View Single Post
Old 03-05-2004, 08:39 AM   #21 (permalink)
gibingus
Insane
 
Location: 38° 51' N 77° 2' W
Quote:
Originally posted by ARTelevision
gibingus, not at all. But being well off sanctions neither cynicism nor a sense of being oppressed. Nor does it become us to bite the hand that feeds us.
huh, maybe i'm starting to get it. if i am reading you right, it sounds like you just think people are being ingrateful when they express such feelings and concerns.

so, to answer that question (very rumsfeldish of me, huh?) for all the complaining and struggle to continually improve our government, i hope it is not lost on anyone that we have it better today than it has ever been. women and minorities, for instance, have more rights than ever in history, but that doesn't mean that there is no oppression in our society, our cultre or our government.

we need to jealously protect our hard won freedoms. people will always try to impose their views on others, as currently evidenced by the straight majority trying to block the gay minority from the basic human right of marriage.

i love liberty and appreciate how precious it is. the light of liberty is an eternal flame, but that does not mean it can be left to burn untended.

and i think i may possibly view the hand that feeds us from a different perspective than yours. i am one of the many hands that feeds goverment, it does not feed me, nor do i expect or want it to. it serves me because i empower it to do so when i exercise my rights as a citizen.

because i question and challenge the present government, i may be labeled a liberal and unpatriotic by some present on this board. however, i hope you see from these statements that i have no expectations of entitlement and feel that the true definition of patriotism is to put the nation above the state - that is the abstract ideal of america is not necessarily the government that serves it at any one time. this is why those who instigate revolution are called patriots . hardly a 'liberal' stance as it has been painted by such conservatives.

but really, i don't understand the use of the term 'liberal' as a slur. by strict definition, wouldn't we all benefit from being open minded, tolerant and respectful of views and opinions other than ours, and receptive to change and progress? regardless of political parties, that is the basic philosophical framework of our government. i will challenge any democrat as vigorously as i challenge any republican, and i hope everyone else will do the same. many have laid down their lives so that we could do just that, and we honor them by enjoying those rights to the fullest extent. perhaps this is a topic for a new thread?

and art, a somewhat late thanks for the nod to my spirited rhetoric. i love rhetoric just as i love sohpistry and oration, and i sorely miss its presence in our modern political arena where speech writers have attained celebrity and pr handlers carefully place sound bites in politicians' mouths. the great politicians of our past (lincoln, jefferson, and others) were beautiful orators and brilliant thinkers who spoke for themselves, and their words inspired and changed the world. today, rhetoric is used as a dirty word. how we could benefit by cultivating a healthier respect for it and demanding it of our representatives.
__________________
if everyone is thinking alike, chances are no one is thinking.
gibingus is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360