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Politics: Harry, The Disastrous & The Unpalatable
nd writes: "Harry Browne has agreed to a roundtable discussion with everyone in a Kuro5hin Feature. He'll be responding to messages himself under his own account." It's been going on for a few days now, and is an amazing look at the future of political coverage. Reflecting a sentiment I hope is accurate, Jim Madison writes: "Despite the apathy, I think slashdot's members are actually quite well-informed, politically speaking. Our friends, however, are not. According to this article, 25% of citizens 18-24 cannot name both major party presidential candidates and 70% cannot name their running mates. Wow. This discussion at Quorum.org (disclaimer: a site I co-founded) questions whether online forums (like this one) can help make politics more accessible or whether it's going to take structural change in Washington before it gets any better. What's the point of the $200 mm spent on advertising if they can't even get
unaided brand recall?" For whose pathologically opposed to the letter "W," CaptainZ asserts that "This guy [Jamin Raskin] over at MSN has a pretty good article about how Nader and Gore can both 'win.'" Finally, wallstrum writes with word of yet another worthy candidate (still, I'm more of a Quimby man).
I live in a swing state (Michigan) and I intend to vote for Nader. I would love to read the headlines: "Bush wins, Nader blamed". That would make my day.
If Gore really wanted my vote, then he'd answer concerns about corporate welfare and corruption, as well as the other unheard issues that Nader wants to solve. Instead, Gore has done his best to dodge those issues, re-invent his record, and ignore Nader. Gore has demonstrated that he will continue to represent the very worst that I hate about elections: scumming votes from the most impressionable voters through TV ads funded by massive soft money contributions. Gore's actions and his record have failed to convince me that he will be significantly better than Bush.
How long must I vote for the second-worst candidate in exchange for nothing? Four years? Eight? Twelve? How many more times will I be betrayed by the Democrats? It's time to send a "tough love" message to the Democrats who are so busy scraping votes from potential Republicans that they forgot that there's a job to do and work to be done.
Why vote for the lesser of evils, when you can vote for the greatest evil Cthuluh.
No more years! No more years!
As x approaches total apathy I couldn't care less.
It's sort of a viscious cycle, really.
As one of my friends put it: Why do politicians pander and spin? Because we (as a nation) are easily pandered to and spun about. Why do the preach fuzzy partizan ideologies? Because that's the level of dialogue we're at.
The solution: either DON'T VOTE (if you're not informed) or but in the effort necessary to get informed. Let's define "informed" minimaly: as having spent more than 3-6 hours ACTIVELY seeking out information about a candidates history, funding, and positions. From sources other than their campaign (or their opponent's campaign, thank you). And REALLY informed would be if you'd actually spent some time studying aspects of policy, so that you could intelligently evaluate statements like "A free market always gives the best results," or "We need more funding for education" or "By floating this bond over a longer time period, we can afford this".
But most of us don't. We make our votes on vague feelings and sometimes, passion for an ideology. The politicians know this. That's why they started doing things the way they're done. That's why apathy has increased....
Break the cycle?
Tweet, tweet.
Well, everyone except Dubya. We hope.
After seeing what Bush has done to the TNRCC (the Tex. state enviro agency, where I used to intern) over the course of his reign, I dread to see what the state of the EPA (and, more importantly, our nation's environment) would be by the end of a Shrub presidency. Bush Sr. was bad enough, but at least a Dem House counterbalanced him & managed to get things like the Clean Air Act passed (which Dubya has consistently ignored in Texas). It's already too hard to breathe in Houston as it is....
Gore really is the lesser of two evils, at least as far as energy & environmental policy is concerned. Do you really think Dubya will do squat about extinctions, pollution & global warming (at least until it's far too late)?
#include "disclaim.h"
"All the best people in life seem to like LINUX." - Steve Wozniak
#include "disclaim.h"
"All the best people in life seem to like LINUX." - Steve Wozniak
You may be able to help the Greens this way in other states too; check your local Green party and/or your local election laws.
fearbush.com
Finding God in a Dog
Face it. Domesticly the president is mostly a figurehead. The corporations and the congress (backed by corporate contributions) set the domestic agenda. They have for years. The only place where the president holds any sway is in foreign policy.
