Yesterday, when I was walking around the office in a dither after learning my niece was staying home from school to protest Obama’s education speech, I wandered by Thelma’s office.  Thelma is a sweet, older black woman whom I am only now getting to know as she was out on medical leave for the past eight months battling cancer.  As I walked by her office she saw me and greeted me warmly in her slight Southern accent.

“And how are you today, Miss LB?”   It sounded like she really cared about the answer.

“Do you really want to know?” I said with a sigh.

“Oh no, what’s wrong” she asked with some concern and waved me into her office.

I proceeded to regale her with my anger and frustration at my niece for falling for the right wing propaganda that she no doubt hears from my brother and his wife.  She kindly let me rant for quite a while.  The pictures of Obama on her walls assured me I was in sympathetic company.   The conversation came around to how what a child learns at home has such a huge impact on their later beliefs.  “So,” she asked me “were your parents racists too?”

The question took me aback.  While I believe my brother to be pretty far on the right, and certainly no fan of Obama, I don’t know if I am quite prepared, or even know him well enough these days to say he’s a racist.  Yet, don’t I throw the same accusations of racism at other conservatives who openly disdain Obama?  But, still, to hear someone assume my brother is a racist was more than a bit jarring.  I offered myself a chair and got comfortable as I started to mull her question about my parents.

“No . . . no, I don’t think so.  I mean, I don’t remember anything like that.”   I said slowly, hesitantly.

My memory of my childhood is pretty foggy, but I’m sure I would have remembered if my parents were racist.  The truth of the matter, is that growing up in Burbank in the 60’s and 70’s, I rarely, if ever encountered any black people.  It was not part of our day-to -day reality.  When there was a black kid in our school, he wasn’t African-American, but someone from Africa here as an exchange student.  At home, the only blacks we saw were on TV, and even then I don’t recall hearing  any disparaging comments.

With the exception of Hispanics, Burbank was not chock-o-block with a lot of minorities.  Growing up, besides the lack of African-Americans, there was also maybe only a handful of Asians in our school – one of whom was one of my closest friends for all 12 years of my time in the Burbank schools.  And again, even though my father had fought in the Pacific in WWII, never did I hear a bad word about my Japanese best friend nor her family.

We did have a lot of contact with Hispanics, as my dad was the maintenance manager at a large recreation center, so he hired and supervised a crew of primarily workers from Mexico.  He was close friends with his assistant, Jose, who helped him with the hiring and translating.  I remember Jose’s family was one of the rare visitors to our house, and most of my hand-me-down clothes went to Jose’s daughters.  My father even eventually sold our house to Jose for way under market value.

So, after going through my mental files, I concluded that when came to matters of race, while my brother and I were not explicitly taught acceptance, we certainly weren’t  taught to fear or hate people of other races.

Thelma watched me quietly as I reminisced, trying to find clues as to how why my brother and I have turned out so differently.

“Ya know, Thelma, I think we just reacted completely differently to that lack of contact when we were younger.  For my brother, he developed fear of the unknown.  He has opted to live his life among people who look and believe as he does.  But, for me that lack of contact  when I was younger made me really curious and eager to know and understand people with different backgrounds.”

Thelma laughed, “well, you certainly are in a good place for that, girl” acknowledging the wild mix of sexual orientation and identity, race and ethnicity that surrounded us in the area where we worked.

I could have sat and chatted with Thelma for a  lot longer.  Earlier she had started to touch upon her childhood in the deep South and how she was taught to view white people.  I wanted to know more about that. But, unfortunately, she had a client waiting, so that conversation will have to wait until some other time.

]]> http://freedomarizona.org/2009/09/09/what-is-conservatism/ Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:22:21 +0000 John Paul Mitchell http://freedomarizona.org/2009/09/09/what-is-conservatism/

Tyler Cowen takes a crack at defining American conservatism.

