karsey

interesting to hear some opinions...have you ever considered entering the world of politics?

Gatorade Frost

Politics interested me up until about two weeks ago. I was a politics and a news junky, and then one day I was in a class and this girl who's on the complete opposite side of the political spectrum was sitting there saying "Bush is a moron. You're a retard for voting for him." and I just kind of realised that it's not worth it. I'm not changing anyone's opinion who gets in on the political debates and nobody's changing how I view things. My personal feelings, my opinions, that's what I have and who I am, and frankly any amount of debate unless it's -very- well thought out (Only one time have I had a huge change in opinion - Abortion) then I'm going to stay with the opinion that I have.

Politics is ev erywhere, but in reality I'm not very effected by any bills passed by the government, and it's just that mass that sits up there that's kind of off in a distance to me, and talking politics just makes enemies blinded by ideology and frankly it feels like a waste of time to me to have to make enemies because of the person I plan on voting for.

Would I ever get into politics?

Yes. School Finance -has- to change in Texas. Last year the school district I went to forked over 300 million dollars to be spread out among the poorer school districts in Texas. That's a lot of money. Since the Robin Hood plan has been in Texas my school district has slowly had decreasing scores and grades while the SAT and ACT scores of other districts has slowly been on the rise because they're making millions of dollars that we're losing. Luckily the state supreme court has just declared the plan illegal, so I am not sure if I'd ever have a need to step into politics.

sirhibernac69

I have in a sense always considered running for some sort of office because I find it fascinating and interesting to study other people and attempt to work with them on different projects. Seriously, isn't that what polotics is all about? To me when I meet someone new it's a challenge to attempt to figure them out as quickly as possible and see if they are worth working with on something meanifull or just someone useful for fun (not in a bad way by no means). I'm a good negotiator and always have been and I sincerely believe negotiation and politics following along the same paths in a lot of areas. So yeah as I've already answered yes I like politics a lot. However, I'll add one short fault involved and that is when people take politics to the level of distortion where all true meaning dissapears and everything is balanced upon opinion, thought, and loose ideas and nothing solid or factual anymore. That sort of politics I hate because nothing gets done and no true progress is made.

summerkc

I love politics but I have to agree that it is starting to make me sick how things are conducted. The other side will do absolutely anything to be in power, and some of the most vile and hateful things have been said about our President. No matter if you hate his policies, it gives NOBODY the right to call any U.S. leader "Hitler" and "The anti-christ".

The other thing that makes me want to puke is how partisan the mainstream media is even though they continue to say they are only reporting the facts. Sorry, but NOT reporting important facts is just as bad as telling lies.

The left screams about Fox News, the single right leaning news source. Now just imagine that EVERY OTHER new station was like Fox and the only thing you heard day in and day out is right wing propaganda. Well, thats how republicans feel.

hannukah harry

this is off-topic, and possibly needs a new thread, but i find it interesting that you're equating money with performance. i've always noticed that conservatives usually bash the public schools and the "liberal" idea of throwing more money at it to solve the problem of decreasing scholastic performance. i'm just curious as to your thoughts on that.


on topic, i woudl consider getting into politics... i've been thinking of running for school board/city council type positions, mainly, but could see myself one day wanting to head to the state level.

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madsenj37

I got my Bachelors in Politics, with an emphasis on international politics. When I first started taking politics, I knew I loved it, but I did not know why. Then it hit me. I am obsessed with power. Direct and indirect power. Things like Authoritarianism fascinate me. My fetishes have to do with power. Politics is a discipline of power, in my eyes. As for current politics, I cannot say I have to much interest in what the general population does. Even without much interest, I have a great undertsanding of it, and can jump back in at anytime. Also, many people are not open minded when speaking politics with me. So both our system and its people tend to turn me away from current politics.

Gatorade Frost

Throwing money are the poor schools has -not- worked, but Plano has had a track record of knowing how to use money. Hiring better more expirienced teachers that are all currently retiring or being laid off. The band program has suffered tremendously due to several very poor teachers who have practically discouraged the subject.

If you would like to start a new thread to discuss this more thoroughly I'd be game.

summerkc

If you look at the data for money-per-student and rank of each state's public school performance you'll see that the trend is that more highly funded schools actually do worse in academics.

A good example is Washington D.C, highest amount of money per student, lowest ranking public schools in the country.

The best way to improve schools in teacher accountability and rewards and getting parents involved in their childrens schooling, unfortunately the latter can't really be dealt with.

ARTelevision

It is one of the 5 Aristotelian branches of philosophy: ontology, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, politics.

That's why I love it and hate it.

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dy156

I know it sounds cheesey, but I really love America, I love Texas, and I care about what happens in them. (Yes, school finance is screwed up here, and no, I don't have a solution for it, or even an idea about what a solution would be.)

From an early age, I really liked history. In high school, I went to Washington to work as a congressional page, and was fascinated and loved it. However, politics aren't an easy way to make money, and not many politicians have political science degrees, just those who work for them. So I went to law school, worked for awhile, and became jaded. I still have dreams of running for office one day, but not for a long while.