Friday
Oct312008
Political Fun!
Friday, October 31, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Happy Halloween all! If you want a Halloween themed post, I suggest you look back a week to hear about my dramatic childhood. While we are on the topic of scary, why not chat about the upcoming elections?
I realized I said I would blog about my political views awhile ago, and I never did. I figured I might as well now because election day is next Tuesday (Wow! Where has the time gone?). So here is a quick synopsis:
As I mentioned earlier, me and politics have a rough time together. I find myself being split between two candidates because I'm a fiscal conservative and social liberal. Let's start with the fiscal.
Fiscally, I'm all about open and free markets. Government control in our economic system always makes me a bit nervous because it never seems to work. These economic times are a perfect example. I understand that stock market is going through some rough times, I understand that people who decided to play the game of Wall Street are losing a lot of their money (along with our 401k's). But here's the deal, nothing goes up forever, there is a point where things have to go back down to go up. It's like a forest. Eventually there's going to be a fire that burns up stuff, but along with that, comes new and fresh growth. Nobody likes to lose things, I get that. However, life isn't full of puppies and sunshine either. I do believe if we let the economy run itself, it will work out in the end.
I also think this is why universal health care is a bad idea. Look, everyone should be entitled to health care because sick people shouldn't stay sick. At the same time, saying that we are going to offer universal health care also means that money has to come from somewhere. This only places us in more debt. Oh, and there's also something called Medicare for those that can't afford it. There are ways, but I just don't think universal health care (as it has been proposed now) is going to be a way to actually get that health care to the masses.
Now let's talk about the social stuff. Since I'm a Christian, you may expect me to be pretty conservative but I find myself to be quite the opposite. Here's why. While I do think that abortion and gay marriage (among other things) are hot button issues, they are not governmental regulated issues. Forcing people to live by these moral codes is not going to solve anything. We are a democracy and not a theocracy. Ever heard of the Holy Roman Empire? That ends in failure.
Let's start with gay marriage. While I may not agree with homosexuality, I also know that forcing homosexuals not to get married is not going to solve anything, in fact, it's only going to make people more bitter. How can it be possible to reach out and love others when we are always outwardly condemning a lifestyle and putting restrictions on it. When we do that, we begin to treat the homosexual community like second class citizens, and I'm not sure we have the right to do that.
The other big issue is abortion. I've been told many times that if I vote Democratic I've voting for abortion. That is not the fact. To be frank, I'm disillusioned with how Republicans have tried to tackle this issue. The classic case is that the president is someone who elects Supreme Court justices and it is those justices who will help us overturn Roe V. Wade. Well, did you know that in recent cases regarding abortion, the justices appointed by George W. Bush have upheld Roe V. Wade. A lot of good that has done. Overturning Roe V. Wade is a lofty idea that brings no action.
Did you know that the number of abortions under Democratic presidents has gone down as compared to Republicans? How embarrassing is that? Want to know why? It's something called the 95-10 plan, which is a Democratic initiative. It's a plan to reduce the number of abortions by 95 percent in 10 years. Now that's a plan that's not just lofty idealism. The way to get there is outlined in better education and helping those that actually need help so that they aren't driven straight to abortions.
I could go on, but then this post would never find it's end, so I'll end there for now. If I've struck up any opinions on anything I've written, let me know! I'd love to discuss this further!
I realized I said I would blog about my political views awhile ago, and I never did. I figured I might as well now because election day is next Tuesday (Wow! Where has the time gone?). So here is a quick synopsis:
As I mentioned earlier, me and politics have a rough time together. I find myself being split between two candidates because I'm a fiscal conservative and social liberal. Let's start with the fiscal.
Fiscally, I'm all about open and free markets. Government control in our economic system always makes me a bit nervous because it never seems to work. These economic times are a perfect example. I understand that stock market is going through some rough times, I understand that people who decided to play the game of Wall Street are losing a lot of their money (along with our 401k's). But here's the deal, nothing goes up forever, there is a point where things have to go back down to go up. It's like a forest. Eventually there's going to be a fire that burns up stuff, but along with that, comes new and fresh growth. Nobody likes to lose things, I get that. However, life isn't full of puppies and sunshine either. I do believe if we let the economy run itself, it will work out in the end.
I also think this is why universal health care is a bad idea. Look, everyone should be entitled to health care because sick people shouldn't stay sick. At the same time, saying that we are going to offer universal health care also means that money has to come from somewhere. This only places us in more debt. Oh, and there's also something called Medicare for those that can't afford it. There are ways, but I just don't think universal health care (as it has been proposed now) is going to be a way to actually get that health care to the masses.
Now let's talk about the social stuff. Since I'm a Christian, you may expect me to be pretty conservative but I find myself to be quite the opposite. Here's why. While I do think that abortion and gay marriage (among other things) are hot button issues, they are not governmental regulated issues. Forcing people to live by these moral codes is not going to solve anything. We are a democracy and not a theocracy. Ever heard of the Holy Roman Empire? That ends in failure.
