All of those things sound very appealing to GOP voters, and are supported by the other GOP candidates.
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PoliGAF 2012 Community Thread
- Thread starter AlteredBeast
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All of those things sound very appealing to GOP voters, and are supported by the other GOP candidates.
Manmademan
Member
Damn shame you can't win an election by appealing only to GOP voters, now isn't it?
and still, rick is at the far, far right in terms of social issues, even compared to the rest of the GOP.
He isn't just "anti birth control", he thinks states should have the right to make it illegal.
He isn't just anti-abortion, he thinks children of rape are a blessing from god.
He isn't just pro-israel, he doesn't think Palestinians actually exist.
He isn't just anti-gay marriage, he thinks consensual gay sex is exactly the same thing as bigamy, incest, and bestiality.
we can go on for days like this.
Invisible_Insane
Member
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
speculawyer
Member
They probably do decent on education and life expectancy . . . but they actually did not get scored:
Countries not included
Some countries were not included for various reasons, mainly the unavailability of certain crucial data. The following United Nations Member States were not included in the 2010 report.[10] Cuba lodged a formal protest at its lack of inclusion. The UNDP explained that Cuba had been excluded due to the lack of an "internationally reported figure for Cuba’s Gross National Income adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity". All other indicators for Cuba were available, and reported by the UNDP, but the lack of one indicator meant that no ranking could be attributed to the country.[13][14]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index
Ironically . . . being relatively poor probably helps the health part of their score. We in the USA lower our life expectancy by eating too much.
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
Hmm. Thanks. I still find it wild that INTERNET is illegal there...
jamesinclair
Banned
Why hasnt O'Keefe looked into this shocking story of voter suppression and fraud in Maine?
http://waldo.villagesoup.com/news/s...issing-from-official-maine-gop-results/484636
American Democracy in action.
http://waldo.villagesoup.com/news/s...issing-from-official-maine-gop-results/484636
American Democracy in action.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/...ative-deal-on-payroll-tax-package.php?ref=fpa
:lol at the drug requirement statement.
Not sure why Dems would throw people off of UI as part of some deal. I do not know how many current UI recipients are currently between the 75 and 99 week UI tiers, but it's probably a lot of folks that are going to be be dumped off. That's unjustifiable.
:lol at the drug requirement statement.
HOLY SHIT I'm LTTTP!
I havent been on GAF much but I didnt know we got moved to community.
I typically look for poliGAF by skimming the first two pages of OT.....Since the times I popped into GAF the last couple weeks I never saw it so I figured not much was being discussed.
Now I feel I'm 38 pages behind
I havent been on GAF much but I didnt know we got moved to community.
I typically look for poliGAF by skimming the first two pages of OT.....Since the times I popped into GAF the last couple weeks I never saw it so I figured not much was being discussed.
Now I feel I'm 38 pages behind
Yeah, the Dems are in a strong spot right now, but the House Republicans presumably don't give a fuck. I imagine this is the difference between extending UI or not extending UI, since the GOP would absolutely be comfortable with the consequences of letting it lapse. It's easy for them to market the payroll tax cut as, well, a tax cut, while painting UI as unmotivated layabouts sucking on the on the government teat.
PhoenixDark
Banned
So you would reject this deal? Not criticizing, just curious
TestOfTide
Banned
Probably has to do with fact that if Republicans were to choose not agree on any deal, then the Economy would dip again later this year and Obama would go down in approval again. And with the amount that people are still wary about the economic improvement, any loss in that momentum would probably lead the economy to stay shitty for the rest of the year.
Democrats are still vulnerable until UI and the payroll tax cuts are guaranteed to stay for the rest of the year.
Democrats are still vulnerable until UI and the payroll tax cuts are guaranteed to stay for the rest of the year.
The Librarian
Banned
From what I'm seeing about the deal, I'd take it.
Yup. I mean, on this issue, why compromise? The politics, public and certainly policy are on your side. Introduce the bill with the full 99 weeks. Have Obama put more public pressure on not cutting unemployment benefits during a recovery. It's worked so far, the GOP is caving left and right.
From an economic perspective, I don't see tossing all those caught between 75 and 99 weeks off of UI helping. There's just no reason to do it. Certainly no reason to inflict the pain it will cause on the individuals affected. The only reason the GOP proposed cutting UI benefits was to harm the recovery. So why meet them halfway when that is their motivation? To harm the recovery...less? I'm all for negotiating between two positions when each have merit, but it's a compromise between inflicting deliberate harm and not.
