I always seem to feel like the odd one out in any given serious, deep discussion...
I don't seem to truly fit in anywhere in the slotted political/legislative demographics, does anyone else ever have this problem?
I wish that I could identify myself as a "major" party member like a Republican or a Democrat (ack!), or even an up and coming one like the Libertarians...
But I seem to be unable to.
To sum it all up:
I don't really fit in with the Democrats, because:
*I'm very pro-gun. I believe firmly in the right to self defense with whatever means is needed to stop whatever threat is happening, up to and including deadly force if needed. While I myself have yet to go hunting besides basic pest control, I have a deep respect for all hunters, without whom we would not have many of the same natural areas we have today, and many of whom have a far deeper respect and knowledge of the natural world than most Ecology students I know. I don't trust gun registration or "reasonable licensing", and believe that trying to combat crime through gun control is pointless-there are other, far deeper reasons for the rise in shootings in the last 100 years in our country, and I think they are more of a sociological problem than a gun control problem (I'm a Soc major..and...contrary to what many of my colleagues believe, if you starkly read founding sociology texts, gun control is seen as a poor "band aid" approach to crime control, and does not get at the REASON behind crime).
*I'm all for frivolous lawsuit control-there is a logical limit to injuries that can be collected upon even in "good" lawsuits, and blaming others for what may have been your own mistakes is not the right thing, I don't believe. If your kid shoots himself with your gun, don't blame the gun-blame the guy who left the gun out whee the kid could find it or, blame the father who never taught their own children gun safety. And perhaps blame the child, if they are one of the "children" who is really 18 and already has a criminal rap sheet, and who really knew what they were doing and were just trying to show off.
*I don't believe in coddling violent offenders-especially domestic abuse or child abuse.
I'm not a Republican, either, in that:
*I don't believe in removing the social safety net that we already have (which is in shambles). I don't think that many Americans realize just how close they truly are to homelessness, take the following scenario into account-you lose your job, have a wife and two kids...you're out looking for one, odds are if you're the "average" american you're already up to your eyeballs in debt.....but it's all good, because you have some money saved. Oops, your kids get sick...you have no insurance....all of a sudden, you can't make those house payments anymore. You're homeless. This scenario happens to countless people like you and me daily, people who once had respectable jobs, and who now have little or no safety net. I don't believe the net should be RELIED ON, and those who abuse it ought to be treated accordingly, but....people need a means to help break the cycle of poverty and get back on their feet.
*I don't believe in legislating morality-this is a waste of taxpayer time and money when we have such issues as starving people, elderly dying because they can only afford half their medication, men working two or three part time jobs to feed their families while the jobs do not give them any benefits, wars that need spending and thought on, domestic issues such as terrorism to work on....maybe when all of that's taken care of, we can work on legislating such moral things as marriage and such. I don't see those things being taken care of anytime soon, and which is more amoral-using taxpayer time and money to legislate the sanctity of marriage and thus abandoning time and money that could have been used to enact welfare reform that actually works without being a drain, or helping to do something about the shoddy quality of our nation's schools, or...allowing people to do what they want intheir own private lives?
*I don't believe in the "war on drugs". It's failed. Miserably. I don't agree with hard drug use, but lying to children about how pot's going to turn you into a maniac just makes them ignore you when you tell them rightfully how bad crack cocaine and meth is. Aspirin kills more people than pot every year, but hey, pot doesn't make money for the pharmeceutical companies, so you won't see that brought up anytime soon.
*I don't believe in such things as the Patriot Act or the NSA spying-what's the point of even defending freedom if we're going to give it up for the illusion of security? I don't want the freedom that sheep have to not be slaughtered by wolves because their shepard keeps them in a nice safe pen-I want the freedom of the natural world, where I'm free to make my own decisions and free to get hurt if I don't make the right ones or don't look out for my fellow man.
Mmm, sometimes I just don't know. And it makes it very hard to vote, you know? Does anyone else have these sort of dilemmas?
