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Politics : The Left Wing Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (3150)	1/16/2001 9:56:14 PM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 6089

This touches on an issue that I raised, without much response, in the boxing ring. When I was coming of age, suspicion of and opposition to government was purely a left phenomenon. Conservatives supported the government, rallied around it, and erupted in spasms of delight when demonstrators got their heads busted. In recent years, of course, we've seen a turnaround, with the left generally behind government and conservatives opposing it. This phenomenon raises a question: is the attitude toward government taken by the left or the right a fundamental characteristic of those political philosophies or is it simply a response to the ideological position of the government in question? My own feeling is that conservatives are all too willing to support big intrusive government as long as it's big intrusive conservative government. Liberals like big government as long as that big government is liberal. It is odd that anarchists are generally placed at the extreme left of the political spectrum, while fundamentalist libertarians, who preach doctrines very similar to those of anarchists, are placed at the extreme right. Perhaps the continuum is actually a circle....

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (3150)	1/17/2001 1:22:52 AM
From: Rarebird	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6089

I don't think there is an organized left in this country with a platform that radical and moderate liberals can embrace, such as socialized medicine, massive government spending to promote culture, technology, science, mathematics, art, music, philosophy, women's rights, alternative lifestyles, and above all, Love and Respect for the Power of the Universe, the Human Reality, in all its Greatness. As for the Tragic Henry David Thoreau, it is true, he had no respect for Government whatsoever. He spoke out very early against slavery and felt that Government had "no principles" whatsoever. Thoreau fell in love with his solitude at an early age and never married. He became at one with the form and energy that is present in all things and allows it to grow and develop. Thoreau had nature; he had no desire for a woman. Emerson, who was his best friend, and loved him dearly, would often tell him that he never really experienced solitude because he never loved a woman and conversed with the common man. Henry David went to Harvard and got a degree in English. He didn't respect the education he received their either and proceeded to rip his degree into shreds when he graduated. Thoreau did understand that "Friendship" represented a spirit of high mindedness and the greatest human achievement. Here are a few quotes, from his essay, "Friendship:" "No word is oftener on the lips of men than Friendship, and indeed no thought is more familiar to their aspirations. All men are dreaming of it, and its drama, which is always a tragedy, is enacted daily. It is the secret of the Universe.... Friends do not live in harmony merely, as some say, but in melody....To his Friend, a man's peculiar character appears in every feature and in every action, and it is thus drawn out and improved by him." "A friend is one who incessantly pays us the compliment of expecting from us all the virtues, and who can appreciate them in us." Bill Clinton was a friend of the American People, if not the "Moral Majority." He failed to convince the Public, however, that Government could be their friend too.