Of course it's all tentative and rumored at this point, but the leaks were specific enough that it seems like a nearly done deal.
Black Republican
Member
HOLY SHIT I'm LTTTP!
I havent been on GAF much but I didnt know we got moved to community.
I typically look for poliGAF by skimming the first two pages of OT.....Since the times I popped into GAF the last couple weeks I never saw it so I figured not much was being discussed.
Now I feel I'm 38 pages behind
go to the Santorum winning 3 states pages from last tuesday, epic stuff
RustyNails
Member
God I hope Santorum wins Michigan just to watch gaf reactions again. Combined with double entendres, it's gonna be so worth it.
speculawyer
Member
Yeah, I don't want to get my hopes up like. Newt disappointed in Florida and Paul disappointed in Maine. But maybe Santorum can win Michigan . . . he beat Mitt in Colorado where Mitt was expected to win.
I have a lot of respect for the Economist's Mittens/Santorum article this week. Lots of surging Santorum & gushing metaphors.
speculawyer
Member
A woman from the Economist was on Bill Maher last week. She was pretty shocked at the GOP field . . . . that is just not the way it goes down in the U.K.
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
She even strongly supported *G-A-S-P* universal healthcare...
Universal healthcare isn't a left vs right issue. It's more of a reasonable people vs complete fucking fools issue.
He's got a point, Bartlett was all bark, no bite.
When is the next primary?
Nice. :lol
2008 was the first time I voted Dem....straight Dem ticket for me. I'm 3-0 when it comes to prez elections.
Nice. :lol
2008 was the first time I voted Dem....straight Dem ticket for me. I'm 3-0 when it comes to prez elections.
PhoenixDark
Banned
He was no David Palmer
Pffft, you call that shot fired?
I'll show shot fired.
That scene not only sucks, but it's a prime example of -
a. everything that is wrong about The West Wing
b. how big of a hack Aaron Sorkin is
Come at me bro.
cartoon_soldier
Member
Romney's main Michigan advantage is the 100k early voters that have already cast their ballot
PhoenixDark
Banned
If that's true he's already won
Seeing people change their political opinions is fascinating to me, in the sense of learning WHY they occured. From what I've read, John Cole, of Balloon-juice, was a hardcore right winger, moreso than many of the right wingers on gaf. Now he's one of the leftiest libs this side of Stalingrad.
I was thinking of my own transformation into dirty commie you see before you, and it's actually not as interesting. I was raised by a super religious mother who I suppose provided me most of my moral foundation. We didn't have an official church building to use, but my family and other members in our community would get together at other people's houses and the preacher would teach us more religous crap that our parents didn't have the knowledge or time or whatever the fuck to teach us. They didn't really discuss with us much about things like abortion and the gays, though they told us doing/becoming either would cause us to go to hell, but the fire and brimstone talk actually made minimal appearances. Even though they told us that being gay is very, very bad, it was okay for us to interact with them, and that we shouldn't harass them since they're gonna have enough problems already with the Big G.
But yeah, socially I think I've always been pretty much a librul. I didn't like being messed with/picked on, so I figured others wouldn't like that either. I was always pretty open minded about other people, as long as they were cool with me, I'd be tolerant of a lot of views.
From an economic perspective, I didn't really have an opinion one way or the other for the longest time. Mostly cause for the longest time I didn't have any clue how the economy worked. There was a very brief period that I was a libertarian, but I grew out of that pretty quickly once I started learning about economics.
Amusingly both my social and economic perspectives changed and were solidified once I started going on messageboards. At some point, after I turned 18, I saw a discussion take place at one of the forums I frequented about religion. Atheist vs. Catholic of some kind. Although I considered myself religious before, I think I still had enough doubt that it made the transition much easier than it would have otherwise have been. I'll never forget this conversation with my mom when I was like 10 or 11 or something:
Me: Mom, there's lots of religions out there. How do we know our religion is the right one?
Mom: WHAT KIND OF RETARD QUESTION IS THAT?!
Me: I..I was just aski...
Mom: Think about it! Which other religion teaches you all the nice and positive things that ours does?
Me: Uh..well the Jews seem to hav...
Mom: *MASSIVE GLARE*
Me: No one. No one at all.
Mom: Exactly. Now never question anything ever again.
And yes, I'm hardly exaggerating. I might be paraphrasing here and there but the tone and answers were essentially identical. That last part in particular, about not questioning anything, seemed wrong to me even at that young age. So I guess it would make sense that I would gravitate towards an ideology that looked at the idea of questioning things as a virtue.
