Politics

Outlandish Josh wants YOU to vote, sucka.

" Turn on to politics, or politics will turn on you. "

Dirty Dirty Business

I've always been into politics. Probably inherited it from my mother. I remember watching the 1992 presidential debates on tv (I was 13) and seeing Bill Clinton speak on the campaign trail at the University of Oregon. If I could have voted I would have gone for Perot, just because he seemed interesting and weird and honestly interested in doing something.

I Endorse Howard Dean
I've had that little banner on my sidebar for a while, but starting today it links not to Dean Campaign HQ, but to my own rationale for supporting him. I'm serious about this: re-registering from independent to Democrat so I can vote in the primary, talking with people about helping the campaign. Soon everyone I know will be getting emails on the topic. What's got me so fired up: go take a look for yourself.

My Political Background
I missed out on the 1996 presidential vote as a 17-year-old, but in 2000 I cast my first presidential vote for Ralph Nader. It was a pretty easy choice since I lived in New York and Gore was going to carry the state no matter what. That whole election fiasco was kind of a baptism by fire for my generation. Sadly, I think it probably minted a lot of young cynics.

According to the political compass, I'm slighty leftist and strongly liberitarian. In my heart, I know that Karl Marx is right when he says that the ideal society is one in which each gives in accordance with his/her ability and each recieves according to his/her need. Problem is, how to get to that point?

I'm fairly anti-corporate, mainly because the consolidation of interests and ownership is creating a growing, opportunity-killing plutocracy, not to mention furthering the culture of greed and empty consumption in global society. I'm a fan of small business and community enterprise, of people being proud of what they do for a living. I really like the ideals America got started on, but feel that we've strayed a ways from the path of freedom, liberty, equality and opportunity.

Frankly, I think there's way too much bullshit floating around. It's primarily a cultural problem, but because culture is controlled by enormously powerful private interests, the individual alone has little chance of remedying the situation. Individuals interlinked have a chance, so politics is one way of combating the current corporate malease.