Fiscal conservatism is part and parcel of conservatism per se. A state wrecked by debt is a state due to perish or fall into decay. This is a lesson from history. States must “save up their powder” for true crises and it is a kind of narcissistic arrogation to think that the personal failures of particular individuals — often those with weak values — meet this standard.

Cowen did the same for progressivism a few weeks ago.

Progressive policies offer more scope for individualism and some kinds of freedom. Greater security gives people a greater chance to develop themselves as individuals in important spheres of life, not just money-making and risk protection and winning relative status games.

What’s your opinion about these defintions? Leave your comments.

(Source: Kottke.org)

On 1984
Unexpectedly, I discovered this week is the 60th anniversary of George Orwell’s 1984. Interestingly, our electronic society monitors so much. Here’s a column taking a retrospective look at the novel.

On Health Care Reform
The talk about health care is intensifying, and not to anyone’s surprise, the partisans are continuing to drive their stakes. Surprisingly to some, this is a topic that I haven’t wrapped myself around, so I feel inadequate about commenting at this point.

The need for health care reform is obvious. Here’s the part that scares me the most. The public runs two things: government and schools. Doesn’t that say enough? On the other hand, the government has the power to cover the need.

On Pelosi and Boehner
Since it’s been some time since I’ve said anything about these two House leaders, here’s a good point about each – which, from me, is a rarity. Well done Speaker Pelosi for not saying much, thus staying out of the news. Well done Minority Leader Boehner for continuing to not bring the bacon to your home district.

On Independents
I’m a moderate independent, and defined its meaning in this past post. Columnist and author John Avlon wrote this wonderful column for the Wall Street Journal about the growing number of independents and their role in politics. And I vividly remember someone commenting to me not all that long ago that (and I paraphrase) “we liberals are in charge and the moderates are weak, thus get out of the way.” Here’s the Pew Research Center report Avlon mentions.

By the way, Avlon also selects Wingnuts of the Week from both the left and the right. This week he selected two who speak from the pulpit. These comments from these two are pathetic.

On the Court Nomination
I suggest reading the Common Ground column written by a conservative and a liberal for some refreshing though.

On Woes in Education
Here’s an interesting report: The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America’s Schools.

On a Lighter Note … or a Brighter One … Whatever

Get on the bandwagon before election day.  Does anyone really wanna see President Palin in our futures?  ’Nuff said.

Vote Obama on November 4th.  Vote early, if you can.

High profile Republican and/or conservative people who have recently announced their support for Senator Obama for President: (Partial list)

Jim Leach, Former Congressman from Iowa

“For me, the national interest comes before party concerns, particularly internationally.  We do need a new direction in American policy, and Obama has a sense of that.”

Lincoln Chafee, Former United States Senator from Rhode Island

“As I look at the candidates in order who to vote for, certainly my kind of conservatism was reflected with Senator Obama, and those points are that we’re fiscally conservative, we care about revenues matching expenditures, we also care about the environment, I think it’s a traditional conservative value to care about clean air and clean water.”

Wayne Gilchrest, Congressman from Maryland

“We can’t use four more years of the same kind of policy that’s somewhat haphazard, which leads to recklessness.”

Richard Riordan, Former Mayor of Los Angeles

“I’m still a Republican, but I still will always vote for the person who I think will do the best job.”

Lowell Weicker, Former Governor and Senator from Connecticut

“At issue is not the partisan politics of two parties, rather the image we have of ourselves as Americans.  Senator Obama brings wisdom, kindness, and common sense to what is both his and our quest for a better America.”

Jim Whitaker, Fairbanks, Alaska Mayor

“If we are as a nation concerned with energy, then our consideration should be a national energy policy that is not predicated on crude oil 50 years into the future.  We need to get to it, and I think Barack Obama is very clear in that regard.”

Linwood Holton, Former Governor of Virginia

“Obama has a brain, and he isn’t afraid to use it.” 

Scott McClellan, Press Secretary under G.W. Bush 

“The former Bush administration official said he wanted to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done.” 

