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Before you talk politics, read this
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Sparknotes: Don't take politics so seriously. it's not like you're professionally involved in politics or are an expert, and a lot of times there is no right or wrong answer, just different opinions. also, people respect you a lot more if you stay calm and don't get hotheaded.
I only enjoy discussing politics with a few people. I think any
discussion between average americans who have no political experience
would be a lot more fun if people kept these things in mind:
If you are reading this, you probably aren't a politician. you are also probably not a:
political analyst
economist
bureaucrat
lawyer
expert
you, like me,
are probably an inexperienced, middle-to-upper class white kid.
therefore, take a moment and think...maybe you don't know the best
answer to everything! I know I don't. everyone tries so hard to have
an opinion on anything. its actually surprisingly refreshing to say "I
don't know." here I'll do it...
do you believe abortion is OK? honestly...I don't know! wow that felt good! see I don't have to have an opinion
on abortion, because I am not a political candidate running for a
position where I might be able to change the law, or a nominee for
judgeship or anyone that could affect abortion laws in any way shape or
form.
or a flat tax vs graduated income tax...I don't know! I'm
not an economist! I'd like to lean towards the graduated income tax,
but since I barely pay taxes and am still in college, I would prefer to
stay out of it.
that doesn't mean you can't feel passionate about certain issues. but there are some things that we really shouldn't argue over if we don't know enough about them. worst case scenario:
If you say you like obama or mccain, but can't name one real reason why, please refrain from arguing. You lack of knowledge is incredibly apparent to anyone with even a smidgen of information on the issues, and you only create more hate.
and one more thing. there's an economic theory
called concentrated benefits vs. diffused costs. lets say domino sugar
donated 400k to various politicians right? thats a lot of money. then
the politicians ensure that domino gets to be the only sugar company in america, and a bunch of
latin american countries that would love to sell their sugar to
americans for cheap get shut out. we pay 12 cents a pound more for
sugar consequently. not a big deal, but domino makes millions from it.
thats
how politics works. so no matter how worked up you get about politics,
remember that your candidates only represent you to a certain extent.
they will always be controlled by certain groups, and often times will
not work in your best interest. and they will do anything to get elected. including promising to cu t taxes when we have a huge debt. obama's. clinton's, and mccain's fiscal plans all would increase the national debt substantially (mccain's by the most) but they will all deny the independent studies by experts that suggest this.
sorry for the long post, and thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this. I think if everyone in America could understand this it would be a much better place.
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the way i look at it were all just a bunch of smart apes so what does it really matter anyway. live life with a smile on your face with the people you love and care about politics is quite silly when you look at life from a subjective perspective.
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political debate is a good way to be constintly re-evealuating what you belive is right and to maybe change your stance alittle after all the worlds changing so if your views and perspectices dont change your going to be behind the times.
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why should we have to give reasons or answer yes/no? politicians don't. not even in voting.......aka "present".
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I agree. As mindless as some of the political banter might get on here at times.. There are some extremely powerful and thought-provoking posts in the midst of it, and those posts HAVE caused me to re-evaluate my position and look at things differently.. I've learned and grown alot from it, and that to me is worth its' weight in gold... and I owe it entirely to guys like JD, Petek, and all the other crazy liberals of NS Christmas past on here :)
I see world's a part from them. But because they express themselves in a well thought out manner with passion, conviction, respect, and bring evidence to support what they're saying.. I listen.. and I respect 100% of whatever they say.. And while it's been probably 3+ years since I've had any political discussion with these guys.. I still look forward to it.. and highly value anything they have to say.. regardless of my stance on the subject.
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which is why I think speech and debate should be a mandatory class in high school not only to improve at it but to get more views on subjects
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Winston Churchill said, "The best arguement against democracy is to have a five minute conversation with the average voter"
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this principal of yours.....its refreshing.....if only people could apply it to the rest of their lives, in all aspects....it sure would save people from a lot of pointless, time wasting, divorce causing, career ending, frienship ruining arguments...
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this goes out more to other people. discussion is fine, just stay calm. it's only politics, something most of us have very little impact on. if you feel so strongly about an issue, enough to make a scathing rant calling everyone that disagrees with you idiots, then you should probably go out and do some volunteering or donate some money.
the NS libs you mention were always decently well-informed, and made intelligent points. people may not have agreed with them, but at least it wasn't just hate-spewing. for the most part, however, no one is going to change my mind about politics, and I am sure it is the same for other people. the internet is the worst place to discuss politics.
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I like the idea of not arguing about something if you aren't knowlegable on the subject, but saying that you don't have an opinion just because you aren't a politician and can't do anything to change the law just makes you sound like a no ball pussy loser. If all the population followed the same idea political change would never take place. All in all ++Karma to you though.
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This might merit a sticky since there will probably be hundreds if not thousands of more political threads until November.
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No what I meant is that I honestly don't have much of an opinion on abortion or flat tax vs. graduated income tax. I am not a woman and I am not really sure whether abortion is right or wrong, and I don't know enough about economics to decide on the flat tax vs graduated income tax. I've heard a flat tax of 1 percent on everything would be just as good, but I'm still skeptical.
It's not because I have no influence in the matter, its because I honestly don't know. same goes for iraq. we could pull out asap since its costing us so much each day, but I am not sure what would happen. also, it took years to withdraw everything from gulf war 1, and that lasted 100 hours.
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Alright that's better. I retract my statement about you sounding like a no ball pussy loser. I am sorry. It just sounded like the only reason you didn't have an opinion was because you had no sway.
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