Why Not?

[bill_d]

ok ,
one more thing for you young guys.
remember this if you get a chance.
in a room packed with alert young minds of all kinds, a classroom, perhaps.
argument, discussion, indoctrination, exchange of ideas(one of the most dangerous)

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO MAKE A SOUND IN ORDER TO DOMINATE YOUR BATTLESPACE

[thopkins22]

You are not a dying breed. The two or three generations in front of you were much farther to the left than most of my friends(even the democrats) who are only a few years older than you.

Present company excluded of course...they were the hippies, they were who called for so much regulation and they were who demanded huge government programs. We'll be the ones left with the bill...that will change minds in my opinion. Do I think the nature of the beast(big government) will change? No, because bureaucracies and government always wants to grow...but I do think public opinion wise we're nearing a tipping point.

The talk that the current generation is so much worse than all previous ones and all that is the same thing that has been said about every single generation in recorded history.

ETA: Like e-guns said...if you aren't happy with the curriculum in your school/college, then change schools. Education is a service, and if you don't like the service, go somewhere else instead of rewarding ideas you don't like.

[Magsz]

I think what the OP is saying about this being a widespread issue needs to be reiterated. Where do you go when its all around you?

Education is indeed a service but its certainly not run like its a service. Its a financial institution designed to take your money and unfortunately, because of the fact that there is a perceived (rightly so for most things) need for "higher" education, you're basically told to deal with it or GTFO (get the FUDGE out).

So where do we turn?

[bill_d]

where do we turn?
anywhere we please.
we have work to do.
it is after all, a target rich enviroment.

the political pendulum swings
to try to stop the clock takes a lot
of effort. tempting, yes, but alternately,
training your mind to learn is a worthwhile
endeavor.

i understand what you reiterate
beware of those emotional schema
those around you would try to use
in order to implant their false "facts"
and degenerate belief structures.

i often find the thinking and philosophy
of say, a few centuries past , a few millenia too even.
does really well
when brought into the present and exposed to
the surrounding enviroment. .
some things just do stand the test of time.
i think you might recognize some of them.
that recognition imparts its own sort of
emotional schema that is by good measure
much more valuable to you than being one
of the crowd you find yourself in. whatever that
may be.

[dcmdon]

Centerfire,

Dont forget that your liberties are being attacked by those on the RIGHT also.
While the left has no respect for our 2nd Amendment rights, the right has no respect for our 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendment rights.

REAL libertarians agree with Liberals and democrats when it comes to things like

1) Abortion - you can disagree with it but believe that government shouldnt be involved. In that case you are pro-choice. (and maybe anti abortion)

2) Free speech - I think it should be legal to burn a flag. I might punch you in the mouth, but it is NOT governments job to try to tell someone they cant do that.

3) Unreasonable searches and seizures - Have you read the patriot act?? If the feds question a librarian about a book you took out, (Anarchist cookbook?) the librarian cant tell anybody that he was questioned, even his family.

4) Gay rights - Its not my thing, but who am I to tell two consenting adults that they cant get it on.

5) Illegal drugs - most should be de-criminalized. We all know marijuana is a weaker drug than alcohol. And who are we to say that Heroin cant be used to ease the pain of a terminally ill cancer patient.

5) Separation of church and state - what the bushies did is nearly criminal, seeding the federal government at all levels with born again wackos.

If you REALLY love freedom, you will see the republicans for what they are. BIG Government fascists. The difference between them and the Democrats is that the dems want to take your money and give it to the poor people. The Republicans want to take your money and use it to protect you from yourself.

Don

p.s. flame away.

[Jay Cunningham]

I take issue with some of the things that you wrote, but I also agree with a lot of what you wrote... maybe not exactly how you wrote it, though.

Centerfire,

Dont forget that your liberties are being attacked by those on the RIGHT also.
While the left has no respect for our 2nd Amendment rights, the right has no respect for our 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendment rights.

REAL libertarians agree with Liberals and democrats when it comes to things like

1) Abortion - you can disagree with it but believe that government shouldnt be involved. In that case you are pro-choice. (and maybe anti abortion)

2) Free speech - I think it should be legal to burn a flag. I might punch you in the mouth, but it is NOT governments job to try to tell someone they cant do that.

3) Unreasonable searches and seizures - Have you read the patriot act?? If the feds question a librarian about a book you took out, (Anarchist cookbook?) the librarian cant tell anybody that he was questioned, even his family.