Colin Powell, Secretary of State under G.W. Bush  

“…he has met the standard of being a sucessful president, being an exceptional president.  I think he is a transformational figure.  He is a new generation coming into the world– onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I’ll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.”

Douglas Kmiec, Head of the Office of Legal Counsel under Reagan & George Bush  

“I was first attracted to government by Ronald Reagan, who lives in our national memory as a great leader and an inspiring communicator.  Senator Obama has these gifts as well, but of course, more rhetorical flourish without substance would be worth little.  Is there more to Senator Obama?  I believe there is.”

Jackson M. Andrews, Republican Counsel to the U.S. Senate

“Barack Obama is a thoughtful visionary leader who as President will end the decline of American law, liberty, and fiscal responsibility that are the hallmarks of the extremist policies of the current Administration, now adopted by John McCain.”  

Susan Eisenhower, Granddaughter of President Eisenhower & President of the Eisenhower Group

“Given Obama’s support among young people, I believe that he will be most invested in defending the interests of these rising generations and, therefore, the long-term interests of this nation as a whole.” 

C.C. Goldwater, Granddaughter of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater 

“Myself, along with my siblings and a few cousins, will not be supporting the Republican presidential candidates this year. We believe strongly in what our grandfather stood for: honesty, integrity, and personal freedom, free from political maneuvering and fear tactics.”

Francis Fukuyama, Advisor to President Reagan

“…Obama probably has the greatest promise of delivering a different kind of politics.”

Rita Hauser, Former White House intelligence advisor under George W. Bush 

“McCain will continue the wrong-headed foreign policy decisions of Bush, while Obama will take us in a new direction.”

Larry Hunter, Former President Reagan Policy Advisor

“I suspect Obama is more free-market friendly than he lets on.  He taught at the University of Chicago, a hotbed of right-of-center thought.  His economic advisers, notably Austan Goolsbee, recognize that ordinary citizens stand to gain more from open markets than from government meddling.”

Bill Ruckelshaus, served in the Nixon and Reagan administrations

“I’m not against McCain, I’m for Obama.”

Ken Adelman, served in the Ford administration

“The most important decision John McCain made in his long campaign was deciding on a running mate.  That decision showed appalling lack of judgment… that selection contradicted McCain’s main two, and best two, themes for his campaign– Country First, and experience counts.  Neither can he credibly claim, post-Palin pick.”

Lilibet Hagel, Wife of Republican Senator Chuck Hagel

“This election is not about fighting phantom issues churned out by a top-notch slander machine.  Most important, it is not about distracting the public– you and me– with whatever slurs someone thinks will stick.”

Jeffrey Hart, National Review Senior Editor  

“It turns out that these political parties are not always either liberal or conservative, Democratic or Republican.  The Democrat, under certain conditions, can be the conservative.”

Andrew Bacevich, Professor of International Relations at Boston University

“For conservatives, Obama represents a sliver of hope.  McCain represents none at all.  The choice turns out to be an easy one.”

David Friedman, Economist and son of Milton and Rose Friedman

“I hope Obama wins.  President Bush has clearly been a disaster from the standpoint of libertarians and conservatives because he has presided over an astonishing rise in government spending.”

Christopher Buckley, Son of National Review founder William F. Buckley & former NR columnist

“Obama has in him– I think, despite his sometimes airy-fairy ‘We are the people we have been waiting for’ silly rehtoric– the potential to be a good, perhaps even great leader.  He is, it seems clear enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling for.”

Andrew Sullivan, Columnist for the Atlantic Monthly

“Obama’s legislative record, speeches, and the way he has run his campaign reveal, I think, a very even temperament, a very sound judgment, and an intelligent pragmatism.  Prudence is a word that is not inappropriate to him.”

Wick Alison, Former publisher of the National Review

“I made the maximum donation to John McCain during the primaries, when there was still hope he might come to his senses.  But I now see that Obama is almost the ideal candidate for this moment in American history.”

