Poll: Are You A Healthtard Like Me?
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 1, 2009 by admin in Politics
Thursday, October 1st, 2009After hours of reading, I still don’t feel like I understand the current health care legislation. How about you?
I must confess that in spite of reviewing the current proposed health care legislation in its original forms, and reading a variety of summaries from both sides of the issue , I am still completely mystified as to what’s being decided. This is one instance in which I’m not going to play armchair quarterback and criticize Barack Obama (whom I once fervently supported) when this legislation ends up failing to serve the best interests of the US citizenry, because what I DO understand is that he is confronting a hopelessly corrupt and greed-driven industry with literally billions of dollars at its disposal, and hundreds of politicians fully in its pocket. I haven’t been fully insured since 1998, mostly because I simply don’t believe in the very foundations of of our health care system, and the way the insurance industry (which is really just an investment gambit) first parasitically attached itself to our right to health and well being, and later helped drive the cost of medical care into an astronomical range that is simply absurd in the context of natural markets and prices, and finally played a central role in the global banking crisis. How can I possibly care about labyrinthine, Rube Goldbergian legislation involving a system I fundamentally don’t support? In spite of these feelings, I remain a little ashamed that I don’t feel better informed. How well do you feel like you understand the legislation? Vote below… Read the rest of this entry »
Would You Vote For A Third Political Party?
[ 3 Comments ]Posted on September 25, 2009 by admin in Politics
Friday, September 25th, 2009Are you one of the many that feels that neither of the two dominant parties represents your values accurately?
I’m what you might call a reluctant Democrat. Although I felt good about voting for Obama, I’m experiencing some consumer remorse, and I cringed as I voted for Kerry, Gore, and Dukakis. Worthy of note is the fact that voting for Dukakis started a long tradition of voting only to avoid having a George Bush in office, and that prior to that I was a cynical young punk that considered himself more or less apolitical. Which brings me almost full circle. I’m so cynical at this point that I have almost come to the conclusion that I think Washington is so corrupt and self-interested and that the two parties are so similar that there’s almost no point in voting. Before I do that though, I decided with some resolve recently that I’m going to “throw my vote away” if necessary in the next presidential election. By that I mean vote third party if the two major candidates reflect my values as poorly as they have for several election cycles. As I explored my thoughts on all of this recently, I came to a disturbing decision. I may just be a Libertarian. Although something about the political party that calls itself Libertarian gives me the willies with their restrained cowboy capitalism, a lot of the principles that can be described as Libertarian (as in this Wikipedia entry) are right up my alley. We’ve talked about Red vs Blue both jokingly and semi-seriously in the past, but we’d love to know: If there were a third party that represented your values, do you think you might vote for it? Vote below and let us know if you think we’re adequately represented by a two party system. Read the rest of this entry »
Cynicism Is A Sorry Kind Of Wisdom
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on September 10, 2009 by admin in Politics
Thursday, September 10th, 2009What did YOU think about Obama’s health care speech?
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This is not a scientific poll
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It’s rather poignant somehow that it was Barack Obama who said that on the campaign trail. The statement implies a kind of positive hopefulness that is one of the key reasons I voted for the man. I struggle with a certain cynicism about the current administration though; I wonder on occasion if I’ve been duped again by a clever campaign, and I wonder, as I’ve said before, if President Obama is doomed to a Carter-like presidency; a fairly decent man, swimming in the shark tank that is Washington. However, the confidence and clarity of his health care speech last night (full text, single page here ) reinvigorated some of my flailing hope for change in the capitol. I’m almost ashamed that his remark that “I am not the first President to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last” made me think of Clinton, who would’ve prided himself on the ambiguity of the statement, in that he’s not claiming to fix the problem, he might just be the last president to try. I’m not fundamentelly cynical, but I think that to not be cynical about politics is naïve. And although on an individual basis with humans I’m one of the most hopeful people you’ll meet, the ongoing “Brady Bunch Dividing Line” that some American citizens have drawn between themselves seems irreversible, and completely immune to rational thought and discourse. Especially when we have a desperately struggling, profit-driven news media fanning these attitudes at every turn. So a speech like President Obama’s speech last night keeps me going, even if one of the most inspiring lines in the speech was written by Ted Kennedy: “What we face is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.” If we can remember as a country that our real, deeper American values are those regarding a certain character based on decency and reason, we’ll be alright. And I thank the president for reminding us of that. What do you think? Read the rest of this entry »
We Don’t Need No Education
[ Comments Off ]Posted on September 5, 2009 by admin in Politics
Saturday, September 5th, 2009But we’ll have another serving of that delicious thought control, thank you very much.
But we’ll have another serving of that delicious thought control, thank you very much! In the past decade or so, the political landscape, the media’s portrayal of it, and the irrational, polarized public sentiment aroused by the combination of the two have nearly driven me back to a position I held in my twenties, which is that the only rational response to politics is to become apolitical. I’m not quite there yet, so I’d like to share a few thoughts, and get your feedback if you have the time and interest. For the record, I have to confess that the recent ranting about whether or not President Obama’s speech next week should be viewed in the public schools was sort of a last straw for me; I dropped out of high school in the tenth grade in the seventies, a time when I feel safe in saying public education was in better shape than it is now. Education is a hot-button topic for me. And frankly, even Republicans like Colin Powell are concerned about the alarmingly high dropout rate in America. The idea that a local public school system would decide to censor a presidential speech directed at school kids – rather than viewing it and having intelligent classroom discourse about it – is mind boggling to me. In my view, it’s a perfect example of the negative impact of politically driven, media-fueled, irrational public sentiment. So, listed below are a few things I think are at the core of many of America’s problems right now. Please save me from my own political apathy; if I know there are others out there with similar thoughts, I might stay engaged and even pursue action. Otherwise, I’m likely to end up as one of the first proud citizens of the impending Idiocracy. Read the rest of this entry »
The Next Civil War: Red vs Blue
[ 7 Comments ]Posted on August 10, 2009 by admin in Politics
Monday, August 10th, 2009It may be the beginning of the week, but it’s the end of the country.
Slate recently ran a How is America Going to End game/survey in which you get to choose the way that you predict the American Empire will come to an end. Well, the results are in, and I have to say I’m a little disappointed that my chosen scenario – the Red vs. Blue Civil War – came in 13th. That map on the left highlights an interesting fact: the whole red state vs. blue state debate becomes a little irrelevant when you look at things on a more granular level. Those aren’t mega-highrises of the future, those are voters by population density. And you’ll notice that most of the spikes are blue. An American civil war may seem preposterous, especially when a crazy Russian academic predicts it, but the re-emergence of the “bubba militias” makes it seem a little less far-fetched in a country that’s been split in two by Rovian/Luntzian politics. When winning is everything, everyone loses. It says a lot when a large group of people (the average knee-jerk, ignorant Republican voter) gets behind a trillion-dollar activity that kills thousands of Americans but violently protests one that is intended to save American lives. I personally wouldn’t be surprised if things eventually got ugly on a larger scale; when you get a bunch of ignorant PBR-swilling yahoos riled up, there’s usually going to be some kind of fight. But I’m not worried. We city-folk have this one covered in spades, and we have maps and charts to prove it. First of all, we all know blue voters are smarter, and all the smart Read the rest of this entry »