(The combination of a busy month, along with some writers fatigue (not to be confused with writers block), lead me to take a month away from posting on my politics/philosophy blog)...
Was anyone really surprised by the election results earlier this month? I know I wasn't, and all of my friends who I had warned that this would happen, came around to apologize to me afterwards for thinking I was off my rocker that the Tea Party could have the impact which they had.
I make secret about my differences with the Tea Party: I side with their general position on the Constitution, and their economic ideologies, but I take great issue with their insistence on bringing religion-specifically Christianity-into every one of their positions, and as the basis for many of their arguments. But, like the Tea Party or not, you have to respect them for the much needed change which they are bringing to the political climate here in America. Whether it is a change that will be beneficial to our country is yet to be seen, but it is a change which we needed decades ago-that of the people dictating to Congress, and not the other way around...
The truth of the matter is that state and nationally elected leaders had grown corrupt, complacent and entitled to their positions. Many had become what the founding fathers of our Constitution warned us against-Aristocrats. They ran on their name recognition alone, and nothing more. They presented no real ideas for fixing the plethora of problems our nation faces, while lining their pockets with special interest dollars. In sum, they were the problem.
This months elections proved that the Tea Party had struck a cord-particularly among registered independents; and even though Democrats managed to get most of their entitlement class out to vote, they were not match for the masses of Independent voters who agreed with the Tea Party in that the problem with national politics was the career politicians who obviously had no ones interests at heart, except their own. Fortunately, for all of us, the effect of the Tea Party carried only so far as to cause wholesale changes in the House of Representatives-where we saw the greatest turn over in representation since the Great Depression. It is in the House where most of the problems with our national politics reside, and it was in the House where the Independent voters had the greatest impact-knocking out nearly every incumbent seeking reelection (too bad Nancy Pelosi couldn't have been sent packing, but you can't win them all). Had the Tea Party effect carried into the Senate, I would have some serious reasons to be just as concerned about the direction our country was heading into, as I do now about the direction is it already heading down. Luckily, the Independent voters got it right, and, for the most part, only made wholesale changes to that branch of our national legislature which is meant to represent us-the people...
My only hope is that the Tea Party doesn't let this success go to their heads.
I hope they keep their grass roots status and pay homage to those which they owe their recent electoral success too-the Independents. I hope that they stick to their guns, so to speak (no pun intended), and stay on those whom they helped elect to stay true to their campaign words of adhering to the will of the people.
I also hope that they are willing to drop their religious positions in their politics. If they are willing to do these 3 things, then the Tea Party is, in my opinion, exactly the force of will and passion our nation needs right now to turn our country around.
Showing posts with label Tea Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tea Party. Show all posts
Monday, November 29, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
American political ideologies part 5: the melting pot boiling over
Of all of the political and social ideologies in America today, the 2 we hear most about are Liberalism and Conservatism. Though these 2 ideologies, in their modern form, represent, at most, 30% of our populace, there is little question that they are responsible for the direction of all legislative policy at the Federal and state levels in our country. Worse, is that this 30% is comprised of the most wealthy of our country, and therefore stand the most to gain, or lose, within any legislation.
The direction that this segment of our society tends to lead us in is as extreme a direction-on either side of the political spectrum-as it is representative of our society: whether it be the utilization of our military for "police actions" in a distant foreign nation, or the financial bail out of corporations deemed "to big to fail", our Federal and state legislative bodies have increasing written, and passed, legislation within the last decade that is disagreed with by a majority of the general public-whether they are registered voters or not. This direction is a direct result of all the aforementioned political ideologies colluding together to create chaos within our society, and providing corporate entities and special interests the "perfect storm" through which they can dictate legislative policy at the Federal and state levels: With a majority of Americans sitting on the side lines of each election cycle and the majority of those who actually participate not being associated with any strong central leadership or ideology; and Liberals and Conservatives now in control of their respective political parties, Corporations and special interest groups, lead by their lobbying arms, have taken control of our Federal and state legislative bodies with nothing more than money and the threat of pulling their support of one candidate or another.
