tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26340222.post2052719289105571368..comments2023-09-28T04:08:46.005-04:00Comments on The Hankster: Contradictions of Our Flawed Democracy: What Can Be Done?Nancy Hankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17428253702914703243noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26340222.post-36489783627803639822011-06-29T10:59:25.267-04:002011-06-29T10:59:25.267-04:00Yes! Right the f... on, Calmoderate, and let's...Yes! Right the f... on, Calmoderate, and let's build what we need to build to do the right thing. Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment! - NHNancy Hankshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17428253702914703243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26340222.post-64026528927335505702011-06-29T10:52:19.579-04:002011-06-29T10:52:19.579-04:00Interesting post. I agree that the Libertarians ar...Interesting post. I agree that the Libertarians aren't going to solve anything. They are enslaved to their ideology. As best as I can tell, ideologues generally arent't very good at creative thinking or problem solving. They typically cannot accurately see issues or solutions to problems because the underlying reality contradicts their beliefs. Reality seems to have a knack of doing that to most ideological political and religious "truths".<br /><br />On the topic of whether there is something 'wrong' that needs fixing, I think there is. Sure, our system is designed to accomodate contradictions, vehement differences of opinion and all that. Nonetheless, since the end of the second world war, we come from a position of great strength with every political and social advantage. How did we get to where we are now? While some (most?) people would call that little sojourn political success, I call it failure.<br /><br />Now, it may be the case that if our system can accomodate pretty much everything, contradictions, political extremism, selfless altruism, ruthless greed, etc, then it ought to be able to accomodate political failure. Maybe the failure I see doesn't mean anything is 'wrong' because it fits in our system, but I still would like to see something better. Something sure feels like it is broken. <br /><br />Breaking away from entrenched political structures as you suggest is about the only way to effect meaningful positive change that I can see. The hard question is how to do that. One can try to reform politics from within or try to force change from the outside. I don't believe the former is possible (entrenched partisan structures won't step aside unless forced), so I default into the latter. We need a new political party that is grounded in unspun reality and pragmatic problem solving. <br /><br />I believe that that means accepting political solutions that are liberal, conservative, compromise or none of those, if that is what the unspun situation dictates. That kind of politics is simply incompatible with the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian or other parties. They are all grounded in their sacred, inviolate ideology, which is a big part of the entrenched partisan structure that needs to be moved beyond.Calmoderatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08593329409293991575noreply@blogger.com