If you look at their stands on most issues, Bush and Gore are mostly in agreement. On the really devisive issues where they differ, it doesn't matter what either one promises, it'll be the congress that decides what is done and how. The president can veto that which he doesn't like, but that leaves him with nothing. The president's choice is either compromise with congress (go back on campaign promises) or fight them, in which case he is either overridden by congress or he leaves office accomplishing nothing and not getting re-elected.
The congress after this election will be so closely split between the two parties that consensus will be hard to reach. There aren't going to be enough swing votes in congress to allow either party to accomplish much.
Net result: 4 more years of business as usual in Washington. (Money talks, the people can walk)
Anyone who thinks that either Bush or Gore are going to make sweeping changes needs to up their dosage of reality. 'Cause it ain't gonna happen.
Do you really think Dubya will do squat about extinctions, pollution & global warming (at least until it's far too late)
Do those extinct animals make anyone a profit? Then maybe they deserve to die -- they're just Looters, living off our hard work!
What has the environment done for us lately? If it was worth saving it would work harder, like all good americans do! Why should we give welfare to the "environment" when it doesn't pay taxes, all it does is take, take, take?
Don't you see, protecting the environment is for communists -- we live in a free country, and the government should stay out of it. If you want to fix the ozone layer, then do it on your own dime.
Don't tell me to stop dumping toxic chemicals into your drinking water just because you're not profitable enough to afford a filter.
Damn looters!...
---------------------------------------------
Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
Ok, Fine he didn't create the internet.
He wasn't the basis for the male character in love Story.
He didn't room with Tommy Lee Jones in college.
Maybe he did drink too much 20 years ago.
He does have something that Gore does not. Integrity. Though I can see where someone could disagree with his politics. I don't agree with him on everything, but why the vitriol? Some of you people are hostile and down right nasty. Why?
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Unlike 1996 when Clinton was free to alienate the left wing of the democratic party, Nader has become the voice of truth.
In 1996, Clinton very shrewdly looked at his consituency and decided to alienate the voters that were sure to vote for him in favor of winning the center vote. He did this by signing the Defense of Marriage Act, a direct slap in the face of the homosexual community, and signing the Welfare Reform Act. Both the poor and the homosexual vote where basically foregone conclusions for the democrats. The strategy worked. Immediately after the election both Clinton and Gore began complaining about the bills that Clinton signed into law only a weeks before.
Nader has become Gore's truth detector. Now the left wing of the party recognizes that Gore, although he is advocating huge increases in the size of government, wants to appeal to the center and they're abandoning him in favor of a candidate who presents a consistent view and actually has some credibility that he means what he says. Gore doesn't. I say vote Nader. At least you can trust the man. You certainly can't trust Gore.
I respectfully disagree. This election isn't just about who's going to sit in the White House for the next four years; it's about who's going to sit on the Supreme Court for the next twenty.
Bush has stated that his favorite Justices on the Supreme Court are Scalia and Thomas. At present, at least two and maybe four Supreme Court justices are approaching the point where they will need to retire from the bench. These justices are all moderates or liberals and their replacements could decide on issues of privacy, reproductive freedom, and civil rights, in the very near future. A Bush election could mean the end of Roe v. Wade. A lot of people on the left would perceive this as a major loss, and it's not just Bush that they're going to blame.
I humbly submit to the reader, that a Bush win means four white-knuckle years for the Left, a Democratic party that's going to shift further to the right under the direction of the Democratic Leadership Council, and a Green Party that will lose its legitimacy with the Left. A Gore win gives the Left more wiggle room, and a chance to 'guilt' Gore into following up on his proposed policies in his book Earth in the Ballance.