But that's my little story in a nutshell.
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
He really only needs one or two more biggish wins in biggish states and the narrative will swing back his way, along with the very easily swayed GOP electorate.
cartoon_soldier
Member
Here is Atlantic's report on the 100k early votes already cast:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics...00-000-have-already-voted-in-michigan/253106/
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics...00-000-have-already-voted-in-michigan/253106/
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
The whole Michigan Son stuff going around about Romney not even being able to dominate his birth state is interesting seeing as how he didn't even really get a majority last election, even though he won several states in 2008. Yeah he won, but it wasn't like Nevada in 2008 or even this year. It will be interesting to see if he wins and by how much. Good bad we can't get a read out of what percentage the early voters voted for Romney versus his opponents and how it shifted during the early ballot time period.
Depends when they were cast. If many, or most, were cast in the past week and a half, then the margin won't favor Romney much. And another 600-700k will offset them if current margins hold. (Which I do not anticipate they will.)
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
I use to be a typical kid. I wasn't into politics that much. I tried to consider myself a moderate. Yes I agreed with a lot of Michael Moore but deep down inside I knew that the people supporting George Bush had fair points. That raising taxes on the poor and lowering taxes on the rich made sense. That "No Child Left Behind" was probably a good idea. In other words i thought that both left and right were relative. Also evolution was just a theory, like global warming. And God yeah probably real.
Then one day I started lurking around the off-topic section of message boards. This made me an agnostic. Then one day I took a college psychology class. I started seeing stuff about how scientists studied "the conscious" or "free will". It scared the shit out of me. You mean there could be no afterlife? I could be part machine? So I took it up upon myself to undergo research. Step by step I found my answers and I slowly transformed to agnostic to atheist. While doing this I started hanging out on a lot of message board sites and sections that didn't involve video games.I learned so much about politics. How the U.S. has fared over the past 50 years. What the Republicans propose, what the Democrats propose. How the U.S. compares to other countries. How "good" our healthcare is. Our budget. How much things cost. Etc.
I went from being an apathetic moderate, to an involved Scandinavian leftwing "radical". I prefer the term "rationalist" as I only go by things that seem to bring the best results for the time due to research and history. For example Scandinavia has the higher quality of life, social mobility (I believe, 95% sure on this) , and equality then America so that's why I support that point of view. I know feel like a character in a Michael Judge film when it comes to politics. Pretty much everybody is an idiot but me in the outside world. Sure I meet some intellectuals (like how I met a intelligent conservative a few days ago), but most people think that universal healthcare is a horrible idea, evolution is just a theory, religion can't be contested, global warming isn't real (even my University's professor argued this in class...), illegal immigrants take up most of the debt, military spending is fine, China, Russia, or fuck even North Korea could legitimately invade us, anything socialist is bad, if we adopt free college education or free healthcare would march the country forward into transforming into the Soviet Union, poor people are lazy that's why they are poor, racism doesn't exist, oh and apparently we don't cut anything so we have to privatize the post office to send a message.
Also, responses incidence like this:
Then one day I started lurking around the off-topic section of message boards. This made me an agnostic. Then one day I took a college psychology class. I started seeing stuff about how scientists studied "the conscious" or "free will". It scared the shit out of me. You mean there could be no afterlife? I could be part machine? So I took it up upon myself to undergo research. Step by step I found my answers and I slowly transformed to agnostic to atheist. While doing this I started hanging out on a lot of message board sites and sections that didn't involve video games.I learned so much about politics. How the U.S. has fared over the past 50 years. What the Republicans propose, what the Democrats propose. How the U.S. compares to other countries. How "good" our healthcare is. Our budget. How much things cost. Etc.
I went from being an apathetic moderate, to an involved Scandinavian leftwing "radical". I prefer the term "rationalist" as I only go by things that seem to bring the best results for the time due to research and history. For example Scandinavia has the higher quality of life, social mobility (I believe, 95% sure on this) , and equality then America so that's why I support that point of view. I know feel like a character in a Michael Judge film when it comes to politics. Pretty much everybody is an idiot but me in the outside world. Sure I meet some intellectuals (like how I met a intelligent conservative a few days ago), but most people think that universal healthcare is a horrible idea, evolution is just a theory, religion can't be contested, global warming isn't real (even my University's professor argued this in class...), illegal immigrants take up most of the debt, military spending is fine, China, Russia, or fuck even North Korea could legitimately invade us, anything socialist is bad, if we adopt free college education or free healthcare would march the country forward into transforming into the Soviet Union, poor people are lazy that's why they are poor, racism doesn't exist, oh and apparently we don't cut anything so we have to privatize the post office to send a message.
