place for it is in space.
Welfare - Difficult solution under a capitalistic system that is unfair and murderous to everyone and every living thing on the planet. I've seen it wholly abused everywhere I go. People become dependent on it. I don't support unemployment benefits. What inevitably happens is people hold out for a choice job in their field of specialty while living on unemployment instead of grabbing a lower paid job that is available. This does not mean disability. I strongly support funds for the truly disabled (not high blood pressure, diabetes, I'm depressed crap). I also support the food stamp program. All of these things though are cheaper than what we currently spend on Intel, spying, weapons, tanks, planes, ships, and military energy. Not to mention all the subsidies to the fossil fuel energy sector, and the loopholes big corporations capitalize off of to not pay a dime of taxes. Taking care of the poor is expensive, but far more important than the those who are prospering off their suffering.
Well, that's just a short list for starters. My stance on these things has changed as more information becomes available and I'm persuaded that my opinion is wrong.
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