The result is something that is obvious to most social and political observers: the American body politic boiling over with anger at career politicians who are chipping away at personal freedoms and their wallets; who are catering to corporate demands; and who are embarrassing our nation internationally as they rapidly spend America into bankruptcy while making themselves rich at the expense of the general public.
It has taken 30 or so years, but this anger has finally manifested itself into at least one popular movement-the Tea Party.
The Tea Party is widely considered a Conservative movement due to it being created and based around Conservatives who had had enough of their fellow Republicans spending habits, support of big government, and coziness with corporate special interests in D.C. Despite their obvious theological undertones, it is unfair to call the movement "conservative"-given what they support.
Conservative, at least in part, would imply some sense of preserving the status quo, which would be maintaining the system as it is being used today-with massive corporate influence and corruption at the Federal and state level. This, however, is not what the Tea Party wants: they want change, and not the socialistic change that Barack Obama has brought to the White House, and Congress, since his election. The change they want is one back to the original Constitutional principles-principles which create a small Federal government beholden to the general public. They want career politicians out of the office; they spending at the Federal level curbed dramatically; and, unfortunately, they want their religion, that of Christianity, to be the lead of all social ideals-legislatively and ethically. These beliefs could be considered more radical (and theocratic) than they are conservative, given the distance that current Federal legislative policy has strayed from the Constitutional principles our nation is supposed to be based on.
Outside of the obvious theological flaw, the Tea Party suffers from one other weakness: competition. There is none.
Since their creation a little over 2 years ago, the Tea Party has gained, and been hurt by, a lack of any counter movement against them. People have tried to rally support for a counter movement to the Tea Party, but the reality is that, to the vast majority of Americans, the Tea Party is right on many points. The only thing preventing the Tea Party from being a run away train, capable of taking back national politics for all Americans, is their insistence on believing that they are right, not because of their logic, but because of their faith, as well as their desire to make their faith the basis for all domestic social policy in America. (This contradicts their general position on the Constitution-which promotes a distinct separation of church and state. This contradiction, or hypocrisy as some would say, is obvious to many and turns them off to the movement).
Despite the Tea Party's current popularity, the bulk of Americans remain restless and angry. Seeing no eminent change in legislative ideology on the horizon, and viewing the Tea Party as little more than a band of rich elitists trying to take control of the the Federal Government away from Liberals for their own interests, to them, their vote either "still doesn't count", or remains "the lesser of 2 evils". This anger is still building, and with no outlet, and the political establishment not willing to listen or change for the better, it is destined to implode our society: America, the once great "melting pot", is boiling over...
The direction that this segment of our society tends to lead us in is as extreme a direction-on either side of the political spectrum-as it is representative of our society: whether it be the utilization of our military for "police actions" in a distant foreign nation, or the financial bail out of corporations deemed "to big to fail", our Federal and state legislative bodies have increasing written, and passed, legislation within the last decade that is disagreed with by a majority of the general public-whether they are registered voters or not. This direction is a direct result of all the aforementioned political ideologies colluding together to create chaos within our society, and providing corporate entities and special interests the "perfect storm" through which they can dictate legislative policy at the Federal and state levels: With a majority of Americans sitting on the side lines of each election cycle and the majority of those who actually participate not being associated with any strong central leadership or ideology; and Liberals and Conservatives now in control of their respective political parties, Corporations and special interest groups, lead by their lobbying arms, have taken control of our Federal and state legislative bodies with nothing more than money and the threat of pulling their support of one candidate or another.
The result is something that is obvious to most social and political observers: the American body politic boiling over with anger at career politicians who are chipping away at personal freedoms and their wallets; who are catering to corporate demands; and who are embarrassing our nation internationally as they rapidly spend America into bankruptcy while making themselves rich at the expense of the general public.
