posted
It's been a while since I posted a totally crazy idea.
I think most of us are likely to agree that the two major political parties suck. Neither exists to actually improve anything, they just exist to perpetuate their own jobs. Election reform, tax reform, IP reform, tort reform, all these are huge things that need doing, but nobody even talks about them. We had a major blackout a few years back due to the condition of our power grid. We've had an entire major city flood because of poor maintainance and engineering. Public transportation is a joke in a lot of cities. Across the board, basic infrastructure is being neglected, and needed reforms are being ignored.
I don't know who to vote for in the next election. Unless someone catches my attention, I may not vote at all. But I know there's got to be a lot of people somewhere who care about these problems. I'd love to see a group of people who don't have political agendas, but just want to find the best solution to a problem and implement it. Is there such a group, political party or not? If not, can we start one? I don't know what effect finding such a group would have, besides making me feel better, but that's a worthy goal in my book.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
Omega for President!
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
Registered: Mar 1999
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WizArtist II
"How can you have a yellow alert in Spacedock? "
Member # 1425
posted
I believe the base problem is in our society itself. We have raised generations that are only looking out for Numero Uno. The focus of this society is on being entertained and made comfortable at the least possible expense to themselves. There is no pride in doing a good job. There is no sense of self-sacrifice for the greater good only "what's in it for me". They will accept whatever policies allow them to go through life with a full belly and no responsibility for their own actions or to the greater society in general. Politicians rant about waste in government spending, yet are unwilling to put the axe to projects benefitting their constituents. They espouse grandiose schemes of a clean environment, welfare & health care for all but neglect to detail the taxation required to accomplish these goals. Then of course, they feel it necessary to vote themselves substantial raises for their "work". There are no morals or ethics to this society. Those ethical quidelines that are still played lip-service are there to be skirted. When evil actions are brought to light, they are carefully rationalized away by technicalities or by shifting the culpability to others. In this society, nothing is ever YOUR fault, it is the negligence of others that led you to that path. And, of course, this will then require litigation to gain "just" compensation for the failure of these others.
Nothing is going to change in this world until People start taking responsibility for their own actions and begin to make those sacrifices necessary to set things to right. Nothing "good" will ever be accomplished without sweat, toil, and tears. The question is, who is willing to make these sacrifices?
-------------------- There are 10 types of people in the world...those that understand Binary and those that don't.
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
I was thinking about that the other day, a new party, designed to overthrow the present political system in the voting booths.
It is like here in Illinois, people bitch and complain about the laws, yet they keep electing the same person, or same type of person, to office. Stupidity is making the same voting moves and getting the same voting results, while still expecting a change.
Taxes is another issue that is interesting, bitch about taxes being raised to pay fire fighters and the such, but join in with thousands of others to see that a steriod taking sports star gets millions..... Sad really.
Omega for Pres, only if he's part of the Flarite Party.
-------------------- "You are a terrible human, Ritten." Magnus "Urgh, you are a sick sick person..." Austin Powers A leek too, pretty much a negi.....
Registered: Sep 2000
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
No parties. No voting. No more system as we know it. Complete & utter cultural collapse & then we all go our own ways.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
Out of curiosity, what IS the breakdown of people here on Flare by country (and within Canada and the US, by province and state)?
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:I don�t consider myself a true Democrat. Yet my mayoral votes notwithstanding, I am not now nor have I ever been a Republican, and could never be unless the Lincoln Chafee�Olympia Snowe�John McCain wing of the party were to take decisive control, or hell freezes over. For me, what has happened politically in New York City stays in New York City.
But the thing is, in my political ambivalence I�m not such a freak these days. Fully a third of New Yorkers who voted in the last two elections behaved as I did, voting for Kerry and Bloomberg. Nationally, more and more Americans are clearly disaffected with both big parties. In 2005, for the first time since 1997, the percentages of people telling pollsters they feel generically �very positive� toward the Democrats or Republicans fell to single digits. And antipathy is running at historical highs as well�40 percent negatives for both parties, give or take a few points�which suggests that a huge number of nominal Democrats are voting more against the Bushes and Cheneys (and Santorums and Brownbacks) than they are for the Kerrys and Gores.
I haven't actually read the article, but perhaps it might be of some interest. (Beyond the "Hey, something happens in NYC, therefore it must be totally important!" angle.)
posted
That's part of what I'm talking about. It seems like the best argument for voting Democrat next election isn't because of what they advocate or stand for, but because they're Not Bush. I don't think people want to vote against things, I think they want to have something that they can get behind.
And just so we're clear, I'm not running for president, at least not right this second. I'm more interested in finding a set of issues that a group of people like us could agree are important, so as to form a core for discussion.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I think third party fantasizing in the U.S. is just that, and is at best pointless and at worst diverts attention and energy from work that can actually achieve something.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Another problem I have with some third parties, or rather with the philosophies that undergird some third parties, is the apparent notion that unless we can get some radically new and near-perfect leadership everything is doomed. America is in rough shape today, to be sure, but think how much things would improve if we simply had some leadership with basic managerial competence. That isn't some crazy unrealizable dream, nor is it a quality that can only be found in some tiny segment of the political spectrum, though I grant that it feels that way right now.
Registered: Mar 1999
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-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
It's no surprise that I did not vote in Canada's recent federal election.
Conservatives: I did like their tax cut program, but there were some other things that I do not agree with, like the proposals to ban gay marriages and the fact that they may end up doing damage to Canada akin to what Mike Harris did for Ontario.
Liberals: I would have voted for these guys, but they have basically been mired in scandal for far too long.
NDP (Socialists): Unless the NDP turn tail and admit that the role of business is important to today's economy, they will never get my vote (One politician tried to suggest this, only to be pushed out of the party). Controlled by union goons and the whatnot, and you know my position against Unions.
-------------------- "And slowly, you come to realize, it's all as it should be, you can only do so much. If you're game enough, you could place your trust in me. For the love of life, there's a tradeoff, we could lose it all but we'll go down fighting...." - David Sylvian FreeSpace 2, the greatest space sim of all time, now remastered!
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
The politicians are a problem, but they aren't the problem. Not the first one that needs solving, anyway. The problem is the media. How many people actually listen to politicians or political activists speak in person? We get all our information from what the televisions tell us. You say no-one talks about election reform, tax reform, etc., but that's untrue. Plenty of people talk about them. The media simply don't tell the rest of the public about it. They tell the public, not the things they need to know, but the things they want to hear. The things that will keep them watching.
In addition to this plain old desire for sensationalism, there's the now-long-standing absence of the Fairness Doctrine. The media have no obligation to fairly report multiple sides of a story. This leaves them open to reporting only the things that make their advertisers happy. Couple that with the fact that half of what the "news" media do these days is punditry (pundits are not journalists, and are therefore allowed to lie with impunity), and one can hardly be surprised that the general public is almost completely uninformed about everything.
You're right to say that both significant political parties are pretty much shite. I recommend reading the book Crashing the Gate for an explanation of why the Democrats, at least, are incompetent. However, major political parties get that way by becoming entrenched. And they become entrenched by looking out primarily for their own self-interest. The way to fix them is to get rid of the people who are part of that look-out-for-number-one mentality. And the way to get rid of them is by voting other people in to replace them. And, as long as people are voting for whoever the media tells them to vote for, that's not going to happen.
Registered: Mar 1999
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