One Political Plaza - Home of politics
Home Active Topics Newest Pictures Search Login Register
Introduce Yourself
Looking forward to hearing more.
Page 1 of 2 next>
Apr 9, 2017 13:36:35   #
busyval Loc: Houston, TX
 
Hi, my name is Valoree. I live in Texas and I am an Occupational Therapist for special needs kids. I haven't been real interested in Politics until this e******n and now I find myself trying to get as much information as I can. I look forward to reading and learning more.

Reply
Apr 9, 2017 13:54:34   #
slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas
 
busyval wrote:
Hi, my name is Valoree. I live in Texas and I am an Occupational Therapist for special needs kids. I haven't been real interested in Politics until this e******n and now I find myself trying to get as much information as I can. I look forward to reading and learning more.

Welcome, Valoree.

Be careful in getting what you ask for.

Reply
Apr 9, 2017 13:56:01   #
cesspool jones Loc: atlanta
 
busyval wrote:
Hi, my name is Valoree. I live in Texas and I am an Occupational Therapist for special needs kids. I haven't been real interested in Politics until this e******n and now I find myself trying to get as much information as I can. I look forward to reading and learning more.


We have people and we have sheeple on OPP.

Reply
 
 
Apr 9, 2017 14:33:51   #
kankune Loc: Iowa
 
busyval wrote:
Hi, my name is Valoree. I live in Texas and I am an Occupational Therapist for special needs kids. I haven't been real interested in Politics until this e******n and now I find myself trying to get as much information as I can. I look forward to reading and learning more.


Welcome Valoree.I love the Texans. After living in Weatherford for 3 years, I have great respect for Texas and Texans. You just don't mess around. Shoot first and ask questions later. Love it!

Reply
Apr 9, 2017 14:40:12   #
EL Loc: Massachusetts
 
busyval wrote:
Hi, my name is Valoree. I live in Texas and I am an Occupational Therapist for special needs kids. I haven't been real interested in Politics until this e******n and now I find myself trying to get as much information as I can. I look forward to reading and learning more.


Welcome Valoree....ENJOY!!!

Reply
Apr 9, 2017 15:19:16   #
Larry the Legend Loc: Not hiding in Milton
 
busyval wrote:
Hi, my name is Valoree. I live in Texas and I am an Occupational Therapist for special needs kids. I haven't been real interested in Politics until this e******n and now I find myself trying to get as much information as I can. I look forward to reading and learning more.


Hi Valoree. Looking at your post, I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you're still quite young and haven't been out of school / college very long. So the recent e******n tweaked your interest in all things political and you're here to get your ass handed to you feet wet. In many ways, you came to the right place. As you'll learn pretty quickly, we have some very patient, logical people on here who will bend over backwards to help you understand the intricacies of political discourse. Then there are the others who couldn't care less about ideas and logical reasoning, and go straight for the ideology like a religious dogma. I have no doubt you'll see the difference in no time.

So, just getting your political feet wet. That can be a tough one. Politics isn't designed to be understandable or logical so I recommend you approach everything political with a very skeptical eye. I suppose the first thing to do is to find out where you are on the political spectrum. This (very) short quiz will help give you an idea as to where you stand and who your friends are:

https://www.nolanchart.com/survey-php

Just answer the questions honestly and it will point you to your comfort zone. Just so you know, my result is straight up libertarian. I was very surprised when I found that out.

Also, if you like videos, this is a good explanation of the origins and history of the American form of government:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGL8CiUtXF0

I especially like the way it turns this whole 'left / right' paradigm on its head and points out that government power is a true measure of political ideology. Let me know where the quiz places you on the political spectrum and I may know a few resources that will help you 'see the light' so to speak.

Reply
Apr 9, 2017 15:50:01   #
busyval Loc: Houston, TX
 
Interesting that you surmised that I am young since I am close to 60 (in June). I am aware of politics but have not really been very interested in it. I live in a very conservative area and find that I don't fit in. Thank you for the Nolan chart. It was very informative. I fit into the Liberal category which I could have guessed. I think that our upbringing molds us somewhat but I like to believe that I think for myself. This quiz helped me know that I think for myself. I remember when growing up that people were more tolerant of other's viewpoints and I am frustrated that I feel that I need to hide my beliefs to not be put down and criticised. Thanks for your help.

