Until this election cycle, I had become very apathetic of our federal leaders and the state of the national political system. My attitude has shifted, but I seriously do not get some of the political theories that we continue to support as a nation. Some of these a rhetorical questions, but others are, I think, genuine points that not enough people seem to want to discuss.
Just thinking out loud here:
- Has "socialist" joined the ranks of words like "retarded" and "gay" as an all-purpose expression of something disagreeable? How long before we her kids saying, "Man, that’s hella socialist."?
- If, according to Regan, the Godfather of the modern conservative movement, government is the problem, then WHY do so many conservatives fight so hard to stay in control of the government?
- Why do they call themselves "conservative" anyway? Every modern president that has run as a conservative has only added to the national debt.
- Why do some people argue that the opposite of "evolution" is "religion?"
- Why do some people argue that the opposite of Christian is Atheist?
- What’s with the media’s obsession with false equivalency?
- When did "conspiracy" become a four-letter word?
- How did the phrase "War on Terror" survive for so long? Since when was it possible to declare physical war on a philosophical mindset?
- Do neo-cons have actual standards, or is their job simply to obstruct differing viewpoints even if it means constantly shifting their own politics so that they’re always in direct opposition to what liberals currently propose?
- How is it possible to be a secret Muslim and a secret Christian Black Liberation Theologian AND a Communist (therefore,an Atheist) all at the same time?
- Why do certain self-proclaimed progressives think that the answer to years of hard-right-leaning philosophies that discouraged alternate points of view is a new era of hard-left-leaning philosophies that discourage alternate points of view? (In essence, looking for a liberal version of George W Bush) In other words, how is the constant swing of the pendulum "progress?"
- Do we have to limit ourselves to a two-party structure?
- Why can’t election days be held on weekends?
- Why is questioning the actions of a democracy considered unpatriotic?
...and so on.
-JP