Quote:
Originally posted by PornoDoggy@Apr 28 2003, 08:10 AM
What seems to get lost when we wax poetically about the beauty of the system we live under is that the folks agitating for a point that may not be popular today are equally vital to that same system. The example that gets frequently used - "Well, there's no need to worry about the Patriot Act because if there are abuses we will change them - we've done it before" - is correct on its face. However, it ignores the fact that it was changed because "lunatics", "pinkos", "alarmists", etc. screamed and yelled and whooped and hollered for years before anyone even believed that abuses were occurring.
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PD, i think that for the most part we agree. i think that the fears, concerns, paranoia, debate, arguing etc are all very necessary to the functioning of the political system. I think its necessary in a two party system to yell "Bush is an idiot" and "vote for Reverand Al Sharpton because he can definately run a country"... i think that all the fighting, arguing and debating that would follow are necessary to the success of the system as a whole.
thats the greater paradox to me.
- a person that is balanced in his views, should be in the middle.
- if all people were balanced and in the middle, the political system would grind to a halt and cease to function.
Just as Colin said when he remarked that he usually finds himself in the middle because he can see both sides of the argument. i think that would not be healthy as a whole because it leads to indecision and innaction. As it is, we are left to choose from the stronger arguments or at least we can vote against the weaker arguments.
i think thats healthy.
to me, its also a bigger question of how do i really want to live my life. i personally refuse to live in fear, being paranoid and insecure about "what might be". a lot of things "might be". life is risky... and no matter what, we will all die anyway. i may get hit by a car or struck by lightening, or stabbed in a night club. ... i may get accidentally arrested for Child porn or something else. a lot of things may happen and no amount of worrying will diminish the odds of every possibility becoming reality and increase the quality of my life.
I think that most of the risks/fears people talk about politically like Homeland Security - i.e. "yeah, will how will you feel if you were the one who...." are acceptable. I have not seen evidence that they are not.
I also don't think that any policies that are not popular cannot be reversed had they become politically unpopular. To date, i think that the fact that this organization exists indicates that the majority of people are willing to accept it. Thats how the system works and i accept that. Other than that, i am going to continue to work, travel, invest money and be happy with my wife. When i think that the USA is threatening to make that impossible for me, i will leave.
We are all gonna die anyway.
In the end, all we can do is smile and wait.