A rant.

Jan 04, 2008 06:50

This is something someone told me tonight ( Read more... )

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ario January 4 2008, 18:18:48 UTC
You should read Nation of Rebels by Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter.

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fattony January 4 2008, 19:11:21 UTC

lotsofbluestuff January 5 2008, 02:57:05 UTC
I think it will mean a lot for this country if enough Americans actually voted a minority into office for the first time rather than another white man. It's a huge step toward changing the status quo. I think it will especially mean a lot for people of color in this country. The current leadership has done nothing to show any sort of consideration for anyone but wealthy whites and the fact that Americans themselves chose a black, mixed-race, no less, person as their leader might give people some hope that racism may someday really die here.
Not to mention the fact that Obama refuses to take money from PACs that are trying to push an agenda on behalf of the few.

Saying the system is broken and then not acknowledging positive steps toward renewal is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, the main problem of most libertarian thought.

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flounderphil January 5 2008, 05:40:55 UTC
I'm not a libertarian. I don't associate with a party whatsoever, and said in conversation the other night, "I'd probably vote for a democrat first ( ... )

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lotsofbluestuff January 5 2008, 16:14:31 UTC
I agree with some of what you're saying, but you probably should have used an example of tasing from the US rather than Canada to get the point across. There are many examples. The president, while limited in his official powers, has the power as figurehead and representative of the US to the rest of the world to effect change in the opinions of Americans. This effect is extremely apparent in the terms of GW Bush, who for a while, at least, had almost a cult of not only elites but also middle-Americans agreeing with everything he said or did.

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flounderphil January 5 2008, 16:50:25 UTC
You make a strong point. And honestly I am rooting for Obama, I just don't understand how the fact that he's black is such a big deal to people. It'd seem more outrageous to me if Ralph Nader was elected, and I'm pretty sure that Ralph Nader would instigate an unbelievable amount of change in the system, which is a part of the reason he'll never be elected. What worries me is that I believe there is a point where being an extreme centrist is harmful, and i don't think anyone in America should fear the political extreme, every corner of the spectrum has some workable ideas.

The small steps are important in their own way, and I hope the US (if we're smart enough to start moving in the right direction) can stay the course in the only way that it's important, to fix our own problems.

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zalezarem January 6 2008, 15:49:14 UTC
Like it. If you mean "The Prince", you should say that instead because Machiavelli wrote many other books about his REAL political beliefs, The Prince was primarily a parody like A Modest Proposal, though it was the only book he really got famous for (In fact, in his later years he had trouble finding political work because everyone had read that one book and not his others.)

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44uglencoco January 10 2008, 08:39:20 UTC
the Democratic primary is not a choice between a black guy and a woman. It's a choice between an eloquent, intelligent man with a consistent record of making smart choices and building consensus- or an aging party insider who has surrounded herself with the most timid, corporate, neoconservative thinkers in her party. Also, despite her service to the country, she is irrevocably tied to an era of intense partisan bitterness.

the colors and the genders are, to borrow your analogy, just like the colors of the team uniforms. Irrelevant. But the philosophies- maybe not on the policy level, but on the intellectual, judgment level- are genuinely different, and our country will genuinely be better if his philosophy governs this country.

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