posted
Do you follow the news so you can make informed decisions? Do you consider yourself to have well-thought-out political and ethical beliefs? Do you actively advocate those beliefs? Do you vote? Do you participate in community activities? Do you care about your community/state/nation?
If not, why not?
These are some of the things that citizens do in democracies like this one that allow it to function effectively. In the eigth grade they teach it to you as your "civic duty." Do believe this is the case? Do you believe we have a duty to participate in making our democracy work? And if we do, why do so many people choose to neglect that duty, in part or in whole?
Posts: 8120 | Registered: Jul 2000
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posted
I vote. I've tried to keep up on current issues. I try to separate reasonable fact from irrational fiction. I keep a strict set of ethics. I think it is important.
Over the years I have felt that my lack of conversation on political questions has had a negative effect on society. Even though my view is skewed heavily to the left, I am learning that this contributes to the process as a whole. I believe that my silence over the years has contributed to the political mess we are dealing with today.
But I am not quite ready to discuss my position in detail. When I do in regular conversation, many, not all, are offended that I even believe in the things that I believe in. This causes many to dismiss my ideas out of hand, and the history established can damage other conversations.
I am gratified that Hatrack is generally open minded about such things.
Posts: 1843 | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote: I believe that my silence over the years has contributed to the political mess we are dealing with today.
Erik, so its your fault!
Since this is a democracy, all citizens share some reponsibility for its failures and triumphs. As far as my personal voting patterns, I have voted in all presidential elections I have been eligible for. Except for 2000, the closest in my lifetime! I had just moved and didn't fool with reregistering. Now I regret it, of course. The Florida Fiasco proved that voting matters.
If only I could get as excited about local politics. I don't know why, but I have always identified more with presidential politics that local politics. Maybe because I've moved around so much.
One thing that seems to be getting worse is polarization between the parties, hardening of positions, bitterness, demonization of opposite political beliefs and motivations, and just ugly rancor and rhetoric from most politicians. This has got to stop before our country is torn apart. It used to be that there was a "loyal opposition," the party that wasn't in control of the White House or Congress. There sheer political power may have been temporarily diminished, but their views were considered and not rejected out of hand, and their motivations were not cynically microanalyzed for the real motivations behind a particular political position. But that time has passed. Comments like Bush's that "you're either with us or against us" (I know its taken out of contest, but it illustrates my point) and comments from top administration officials (Ashcroft and others) that opposition to Gulf War II and the Patriot Act was and is treasonous should sicken all Americans. Plenty of comments from Democrat extremists have been as bad or worse.
posted
I vote by the not voting of others. Every election I kill someone who believes everything I don't. Therefore I vote by absentia.
Posts: 650 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I can't vote but I wish I did. I ask my friends daily on their political beliefs and it's fun to debate about it. The governor race is so interesting right now
Here there's an Indian man, Bobby Jindal and a Cajun woman, Kathleen Blanco running against each other in the run-off. One day I asked about who my friends wanted to win and they said Jindal except for one. I'm in support of Jindal.
"Why don't you like Jindal? He came from our school!" I exclaimed. "It's because he's a Republican." Tobie replied. "No, it's because you're racist!!" I said sarcastically. "How can I be racist!? They're both white!"
Gosh, that was funny to me.
Posts: 4628 | Registered: Jul 2002
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While it's moderately big, the really important desegration in Louisiana politics occurred way back when a french speaker/catholic was elected governor. This is just a bit of icing; women have been powerful in Louisiana politically for a while, and minorities have been well represented considered by percentage as well.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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"Do you follow the news so you can make informed decisions?"
I try to.
"Do you consider yourself to have well-thought-out political and ethical beliefs?"
No. I do my best to achieve this, but there is so much I have yet to learn that it's hard for me to give myself a little cupcake and say I have well-thought-out beliefs. However, I do pride myself on knowing the extent and bounds of my knowledge, so I don't run off and act on a misconception very often.
"Do you actively advocate those beliefs?"
Only when I'm sure of them. Mostly, I advocate stuff to see what the other side says about it
"Do you vote?"
Most of the time.
"Do you participate in community activities?"
The community I'm most comfortable in is usually a very small subculture. Hard for me to get too involved in anything larger.
