"[People] think if the big guys cheat in big ways, they might as well begin cheating in small ways. And when they think the game is rigged, they're easy prey for political demagogues with fast tongues and dumb ideas.
- Robert Reich, Beyond Outrage, 2012
In Beyond Outrage Reich also pointed out that "Conservatives" don't conserve much. He wrote they are regressives who want to return to a time when very few were very, very well-off and most had to struggle to make a living, often in dangerous, unhealthy conditions.
He didn't spell it out in detail but "conservatives" sure don't want to conserve resources, clean air, or even a well-functioning government. "Conservatives" are certainly "liberal" in interpreting the Constitution to their ends, "liberal" at "throwing money" at the military, and "liberal" in awarding generous compensation to those at the top of large corporations, even those who really screw up the company.
Showing posts with label resources. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resources. Show all posts
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Saturday, July 02, 2016
What do conservatives conserve?
It seems to me that they only want to conserve two things; their view of the world and the power of large corporations.
They don’t want to conserve resources including clean air and water, the right of people to have needed information, and good, free education for all.
Once upon a time conservatives were those who carefully considered any change but didn’t stand in the way of change. And there were many flavors of conservatism.
Now, “conservatives” must be in lock step on all issues and cannot question any of the official stances.
Ironically, these “conservatives” are liberal with funds for the military and are liberal with sending people to fight all over the world without any understanding of the countries they are sent to. A real conservative would be cautious about military engagement and strive to know what the risks are.
They don’t want to conserve resources including clean air and water, the right of people to have needed information, and good, free education for all.
Once upon a time conservatives were those who carefully considered any change but didn’t stand in the way of change. And there were many flavors of conservatism.
Now, “conservatives” must be in lock step on all issues and cannot question any of the official stances.
Ironically, these “conservatives” are liberal with funds for the military and are liberal with sending people to fight all over the world without any understanding of the countries they are sent to. A real conservative would be cautious about military engagement and strive to know what the risks are.
Monday, August 20, 2012
The political spectrum – from wrong to wronger
The conventional idea of the political spectrum from left to right is as if one adapts different ideas as one moves smoothly from one side to the other. But people aren't so easily graded as eggs. Some people are for ideas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and other are against all six. Some people are for ideas 1, 2, and 3, and against ideas 4, 5, and 6. Others are for ideas 1, 3, and 6 and against 2, 4, and 5. And so on.
But a group of activists or diehard or hard-nosed have determined that if you are for ideas 1, 2, and 3 and against ideas 4, 5, and 6, then you are a conservative. If you are against ideas 1, 2, and 3 and for ideas 4, 5, and 6, then it is obvious that you are a liberal.
Even the labels conservative and liberal are misnomers. If you are for liberal extraction of resources then you are a conservative. If you are for conservative extraction of resources you are a liberal. If you are liberal in what powers should be given to corporations you are a conservative. If you are conservative in what powers should be given to corporations you are a liberal.
About the only thing conservative about conservatives is keeping privileges and powers to themselves. About the only thing liberal about liberals is spreading privileges and powers to larger and larger numbers of people.
So, Mel, what about your title "from wrong to wronger"?
That was a bit of whimsy based on my dissatisfaction with political discussions, mostly spectrum categorizations.
Many of the "liberal" causes don't excite me. Sure, two people who share some property should have rights of inheritance. I have many gay and lesbian friends, but I don't get excited about celebrating their status. I buy as much as I can locally, but on the other hand I'm not going to give up bananas and coffee because they are transported so far.
Most of the way "conservative" causes are presented excites me even less. Many regulations may be hard to fathom, but let's not get rid of all regulations. Do we want unsafe trucks on the highways and tainted food? Freedom is a nice idea, but "freedom" doesn't mean free to do whatever one damn well pleases. Abortions may be something to avoid if possible, but bombs cause lots of abortions without the mother even having a choice.
It is tough to be a thoughtful voter nowadays. Even if you like idea A of the conservatives and idea B of the liberal, they all muddy the waters so much that I'm afraid too many people are going to stay home on election day. As for me, I'll vote for wrong over wronger.
But a group of activists or diehard or hard-nosed have determined that if you are for ideas 1, 2, and 3 and against ideas 4, 5, and 6, then you are a conservative. If you are against ideas 1, 2, and 3 and for ideas 4, 5, and 6, then it is obvious that you are a liberal.
