For those concerned, Nader is running on a conservative platform this go round. He is no longer a green party member. It seems that his current goal is simply to get Bush out of the White House, which, admittedly, is an admirable goal.
As far as raising taxes goes, I don't think I'm all that opposed to it. If I could also declare which gov-funded programs it could go to I would probably support it, though assuredly, this would end all social programs the government does end up supporting. Why does it matter if you pay a little more money to a government if the government actually helps you? Think about it. The main gripe people have with taxes is that they never see any good come of it, all the money ever can be seen doing is going into our pathetic standing army. (I say pathetic not because they are incapable--though they have yet to prove themselves in recent years--but because a standing army is an economical and ethical nightmare. It is symptomatic of our pathetic fear-ridden existence that we keep it around.)
My position on the faults of our government are so fundamentally rooted in the worldview we have that no simple presidential change could substantially affect anything. Statikk, your position I agree with, but my trouble comes with the fact that Kerry and Bush are running on practically identical platforms. There are minor changes, but the things I dislike most about Bush--warmongering nationalism--appear in Kerry as well. Sure, Kerry isn't a moron, but what does it say when your political options are "Vote for this guy! He's NOT dumb as a rock!" Democrats are the lesser evil. They have always been the lesser evil. But is it enough?
PA complains that the democrats are falling apart, and thus the liberal view has been demolished. Let me propose something. The Democrats aren't liberal. Perhaps in the past their views have been seen as liberal in comparison to the uber-conservative Republicans. But in recent years there has been such a degradation of both parties that we're basically left with the Christian Right-wingers and The Secular Right-wingers. The truly liberal left has only come close to being adequately represented by the Green Party, who have now lost their candidate.
We ask why the democrats don't have balls? Truly at this point what can they say? They're not wusses per se, they simply don't have any valid points to argue because they AGREE with the REPUBLICANS. Our culture of fear is so set on protecting oneself at all costs that anyone with any hope of attaining political office must offer no change, lest something happen which people aren't familiar with. Right now the republicans are the ones scaring the people, and if a democrat even hints that perhaps freaking out isn't the best option, he (or she) is branded as unpatriotic. The two-party system is at a dead-end, and I would suggest it's time to rip it a new one.
I'm also not a communist or socialist.
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