Feeling drawn to head back to my old blog: a peaceful human race.
I moved from that blog to this one a while back because that name just felt so uncomfortable to me. I didn't want to be preachy, naive, unrealistic. A peaceful human race? Who the hell am I to think I could have anything to do with bringing something so huge and impossible into being?
And now, for some reason it just doesn't feel so uncomfortable anymore. I'm not really inclined to write about myself, my own way, my stories. This doesn't really feel like the ground that gives me inspiration anymore. When inspiration does strike, it's always the same theme, the same motivation, the same dream.
And so now instead of who the hell am I, I'm feeling more like: why the hell not! Maybe I am preachy, naive, and unrealistic. I believe in a peaceful human race. I believe it's possible and that it's a vision worth dedicating myself to, a dream worth dreaming.
So in the coming weeks or months, I plan on settling in to that title that used to make me so uncomfortable, and seeing what happens next.
Friday, August 19, 2016
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Love Bernie Not Feeling the Bern
So
much to like about Bernie Sanders. I'll definitely watch him with
interest, but if he does get to the general election, I can't imagine
I'd vote for him.
We have a major difference of opinion about the role of government. I hear Sanders advocating that government is supposed to cure the ills of society. That it should enforce fairness, safety, health, and goodness; it should be the mechanism to make all as it should be.
As much as this utopian view can resonate with the part of us all that doesn't want to see suffering, to be suffering, to feel like we're part of a society that creates suffering, I think the idea that government can create this society is just a fantasy. There are too many different views about what fairness, safety, health, and goodness really are. A well-meaning plan to cure all these perceived problems will inevitably divide the people who agree with the agenda's values from those who disagree.
And, there is a dangerous growth of government money and power when the tax and legislative reach grows. Even if you trust the politicians in power when there are these expansions of government, they won't be the same ones in power in the future. Growth under a benevolent dictator paves the way for other dictators with very different intentions.
And he seems to blame corporations for so many things going wrong, but what power is it that those big corporations are usurping? It's government power. Power those corporations can access and use to skew playing fields because the government has it to give to to the highest bidder. And what about small mom n pop corporations? Tax rules and regulations aimed at keeping the big corps in check only make it even harder for the little guys to compete. They can't afford the savvy accounting and legal support needed to navigate the morass into sustainable profits. We're already killing that old American dream that anyone can build something from nothing, and I think more in that same direction would make it worse.
Freedom was the core value at the founding of our country for important reasons. We need those checks and balances, the separation of powers, and the protection of each individual's freedom to their own pursuit of happiness. We're all so different, and a big government doesn't leave the room for our highly individual pursuits.
As much as I really like Bernie's heart, I don't think I could ever vote for him. I value freedom too much. I want a small government that protects freedom and empowers us to save ourselves. I want a government that trusts our nature and trusts the mechanisms of life itself to achieve to the balance we need as we move through the ages.
We have a major difference of opinion about the role of government. I hear Sanders advocating that government is supposed to cure the ills of society. That it should enforce fairness, safety, health, and goodness; it should be the mechanism to make all as it should be.
As much as this utopian view can resonate with the part of us all that doesn't want to see suffering, to be suffering, to feel like we're part of a society that creates suffering, I think the idea that government can create this society is just a fantasy. There are too many different views about what fairness, safety, health, and goodness really are. A well-meaning plan to cure all these perceived problems will inevitably divide the people who agree with the agenda's values from those who disagree.
And, there is a dangerous growth of government money and power when the tax and legislative reach grows. Even if you trust the politicians in power when there are these expansions of government, they won't be the same ones in power in the future. Growth under a benevolent dictator paves the way for other dictators with very different intentions.
And he seems to blame corporations for so many things going wrong, but what power is it that those big corporations are usurping? It's government power. Power those corporations can access and use to skew playing fields because the government has it to give to to the highest bidder. And what about small mom n pop corporations? Tax rules and regulations aimed at keeping the big corps in check only make it even harder for the little guys to compete. They can't afford the savvy accounting and legal support needed to navigate the morass into sustainable profits. We're already killing that old American dream that anyone can build something from nothing, and I think more in that same direction would make it worse.
Freedom was the core value at the founding of our country for important reasons. We need those checks and balances, the separation of powers, and the protection of each individual's freedom to their own pursuit of happiness. We're all so different, and a big government doesn't leave the room for our highly individual pursuits.
As much as I really like Bernie's heart, I don't think I could ever vote for him. I value freedom too much. I want a small government that protects freedom and empowers us to save ourselves. I want a government that trusts our nature and trusts the mechanisms of life itself to achieve to the balance we need as we move through the ages.
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