Also, responses incidence like this:
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
It isn't so cut and dry. America is a massive melting pot with different peoples, economic areas, strengths and detriments. Scandinavia is largely homogenous, belong to few religions, of any, and don't have the "immigration problem" that America has.
Edit: seeing what you edited in, I have to agree, as always, about the absolutely retardation that permeates most of America. It is sad. Global warming alone is shocking to me. Merely showing a graph over the past 200 years of recorded temperatures, one can plainly see the average temperature moving upwards. The only debate that somewhat makes sense is the question over how much of the earth's warming is due to humans, coal and other fuel burning, deforestation, and so on, and how much is due to the earth's natural cycle of cooling and heating.
Edit: seeing what you edited in, I have to agree, as always, about the absolutely retardation that permeates most of America. It is sad. Global warming alone is shocking to me. Merely showing a graph over the past 200 years of recorded temperatures, one can plainly see the average temperature moving upwards. The only debate that somewhat makes sense is the question over how much of the earth's warming is due to humans, coal and other fuel burning, deforestation, and so on, and how much is due to the earth's natural cycle of cooling and heating.
Which is what?
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
I'd should have said "Scandinavian-like". America obviously shouldn't copy and past a model from nations that are smaller than most of its states, but it should certainly start taking some hints from them.
Also yeah I don't get this "immigration problem" either. Don't we need these immigrants to compete in numbers with China and India's future economies? Or am I being too daft here?
You answered your own question. 200 years? You mean when the Industrial Revolution started?
But I guess that didn't stop my teacher for complaining that crops haven't dried up more in some region in China in a 20 year period. Global warming MUST be a lie!
Obama has tried to take stuff to the populace before, and while it may help him nationally, it hasn't helped him in Washington. He knows the House GOP freshmen are willing to fuck shit up from the debt ceiling debacle, and the stakes here are much lower and much more beneficial to Republicans in the case of failure. I wouldn't second guess him here. Slowed or reversed economic metrics would be much, much more detrimental to his reelection than these compromises will be, especially because he can explain them away as just that: compromises with radicals.
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
That immigrants from all nations come to America and take low paying, under the table, or others suspect jobs. Many don't pay taxes on what they make because much of what they do is on the underground economy. They don't have health insurance which puts a financial strain on the states in which they live because they have to pay for the immigrants' emergency healthcare, since routine checkups never happen due to lack of insurance. They send money back home to their families, taking that money further out of the economy. It can take multiple generations for them to fully integrate into American society and norms, further placing themselves outside of the community in which they live. many are isolated due to religious or language barriers and they have no voice in politics, further worsening their situation.
This isnt always the case and many immigrants are able to fully integrwte themselves into society and none of these problems are as prevalent as your local fear-mongering politician might make them out to be, but together, they don't paint a pretty picture with what happens to millions of Americans with little to no voice thanks to cracks in the system and massive amounts of immigration on such an impressive scale.
Upward mobility in a society that involves this might make America look terrible against Scandinavia, but with so many odds stacked against millions of people in America, sometimes. Just graduating high school and getting a full time job with benefits is a huge win over what their families might have had even 10 or 20 years ago.
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
I stated 200 years for two reasons: obviously industrial revolution is a tremendous presence thanks billions of tons f fossil fuels burned into the atmosphere, as well as deforestation of hundreds of millions of acres.
The other reason is that really isnt much data available earlier than that. People can't really argue with: "since humans have taken record, the earth has warmed x degrees, hence global warming is a fact"
PantherLotus
Professional Schmuck
OOo, I like this how-we-became-our-political-selves discussion! Me:
I was raised by a bleeding heart tree-hugging environmentalist hippie child, so I was predisposed to compassion of the hysterical sort. But there are several roots I see:
Religion: If anything, my politics derives from being raised with exposure to different religions and philosophy, Christianity (from Southern Baptist to non-denominational to Unity), Native American, New Age, Buddhism, etc. The reason this is important to me is that one of those in particular was prone to calling my family heathens, my mom a witch (she was into new age and that crystals bullshit in the early 90s). This is a major moment in my life, and to this day I find intolerance the absolute worst trait in humanity.
