What is your political alignment, and why?

[ChillaKilla]

12 minutes ago, Glen said:

 (Like the founding fathers)

Citation needed. You do know they objected to the idea of political parties and partisanship in general, and would probably loathe being posthumously labeled as X party?

[RK800]

*Inhales*
Fully

*squats*
Automated

*spins*

Luxury

*does a gentle dance*

Gay

*split*

Transhumanist

*touches toes*
Space

*throws hands in the air*

Anarcho-communism.

[aeimquy159]

I'm progressive, I believe society is a whole and not just the well off, after all we're all in this together. I agree with legislation that benefits the most people possible and not just a small percentage with the excuse "when people up top do better, we all do better." In the past 1000 years western and to a lesser extent world history has been on the side of progress and social advancement. If you're trying to keep things the way they are or move things back to a way they were history shows you're probably going to fail.

[aeimquy159]

1 hour ago, Glen said:

I'm a right libertarian. (Like the founding fathers)

Do you also believe that only white male land owners should be able to vote? (like the founding fathers) The founding fathers gave us a great draft of democracy but they aren't the end all "pure" America. I'd argue that most of what we would consider "american democracy" formed post Civil War.

[LuckofTheChuck]

4 minutes ago, aeimquy159 said:

Do you also believe that only white male land owners should be able to vote? (like the founding fathers) The founding fathers gave us a great draft of democracy but they aren't the end all "pure" America. I'd argue that most of what we would consider "american democracy" formed post Civil War.

You got me there in that part. I do agree in civil rights and liberties though. 

[M00SE]

On May 2, 2017 at 10:18 AM, LuckofTheChuck said:

You got me there in that part. I do agree in civil rights and liberties though. 

Thats my stance as a consevative libertarian. I believe in the constitution but I believe we need an update. Times have changed since the Civil War after all. There are many things I disagree with fellow conservatives about such as gay marriage and marijuana legalization but hey we've made some progress regarding those things. Hell I didnt even vote Trump, I voted for the socialist Bernie Sanders out of all people.

[God of the Forest]

Im a centrist....*shrug*

[The Dryad]

I'm a liberal independent. I probably align most to the Green Party or the Humane Party, which is pretty new, but focuses on animal rights and veganism.

[The Dryad]

On 5/2/2017 at 8:38 AM, LuckofTheChuck said:

I'm a right libertarian. (Like the founding fathers)

They were technically Federalists and Democratic Republicans....sooooo

[Félinferno]

I'm a Centrist. Some of my views are more left-leaning, while the others are right-leaning. That's why I consider myself in the center.

I used to be more left leaning, but all this BS with SJWs made me lean further right, thus putting me pretty much in the middle.

[God of the Forest]

Just now, Vyridis said:

I'm a Centrist. Some of my views are more left-leaning, while the others are right-leaning. That's why I consider myself in the center.

I used to be more left leaning, but all this BS with SJWs made me lean further right, thus putting me pretty much in the middle.

Same <3

[LuckofTheChuck]

8 hours ago, The Dryad said:

They were technically Federalists and Democratic Republicans....sooooo

I'm a republican.

 

[XYZ96]

On 5/9/2017 at 8:03 PM, M00SE said:

 I voted for the socialist Bernie Sanders out of all people.

Sanders isn't a socialist, he didn't want to abolish capitalism and also he strived to be like the nordic countries, none of which are socialist... you can easily call him a social democrat but he isn't a socialist...  

[Perissodactyla]

"What is your political alignment, and why?"

 

As many of us know well, the OP is an engaged and thoughtful politician interested in political education and outreach and campaigning for elected office. He campaigned for U.S. Representative in Congress for the Democratic Party last Fall.

 

I am not aware of any other AVEN members who are as engaged as they are, but I assume there may be several others who are not as up-front about their activism and participation.

 

Many people on AVEN have strong political opinions and political positions/alignments, of course.

 

I can't help but wonder why people who feel they have strong opinions don't go further into working for political causes they believe in. (?)

It seems that many people think it's enough to have a strong opinion and talk about their opinions. But that's it.

 

I know it takes a lot of energy to commit to action and organization to see our opinions become changes. So I figure most people with opinions only and no participation are just lazy.

 

I guess I would just like to remind those of us with 'talk but no walking the walk', that just talking is not that respectable.

 

I wonder if a lot of people assume that just having an alignment and strong opinions is some kind of simulation of participation and action. (?)

