(FAT JACK's NOTE: This is an essay I posted on this blog several months ago. I re-post the article periodically as I get new readership and I don't think most bloggers read the archives. My political and religious beliefs are still evolving and so this essay is a breathing entity. In this case, it hasn't changed since the first time I posted it.)
We are terribly misguided as a country. We don’t know who we are, but even more importantly, we do not know anything about anyone else. Our country is lost in a washing machine of cynicism, depression and an obsession with someone else’s business. We form our beliefs of others, our world view, using a sound byte measuring stick and media talking heads.
Courtesy used to be a treasured virtue, something taught in school, enforced at home and a valued in the workplace. Little by little, courtesy has turned into a weakness, suffered only by the confused, weak-kneed, and spineless. It has been replaced with power, control and a relentless pursuit of one’s self over all other things. We see this in school children and adults – in sports athletes and politicians.
Today, the spread of information is more important than the information itself, and people who see shades of grey get lost. Nowhere is this more evident than in politics. No longer are we able to define ourselves. That is done for us by those who wish to compartmentalize the world and label those around them. We have so much information available, but we have little time to actually absorb and analyze it. The push to control the party, the public, and the government is so strong that our leaders are no-holds-barred fighters in suits. We are now in a world where Swift-Boating someone is excusable, understandable, and even encouraged.
This leaves little for the individual who can become swallowed by the details and overwhelmed by the corruption. Regardless of the amount of good a person has done, he or she can and will be known for doing or say one thing. It is all about the label. This trickles down to the individual. We are, as the general public, defined by one or two of our many personal beliefs: Republican or Democrat; Conservative or Liberal; God-fearing Christian or Abortion-loving Athiest. This black and white definition is just another form of Swift-boating, that forces people to choose sides. Those sides are becoming more extreme with every election, and that is the goal of those in power and those seeking it. They want the flock to be polarized and partisian, in order to maintain that control.
Yet, I argue that the majority is really none of these. Most people, most I say, have a few viewpoints that may bleed into both groups. Most folks are moderate, leaning more to one side or another. This intolerance to moderation is destroying our confidence in our leaders and creating an ever-decreasing interest in voting one’s conscience. Time and time again, people report that they have no real choice at the voting booth. Indifference and apathy are the new choice, because investigation, understanding and education are just too difficult for us to manage. We just don’t care if we are stupid or not, so long as we have our cable TV, cell phone and iPod.
I am taking a stand, today. I refuse to be labeled by others any longer, and I refuse to be forced to choose one side over another in order to arbitrarily find a place where I fit in. I do not fit in with the extremists any longer. I have defined myself in recent years as a liberal. I am not really a liberal; I sure as Hell not a fundamentalist. I am a complex man who chooses to cross the line from black and white, and come closer to a world with shades of grey.
I am a man, husband and a father.
I am a Christian.
I am a Demublican.
I am flawed.
That is the beginning of the definition of me, and my political standing in this world. It may change as I grow, develop and continue to learn. I reserve the right to be flexible in my beliefs. I do not call that fence-riding or wishy-washy. I call it growth, developed from new life experiences, new understanding, and education.
I notice that many political talk show hosts define themselves by attacking, defining and swift-boating others. While compare and contrast is a staple in critical thinking, these folks fall prey to swift-boat techniques that are not about true critique, but about ratings. (I have much more to say on the politics of media, but that is another blog.)
Well I am choosing to define myself, not through the use of swift-boat tactics, but through introspection and then public display of my current views. In order to do this, I will take typically Democratic or Republican views and then demonstrate my personal views on the issue. I will do this with simple YES or NO responses (and not politic-speak). I understand that this may, in some sense, appear hypocritical in that I am using partisan definitions to define myself. But that is really my point. I am a BLEEDER. That is, I am a moderate with views that bleed into both sides. So I will use conventional definitions to show my particular bias or standing. I believe that they day we start seeing political greys, is the day that we start on a path to higher voter turnout and confidence in our political leaders. So rather than complain, I am defining myself and stating my views outright:
DEMOCRATIC IDEOLOGY:
Funding Social Services: Yes
Privatize Social Security: Leaning toward No.
Civil Unions: Yes
REPUBLICAN IDEOLOGY:
Abortion: No (maybe in certain circumstances like rape ... but not likely.)
