zgolfz85 said:
TxAgswin said:
WestTexasAg said:
Can you explain your reason for being a liberal? Not making fun, just curious what is appealing about being a liberal.
No worries. My skin has to be pretty thick on this board.
Happy to answer your question...
The reason for my ideology revolves around dignity and fairness.
I believe in universal health care. I find it undignified that the wealthiest country in the world is so tied up in their own bull**** that we can't take care of those that can't take care of themselves. I am fortunate enough to not have to dread making financial decisions about my family's health. I got it. But most do not. The fire department doesn't send you an invoice after they put out the fire in your house. The police don't bill us when they protect us from bad guys. Those services are baked into our fundamental rights, and healthcare should be as well.
I believe our court system is broken. There are way too many people in jail. And there is definitely a race element to that. I won't dig into that because people get very defensive about it, but that's what I believe. Our criminal justice system is fundamentally flawed and, in my opinion, conservatives are to blame for that.
I believe that education is the answer. It always has been. We should put every spare nickel we have into education.
John Adams said, "Laws for the liberal education of the youth, especially of the lower class of the people, are so extremely wise and useful, that, to a humane and generous mind, no expense for this purpose would be thought extravagant."
I support our troops (of course), but I think the Pentagon gets waaaay too much money.
I am a "liberal" (or whatever) because I think we should prioritize differently.
That's just me though.
I applaud the honesty. You lose me on the court and racial stuff though. I agree with you barely there.
Here's my question to you? How would you honestly handle the outrageously higher prevalence of crime, both violent and minor offenses by the black community? I know some of that is due to racial inequalities going back centuries and continually improving, but at some point that community has to police their own and I see NONE of that unfortunately. I don't even see a desire by anyone within the community to be accountable or expect accountability in any way, shape or form. At the end of the day, there's nothing we can do for some communities until they're willing to stop it themselves.
If I'd seen even a semblance of the black community trying to stop the violence and crime that pervades, I'd be SO much more willing to do anything and everything I could to personally help any way I could. It has to be a joint effort though. You have to want to be better and to do better. Don't simply accept that your neighbors are bad and do bad things. Band together as a community and stop letting folks ruin it for everyone else.
I agree.
Communities, like people, should be accountable and they have agency over their own outcomes No doubt.
Crime is directly correlated to economics and education (or lack thereof). And economics in this country has a very real racial component.
Race gets sticky because the economic timeline is fundamentally unfair. Not being able to own property or go to college until just a generation or two ago makes it virtually impossible to create any sort of wealth in your family.
So, while problems about race at this moment are more about economics than race, those economic fallouts were the direct result of racist policies of exclusion. It will likely take several generations for that water to level. While I don't think the answer is over the top silly nonsense like reparations or even affirmative action. I do think we should take a pause before indicting the black community. They were dealt a ****ty hand and I can understand why they would be pissed off about it. Who wouldn't be?
Quote:
If I'd seen even a semblance of the black community trying to stop the violence and crime
Come on, man
There are enormous efforts being made in the black community to combat crime. Most are faith-based, and there are tons of people that dedicate their lives to try and better their communities and work to steer kids in the right direction. And God bless those folks.