Environmentalism: I actually remember the first Earth Day. We were the first family that I knew that recycled. I'm a bit of a fatalist at this point (I figure humanity will either wipe itself out in the 6th great extinction or we'll figure out how to cope with our destruction), and I know that life is far more resilient than a bad set of apes that likes to burn shit. I recycle, but I don't really do organic anything, and I don't want to know anything about Monsanto. I know.
Civil Rights: See preamble. Hatred sucks, and it hurts. I'm pro-everything and have been exposed to the many wonderful types of lifestyles there are from a very young age. My sister had a gender studies class and taught me that both gender and sexuality were shades of grey rather than black or white, and that's helped me understand people. I like people of all races, and attempt to learn more about their cultures without being insulting.
Economics: I grew up in a near-poverty household. Like, the people that the church helps kinda poor. I didn't really know how poor we were back then until I saw through adult-eyes what was really happening. The point is I've seen the hard parts of society and I know much of it is a cycle of poverty, and I know society has a responsibility to these people.
I'm rambling at this point, but I'll just say I'm a left-leaning true moderate (see ghandi on the political compass). I believe in free markets with heavy regulation, and I believe in a combination of liberties and protections from other's liberty. I married a feminist.
I was raised by a bleeding heart tree-hugging environmentalist hippie child, so I was predisposed to compassion of the hysterical sort. But there are several roots I see:
Religion: If anything, my politics derives from being raised with exposure to different religions and philosophy, Christianity (from Southern Baptist to non-denominational to Unity), Native American, New Age, Buddhism, etc. The reason this is important to me is that one of those in particular was prone to calling my family heathens, my mom a witch (she was into new age and that crystals bullshit in the early 90s). This is a major moment in my life, and to this day I find intolerance the absolute worst trait in humanity.
Environmentalism: I actually remember the first Earth Day. We were the first family that I knew that recycled. I'm a bit of a fatalist at this point (I figure humanity will either wipe itself out in the 6th great extinction or we'll figure out how to cope with our destruction), and I know that life is far more resilient than a bad set of apes that likes to burn shit. I recycle, but I don't really do organic anything, and I don't want to know anything about Monsanto. I know.
Civil Rights: See preamble. Hatred sucks, and it hurts. I'm pro-everything and have been exposed to the many wonderful types of lifestyles there are from a very young age. My sister had a gender studies class and taught me that both gender and sexuality were shades of grey rather than black or white, and that's helped me understand people. I like people of all races, and attempt to learn more about their cultures without being insulting.
Economics: I grew up in a near-poverty household. Like, the people that the church helps kinda poor. I didn't really know how poor we were back then until I saw through adult-eyes what was really happening. The point is I've seen the hard parts of society and I know much of it is a cycle of poverty, and I know society has a responsibility to these people.
I'm rambling at this point, but I'll just say I'm a left-leaning true moderate (see ghandi on the political compass). I believe in free markets with heavy regulation, and I believe in a combination of liberties and protections from other's liberty. I married a feminist.
PantherLotus
Professional Schmuck
Did I summarize?
Religion: Science is better.
Environmentalism: We're close to too-late, but it's still worth a try.
Economics: Poor people are cool too!
Civil Rights: Do want you want until you start fucking with my freedoms.
The moment: there wasn't one, but the most disappointed I've ever been was when W was reelected. Major gut punch that woke me up to more of a pragmatist political sense that I have today (Obama is a great fucking president, and whether he is actually liberal, his governing style is far to the right of where I'd choose, and yet, he's getting it done.)
Religion: Science is better.
Environmentalism: We're close to too-late, but it's still worth a try.
Economics: Poor people are cool too!
Civil Rights: Do want you want until you start fucking with my freedoms.
The moment: there wasn't one, but the most disappointed I've ever been was when W was reelected. Major gut punch that woke me up to more of a pragmatist political sense that I have today (Obama is a great fucking president, and whether he is actually liberal, his governing style is far to the right of where I'd choose, and yet, he's getting it done.)
speculawyer
Member
I think a lot of people can't comprehend climate change like they can't comprehend evolution. Evolution requires people to consider vast amounts of time . . . but they are unable to do so.
Climate change requires people to realize that we can actually change the climate of the earth through our actions . . . . and we can. That shouldn't be surprising . . . single celled plants created the oxygen that is in our atmosphere . . . it didn't exist before. The oxygen was bound up in other compounds.
And there is strange circle of life going on . . . most of the oil we burn was created by algae created during two periods of global warming many millions of years ago. Perhaps we are releasing it back into the atmosphere to bring on another such period. If we can't figure it out, perhaps our species doesn't deserve to survive.
speculawyer
Member
My political upbringing was a bit unbiased. My parents were both immigrants and neither could vote when I was growing up so there was not a lot of politics talked about. My parent were Scandinavian, so perhaps some of that came through though.
