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A New Approach to Politics

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posted on Mar, 20 2013 @ 05:43 AM
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A New Approach to Politics



I have a very respectable liberal-arts education, where I learned about gathering evidence, especially empirical evidence, before making decisions. This is the opposite of coming up with an ideal and then trying to force it to work.

At the moment, politicians on both the Democratic and Republican sides of the isle are trying to force ideals onto people that do not match the situations at hand (although not all of them) - this easily explains why DHS has to arm itself, and why the drones have be flying and armed - because a political system that doesn't work is going to cause unhappy citizens. It's also going to collapse eventually.

There are two things that need to be considered in order to help create a healthy political environment, for the benefit of both the politicians and the citizens.

For one, people in general have this crazy idea that the culture they experience is the exact same one that is present everywhere. That isn't the case - and there is no need to have a unified culture, that is just going to cause strife and unnecessary conflict.

I can give two examples of how understanding the fact that there are different cultures in different areas, and allowing their coexistence, could help solve issues.

Understanding Different Cultural Perpsectives



Gun Control
Okay, you hand a liberal in a liberal state who has no experience with firearms, no firearm training, no friends with firearms, etc. an assault rifle and they are going to go ape # on defenseless people at the mall, or their favorite target location.

You hand a conservative in a conservative state an assault rifle, and they have probably seen them already in their friends' gun collections, and had gun safety courses, and live in a culture where it is unacceptable to so much as point an unloaded weapon at someone. To use that assault rifle in a massacre would both be a social faux pax and result in being shot before much damage could be done.

Conservatives like to collect assault rifles, and they like to go shooting with them, and there is little threat. The gun culture is just that way. They might go hunting with them, but I'm sure they would prefer to hunt with weapons more suited to the cause.

And why not let conservatives in conservative states have assault rifles? What if the United States becomes totalitarian? Why not have a few states here and there that are able to resist? It seems prudent to me.

What I'm trying to say is, the situation in every state is not going to be the same. Trying to force a law that applies to the situation in one state onto another state that has a completely different situation is silly and ineffective.

Gay Marriage
All right, now let's talk about gay marriage. First of all, Civil Unions should be already getting the same benefits as Marriages. Secondly, gay marriage should be legal in all states, and left to the individual churches to decide on whether or not they support it. I know the Episcopalian church does.

I don't think it is necessarily a good use of resources for a gay couple to try and force the Catholic Church to marry them, when they won't... although the gays could potentially make a case to the Vatican, this is no place for U.S. interference -

However, the U.S. should not be interfering with the ability for willing churches to marry gay couples, either.

Trying to make everyone think the same is just not going to work. Notice that this is an example of where I think the nation should do this as a whole, because the individual cultures are those of the churches, which the country should not be interfering with anyway. (Although this could be an issue for further discussion).

Gathering Information



What is it like out there in America? Shouldn't that be a concern? I mean, if Democrats can't seem to comprehend where Conservatives are coming from on gun control, shouldn't they investigate by visiting conservative states and talking to people there in order to better understand the situation?

If Republicans don't understand why the poor need assistance, or why Democrats want to have gun control in their states, shouldn't they be out there finding out why?

If Democrats want to have taxable income from a good economy to help with social programs, shouldn't they be out there exploring and supporting a growing private sector, preferably of small businesses?

If corporations are going to be causing problems down the line, shouldn't they be investigated and held accountable in order to prevent catastrophe? And why should a corporation who's policies fail be bailed out?

Are genetically modified foods and crops going to cause problems in the future, what, exactly is going on with the drones and the large ammunition purchases?

All of this information has to be collected in order for the senators on both sides of the isle to make laws that are actually effective and informed.

I am of the understanding that Presidential administrations lately (including Obama's) have not been giving the information out that needs to be given out to senators, and the only reason they would do that is if they were not proud of what they were doing.

After Information Gathering and Understanding Different Cultural Perspectives



At this point, I would say it would be a great idea to write a law based on the data collected and the understanding that different cultures exist, and that a blanket law affecting the whole nation is going to cause problems in some cases. Therefore, there is a lot of benefit to leaving most of the legislation to the states.

Not only does each state have a better idea of the kind of laws it needs, but having a diverse set of 50 different laws in 50 different states is like diversifying your crops or investments. If a certain infection takes out a specific plant, or a certain business goes bankrupt, it is much less likely to affect the system as a whole.

Some legislation might still want to be nation-wide in order to provide consistency, especially ones that are focused on maintaining freedom instead of against it, and states should still be held responsible for their choices.

That's all.
edit on 20-3-2013 by darkbake because: (no reason given)

edit on 20-3-2013 by darkbake because: (no reason given)

edit on 20-3-2013 by darkbake because: (no reason given)

edit on 20-3-2013 by darkbake because: (no reason given)

edit on 20-3-2013 by darkbake because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 20 2013 @ 06:16 AM
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Originally posted by darkbake
Gun Control
Okay, you hand a liberal in a liberal state who has no experience with firearms, no firearm training, no friends with firearms, etc. an assault rifle and they are going to go ape # on defenseless people at the mall...


They are?
Really?
Are you sure?
Have you tested this theory?



posted on Mar, 20 2013 @ 07:14 AM
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Originally posted by darkbake

Okay, you hand a liberal in a liberal state who has no experience with firearms, no firearm training, no friends with firearms, etc. an assault rifle and they are going to go ape # on defenseless people at the mall, or their favorite target location.

You hand a conservative in a conservative state an assault rifle, and they have probably seen them already in their friends' gun collections, and had gun safety courses, and live in a culture where it is unacceptable to so much as point an unloaded weapon at someone. To use that assault rifle in a massacre would both be a social faux pax and result in being shot before much damage could be done.


just

Can you really not see the bias and generalization in those two paragraphs?
I stopped reading there.



I have a very respectable liberal-arts education, where I learned about gathering evidence, especially empirical evidence, before making decisions. This is the opposite of coming up with an ideal and then trying to force it to work.


Maybe you should ask for your money back?


edit on 20-3-2013 by BritofTexas because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 20 2013 @ 07:56 AM
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It is quite true that no two places are exactly the same and as such culture is very diverse. But there is also a lot of similarities diffused across the expanding diversity. In terms of politics, some basic principles are global like human rights, trade and the ecosystem. Other issues are for national platforms, like currency management and military operations. State and local governments also have a place for other parts of the puzzle. Politics is about people and as such it is a very dynamic field with lots of grey areas.



posted on Mar, 20 2013 @ 09:12 AM
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I'm still trying to figure out if you are saying that because a person is liberal, they will go shoot up people in a mall -- or are you saying that because a person has no experience with guns, they will go shoot up people in a mall?? Either way, it's a very wrong assertion. Many liberals own guns and know how to use them. Mentally ill people go shoot up people in a mall, and I don't think liberals have the copyright on crazy.

What's to stop us
crazy
liberals from traveling to a conservative state to purchase guns so we can shoot up people in a mall? Are you proposing that we not allow traveling between states?

Sorry, but I don't think you thought this through before you posted it. Might want to try again.



posted on Mar, 20 2013 @ 09:56 AM
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Personally, I've started to entertain the thought that maybe our country is just too big with too many differences of opinion over such a large area. It may actually be more prudent to cut the country into sections and make several countries out of them. This way these smaller countries could better handle their people's requests and needs.

However, this idea will never happen unless the shtf and the country fractures due to all of its infrastructure problems. In other words if a civil war were to break out for any reason, I do not see the outcome as being a unified country ever again. Though this could potentially be more beneficial to the populous then our current system where the needs of one group get watered down and or marginalized because they don't match the needs of another group.



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