Even the labels conservative and liberal are misnomers. If you are for liberal extraction of resources then you are a conservative. If you are for conservative extraction of resources you are a liberal. If you are liberal in what powers should be given to corporations you are a conservative. If you are conservative in what powers should be given to corporations you are a liberal.
About the only thing conservative about conservatives is keeping privileges and powers to themselves. About the only thing liberal about liberals is spreading privileges and powers to larger and larger numbers of people.
So, Mel, what about your title "from wrong to wronger"?
That was a bit of whimsy based on my dissatisfaction with political discussions, mostly spectrum categorizations.
Many of the "liberal" causes don't excite me. Sure, two people who share some property should have rights of inheritance. I have many gay and lesbian friends, but I don't get excited about celebrating their status. I buy as much as I can locally, but on the other hand I'm not going to give up bananas and coffee because they are transported so far.
Most of the way "conservative" causes are presented excites me even less. Many regulations may be hard to fathom, but let's not get rid of all regulations. Do we want unsafe trucks on the highways and tainted food? Freedom is a nice idea, but "freedom" doesn't mean free to do whatever one damn well pleases. Abortions may be something to avoid if possible, but bombs cause lots of abortions without the mother even having a choice.
It is tough to be a thoughtful voter nowadays. Even if you like idea A of the conservatives and idea B of the liberal, they all muddy the waters so much that I'm afraid too many people are going to stay home on election day. As for me, I'll vote for wrong over wronger.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Let's solve illegal immigration for once and for all!!
Illegal immigration has been a problem in America (and many other countries) for centuries. In what is now called the United States let's solve it by sending the children of illegal immigrants and the children's children, yea unto to the sixteenth generation, back where they came from. Let's start with sending all the Mayflower descendants back to England!
Did they really get permission from all the governments of the people already living here to stay put and to take resources from the then current occupants? Did they learn the customs and the languages of the people already living here? No, they insisted on following their Old World customs and speaking their Old World language. Even that language was a mishmash of the language of illegal immigrants from another part of the Old World.
Then let's send back all the children of the Southern planters and the children of their children. They grabbed great swaths of land from those already reaping the bounty of the land, they cleared the land of those pesky forests that produced an abundance of food, and they pushed those who already lived on the land farther and farther from the coasts.
And on and on it went, decade after decade, farther and farther west. Now the true illegal immigrants want to push out the descendants of the Anasazi, the Aztecs, the Toltecs, and the Mayans from land they had occupied for millennia until the real illegal immigrants arrived.
And we should send the Ojibwe out of the territory they took from the Dakota. And we should send the Lenni Lenape out of the territory they took from others as they pushed east to the Great Salt Sea (see James Fenimore Cooper).
If we all stayed put in the land of our fathers and their fathers, just think of how we could reduce the problem of illegal immigration!! Of course, if we all did that, we would still be peasants working from dawn to dusk, suffering cold and heat according to the season, and wondering when a drought or the foreign overlords would wipe us out.
We really should follow the advice of Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?" That means we have to absorb people moving in and we have to be sensitive when we move into others' territory. And next year we will have world peace.
Did they really get permission from all the governments of the people already living here to stay put and to take resources from the then current occupants? Did they learn the customs and the languages of the people already living here? No, they insisted on following their Old World customs and speaking their Old World language. Even that language was a mishmash of the language of illegal immigrants from another part of the Old World.
Then let's send back all the children of the Southern planters and the children of their children. They grabbed great swaths of land from those already reaping the bounty of the land, they cleared the land of those pesky forests that produced an abundance of food, and they pushed those who already lived on the land farther and farther from the coasts.
And on and on it went, decade after decade, farther and farther west. Now the true illegal immigrants want to push out the descendants of the Anasazi, the Aztecs, the Toltecs, and the Mayans from land they had occupied for millennia until the real illegal immigrants arrived.
And we should send the Ojibwe out of the territory they took from the Dakota. And we should send the Lenni Lenape out of the territory they took from others as they pushed east to the Great Salt Sea (see James Fenimore Cooper).
If we all stayed put in the land of our fathers and their fathers, just think of how we could reduce the problem of illegal immigration!! Of course, if we all did that, we would still be peasants working from dawn to dusk, suffering cold and heat according to the season, and wondering when a drought or the foreign overlords would wipe us out.
We really should follow the advice of Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?" That means we have to absorb people moving in and we have to be sensitive when we move into others' territory. And next year we will have world peace.
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