ThinkDeep

I don’t blog much about politics lately.  Lord knows there is more than enough reason to comment on things.  This one caught my attention and I thought it significant enough to address it.

The thing that most strikes me about this is the intent of dividing.  Division is not good for anyone and this piece is about creating division.  Some may say, this is just a joke, lighten up. I don’t think it is a joke at all.  It is one person’s view or one group’s view of the world from a certain narrow perspective.  And it very much deserves to be challenged even if in my own limited way.  Perhaps the entire thing is entirely accurate but there are actually very few conservatives or liberals according to the definition offered.

The implication is that people fall into these two categories.  People are more complex than this.

Conservatives and Liberals
Random Thoughts On The Difference

Between “Us” And “Them”

Sad but true… (Not! but we will get to that later)

If a conservative doesn’t like guns, they don’t buy one. If a liberal doesn’t like guns, then no one should have one.

In logic this is known as a gross generalization.  Take something that applies to a few and extend it to imply that it applies to a much larger group.  it goes like this.  My neighbor is likes rice.  He is Indian.  Therefore all Indians like rice.  There is nothing inherently wrong with guns.  However, I think it is clear that there are places where we would not want guns.  We might disagree on where those places are, but that is all.  Are there some who think that no one should ever have guns?  I bet I can find some.  But to lump everyone into one huge category like this is not accurate at all.  I would bet that the actual number of people who are in this category is statistically small.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, they don’t eat meat. If a liberal is, they want to ban all meat products for everyone.

I would love to know where this great banning of meat products comes from.  I have never heard anyone say this to me.  I have met several vegetarians in my lifetime.  Go figure.

If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy. A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.

There is so much in this one sentence.  First, the “seeing” of the threat.  There is a difference between perceiving a threat and there actually being one.  I would hope that we give as much thought as we can afford before running off to kill someone.  Sure, go kill the enemy if you have to.  There are times when this is necessary.  But consider alternatives before doing that.

If a conservative is homosexual, they quietly enjoy their life. If a liberal is homosexual, they loudly demand legislated respect.

I’m not sure what to do with this. If any person or group feels that they want or need a law for some reason, they have a right to do that.  We have many many laws.  Why pick on homosexuals?  Would they be asking for these laws if they did not find it necessary?

If a black man or Hispanic is conservative, they see themselves as independently successful. Their liberal counterparts see themselves as victims in need of government protection.

Really? Seems rather presumptuous to put oneself into another’s mind to state how they see themselves.  Despite what some feel to be the case, not everyone who is successful is a conservative. And conservatives do not OWN work ethic.

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation. A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

There are certainly are some people who are very dependent on the government.  That exists everywhere. However, many so called liberals have worked hard and made their situation better. I bet there are some conservatives who have needed government help at some point.

If a conservative doesn’t like a talk show host, he switches channels. Liberals demand that those they don’t like be shut down.

This is a pure invention.

I realize that conservatives have been claiming that some people want to shut them down.  I have not seen any evidence of this.  I challenge anyone to produce a pamphlet, petition, letter, court filing, plea, or any other evidence of this.  They never will.  Because it is pure fabrication.

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church. A liberal wants any mention of God or religion silenced.

There are many liberals who believe in God.  So perhaps the statement is right “A” liberal wants God or religion silenced.  One person.  Again, this is a gross generalization.  An attribute of a few is extended to apply to a much broader group.

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it. A liberal demands that his neighbors pay for his.

Do we really want all health care to be about what someone can afford? Is it really all about all for me none for you?  Not having enough money means a person should just go away and die?  By this standard, all conservatives should be rejecting medicare.  All of them.  Go ahead. Do it.  Make your actions speak.

Do you really want health care to be connected to your job?  The problem is that people who get really sick might not have a job any more.  What do they do? Die? Live on the street?  Do we really want to live in such a mercenary society?

I am surprised that companies still even want to provide health insurance.  What they spend administering those plans no longer makes any sense.  I would think that separating health insurance from a place of work would free companies to have to deal with these things.  This would reduce their overhead and they could focus on what their companies really do well.

I stand looking in sadness at a beautiful place. Trinidad and Tobago, was a great place to grow up. It had that unique style. Those memories are something to cherish. Yet, as we look at that country today, there is a great deal amiss. Why do I care? I don’t even live there any more. Yet I do. And so I write. Because it is what I can do. Small it may be. Perhaps I will influence no one. Perhaps it is too late. A part of courage is to go on even when facing daunting odds.

I care because Trinidad and Tobago can be a better place. The potential is there. Yet it seems like most are willing for the stupidity to continue.

I was going to talk about party loyalty today. And I will to an extent. To those of you who cling to the PNM know this. You are no different than anyone in any other country who associates themselves with a strong party loyalty. That is admirable to a degree. However, undying loyalty to any political party can be a poison that can destroy the very thing you are trying to protect. I’m not saying you should abandon the party. However, if they are not doing the job you think they should be doing, why sit on the side line and let it happen?

