Don't forget the main problem is that the right can sure dish it out but can't take it when it's handed back. They want to come crying to mommy. Typical of all bullies
Left is not an argument
- Thread starter gargravarrh
- Start date
Which Romney, governor or POTUS candidate?Interesting test, thanks for the link. I score like a slightly less libertarian Gandhi.
Also interesting to see how close together on the scale Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are. And Stephen Harper seems to be a cross between the two of them.
Left or right? I don't really care....
But, I'll be labeled a rabid right winger, because.....
- I think working until mid June to pay my tax bill is insane
-We have too many laws and regulations in Canada
-I believe I can make better choices for myself than some paper pusher in Ottawa
-I believe the size and scope of the civil service is out of control
-If you don't like guns...don't have one (Just like getting Gay Married....If you don't like it, don't do it)
-I believe if I work my ass off....I just might be able to retire, on my own savings.
-Those savings, what ever is left..I should be able to give to my heirs tax free...no matter who they are
-Give people healthcare if they want..but allow me to make personal negotiations with my Dr if I wish.
-Tax reduction is cheaper and more straight forward than big spending programs
-Cops are no more right or wrong than other other civil servant
-Civil Servants are not magically transport to the world of perfection because of their title (add Teachers and Nurses here too)
There you go.
But, I'll be labeled a rabid right winger, because.....
- I think working until mid June to pay my tax bill is insane
-We have too many laws and regulations in Canada
-I believe I can make better choices for myself than some paper pusher in Ottawa
-I believe the size and scope of the civil service is out of control
-If you don't like guns...don't have one (Just like getting Gay Married....If you don't like it, don't do it)
-I believe if I work my ass off....I just might be able to retire, on my own savings.
-Those savings, what ever is left..I should be able to give to my heirs tax free...no matter who they are
-Give people healthcare if they want..but allow me to make personal negotiations with my Dr if I wish.
-Tax reduction is cheaper and more straight forward than big spending programs
-Cops are no more right or wrong than other other civil servant
-Civil Servants are not magically transport to the world of perfection because of their title (add Teachers and Nurses here too)
There you go.
Labels arn't that useful. Some here would call me right, some left and some like to talk about my zionist upbringing (which is particularly funny because I don't think I met a jew until I went to university). Understanding someone's position on an issue is what really needs to be done, and once it is understood it can be discussed.
Generally I find most of Woody's positions to be absurdly left and almost a parody of real left-of-centre thought. Sometimes he is so bizarre in this opinions I think he is a plant to embarrass the "left."
We also fall prey to the American political warfare, wherein words like "liberal" or "socialist" or "racist" or "uneducated" or even begin to use terms like "christian" or "religious" as pejoratives, and the words become so twisted from their real meanings and so loaded with political and emotional baggage as to become useless.
While the political spectrum has a meaning, in many cases people resort to simple negative classifications as a lazy insulting shorthand, and that does not help the quality of any discussion or argument.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/354870/death-populism-victor-davis-hanson\\
who is fighting for the people in the middle???? between rabid right and rabid left? rich and poor?
NO ONE !
who is fighting for the people in the middle???? between rabid right and rabid left? rich and poor?
NO ONE !
While most of those ideas would be on the right side of the modern political spectrum, I would not suggest they are "rabid" by any means.
Interestingly your position about the police would tend to be considered more to the left. The right wing is often viewed as a strong supporter of the police and military.
I think this list is close to my view ......
I'd add in
-University and its skyrocketing costs, lionization of professors who are actually for-hire-consultants / activists, not educators
-the over dependence on over expensive lawyers who add little value to advancing pretty much anything
-I am increasingly concerned about the opportunities available to those younger than me and the bills they are going to have to pay to support those older than me
-I think bankers/ traders/ investors shouldnt be bailed out and should be forced into personal bankruptcy if they screw up
-i believe globalism is inevitable and must be embraced and we are well positioned to compete successfully
-i believe that the government wants people to live in fear, OF THEM. It is their enforcement mechanism.
-I believe there are too many layers of government, and too many elected officials and bureaucrats at each level.
-I believe we don't value our elders enough, or listen to them enough. And families, not the govt, should take better care of them
-I believe too many things have swung too far towards automation in the name of efficiency; like computerized trading, so-called telephonic customer service, etc
You'll let us know when someone actually does label you as such won't you? In a thread about people going by their stereotypes, and your self description aside, it might be interesting to keep score.
Going point by point though:
-name a sane date to work to so as cover your share of the cost of the country
-ditto, suggest a reasonable number of laws and regulations for an advanced XXIst C country of thirty-some million. How's about in the field of railroad safety?
-paper-pushers in Ottawa certainly aren't as well equipped to make your choices as you are, but name an instance where they do. Betcha they're really saying, 'you aren't special, and everyone including you has to do it safely/legally/by this date.
-if the civil service actually is outta control, it would be growing, not shrinking
-I'm with you on the gun choice thing, but just like marriage you should get the license and follow the laws if you want to be an upright citizen. Not that it helped having a PM encourage the gun equivalent of shacking-up as soon as he was elected.
-…
The other stuff is equally dogmatic, unsupported and unpersuasive, but personal preference is your right as it is anyone's. That does not however make it the 'right' thing in any sense. Not even political. As you said, your checklist may well define right-wing folks from left, but I would certainly hope any serious consideration of such a silly exercise in political name-calling would try to focus on solutions for larger issues in our body politic.
Given your obsession with the cost side, and the years of huge deficit-spending ahead of and behind this rightish and conservative government (or the leftish and liberal one downtown if you prefer) just how do you suggest we pay for what we get?
Then there's the costly stuff we don't have yet: like high-speed rail, arctic patrol capability, naval helicopters, an environment policy that makes sense, a pension plan for those who can't save as you can, police trained not to shoot first, schools that educate tradespeople and technicians as well as lawyers and day traders, the cheaper than hospital home-care that every Preem since Bill Davis has pointed out and not delivered, generating stations where they're needed, …. Tell us you're against spending on a subway, or any transit. Since you're so against paying for what we get.
Here's my test for distinguishing L from R: If what you first focus on is not paying, you're a R. Identifying catchphrase, "Government wastes enough to pay for it all, and millions are too shiftless to pay at all, so why should I pay more".
Voodoo thinking.
It is part of a problem of self-delusion. The left, likes to think of itself as progressive...ie bringing about positive change and tend to demonize those that they believe stand in the way of change. That is where their dislike for the police, I think, comes from.
I would suggest in reality that a massive entrenched bureaucracy is a bigger impediment to positive change than the police in a western democracy.
People may be "left" or "right" on an issue, but labelling them as "lefties" or "righties" is inaccurate and using those terms as an argument in and of itself is lazy. If everyone did that, there would be no chance at reasonable discussion ever. Argue the merits of a flawed point, not the person's perceived political view.
I am not sure we disagree. I did not say bureaucracy was the greatest impediment to progress, rather it is a much bigger impediment than the police.
I would suggest that a bad bureaucracy is a subset of the entrenched stupidity.
I was going to answer the OP's original question by saying that we may scream 'left' or 'leftist' when we see the bias in their opinion.
Well said. Politics is about what all of us finally make happen, not about the guys in red shirts beating the guys in blue to trample them and impose their will. Especially if their 'win' is marginal, or entirely technical. That stupidity is what has the Egyptian Army in the streets firing on the guys who who managed to stuff just a few more votes into the ballot boxes than the 'losers'. We Yanks and Canucks aren't so excitable. Yet.
In a mature democracy left and right just indicate where you're sitting and everyone is supposed to win when the ballots are spilled out on the table to count. Because it's about what's best for us all: the poor homelss schmuck and the asshole in the noisy Ferrari. We crucify the rare person who perhaps truly has enough of a handle on what really is the 'right' thing to dictate to everyone. Absent her or him, it's all about uncertainty, debate, and process as we poor benighted souls all fumble to find what works. Demonizing those who think differently from you is a sure way to shut that down. If we're all ignorant assholes, writing off the 'losers' guarantees half-assed results.
But if all you care about 'winning, by eliminating your Enemies List, then fire up the pigeon poop cannons and make sure everyone wears the team colours. And why stop at poop when real bullets are so cheap? Brownshirts and red flags worked real well once before when people stopped listening, and got to simple-minded labelling as a strategy for 'winning'.
The real winners are the guys who make sure the 'losers' are contented, engaged and contributing. They get to sleep at night, protected by Eskimo carvings, not jackboots.
And Oldjones....You're right. I AM concerned with costs...For the same reason that the father of a household thinks the kids are spoiled and have everything....and the kids think they are hard done by, and have nothing.
Except the kids in the household don't have the 'right' to vote for a larger allowance. The 'Kids' in Canada, do.....
Vantage point is everything.
Except the kids in the household don't have the 'right' to vote for a larger allowance. The 'Kids' in Canada, do.....
Vantage point is everything.