 

I don't know. If this is actually true, then I just say Big Deal with your alignment and your opinions. You're doing nothing to improve anything.

 

I probably sound harsh, but I've been meaning to say this for a while.

 

I miss Joe Parrish, because he is very dedicated and passionate to discuss and engage, even if many of us don't agree with his views a lot of the time.

 

 

 

[Rhyme]

I am a Norwegian left-wing, so I'd probably be considered a communist if I went to the US (our major right-wing party I feel is pretty similar to the Democrats).

[The Terrible Travis]

On 5/20/2017 at 7:58 AM, XYZ96 said:

Sanders isn't a socialist, he didn't want to abolish capitalism and also he strived to be like the nordic countries, none of which are socialist... you can easily call him a social democrat but he isn't a socialist...  

Finally someone who gets this.

[Sally]

On 5/20/2017 at 9:22 AM, euco said:

"What is your political alignment, and why?"

 

As many of us know well, the OP is an engaged and thoughtful politician interested in political education and outreach and campaigning for elected office. He campaigned for U.S. Representative in Congress for the Democratic Party last Fall.

 

I am not aware of any other AVEN members who are as engaged as they are, but I assume there may be several others who are not as up-front about their activism and participation.

 

Many people on AVEN have strong political opinions and political positions/alignments, of course.

 

I can't help but wonder why people who feel they have strong opinions don't go further into working for political causes they believe in. (?)

It seems that many people think it's enough to have a strong opinion and talk about their opinions. But that's it.

 

I know it takes a lot of energy to commit to action and organization to see our opinions become changes. So I figure most people with opinions only and no participation are just lazy.

 

I guess I would just like to remind those of us with 'talk but no walking the walk', that just talking is not that respectable.

 

I wonder if a lot of people assume that just having an alignment and strong opinions is some kind of simulation of participation and action. (?)

 

I don't know. If this is actually true, then I just say Big Deal with your alignment and your opinions. You're doing nothing to improve anything.

 

I probably sound harsh, but I've been meaning to say this for a while.

 

I miss Joe Parrish, because he is very dedicated and passionate to discuss and engage, even if many of us don't agree with his views a lot of the time.

 

 

 

You have no idea how many of us are politically active, so scolding us for not being so is inappropriate.  

[Perissodactyla]

38 minutes ago, Sally said:

You have no idea how many of us are politically active, so scolding us for not being so is inappropriate.  

I apologize if i touched a nerve.

 

Joe Parrish is the only person on AVEN that I know of who actively discussed a political campaign that he worked a lot on. I know of no other person engaged with similar commitment as Joe, of course. This was my point.

 

I'm not trying to scold anyone, but just provoke a little to see if anyone might rise to the challenge to discuss their activism at the organized political level reflecting how each person translates their political alignment into actions or direct support of actions.

 

A lot of people on AVEN don't even Vote! Moreover they often openly question the value of voting or any kind of political participation, which I am baffled by. Which is why I was motivated to tease a little bit with a slightly provocative approach.

 

This is, of course, quite appropriate as political behavior, obviously, since it's what people DO in political campaigns. And it can be perceived as inappropriate maybe if it's over the top, but I didn't think i was being over the top, but merely a bit teasing and provocative.

 

If I'm wrong and people are engaged, all they have to do is think about how they would like to communicate what they are doing and maybe it leads to more discussion about people doing things beyond just stating their opinions from a mostly passive perspective.

 

Again, I'm sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings in this regard. If you're a political creature, what I said and what I say is not that offensive, since it's meant as a challenge hoping for a response.

 

Joe would understand, obviously, and likely welcome a discussion about this topic instead of trying to shut it down right away.

 

 

[Sally]

Euco, commenting on threads is not trying to shut things down.  Commenting is what we do.  In fact, there's no way to shut discussion down; unless the mods intervene, it continues.  

 

Joe is no longer on AVEN, as far as I can see.  He was running for office but did not make the primary cutoff.  

 

Some of us are probably involved in politics.  I am.  However, I don't do that on-line, since on-line  is my "vacation" from what I do in my other life.  

[The Terrible Travis]

On 5/20/2017 at 9:22 AM, euco said:

I can't help but wonder why people who feel they have strong opinions don't go further into working for political causes they believe in. (?)

I have written two political articles and will be running for Congress in 2026.

[Perissodactyla]

 

[Perissodactyla]

Thanks! It's nice to learn about your activism! It really inspires me a lot and makes me really happy.

