I still haven't found a political stance. I've found things I feel strongly about and things I don't -- and things about which I'm totally unsure. Those things all bang around in my head everyday in an endless review cycle.
Sometimes those things will line up with a candidate or party. But most of the time I just try to do no harm.
I don't have much of a stance beyond "Republicans are dumb/scary." Outside of that I don't feel like I understand enough to hold a solid opinion, one that doesn't change with every bit of new information I soak up.
I've progressed steadily leftward since around eighth grade or so. I started out pretty strongly democratic, as my parents caught the progressive wave in the sixties and never really stopped, but I was still fairly capitalistic then.
Over the past two years of college, I've had a much stronger introduction to political philosophy, Marxism, and social justice issues. Combine that with the steadily increasing bullshit of capitalism - the economic collapse, union-busting in Wisconsin, and the wealthy openly attempting to buy the political process, I've become pretty disillusioned with the system. Combine that with reading The Dispossessed, and I've become a full-on socialist.
What I can't stand is the false dichotomy between socialism and capitalism. We can foster a strong private sector while still reigning in the destruction that it can cause.
What I can't stand is the false dichotomy between socialism and capitalism. We can foster a strong private sector while still reigning in the destruction that it can cause.
Oh, you've solved the prisoners' dilemma? Interesting.
It's the prisoner's dilemma, except that we get to write the rules (through law). The real game is simply in deciding who writes the laws, for which we have made a system where the people who write them are also the ones playing the game.
Yosho I am entertained that Starship Troopers pushed your thinking one way and then Stranger In A Strange Land pushed it another. Its a bit funny that the same author can push people in so many directions. He did spend a great deal of time in both books, well all of his books, lecturing about whatever he was trying to get across.
It's the prisoner's dilemma, except that we get to write the rules (through law). The real game is simply in deciding who writes the laws, for which we have made a system where the people who write them are also the ones playing the game.
True... A metaphor I've used in the past is to picture capitalism like a sports game. Pick your favorite sport: football, hockey, whatever. All these sports are all about competition, but they all have rules and a referee to enforce the rules. If capitalism is also about competition, then it should also have rules and a referee. A well-functioning capitalist government's job is to serve the role of rulemaker and referee.
Reasonable people may disagree with which rules are appropriate and not (to a certain extent), but just like how it would be insane to play in a serious football or hockey game without rules and a referee, the same applies to a capitalist economy.
On the flip side, as some others have already said here, there is a distinct feeling that those who are ahead in the game are rewriting the rules as they see fit to make sure they stay ahead.
Well that's what I'm talking about! Conservatives claim to be for a strong free market economy in order to create a false dichotomy that progressives and liberals must be against the private sector. But in reality, clear and strict regulation and rules of conduct would actually make our markets even stronger.
But rules hurt small business owners who can't read! The jerb creaters!
I'll say this much, there is almost certainly a large number of rules/regulations on the books that are obsolete and/or not really applicable to businesses smaller than a certain size that should be revised. However, just because some of the rules are bad doesn't mean having rules is in itself bad. As I said, reasonable people can disagree on the appropriateness of individual rules but it's completely unreasonable to assume that a lack of rules would be a good thing.
The Andrew Jackson Jihad album "People Who Eat People Are the Happiest People" awakened me to the joys of nihilism through what even I will admit was probably two or three leaps in logic on my behalf. Before that I was a Socialist, which was brought about by Michael Moore and Bernie Sanders (though I consider them a little milquetoast now).
Forgive the length, once I got started, I guess I just kept on going...
For me, it was probably a combination of religion, cultural upbringing, and my family.
I don't want to make it seem that Judaism has a monopoly on this, but going to a Hebrew Day School, studying the Talmud every day, arguing with my classmates and teachers, and being actually encouraged to question my religion, has had a huge impact on me.
Jewish culture in general seems to promote certain values and (I'd like to think) humanitarian world views. To most Jews, knowledge and study is a top priority. Intellectual discourse isn't something that should be shunned, but encouraged. Discussions about politics and religion aren't taboo topics, but essential. Being informed is a virtue. My parents only added to this. When I would come home from school, my mom wouldn't ask me what I learned that day, instead, she would ask me if I had asked any good questions, something that I would later get into some trouble for once I went to public high school. On a side note, I think it somewhat ironic that the very values that Judaism promotes is what eventually caused me to become an agnostic.
Added to that is my family's personal history with World War II and the Holocaust, something that is probably true for many Jews. Coming to the United States, my grandparents learned the value of hard work and penny-pinching, but didn't lose or forget their compassion and humanity. One of the best ways that I've heard describe Jews in the US is that they "earn money like Episcopalians, but vote like Puerto Ricans." I know Judaism isn't alone in this, but both the religion and the more agnostic culture of modern day American Jews places a huge emphasis on Tzedakah (charity), and Tikkun Olam (healing or restoring the world). I also don't think it's a coincidence that the Hebrew word for chairity, Tzedakah has its root in Tzedek, which means righteousness, fairness, or justice.