Reply
 
 
Apr 9, 2017 16:04:05   #
cesspool jones Loc: atlanta
 
busyval wrote:
Interesting that you surmised that I am young since I am close to 60 (in June). I am aware of politics but have not really been very interested in it. I live in a very conservative area and find that I don't fit in. Thank you for the Nolan chart. It was very informative. I fit into the Liberal category which I could have guessed. I think that our upbringing molds us somewhat but I like to believe that I think for myself. This quiz helped me know that I think for myself. I remember when growing up that people were more tolerant of other's viewpoints and I am frustrated that I feel that I need to hide my beliefs to not be put down and criticised. Thanks for your help.
Interesting that you surmised that I am young sinc... (show quote)


Me and you...class of 75

Reply
Apr 9, 2017 16:21:45   #
kankune Loc: Iowa
 
busyval wrote:
Interesting that you surmised that I am young since I am close to 60 (in June). I am aware of politics but have not really been very interested in it. I live in a very conservative area and find that I don't fit in. Thank you for the Nolan chart. It was very informative. I fit into the Liberal category which I could have guessed. I think that our upbringing molds us somewhat but I like to believe that I think for myself. This quiz helped me know that I think for myself. I remember when growing up that people were more tolerant of other's viewpoints and I am frustrated that I feel that I need to hide my beliefs to not be put down and criticised. Thanks for your help.
Interesting that you surmised that I am young sinc... (show quote)


I'm a conservative thru and thru. Also the class of 75. : )

Reply
Apr 9, 2017 16:38:51   #
busyval Loc: Houston, TX
 
I hope that we can have some non- insulting interaction.

Reply
Apr 9, 2017 16:55:26   #
cesspool jones Loc: atlanta
 
busyval wrote:
I hope that we can have some non- insulting interaction.


I have tightened up on that.

Reply
 
 
Apr 10, 2017 04:53:12   #
Larry the Legend Loc: Not hiding in Milton
 
busyval wrote:
Interesting that you surmised that I am young since I am close to 60 (in June). I am aware of politics but have not really been very interested in it. I live in a very conservative area and find that I don't fit in. Thank you for the Nolan chart. It was very informative. I fit into the Liberal category which I could have guessed. I think that our upbringing molds us somewhat but I like to believe that I think for myself. This quiz helped me know that I think for myself. I remember when growing up that people were more tolerant of other's viewpoints and I am frustrated that I feel that I need to hide my beliefs to not be put down and criticised. Thanks for your help.
Interesting that you surmised that I am young sinc... (show quote)


My pleasure. Always pleased to be of assistance. I figured you were younger because you're just now 'getting into' the whole 'political thing'. That usually happens at a much younger age than yours. For instance, I have an 18 year old son who's current interest in politics is less than zero, if that's even possible. Let him get out of the house, start a family, and all that will change. That's when you usually see the 'awakening', because it really starts to matter. Until then, it's all a game.

That quiz is actually called 'The World's Smallest Quiz', it was invented by a guy named David Nolan. He was one of the founders of the Libertarian party way back in the early 1970's. The NolanChart website is named after him though he had nothing to do with it. I started writing for them many years ago. You can find my archive here:

https://www.nolanchart.com/author/larry-warrick

The earlier stuff gets into the nuts and bolts of libertarianism; the later stuff is more focused on current events of the time. I haven't written there in many years.

So, you're a liberal in your ideals. Interesting. As I understand it, that means you support ideas and programs such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free markets, civil rights, democratic societies, secular governments, g****r e******y, and international cooperation. Did you look it up? I did:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism

Does this sound familiar? "Liberals opposed traditional conservatism and sought to replace absolutism in government with representative democracy and the rule of law". That's right, the founders were very much the liberals of their day. These days, that's referred to as 'classical liberalism'. Of the 'liberals' we see today, many of them would be horrified if you were to assert their belief in the 'rule of law' or 'free markets'. That's because their whole movement, noble as it was, has been co-opted by an insidious ideology promoting collectivist ideologies such as socialism, Marxism and c*******m (generally known as Statism, a political system in which the state has substantial centralized control over social and economic affairs). Putting it bluntly, they are not their forefathers' children. The vast majority have heard of the Constitution, but have no idea what's in it because they have never read it, though some will claim they have, and they get extremely irate when you start using it to show why their statist ideologies are held in error.