4) Gay rights - Its not my thing, but who am I to tell two consenting adults that they cant get it on.

5) Illegal drugs - most should be de-criminalized. We all know marijuana is a weaker drug than alcohol. And who are we to say that Heroin cant be used to ease the pain of a terminally ill cancer patient.

5) Separation of church and state - what the bushies did is nearly criminal, seeding the federal government at all levels with born again wackos.

If you REALLY love freedom, you will see the republicans for what they are. BIG Government fascists. The difference between them and the Democrats is that the dems want to take your money and give it to the poor people. The Republicans want to take your money and use it to protect you from yourself.

Don

p.s. flame away.

[thopkins22]

REAL libertarians agree with Liberals and democrats when it comes to things like

1) Abortion - you can disagree with it but believe that government shouldnt be involved. In that case you are pro-choice. (and maybe anti abortion)

I've always heard that if you get two libertarians to agree on everything then one of them sold out. There are plenty of libertarians who disagree with you on abortion. Plenty of libertarians believe it's the job of the government to protect your rights. You have a right to life, liberty, and property. Plenty see the fetus as a life.

ETA: I agree with almost everything else you said, except for the idea that I agree with democrats on these issues. If you'll do a LITTLE research you'd see that the democrats vote to restrict those things as much if not more than the republicans.

[chadbag]

1) Abortion - you can disagree with it but believe that government shouldnt be involved. In that case you are pro-choice. (and maybe anti abortion)

True libertarians -- the ones who really get it and are just not anarchists -- would disagree.

Libertarians believe in personal responsibility and in no way endorse killing a child / fetus to try and get out of the personal responsibility of getting pregnant. Libertarians do not believe in the initiation of force to solve problems. Sex has great responsibilities and if you don't take care and cause a pregnancy, you need to live with the consequences. Initiating force against an unborn child to solve your problem is not "pro choice".

The fetus is not an appendage of the person with which to do what you want. It is a separate life -- easily provable by science* -- and abortion is initiating violence against a being who is defenseless.

Too many so-called libertarians forget about the responsibility part of choice.

Chad

* look at the chromosomes/DNA of the mother and the fetus. They are not the same. Any other part of the mother's body will have the same set of Chromosomes/DNA (excepting the eggs). And the fetus is clearly alive.

[QuickStrike]

24 here.

My family and friends consider me a pretty good artist, and I am not one of those college types.

Coming from a non-christian family who've experienced war and being broke asses in a small SE asian country, nudges me towards being more of a realist.

Currently, I believe people to be generally neutral (neither good nor bad) but tend to look after themselves (selfish), and one HAS to be sometimes!

I try to look at things in a logical way, rather than being too emotional. And this is why I don't understand the college kids with Che Gueverra T-shirts and unquestioned acceptance of the smooth talkin' Obama.

What's behind those glorified heroes and those unreasonable promises? Surely not a self-less strive to help others!

[Cruncher Block]

If I were to put a lable upon myself it would most certainly be Libertarian. I'm twenty-one attending an art school as a Web Design major. Naturally the majority of the student body is leaning left, heavily. I'm extremely pro-gun, pro-capitalism, and anti left. I'd like to believe I have a great deal of common sense and a level head. The more experience I net the more I realize that the Right really isn't involved in art. Namely street art. While I know a large majority of you are LEO's and I applaud you for your service and keeping us safe, I cannot help but wonder why we don't see stencil's of MCcain or portraits of young service men and women painted on public walls. It's always bothered me. All the art I see is Leftist protest. Complete cry baby B-S if you ask me. Anti-war, pro-peace crap. Its the same old song and dance. It enrages me that people rally behind our enemies citizens and not our own troops that fight for our freedom. Where has patriotism gone? While I believe in god, I'm beginning to think our pull through Relegion is weakening and becomming outdated. We need more modern outlets to broadcast our message, and I certainly believe a libertarian leaning republican has much more in common with our average college student that the leftist socialist. Through out the past two elections I've steadly lost faith in my generation and it's ability to whine and cry about everything , rather than make a change, themselves. Am I a dying breed? In the words of Patrick Henry "Give me liberty or give me death."

I'm a fingerstyle guitarist as a hobby. I've learned that many (most?) musicians just assume that other musicians are left-leaning. That hippy thing is still going strong.

Part of the frustration for me is thinking music should be outside the pettiness of day-to-day things like politics. For other musicians, the politics seems to be a primary motivation. Perhaps they can't articulate their points rationally outside of a song?