Okay so its a game. Political opponents do not have consistent values but rather they are playing a game with one another. Sort of a one-upsmanship between the two parties. If you are a Republican then the same acts that you consider corruption when it is a Democrat you find a way to justify it when a Republican is guilty. The same is true for Democrats when they catch Republicans and yet protect their own. As long as we know it is a game then we can deal with it right?
Well maybe. The problem is that both sides are concentrating so much on winning instead of supporting their values that they have to demonize each other to win. So now Republicans are all over Obama for his spending. But when they had the government they spend money like crazy. So much for the value of small government. It is about demonizing Democrats. And Democrats were all for going after Clarence Thomas for sexist comments. But when President Clinton is accused of worse actions than we even dreamed about for Thomas they put up the best defence since the Steel Curtain. So much for the value of eliminating sexual harassment. I guess we should only use it to demonize Republicans.
Ultimately this is bad for us as Americans. We learn to hate one half of the country instead of merely disagreeing with them. We can not have rational discussions about issues and we certainly can not compromise with the enemy. We get stuck in our camps and worry more about winning the game rather than doing what is right in our country.
No wonder I have so little faith in our political system. I have given up hoping that they do what is right. I just hope they do not mess things up and make our situation worse.
Sincerely,
Trouble-Maker
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Consistency - Part 2
Okay so we know that both conservatives and liberals are inconsistent in their political philosophy. Neither side attach their political positions to a consistent value. If you disagree with this assertion then please read my last posting. So why do conservatives pick their set of political positions and why do liberals pick their set of political positions?Republicans state that they are driven by the value of small government and yet support governmental intrusion on the issue of abortion. Democrats state that they are driven by the value of individual choice, except when it comes to where we send our kids to school. So I do not accept that these political parties are driven by these values. Something else must be driving them instead.
I suggest that political ideology is socially constructed. Since political ideology is not tied to some consistent value then to some degree it is made up and almost accidental. A certain set of political issues arise and one political party takes one side of the issue. This obligates the other side to take the other side of the issue. The reason why conservatives feel the way they do about a political position is because other conservatives have defined it as "conservative." The same thing happens for liberals. In their own political circles conservatives gain prestige by showing others how "conservative" they are. Same for liberals. Then we get entrenched into our harden political positions without even thinking about why we have them.
Here is an example. Remember a few years ago when Democrats were filibustering the judicial nominations of President Bush. The conservative position was that this filibustering is not in keeping with the original intent of the government. The liberal position was that judicial nominations are too important to allow the majority to run over the minority party. Now that Democrats have 59 seats in the Senate the Republicans are talking about filibustering President Obama's Supreme Court nomination if he or she is too liberal. Now the same argument the Republicans were using a few years ago the Democrats are using and vice versa. It is some eternal value each party is using. I think not. It is political opportunism to find a political issue that helps to make the other side looks bad.
So often politics is just a game and not about real values. I guess that would be alright if we just accept it as a game. In games sometimes you win and sometimes you lose (come on Spurs!!) but life goes on. Unfortunately, the stakes are quite higher when we are deciding about politics which effects our laws. Furthermore there is even a more destructive aspect to this process. But this post is getting too long. So I will look at that aspect in my next post.
Sincerely,
Trouble-Maker
I suggest that political ideology is socially constructed. Since political ideology is not tied to some consistent value then to some degree it is made up and almost accidental. A certain set of political issues arise and one political party takes one side of the issue. This obligates the other side to take the other side of the issue. The reason why conservatives feel the way they do about a political position is because other conservatives have defined it as "conservative." The same thing happens for liberals. In their own political circles conservatives gain prestige by showing others how "conservative" they are. Same for liberals. Then we get entrenched into our harden political positions without even thinking about why we have them.
Here is an example. Remember a few years ago when Democrats were filibustering the judicial nominations of President Bush. The conservative position was that this filibustering is not in keeping with the original intent of the government. The liberal position was that judicial nominations are too important to allow the majority to run over the minority party. Now that Democrats have 59 seats in the Senate the Republicans are talking about filibustering President Obama's Supreme Court nomination if he or she is too liberal. Now the same argument the Republicans were using a few years ago the Democrats are using and vice versa. It is some eternal value each party is using. I think not. It is political opportunism to find a political issue that helps to make the other side looks bad.
So often politics is just a game and not about real values. I guess that would be alright if we just accept it as a game. In games sometimes you win and sometimes you lose (come on Spurs!!) but life goes on. Unfortunately, the stakes are quite higher when we are deciding about politics which effects our laws. Furthermore there is even a more destructive aspect to this process. But this post is getting too long. So I will look at that aspect in my next post.
Sincerely,
Trouble-Maker
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