The labels of ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ are shit. I quickly lose respect for anyone who polarizes themselves into either corner of the socio-economic spectrum. I am none of the above. Below are my guiding principles, which the conservatives will consider liberal, the liberals consider conservative libertarian, and the libertarians consider pragmatic. People with an open mind will probably consider these views open-minded. I consider them reasonable.

Driving home from work the other day I saw a sign at a carpet store that says “STIMULUS SALE!”. Of course the carpet store and their sale has nothing whatsoever to do with the federal stimulus package. Another sign – “YOUR BAILOUT IS HERE.” Then a radio ad for a car dealership comes on, asking “where is the bailout for the general public?” They propose that you can get your slice of the bailout by buying one of their cars. Credit consolidation companies run ads bellyaching the unfairness that you aren’t getting a bailout like the government and big corporations...

Here is a message snipped from the MoQ archives: Heather Perella spiritualadirondack at yahoo.com Thu Nov 2 11:50:38 PST 2006 Thanks Khaled, [Khaled] Also those who do think, give up when they can’t get any action to follow their critical thinking. This is a most excellent simple point. This probably encapsulates the intellectual level discerning the social level, Pirsig’s moral path, most completely. The haunting of this culture: to break the minds of the people, so, their will-power will break, too. As Arlo so well stated the borg will assimilate. As gav has pointed out using Pirsig terminology, the giant...