#4: politics and trees

When I took the Political Compass Test, I scored in the left-libertarian range. I found it interesting but was not suprised when Gandhi was in the general area that I was. Back in sixth grade, our teacher showed us the "Gandhi" movie and ever since then I have admired him and his pacifistic story. Non-violence is a moral of mine and he was, and still is, an idol of pure peace. One of my favorite quotes from him is, "Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well." I wish this idea could be spread across the world and everyone realize how beautiful of a concept it is. It could bring about an equalistic perspective and maybe even end of war. Mother Teresa said that she would never attend an anti-war rally only a pro-peace one, and that is the way to think.

Politics on the other hand would be at the other end of the spectum, or so I had thought. In class on Tuesday, you changed my rigid view of what I thought politics was, you said it is the way we live our lives, treat other people and how society should be. That took me a few moments to process. I viewed politics as the politicians, the conservative suits, the bashing of each other during elections, the dishonesty and knowing that they were making decisions for me. How can I trust them to do a good job at being in charge of decision making if I really don't know who these people are? I couldn't agree more with the statement you wrote in your understanding of anarchism, "We believe democracy doesn't come from a small group of people at the top of society, instead, democratic processes depend on the full involvement of informed/engaged citizens from all sections of a society." I suppose I may have discovered an anarchist side of my beliefs. Really though, who wouldn't want to have a say in what goes on in the big picture? If everyone could actually get to know their neighbors, have discussions, and get the ball rolling then maybe we could get a foot in the door to open up a new worldview.

I've given some thought to my political philosophy and there are two main concerns of mine, environmentalism and overpopulation, which ultimately leads back to the environment. I wouldn't care to be called a "tree hugger" or a "greenie weenie" because we wouldn't be alive if it weren't for the trees. Also, most people don't realize that every party can be recycled; the plastic cups, two liters, beer cans and bottles, and even the cardboard boxes they come in. There's nothing wrong with trying to reduce your carbon footprint. I've had a strong ideology for the environment for a while now, which lead me to see another side of abortion. It really irked me in high school when girls that weren't even 18 were pregnant, let alone the over-publicized MTV show "16 and pregnant." I strongly believe there should be requirements to bringing another life onto our planet, but free condoms would be a good start. Not to mention the millions of orphans all over the world. Why don't we take care of the people we already have instead of worrying about a fetus that hasn't even taken a breath? Think of all the resources we are continuing to suck out of the ground like it's going to last forever. We dump all of our garbage in landfills and some of it ends up in the ocean, mangling innocent sea creatures. If I were going to chose a politician to be in office, I would look at their environmental and abortion views. We can't continue to pollute this Earth and expect it to be kind in return.