What I don’t understand about politics…
Posted August 29th, 2008 under America, american president, dichotomy, I dont know anything about politics, illegal aliens, life, Mr. Smith, Sarah Palin, what scares meok, I’m not going to go into EVERYTHING I don’t understand about politics, because there is so much I don’t know that I don’t know. I’m a generalizer… The voices agree that this isn’t the same thing as stereotyping. Stereotyping is not good and assumes there really are no exceptions. All cats are the same and completely unlike a dogs. I know there are some cats that are more like dogs than some dogs. But I’m simple and I need to generalize to be able to manage.
I’m a child of Cappra politics. I want Mr. Smith to go to Washington… I want to vote for the American President… I want Dave to come in and balance the budget and just applying common sense to government. But I’m an adult of modern America where one president sits on his ass letting the economy falter (dotcom, enron, etc) and have the next president take the fall; where America gets bombed, citizens on our own soil get murdered and years later we argue over the politics of oil and presidential mistakes in judgement.
So, here’s my random list of things I don’t understand about politics…
- why do we have a political establishment that in all practical sense only allows the wealthy to run for office?
- why do most bloggers or twitters fall to personal jabs in response to criticism of their candidates when we abhor our candidates doing such?
- don’t people understand that neither extreme in parties would benefit this country? We aren’t red or blue, we are purple, right?
- I’m thrilled that a black man is running for president, but isn’t the historic event more important if we don’t talk about race other than acknowledge it? I’d feel the same about a woman (and do about Gov Sarah Palin).
- Aren’t elderly a protected group in America? Why is it right to criticize someone for being older then they are? The average age of presidents taking office is 55, right? good, bad or otherwise…
- does anyone think someone ever gets into a political office without making compromises? Do they really think that changes as you become president? Whatever they say they stand for is mostly what they think you want to hear to get your vote.
- Shouldn’t we judge based on experience? Why is picking a candidate any different from hiring a new employee?
- why is it important how many houses someone owns or how many millions of dollars they paid for their home? Politicians at the presidential candidate level are so far removed from the lower-to-middle class they really can’t relate on a personal level, right? Why don’t people accept that and focus on real issues?
- don’t people understand that in order for America to help wore-torn, impoverished, threatened nations, we need a strong military? Leaders of these countries or the thugs, mercenaries, terrorists killing people won’t respect us telling them to stop if we aren’t willing to back it up. if we don’t want to back it up, why do we care what happens there? They could care less about sanctions or embargos. and I’m not just talking the middle-east… I’m talking anywhere we scream out in outrage because of injustice or human sacrifice.
- why don’t we learn how to better educate our children from the nations that are beating us (say Finland) and quit trying to fix things through more money or cutbacks?
- why can’t people see that we need to cut our dependency on oil? But to do that, we still need oil until we have a solution? In short term, isn’t it more important to cut our dependency on middle-east oil? Alaska wants to drill… it’s why they were made a state. We have fields hundreds of miles off the coasts… why is this wrong? Why can’t we do both (research/drive alternative fuels while breaking our middle-east oil dependency while supporting US industry)?
- why do people think it’s ok to come to this country illegally? Each year, thousands of people come to the US and become citizens legally after years of effort and hard work. Why is citizenship something we should give away like candy on the corner? Why is it ok to break the law and reward people who don’t even pay taxes?
- why does the government care if two people get married? What do my religious beliefs have to do with their decision? How does that take anything away from me?
I really don’t think these are that complicated, but I’m sure I’m missing something. Pick a path, execute and commit.
August 29th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
[...] What I don’t understand about politics… [...]
August 29th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Some of these questions are two big for me, but I can add some thoughts to a few.
Purple: I think red vs. blue is very much like sports rivalry. People are emotionally committed to one side or the other, mostly through accident of birth, even though they are not even players in the game. People who live in cities or who have secondary education tend to be blue. People who live outside of cities or who have lots of money (relatively) tend to be red. Go Blue! Somehow that doesn’t sound right.
Oil: I don’t think democrats in general are against drilling in Alaska (though the environmentalist Dems certainly are). It’s just that they believe it’s a very long term solution, and that it won’t solve our current oil crisis. Whether or not it is long term is debatable, but if it is long term, and it’s environmentally “dirty”, why not focus on clean solutions instead?
Houses: The number of houses matters cause last election the Republican *killed* Kerry by painting him as a rich elitist. What goes around comes around. No, it’s not an important issue, except in that it may determine who the next president is.
Mexico: We don’t crack down on illegal immigration because it’s important to the California economy. It’s cheap labor. Small business owners could refuse to hire them, or the government could force them to. It’s a political hot button for people in other parts of the country, but very few people in Southern CA get out of shape about it.
Military: The assumption that we’re helping war-torn impoverished countries is one that many would not share. Many would say we are causing them. I know that will sound very left, and “unpatriotic”, but have you read any Central/South American history lately? “Bananas!” is a good place to start.
http://www.amazon.com/Bananas-United-Fruit-Company-Shaped/dp/1841958816/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220031996&sr=8-1
August 29th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Great questions. I also “suffer” from having issues with both sides of the fence. I can’t be sold on just a couple of hot issues, and the reality is that neither candidate represents my ideals. If I may add to your list, I often wonder “why does either party tout their candidate as a vehicle for change, when it’s not even up to the executive branch to make or interpret laws?”
August 30th, 2008 at 12:05 am
This is the book I meant to reference:
Banana
http://www.amazon.com/Banana-Fate-Fruit-Changed-World/dp/1594630380/ref=pd_cp_b_1?pf_rd_p=413864201&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1841958816&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0T0SPKTAK9NB953J3954
September 5th, 2008 at 11:21 am
All fair points, and can’t argue with anything you’ve said. I still think that people care about number of houses or house count because we’re a sound bite society. Anything more significant takes effort,and the motivation isn’t there for many.
September 5th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
test. I posted here last week, never showed up
September 5th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Hi! Don’t know what happened to the other post. I don’t see it in my spam filters. Let me know if they don’t show up!
Andy