 

[XYZ96]

On 5/20/2017 at 6:22 PM, euco said:

 

[...]

Many people on AVEN have strong political opinions and political positions/alignments, of course.

 

I can't help but wonder why people who feel they have strong opinions don't go further into working for political causes they believe in. (?)

It seems that many people think it's enough to have a strong opinion and talk about their opinions. But that's it.

 

I know it takes a lot of energy to commit to action and organization to see our opinions become changes. So I figure most people with opinions only and no participation are just lazy.

 

I guess I would just like to remind those of us with 'talk but no walking the walk', that just talking is not that respectable.

 

I wonder if a lot of people assume that just having an alignment and strong opinions is some kind of simulation of participation and action. (?)

 

I don't know. If this is actually true, then I just say Big Deal with your alignment and your opinions. You're doing nothing to improve anything.

 

[...]

 

well, people usually have multiple opinions and some of them, multiple of them are usually strong opinions and at the same time these people will usually have goals and duties, many/most people have to chose: do they want to help political cause A, do they want to become an XZW-Activist, do they want to pursue a certain job that takes lots of time out of their schedule or a hobby, most people can't do all of them (there are probably some geniuses that manage to fit 57 hours in a 24 hour day, but they aren't the majority). You have to set priorities, sometimes that means, well, becoming the best oven salesman is more important then then becoming an active anti-button activist. Now that doesn't mean everyone has these problems, other reasons might be that you might have a cause, but everyone in your cause somehow is ridiculous and you don't want to associate with them, or maybe your opinion is simply that people should leave people alone, so you're going to go up to people and tell them they  should leave people alone and by doing this you would be doing exactly what you don't want people to do and you also don't really want to be hypocritical… or… you could be like me, and just be pretty ok  with the current political and social climate of where you live… or any number of other reasons, also a lot of people simply don't feel strongly enough about things to actually dedicate part of their live to something… 

and besides, talking and discussing and sharing ideas are also very important and are a lot more powerful then people give them credit for… 

 

Just as a maybe parallel (though it isn't perfect), lots of people like art, lots of people like looking and appreciating art and discussing it and analyzing it and this is good, most of these people do not make art even though they are perfectly capable of making art.. but they are the majority of the people looking and appreciating art, and a similar thing is with politics (though usually with lots more yelling and people insulting one another), the majority will always be passive onlookers, and that's good, you need passive onlookers a society only filled with people fighting for causes would be... I'm not sure, I can't actually imagine it..., and it is good if those passive onlookers form opinions and discuss and analyze and share their ideas, even if they stay passive and never become active…  

[ThaHoward]

So we are back to 19th century political theories. In short many have strong political opinions. But they can't be active in political life because it would go against their personal freedom*. The compromise were that one can have access to a free press, freedom of expression and that you can vote for someone on your behalf (MP, Congressmam etc.). So yeah it is actually been theorised about it during the onset of liberalism and in many ways led to the current political system. The above answer is also showing many good examples.

 

*in this contex personal liberty is to be with your family, pursuit of happiness, have hobbies, work and so on.

[Perissodactyla]

One of my favorite TV series is 'Veep', which is hilarious, well-written and really great at showing how a campaign staff can operate in its work.

 

I'm reading a book recently by two people from Bernie Sanders' campaign,

'Rules for Revolutionaries: How Big Organizing Can Change Everything':

 

 

"Rules for Revolutionaries is a bold challenge to the political establishment and the “rules” that govern campaign strategy.

 

It tells the story of a breakthrough experiment conducted on the fringes of the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign: A technology-driven team empowered volunteers to build and manage the infrastructure to make seventy-five million calls, launch eight million text messages, and hold more than one-hundred thousand public meetings―in an effort to put Bernie Sanders’s insurgent campaign over the top."

 

Bernie Sanders came to my city almost one year ago:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgmL5CMab-w

 

 

[Mostly Peaceful Ryan]

I lean towards Conservatism and libertarian.

[ThaHoward]

3 hours ago, ♣Ryan♣ said:

I lean towards Conservatism and libertarian.

Don't let the political correct choir see that

[Mostly Peaceful Ryan]

On 5/23/2017 at 2:16 AM, ThaHoward said:

Don't let the political correct choir see that

[Perissodactyla]

LOL! That's SO funny!

'DON'T EVEN CARE' is my new political alignment!

 

 

 

[Bruce_AnAnarchistAce]

Damn that poll at the top is dreadful, sorry, but, yikes.