Drone6o3 wrote:His Beliefs are well balanced when it come to political issues such as marriage and abortions.
Ratburntro44 wrote:You know, a truly good candidate would not base anything he does off of anything he believes; he should base it off of the constituents.
I am disturbed by both of these comments. As for yours Drone, imo Rat is right that a personal belief is not what should be dictating policy. In most cases, this is extremely dangerous, and will be the downfall to our greatest achievement as America: Individual Freedoms.
If you believe that the enforcement of majority and/or elite thought upon all individuals via law and persecution is ethical and "Right", then you are indeed supporting the replacement of:
tolerance with intolerance;
choice with law (a feeble attempt at choicelessness);
individualism with collectivism / conformity;
diversity with uniformity / identicality;
capitalism with communism;
Not only is your thinking attributarily communistic (at minimum, it applies the rule of Marxism, as a capitalistic system will incorporate aspects of communism (socialism, what America truly is today), and by such introductions, inevitably arrive at full blown communism), it is mostly unnatural and will lead to extinction (in the case of nation empires, a downfall). As in nature, you will find basic laws (law of physics) that are applied to the whole, and beyond that an extremely diverse array of solutions (limitless beyond the basic laws) to a given need (mobility for example, as we see and incredible amount of natural solutions to the need to move from one location to another, not a one size fits all law). The lack of uniformity and conformity beyond the basic laws is largely what is attributed to the survival of life (this is very important to recognize and internalize). The process by which we venture today, in applying more and more law/limitations (communistic rule) to man based on majority and/or elite thought, and hence limiting the potential outcomes for individuals and communities based on such, is indeed a direct contradiction to that which we observe in nature in the survival of life.
Beyond what is natural, we can also examine the "rightness" of our law. We are applying law based on our understandings of existence today, and imo, our understanding must still be very, very, I mean VERY, limited and naive. How naive? Well, ask yourself, if we survived another million years, or a billion, "How many 'realities' today will we view then as 'real' and correct." My guess is very little, likely not a single thing. Let's take deep reflection on how many aspects of our ancestors "realities" before us were "right" compared to our views today. Hmmmm.
Greek Gods?
A flat world?
Center of the universe?
Magic medicine men?
Ritual killings?
And countless, countless others...
Man has been, based on our current science, around for 250K years, 200K of which there appears we were not much more special that that of our previous ancestors, with a lack of language and writing skills. Now just because I believe this to be the case, it would be wise of me NOT to place a LAW in effect that states, "All men must accept that we have been in existence as a species for 250K years, and if not, then the penalty is X (typically a fine, lack of recognition or reward where otherwise given, jail, physical punishment, social ostracization, or death)", as one should recognize my current opinion in regards to righteousness is subject to scientific change, social acceptance, and to personal belief. It's a silly example, but it exacerbates my point:
You (and if not you on a given issue, another) want to apply, per my example, this method to:
guns, marriage, abortion, smoking, healthcare, foods, drugs, housing, resources, money... on and on and on. In fact, there appears by today's standards an ever increasing rule of law, with no end to which issues in life are not subject to majority or elite thought. How SCARY. (Google "3 Felonies a Day". Give it another 100 years of this, we'll be on the magnitude of 100 or 1000.)
You feel you are righteous enough in your beliefs that your beliefs should take precedence to others, by rule of LAW and PERSECUTION, to those that believe and may chose otherwise. Yet, the basic knowledge that man has on any one of these issues and it's respective side, is undoubtedly small and likely at best very inaccurate, if not complete false to that of reality or morality. How foolish and/or fearful must one be to understand that one's knowledge on any given subject is quantitatively small, yet still decide that one is morally or scientifically righteous beyond a doubt, to the point that one should/will via law and persecution upon others enforce one's will? My opinion, for most cases, is this is complete
insanity. Not only should we be recognizing that what we "understand" as "right" today will in many cases be wrong tomorrow, but more-so that application of these current "understandings" upon all men via law and persecution is then hence not only wrong, but in fact a detriment to the advancement and survival of our species, or to that which we may evolve, let alone the detriment to a system of governance of men which remains to supports man's individuality and freedom of choice, rather than a rigid system of intolerance and conformity. IMO, in almost all cases, you and I should be
celebrating those that chose different than you or I, even if you or I view it to be wrong. We should not creating law to remove that difference and persecute, ostracize, or devalue others that do different. It is easy to fear that which one does not chose, or that which one does not understand, or one which is different from another. However, this fear, lack of understanding, or difference should not be an excuse to enforce one's, or one's group, will and "righteous" desires upon all others. This, imo, is the greatest limitation that man can make to himself in regards to achieving peace, prosperity, diversity, advancement, and ultimately survival. How can you study an outcome that does not exist because you have limited such to not exist? You can't. How will you re-enforce in society the acceptance of difference among men, when instead you support the men who want the removal and limitation of difference? You won't.
This wasn't all about politics, although it is in part why I support Ron Paul and his view of limited government and constitutional values. I believe our fore-fathers were much, much smarter than most of us give them credit for or understand them to be. Throughout history, we see what nations do to it's own people with the power it holds. Government is not to be trusted, and imo should be, if anything, used to EXPAND upon the protections of it's people's rights, diversity, and freedoms... not to the limitations of such, as we have perverted it to be today. In general, basing from our constitution, there is little more that can be given to man, but MUCH to be limited to him and his choice, and should be used very, very, VERY sparingly. Notice our constitution was based around the Individual, not the Government. Notice the Rights were for the Individual, not the Government. And Rat, this is where I will state that even your comment was a little worrisome to me in the fact that it is not always the constituents that know best, as our current acceptance of the process has allowed majority constituent thought or elite money thought to rule above the constitution. IMO, it is the constitution, to which amazingly wise and brave men spent a considerable part of their lives fighting for and dedicated thought in drafting a strong bedrock for freedom and diversity, which should be considered first and foremost above that of the constituents. To find the men, despite their beliefs or that of their constituents, willing to first and foremost protect individualism, freedom, diversity, and the constitution which bore existence to such in this land, those are the men which I believe are best suited for the guidance of our country, the world, and our species.
Lastly, I am by no means trying to preach from a moral high ground. Truth be told, despite my beliefs, I am easily swayed too by my ideology on one subject or another, and would rather see others do as I do, or do as I preach. This is my folly too, as I am man, and is why our constitution is so vital and to be respected. We as men are susceptible to corruption, power, greed, are swayed easily by fear, grouping ourselves by similarities (birds of a feather...), and ostracize those that are different. I accept I am not any better than most in being judgmental. Hence in this recognition, I think it is important to appreciate that which allows one to be a master of his domain based on his beliefs, but not be the master of that of another's.