I have meant for a while to post up some of my thoughts about the politics in our country these days, but I never seem to have time to think through my feelings clearly enough to put them into words.
I did, however, just post the following comment on a friend's blog a few minutes ago. I was responding to his frustration at the economic system and policies in place, especially regarding minimum wage and "trickle-down economics."
"I personally feel that there is an ideal, and a reality when it comes to public policies.
Of course I want to help the poor. Of course I want to have a government that can take care of them. But my view, my personal opinion on the matter, is that the government, any government, simply can't ever do what it takes to take care of the poor. If we want to take care of the poor, we need to do it ourselves.
The less I need to think about what the government is up to, the better. All I need from it is to know that I can go to sleep at night without waking up in the morning and finding that my life, liberty, or the pursuit of my own happiness is somehow in jeopardy."
At this stage, anything I say or write probably won't have much of an effect on opinions one way or another before people vote (if they haven't already). My family in general is very conservative, and I tend to agree with them on almost every point. Mainly, I stick to what I just wrote in my comment above. I don't like the idea of government replacing community. Some say that government is community; it simply isn't. Government is buildings, bureaucracy, forms, red tape, and wasted money in my mind. I am sure that there can be much good done by government programs, but so much more good can be done if we just encourage better citizenship. Unfortunately the world we live in leans continuously closer to the idea that not only are all men created equal, but that they are all entitled equally to material goods, services, and quality of life.
This is not a fair world. It wasn't designed to be. We can try all we want, all day, every day to make it fair, but it never will be. Part of our experience here is to learn how to deal with that. In doing so we learn humility. How many of us have wished that we want to be the President, and change the world? Or how many of us have wished that we could have practically unlimited wealth, so we had the freedom to give to charities, give to the poor, and save the world in our own way?
Simply put, socialism failed for a reason. While the Presidential candidates (note the plural) for this election season may not be socialist in the pure sense, they lean more that direction than towards sustaining a true republic, which is what our founding fathers originally put in place. Some say that it is democracy that rules our nation. Our country was never meant to be governed by mob rule, the popular vote. The electoral college is in place for that reason.
These are only a few of my thoughts for now. I am sure that as I learn more about issues and gain experience of my own, I'll be rethinking quite a bit. But one thing is for sure, I stand by my strong opinion that the government is not the solution to society's woes. We each individually are the solution, and if we have to build a government up that will force us to take responsibility for saving the world around us, then we truly do live in a very dark time.
No government can change the fact that each person in this world has to choose for themselves whether or not they are going to help their fellowman.
