The Wilson Universe

So some of you may have noticed I’ve been trending more and more “revolutionary” in my ideologies of late.  I’ve been watching what’s happening to this country and it makes me sad and angry.  I see people who are more than willing to hand over their rights, liberties, and freedoms for a half-hearted promise of making the country better.  I see politicians who claim to be for “change” yet surround themselves with the usual Washington insiders for whom the rules do not apply.  I thought for a time that we would be able to muddle through this economic down-turn by trudging through as we have always done.  This would be true except we have politicians telling us that we need to drop all caution and execute rash changes in order to “stabilize” the country…this country has been through tons of these periods in our history and we’ve survived. We don’t need the government to come in and buy out private enterprises. 

This issue alone is worrisome, add to it the recent signing of the Schip law, providing free health care to children (up to the age of 30!?!?!?).  This is NOT the responsibility of the Federal Gov.  Healthcare is NOT a right, it is a privilege that we get for living in a free and prosperous society. 

Quickly I see us moving down the road of Socialism with our healthcare, energy policies, economic strategeries, and education. 

Once I hoped we would pull back, and correct some of what is happening as was done during the FDR Reign and the “New Deal”.  The problem is, we’ve been taking 12 steps towards socialism and only 6 steps back to freedom.  Each round of this we loose a little more and people are comfortable with it.  People in general are ignorant and therefore I believe they should get what they want/deserve.  I see no real recovery in our future, only more “good intentions” by people who think we should worry about the world 1st, and our own country 2nd (if even that).  To those of you that think this way, you are so sadly misguided to believe that anyone else in the world cares about you and your existence…this leads me to the conclusion that most of these Americans are very self-absorbed and use “world concern” as a back door method of feeding an already engorged ego. 

What do all these points have to do with each other?  History is aligning itself once again.  We, my friends, are going headlong into the 1860’s.  The war that divided the country into States Rights vs. Federal Rights will now be more closely divided along Constitutional Rights vs. Federal Authority/Mandate.  We so often forget that Slavery was not the reason behind the Civil War, it was just the final spark that had been smoldering since our creation.  It’s easy to look at the Civil War as a slavery issue because it was fought and it ended with the freeing of the slaves (although freed, the former slaves could hardly call themselves free for another century).  To this end, we forget what led up to the war and actually got governors and legislators (not to mention the people of the south) to throw off the bonds of the Constitution of the U.S. 

I used to find that an unimaginable thought.  As I sit here today and look around, I think we are indeed heading to that end. 

As all great civilizations have done in the past, they are born, they grow and they die.  I only hope that death does not come per se, but instead a transformation into the 4th Age of the United States, The New Republic.  Founded on the very principles that created this great nation in the 18th Century.  

In conclusion, I fear that we must now go down a very dangerous path of socialism in order to spark the flame of revolution…nah, restoration of the United States of America.  Only then can we truly know our enemy and have the resolve to make the decisions that will be neccesary in the coming century. 

-Corey

So while I was showering today I had a few thoughts.  While I do vote Republican at the national level, I am in fact a Libertarian (I’m also a registered Democrat in my home county).  No, Libertarians have nothing to do with libraries (except for the quest of knowledge I suppose) and yes, I also claim to be a centrist. 

Huh?  I can explain it this way.  As Americans we have always relied upon a dominate two party system.  Third Parties have always been there, but if one does happen to take off in popularity it usually replaces an old one (Whig party anyone?) or its ideas get absorbed by one of the existing dominate parties (more common in 20th century).  As a result, we are divided ideologically into two distinct political parties. 

