Politics - Just This Once
First, some background:
I'm a centrist. Have been for a long time. To break it down further, I'm a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. I'm also Canadian, which colours my view as well, and places me somewhat left of what would be considered an average liberal for our southern neighbours.
I follow current events. I've studied history. I'm enough a student of history to know that it really does repeat itself. I've developed the ability to think for myself, and take a large dose of cynicism daily. For the most part, I don't believe in black and white. Things are only that simple if you glance at them quickly.
Socially, I'm pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-universal healthcare, pro-social safety net. I've discussed these things at length with many people, and come to my own conclusions. I've yet to hear a compelling argument as to why I should change my views. If I do, I just might.
I believe that we shouldn't spend more money than we bring in. I'm all about reducing the deficit. I think we have international obligations that must be met. I think some of these obligations are as important as domestic concerns.
Mostly, I'm about getting things done. Having worthwhile goals, and getting them accomplished.
There are a number of blogs that I read that have been discussing the events in London, Madrid, New York and the Middle East. I respect these people and their view points, some conservative, some liberal. Most of these are commenting on the US being in Iraq, whether it was justified, abuses committed by the US military versus those interred at Abu Gharib, and what actions should be taken (or not taken) against extremists.
I decided that this is important enough to me for me to want to say my piece.
Extremism needs to be ferreted out and destroyed.
Those at the far left and the far right love to pontificate as to why this should or shouldn't happen, and what methods should be used. Trust me when I say that your average extremist doesn't worry about the means. The ends is where it's at.
Is eliminating extremism going to be costly? Yes.
Bloody? Yes.
Unpleasant, messy, mired in tough moral decisions? Yes. Yes. Yes.
Is not confronting and eliminating Extremism going to be less unpleasant, bloody, messy, etc...?
Absolutely fucking not.
I'm not saying that eliminating extremism is going to be a purely military action. It's got to be military, political, social, economic and religious. From without and within, and all around.
It should not be about telling people what to believe.
It should be about telling people that how they want to live may not work for the rest of us. But if it works for them, they should do it. And that how I want to live may not work for them. But if it works for me, I should do it.
And that all that is fine. We all share this planet, and we need to get along. If we don't get along, some of us are going to have to leave. And I'd like to think, if we were to count up all the "I just wanna live my own way" versus the "My way or the highway" folks, the first group will win 100,000 to 1. I hope.
Liberals - Understand that Extremists can't be reasoned with. We can't change their mind. They need to change it themselves, and we need to give them every reason at our disposal to do so. Because they won't even bother to try and change our mind, except to ventilate it a little. Taking the moral high ground against those with no morals gets you nowhere.
Conservatives - Stop pretending that the reason the US went to Iraq was solely to stop terrorism. It wasn't. It was security, politics, and economics. The world runs on oil. It's natural to want a secure source of it. Hussein was a pox and needed to be taken out. Concensus can work. Torture does not.
Far left liberals and far right conservatives: This means you O'Reilly and Colter. This means you Moore. When I say Extremist, I mean you too. Your time will come. Political views aside, you are all quite rude.
This won't be solved in my lifetime. This probably won't be solved so long as there are people on this planet. That doesn't mean it's not worth addressing.
I'm a centrist. Have been for a long time. To break it down further, I'm a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. I'm also Canadian, which colours my view as well, and places me somewhat left of what would be considered an average liberal for our southern neighbours.
I follow current events. I've studied history. I'm enough a student of history to know that it really does repeat itself. I've developed the ability to think for myself, and take a large dose of cynicism daily. For the most part, I don't believe in black and white. Things are only that simple if you glance at them quickly.
Socially, I'm pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-universal healthcare, pro-social safety net. I've discussed these things at length with many people, and come to my own conclusions. I've yet to hear a compelling argument as to why I should change my views. If I do, I just might.
I believe that we shouldn't spend more money than we bring in. I'm all about reducing the deficit. I think we have international obligations that must be met. I think some of these obligations are as important as domestic concerns.
Mostly, I'm about getting things done. Having worthwhile goals, and getting them accomplished.
There are a number of blogs that I read that have been discussing the events in London, Madrid, New York and the Middle East. I respect these people and their view points, some conservative, some liberal. Most of these are commenting on the US being in Iraq, whether it was justified, abuses committed by the US military versus those interred at Abu Gharib, and what actions should be taken (or not taken) against extremists.
I decided that this is important enough to me for me to want to say my piece.
Extremism needs to be ferreted out and destroyed.
Those at the far left and the far right love to pontificate as to why this should or shouldn't happen, and what methods should be used. Trust me when I say that your average extremist doesn't worry about the means. The ends is where it's at.
Is eliminating extremism going to be costly? Yes.
Bloody? Yes.
Unpleasant, messy, mired in tough moral decisions? Yes. Yes. Yes.
Is not confronting and eliminating Extremism going to be less unpleasant, bloody, messy, etc...?
Absolutely fucking not.
I'm not saying that eliminating extremism is going to be a purely military action. It's got to be military, political, social, economic and religious. From without and within, and all around.
It should not be about telling people what to believe.
It should be about telling people that how they want to live may not work for the rest of us. But if it works for them, they should do it. And that how I want to live may not work for them. But if it works for me, I should do it.
And that all that is fine. We all share this planet, and we need to get along. If we don't get along, some of us are going to have to leave. And I'd like to think, if we were to count up all the "I just wanna live my own way" versus the "My way or the highway" folks, the first group will win 100,000 to 1. I hope.
Liberals - Understand that Extremists can't be reasoned with. We can't change their mind. They need to change it themselves, and we need to give them every reason at our disposal to do so. Because they won't even bother to try and change our mind, except to ventilate it a little. Taking the moral high ground against those with no morals gets you nowhere.
Conservatives - Stop pretending that the reason the US went to Iraq was solely to stop terrorism. It wasn't. It was security, politics, and economics. The world runs on oil. It's natural to want a secure source of it. Hussein was a pox and needed to be taken out. Concensus can work. Torture does not.
Far left liberals and far right conservatives: This means you O'Reilly and Colter. This means you Moore. When I say Extremist, I mean you too. Your time will come. Political views aside, you are all quite rude.
This won't be solved in my lifetime. This probably won't be solved so long as there are people on this planet. That doesn't mean it's not worth addressing.
posted by Surly Canuck at 2:42 p.m.
5 Comments:
Good post Vaga -- I particularly like these quotes:
"Taking the moral high ground against those with no morals gets you nowhere."
"When I say Extremist, I mean you too."
Agreed, fully and completely, with everything you said. I'm with you.
Thanks dee and AL - glad you liked it. =)
Dee- Colter, O'Reilly and Moore really piss me off. I have no problems with different views, it's just that they're all so damn rude!
Yeah I hear ya - I've had them pegged as extremists in their own right for a long time.
Wow, nice post. You've crystalized my thoughts by and large. The only problem here is that I live in Jesusland and you live in a fairly civilized nation. But watch out, we'll catch up to you socially in about 75 years or so. Arrggghh.
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