It has taken 30 or so years, but this anger has finally manifested itself into at least one popular movement-the Tea Party.
The Tea Party is widely considered a Conservative movement due to it being created and based around Conservatives who had had enough of their fellow Republicans spending habits, support of big government, and coziness with corporate special interests in D.C. Despite their obvious theological undertones, it is unfair to call the movement "conservative"-given what they support.
Conservative, at least in part, would imply some sense of preserving the status quo, which would be maintaining the system as it is being used today-with massive corporate influence and corruption at the Federal and state level. This, however, is not what the Tea Party wants: they want change, and not the socialistic change that Barack Obama has brought to the White House, and Congress, since his election. The change they want is one back to the original Constitutional principles-principles which create a small Federal government beholden to the general public. They want career politicians out of the office; they spending at the Federal level curbed dramatically; and, unfortunately, they want their religion, that of Christianity, to be the lead of all social ideals-legislatively and ethically. These beliefs could be considered more radical (and theocratic) than they are conservative, given the distance that current Federal legislative policy has strayed from the Constitutional principles our nation is supposed to be based on.
Outside of the obvious theological flaw, the Tea Party suffers from one other weakness: competition. There is none.
Since their creation a little over 2 years ago, the Tea Party has gained, and been hurt by, a lack of any counter movement against them. People have tried to rally support for a counter movement to the Tea Party, but the reality is that, to the vast majority of Americans, the Tea Party is right on many points. The only thing preventing the Tea Party from being a run away train, capable of taking back national politics for all Americans, is their insistence on believing that they are right, not because of their logic, but because of their faith, as well as their desire to make their faith the basis for all domestic social policy in America. (This contradicts their general position on the Constitution-which promotes a distinct separation of church and state. This contradiction, or hypocrisy as some would say, is obvious to many and turns them off to the movement).
Despite the Tea Party's current popularity, the bulk of Americans remain restless and angry. Seeing no eminent change in legislative ideology on the horizon, and viewing the Tea Party as little more than a band of rich elitists trying to take control of the the Federal Government away from Liberals for their own interests, to them, their vote either "still doesn't count", or remains "the lesser of 2 evils". This anger is still building, and with no outlet, and the political establishment not willing to listen or change for the better, it is destined to implode our society: America, the once great "melting pot", is boiling over...
Saturday, September 18, 2010
American political ideologies part 2: Conservativism and the Tea Party
As with modern Liberalism, Conservatism in America also suffers from an identity crisis of sorts. In short, to conserve something means to preserve what exists or what used to exist. Certain aspects of American Conservatism fit this simple definition, others, however, do not, and can be said to be just as radical-if not more so-than those of modern liberalism...
As near as can be deciphered, what Americans call Conservatism today was born during the early Vietnam war era as a counter to the hippie generation's "free love" movement. So called "conservatives", wanted to protect and preserve the family unit and religious beliefs which they saw as being under attack by the hippie generation's attitudes towards sex, drugs, relationships and their general laissez fair attitude toward life. Though initially evolved under good intentions, and with the best interests of all at heart, Conservatives quickly infiltrated the Republican party, taking over their political platform and using their influence as the "older" generation to install a theocratic political agenda within a party whose original basis was the protection of the government which our Constitution created and the free market capitalistic economy which gives all of those who live and work in America the chance to be financially successful.
However, Conservatism suffers from 2 fatal flaws, which turn off the vast majority of people in America: It's insistence on basing all of its social ideology on the Christian moral code and the hypocrisy which this causes with its positions regarding the Constitution and Capitalism.
Religion, of any type, is little more than a subversive form of collectivism. Under any religious doctrine, the main goal is obedience to its "teachings" through the fear that not doing so will lead to a painful life and-especially-afterlife. Due to its collectivist end game, and that it takes force-of some kind-to convince people to obey the teachings, all religions are anti humanistic at their core: i.e. it is human nature to seek liberty, independence, and to find its own individuality-not only from other people and governments, but from anything which seeks to "control" or shape it in an image that is not of its own design.
