Mariner
Active Member
I may be a registered Democrat and a certified Cambridge liberal, but in fact I disagree with many Democratic positions.
Don't call me the "voice" of anything. I read widely, including conservative publications, and attempt to understand the world as best I can. I include my own professional experience working as a physician with many poor and disabled people. My wife is a traditionally raised Catholic school nurse, which gives me another perspective. I also learn from my social milieu and my neighborhood, which includes all sorts of people, from wealthy business owners to ultra-liberal intellectuals (who, in their Volvos, are the most dangerous drivers in Cambridge).
Also, I'm not here to troll. I decided to post on this message board because it seemed there was a consensus here that all liberal ideas were bad, and a lot of self-congratulation about it. I like the idea of debating ideas, of challenging people's beliefs, and of learning something myself.
Personally, I think that we need a pull from each direction. A liberal president being restrained by a conservative Congress (e.g. Clinton) or the opposite (e.g. Reagan) gets us better results than all-one or all-the-other.
As an example of a liberal position that I disagree with--the Democratic support of teachers' unions is as unhealthy for our country, in my opinion, as the Republican marriage with oil, timber and ranching. This country won't retain its technological eminence for long if we're only able to fill half our graduate school science slots with Americans, importing the rest. My cousin, for example, came from India to MIT. Over half his class was non-American. 90% of his graduating class in India came to the U.S. That was 10 years ago. Now, only about half do. That's a huge loss for us.
I blame the American education system for our dependence on foreign science talent. Our teachers have SAT scores of 1000, and there's a strong anti-science aspect to American culture. We'll all pay for it later--we take our science leadership for granted here. There's a projection that in the year 2010 90% of all engineers will be in Asia. American dominance--going, going, gone.
Here's another example--even as a physician, and one with his office on the same floor as two of the nation's leading advocates for universal health insurance--I'm not sure it would work here, and don't advocate it.
So don't call me names--engage in discussion. You're supposed to be a moderator here, so why not moderate rather than calling me a troll.
Mariner.
Don't call me the "voice" of anything. I read widely, including conservative publications, and attempt to understand the world as best I can. I include my own professional experience working as a physician with many poor and disabled people. My wife is a traditionally raised Catholic school nurse, which gives me another perspective. I also learn from my social milieu and my neighborhood, which includes all sorts of people, from wealthy business owners to ultra-liberal intellectuals (who, in their Volvos, are the most dangerous drivers in Cambridge).
Also, I'm not here to troll. I decided to post on this message board because it seemed there was a consensus here that all liberal ideas were bad, and a lot of self-congratulation about it. I like the idea of debating ideas, of challenging people's beliefs, and of learning something myself.
Personally, I think that we need a pull from each direction. A liberal president being restrained by a conservative Congress (e.g. Clinton) or the opposite (e.g. Reagan) gets us better results than all-one or all-the-other.
As an example of a liberal position that I disagree with--the Democratic support of teachers' unions is as unhealthy for our country, in my opinion, as the Republican marriage with oil, timber and ranching. This country won't retain its technological eminence for long if we're only able to fill half our graduate school science slots with Americans, importing the rest. My cousin, for example, came from India to MIT. Over half his class was non-American. 90% of his graduating class in India came to the U.S. That was 10 years ago. Now, only about half do. That's a huge loss for us.
I blame the American education system for our dependence on foreign science talent. Our teachers have SAT scores of 1000, and there's a strong anti-science aspect to American culture. We'll all pay for it later--we take our science leadership for granted here. There's a projection that in the year 2010 90% of all engineers will be in Asia. American dominance--going, going, gone.
Here's another example--even as a physician, and one with his office on the same floor as two of the nation's leading advocates for universal health insurance--I'm not sure it would work here, and don't advocate it.
So don't call me names--engage in discussion. You're supposed to be a moderator here, so why not moderate rather than calling me a troll.
Mariner.
The 'higher standards' is regarding flamming, which that fell far short of. Thanks for the inquiry though.
