Author:
It doesn't matter if you wrap it up in honey and grits, politics are politics.
I try not to live in a liberal echo chamber.
I don't watch the more egregious talking heads on CNN and MSNBC. Every now and again I watch FOX -- to try to understand the conservative viewpoint.
I subscribe to the conservative St. Paul Pioneer Press and the New York Times - for balance.
I read a lot of history and political science books.
I filter everything through my natural liberal bias which was pounded into me by my parents, who were very big on individual rights, capitalism, democracy, rule of law, and freedoms of politics, speech, and religion. However - I also place a high value on limited government and fiscal responsibility.
Since politics are verboten, why am I posting this? Because this site's existence is a right. It is a right that could quickly disappear in a certain political climate. I'm totally bewildered by the cynicism in Washington and many of our state capitals -- especially when it comes to trans rights. Book banning is occurring with too much frequency. Erin has said the servers are in Canada, which is good planning, but. . ..
Jill
Comments
Server locations
The main servers are in New Jersey and have been for the last several years. Our main advertiser TBFS is in Canada. :)
We do have virtual servers all over the world.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Server Error
It appears I foot faulted.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Are we speaking the same language?
You wrote: "I filter everything through my natural liberal bias which was pounded into me by my parents, who were very big on ..." and then go on to list those "liberal" values that make up your bias. The funny thing is, I consider myself to be a far right wing conservative and it's that same list that I hold dear.
I would add, individual accountability and self sufficiency to the list.
In my view, if you didn't work for it, you don't deserve it. That and as Beretta (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072471/) would say, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time."
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Funny. . .Isn't If??
Two to three years ago I attended a sales seminar. The keynote speaker was a successful insurance salesman from the east coast who made a lot of money by being far right on his website and in his advertising pieces.
At first I thought it was nonsense but then I thought about the My Pillow guy who has been killing it. He's a Minnesotan, like me.
I decided to test the theory with a mailing program to people identified as liberal or conservative. I didn't want to lie so I searched for lists of traits for conservatives and other lists for liberals. I quickly realized that most values were similar.
Surprise!
I used roughly the same text for both postcards and had a graphics artist make the cards look clearly conservative or liberal and sent the appropriate postcard to the right or left list.
It worked. People are eager to buy auto and home insurance from someone who apparently has similar political views. This campaign was about fifty percent more effective than the average postcard campaign, which genrated about a four percent response.
We really are much more alike than we are different..
Our political leaders and the talking heads on TV have vested interests in stoking partisanship. Trump poured gas on this fire and profits went through the roof at FOX, CNN, and MSNBC. Political contributions have been record setting.
It's the classic case of Stars on Thars! We're all Sneetches being played.
Yet. . .one party has taken trans bullying to an extreme.
If I'm wrong, please show me factual evidence that the left is also introducing anti trans laws!!
I agree with you about personal accountability. I've delivered sales speeches on making yourself accountable to your clients. I believe very strongly in substance over style.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I find the problems are never with the broad strokes
of what people of different political affiliations say they want: it's in what they think those things mean.
I consider myself *extreme* left. Like, I'd-be-left-wing-in-Europe left. At least, on a lot of issues.
But, there's still a lot of the same notes both you and Patricia touch on I very much agree with. Heck, the only one you include I wouldn't is capitalism (I'm a proponent that hybrid economic strategies work better than any individual ideology, as is evidenced by the fact that no successful economy in the world is wholly capitalist nor socialist, nor has ever been fully one or the other, nor communist for that matter.)
When it comes to talking points though...
What does self accountability mean?
For me, self accountability is holding oneself responsible for your decisions, and accepting the outcome of those decisions, not just legally, but ethically. Basically, try to be a good person, because being a good person is what everyone should be striving for: non-judgmental, loving, and empathetic. Accepting that we are responsible for our place in the world is key to accepting that others are responsible for theirs, and more to the point, to accepting that we don't all have the same place, and that that's okay.
What do democracy or rule of law mean? Or the freedoms you state?
For me, they mean that rules and laws exist, by the will of the many, so that the many cannot be led astray by the few... but also, so the few cannot be persecuted by the many. The same goes for the freedoms: religion, speech, politics. These are all reflections of the same core element: freedom of thought, of feeling, which for me, is more or less an innate thing, and really shouldn't have to be stated or even defended (though it sadly seems to.) It all really boils down to the same thing as personal responsibility: that what we do is about being the best people we can be, and the laws and government exist to give as many people the opportunity to reach that potential as possible (or should.)