As I grew up, I looked around at the political landscape and tried to match my values with the various politicians and political parties around me. While it's far from perfect, the Left, or the Democratic Party, lines up much more closely with these values, especially compared to the modern day Republican Party. As a religion and as a people that have been shunned, forced to leave their homes, and killed throughout the centuries, just because of who they are or what they believe, I don't think it's a coincidence that Jews believed so strongly in Womens' Liberation, the Civil Rights Movement, and now equal rights for Gays and Lesbians. As a religion that promotes charity and good works (again, Jews aren't alone in this), I don't think it's a coincidence that many Jews agree with New Deal policies, social security, Healthcare for everyone, etc.
Growing up, I heard stories about Jewish persecution by the Assyrians, Romans, the Inquisitions in Europe, and the Nazis in World War II. As a result, I don't think it's a coincidence that so many Jews want a more secular government and believe in a strong separation between Church and State. It's also not a coincidence why organizations like the ACLU have so many Jewish members or that many of the founders of the NAACP were Jewish.
While I don't believe in god, and am no longer a practicing Jew, the values that I grew up with, and are encouraged in Jewish culture have played an important impact on my political views and stances.
I imagine the political martial arts stance is one that looks really threatening but the only thing it's actually good for is slinging mud.
How about this?
My own views came about from a combination of a Catholic upbringing, I remember a police officer coming in and explaining why he didn't believe in the death penalty, a very liberal friend in high school, and a general belief in the social safety net. My mom had a stroke when I was 11 and the thought that she has to work 40+ hours a week with a body that only half works to help keep us out of the red kind of sucks.
I remember in college I took a political philosophy class where a girl argued against the social safety net because her family had been through bad times, her dad had had to raise her and her siblings on his own, and the moment has stuck in my head because I realize now that I made a really poor argument at the time and if I wanted to really change her mind, I could had said "What if your father had gotten sick and couldn't work? It's great that he was able to do it without government assistance, but isn't it better to know that if you fall, you have something to catch you before you become poor and homeless and thus have little chance of pulling out of that?" Oh well, I suppose that happens to all of us. In all seriousness, I have a really hard time believing that a person would genuinely believe that you shouldn't help the poor in any way.
He's a smart kid, but nihilism is SUCH a teenage thing.
Three years later I'm only technically a teenager and still a nihilist :P Though my politics is now more shaped by Andrew Jackson and Gene Debs than by anyone talking today.
Living first as a solidly middle class person and then as a very poor person is highly informative. I don't recommend it, but it's a great way to radicalise the youth. I came from a pretty lefty background to start with, albeit fairly undogmatic, so I probably would have wound up where I am eventually, but the bitterness adds to the bite, shall we say.
I began my rush to the left in junior high school and around my Bar Mitzvah. I read Animal Farm and suddenly understood a lot about American politics, despite it being an allegory for Russian politics. Everything I see in American politics, and being a humanist myself, pushes me further left.
I honestly don't care about party loyalty, but whoever is pushing for helping the most people while hurting the least, whoever is for sensible regulation of the private sector, whoever is adamantly against bigotry and racism in all of its forms will have my vote every time.
I wish my choices were difficult between multiple parties, but as it stands now, the choices are either unspeakable evil or the Democrat party.
I wish my choices were difficult between multiple parties, but as it stands now, the choices are either unspeakable evil or the Democrat party.
I'm sick of hearing this. It's always been the case. Not just in my short political experience, but in all the periods I've read as well. Jefferson against Hamilton, Jackson against Clay, Bryan against McKinley, Bryan against Wilson, Long against Roosevelt, Chicago Seven against Johnson against Nixon against Kennedy (the 60s and 70s were weird)... they have always seen each other as unfathomably awful.
When would you have had a difficult choice between multiple parties?
I wish my choices were difficult between multiple parties, but as it stands now, the choices are either unspeakable evil or the Democrat party.
I'm sick of hearing this. It's always been the case. Not just in my short political experience, but in all the periods I've read as well. Jefferson against Hamilton, Jackson against Clay, Bryan against McKinley, Bryan against Wilson, Long against Roosevelt, Chicago Seven against Johnson against Nixon against Kennedy (the 60s and 70s were weird)... they have always seen each other as unfathomably awful.
When would you have had a difficult choice between multiple parties?
I'm not nostalgic, I'm saying I wish it were the case that there were several parties who all had different, but feasible and intelligent solutions for the issues we face as a country.
I guess we have maybe five actual parties, but three of them are basically the same, and one never has enough support to get real traction (or is used by anyone who can't get their party's vote). The only choice right now that doesn't lead to Mad Max is the Democrat party. That's what bums me out. There is literally one party struggling to do real work, and the other is entirely the pigs from Animal Farm.
The alternatives to the Democrats are terrifying on a level that shouldn't even exist outside of dystopian sci-fi.
Comments
Sometimes those things will line up with a candidate or party. But most of the time I just try to do no harm.
Over the past two years of college, I've had a much stronger introduction to political philosophy, Marxism, and social justice issues. Combine that with the steadily increasing bullshit of capitalism - the economic collapse, union-busting in Wisconsin, and the wealthy openly attempting to buy the political process, I've become pretty disillusioned with the system. Combine that with reading The Dispossessed, and I've become a full-on socialist.