But I became a science geek and that generally puts one on the more liberal path because of the way the right disrepects science and respects belief in things without evidence.
But I became a science geek and that generally puts one on the more liberal path because of the way the right disrepects science and respects belief in things without evidence.
PantherLotus
Professional Schmuck
I know this is borderline space thread here, but I'll run with it. Your last passage is kinda where I'm at. Dr. DeGrasse Tyson has a neat little quote about wondering whether humans are smart enough to survive and comprehend whatever it will take to get off this planet and get out of this solar system.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDRXn96HrtY
I'm of the belief that we will, but it will be hard. And that long-view that you mentioned makes it particularly hard to live, I think. At some point, if you follow the long view, our job is to survive, help our species survive, and procreate. Everything else we do should be viewed though that lens.
TacticalFox88
Banned
I can firmly say that if it wasn't for the Internet I'd still be religious and socially conservative. I've already shared my journey of becoming an atheist, so I won't bother, but I still believe religion is the largest cancer in America next to racism.
As a kid I thought I was smarter than everyone, and I was a bit of a pretentious twit. Unsurprisingly, I became a libertarian. I read Atlas Shrugged when I was about 16 and found it a revelation. To a kid with a superiority complex, that book is mind-blowing.
I started to mellow out in college. My freshman year is when the Iraq invasion began. Virtually all of my friends were completely against it. Issues like universal healthcare and marginal tax rates weren't really discussed; it was all about whether you supported Bush on the war or whether you wanted to impeach him and bring our troops home.
Right after I finished college, I traveled to Southeast Asia, where I saw what real poverty and exploitation look like. I saw people toiling in rice paddies for the equivalent of a dollar a day. I realized that all the bullshit about how anyone who works hard can make it is just that: bullshit.
The next year I traveled to the UK for about two weeks. It was the last year of Bush's presidency, and people drew me into a lot of political discussions. I came to realize that universal healthcare made a whole lot of sense. No one was really worried about what would happen if they got sick. In college I got hit by a car while I was uninsured, and the total costs of my medical bills were thousands of dollars. I paid some, but not all of it, and it screwed my credit for years. The British system just seemed much better for everyone.
Healthcare and income inequality really drove me to the left. I realized that we have a responsibility to each other. The old American idea of making it completely on your own is outdated, because there is no more frontier. There are no unclaimed commons where you can build a cabin and hunt deer in the forest. Everyone is forced to compete in an economic system that values traits that were not necessarily bred into us from an evolutionary perspective. Why should we allow anyone to fail through no fault of their own under such a system? Why does anyone want to continue with a "win or die" mindset? As a species we can move past that.
I maintained my libertarian perspective on social issues, however. Drugs, prostitution, gambling... have at it if that's what you want. Society shouldn't have authority over what you put into your body.
I started to mellow out in college. My freshman year is when the Iraq invasion began. Virtually all of my friends were completely against it. Issues like universal healthcare and marginal tax rates weren't really discussed; it was all about whether you supported Bush on the war or whether you wanted to impeach him and bring our troops home.
Right after I finished college, I traveled to Southeast Asia, where I saw what real poverty and exploitation look like. I saw people toiling in rice paddies for the equivalent of a dollar a day. I realized that all the bullshit about how anyone who works hard can make it is just that: bullshit.
The next year I traveled to the UK for about two weeks. It was the last year of Bush's presidency, and people drew me into a lot of political discussions. I came to realize that universal healthcare made a whole lot of sense. No one was really worried about what would happen if they got sick. In college I got hit by a car while I was uninsured, and the total costs of my medical bills were thousands of dollars. I paid some, but not all of it, and it screwed my credit for years. The British system just seemed much better for everyone.
Healthcare and income inequality really drove me to the left. I realized that we have a responsibility to each other. The old American idea of making it completely on your own is outdated, because there is no more frontier. There are no unclaimed commons where you can build a cabin and hunt deer in the forest. Everyone is forced to compete in an economic system that values traits that were not necessarily bred into us from an evolutionary perspective. Why should we allow anyone to fail through no fault of their own under such a system? Why does anyone want to continue with a "win or die" mindset? As a species we can move past that.
I maintained my libertarian perspective on social issues, however. Drugs, prostitution, gambling... have at it if that's what you want. Society shouldn't have authority over what you put into your body.
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