This sure is a hot topic eh? 4 pages already!
Eh, I suppose I'm in the middle, maybe left of middle a bit. I agree with things on one side and agree with things on the other side as well.
1) Pro-Death Penalty. Hey, I sure as heck don't want to be supporting serial killers with my taxes. Really? 20 years in the penal system? What does that actually accomplish anyhow? If you asked me, add pedophiles and serial rapists to the list of criminals that can receive the death penalty and I'd be a happy camper.
2) Pro-Abortion. Let's face it, there's a population problem in the world. The last thing we need is
more unwanted people in this world eh? There's plenty of children in the world that need good homes and don't have them (Africa, India, Brazil) and we're going to add more children? And a child that isn't wanted is not going to get the love they need to develop into a good, well-adjusted member of society. And yes, a child can tell if you resent them! The last thing we need is to breed more a-holes. It's a matter of cutting your losses a little. Granted, I'm also against lots of promiscuity and resorting to abortion as a first means of contraception. People gotta take responsibility for their loins a little.
3) Pro-Green. Granted, some of this climate change stuff is over the top, I don't think the world will end due to tsunamis, hurricanes, the ice caps melting, etc. etc. etc. (Really? Come on now.) But I think it is about time we started cutting back on energy consumption, pollution, the works. I would love it if recycling bins and programs were expanded because it's inconvenient right now. I especially like the idea of alternate fuels because we need to
cut back on foreign oil just for the sake of our economy and foreign policy. We really need to find
practical solutions to global health problems that don't interfere too much with industry, because the factories will keep producing regardless of how many hippies tie themselves to trees. And yeah, replanting trees is a good thing, let's do that. (Read, I'm not against cutting them, just replace them yo?)
4) Anti-PETA. Hot potatoes, are they nutty eh? I like the idea of animal rights but sheesh. I'm also anti-vegetarianism, sorry folks, it's silly. Protein is a vital part of the human diet, deal with it.
5) Pro-Immigration Laws. I understand that poverty exists in other countries, but all of them coming here is not the solution. Other countries need better labor laws. Progressivism, it's a good thing. Unionize, people! Yeah, I'm from a frontier state, and illegals are a problem here. I do feel sorry for them, after all, it's not their fault they're poor and desperate and have mouths to feed, but it's a matter of how many there are, and the conditions they face when they get here, and which jobs they're taking and from whom. They come here, live many to a room, work for jack-squat wages, doing menial labor, long hours, terrible work conditions (poor those guys working construction in the middle of the day in June/July/August), always running from the Law, can't advance in life, and generally looked down upon by most of everyone. Any other legal person here doing the same position would get shorter hours, higher wages, and be able to say "Really, you want me and my coworkers to work on asphalt in 104 degree weather? Screw that!" The very desperation of illegals lowers the labor standard in this country, and they don't have rights to stand up for (without risking deportation). It might as well be slave labor. And it's really sad and very crappy in general that a lot of the youth turn to crime to make the money necessary to live. I really dislike the crime rates going up due to desperate people needing to take desperate measures. I think the US needs to pressure other countries to advance their civil rights and labor laws so that these situations don't arise in the first place! On a similar note:
6) Anti-NAFTA. Good grief. Where are all our jobs going? Oh that's right, over the border, where they can pay the workers peanuts to produce the same crap and then sell it in Wal-Mart. And we Americans let it happen! And we wonder what the hell happened to our economy, letting other countries (India, China, Mexico, Guatemala, etc.) out-produce us. Oh wait, they can out-produce us because they don't have proper labor laws. They don't have civil rights. Their governments can whip them and no one speaks up about it. Well darn, I guess we can't compete anymore. Too bad our very own corporations are too short-sighted and traitorous. Who is gonna buy that crap that you produce so cheaply if NO ONE HAS A JOB TO AFFORD IT.
7) Anti-bailout. Well, I like Ford, they're ok, but Chrysler and GM can die for all I care. No use throwing good money after bad. I have a Ford car, it's nice, runs well, no problems, 5 years old, good gas mileage. But everyone I know who's ever had a Chrysler or GM car has nothing but complaints about what kind of clunkers they are. Terrible cars, can't compete, let em burn.