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I am really interested in the whole world more than just the U.S. I mean, U.S. politics is important because of how it affects the whole world. But I'm interested in a lot more than politics, too. I think it's too narrow to look at just that. I think it's more about technology and education and personal connections, families and civilizations, as well as art and music and stuff, both the popular sort and the high-culture type.
I don't see politics as being more than just one facet of human activity, and even the human species is just one species of life on earth. Oh, and for that matter earth is a miniscule speck in the only universe we have any real knowledge of, though we're just now beginning to realize there are probably lots more universes than this one, but for now it's the most interesting speck in the most interesting universe since anyway it's ours.
All of history has been a series of dethronements. I expect that won't change.
And yes, I care about all the spheres around me. My family, my friends, my neighborhood, city, state, country, planet, solar system, galaxy, local group, universe, etc. But my real loyalty and deepest interest is in the highest sphere of all. Whatever that may be.
[ October 12, 2003, 05:18 AM: Message edited by: ana kata ]
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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"Do you follow the news so you can make informed decisions?" Not really. I went on a bit of a news-media binge last spring and I'm all news-ed out as a result. I follow enough to have an idea of what's going on in my area, across the US, and in at least a few international arenas but otherwise I'm leaving news be for awhile.
"Do you consider yourself to have well-thought-out political and ethical beliefs?" Not at all as far as politics go. International/foreign politics are my main interest there. American politics are just plain disappointing sometimes. What views I have I try to base on my ethical standards or beliefs but sometimes even those aren't very clear.
"Do you actively advocate those beliefs?" If you mean that I play the devil's advocate. I tend to play both sides of the fence in a debate. I'll argue one side of an issue until I get my "opponent" to agree (or at least agree to disagree) and then I switch over and argue for the other side. I suppose that comes mostly from me always trying to understand all of the available perspectives. Makes for some interesting thoughts sometimes.
"Do you vote?" I would if I could. I'm missing the next elections by a matter of days.
"Do you participate in community activities?" Yup. I try to do at least one big thing a year. This year I'm spending a week or so in Tennessee fixing up homes for the elderly, etc., and throughout the year I'll be spending at least an hour a week with the deaf children at my school.
"Do you care about your community/state/nation?" More about the people and the ideals than the reality, I'm afraid. But, aye, I care a great deal about my community/state/nation and try to have faith that even if not always always upon the ideals still exist even if only in spirit - and that says a lot about us.
Posts: 1548 | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
I've always thought the reasons many people neglect their civic duty are pretty basic and obvious. A major one, I think, is the belief that a single person can't make a difference. "Why, after I've put in my eight hours of hard labor and want nothing more than to go home to dinner, should I stop at the city hall to place a vote that won't change the election anyway?" Add that to confusion over where, when, and how to vote and a belief that all politicians are power-hungy liars, and you've got yourself a whole population that ignores its duty to vote.
The tougher question is how to solve it. Two solutions I've always heard discussed are mandatory voting and making election days national holidays. I'm one hundered percent against mandatory voting, not only because I think we have a right not to vote, but also because I don't want the uninformed masses making important decisions. Election days as national holidays might help a little by drawing attention to them and giving people more time to vote. But, people who are interested will likely find the time whether they work or not, so this probably wouldn't make a significant difference. I'm at a loss for an effective solution.
And this is just voting. Getting people to participate in community activities and actually care about what goes in it is a whole other story.
quote:Do you follow the news so you can make informed decisions?
It's weird...it's been a while since I really followed the news. For one thing, I often seem to be asleep when the news is on nowadays, but it was true before I took up night work. I guess it just irritates me how the same thing can be covered for weeks.
quote:Do you consider yourself to have well-thought-out political and ethical beliefs?
I used to. Then I started thinking again and have been waffling on economic issues ever since.
quote:Do you actively advocate those beliefs?
Often enough I'm lucky not to have been lynched.
quote:Do you vote?
Never have. I never seem to catch the ads for local or state positions; I rarely even know who the candidates are. The last presidential election I was unconvinced that the candidates were all that different and I finally decided to sit it out.
quote:Do you participate in community activities?
What kind?
quote:Do you care about your community/state/nation?
Hmm...in theory, I suppose. I am not much of a patriot these days.
Posts: 1041 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Do you follow the news so you can make informed decisions?