Michael Smerconish, Columnist for the Philadelphia Enquirer

“…an Obama presidency holds the greatest chance for unifying us here at home and restoring our prestige around the globe.” 

Canadians went to the polls on October 14, 2008. To administer and organization this election it cost Elections Canada, the government agency responsible for conducting elections in Canada, over $300 million dollars. (IntraSpec, Oct 2008)

With a population of roughly 30 million inhabitants (based on Elections Canada figures from 2006), that works out to approximately $10 per vote per person in Canada.

However, the number of eligible voters is only 23 million, which then changes the cost per person in Canada to $13. And if you take into consideration that only 59% of eligible voters actually cast a ballot, that means only 13.8 million Canadians voted. Therefore, it costs Canada $22 per person to vote. (Elections Canada, 2006)

Some more statistics on the cost of elections in Canada;

• Elections Canada estimates a federal byelection would cost an average of $892,000 per riding (CBC, September 2008)
• The cost of the 2004 elections was $277.8 million and the 2006 elections was $$270 million (CBC, Oct 2008)
• The cost of 2000 election was $200 million. In less than ten years that figure has risen by more than $100 million. (Elections Canada, 2006)

These figures show the the cost of democracy in Canada. In eight years Canadian taxpayers have paid roughly $847 million to hold elections.

What contributes to these high costs and it is an acceptable cost in these financial times? You decide. Take the poll below.

Despite the lower levels of media coverage for this fall’s federal election, the Canadian Labour Congress is voicing their concerns with the Conservative government. In a press release from yesterday:

Canadian Labour Congress: “Mr. Harper, You Forgot the Other Ninety Percent!” Says Barbara Byers – Conservative promise on EI not good enough to bring about equality

The Canadian Labour Congress advocates a serious and comprehensive modernization of the Employment Insurance program that will address, among other problems, the fact that two-thirds of unemployed women cannot qualify for benefits.

“The Conservative promise to extend parental and maternity benefits to the self-employed, is a belated acknowledgement that EI discriminates against working women,” explains Barbara Byers, Executive Vice-President, Canadian Labour Congress. “However, the promise is too narrow focussed and fraught with the danger of creating new discrimination and of opening the door to abuse.”

Moreover, Byers describes as mischievous and misleading the Conservative announcement’s assertion of an endorsement of this promise by the Canadian Labour Congress. “As it stands, this Conservative plan does not reflect what the labour movement has been advocating on behalf of working women.”

The Conservative media announcement cites a CLC publication in support of the proposed plan.

“This plan, in fact, does nothing to equalize access to EI regular benefits for women, or to improve regular benefits for women which should be the main priorities.”

“We support inclusion of self-employed workers for maternity and parental leave on the Quebec model, but Harper’s plan is very different.”

In Quebec, all self-employed workers must pay EI premiums to cover the additional cost of maternity and parental leaves for self-employed workers. By contrast, under the Harper plan, self-employed workers would qualify so long as they start paying premiums just six months in advance of a leave.

“We support benefits for the self-employed, but we do not support a big subsidy for the self-employed paid for by other workers who pay premiums but never qualify,” explains Byers.

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.2 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada’s national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour council.

Last night while watching Sarah Palin speak at the Republican convention I came the closest I ever have to wanting to vote conservative.  Sarah Palin is one of the most engaging plain-talking politicians I’ve ever heard.  What’s terribly amusing is she is a product of liberal evolution.  It’s been only a few years back that most conservatives believed that women belonged in the kitchen, and less than a century since they were allowed to vote.  It would be rather ironic if the conservatives elect the first woman Vice President and possible future President.

Conservatives may not like change, but they are adapting quite well with Sarah Palin.  They have been quick to accept the idea that she should be treated like a man and be freed of maternal slavery so she can put in the long hours needed be a political leader.  It’s either that, or not allow any candidate, male or female, with dependent children to work in the White House.  Hell, it hasn’t been that many years since I’ve heard conservatives talk about how women can’t be President because of hormones.  I’m proud of you Republicans for evolving in your liberal thinking.  Now, if you could only get over your hang-ups over gays and lesbians.

