I hear it quite often in this day and age, "freedom of opinion." It is a staple of American freedom. But I've been thinking about that this morning, and well, come to think of it, there is no freedom of opinion anymore. It's impossible for one to have a personal opinion these days. If a person happens to belong to any political party, in reality they have ceded the essences of their opinions to the ideals and directions of the party they belong to. I know, I was a brash young Republican not long ago, my opinions and responses hinged on every ideal the party represented.
But then I had an epiphany: are my opinions really my own? Am I really thinking for myself? The answer to those questions were clearly obvious. Not at all. The disingenuous political stances my 'party' stood for had been dictating my opinions. I was no longer thinking for myself. I had turned into a parrot; a mouthpiece, repeating anything and everything my party was telling me to. Enough was enough. This is what facilitated my transformation into a libertarian. The pattern isn't hard to recognize, really. Politics has a bad way of robbing a person the ability to think for himself. The freedom to have an opinion suddenly hinges on whether someone agrees with them or not. They feel compelled to change the opinions of others and react hostilely to anyone who refuses. Examples of this exist on both ends of the political spectrum.
Firstly, black men, black women, white women and Hispanics have all been co-opted by the Democrats. Their opinions must match the party's platform, or else they're racist, misogynistic, anti immigrant or an Uncle Tom. Examples include Herman Cain, Mia Love, Sarah Palin and Marco Rubio. On the Republican side it is equally as unnerving. Just a few hours ago, I was reading a thread where conservatives were being urged to 'let the gay shit go.' The author dubbed anyone who didn't see eye to eye as a 'hater.' In some ways this could be worse than what Democrats are doing; asking a person to simply sacrifice his or her own ideals and opinions for a little capitulation to the mainstream way of thought. Our Founding Fathers strove for the freedom of thought, not to ascribe to the 'joiners vs. thinkers' mentality. Its as if either party believes they have a monopoly on free thought. Oh, how wrong they are.
The monotony of the two party system is this: Opinion is fact, fact is opinion. One or the other can be summarily dismissed if it doesn't conform to the established way of thinking and doing things. Many intelligent people are victimized by this mentality, and as a result are using such a gift for deleterious means. There is no freedom of opinion in Politics anymore. People are eager to trumpet the causes of their own side; all the meanwhile completely unaware they are being used as tools, and not for the causes of the nation as a whole. The most prominent people in history chose to think for themselves, to not be dictated to by a fixed set of ideals. Politics has a way of stealing away the most precious gem in dwelling in each of us. Our souls.
Wow. Complete sentences, astute observations, valid points. Very refreshing from the usual "Nuh uh!" replies or "You're a libtard" type posts.
Grew sick of the constant 'monkies throwing feces' nature of American politics myself. So much so I gave up on participating altogether. While I identify as a liberal with some conservative positions (death penalty, abortion, etc.) I refuse to vote or get involed beyond discussing it online and watching the news. If we start electing people not beholden to special interests, taking what amounts to bribes and only ever saying what's been scored and tested and written by professional speech writers, then I'll get involved real quick. But thus far, every politician of every stripe is a complete puppet of whoever got them elected. Empty shirts all of them.
Politicians of today bear no resemblance to the ones who got this country up and running. And while the Founders were far from perfect, they're a lot better than the mouthpieces we have now. No one today would dare stand up and say what they really think, and those that do always 'walk back their comments' the very next day if they even wait that long. If no one's gonna stand up for what they believe, why should we believe in them?
"Politicians make bad politicians." Me.
We need to stop electing professional liars and start getting leaders who're actually willing to lead. Not follow. If not willing to stand up for what you believe in risking your political office, sit the hell down and shut that silly little hole below you nose. We've had enough from your ilk. Why we continue to settle for 3rd and 4th rate candidates then act all surprised when they do poorly and drive this country closer and closer to the cliff is mind-boggling.
"There's no IQ requirement to run for Congress." (paraphrased remark from "Religulous")
Time to get leaders with IQs above 80. Ones who can do more than read prepared statements and look pretty on tv. Politicians who get into office intending to stay there until they die doing only whatever their donors want, and saying only what makes them popular is driving this country off a cliff. In a time when other countries are seeing mass protests and uprisings, how much longer til we get that here?
Over a decade of war loosing to a 19th century society, national debt so massive it can never be paid off, wasteful spending everywhere, unfair taxes, and leaders feathering their own nests instead of representing their constiuents as they swore oaths to do? What's it take before the people say enough. Time for drastic change.
...Wow, they're right, ya do get more conservative in your 40s.
