Today I listed to part of a radio piece on NPR that mentioned an ex-Rand Institute member who had concluded years ago that a network organized enemy would eventually take on traditional state powers.
Maybe 8 to 10 years ago I started voting party line for Democrats because I saw that even "good" Republicans ended up supporting people and causes I was against. I recall actually voting for Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) in his first election run because he seemed like a good person to support Oregon. Maybe a wrong conclusion at the time but that is why I did it.
Politics is of course a network. Various groups act independently (mostly) in support of the network members. I was very wrong to vote for any Republicans, no matter if they were the better one for the job or not. Today I don't see many republicans who are the better so that isn't a real problem. Maybe in the future if the Democratic party drifts too far left or abandons science for some of the more emotional-based environmentalism then I'll change. Probably.
Where I come into some conflict is with religion. I was brought up in a few protestant Christian churches. I even bought it for a little while, maybe a year. Some fundamentalist believers gave me the nudge that started me sliding away from it. Now I am to the point where I don't want to support any Christian church because I think it supports/emboldens their network. There is a UCC church in my town that I have a hard time disagreeing with. My wife goes to it, I don't. I like their support of each other, their stands, etc... I just can't let myself support even this node of Christianity though. I feel the group as a whole has a long way to go in reeling back in the mentally ill (fundamentalists) among them.
I have been learning more about Buddhism. So far what I have learned has helped my attitude quite a bit. How does it help my community though? So far I've just read (one source I've really enjoyed the mp3's - http://www.bswa.org).
I guess this is a different diary than I have done to date. This one isn't really attempting to influence anyone. It is purely laying out some thoughts as one would do in a personal diary. Too personal?