Call me cliche, but not a single one.

I don't adhere to the belief that I need to elect someone other than myself to govern myself. I am responsible for experiencing and interpreting my own experiences in this world, and I am the only one who can fully integrate those ideas and experiences in the most constructive form which suits my life. That goes the same for every other individual out there. Everyone is responsible for their own experiences and sensory input they receive. How each individual reacts is their right and their responsibility.

The only reason I see that we have this kind of system in place is because, collectively, we cannot seem to count on each other to maintain a standard of responsibility and integrity. I recognize that I am an idealist though, but I believe that one day this may be a possibility. Hard to imagine right now perhaps, but that doesn't make me feel inclined to give up my idealism. Idealism is the seed of change.

Plato's Republic has some good sections about the corruptibility of man and the cycles of political leaders. Haven't read it in depth in a while, but I know a few parts really struck a chord with me.

Sorry hurr durr, but the only people who are "blind" are those who (routinely) demonstrate little to no understanding of what these people actually do and who they actually are. In reality the simple act of knowing what goes on in government has afforded me the opportunity to appreciate the character of many people serving in office and I'm thankful for it. It's quite nice.

Truthfully I'd much prefer it to the sad, pathetic existence of those who bravely bounce around the conservative echo chamber and who couldn't even begin to credibly discuss a topic like this.

with the society as it is, if you decide to only care and worry about yourself, you don't seem cliche you seem aloof and selfish. To claim no responsibility for your neighbor or friend (?) just shows a lack of emotional maturity. Eventually you will learn that man isn't a "lone wolf" he's a herd animal.

Really? Maybe you're not understanding me then. You don't think that everybody is responsible for their own actions? In a collective society, there will always be compromises and I acknowledge that. But ideally I don't think that we have any need for policing of ourselves. When the maturity of mankind reaches a point where at least most people can be trusted to be responsible and decent people, there is no need to give your ownership of yourself away to someone else.

It has nothing to do with being a "lone wolf" or whatever euphemism you want to use. It has to do with realizing that your own actions are yours to own and experience. Nobody else can make any judgement surrounding that for you that is more powerful than your own. Obviously, that's not a popular belief as we see constantly in our culture. For example, people often regard certain people with certain educations as experts and as a result take these experts' word over their own held experiences. I acknowledge that some people are experts and have information which is worth weighing with your own experiences, but to doubt your own experience over that of someone else's makes very little sense to me in the bigger picture.

Besides, why should I trust anybody I've never met? And why should I trust them to make executive decisions about my life? Not only that, which is a very basic concept, but why should I trust a group of people who have notoriously used their position of power for their own gain regardless of what they were elected to do for their society? I mean, you can take it deeper and deeper if you like, but on the surface it's a very simple concept.

I am me, and you are you. I would never impose myself in an executive way over your life because your decisions and experiences are your own to make of what you will. As long as you are a responsible person with integrity I see no reason that you need to be governed by someone who has some imaginary higher authority than you.

This post was edited by HERETICtheory on Jan 8 2015 09:10am

What they do is irrelevant to the fact that you're consistently giving them collective oral. Learning to appreciate their splooge dribbling from your chin is, I guess, an acquired taste.

I would love to live in this world, unfortunately there are just way too many selfish people, if it could have happened before the "time of the traders" and the crafty capitalists hadn't learned to tell us that we never have enough

Yeah, OK.

But I'm still confused about your accusation that my viewpoint and/or myself are somehow emotionally immature. Until this time of idealism comes (assuming that it does, and I tend to be optimistic) there is nobody that I owe my trust to. Particularly in politics. In fact, after this time of idealism, I STILL don't owe anybody my trust. It is mine to do with what I please. And acknowledging that each person is responsible for themselves hardly seems emotionally immature.

In fact, what seems emotionally immature is involving yourself in other people's business without their invitation. I get a sense that there is an undertone in your message that I am somehow emotionally cutting people off by expecting people to take responsibility for themselves.

This post was edited by HERETICtheory on Jan 8 2015 09:38am

Elizabeth Warren is the Huckabee of the left.

I trust Obama to do exactly what I expect, and I think Boehner's a pretty swell guy.

The current state of untrustworthy politicians is only in effect because we created the career of politician. When your job is in jeopardy you are more than likely to do things you otherwise wouldnt. This is why politicians have to mask their beliefs and platforms in order to get into office without being skewed to one side or the other by their opposition.

I saw a news report a few months back about the appropriateness of Obama's tan suit. Are you fucking kidding me? And people get all hot and bothered when Christie gets upset on camera when confronted by leading and retarded questions. If you transplanted any of the notable presidents weve had into modern day they would blow the headlines apart. Teddy R. wouldnt have taken shit from a god damn reporter who is more focused on the color of his jacket than his policy.

I remember when Johnson got elected in WI for senate and took down career politician Rus Feingold and he stated openly and often on the campaign trail that he is a Budget specialist who's only concern was balancing the budget then he would not run again. He expressed multiple times that he doesnt want to be a politician and i thought that was a welcome change in the political world. Whether or not he holds to those promises is another matter, but there needs to be an increase in the number of politicians who see their work as service to the public not the other way around.

If you dont like the system by all means dont vote. But dont expect your shunning of the system to change anything, go out and support candidates who have specialized skills for the job they are undertaking rather than men and women looking for a steady 4 year pay check.

Ron Paul and Jill Stein come to mind. But, that's probably because they suck at politics.

There's also a few people in my local area who are trustworthy and offer a lot of transparency. They're mostly locals who aren't into making careers out of politics.