If you hired someone for a job and you really liked that person, but they were doing a bad job, wouldn’t you fire them? If you hired a guy to build a fence and a week later it fell over because it was poorly built, would you hire that guy again? I sure wouldn’t.  Why then would you accept a dysfunctional government who does close to zero to solve or alleviate some of the countries problems?

Perhaps Trinidad is too small of a country.  Let’s see.  Iceland has a population of 350,000.  And they don’t have the significant crime problems that are ruining the paradise of that sweet Caribbean isle.  Trinidad and Tobago is becoming a lawless wasteland.  And the longer you wait to fix it, the worse it will be and harder to fix.  You know they say a stitch in time saves nine.  Well, there you go.

Call on the people that you elected to do something about crime.  You hired them to do a job.  Now you should expect them to do that job.  There are only two reasons that they are not doing the job the were hired for.  Either they don’t know how to do the job or are unwilling to do the job.  If you are unwilling, you should be fired.  If you don’t know how, then find someone who does know.

Personally I think Patrick Manning is not the sharpest tool in the shed.   I might be wrong.  That shouldn’t be a disaster.  But it appears that he does not care.  And you hired him to care.  You hired him to do a reasonable job at a minimum.

For all practical purposes, Trinidad has a government that can sit on their ass while everything goes to shit.  Why should they care?  No one else does.  People get all the government they deserve.

So what is in the future?  Complete lawlessness?  Everyone carries around an uzi, Glock or M16?  Is that what it will come to?  Who would want to live in that?

I trust that you really care but don’t know that you can make a difference.  You should know that you do not have to accept such utter incompetence.

I’m urging a letter writing campaign taught to me by one John N. Morgan.  This is devilishly simple to do.  Have you ever sent a post card?  That’s how easy this is.  A postcard is a predefined size accepted internationally.  Only the size matters.  You can use virtually any card.  Get yourself some thick plain white card stock and cut several to the right size if you must.  I said it was simple, but I did not say it was easy.  This is actually easy to do on a computer printer.  Print out in big letters “I Care about my country. Do Something About Crime”.  Hand write it with a marker.  It does not matter.  Next you will need some stamps adequate for mailing a postcard.  You will need two addresses.  Get the address for YOUR representative and the mailing address for the PM.  Here is where you can get creative.  Pass some out to friends and ask them to mail them.  The post cards will be pre addressed so all they have to do is get a stamp.  Send in one yourself every day.  I recommend mailing these over time.  You want these politicians to get a handful every day.  Try to run the program for weeks at a time.  They can toss aside one or two of these.  But it will get their attention after they get 100 or 1000.  Teach others to do the same.  What you have is a lazy employee who should care much more than he is showing.  Do something to show that you care and therefore he should also.

Good luck and God bless.

Thomas Jefferson is one of my favorite historical figures.  It would do everyone well to learn about some of his ideas.  Though he was an American, his thoughts and ideas permeate the fabric of all our lives across many countries beyond what anyone can imagine.

In Tienennen Square in China when the students stood up for democracy, they were holding signs with the Jefferson’s words on them.

The very idea of a bill of rights, which is the idea that people should have a list of rights to protect them from abuses of their own government come from Jefferson.

Why do I tell you about Jefferson?  Thomas Jefferson realized that a government had to continually renew itself.  He didn’t specify how this should happen.  He stated that there should be a revolution every hundred years.  There is no telling if he meant a physical revolution or not.  By all accounts he does not seem to have been a person who espoused violence.  Elections as we know them today are sometimes like little mini revolutions.  They allow for a new place for the emerging ideas and philosophies.  It isn’t the taking of power that is so important.  What is more important is the change in thinking.  A society must think differently.  This change can occur over a long time or a short one.  But it does change.

The French Revolution took place in 1789. However, if you look back at some of the writings leading up to it, there was a change in thinking that was happening.  At that time, information and thoughts flowed much slower than today.  One thing is certain, all political revolutions are preceded by a revolution in thought first.

I want to be clear that I am NOT talking about any sort of armed revolution or violence.  A society built from violence will only bring sadness, pain and death to itself in the long run.  I am talking about a revolution of IDEAS and THOUGHT.

Be open to changing your thinking.  Don’t be concerned about whether you can change everything in your society or not.  Look at the man in the mirror first.  That is the person who needs to change their thinking.  How to do that?  Ask questions of yourself.  Is this the society that I want to live in?  Is it acceptable that my government act that way?  Is that how I would act?

This is one reason I despise an over developed sense of loyalty to a political party.  Write a letter to your representative.  Tell them what you think.  In a country like Trinidad, it should be easy to hand deliver the letters if you wanted to.

I realize this takes work.  This takes effort.  This takes time.  This takes resources.  You must pay attention to what is happening.  Yes, even thinking takes effort.  It can be frustrating.  Are you willing to accept what is?  Are you appalled that your politician often behaves in a childish manner?  It is one thing to accept something that is not ideal.  It is quite another to accept something that is a complete mess of incompetence,  hardheartedness and arrogance.

In spirit, all democracies should be government of the people,  by the people and for the people. How close does your government get to this ideal?  Think about this one.  Usually, it is the “for the people” part that they forget most readily.