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| 7.29.2005 |
| The far side of the Democratic party |
I have a question: why do most of the kids in our school (or in our area, really) affiliate themselves with the Democratic party? Lately, it seems the trend that if you oppose Bush, you are automatically a Democrat. How does this help advance government if you don't even fully understand the platform you are supposedly supporting?
For example, after reading the .pdf file for the 2004 Democratic Platform (here), I have extracted a few points that I don't entirely agree with. To begin, their main goal is to promote democracy and freedom around the world. Plausible, noble even. However, it follows by stating that in order to accomplish this the United States has to create the strongest, most deadly military in the world, and employ the use of this militia to impose our democracy and 'freedom' on other countries, especially Iraq. I don't entirely understand why the United States thinks that it's its duty to make all other countries conform to our standards. Perhaps the Iraqi people were perfectly content with their leadership; even if they weren't, I don't see how blowing the nation to bits will advance positive morals. And I'm quite sure you won't win the people over by killing off their families and destroying the country. Yeah, I bet they're really warming up to us now.
Secondly, under a heading concerning WMDs, the document states one of its goals is 'defending America against attacks at all cost.' This does seem a logical thing to do, someone tries to punch you, you block them. However, the paragraph in question goes on to say how if an attack is imminent, everything will be done to stop it.
Now, simple thinking skills. It's like if you're walking down the street and you look over at someone who looks potentially dangerous. Therefore, you should attack and reduce them before they have the chance to even think about attempting the same on you. What kind of sense does that make?
Thirdly, the position on the war. Many people think that being associated with the Democrat party associates you with an anti-war slant; however, this is entirely not the case. While the party does make reference to Bush's inadequate planning for the war, they only offer a statement akin to 'now that we're in it we might as well win it.' The platform file repeatedly mentions how Bush's tactics fell short and how he did not provide the troops with a 'clarity of mission'. However, this platform also does not make the single, focused goal of the war clear either. Could this be because neither side is entirely certain of why we're having the war in the first place?
The Democratic platform also sets up a plan for ending the African HIV/AIDS epidemic. Increased funding is never once mentioned, however 'supporting newly democratic states' seems to be their answer.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate all of Democrat values. There are certain points I fully support, for example, investing in solar, hydroelectric, biomass, geothermal, and wind power as an alternative to our current beastly dependancy on Mideast oil. And, of course, their efforts to include gay and lesbian families in all benefits that heterosexual families get and to secure their equality
However, they also frown upon the current state of health insurance for children, pointing out that now nearly 8.5 million children are lacking health care. The cost of war is rapidly growing (here), now over $183,677,000,000. With the money being guzzled by the war, over 109,985,000 kids could be insured for one year. Now, assuming that I know my math, that means each of those 8.5 million children could each be insured for 12 years. Twelve years! Strengthening Medicaid is a weak solution when compared to the amount of lives that could potentially be saved by pulling out of Iraq and diverting the money that would have been spent on firearms and technology to human interests. Not only will it be the lives of soldiers, it could be the lives of children, people with HIV/AIDS, or the sick and starving in third world countries.
So that's my political rant for today. Hope you get something out of it. |
posted by Ianthe. @ 1:05 AM  |
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Tears Shall Drown The Wind |
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