That's my two cents, although it's probably worth less than that.
fearbush.com
Finding God in a Dog
This may be slightly off topic, but here goes. I firmly believe that one of the main problems with voter apathy and the political process is the lack of respect and loss of etiquette and civility in recent times (since WWII, probably). Look at the headline of this story for just one example:
Politics: Harry, The Disastrous & The Unpalatable
Harry? When referring to a candidate for office in the story (I realize asking all posters to do so would be too much :-), he should be referred to by the proper rules of etiquette, based on his rank or position (to which I must plead ignorance, unfortunately). At the very least, Mr. Browne would be appropriate, while Harry is not, even if he asks you to call him that.
Same with the other candidates: Governor Bush and Mr. Vice President. And the current president is to be referred to as Mr. President, not Mr. Clinton, (even a womanizing, purjurious pervert occupying the Office deserves to be shown the proper deference due his position) etc. etc. etc. And former presidents should be referred to properly as well, Governor Reagan, Ambassador Bush, etc. etc. etc., not Pres. Reagan, Mr. Reagan, Ronald Reagan, etc. etc. etc.
I realise this is idealistic, perhaps even silly, and is really only a symptom of a much larger loss of civility in society. But, some diseases really ARE best cured by addressing the symptoms, and this would be one good place to start. Perhaps the /. editorial staff could be persuaded to attempt adherence to established protocol as a strike for journalistic integrity and societal civility? :-)
Unlike tangible goods and real property, the nature of IP -- or any form of knowledge -- is to spread."
:)
Looks a lot like "Information wants to be free" to me..
Yes, but then he goes on to say
As far as IP being worthy of being safeguarded, it matters little to me whether or not a week's worth of my labor was spent fashioning a dining room table or writing code -- both consumed part of my life and are fruits of my labor, and I want both to be guarded from those who would take them without my giving me something in exchange.
The (unspoken) implication is that copyright, patents, and other forms of IP are OK, although strictly speaking he did not state that explicitly.
I think he (and a lot of people, both here and elsewhere) need to be educated and made to realize (or at least confront and argue against) the notion that a government mandated and enforced monopoly isn't necessary for IP creators to be fairly compensated and, furthermore, has a stifling impact on the field of endeavor so affected, not to mention the society, culture, and the economy as a whole.
Nevertheless, while Libertarians are split on the question of IP (and he perhaps falls on the wrong side of that debate), he is quite correct in saying that "our first step on the road to freedom is to return to the Constitution as the rule of law for our nation." We can (and must) fix the debacle that is IP, but he argues (perhaps correctly) that getting bogged down in that is putting the cart before the horse.
Although I disagree with his (implied) stance on patents and copyrights, I have been persuaded to vote for Harry Browne over Ralph Nader nevertheless. There is no candidate I agree with on every issue, but I agree with Harry Browne's agenda on far more points than I do with any other candidate.
(And yes, as someone who was going to vote for Ralph Nader based on his stance WRT corporate and special interests influencing government, I have had my mind changed. This happens from time to time, if one's mind is truly open.)
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
damn! My 6 year old son can name both candidates and their running mates, although he still thinks he should vote for Bush because "Bush is famous" - I guess that's what 90% of Bush's supporters must be thinking. . .
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
If people are ignorant of the candidates, the parties, and the process, they don't have any business voting. Voting is a civic duty that every American should participate in. But the duty of voting does not consist of going to the ballot box and just checking off whatever comes to mind, what your friend thought was a good idea, etc. Responsible citizens explore and try to understand the issues, the differences between the various candidates, and then vote in the best interests of the nation. While the founding fathers recognized that factionism would likely occur, they still regarded voting for the best candidate for office as a civic responsibility, rather than simply voting self-interest.
People who can't name vice-presidential candidates or who don't know the issues shouldn't be voting. They should be learning.
As a result of being on the Internet, my heart has turned dark.
They (meaning "THE MAN", the 2-Party apologists, etc...) will have one of those arguments every 4 years if we don't START to put a stop to it RIGHT NOW. Sure, maybe Nader won't win this time, or next time, but as the articles says, he needs the votes to get on the Green Party Ballot next time.
And who knows, maybe in 12 or 16 years we'll have some real alternatives to the 2-Party, pro-corporate-welfare JERKS who take bribes to sell out their constituents.