Under the Christian religious doctrine, individuality-which is supported and encouraged, by design, in both our Constitution and economic system-is, in many ways, prohibited. Things like making choices for yourself, which others may find morally reprehensible, are strictly forbidden: a persons right to do what they want with their body (abortion, tattoo's, piercings, drug usage), the use of non manufactured drugs, homosexual relationships, controlling how you die, should you be in a situation to do so, and many more issues that are personal in nature, are all frowned upon or strictly prohibited-not because these decisions are physically, mentally, or emotionally unhealthy, but because they say they are. The Conservative desire to influence decisions at the personal level is so strong (because their beliefs are right and yours is wrong) that they allow it too dictate their national domestic policy: favoring national legislation which prevents all Americans from being allowed to even have the option of making such personal decisions for themselves.
This theocratic, Napoleon like complex to "do things our way or no way at all", is as radical a belief system as can be found and is in direct conflict with their position on our Constitution and economy-positions which are logical and, without question, in the best interests of all Americans. Their religious position vs. their Constitutional position is particularly baffling given the strict separation of church and state guaranteed within the Constitution itself...
Conservatives support a small Federal Government-as originally designed (pre 17th amendment) by our Founding Fathers; they also support as little regulatory controls over our economy and as few taxes as possible, so as to allow as many people the best opportunity at financial success, through which a person is able to achieve the most personal and individual liberty. However, the only way they could ever accomplish their ideal of installing their Christian doctrine as the backbone of all social and domestic policy in America, would be through an expansive Federal Bureaucracy and strict regulatory control of our economy-to the point that our economy would be more Socialistic, than Capitalistic and our society would be controlled via a strict theological doctrine that would require dictatorial leadership to enforce.
This obvious hypocrisy, combined with the religious message they are intent on sending out every time they speak, present Conservatives as stuffy-old-rich-guys with too much time and money on their hands, who fear any movement towards a progressive future and want to control America...
Today, Conservatism has had something of a resurgence through a movement known as the Tea Party. The Tea Party got its start a little over 2 years ago after Conservatives saw their parent party-the Republicans-straying farther and farther from the Constitution via their (apparent) support of a large federal bureaucracy and their (apparent) distancing from the core Christian values which this "conservative base" of the Republican party, takes credit for.
The Tea Party's message has been one based around original Constitutional principles, anti political establishment, a return to a small federal bureaucracy and limited taxes. It is a message that has rung true with many Americans-regardless of sex, sexual orientation, age, ethnic background, or socio-economic status. However, the Tea Party movement embodies the same hypocrisy which Conservatives have historically held: combining their theological doctrine with their political and economic beliefs.
Though seemingly tempered within the Tea Party movement-most likely due to its broader socio-economic and ethnic make up-the Conservative control of the Tea Party places its theological message at, or near, the roots of all of its positions. Every chance it gets, the Tea Party makes it known that their base values are still those of the Christian religious doctrine and that their beliefs are the right and only way to live ones life by. The result is the same as with traditional conservatism: the vast majority of logical, and rational, thinkers are turned off by the undertones of the "my way or the highway" rhetoric found in what is otherwise a very solid, and easy to embrace, political ideology.
As near as can be deciphered, what Americans call Conservatism today was born during the early Vietnam war era as a counter to the hippie generation's "free love" movement. So called "conservatives", wanted to protect and preserve the family unit and religious beliefs which they saw as being under attack by the hippie generation's attitudes towards sex, drugs, relationships and their general laissez fair attitude toward life. Though initially evolved under good intentions, and with the best interests of all at heart, Conservatives quickly infiltrated the Republican party, taking over their political platform and using their influence as the "older" generation to install a theocratic political agenda within a party whose original basis was the protection of the government which our Constitution created and the free market capitalistic economy which gives all of those who live and work in America the chance to be financially successful.
