One day until the election and as much as I love politics and discussing politics, I will be glad to have this election over and done. It is amazing to me to watch us peacefully elect new leadership every four years. The campainging can and does get negative and petty ( and sometimes pathetic, i.e. "palling around with terrosits") but it is done peacefully with no bloodshed, pretty amazing if you look at how power has been transferred throughout history.
While I live in a state where my vote probably won't change the outcome in the direction I would like to see it go, I am excited to watch how the votes come in behind the Zion curtain, I think we are going to see the state get a little less red this year.
A couple of observations
-Why is the idea of "Socialism" so abhorrent? It has been used at the end of this election in almost as negative a tone as "Terroism". Isn't tithing just a form of redistribution of wealth? Wasn't the "United Order" instituted by the church based on the principles of the "Law Consecration" simply a form of Christian socialism? Yes, the United Order failed (just like all other socialist experiments) but its goal of creating an egalitarian society of no rich and no poor is not an evil idea, it is really the divine order for community. Just because we as humans can't get over our greed and jealousy or because dictators have used socialist ideas in the past to control people, does not mean that the idea of socialism is wrong or evil.
- How have the issues of abortion and gay marriage become the only moral issues that matter any more? I agree that they are moral issues however in my mind the issues facing us such as preemptive unjustified war, the growing gap between the rich and poor, figuring out how to provide health care to all citizens, etc... are just as much a moral issue, if not more. We need to expand are thinking of what constitutes a "moral issue"
So which ever way your political leanings take you, get out and vote tomorrow and remember that Democrats vote on Tuesday and Republicans vote on Wednesday.
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A GRAND COUNTY ALMANAC
Wild Quotes
"When I hear the stock market has fallen, I say, "Long live gravity! Long live stupidity, error and greed in the palaces of fantasy capitalism!" I think an economy should be based on thrift, on taking care of things, not on theft, usury, seduction, waste, and ruin. My purpose is a language that can make us whole, Though mortal, ignorant, and small. The world is whole beyond human knowing."
-Wendell Berry, agrarian philosopher
"Where can one find a healthier and purer delight than when on a brilliant winter day one binds one's ski to ones feet and takes one's way out into the forest?... Civilization is, as it were, washed clean from the mind and left far behind with the city atmosphere and city life; one's whole being is, so to say, wrapped in one's ski and surrounding nature"
Fridtjof Nansen, Norwewgian adventurer and Ski Hero, first to cross Greenland on skis.
"Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"
Aldo Leopold
"And they did preserve the land south as a wilderness, to get game.."
Book of Mormon, Ether 10:21
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The wind will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.
-- John Muir
-Wendell Berry, agrarian philosopher
"Where can one find a healthier and purer delight than when on a brilliant winter day one binds one's ski to ones feet and takes one's way out into the forest?... Civilization is, as it were, washed clean from the mind and left far behind with the city atmosphere and city life; one's whole being is, so to say, wrapped in one's ski and surrounding nature"
Fridtjof Nansen, Norwewgian adventurer and Ski Hero, first to cross Greenland on skis.
"Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"
Aldo Leopold
"And they did preserve the land south as a wilderness, to get game.."
Book of Mormon, Ether 10:21
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The wind will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.
-- John Muir
4 comments:
Very funny ending. You peace loving fella' you. I wish I could see you in a Blanding Sunday School class making comments. It would be neat-o.
Happy Election day tomorrow!
Thank you! I've been fixating lately on why we as Americans are so scared of the word "socialism" that I've seemed a little crazy. Socialism, like Communism, would be fantastic in a perfect world. Why is it so crazy to hope for equality and fairness for everyone? Thanks for reigniting my fixation and giving me an opportunity for a mini-rant on your comment page. Marx 2012!:)
Hey... when are the Independent's suppossed to vote?
I agree!
Actually, now that the Soviet Union has been kaput for a couple of decades, I think the values and ideals of Socialism will get another look.
I don't see Socialism as an economic system, but rather a principled, long tradition that melds those who have "social" values with a desire for happy, productive human lives. Toss in a bit of ecological wisdom in there (along with a critique of the alienation of industrial society) and you get: eco-socialsim.
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