Never vote Republican, no matter what.

edgarblythe- As I have mentioned in the past, when it comes to voting, I am between a rock and a hard place. I consider myself a libertarian, with a small "l". There are two reasons for the small "l". First, I don't believe in following any school of thought hook, line and sinker. The other is that I am also a realist, and very pragmatic.

As a libertarian, I am extremely conservative economically, and extremely liberal socially. Therefore, there are very few politicians who would really suit me.

It the past, I have voted for those whom I felt would do the least harm to the country.

I'm with Phoenix. I am closer to Libertarian views than any other, but it has to be with a little 'l' because I cannot embrace all of the libertarian platform.

I am a strong fiscal conservative and a mixed bag socially--I think some traditional values are worth defending and holding onto and I think there is room to be more inclusive on others.

And I think the Constitution should be valued as to its original intent and, short of necessary ratified amendments, shouldn't be messed with.

So you are saying that you want your self to be taxed to death and that the world be "Fair" to everyone except those that are wealthy?

Okay, I can go for that I guess. How about this. Don't vote party line, Vote for the best candidate to do the job regardless?

That's what I do, Brian.

Although, as a kid who grew up poor, I could give a damn about the wealthy. I think the wealthy in America need a big wake-up call to the realities of life.

And I hold out hope for this happening, because there are more of us than there are of them.

Cycloptichorn

I've voted Republican. Mayor. Chicago. 1998. Daley's opponent, whoever he was. Didn't work out, though.

May be - but they got the money. I don't think that liberals realize that there will ALWAYS be haves and have nots. It's what makes the world work. Those that don't have something should strive to obtain it through any legal means necessary. I would love to wake up one day and there not be any poor or crime, but lets face it, that isn't going to happen regardless what you do to the "wealthy"

saintsfanbrian- I have no problem with the rich who have gotten their wealth through honest means. In fact, I am very grateful to the folks who have produced goods and services that make my life more pleasant.

The big problem is that we have a mixed economy, where people use their clout with the government for personal gain. I wish the government would stay out of the economic life of the country, and let the free market do its thing.

It'll never happen, but I can dream, can't I?

I could understand the haves having 10 times as much as the have-nots.

But 50? 100? 1000? A hundred thousand times as rich as the have-nots? It is not acceptable to me.

I've believed for a long time that no matter how important you are to our society, no matter how smart, fast, strong, entertaining, whatever, that you stand on the backs of everyone who supports the society that allows you to get rich. Therefore, noone is entitled to own more than a certain amount of the worlds resources. I can see this amount being fairly large; but the excesses to which we have sunk is just plain ridiculous.

Cycloptichorn

I also have trouble with the wealthy that have gained it by creating yet another middleman. A lot of the time, that is a middleman between me - the taxpayer and the goods. go figure.

Yeap, I'm a libertarian.......... Government should get the ..... out of my life! And, I am for sure against a Corporate Welfare state.
Centrist is my political affliation.

I am sorry that it is not acceptable to you, but you really have no say in the matter. A capable, efficient CEO, who greatly increases the productivity of his business, is worth his/her weight in gold. Everyone, from the employees, to the stockholders, to the consumer of the company's products or services come out ahead.

I am not talking about crooks who milk the business. THAT is evil. If you are talking about the Enrons of the world, THEY are criminals, and should be prosecuted.

Actually, I do have a say in it. We have the right in America to set up the laws however we want. My say just isn't very loud.

You're right that a leader is worth his weight in gold. But many of these people are more than worth their weight in diamonds. Which just isn't right.

Cycloptichorn

As the corporation goes down the tubes, they get pay increases, they get golden parachutes, they liquidate the retirement funds and get. They take the business offshore to save taxes. Nope, there is a limit - mine has been met.

You've heard of the "golden rule", right?

Whoever has the gold, makes the rules.

Yes, I have heard of the "Golden Rule" and live by it in my daily life - "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."

I would suggest that if you work for an employer that you consider dishonest, quit your job. No one is forcing anyone to work for a crook!

I guess that explains all the collection calls from Fort Knox. It'll never make it to court.

So the populous can make it a law that no one can make a lot of money? Sounds a lot like communism to me or maybe socialism. This country is a capitalist society and that is a good thing. It actually makes certain that many products are able to be sold at a reasonable price.

I agree that paying an athlete $57 million to play a game or an entertainer $100 million to produce a movie is a bit of an extreme, but the only ones we have to blame for this is ourselves. We buy the tickets to the game/ movie, buy the souveniers, the T-Shirts. If you really want to put a hurt in them, quit buying the tickets. Quit paying their salaries. I have a problem in that teachers are not paid more nor are the police and the firefighters but you know what? They knew how much they would be paid when they took the job.

By doing exactly that, by rejecting the concept of consumerism (which was pretty much invented around the turn of the century on Madison Avenue, along with modern advertising) we can shift our society.

It DOES sound like socialism because it is somewhat of a socialistic idea. I think the ideal form of gov't for us is going to be capitalism with a healthy dose of socialism thrown in - noone's saying people can't be rich, just placing limits upon it.

Now, if you really want to get rich, seriously, we should discuss some plans to go get an asteroid from the asteroid belt. Then you would be as rich as every other person on the planet, combined. Which would be nice.

Cycloptichorn

Thanks for attributing to others such a simplistic world view. Of course, that never occurred to any of us pink folk!



See, some people (virtually all people, I suspect) think the world could work a lot better, that the current system, while better than those that preceded it in terms of generating large-scale well-being, is still flawed, and that absolute efficiency of production should not be the ultimate goal of a society.



That's a lovely sentiment. However, you can't choose your parents, and it is my humble opinion that there should be a little something to help people who have bad parents thrust on them.



No, it's not going to happen. I'm convinced our entire species is going to die out miserably, in fact. But that doesn't mean that, while we inhabit the middle ground between absolute squalor and bright, shining, glorious freedom from misery, we shouldn't attempt to push ourselves -- as a group -- away from the former and toward the latter.

At any rate, it's something to do.