Originally posted by robbie carrobie
hi, jaywill, obviously you know I am not an American, what i do not understand, and perhaps you can enlighten me is why people feel so fervently about politics. this is something quite alien in Europe where a general apathy has set in with regard to politics and politicians in general. we have kind of come to the conclusion that politics only reall ...[text shortened]... want to see a fairer society, whats the deal, i ask these things in sincerity - regards Robert.
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hi, jaywill, obviously you know I am not an American, what i do not understand,
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I forgot.
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and perhaps you can enlighten me is why people feel so fervently about politics.
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Those who are fervent are also very vocal. Many young people are more apathetic. However, this year many many more young people voted. I think their hightened interest is related to the difficulty of times.
The fading of the so-called "American Dream" for many has, I think, caused a hightened interest. As for you Europeans, we in the USA hear a lot about your protests concerning Global Climate change and Globalization.
Europe has a longer history and has seen more wars. Perhaps Europeans have a slightly lessened sense of dreamy optimism. As one American Jazz singer once said
"I don't worry about a thing because I know ain't nothing gonna turn our right!"
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this is something quite alien in Europe where a general apathy has set in with regard to politics and politicians in general.
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I don't know. When European youth get mobolized we often get a glimpse of it on the news.
You're probably asking this of the wrong person. I am not that politically active. This year I regarded as a historical first in the US. I came closer to activeness this year than in any other in my past.
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we have kind of come to the conclusion that politics only really benefits politicians, for if you were digging holes for a living during the republican term, what makes people think that they will be doing something different during the democrats term?
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My attitude is that the two or more party system is needed. And I think that to get it close to right you have to change from one party to another from time to time.
There is a time to be conservative and there is a time to be liberal. I don't think it is
always the time to be one or the other. There needs to be balance, I think. And we need protection from each party's worst instincts.
So I welcome the switch back and forth.
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really it is a phenomena for us, and finally, why are Americans so scared of socialism, do they think that it will erode their freedom, do they not want to see a fairer society, whats the deal, i ask these things in sincerity - regards Robert.
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Some people are afraid they will lose their freedoms. Some other people feed this fear, rightly or wrongly.
Socialism to many is next to Communism, something many Americans fear.
I fear it myself. But I also fear a hysteria of Facism. Ask some other Americans. I come here mostly to talk about faith in Christ.
As the human race is now, I believe as follows:
Government is better than no government.
Good government is better than bad government.
God's government is best of all.