Let's start with gay marriage. While I may not agree with homosexuality, I also know that forcing homosexuals not to get married is not going to solve anything, in fact, it's only going to make people more bitter. How can it be possible to reach out and love others when we are always outwardly condemning a lifestyle and putting restrictions on it. When we do that, we begin to treat the homosexual community like second class citizens, and I'm not sure we have the right to do that.
The other big issue is abortion. I've been told many times that if I vote Democratic I've voting for abortion. That is not the fact. To be frank, I'm disillusioned with how Republicans have tried to tackle this issue. The classic case is that the president is someone who elects Supreme Court justices and it is those justices who will help us overturn Roe V. Wade. Well, did you know that in recent cases regarding abortion, the justices appointed by George W. Bush have upheld Roe V. Wade. A lot of good that has done. Overturning Roe V. Wade is a lofty idea that brings no action.
Did you know that the number of abortions under Democratic presidents has gone down as compared to Republicans? How embarrassing is that? Want to know why? It's something called the 95-10 plan, which is a Democratic initiative. It's a plan to reduce the number of abortions by 95 percent in 10 years. Now that's a plan that's not just lofty idealism. The way to get there is outlined in better education and helping those that actually need help so that they aren't driven straight to abortions.
I could go on, but then this post would never find it's end, so I'll end there for now. If I've struck up any opinions on anything I've written, let me know! I'd love to discuss this further!
Reader Comments (8)
I do believe if we let the economy run itself, it will work out in the end...
>But surely it hasn't worked, and the government bailout proves this? What would have happened without their intervention?
I also think this is why universal health care is a bad idea. Look, everyone should be entitled to health care because sick people shouldn’t stay sick. At the same time, saying that we are going to offer universal health care also means that money has to come from somewhere. This only places us in more debt. Oh, and there’s also something called Medicare for those that can’t afford it. There are ways, but I just don’t think universal health care (as it has been proposed now) is going to be a way to actually get that health care to the masses.
>It works fine in England; I'm glad my taxes help people feel better. And perhaps you think universal health care is a bad idea because you're not sick yet/can afford treatment?
All I'm saying is I think the bailout is delaying the inevitable. Where has the money for the bailout gone so far? To help bailout Wall Street? All I'm saying is that life (fiscally) can't always be joyous. Personal finances work the same way, why wouldn't the global economy do the same?
As I state too, there are ways to get health care now that are available for those who can't afford it. I also stated that I don't think everyone having health care is a bad idea, I just think that the plan for universal health care that is being presented right now is not going to reach that ideal.
[...] Political Fun! Happy Halloween all! If you want a Halloween themed post, I suggest you look back a week to hear about my dramatic childhood. While we are on the topic of scary, why not chat about the upcoming elections? I realized I said I would blog about my political views awhile ago, and I never did. I figured I might as well now because election day is next Tuesday (Wow! Where has the time gone?). So here is a quick synopsis: As I mentioned earlier, me and politics have a rough time together. I find my [...]
I super respect this post, especially the part about abortion. The abortion itself isn't the only problem in play; we need to fix society as a whole, not just mask the symptoms.
It's refreshing to read about someone who engages their brain in politics, rather than just spewing soundbites.
Hooray for facing the abortion issue publically- I agree 1,215%
I'm pretty sure if all those freaking out about abortion spent their time and energy investing in education and abortion reduction, something may happen in that department.
I completely agree with everything you said, which is really weird for me to say, because I rarely agree with people about politics.
Reading this made me extremely happy...
Fiscally conservative + socially liberal = libertarian. It's all about increasing individual liberty and decreasing government intervention in every aspect of people's lives. Government intervention makes things more inefficient and causes more problems.
As for Ralph's question about the bailout, the economic crisis was caused by government in the first place! Manipulation of the economy creates malinvestment. Now the taxpayers have to pay for this malinvestment, while the Federal Reserve increases the supply of dollars in the market. This is leading to an even more insane rate of inflation. Just wait for our currency to be worth nothing!
I voted for Bob Barr...
Interesting post for sure. However, I think its difficult to resolve a socially liberal worldview with a Biblical Christian worldview. My personal belief is that those two worldviews are not consistent, and when examined over time, a person will eventually need to settle on one or the other.
Regarding abortion -- I think it's ignoring reality to claim that abortion is not promoted by policies and efforts of politicians from the Democrat party. The 95-10 plan is just that - a plan. The pro-abortion forces aligned with the Democrat party will never let that become a reality. If they do, I will be the first to applaud them. I fall back to the old saying of "what you do speaks so loudly that what you say I cannot hear."
First, of all, I think pro-abortion is filled with all kinds of assumptions. Democrats are pro-choice, there are not many (notice I didn't say all), that are pro-abortion. However, the overturning of Roe V. Wade will also most likely never become a reality (and definitely not so now that Obama has been elected), thus, I would take a plan over nothing. So let their actions speak, we'll see what happens with this new administration. If they follow through with their plans, then it will be more than Republicans have ever done.
Most of my political ideologies boils down to what Kent said, I am a libertarian at heart. It's not that I agree with social liberal principles, I just firmly believe in a lack of regulation.