I too drifted (from moderate right to left in my case) when i was younger.
Now i honestly cannot really say that i am left or right: i just cannot trust all these big mouthes anymore, and this is why i'm in real trouble during election times.
Nowadays the different parties only seem to disagree on the amount of social violence usable to attain the Establishment objectives, and on the pace at which our Constitutions should be destroyed.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with that sentiment completely.Originally posted by M_Gunz:
BTW I have watched the average in this country shift ever towards corporate and wall street control whether the people making the shift know it or not, like sheep herded into the pen. Make things bad enough, throw in some scare and the sheep will move. Next thing you know your privacy isn't, your rights aren't and the answer is to let Big Business have their way (have to get rid of those government regulations, especially the EPA) so they can 'fix' everything.
People are by nature sheep. Most people are followers. Few are leaders.Originally posted by RegRag1977:
I always wondered how a people in a great country such as the USA, in which the culture values privacy, Rights, and individualism, could turned into sheep? There must be good reasons for this...
The problem is that people in positions of power know this. This is precisely why you see political parties catering to specific demographics and slowly changing their politics to suit. For example, the GOP wasn't ever the "Jesus party" before Falwell and his minions on the religious right became involved. This was nothing more than a power play for both parties--Falwell wanted political influence, and the GOP wanted the votes that he could provide. The marriage was made, and this is how the Republican party went from being the party of "small government and fiscal conservatism" to the party of "anti-gay, anti-abortion, and using conversations with Jesus to justify military operations." The religious right got its influence and the party got its votes. To the determent of most of us.
This is hardly an isolated example. Dozens exist on both sides of the aisle.
When people are told by leaders that they need to march to a cliff, they do it in good faith. They want to believe that they know what is best. Unfortunately, they have often been indoctrinated. Consider the insanity that gripped this country during the Cold War, for example. Most Americans still equate socialism, communism, and fascism as a result. This is precisely why many people that don't know any better adamantly oppose healthcare reform--our leaders lead us to this point.
And for what? Nothing more than self-serving corporatism. It's in the best interest of the wealthy to paint socialism as a great evil, so they (and the politicians that they control) do that and the public faithfully follows along.
It's human nature. It happens in every society. Those with an advantage will press to increase it to the detriment of everyone else, and they will convince the masses that it's for their own good in the process. Eventually it breaks down and the system starts again.
I was raised Republican and got my ear filled with God's Own Party and the Righteous Right long before Jerry Falwell got on TV. That view is over 100 years old. The corporate & GOP fight against wages and collectives goes back over 150 years.
If these libertarians get their way then America will "go back" to the times when JP Morgan and his peers ran company towns and polluted rivers so bad they ran different colors on different days and one actually caught fire. We will have it all, all over again and no chance of any regulations to save people from the poison being dumped freely and no affordable health care for those who get sick from them nor any chance to win a suit in court except for those few who can afford it. You will be able to get clean air and clean water -as you can afford to-. And then when the boss says to do something, there won't be be objections will there? Want to keep your job and not be tossed into hell then do as you're told.
Back when that sh1t was going on freely there was a LOT less economy going on, nowadays even with regulations there's huge amounts of dumping going on but take those out and we'll be living in a cyberpunk setting in one generation, TOPS.
Hi all,
On this forum there is a very vocal group of hard Left wing posters. I call them the 'Usual Suspects'.
They have no shades of political grey or middle ground. Any poster's view that does not coincide with their agenda is treated as those of a deranged skinhead redneck needing therapy e.g. a Tea-Bagger.
I have been honoured to be accused of this by the 'Usual Suspects'. And with some very personal insults thrown in.
The point I'm making is that politics covers a wide spectrum of views and attitudes.
I regard myself as centre-right but that to the 'Usual Suspects' makes me a redneck skinhead.
But, I have reservations about the value of prisons. Prisons have become a dumping ground for people who cannot be treated by underfunded alternatives. And non-violent offenders should only be sent to prison as a last resort.
And I don't believe in Capital punishment. The fear of getting caught should be enough.
And I believe that drugs should be legalised. To explain why would take a few pages and that's another topic.
And I hate CCTV. It doesn't work yet we are conned that we are are being watched for our own safety
And other examples.
Have I changed my politics? Yes. Does that make me a weaker person? Maybe not. And I used to be Left of centre.
Has the centre ground moved to the Left and I'm now stranded on the Right of centre??
Best Regards,
MB_Avro.
I suffer the unfortunate affliction of empathy and I can usually understand everyone's point of view at least to some degree (the internet makes this rather difficult at times...) My political allegiance isn't fixed in any manner, it pretty much exists on an issue-by-issue basis. Situational ethics, you might say. Very impractical and idealistic in other words.![]()
Do you propose to extend this to other aspects of your life? You could perhaps become a Filipino transexual prostitute or a Bolivian street urchin?Originally posted by leitmotiv:
I decided it was unfair to be of only one political persuasion in one's lifetime, therefore, in the name of diversity, fairness, and equal opportunity I assumed the polar opposite of my former political orientation.![]()
...and the truth is revealed.Originally posted by MB_Avro_UK:
Hi all,
On this forum there is a very vocal group of hard Left wing posters. I call them the 'Usual Suspects'.
They have no shades of political grey or middle ground. Any poster's view that does not coincide with their agenda is treated as those of a deranged skinhead redneck needing therapy e.g. a Tea-Bagger.
I have been honoured to be accused of this by the 'Usual Suspects'. And with some very personal insults thrown in.
The point I'm making is that politics covers a wide spectrum of views and attitudes.
I regard myself as centre-right but that to the 'Usual Suspects' makes me a redneck skinhead.
But, I have reservations about the value of prisons. Prisons have become a dumping ground for people who cannot be treated by underfunded alternatives. And non-violent offenders should only be sent to prison as a last resort.
And I don't believe in Capital punishment. The fear of getting caught should be enough.
And I believe that drugs should be legalised. To explain why would take a few pages and that's another topic.
And I hate CCTV. It doesn't work yet we are conned that we are are being watched for our own safety
And other examples.
Have I changed my politics? Yes. Does that make me a weaker person? Maybe not. And I used to be Left of centre.
Has the centre ground moved to the Left and I'm now stranded on the Right of centre??
Best Regards,
MB_Avro.
I have and always will be an anarchist in social and personal matters and also an advocate of very tight regulation over business.
So not sure what that makes me
But what ever it is ... there has been little change other than an ever increasing cynicism about politicians of all persuasions and about people that get interested in politics in general as I got older.
One change is I would now support legislation to ban anyone with any affiliation to a religious organization from holding political office. I did not hold that view until recently.