I know there's a lot to unpack here, but just one last tidbit. Don't wear your politics on your sleeve. There's nothing wrong with holding your own set of morals and viewpoints. I find people tend to take me more seriously if I don't give myself a label. There are plenty of others out there who will be more than happy to drop you into a given 'pigeon-hole'. Don't let it get to you, that's what they're trying to do, and that's how you recognize a modern-day liberal. Because of their lack of political knowledge, they try to label everything and everyone with meaningless descriptives. Don't get suckered in, you're in good company:

Aristotle
Niccolò Machiavelli
Desiderius Erasmus
Thomas Hobbes
Baruch Spinoza
John Locke
John Trenchard
Charles de Montesquieu
Thomas Gordon
François Quesnay
Voltaire
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Denis Diderot
Jean le Rond d'Alembert
Richard Price
Anders Chydenius
Adam Smith
Immanuel Kant
Anne Robert Jacques Turgot
Joseph Priestley
August Ludwig von Schlözer
Patrick Henry
Thomas Paine
Thomas Jefferson
Marquis de Condorcet
Jeremy Bentham
Emmanuel Sieyès
Antoine Destutt de Tracy
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël
Benjamin Constant
Jean-Baptiste Say
Wilhelm von Humboldt
David Ricardo
James Mill
Frédéric Bastiat
Johan Rudolf Thorbecke
Harriet Martineau
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Alexis de Tocqueville
William Lloyd Garrison
Friedrich Schiller

Many of those wrote books, pamphlets and articles. Some you can find for free here:

https://mises.org/library

The Mises Library is the world's most extensive online collection of literature and media of the Austrian School tradition, classical liberalism, and libertarian thought.

Reply
Apr 10, 2017 06:17:39   #
Loki Loc: Georgia
 
busyval wrote:
Interesting that you surmised that I am young since I am close to 60 (in June). I am aware of politics but have not really been very interested in it. I live in a very conservative area and find that I don't fit in. Thank you for the Nolan chart. It was very informative. I fit into the Liberal category which I could have guessed. I think that our upbringing molds us somewhat but I like to believe that I think for myself. This quiz helped me know that I think for myself. I remember when growing up that people were more tolerant of other's viewpoints and I am frustrated that I feel that I need to hide my beliefs to not be put down and criticised. Thanks for your help.
Interesting that you surmised that I am young sinc... (show quote)


Only 60, huh? Whippersnapper. I don't know what to think about you youngsters these days. Wait till you get to be my age, young'un.
By the way, welcome to OPP. I don't hold you being a Liberal against you. After all, you're still wet behind the ears. You'll change your tune after you get some age and experience on you. lol

Reply
Apr 10, 2017 06:46:33   #
Larry the Legend Loc: Not hiding in Milton
 
Loki wrote:
Only 60, huh? Whippersnapper. I don't know what to think about you youngsters these days. Wait till you get to be my age, young'un.
By the way, welcome to OPP. I don't hold you being a Liberal against you. After all, you're still wet behind the ears. You'll change your tune after you get some age and experience on you. lol


You better watch him, lady. I seen him lick his eyebrows clean...

Reply
Apr 10, 2017 13:45:01   #
bahmer
 
busyval wrote:
Hi, my name is Valoree. I live in Texas and I am an Occupational Therapist for special needs kids. I haven't been real interested in Politics until this e******n and now I find myself trying to get as much information as I can. I look forward to reading and learning more.


Welcome to the party Valerie and enjoy your stay. Please use the quote reply button when responding to individuals on the various threads that way others know who you are responding to.

Reply
Page 1 of 2 next>
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.
Introduce Yourself
OnePoliticalPlaza.com - Forum
Copyright 2012-2024 IDF International Technologies, Inc.