Yes - I follow news on the web, newspapers and TV.
Do you consider yourself to have well-thought-out political and ethical beliefs?
On all things? No. Does anyone? However, there are a number of issues I believe I can make that claim without fear of contradiction, even if people don't agree with my stands on the particular issues.
Do you actively advocate those beliefs?
Yes. It's what I do full-time. Just to be clear, I'm not a political "gun for hire." I gravitated to the advocacy position I have due to the work I've done in the issues I concentrate on.
Do you vote?
Most of the time. And most of the time, it's a task of voting for person (on the national level, anyway) that I find least objectionable. Not a slam-dunk for either party.
Do you participate in community activities?
Depends on what you mean be "community." Don't participate in my town activities much, but I participate in activities that affect or are hosted by groups in my political community.
Do you care about your community/state/nation?
Of course - I have to live in it, don't I? Posts: 4344 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
I would like to premise the following by reminding everyone to keep in mind that I go to one of the most poitically active/aware universities in the country. (It's kind of hard to avoid, being only blocks from the White House, Capitol, and State Department).
Do you follow the news so you can make informed decisions? We receive free daily copies of the NY Times, the Washington Post, and the USA Today. I read at least the first section of both the Times and the Post, and if I have time I flip through the rest of the paper.
I also read TIME, Newsweek, and The Economist, plus the International Affairs Journal (which is the Bible of my school/major).
Do you consider yourself to have well-thought-out political and ethical beliefs? I believe my political and ethical beliefs are well thought out but continually developing. I think I have to see a bit more of the world before my values are completely set in stone.
Do you actively advocate those beliefs? Yes. Check out http://home.gwu.edu/~kase/dean . It's the website for my school's chapter of GenDean, written entirely by yours truly. It's still under construction, keep in mind, until we find a permanent domain name/host.
Do you vote? I'll be eligible to vote for the first time this November
Do you participate in community activities? I barely have time to breathe.
Do you care about your community/state/nation? Right now, I care most about my university community and about the nation -- D.C., for me, is the best place to be.
Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Do you follow the news so you can make informed decisions?
Too vague, even if I assume that "informed decisions" refers to forming political beliefs and/or voting. I have a decent understanding of current events, likely higher than average on any one topic but with a few exceptions, not particularly informed. I would trust myself to make decisions over the "average man", but that is as far as I would go. More informed does not necessarily correlate with better decisions, although it certainly can.
Do you consider yourself to have well-thought-out political and ethical beliefs?
Not particularly, but then again anyone who thinks out their beliefs at all is already at least in the upper quarter. Also, there are not that many people who are significantly better either, and even among those who do think them out I have seen nothing to indicate that I am below the average. So in a sense, yes.
Do you actively advocate those beliefs?
"Actively" must be defined a bit better. The higher your standard for actively, the more likely my answer will be no.
Do you vote?
In government elections? Not yet, not planning to, but it might change.
Do you participate in community activities?
What on earth is a community activity? Again, it depends on the definition.
Do you care about your community/state/nation?
As long as I or those I care about are part of them, yes. For their own sake, not particularly.
If not, why not?
I have no reason to believe that I will always be a member of any of them, I am a selfish person, and to the extent that I am not selfish I am concerned with people, not semi-arbitrary geographic boundaries.
Do believe this is the case? Do you believe we have a duty to participate in making our democracy work?
Only to ourselves, and we are free to relieve ourselves of that duty. So basically no.
And if we do, why do so many people choose to neglect that duty, in part or in whole?
Because even if I am wrong, and such a duty exists, those who neglect that "duty" do not consider it to be such. I might say all humans have a duty to labor to increase my happiness. Most others would disagree. For a less trivial example, I believe that we all have a duty to the Christian God, but few who do not agree with me wory much about obeying his commandments. (Because they are his commandments.)
Posts: 1364 | Registered: Feb 2003
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posted
Having "well thought out ethical and political ideas" is a really good way of putting it. I like that discription because it means whatever the person's thoughts they have actually looked at all sides of the issue (we hope) and therefore have actually made a legitimate decision, instead of being biased or spontaneous.
I like to think I have well thought out ethical and political beliefs.
Now I just have to wait until I am a citizen (bureaucracy! arg!) so I can excercise these ideas. Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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