You talk to different people, you get different answers, and while the political divide doesn't always have to be present for those answers to change... it's usually easier to guess what one side will define those as than the other.
In fact, I have to take my statement about what I'd drop from the list back: outside of the economic system deal, the only one of those points I think I would drop flat-out is self sufficiency, simply because in a very literal way such a trait is impossible for human beings. We, as inherently social animals, rely on the charity of other human beings constantly, in big and small ways, to survive. After all, it's only through the charity of the birthgiver that a child is born: through the charity of a caregiver that they are nurtured: through the charity of a mentor that they are taught.
It is only through charity that we can ever obtain the skills needed to pretend to be self-realized individuals, and anyone who claims that they've gotten where they are purely on the sweat of their own back is someone who fails to respect the hard work and kindness of the dozens if not hundreds of people whose labor gave them their opportunities, all of whom likewise needed the labor of dozens if not hundreds more, back and back until you reach the first time one of our ancestors offered a hand to another to help them stand up.
People are messy, complicated things, and all of us have our faults and foibles. Sometimes those faults are with how we view the world, sometimes those faults are how we interact with it, and sometimes those faults are lessons we've never had cause to learn.
But we're all people... and that should be enough of a common foundation to work from to eventually find a solution that benefits every one of us.
Melanie E.
Self Sufficiency
When I speak of self sufficiency I don't mean that we should all be loners and not acknowledge the giving of themselves that others have done that contribute to making us who we are. I have a whole list of people who either by example or direct instruction have influenced and added to who I am. Starting with my father and including my brother, my uncle, scout leaders, church leaders, teachers and even bosses and co-workers and, on least one occasion, my daughter. All these people have invested their time in me.
By self sufficiency, I mean that we make good use of that investment so that as adults we can contribute to society rather than constantly draw our sustenance from it. I like to think that I have paid it forward when it comes to my place in society. I've certainly contributed to my children and grandchildren, as well as some of the youth in my church and those entrusted to my care when I volunteered as a live-in counselor at the drug and alcohol recovery house sponsored by my church.
There are those here on BCTS that have contributed to me in enlightening my understanding and I hope that I've managed to pass some of that on as well.
As John Donne, an English clergyman in 1642 said in his sermon about how people are connected to each other:
Self sufficiency means being connected as an adult in primarily a positive way. That doesn't mean that a self sufficient man shouldn't accept any offer of help offered by others. Sometimes contributing in a positive manor, means allowing others to build up their self worth by contributing their help even if you could handle it yourself. Likewise a self sufficient person should lend a hand to lighten the load that others bear even if they could handle it themselves.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
No Argument
I believe as you do.
I grew up on a farm. We worked fifteen or more hours a day when needed. When a neighbor needed your help, you did double duty, with a smile.
I'm a complete sucker for the homeless people in my neighborhood. Most of them have mental problems and simply can't deal with making a living. During the pandemic, I spent most of my PPE on meals for them. Yet, I question those who ask for money and will turn them down if I think it will go to drugs.
Last week, I went to a meeting at the school district where my children went to school. The meeting was an informational gathering to discuss the future events for the non-profit that generates donations to the district. I hadn't been back to the district for over six years -- and told no one I was coming to the meeting. As I was the person who started the non-profit twenty-two years ago I was instantly welcomed and applauded. Last year that non-profit generated $1 million for the district and over its lifetime has raised over $8 million.
When I created the non-profit there were those who questioned giving the school district any more money to "fritter away." Time has proven that the district has been a wonderful steward using the money very wisely.
The district is very conservative with average household incomes well over $170,000. Yet this non-profit liiberal-minded venture is almost universally supported.
Thirty-five years ago I was challenged to solve huge insurance problems for political subdivisions in my state. Even though I love capitalism I created a self-insurance pool that today has over $50 million in assets. It was a socialist approach that worked.
Life is not a straight line journey and we must be flexible.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Of all things
a bit of kindness goes the furthest.
Angharad
It's Complicated
We all can be kind one minute and petty the next.
I try to keep a lid on the petty moments.
You seem to be extremely compassionate.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)