WELL-CONSIDERED POLITICAL AND SOCIAL VIEWS ARE ONE PART OF A COMPLETE LIFE---A CREATIVE APPROACH TO LIFE, GOOD RELATIONSHIPS AND A GOOD INTERNAL LIFE

6/2/2015

Four aspects of a complete life are well-considered political & social views, an open & creative approach to everyday life, good personal relationships and a good private and internal existence.

This essay is about the first of those four things. The links above will take you to my views on the other three.

Everyday individuals can do well in all these parts of life. It is everyday people who move the world forward.

A political and social outlook can begin with brief basic guiding perspectives. It does not need to be complicated.

I believe in fair play, an openness to learning and a willingness to be involved.

From this general outlook, I find that three political and social issues that have my consistent attention are the ability of the most wealthy to manipulate politics and not pay fair wages, climate change & governments and corporations suppressing freedom with constant surveillance and militarized police.

You will have your own outlook and priorities.

A hopeful response to issues of the day can involve taking part in non-traditional protest movements that challenge how people think about global capitalism and how we live on Earth.

We've first got to believe and realize that something better is possible.

Much of the political energy today is on the streets and in the hopes and aspirations of everyday people.

Responses from both within and outside the convential political system are required to make progress.

We each have our own sense of where we fit best in this process. Everybody needs to figure out for themselves how to offer their talents and kindness.

Kindness, a belief in fair play, an openness to learning and a willingness to be involved are forms of opposition in America today.

The work of freedom is up to each of us.

The work of freedom is accomplished by individuals who decide how they fit in and when they are willing to stand alone.

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3 Comments

Katy Anders link

6/3/2015 02:04:53 am

You always manage to present your thoughts in such a positive way, even when talking about things that would make anyone else come across as outraged.

I believe that corporate power is probably the most important long-term issue for the entire globe right now, and it seems like we couldn't be doing much worse on that issue. On the other hand, it seems like we're doing a lot better when it comes to instilling a sense of tolerance in young people.

Anyway, thank you for what you do!

siredge

6/9/2015 02:44:29 am

I heard something the other day (a Christian "conservative" podcast I would daresay you aren't a fan of) and I had the thought that I'm not sure the tolerance we see is what we think it is. Please allow me to explain.

100 years ago (as I understand things), it was taken for granted that most people believed in absolute truth. When those people showed tolerance, they did so because they accepted people despite their wrongdoing or perceived faults.

Now, it is much more common (for young people especially) to not believe in objective, absolute truth. As a result, they believe everyone should be able to decide what the truth is for them.

But consider the connotations of that philosophy for our society and system of government- our tax system, most of our commerce, and other elements have a basic, assumed level of trust involved. But if people don't believe that truth is objective, what is to keep them from coming to conclusions like the following?
Items in the store belong to some evil capitalist that doesn't need them anyway, so taking them really isn't wrong
The government is a bunch of corrupt politicians that just use taxes for their own ends, so it isn't wrong to cheat on them.
That girl is flirting with me, so if I get her drunk and take advantage of her, it's not really wrong because I'm just helping her do what she wants to do anyway.

I'm quite worried about the kind of tolerance we see- it may not be acceptance of people despite wrongdoing, it may be a failure to recognize wrong exists. But for all our sakes, I hope you are right and it really is tolerance.

6/3/2015 02:14:40 am

I'm generally on the other side of the aisle politically, but my observation is that most Americans value the same principles, but they prioritize them differently.

For example, you and I both value freedom, as evidenced by your mention of surveillance. But you also mention corporate lobbying, which is an expression of freedom, so freedom must not be as close to the top of your priority list as it is for mine (corporate lobbying to me is the lesser of two evils when compared to government stifling freedom of expression).

I infer from your mention of "fair" wages that you would rate "fairness" or "equality" or some similar value higher than freedom, since freedom would allow the buyer and seller to agree on a price without government interference.

When you look at politics through the lens of prioritization of values, most disagreements become clear and there is less need for anger and demonization of the other side.

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WELL-CONSIDERED POLITICAL AND SOCIAL VIEWS ARE ONE PART OF A COMPLETE LIFE---A CREATIVE APPROACH TO LIFE, GOOD RELATIONSHIPS AND A GOOD INTERNAL LIFE

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