(no subject)
An update on my political thoughts:
I want Obama to win the nomination. The only other democrat with more of my support than Obama is Bill Richardson. I saw Obama speak in Austin (along with 20,000 other people), I've donated to his campaign and forwarded his emails. I have nothing against Obama. At all. He's the best of the 3 democrat front-runners, for sure.
I'd rather Obama be the next president than Hilary, Edwards, McCain, Romney, Rudy, or Huckabee.
However, I have major problems with the idea of government that will not be resolved (probably ever), and definitely not by this singular election. Some people are quick to label me a libertarian, but that's not correct. I'm not even a libertarian, except in the sense that I believe that individual rights are more important than anything else.
I do not ever think that a large government will be successful in every possible way. The balance of responsibility is too difficult. In fact, I think the only government to have ever been even close to complete success was the tribal government of most indigenous societies. The larger the group of people, the more difficult it is to govern them all, ensuring that none of their rights are infringed and all of their needs are met. I'd like to live on a commune, I imagine that comes close to what I'm envisioning. Still, communism fails on a larger scale though. So in my mind the only solution would be to abolish all large governments, end the idea of nationalism and return to a simpler time in which large family-like units shared the land, respected the land, and respected each-other. My brother owns this book called The Gospel of the Red Man, he purchased it at a garage sale for a dollar. The book tells the story of Christian missionaries discussing their beliefs with Native American shamans. The shamans (evidenced in their conversation) seem to me to be some of the most rational, logical, and intelligent people. They make strong arguments for their beliefs, and explain that they believe that two groups of people can cohabit an area without sharing the exact same vision of god. Reading that book changed my perspective on history and culture in a lot of ways.
The world continues to push vigilantly forward, in the wrong direction. Globalization spreads. Americanization spreads. Greedy heartless capitalism spreads. The disrespect of other humans spreads. Racism is never truly overcome. Class-ism is even worse. The income gap grows in almost every country (it's worst in the US). Technology advances so quickly that no third-world country can keep up with the pace, ever.
It seems to me that compared to America 500 years ago, today's America is filled with more violence, more oppression, more hatred, more greed, more hunger, more depression, more gluttony, more selfishness, more clique-ishness, more closedmindedness, more bullshit. Ultimately.
If we elect an open-minded, outsider president (who also happens to be black) perhaps that will be a step, just one step in the right direction. My ultimate point however is this though, the president will never change the nature of the people, the people will only change the nature of themselves.
The greatest kind of revolution is the individual revolution. A change of heart. Yes, go vote, it's important that you vote, but it's more important that you reflect on your actions and attitudes towards the world and the people around you. I hear crowds chanting "We want change", thinking that electing a democrat will give them the change they want, when the only thing that needs changing is ourselves.
-Phil
I want Obama to win the nomination. The only other democrat with more of my support than Obama is Bill Richardson. I saw Obama speak in Austin (along with 20,000 other people), I've donated to his campaign and forwarded his emails. I have nothing against Obama. At all. He's the best of the 3 democrat front-runners, for sure.
I'd rather Obama be the next president than Hilary, Edwards, McCain, Romney, Rudy, or Huckabee.
However, I have major problems with the idea of government that will not be resolved (probably ever), and definitely not by this singular election. Some people are quick to label me a libertarian, but that's not correct. I'm not even a libertarian, except in the sense that I believe that individual rights are more important than anything else.
I do not ever think that a large government will be successful in every possible way. The balance of responsibility is too difficult. In fact, I think the only government to have ever been even close to complete success was the tribal government of most indigenous societies. The larger the group of people, the more difficult it is to govern them all, ensuring that none of their rights are infringed and all of their needs are met. I'd like to live on a commune, I imagine that comes close to what I'm envisioning. Still, communism fails on a larger scale though. So in my mind the only solution would be to abolish all large governments, end the idea of nationalism and return to a simpler time in which large family-like units shared the land, respected the land, and respected each-other. My brother owns this book called The Gospel of the Red Man, he purchased it at a garage sale for a dollar. The book tells the story of Christian missionaries discussing their beliefs with Native American shamans. The shamans (evidenced in their conversation) seem to me to be some of the most rational, logical, and intelligent people. They make strong arguments for their beliefs, and explain that they believe that two groups of people can cohabit an area without sharing the exact same vision of god. Reading that book changed my perspective on history and culture in a lot of ways.
The world continues to push vigilantly forward, in the wrong direction. Globalization spreads. Americanization spreads. Greedy heartless capitalism spreads. The disrespect of other humans spreads. Racism is never truly overcome. Class-ism is even worse. The income gap grows in almost every country (it's worst in the US). Technology advances so quickly that no third-world country can keep up with the pace, ever.
It seems to me that compared to America 500 years ago, today's America is filled with more violence, more oppression, more hatred, more greed, more hunger, more depression, more gluttony, more selfishness, more clique-ishness, more closedmindedness, more bullshit. Ultimately.
If we elect an open-minded, outsider president (who also happens to be black) perhaps that will be a step, just one step in the right direction. My ultimate point however is this though, the president will never change the nature of the people, the people will only change the nature of themselves.
The greatest kind of revolution is the individual revolution. A change of heart. Yes, go vote, it's important that you vote, but it's more important that you reflect on your actions and attitudes towards the world and the people around you. I hear crowds chanting "We want change", thinking that electing a democrat will give them the change they want, when the only thing that needs changing is ourselves.
-Phil