Aha - mapleleaf is trying to get the discussion back on track and I suppose that noting moderates are on top with liberal not far behind. I prefer "centrist" over "moderate" as that means a person who looks at both sides and decides what is positive of the country (or world, for that matter) and what is negative. A centrist is also going to reject crackpot ideas from the far left and far right.
Gorsh, Mr. Wizard. I love the word "centrist". It sounds so much classier than "Mugwump"
Hey, Mikey, Take that BP medicine pronto and heed the words of Chief Joseph..".....I will fight no more forever."
Sorry, Mapleleaf.
Here's something for all of us:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/14/bush.doll.ap/index.html
I heard about those! Too bad they sold out!
bp too high after reading all this to even respond in some civil manner but I will put these two cents in for whatever thats worth.
This discussion certainly has shown that how we perceive ourselves we often go ahead and prove ourselves to be, or not be even.
All I can say is that I am appauled by some of the views here, and lighthearted by others. At least theres a bit of equilibrium I guess.
Folks, is there perhaps a need to split this topic?
Survival of the fittest? Social Darwinism, hey. More like survival of the cleverest, the more adept at subterfuge with more fire power to back it up?
I would hate to lose the indian discussion. Is there a way we can move the postings to a new thread?
I am as close to being an Ayn Rand variety libertarian as is practcal. The so called religious right are far from conservative although they have stolen that title. As a libertarian, I don't want the government placing many restrictions on individuals or playing "mommy" to them. I must use the term "many restrictions" since one can not be permitted to do physical harm to another or commit direct theft.
mapleleaf, that's what splitting is. You won't lose the Indian postings; I'll just combine them into a new thread and this thread will contain everything but the Indian postings. There may be a little discontinuity but I think most people here will follow it with no trouble.
Please everyone, after jespah performs her miracles - this is a light hearted but honest thread. We are all in the same boat together. (My boat is defined as World - "All we are saying is give Peace a chance")
Let's keep it that way. Thanks!
One of the problems with this type of a question is that each person gets to define what they "are" in their own terms so the results are slanted. It's human nature to want to portray ourselves as "in the middle" and we could probably each find our own justifications for puttting ourselves there. It's also very hard to narrow down your personal philosophy into one word. Most people jump back and forth depending on the day, time, issue and who they are discussing it with.
In most cases I think people would place me in the "Conservative" camp (on a US based scale at least) but on many topics I'm far to the left of many "Liberals".
flyboy,
Direct theft such as Enron and others performed? Ayn Rand hated the collective, believed strongly in laissez faire but even her objectivism has holes in it. She attempted to patch them up by trying to contrive some kind of a religion from the remnants of pantheism. The biggest hole is that corporations are a collective, more often ignoring the genius and talent of an individual for the board room committee style of running a company. Her ideals expressed in "The Fountainhead" were not the same as in "Atlas Shrugged." These are fictions, after all, and her book and lecture tours is where she and other formed the movement. Incidentally, I don't see that much difference in the collective of the left anymore than the collective of the right. They both take barely any more reponsibility than moving around money and hoping not enough people notice to vote them out of office.
You are right and left LW, it is the current trend of big money buying elections. Then afterwards, a knock comes on the door at 2 am with a little note telling the politian how they 'WILL' repay the "contribution".
Miracle? Golly. Hang on, gonna split the thread.
I have felt that way about the Iraq issue, BillW.
As to political affiliation.... I think I was libertarian when I was younger. I'm not anymore. I think I have a theory about the way I would ideally like to see things happen, but then idealism doesn't really work in the real world. So, I try to do what I can from within the existing structure.
The posts about Native Americans were split to here:
http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2062
My apologies if now some of the posts don't perfectly mesh with one another; that's the nature of splitting.
If I might suggest just splitting out those posts that are specifically about the native Americans. It will be difficult to split those out concerning political parties or political ideologies.