Gun Control: No
Faith-based initiative: Yes (not if it excludes government programming)
Gay Marriage: No
UNDECIDED:
Stem Cell Research: Undecided (yes, in some circumstances and no in others.)
We are terribly misguided as a country. We don’t know who we are, but even more importantly, we do not know anything about anyone else. Our country is lost in a washing machine of cynicism, depression and an obsession with someone else’s business. We form our beliefs of others, our world view, using a sound byte measuring stick and media talking heads.
Courtesy used to be a treasured virtue, something taught in school, enforced at home and a valued in the workplace. Little by little, courtesy has turned into a weakness, suffered only by the confused, weak-kneed, and spineless. It has been replaced with power, control and a relentless pursuit of one’s self over all other things. We see this in school children and adults – in sports athletes and politicians.
Today, the spread of information is more important than the information itself, and people who see shades of grey get lost. Nowhere is this more evident than in politics. No longer are we able to define ourselves. That is done for us by those who wish to compartmentalize the world and label those around them. We have so much information available, but we have little time to actually absorb and analyze it. The push to control the party, the public, and the government is so strong that our leaders are no-holds-barred fighters in suits. We are now in a world where Swift-Boating someone is excusable, understandable, and even encouraged.
This leaves little for the individual who can become swallowed by the details and overwhelmed by the corruption. Regardless of the amount of good a person has done, he or she can and will be known for doing or say one thing. It is all about the label. This trickles down to the individual. We are, as the general public, defined by one or two of our many personal beliefs: Republican or Democrat; Conservative or Liberal; God-fearing Christian or Abortion-loving Athiest. This black and white definition is just another form of Swift-boating, that forces people to choose sides. Those sides are becoming more extreme with every election, and that is the goal of those in power and those seeking it. They want the flock to be polarized and partisian, in order to maintain that control.
Yet, I argue that the majority is really none of these. Most people, most I say, have a few viewpoints that may bleed into both groups. Most folks are moderate, leaning more to one side or another. This intolerance to moderation is destroying our confidence in our leaders and creating an ever-decreasing interest in voting one’s conscience. Time and time again, people report that they have no real choice at the voting booth. Indifference and apathy are the new choice, because investigation, understanding and education are just too difficult for us to manage. We just don’t care if we are stupid or not, so long as we have our cable TV, cell phone and iPod.
I am taking a stand, today. I refuse to be labeled by others any longer, and I refuse to be forced to choose one side over another in order to arbitrarily find a place where I fit in. I do not fit in with the extremists any longer. I have defined myself in recent years as a liberal. I am not really a liberal; I sure as Hell not a fundamentalist. I am a complex man who chooses to cross the line from black and white, and come closer to a world with shades of grey.
I am a man, husband and a father.
I am a Christian.
I am a Demublican.
I am flawed.
That is the beginning of the definition of me, and my political standing in this world. It may change as I grow, develop and continue to learn. I reserve the right to be flexible in my beliefs. I do not call that fence-riding or wishy-washy. I call it growth, developed from new life experiences, new understanding, and education.
I notice that many political talk show hosts define themselves by attacking, defining and swift-boating others. While compare and contrast is a staple in critical thinking, these folks fall prey to swift-boat techniques that are not about true critique, but about ratings. (I have much more to say on the politics of media, but that is another blog.)
Well I am choosing to define myself, not through the use of swift-boat tactics, but through introspection and then public display of my current views. In order to do this, I will take typically Democratic or Republican views and then demonstrate my personal views on the issue. I will do this with simple YES or NO responses (and not politic-speak). I understand that this may, in some sense, appear hypocritical in that I am using partisan definitions to define myself. But that is really my point. I am a BLEEDER. That is, I am a moderate with views that bleed into both sides. So I will use conventional definitions to show my particular bias or standing. I believe that they day we start seeing political greys, is the day that we start on a path to higher voter turnout and confidence in our political leaders. So rather than complain, I am defining myself and stating my views outright:
DEMOCRATIC IDEOLOGY:
Funding Social Services: Yes
Privatize Social Security: Leaning toward No.
Civil Unions: Yes
REPUBLICAN IDEOLOGY:
Abortion: No (maybe in certain circumstances like rape ... but not likely.)
Gun Control: No
Faith-based initiative: Yes (not if it excludes government programming)
Gay Marriage: No
UNDECIDED:
Stem Cell Research: Undecided (yes, in some circumstances and no in others.)
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