Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[aim hier]

wall,

I don't care whether you restore the signature line or not, I was just making my case. As for partisanship, it has some pluses and a lot of negatives. I don't really have a model for what I think an ideal political system should look like. I believe that most people in both parties are fundamentally decent people. Democrats tend to live in the North or West, and work for government or non-profits, Republicans tend to live in the South or Midwest, and work in the private sector. Republicans tend to be religious, Democrats, much less so.

I think most of us agree on desirable goals, our differences are the means that will get us there. In an ideal world, people could debate political alternatives with respect and without rancor. We're not anywhere near that point, and I blame not only our political party system, but also, the massive amounts of money that must be raised to conduct a campaign. Running a 'nice' campaign yields no dough, demonizing your opponent, brings in a lot of moolah. I really don't want to see either party dominate our government, I see liberalism and conservatism as a Yin, Yang kind of dualism. The optimal solution usually contains a little of both. As i have stated earlier, I tend to favor legislation that wins overwhelmingly, not the 51-49 kind of splits, which are usually disasters. There is some truth to the caricatures that Republicans favor the rich (who are not always the socially productive, but largely are), and Democrats, who, favor income redistribution (which usually has enormous adverse unintended consequences, but there is a societal obligation to provide for those less able to provide for themselves). Many companies once fashioned compensation schemes similarly, bonuses for merit, and profit sharing to reward team accomplishments.

How can someone live in a 28k square foot home and not be concerned about those living in squalor? On the other hand, if all of your needs can be met by the government, why work, unless it provides you with some psychic rewards? Is it in our interest to have the high unemployment rates of the more socialist Western nations?