As a self defined fiscal conservative/libertarian and social liberal/progressive, I am struck by the rigidity of the general media characterization of the highly demarcated political infrastructure, or I should say political architecture. I am also dismayed when I have discussions with people I considered very educated and relatively well informed, or so I think, and find that they are so caught up within the political labeling infrastructure to the extent that they leave behind all their own thoughts and reasoning thereby, making them pick a political label that goes against their own self interest. Sometimes I wonder if such people are merely following the fashionable political label of the moment or they are not as informed as I give them credit for.
Who is a Conservative? I dare to ask in abstraction, because I have NEVER come across a human being, who I consider, really and completely Conservative. I have met people who take certain positions that are labeled conservative by the media and other organizations, and base their conservative labeling on such classifications. Is that a conservative or a situational and issue conservative? I will give a specific example later.
A Libertarian, I thought, is supposed to be 'a live and let others live' conservative, or 'a leave me alone and do not intrude in my or anyone's private life' Conservative-Liberal. I think a libertarian can be a practicing conservative with a liberal mind upholding fairness.
Who is a Liberal? I should definitely ask this in serious abstraction, because I have NEVER come across a human being, who I consider, really and completely Liberal. I have met people who have taken positions that are labeled liberal by the media, and therefore, they base their liberal credits on such classifications. Is that a liberal or a situational and issue liberal?
A Progressive, I thought, is supposed to be 'a live and let us live' liberal, or 'a leave me alone and do not intrude in my or anyone's private life' Liberal-Conservative. I think a Progressive can be a good practicing liberal with somewhat conservative leanings and propensity for fairness.
The political term or label Independent would seem more pragmatic than any of the other labels, but I simply consider an Independent as a more realistic classification of any of the other political labels, except there is a practical absence of rigidity in an independent minded politician.
To flesh out the disparate political labels, I choose the recently passed Health Care Bill [Obamacare as the republicans call it] a truly brilliant legislative achievement, which attempts to expand health care for most people in the USA. The magic of effective mis-information, crafty distortion of facts, and most of all, blatant outright lies cloaked in idealogical differences, and brilliant artistically packaged media blitz, made it all look like, the health care bill and its intents and benefits, were merely demarcated by political ideological infrastructure; liberals and progressives on one side and conservatives and libertarians on the other. How about that! The poor and dis-enfranchised people in West Virginia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and similar states, who do not have health insurance and adequate health care, and have not been able to afford health care in their lives, at any cost, were able to be convinced that they were conservative republicans, and therefore, were against the health care bill... whoaa wow..!! I call this phenomena ingenuity, because I know, I cannot in this life time, be convinced, ever to vote against my self interest on any issue, period. It is interesting to note how the use of political labels and slogans have become so effective and powerful in creating a herd-mentality, where people entrench themselves in to these political labels, and like a herd of cattle, follow all the way into the slaughter house without thought or reason, figuratively speaking!
I would love to read a good comment [comment on this blog] from a well thought out position, that aligns with professed opponents of the Health Care Bill, outlining the virtues for political labels, I have outlined. I chose the health care bill, because all of us in the USA are affected irrespective of our political positioning and/or cherished political labels, Conservative-Libertarian-Liberal-Progressive.. Really!! And a healthy discussion of this subject is in order...I believe, .... really!!
Who is a Conservative? I dare to ask in abstraction, because I have NEVER come across a human being, who I consider, really and completely Conservative. I have met people who take certain positions that are labeled conservative by the media and other organizations, and base their conservative labeling on such classifications. Is that a conservative or a situational and issue conservative? I will give a specific example later.
A Libertarian, I thought, is supposed to be 'a live and let others live' conservative, or 'a leave me alone and do not intrude in my or anyone's private life' Conservative-Liberal. I think a libertarian can be a practicing conservative with a liberal mind upholding fairness.
Who is a Liberal? I should definitely ask this in serious abstraction, because I have NEVER come across a human being, who I consider, really and completely Liberal. I have met people who have taken positions that are labeled liberal by the media, and therefore, they base their liberal credits on such classifications. Is that a liberal or a situational and issue liberal?
A Progressive, I thought, is supposed to be 'a live and let us live' liberal, or 'a leave me alone and do not intrude in my or anyone's private life' Liberal-Conservative. I think a Progressive can be a good practicing liberal with somewhat conservative leanings and propensity for fairness.
The political term or label Independent would seem more pragmatic than any of the other labels, but I simply consider an Independent as a more realistic classification of any of the other political labels, except there is a practical absence of rigidity in an independent minded politician.
To flesh out the disparate political labels, I choose the recently passed Health Care Bill [Obamacare as the republicans call it] a truly brilliant legislative achievement, which attempts to expand health care for most people in the USA. The magic of effective mis-information, crafty distortion of facts, and most of all, blatant outright lies cloaked in idealogical differences, and brilliant artistically packaged media blitz, made it all look like, the health care bill and its intents and benefits, were merely demarcated by political ideological infrastructure; liberals and progressives on one side and conservatives and libertarians on the other. How about that! The poor and dis-enfranchised people in West Virginia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and similar states, who do not have health insurance and adequate health care, and have not been able to afford health care in their lives, at any cost, were able to be convinced that they were conservative republicans, and therefore, were against the health care bill... whoaa wow..!! I call this phenomena ingenuity, because I know, I cannot in this life time, be convinced, ever to vote against my self interest on any issue, period. It is interesting to note how the use of political labels and slogans have become so effective and powerful in creating a herd-mentality, where people entrench themselves in to these political labels, and like a herd of cattle, follow all the way into the slaughter house without thought or reason, figuratively speaking!
I would love to read a good comment [comment on this blog] from a well thought out position, that aligns with professed opponents of the Health Care Bill, outlining the virtues for political labels, I have outlined. I chose the health care bill, because all of us in the USA are affected irrespective of our political positioning and/or cherished political labels, Conservative-Libertarian-Liberal-Progressive.. Really!! And a healthy discussion of this subject is in order...I believe, .... really!!
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