A Quick Summation of My Political Views As An Addendum to the Previous Entry
In the last 41 years, I've seen both Republican and Democrat administrations wildly succeed and Republican and Democrat administrations wildly fail, on both a local and national level. I've been on both sides of the aisle (Republican and Democrat...and wildly failing and wildly succeeding). Looking at the long view, I now understand that both liberals and conservatives are vital to our American political system.
We need liberals to say, "Hey, our country needs to change. It would work better if we changed things," so that progressive change can be made when needed.
We need conservatives to say, "Hey, our country is this way because history has proven that this is the best way to do things," when changes are being proposed that are not helpful or are negative.
I'm not sure why they both start off their statements with "hey."
When the system goes too far in one direction, i.e. following progressive policies that are more idealistic than functional or practical, or conversely, sticking to conservative policies that aren't best for the nation and need to be improved upon, the system can fall into chaos. That's why we need both parties. Neither should dominate over an extended period of time. As I look at my 23 years of voting history, it appears that I have generally voted against whatever party I felt needed to be held in check. I assume I'll keep doing so.
I'm also pro-America because,
a. I live here. More than that, my wife, my son, my immediate and extended family, and the vast majority of my friends and loved ones live here. Of course I want America to succeed. Not just want--I NEED it to succeed.
b. No country's evils are less than ours. Logically, if you hate America because of atrocities you believe it has committed, thousands of Native children's hidden graves demand you hate Canada and every other sovereign nation, as well. All nations have held or sold or traded slaves, or violently mistreated their people, or undertaken in immoral warfare, or sided with an evil power at some point in their history. That's history. The entire world is culpable.
I'm also a capitalist. Capitalism has its problems, some of which are major, but it's the system which has proven to work best over an extended period of time. I'm not really into ideals. I'm into what proves to work. I guess that's my conservative position. I also refuse to believe that the nation and our current systems can't be improved. I guess that's my liberal position. I'm no radical under any terms. There should be nothing cancelable about that.
When the system goes too far in one direction, i.e. following progressive policies that are more idealistic than functional or practical, or conversely, sticking to conservative policies that aren't best for the nation and need to be improved upon, the system can fall into chaos. That's why we need both parties. Neither should dominate over an extended period of time. As I look at my 23 years of voting history, it appears that I have generally voted against whatever party I felt needed to be held in check. I assume I'll keep doing so.
I'm also pro-America because,
a. I live here. More than that, my wife, my son, my immediate and extended family, and the vast majority of my friends and loved ones live here. Of course I want America to succeed. Not just want--I NEED it to succeed.
b. No country's evils are less than ours. Logically, if you hate America because of atrocities you believe it has committed, thousands of Native children's hidden graves demand you hate Canada and every other sovereign nation, as well. All nations have held or sold or traded slaves, or violently mistreated their people, or undertaken in immoral warfare, or sided with an evil power at some point in their history. That's history. The entire world is culpable.
I'm also a capitalist. Capitalism has its problems, some of which are major, but it's the system which has proven to work best over an extended period of time. I'm not really into ideals. I'm into what proves to work. I guess that's my conservative position. I also refuse to believe that the nation and our current systems can't be improved. I guess that's my liberal position. I'm no radical under any terms. There should be nothing cancelable about that.
These are my politics.
Comments
The spirit of this post reminds me of Jonathan Haidt's TED Talk "The Moral Roots of Liberals and Conservatives." I found it fascinating.
I will 100% listen to that TED talk! It sounds right up my alley, even though I heard TED talks are fascist.
That "A Frog in the Bog" cover from your 2022 list is lovely, btw. Lots of metal and rock in the mix. Any chance you heard "Reckoner" from Trenches last year? I haven't listened through the whole album yet, but I thought the few songs I streamed sounded quite good.
I did hear Reckoner and there are songs I like. Overall, though, I was disappointed. I think the more stretched out songs on their debut are the best, but there are a ton of really short songs on Reckoner that feel like they’re still in the sketch stage. With the incredibly long gestation period, I guess I was hoping the album would be more finished. With that said, the strong moments are REALLY strong.