2004-12-14

blue action

I use to always think I was a middle of the road person as far as politics go. Socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I think its still true. However, I find myself aligning more and more with the Democratic party. It appears to me that both parties have moved to identifying themselves by social issues and ignoring most fiscal issues. And for me, if I had to choose between them, I'll vote for social "values" over fiscal ones.

All that said, I think its about time for us to start forming liberal action groups. I have a lot of respect for the conservative action groups which boycott companies and their products, or form letter writing campaigns to companies, the FCC, and politicians. These are very effective groups, and we need to form groups on the other side of these issues. Why should the only voice the FCC hear when TV broadcasts someone cursing at a sporting event be those on the negative side. While I don't think that its a great thing that it happens, I don't think it will be the end of America. This is a part of our life today, especially in high intensity sporting events. If you are afraid your child might hear it, mute during player interviews. And its best if your kid learns it with a parent than at school. And believe me, he/she will hear it at school. Why on earth do you get upset that you child might hear a curse word when you are watching a sporting even in which people risk serious injury or even death. Do you think the replays of a player's foot getting twisted 180 degrees are better for your child than a curse word? Wow, that was a bit of a rant.

Anyway, we need to start forming groups to counter this conservative onslaught to our culture. I know we are a nation founded on puritan values. But we are also a nation founded on freedoms. And that includes the freedom to broadcast anything or support anything, or the freedom to change the channel or boycott something.

Other are having this same idea. Here is a site which identifies companies which donate heavily to conservative politicians. While I'm not saying to follow this religiously, think of it as a guideline when choosing among equals.

http://www.choosetheblue.com/main.php

Well, that was a good rant. Hope it made sense, its a little late :)

2 Comments:

Blogger Kathy Schrenk said...

I am 100% in favor of this kind of activism. I'm not a huge fan of capitalism, but at least it is democratic. These days it seems that we wield more power with our monetary votes than our votes at the poling place (or on the absentee ballot).

Buy Blue! And, if you do only one thing to support goodness and democracy with your voting dollar, NEVER, EVER, EVER SHOP AT WALMART!!!

January 24, 2005 at 2:52 PM  
Blogger Kathy Schrenk said...

Oh, one other thing: if you have the need and means, buy from Patagonia. http://www.patagonia.com/about/main_about_us.shtml
Among other great practices, they use only organic cotton. Non-organic cotton is one of the biggest agricultural polluters
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200501/hamnett.asp

January 24, 2005 at 2:58 PM  

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