July 22, 2004

• Looking for a political party concept is complicated by the fact that I have different ideals depending on what level the decisions are being made at.

  At a national level, I believe in a more or less a libertarian commonwealth approach. States should be self-governed, autonomous bodies governed by the people within that state, and the federal government should be a thin layer which provides a guarantee of defense, human rights, and basic facilitation of economics.

  I believe that each state should operate how the citizens of that state choose.

  I think that I’d most like to live in a state that leans towards the philosophy of Libertarian Socialism, but I could see wanting to live in a socialist state if it was done right or a libertarian state if it was done right.

  On a local level, I might more towards Democratic to Socialist to Communist, although we’d have to be talking a pretty small “local” before I start to feel comfortable with a true communal approach.

  I’d want to be within 1 or 2 (maybe 3) degrees of seperation of everyone in a communal locality, and after I “joined”, I’d want any changes to require a consensus type of decision.

  However, even on this level, I’d want a certain level of libertarianism to remain. I’d never want to live somewhere that could tell me not to do what I want within the privacy of my own space. Other people are welcome to choose to live in that sort of place. I don’t want to.

  I AM willing to give up some choices if it is in exchange for some benefit – for example, I’ll wear a motorcycle/bicycle helmet if you’ll grant me medical care in the event of a wreck. But I want the right to choose whether I accept the trade – if I am willing to go without the medical care, I get to skip the helmet.

  So, how would one define a political system like that? I think that really, the national goals, state goals, and local goals are un-related and each would need its own party at its own level. The parties may cooperate on relevant issues (like all three might fight against making marijuana illegal), but they are really seperate.

  ###

  Well, no more feedback on the social programs thing – am I being too heavy handed? Sometimes, it seems like my posts/responses to various forums get surprisingly little feedback. I’m never sure if that’s because they’re so “out there” that they don’t deserve response or if they’re so heavy handed that they won’t get a response.

  While I do occasionally get a response that more or less says “yep, that sounds right”, I’m pretty sure they’re not convincing everyone of my perspective.

  Here’s an interesting question to add to the list:
  

  What is a good method to either prevent or regulate monopolies and near monopolies?
  Should we? (for the record, I think monopolies are almost always a bad thing)

  ###

  Have you seen this site which claims to track the cost of the war in Iraq and compare it with costs for other social programs?

  Dan Savage of Savage Love recommended wonkette’s web log, which appears to be political/humorous in nature.

  Fact Check is a must read site! It appears to be non partisan as it criticizes ads by everyone. They also have a great tag quote by Sen. Daniel Moynihan:
  

  “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.”

  ###

  I received a letter claiming to be from Senator Bill Frist selecting me to represent my voting district in a “Majority Leader’s Survey” which was assigned to me as a “Representative of all republicans living in [my] voting district.”

  *hrm* Well, that’s interesting.

  My first impulse was to do nothing, but it would be a shame to surrender an opportunity to have my opinions counted.

  My second thought was to do what I could to sabotage the results, but that felt petty and pointless. One data point doesn’t make a lot of difference, and giving bad information doesn’t help anyone.

  So, what if I were to give my honest opinion?

  True, I’m not a Republican, but I’m also not a Democrat. No one owns my vote. If the Republicans start behaving in a way I approve of, I’d vote for them. Granted, the national party would have to change a great deal, but if they are asking for my opinion, they can have it and do what they will with it.

  Btw, who registered me as a Republican?!? After a bit of web research, I’m not the only non-Republican to receive this sort of thing from the NRSC, so probably no one. The organization seems to be for real though.

  tic. toc. tic. toc.

  I just finished scanning the survey. It ends with the following three check boxes (I’m paraphrasing here): YES! I want to donate some money; NO, I don’t want to answer the survey, but here’s some money; and NO. I don’t want to answer the survey or donate, but here’s $11 so that you can send my survey to someone else.

  Hrm…

  Well, I could always complete the survey and make a donation of $0.00, but the fact that there wasn’t a clear option of “I’d like to submit the survey but not give any money” is leaving me less kindly disposed towards the National Republican Senatorial Committee. I wonder how many people in my voting district got one of these, anyway.

  tic. toc. tic. toc.

  Well, there’s a number questions I had to leave blank, because I didn’t think any way I answered it would accurately represent my position (it’s a checkbox survey), but I did my best. I hope it helps build a party I’d want to vote for, but I’m not holding my breath.

  Oh. If anyone wants to check out the organization, here’s their web site. According to opensecrets.org, they’ve raised almost $34,000,000 this year.

  The Open Secrets site is very cool.

  • 5:03 pm
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