... here you go, boy ... <g>
J.T. ... My 'stops' are all in, and I am not going to change them or tighten them at least for a couple of hours. I have some time now to tell you about who I am as a person.
1. I am not a liberal, unless you want to call me a liberal Republican ... a variety that largely does not exist since 1980. Though I do find it interesting how conservative thinking people quickly label anyone who disagrees with them as liberal. Maybe liberals do the same thing, which I would also disagree with. Two things I will say about liberals vs conservatives, is that liberals are rarely self oriented, and their intentions are almost always to try to help other people. They do not always accomplish the result they aimed for, and that is unfortunate. Also, being liberal is much more in the sprit of Christian doctrine than conservatism will ever be, even though conservatives continually try to claim the high moral Christian ground. I say this as a non-Christian [and a non-Moslem also] ... <g>.
2. As I may have told you, I have a very close friend who lives in the deep south and is a stock broker for AG Edwards. He is way over on the far right politically and religiously. I respect his views, but dislike the narrow dogma that only defends what he believes. Although he is very bright and well educated, when it come to politics and religion, he always defends the dogma, and is not flexible and intellectual in those areas. While I love and trust him, I find his views in both areas dangerous and disturbing.
3. Conservatism is a rigid political view that offends me in a very personal and deep way. Combined with born-again Christianity, I find it personally alarming. Over the years, conservatives have developed an extremely self-serving philosophy. Whatever the subject is, if it does not benefit them personally, they are against it. Now, that is a very broad generalization which undoubtedly even I could find fault with. But it is generally and almost always true. Tax cuts almost exclusively for the rich are an excellent example. Conservatives are for themselves almost exclusively, and I have not ever lived or thought in that way. Leading wealthy conservatives have also done a wonderful job of pulling people into their sphere of influence who will never benefit from their dogma. No wonder they dislike liberals who are generally much more thoughtful and intellectual. Combined with born-again Christians, I find them generally appalling. They seem to never think about what they believe politically because Christ is surely on their side. John Ashcroft is the best example I can think of. Anyone that reserves his free time to pray while never reading a newspaper of any kind to get some balance in his views is a man to be feared. Without freedom of the press and free speech, John Ashcroft could be Americas Himmler.
4. As a result, conservatives tend to be arrogant and infrequent listeners. Following the progress of the war so far ... look at the totally arrogant military assumptions and strategy ... we will shock-and-awe them ... the people of Iraq will celebrate our arrival and welcome us with open arms ... the Iraqi military will give up easily ... we can use strong technology weapons and air power and a lighter and faster army to rush to Baghdad passing by the southern cities and stretching out our supply lines. At least so far, ALL of those assumptions appear to be wrong. The U.S. will eventually dominate and win ... but it will take a much bigger armored army, and much more time. ARROGANCE - complete and total arrogance.
5. Right wing religious conservatives are so sure that they are correct that they often do not think things through logically ... "what if we are wrong" does not generally seem to occur to them, and they therefore do not do well with unforeseen consequences.
6. Instead of war in Iraq, what if we put $75 billion to work to turn Palestine into a wonderful garden of freedom and economic development. Imagine 200,000 American soldiers, teachers, business people etc working with neighboring Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt in an effort to change the face of the Middle East by good example. Saudi Arabia, Iran etc would soon fall into line. Think of it as an “Apollo Space Program for the Middle East.” That is how we should be fighting terrorism. Let the U.N. inspections go on in Iraq in the meantime, and if they don’t eventually come-around, then MOAB them big-time.
Stupid, arrogant, selfish, inflexible and destructive ... that is George W Bush and his right wing religious conservative administration ... the sooner they are gone, the better the world will be.
Ken Wilson |