I really liked John McCain’s comments tonight about Obama and how we’re all Americans.  I get so sick of Republicans acting like liberals aren’t patriotic, and believe we don’t love this country as much as they do.  Republicans have this really offensive behavior of thinking that anyone that doesn’t agree with their philosophy is a traitor to the U.S.A.  I think that attitude is un-American because it erodes free thinking and encourages ugly group-think.  I believe the McCain-Palin ticket has tried to back off from acting like that.  I think McCain knows it’s offensive, but I don’t know about Palin yet, with her pit-bull with lipstick demeanor.

While listening to Sarah Palin I had to keep reminding myself why I don’t vote Republican.  The thing is I have lots of conservative beliefs myself, but Republicans have such a smug holier-than-thou attitude towards everything that I don’t think I’d fit in with my Hamlet like indecisiveness of seeing a thousand gray shades in every issue.  Besides, they really hate atheistic evolutionists like me.

Of course I also have problems with Democratic ideals too.  I’m comfortable in the political middle and feel both parties are extremists.  I’m for free trade and globalism, lower taxes, smaller government, but I’m also for helping the poor, some entitlements, and a minimal level of universal health care.  I love both business and the environment.  I think abortion should be legal but wished no one would ever get one.  I think capital punishment can be an ethical solution but doubt if we have the discernment to see the true distinctions in what’s involved.  I think war is often necessary, that it’s important to keep a prepared military, that the Iraq War might be the biggest mistake our country ever made, but since we broke it we should pay for it.  I wished the Republicans would admit that Iraq was a huge mistake and I wished the Democrats would admit that sticking with the surge and going the distance is the right thing to do.

Politics is so far from black and white that I can’t believe people get so polarized.  I disagree with many of Sarah Palin political stances, but I think she might make a good leader.  I think her small town salt-of-the-earth good-people philosophy is fine as long as she doesn’t press personal and religious beliefs into law for everyone.

I have an odd view about Republicans and Democrats in relation to religion.  I think Republicans are really Old Testament thinkers, and Democrats are followers of the New Testament.  The Old Testament is about God, the Law and the Chosen people.  The New Testament is all about compassion for the poor, sharing the wealth of the fish and loaves, understanding criminals and prostitutes, and so on.  The Old Testament is about being powerful, prospering, forming a strong nation to please God, and most of all, law and order.  The New Testament is about uplifting the meek and helpless, understanding your neighbors, and walking in other people’s shoes, breaking out of the old ways and forging a compassionate philosophy.

I can understand all that Old Testament thinking – it’s how mankind got its act together to create civilization.  The New Testament is the origin of liberal thought.  It’s the beginning of the shift from believing that the nation is of ultimate importance, to the shift in valuing the importance of the individual.  All people in this world, except the most extreme fundamentalists have been affected by liberal thought.  The trouble with the most extreme liberals is they threaten the stability of the nation.  For example, would universal healthcare damage the economy?  Would gay marriage threaten the social fabric?

In other words, I can understand why conservatives are threatened by liberals.  But to my conservative friends, has women in the military, boardrooms, legislative houses and maybe the White House hurt us?  Is education about how not to get pregnant or acquire a STD so scary, especially when children are bombarded with pro-sex television, movies, books, songs, and advertisement from the time they are tiny?  Sex education in the schools of any kind is completely anti-sex compared to pop culture.  And do you not realize that teaching creationism or intelligent design is defective thinking similar to astrology, Tarot cards and palm reading – something the Enlightenment passed by hundreds of years ago?

If the Republicans get more liberal, more into the New Testament, more concerned about the environment, maybe I’ll consider voting for them.  Sarah Palin, I think you are beautiful, charming, full of grit and sand, honest, and worthy of the job, but also still too Old Testament scary for me.

Jim