Not So Nifty

[the_gneech]

Grrrroowwwlllll...

This kind of crap is why I wish the U.S. had a decent libertarian party, instead of The Immoral Mobsters vs. The Reactionary Police State.

And don't tell me it's some kind of "Bush vs. Gore" nonsense, because a Gore administration would be doing exactly this same crap right now. It's all about control; whether the tyrants on the left or the tyrants on the right have it, they both agree on that one aspect.

There are two phrases I keep remembering as things progress in this country. I don't know who said them, but whoever it was knew what they were talking about:

Those who give up liberty for security, end up with neither.

...and...

The last act of any democracy will be to elect a dictator.

Sigh.

-The Gneech

Comments

[kelloggs2066.livejournal.com]

I'll add in another thought, though I'm afraid I don't know it's origin, or even if it's a quotation of someone or not:

"Liberals are prepared to sacrifice freedoms for equality.
Conservatives are prepared to sacrifice freedoms for
security."

I can't honestly say I'm all that crazy about having my freedoms taken away, but I don't want to live in a monarchy, or see any of our cities under a mushroom cloud.

There is a middle road here somewhere between the two
extremes of losing our freedom and losing our lives.
Hopefully, once things have calmed down a bit, we will
regain our equilibrium enough to take down what I hope
are temporary measures to ensure our safety.

It is actually a *good* thing that these discussions
come up, and that both the left and right wing loonies
speak their minds, so that the sensible people in the
middle will keep the screams coming from the wings in
mind.

We're travelling down a white water river, and the people on the right hand side of the boat are shouting warnings, while the left hand does the same. As long as we keep *all* the warnings in mind, and do not surrender to either side, we should be able to keep to the middle of the channel, away from the rocks on both sides.

One day, the waters will run calm again, and sanity will prevail.

Scott

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Yes, just as sanity prevailed fifteen years after the collapse of the Weimar Republic.

(Well, SOMEBODY has to be the pessimist...)

[level-head.livejournal.com]

Your post was well taken, and the quotation is interesting.

I greatly mistrust the liberal concept of "equality" -- it always strikes me as "equally subservient to big government." At the same time, I do not believe that security is worth the cost of freedoms. The decisions are difficult, but the founding principals should underly each decision made.

I suspect that I fall into the "right wing loonie" category you mentioned -- as I support individual accountability and am a supporter of business -- but I have a variety of views that don't seem to mesh well with a partisan categorization.

===|==============/ Level Head

[kelloggs2066.livejournal.com]

}I suspect that I fall into the "right wing loonie"
}category you mentioned -- as I support individual
}accountability and am a supporter of business -- but I
}have a variety of views that don't seem to mesh well
}with a partisan categorization.

Well, if everyone who wants to see business expand and employ more and more people were a "right wing loonie", I think that would include a huge swath of the political spectrum. On the other hand, there are people who would define a "right wing loonie" that way, though, I think I would say such people fall under the opposite category.

I would define "right wing loonie" as closer to honest to goodness fascism of the style of actual dictators, Napoleon, Mullah Omar, Ayatollah Khomeini (sp?), Hussein, Stalin et al.

Timothy McVey was a "right wing loonie". If you define yourself as one, I think you're pulling my leg or your own. ;)

I guess what I'm trying to say, (and not very well) is that we need the left and right wing nuts to help us define the center course. As long as both sides are screaming warnings, we're doing okay.

I've been looking for something I wrote back last September in the aftermath of the attack. It's kind of frightening when both sides of the spectrum start to agree.

Ha! Found it. Will post under another thread.

Anyway, I don't think that people who actually take the time to think for themselves fall into a stereotype, so I wouldn't put yourself in any pigeonhole if I were you.

Scott