Political Beliefs

     I'm actually not really one to talk about my beliefs in politics, mostly because I have so few. But what with turning 18 in a mere 13 days, I thought I should probably look seriously at what I believe politically. If for no other reason, I need to know what to sign up as when I register to vote. Well, here's what I think. From what I know of the democratic party, they are left wingish, and are generally for equality and basically mild communism. The right wing, Republicans on the other hand appears to believe in making money and being wealthy, and not caring to do anything about social inequality, because that's just how it is. I know these are extremes and I don't even know how accurate they are, but in any case I know where I stand. When I register to vote, I'm registering as an independent. I don't care for either of the two philosophies in all cases, and really I don't want to be tied down. I change my mind frequently, and I just don't like the thought of being in a situation where I'm expected to follow one belief system all the time. It's the same for me with religion. I just want to believe whatever I want, whenever I want. I don't need to feel as though I belong to a group and I don't need to feel as though I'm subject to that group's ideology. It just isn't for me. Maybe I'll change my mind on that eventually, but I really doubt it. Absolutes are just chains to me.

The Commander in Chief

     I can not wait until we get a female president. I think a strong and confident woman would do a lot for this country. Not only would she be a model for other women, but she would show the world that women can do the job. This may sound odd coming from a male, but I'm really excited by the prospect. I watch a tv show called "Commander in Chief" about a female president. If we had a president like that character is, it'd be so awesome. I just think a lot of sexism would go down, and a rise in female power would result. I'm not sexist. I don't think men do a better job at running things than women. I think it's high time our country gets past this prejudice, and let a woman run things. A stereotype of men is that they are strong and powerful, but a stereotype of women is that they are weak and submissive. Clearly this isn't true of many women, we need to show that. I'd just really like to see what happens. Assuming she believed in things I believe in, I would so vote for her. Political equality should mean political equality. It would also show other countries that we can still be just as powerful with a woman as the head of our country.

The Constitution

     The constitution is actually quite an efficient document. From what I know of it, it's served our country very well. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, there are grey areas. I'm not sure if this is good or bad honestly. On the one hand it seems good that there is flexibility for changing times, which ensures that we aren't lost in time. Our country founders were pretty smart, but they couldn't plan for everything. They had no idea we'd have cars or airplanes or anything. It's good that we can have judges now who can interpret the constitution to help us. The only bad thing is that because of changing times, the interpretations can sometimes not be for the benefit of everyone. Some interpretations in my mind don't make sense. Some constitutional rules stay the same even though we are in a different time where it makes sense to change them. I don't think there's a good answer to this problem though. We don't want to make the constitution too rigid, but we don't want it to be too flexible either, because then our leaders could totally manipulate it to their own purpose. I just hope the judicial branch is full of honorable people who will do their best to preserve the constitution and not let their power go to their head, because it is a ginormous responsibility.

Obama

     I really don't know what to say about him. Here's this guy who seems to be doing the best he can in politics, and from the video we watched, he seems like a nice fellow. He is obviously a good speaker, highly educated with morals. The only things I know about him however are that he said he would take out the troops, and that he cut the space program. To my knowledge he didn't take out the troops (though I don't really know, because I know nothing about the world or politics) and cutting the space program makes me mad. I honestly believe that space is the only hope for the world. We're cutting down our resources and we have 7 billion people living on the planet. There's a definite problem here. We need to colonize the moon or find other life or something out there that will help us. Plus the space thing would unite us as a world, which would be bitchin'. I don't like the military thing because I'm a pacifist and I don't like the thought of the U.S. meddling in other countries. But again I really don't know the whole story, or basically any of it. I never watch the news, I never read about the news. The only news I ever hear about is from my classmates or teachers. I just don't care to be honest. I'm happy to talk about my opinions, but sometimes I just really don't have any on a subject. Plus you know every president is flawed. Everyone gets mad at every president for something. Well duh, they're human. What do you expect? I just don't get people. Or the draw of politics. It is all simply too much for me.

So the debt.

     I haven't made a blog post in a while. I apologize to the viewing audience, but I just don't like politics and it's hard for me to think of anything, you know? The one thing I would like to talk about that I semi understand is debt. What I don't understand is why we can get away with it and what the point of it is if we can. I mean we are mostly in debt to China, right? Why don't we have to pay it? Like I guess it is because we are a strong power. But we owe $1.16 trillion to China. That is a lot. If they aren't going to make us pay it, but let us get further and further into debt, than what's the point? I just don't understand things like this. Debt is meant to be payed. If we do have to pay it, then lets pay it. You have to pay off your parents when they get you that new stuffed animal you wanted, before you go out and buy yourself some ice cream. WHY CAN WE NOT SIMPLY PAY OFF WHAT WE OWE. There's just no sense in it to me. Seriously what is the point?? Debt seems to be something everyone is talking about currently, but no one is doing anything about it. Such a waste of breath really. Well, sleep well. Even though we know we owe so much. You can dream about that tonight.

Religion In Politics

     I believe in a separation of church and state, but more to the point, America in general believes in a separation of church and state. This is why religion in politics is a big deal and why everyone is all panicy about it. Here's the deal though: religion is not church. What a person religifies in their own personal lives has really nothing to do with their political ability. Religion is just a word used to describe things that people are passionate about and hold in extremely high regard. With that being said, morals, ethics, and political beliefs are in fact religious as well as organized religions. I know there's a difference and I get that. But I mean really? The president isn't a dictator. It's not like he's going to just tell everyone in America how to believe or impose his beliefs on the decisions he makes in office. I don't think America would let you do that. Your beliefs are your beliefs, but not all beliefs enter into everything. I believe it's stupid to have religion homework. That's a belief I hold. However when it comes to doing my job as a student, I separate my belief from what I know I must accomplish in order to get a good grade. Same basic principle for presidents. I mean this isn't rocket science. We need to stop being prejudice against others and instead look at their ability to do the job. There's no reason why a mormon can't do the job. Were he saying that he was going to reform a bunch of stuff based on his religion, then that would be one thing. But give the guy a break, you can't go around impeding people's careers just because of their background. That's the kind of thing America is suppose to be against. Just judge him on his ability, not on what he believes about God. The idea of God is subjective anyway. No one knows what the truly correct religion is, or if it even exists. People are silly.

The Death Penalty

     As I recall, not but a few days ago, my government class discussed the death penalty. I personally am of the opinion that the death penalty is backwards thinking. It's barbaric in my mind, but it's because I'm really into preserving all life. But that is beside the point. There seems to be quite a few cases recently where the death penalty has been controversial. We read articles in class about people who got temporarily let off because it was not certain whether their trials were fair or not. One was due to possible racial prejudice, and another was due to problems with the drugs used for the death penalty. If I had my way, we would simply get rid of the death penalty, and allow people simple life imprisonment. I realize of course that this isn't exactly economically viable, but it is more humane in my mind. I don't know it's just an inherently imperfect system in my mind. But at any rate, we definitely must make sure that any punishment we put forth, whether death penalty or not must be in accordance with the constitution, because if we make exceptions, then the standard is not set for everyone. If we amend the constitution to abolish the death penalty, then we can all abide by it and no one will have to die because of it. That would be nice because it would preserve life, but it would also silence all these challenging cases of what is permissible by the constitution.