8) Anti-Iraq War. Seriously, anything useful come out of that? "We liberated them." That's useful? How much money did we throw at that cause so that we can feel good about our self-righteousness?
9) I dunno how to phrase this but... I like the idea of more taxation on the rich and less on the poor. The poor don't have the means to support the country as much as the rich. And yeah, if you're born with a silver spoon in your mouth, that hardly counts as "hard work." And if you do nothing but exploit people, lie, rip people off, and other common business tactics to make your "hard earned" cash... that shouldn't be rewarded. BUT...
10) Anti-Welfare. It's good in concept but it needs way more regulation. I don't like supporting drunken hobos who can't get their behinds off the floor and get a productive job. I don't like supporting crack-mothers who can't give a flying rat's derierre how much their children suffer because they "need a fix." People with legitimate psychological problems need professional help, but enabling them to continue a life of poverty via tax dollars? Put the tax dollars into the psych hospitals so they might actually be able to be productive members of society. Some people have hard luck, get laid off, really are looking for a job, but are having trouble, don't have a lot of good skills, badly educated, few opportunities in life to advance... it happens. But the ones that are just lazy shouldn't be allowed to sponge off of the government.
11) Neutral-Gay Marriage. I just don't care about this issue. Sorry. If gay people want to get married, and the government lets them, I might just care enough to shrug about it. If they have to settle for (gasp) just a civil union, then I guess they'll just have to. Meanwhile, I'll still think it's a matter of semantics. If civil unions are governed by the same laws as marriages, with the same tax laws, the same separation laws (like divorce), etc. then who cares what it's called? (And granted, I don't know a whole lot about this issue because em, I don't care enough to gather info about it)
12) Pro Civil Rights... but Anti Civil Rights Exploitation. It's been 40 years. It will take time for racist and sexist ideas to die (literally, as the prejudiced ones die off), but in the meantime, I'd like it if a true meritocracy was set up such that if I'm a white guy (I'm not btw) and I have the same qualifications as a black woman, I should have equal consideration. And vice versa. I dislike the fact that if I were a white guy, and a black woman with lesser qualifications applied for the same job, she'd get it because she's got protected sex and skin color. It should have no bearing on job selection, school selection, etc. Period. (As a hispanic female, I'd feel really insulted if I found out I was hired just because I was a minority and there was a minority quota to fill! Because as a minority, I can't be expected to have the same intelligence and skill, and I'm held to a lower standard? Really?)
13) Pro Educational Equity. The suburbs are getting better schooling than the inner city, and that's a real shame. If you have the money to send your kid to a private school, by all means do so, but the public school system needs revamping because some kids get the "good" school districts and others get the "bad" school districts. If you're in the bad district? Well I guess tough noodles. No equal opportunity for you. Life sucks, get used to it. (I'd like it if all children had the same educational opportunities so that we don't continue this spiral of bad district -> bad education -> bad job -> bad income -> low rent -> bad neighborhood -> less property tax -> no money for the local school -> bad district) It doesn't help that the country doesn't value education enough to pay their teachers!!!! It would really help if teachers had wages enough that they might be motivated to teach when otherwise they wouldn't care!!!
14) Pro Health Care Reform. Seriously, let's adopt the Swiss system. I'm not sure I understand the Anti Health Care Reform side of things though, if someone really thinks the current system is ok and should be kept, I'd be happy to hear it
(And yeah, false dichotomy. I don't know how I feel about the Obama plan. Pro/Con debate here would be fun and educational.)
15) Pro Research and Development. Just cuz we cut back on health care costs doesn't mean we ought not put money into cancer, AIDS,
stem cell research (yes, Pro stem cell research), the like. Science is the way forward eh? We ought to embrace it, put money into it, it's a good thing, and gives the country an edge in the global market.
Welp enough soap-boxing:rant2:I love that graphic
As my dad says, opinions are like a-holes, everybody's got one
Just my two cents.