Aren't you people tired of this crap? I know I sure as hell am.
And don't forget, Souter turned out to be one of the cooler justices in the court and HE wasn't appointed be a (sellout) Democrat.
Don't waste your vote by voting for jerks who sellout to corporate dollars. Vote for someone who ACTUALLY cares and will enact REAL change.
Rich...
Ignore Alien Orders
Props for Harry Browne, he's cool as hell. Althrough repealing the War & Emergance Power ACT is something that should be done, his method would crumble American. There has to be some method to get this country back to a constitutional goverment and away form the unlawful social empire goverment we have today (ouch, mod'ing hurt). Harry Browne is the only presidential candidate that is for returning the goverment to what made it great while keeping it modern with the rest of the world.
As far of the 18-24 years old not knowing who is who, I look at like this, they don't feel like there is anything that can be done. They get the same crap every four years. It's boring. Look at tv today, you see two guys on the media: Bush and Gore. Both are drug addicts, one is a lier the other is a whimp, they talk about boring unrelated issues to 18-24 year olds. So they say. What do 18-24 year old want? While most are busy having sex, having a social life, and working towards or for thier jobs. Not to mention it's nerdy to understand goverment and knowing the issue (of course nerds make more money and don't work as hard).
So how do you fix this "problem"? Heck you fix like every other problem in life, education. And you do that by getting people involed.
I can sit here and listen to talk radio until my ear bleed, or read stories until my ear balls hurt, but it won't make a lick of sense until the rest of American wakes up to the truth, see above.
My vote goes to Harry Browne.
MarNuke
"Insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."
Sadly, too many Libertarians (especially online) make really bad arguments. Those Libertarians who have thought about the issues in some depth and read more than Atlas Shrugged have a much more nuanced world-view than simply believing that everyone needs to look out for himself and ignore others. Libertarianism is a political theory, not a philosophical one. It holds only that Big Government is destructive of society, not that individual shouldn't help one another. The choice is not between cooperation and selfishness. The choice is between voluntary relationships and coercive ones. Voluntary relationships promote harmony, and progress. Coercive means lead to strife and special interest wrangling. Indeed, one of the strongest arguments for libertarianism is that Big Government destroys the good will and cooperative spirit that voluntary relationships promote. There are of course many other reasons-- government programs are inefficient, threatening to civil liberties, benefit the rich at the expense of the poor, and many other bad things. But please don't dismiss Libertarianism because of the stupidity of a handful or Randroids. An idea is not responsible for the intelligence of its adherents.
--- I really want to go with the Libertarians, but I'm sorry, the general population is just not smart enough to govern themselves. ---
I agree 100%. But who do you think makes up the government!?!? Those same idiots wandering around that can't even balance their checkbook. (And in their hands it's a trillion dollar checkbook!)
This is the missing puzzle peice that completly proves anarchism is the only rational path for human beings; only TRUE ABSOLUTE freedom allows progression of the human race.
Ideologically I don't believe in voting. (AKA relinquishing your right of free choice to another) But Browne gets me pretty damn close to where I want to be, so he's getting my support instead of me voting all 'None of the above' this year.
As for your drivel about how we are a 'country', a team, I owe you for something....
It's called dualistic thought. A flaw in human nature, and you've got it bad.
--
Voting for president is not like betting on a horse race. You gain nothing by choosing the winner. It is about supporting someone that doesn't have an interest in holding a gun to your head to make you do things you don't want to do. Harry Browne is the only one that qualifies. http://LP.org/
If Al Gore was recognizably the same Al Gore who WROTE Earth in the Balance, then I would have to agree. I'd barely recognize him, myself -- he's been pandering to the center and center-right for the past eight years, and I for one am getting very nervous about continuing to support an increasingly non-progressive Democratic party just because they are marginally saner than the Republicans on social and environmental issues.
I am not terribly fond of the idea of 4 years of Shrub in office, but I'm beginning to wonder if there is any other way to get this message across.
It's a lose/lose proposition. I'm voting for Nader precisely because I don't like either one of the major party candidates.
"Somebody exploded a letter-bomb today