The most important factor in our decision making about the president should be his character, followed by his policies as they relate to economic, social, and environmental well-being. To judge the character accurately we need to let go of our partisan labels and allow our gut to do the job. We can all read candidate's body language and facial expressions. We can always tell when a smile is genuine, and when it is not. Speeches are written by clever speech writers; hence we should not fall into the emotional traps that these speeches contain. Another measure of character is how well a candidate occupies and stays on the high ground. For example when a candidate tries to gain sympathy or make personal attacks on his opponent, then he has left the high ground.
I have lived in many parts of the world, including Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and North America and have witness the election process in many of those regions. I have NEVER seen such a high focus on personal choice issues, such as gay/lesbian rights, abortion rights, ownership of guns etc. in any of the elections. Candidates, in both first world and third world are primarily elected on the basis of who the voter feels more honest and who's policies will improve the economic and environmental standing of the country.
In no country have I seen such a gulf between the two opposing parties. As a non- American and an outsider, it appears to me that the Republican Party represents the interests of the well- heeled people who have more money than they need and do not want to share that wealth with the rest. When we look at the happiest countries in the world, we find that they do have a higher level of taxation, but the gap between the richest and the poorest is not as wide. They have realized a middle path between extreme right wing economics and socialism, while maintaining the incentive within the economy for people to work hard and be entrepreneurial.
The attempt of the politicians is always to push us to extreme positions, so that they can use emotion to excite us, into voting for them. Imagine how difficult it would be to manipulate us, if each of us had varying views on economics, environment, social or health issues, that don't align with traditional right or left wing positions. One other thing we have to guard against- we should not allow our leaders to demonize somebody or something. I don't believe that either Osama Bin Laden or Ahmedinejad are as fearsome as our leadership has made them out to be. Happy voting, to those who can vote!
I have lived in many parts of the world, including Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and North America and have witness the election process in many of those regions. I have NEVER seen such a high focus on personal choice issues, such as gay/lesbian rights, abortion rights, ownership of guns etc. in any of the elections. Candidates, in both first world and third world are primarily elected on the basis of who the voter feels more honest and who's policies will improve the economic and environmental standing of the country.
In no country have I seen such a gulf between the two opposing parties. As a non- American and an outsider, it appears to me that the Republican Party represents the interests of the well- heeled people who have more money than they need and do not want to share that wealth with the rest. When we look at the happiest countries in the world, we find that they do have a higher level of taxation, but the gap between the richest and the poorest is not as wide. They have realized a middle path between extreme right wing economics and socialism, while maintaining the incentive within the economy for people to work hard and be entrepreneurial.
The attempt of the politicians is always to push us to extreme positions, so that they can use emotion to excite us, into voting for them. Imagine how difficult it would be to manipulate us, if each of us had varying views on economics, environment, social or health issues, that don't align with traditional right or left wing positions. One other thing we have to guard against- we should not allow our leaders to demonize somebody or something. I don't believe that either Osama Bin Laden or Ahmedinejad are as fearsome as our leadership has made them out to be. Happy voting, to those who can vote!
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