Radical, Part 2

KANH comments at length concerning my post on forming a third political party:

This whole budget thing, coming from a man that entrusts his money to a very silly girl that loves shoes just a little too much, is very interesting.

Actually, I think much of the American public feels they have no real say...oh we can debate and discuss till we are blue in the face, but none of us have anything to do with or say about what goes on in the street in front of our homes let alone Washington. Really, as a person who has tried to make a difference in my community (church, schools, etc.), I have very little effect on anything. The best I can hope for is to raise well rounded and balanced children who may have some impact. Third party or no, it's still government, The more we pick apart our politicians, the less likely we are to get actual moral, clear thinking for the greater good kind of candidate.

Modern campaigns might as well be for student council. Promising things (longer recess, all-candy lunch, shorter school year) they can never deliver or have no business doing in the first place. They dangle the carrot...health care for everyone, tax rebates, free higher education for all, longer lives, pursuit of all dreams at any cost, better and safer sex, undefined families(whatever you think is a family is). Basically the only way to get elected is to promise things that sound great to the most people, but are unrealistic.

The government has certain duties and citizens have certain duties and some where along the way we've blurred the lines. We want the feds to be some kind of Vegas...Send in my tax forms and hope all my deductions add up to a big fat rebate check (wait a minute that was my money to begin with). Like the 10-40 is some kind of arm on a slot machine...If I'm lucky I'll fit in a group that gets special treatment. I think we want the government to do it all, so we don't have to. The sad thing is fiscally speaking, government is the most inefficient way to accomplish most of our social aims. Maybe because we all have different social aims. What is it we want from the government...national security, basic protection (upholding the laws), regulation of the money supply, fair fundamental education, trade regulation, or do we want the government to tell us what to eat, what to worship, how to think, who to love, who to hate, when to sleep, who to sleep with, how to raise children. Too many of us want it done for us, so we are willing to hand over our God-given rights and responsibilities and sadly this will lead to sameness instead of diversity. Anyone that has taken high school biology knows it is in diversity that we find strength. I think this is true in sociology as well. So, maybe we all need to take a look at what we expect from the government and what we should expect from the government. Because basically it all boils down to you can please some of the people some of the time (where's Lincoln when you need him?!)

OK, I've got to go tuck some kids in, hope this made some sense!

KANH

It makes a great deal of sense. Your point that people feel disenfranchised even at the lowest levels helps to point out why we need some political path that offers a clear alternative to our two current parties. I'll comment at greater length later. Good words!

Monk