political parties
NeoNotes — Let people make their own choices
❝❝There comes a time when the only way to win is not to play.NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.
Just pointing out again that if you don't like government power, maybe the real answer is taking the power away from government.
At that point I'd have to stand and say no.
You can't exile someone because of what they believe. It's what they want to do to you. That doesn't make it right.
We need to have our ideas challenged by people we don't agree with. If the ideas are good, they will stand on their own merit.
Maybe it's time the libertarians (small l, not the party) were in charge. We could start by abolishing any political party, reducing the total amount of taxes to ten percent and making the politicos pay for anything government spends above that amount.
Then we can talk about who is allowed to have influence.
And organizing everything from the words anyone is allowed to say to the calorie count of a pizza slice, just how well is that working out?
The problem isn't who is calling the shots. Experience has shown that no matter what promises someone makes, as soon as they have power they will be just as tyrannical as the opposition. Look at this discussion. You are literally writing about who is and is not allowed to have influence. And making sure that capital L Libertarians are on display, but not allowed to influence policy. That's better for people how? We are supposed to trust in the benevolence of conservatives?
The answer is massively reducing the size and scope of government. Let people make their own choices.
Can you do that without pointing a gun at people?
Do you have enough courage in your convictions to do it without force?
And I am not convinced that conservatives can be totally trusted. As I rule, I trust conservatives more than I do progressives, but I don't trust you that much.
It's not easy to do it without a gun, but it's possible. The thing is, progressives don't start with guns. They start by establishing Moral Authority. You can do more by taking that away than you can with guns. Hurting them or killing them just makes martyrs to the "cause."
The Left doesn't like it when I do a lot of things. That doesn't stop me much.❞❞
The “Tea Party” scares the political leadership
Monday - 20Sep2010 Filed in: Politics
This is a page from the original version of Pagan Vigil. There are some formatting differences. Originally published at www.paganvigil.com/C127135145/E20100920121432
The “Tea Party” scares the political leadership
Something they can't control, even if it's not enough to take control away
Jesse Walker over at Reason Magazine sums up the Tea Party exactly.
My take is that the various Tea Parties scare the daylights out of the existing political parties because they are a bottom up movement instead of a top down organization. They don't take their "marching orders" from anyone except themselves. That's exactly opposite of how protests have been organized for the last thirty or forty years.
It's the politics of the everyman, not necessarily tied to election cycles.
The Republican leadership believes it can be subverted because they did it before. You may not remember the "Republican Revolution" in the 1994 midterm elections. When the newly minted members of Congress took their seats, the wheeling and dealing began. There was no way those freshmen Congressmen and Senators would get committee assignments unless they toed the line. The institutions of Congress and the political parties were designed to seduced and subvert anyone who might make change. That is exactly what happened.
This could be different. And I really stress that "could be." If people accept that the real change is only going to happen if they are involved and watching closely, then yes, it could get better.
Otherwise we're waiting for the system to collapse. And when the government starts spending more on debt service than anything else, it won't take long.
They established institutions of both major parties aren't interested in reform, they want power. Even if every candidate elected for the next three national elections was a "Tea Party" candidate, it wouldn't be enough to stem the tide. The only way the party leadership will accept reform is if they are running scared.
A class="pvc" HREF="http://www.paganvigil.com““The issue isn't whether "the" Tea Party will do those things. The Tea Party isn't an actual party; it's an extremely decentralized movement with room for several different points of view. It is not libertarian in itself, but it has opened a space for libertarian ideas; it includes good guys like the Campaign for Liberty, and it includes its share of scamsters and authoritarians as well. And it includes a lot of people who are not pure libertarians but are motivated by a libertarian take on one or more pressing issues.””
My take is that the various Tea Parties scare the daylights out of the existing political parties because they are a bottom up movement instead of a top down organization. They don't take their "marching orders" from anyone except themselves. That's exactly opposite of how protests have been organized for the last thirty or forty years.
It's the politics of the everyman, not necessarily tied to election cycles.
The Republican leadership believes it can be subverted because they did it before. You may not remember the "Republican Revolution" in the 1994 midterm elections. When the newly minted members of Congress took their seats, the wheeling and dealing began. There was no way those freshmen Congressmen and Senators would get committee assignments unless they toed the line. The institutions of Congress and the political parties were designed to seduced and subvert anyone who might make change. That is exactly what happened.
This could be different. And I really stress that "could be." If people accept that the real change is only going to happen if they are involved and watching closely, then yes, it could get better.
Otherwise we're waiting for the system to collapse. And when the government starts spending more on debt service than anything else, it won't take long.
They established institutions of both major parties aren't interested in reform, they want power. Even if every candidate elected for the next three national elections was a "Tea Party" candidate, it wouldn't be enough to stem the tide. The only way the party leadership will accept reform is if they are running scared.
Posted: Mon - September 20, 2010 at 12:14 PM