However, Conservatism suffers from 2 fatal flaws, which turn off the vast majority of people in America: It's insistence on basing all of its social ideology on the Christian moral code and the hypocrisy which this causes with its positions regarding the Constitution and Capitalism.
Religion, of any type, is little more than a subversive form of collectivism. Under any religious doctrine, the main goal is obedience to its "teachings" through the fear that not doing so will lead to a painful life and-especially-afterlife. Due to its collectivist end game, and that it takes force-of some kind-to convince people to obey the teachings, all religions are anti humanistic at their core: i.e. it is human nature to seek liberty, independence, and to find its own individuality-not only from other people and governments, but from anything which seeks to "control" or shape it in an image that is not of its own design.
Under the Christian religious doctrine, individuality-which is supported and encouraged, by design, in both our Constitution and economic system-is, in many ways, prohibited. Things like making choices for yourself, which others may find morally reprehensible, are strictly forbidden: a persons right to do what they want with their body (abortion, tattoo's, piercings, drug usage), the use of non manufactured drugs, homosexual relationships, controlling how you die, should you be in a situation to do so, and many more issues that are personal in nature, are all frowned upon or strictly prohibited-not because these decisions are physically, mentally, or emotionally unhealthy, but because they say they are. The Conservative desire to influence decisions at the personal level is so strong (because their beliefs are right and yours is wrong) that they allow it too dictate their national domestic policy: favoring national legislation which prevents all Americans from being allowed to even have the option of making such personal decisions for themselves.
This theocratic, Napoleon like complex to "do things our way or no way at all", is as radical a belief system as can be found and is in direct conflict with their position on our Constitution and economy-positions which are logical and, without question, in the best interests of all Americans. Their religious position vs. their Constitutional position is particularly baffling given the strict separation of church and state guaranteed within the Constitution itself...
Conservatives support a small Federal Government-as originally designed (pre 17th amendment) by our Founding Fathers; they also support as little regulatory controls over our economy and as few taxes as possible, so as to allow as many people the best opportunity at financial success, through which a person is able to achieve the most personal and individual liberty. However, the only way they could ever accomplish their ideal of installing their Christian doctrine as the backbone of all social and domestic policy in America, would be through an expansive Federal Bureaucracy and strict regulatory control of our economy-to the point that our economy would be more Socialistic, than Capitalistic and our society would be controlled via a strict theological doctrine that would require dictatorial leadership to enforce.
This obvious hypocrisy, combined with the religious message they are intent on sending out every time they speak, present Conservatives as stuffy-old-rich-guys with too much time and money on their hands, who fear any movement towards a progressive future and want to control America...
Today, Conservatism has had something of a resurgence through a movement known as the Tea Party. The Tea Party got its start a little over 2 years ago after Conservatives saw their parent party-the Republicans-straying farther and farther from the Constitution via their (apparent) support of a large federal bureaucracy and their (apparent) distancing from the core Christian values which this "conservative base" of the Republican party, takes credit for.
The Tea Party's message has been one based around original Constitutional principles, anti political establishment, a return to a small federal bureaucracy and limited taxes. It is a message that has rung true with many Americans-regardless of sex, sexual orientation, age, ethnic background, or socio-economic status. However, the Tea Party movement embodies the same hypocrisy which Conservatives have historically held: combining their theological doctrine with their political and economic beliefs.
Though seemingly tempered within the Tea Party movement-most likely due to its broader socio-economic and ethnic make up-the Conservative control of the Tea Party places its theological message at, or near, the roots of all of its positions. Every chance it gets, the Tea Party makes it known that their base values are still those of the Christian religious doctrine and that their beliefs are the right and only way to live ones life by. The result is the same as with traditional conservatism: the vast majority of logical, and rational, thinkers are turned off by the undertones of the "my way or the highway" rhetoric found in what is otherwise a very solid, and easy to embrace, political ideology.
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