But wait, it’s not quite that simple.  Many people claim to be independents, centrists, or populists (non of which are parties, just philosophies).  Do these people not vote or care about our elections?  No silly rabbit, they do care and in fact make a huge impact on national elections.  They are the ones who don’t see themselves as idealouges (usually) but instead try and measure all issues that may appear against thier own beliefs.  In fact, this is the same process that members of the Democratic & Republican Parties tend to use to make thier political decisions.  The difference is, a Republican will not weigh all sides of the issue always.  Instead they will look at the issues in regards to Conservatism and where they will fall.  Remember the political philosophies I mentioned above?  Add this one to the list (to the right off the 3).  Democrates will treat an issue in a similiar fashion…looking at it in regards to a Liberal philosophy (add this one to the left of the first 3).  As for the “middle philosophies” they play an important role, but they also make it very difficult to gauge the direction of the national wind.  It is this reason that candidates on both political sides tend to drift to the center during tight elections..they need those extra votes and are willing to “compromise” on some issue to attain the greater goal.  That goal in most circumstances is the advancement of thier philosophies and parties.  It should be noted that this might not nessicarilly always be the goal.  A candidate could attempt to promote the party  while not specifically promoting the party philosophies.  Not a very common scenario but it could happen (John McCain could be an example of this to a small degree, but only history will truly tell). 

Ok, so we now have a very complex way of describing the 2 major parties and thier dominate philosophies.  I promise, I’m bringing it home soon…

I for one look at Europe and I find myself a little jealous of thier national elections.  Take France for example, in the last election there were 12 major candidates running for office!  Granted, we too have at least that many people running for the highest office in the land, but they recieve little or no attention on a national level.  What makes the French election different is that the majority of these candidates did recieve some national attention through out thier electing proccess (a system of “rounds” which I find interesting..might have to elaborate more on that later).  Wow, what an election.  What’s more, they have weekly televised debates leading up to the first and subsequent rounds of elections.  Now, when I say they have debates…it does need some clarification.  Thier debates are set up like this: 1 Stage, 12 Podiums, tons of cameras, and a large studio audience.  Notice no moderator…well, ok there is a guy who tries to moderate, but the debates usually spiral into candidate to candidate arguing.  The point is, you get to see your person fight & defend thier beliefs against all-commers.  I would love to see that happen in the states, minus all the extraneous parties. 

This,however, will have to be just a dream.  No candidate on either major party will agree to an unmoderated debate.  There would be too much at risk for both candidates (at least that’s how they look at it).  Debates in the U.S. do little more than create a few new buzz clips for the evening news within the final few weeks of the election. 

While we might complain about the lack of choice in elections (Dem. vs. Rep.), having only two major parties helps focus us, a nation of infinite backgrounds, into clear and concise side.  Some claim this is partisian and doesn’t help the country.  I tend to agree that flat out fighting does nothing, but nor does constant capitulation of ones ideals.  We are a nation that should not be ashamed to disagree with our neighbors, remember, not all of the colonists wanted to declare independance.  We need to embrace our “percieved” dichotomy (any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts).  Notice, the word percieved, this is important as it relates to the definition of a dichotomy.  We are in fact NOT a dichotomy, but a finely woven poly-cotton blend.  We do at times feel like we are one (a dichotomy)  when election time roles around…because everyone know that perception is reality!

In closing, I hope I have explained my complex political/ideaological mashup.  I am a Libertarian (a party, that bridges both liberal & conservative philosophies focusing on issues that enforce the idea of liberty, freedom and small government).  I consider myself a centrist in my over-arching philosophies (again, under the umbrella of Libertarianism I tend to float down the center, pulling bits of both Liberal & Conservative ideas).

For example, on the issue of gay rights here is my view:  All Americans have rights secured to them by the constitution.  If a man and another man wish to be married, I do not believe the state has any authority to govern these decisions.  I furthermore, don’t believe the state has the authority to govern my decision to marry a woman(By the way, I’m a married guy).  I do not believe that special rights should be granted to people either (hate crimes and other fun legislative things).  Government should provide a framework (in the case of marriages, insure that all parties involved are of a legal age and consenting).

I hope this will also encourage others who haven’t given politics and how it relates to themselves a framework with which to create thier own political identities.