It's the prisoner's dilemma, except that we get to write the rules (through law). The real game is simply in deciding who writes the laws, for which we have made a system where the people who write them are also the ones playing the game.
Reasonable people may disagree with which rules are appropriate and not (to a certain extent), but just like how it would be insane to play in a serious football or hockey game without rules and a referee, the same applies to a capitalist economy.
On the flip side, as some others have already said here, there is a distinct feeling that those who are ahead in the game are rewriting the rules as they see fit to make sure they stay ahead.
If I didn't, I would by his posts. :-)
He's a smart kid, but nihilism is SUCH a teenage thing.
For me, it was probably a combination of religion, cultural upbringing, and my family.
I don't want to make it seem that Judaism has a monopoly on this, but going to a Hebrew Day School, studying the Talmud every day, arguing with my classmates and teachers, and being actually encouraged to question my religion, has had a huge impact on me.
Jewish culture in general seems to promote certain values and (I'd like to think) humanitarian world views. To most Jews, knowledge and study is a top priority. Intellectual discourse isn't something that should be shunned, but encouraged. Discussions about politics and religion aren't taboo topics, but essential. Being informed is a virtue. My parents only added to this. When I would come home from school, my mom wouldn't ask me what I learned that day, instead, she would ask me if I had asked any good questions, something that I would later get into some trouble for once I went to public high school. On a side note, I think it somewhat ironic that the very values that Judaism promotes is what eventually caused me to become an agnostic.
Added to that is my family's personal history with World War II and the Holocaust, something that is probably true for many Jews. Coming to the United States, my grandparents learned the value of hard work and penny-pinching, but didn't lose or forget their compassion and humanity. One of the best ways that I've heard describe Jews in the US is that they "earn money like Episcopalians, but vote like Puerto Ricans." I know Judaism isn't alone in this, but both the religion and the more agnostic culture of modern day American Jews places a huge emphasis on Tzedakah (charity), and Tikkun Olam (healing or restoring the world). I also don't think it's a coincidence that the Hebrew word for chairity, Tzedakah has its root in Tzedek, which means righteousness, fairness, or justice.
As I grew up, I looked around at the political landscape and tried to match my values with the various politicians and political parties around me. While it's far from perfect, the Left, or the Democratic Party, lines up much more closely with these values, especially compared to the modern day Republican Party. As a religion and as a people that have been shunned, forced to leave their homes, and killed throughout the centuries, just because of who they are or what they believe, I don't think it's a coincidence that Jews believed so strongly in Womens' Liberation, the Civil Rights Movement, and now equal rights for Gays and Lesbians. As a religion that promotes charity and good works (again, Jews aren't alone in this), I don't think it's a coincidence that many Jews agree with New Deal policies, social security, Healthcare for everyone, etc.
Growing up, I heard stories about Jewish persecution by the Assyrians, Romans, the Inquisitions in Europe, and the Nazis in World War II. As a result, I don't think it's a coincidence that so many Jews want a more secular government and believe in a strong separation between Church and State. It's also not a coincidence why organizations like the ACLU have so many Jewish members or that many of the founders of the NAACP were Jewish.
While I don't believe in god, and am no longer a practicing Jew, the values that I grew up with, and are encouraged in Jewish culture have played an important impact on my political views and stances.
How about this?
My own views came about from a combination of a Catholic upbringing, I remember a police officer coming in and explaining why he didn't believe in the death penalty, a very liberal friend in high school, and a general belief in the social safety net. My mom had a stroke when I was 11 and the thought that she has to work 40+ hours a week with a body that only half works to help keep us out of the red kind of sucks.
I remember in college I took a political philosophy class where a girl argued against the social safety net because her family had been through bad times, her dad had had to raise her and her siblings on his own, and the moment has stuck in my head because I realize now that I made a really poor argument at the time and if I wanted to really change her mind, I could had said "What if your father had gotten sick and couldn't work? It's great that he was able to do it without government assistance, but isn't it better to know that if you fall, you have something to catch you before you become poor and homeless and thus have little chance of pulling out of that?" Oh well, I suppose that happens to all of us. In all seriousness, I have a really hard time believing that a person would genuinely believe that you shouldn't help the poor in any way.
I honestly don't care about party loyalty, but whoever is pushing for helping the most people while hurting the least, whoever is for sensible regulation of the private sector, whoever is adamantly against bigotry and racism in all of its forms will have my vote every time.
I wish my choices were difficult between multiple parties, but as it stands now, the choices are either unspeakable evil or the Democrat party.
When would you have had a difficult choice between multiple parties?
I guess we have maybe five actual parties, but three of them are basically the same, and one never has enough support to get real traction (or is used by anyone who can't get their party's vote). The only choice right now that doesn't lead to Mad Max is the Democrat party. That's what bums me out. There is literally one party struggling to do real work, and the other is entirely the pigs from Animal Farm.
The alternatives to the Democrats are terrifying on a level that shouldn't even exist outside of dystopian sci-fi.