Post subject: Re: Do you give yourself a political label?
Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2004 5:04 am
Force of Nature
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 5:57 pm Posts: 941 Location: Buffalo
Green Habit wrote:
Not me. I really think that trying to pigeonhole thousands of different combinations of beliefs into a dozen or so labels is counter-productive.
But, I'm curious as to how others feel about this.
I don't see labels as counter productive. Nobody says party ID has to define you. But generally speaking, they aggregate general belief structures in simplified terms.
As a Republican, I don't particularly enjoy being grouped in with the wing of the party that is particularly conservative on social issues...but I still identify with the party on a number of core economic beliefs.
As a side note, those people who DO identify with a party, have far greater political knowledge than independents...so party ID is not necessarily a bad thing.
_________________ So we finish the 18th...And I say, 'Hey, Lama, how about a little something ,you know, for the effort.' And he says...when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.'
I used to. I don't anymore. Some labels come and go, but the ones that have been with me for most if not all of my life (ie second generation italian-american, jersey girl . . .)will always seem to fit.
_________________ The Little Engine that Could, Babette Hersant, and Rocky Balboa are my heroes.
Post subject: Re: Do you give yourself a political label?
Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2004 5:27 am
Administrator
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:51 pm Posts: 14534 Location: Mesa,AZ
Purple Hawk wrote:
Green Habit wrote:
Not me. I really think that trying to pigeonhole thousands of different combinations of beliefs into a dozen or so labels is counter-productive.
But, I'm curious as to how others feel about this.
As a side note, those people who DO identify with a party, have far greater political knowledge than independents...so party ID is not necessarily a bad thing.
I emphatically disagree with that statement.
I consider myself moderate, centrist, or whatever.
_________________
John Adams wrote:
In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.
mostly because we are pissing off the religious right with our legal gay marriage, and anything I can do to piss of the religious right is okay by me.
And in case the rest of the country has not noticed (and they have not judging by the election results) Massachusetts liberals are way more moderate than you all think we are.
We have had a republican gov for...well forever. Weld, Cellucci, Swift, Romney...
I voted for two of those republicans, and I am mostly happy with Romney right now.
_________________ cirlces they grow and they swallow people whole half their lives they say goodnight to wives they'll never know got a mind full of questions and a teacher in my soul and so it goes
Post subject: Re: Do you give yourself a political label?
Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2004 2:06 pm
Force of Nature
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 5:57 pm Posts: 941 Location: Buffalo
$úñ_DëV|L wrote:
Purple Hawk wrote:
Green Habit wrote:
Not me. I really think that trying to pigeonhole thousands of different combinations of beliefs into a dozen or so labels is counter-productive.
But, I'm curious as to how others feel about this.
As a side note, those people who DO identify with a party, have far greater political knowledge than independents...so party ID is not necessarily a bad thing.
I emphatically disagree with that statement.
I consider myself moderate, centrist, or whatever.
This is a generality, of course it doesn't mean that this applies to everyone
Of course there are many extremely knowledgable non-partisans...espicially in a political message board.
but accross the population at large, true independents have been found to vote less and exhibit lesser amounts of political knowledge.
_________________ So we finish the 18th...And I say, 'Hey, Lama, how about a little something ,you know, for the effort.' And he says...when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.'
OK, I registered to vote when I was 18, and I registered independent, basically because I didn't know which party I wanted to associate with. It wasn't because I was against the idea of political parties. In general, I voted Democrat... but I was never enthusiastic about it. In 2000, I happened to catch the Green Party convention on C-Span and I got jazzed about politics for the first time in my life. Finally.... politicians who weren't trying to sell me their ideas!! They said things I had previously only hoped I would hear politicians say. And I learned a lot of new things about American politics that I otherwise would not have known about. Overall, it was the honesty, intellect and true passion of the party speakers, especially Ralph Nader, that made me leave the wilderness of political independence and join the Green Party.
I've heard the Greens referred to as a cult, as 'watermelon marxists', as hippies, freaks, utopians, blah, blah, blah... its all bullshit. What the party is really about is good sense and necessary plans of action. I think David Cobb said it best when he said "I'm Green because I have to be." He also said "The Democratic Party is where progressive politics goes to die." Exactly.
You have to take sides in this world, politically. It doesn't mean you alienate yourself from the people who have not (yet) chosen your side. We're all on the same side, we just don't all realize it yet.
I openly call myself conservative, not republican though. Not necessarily because all my viewpoints align themselves with conservative agenda's, but because it helps people that don't really know me, immediately know a lot of stuff about me.
Genxgrl. I think it's funny you should mention that Mass. is pissing off the religious nutjobs of America by enacting legislation to allow gay marraige when red states are pissing off the American left by banning it...
Say, did Massachuesette's legislate gay marraige from the bench?
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum