Primaries - Democrats and Republicans vs Independents

Democrats and Republicans are clubs. Each spends a great deal of time and money on communications, primaries, etc. for the benefit of their members. People can join any club; it’s voluntary. There are other, smaller, political clubs including Libertarian, Green, Socialist and others that people may join.

It seems more and more, Americans are choosing not to join any club and call themselves Independents. That is of course their right. But when Independents (who do not belong to any club) complain they cannot vote in one of the club’s primaries, it sounds like whining to me. There is no reason they should be allowed to vote in a club’s primary they are not a member of. For example, why would Republican club members want Democratic club members to be able to vote in a State’s GOP primary, perhaps just so they could vote for a “weak” GOP candidate?

Independents are welcome to not join any club. They still get to vote in the general election. BUT, if they want to vote for a candidate in the primaries, they need to be a member of one of the clubs. If they want, they could create their own club. Perhaps create an IND-DEM club for liberal leaning Independents and an IND-GOP club for conservative leaning Independents. This year, the IND-DEM club could have nominated Bernie Sanders so he could run in the general election. 

My message to Independents -

I respect your right to vote. Your vote is equal to mine. But if you want a free ride by piggybacking on my Democratic club without helping to support all the work necessary to put on primaries and vote year after year for Democratic candidates, go take a hike!

P.S. Bernie Sanders does not have the strength of his convictions. He is a self-professed Socialist. But instead of running as a Socialist in his State, he has run as an Independent for 30 years (is he ashamed of being a Socialist?). Now he wants to use the infrastructure of the Democratic Party, where he has never belonged, to run his national campaign. He too can go take a hike!

Religion and Women

I cannot tolerate how certain religions (or sects within a religion) treat women as subservient and limit their freedom and educational opportunities. This means I do not approve of these religions:

1. Islam

2. Ultra-Orthodox Judaism

3. Note: The leadership of the Catholic Church is a men’s club that suffers from many of the same misguided traditions of not allowing women into their management, but at least this religion does not limit women’s rights outside the church hierarchy.

There are many nice people who practice these religions, but I do not approve of their traditions of not allowing women to make their own decisions in life. In my opinion, these religions believe in a form of slavery simply because men like being dominate and controlling. I very much hope the traditions around women in these religions are doomed to the dustbin of history.

Politics and Friends

My and my wife’s 10 closest active friends are about half politically liberal and half conservative. We have political conversations every once in a while, but they don’t dominate. The only thing that sticks out in my mind over the past 4 years is many of our conservative friends have said they “hate Obama”. That sticks out because during Bush’s 8 years as President, I don’t remember ever saying, or thinking, I hate him. I didn’t support any of his policies and think he ruined America for at least 10 years going to war with Iraq and eliminating the financial regulations that led to the 2008 financial collapse… still I never “hated him”.

Our conservative friends’ positions hasn't stopped us from really liking them and wanting to socialize with them. And as far as I can tell, our liberal positions hasn't stopped them from liking and wanting to socialize with us.

BUT WHAT IF WE WENT DEEPER?

I assume my conservative friends all want the following to happen in America and vote for candidates who support these positions:

1. Reduce the current safety nets for the poor to the bare minimum (way below where they are now).
2. Never raise the minimum wage (maybe eliminate it).
3. Dramatically reduce federal regulations in the areas of banking, water and air pollution, land use, energy efficiency, etc.
4. Give a higher priority to voters in the suburbs and rural areas of the country vs inner cities. Perhaps have more Congressional Districts in rural and suburban areas than in big cities (that is, assign Districts by land area not population). In other words, not maintain the ideal of one person, one vote, and give higher priority to the white voter vs the non-white voter.
5. Eliminate Obamacare and go back to the way health insurance was. And certainly never have Medicare for everyone (single-payer system).
6. Do nothing about climate change.
7. Increase the use of oil and coal and eliminate all incentives for renewable energy.
8. Reduce the tax rate on people making over $250,000 per year.
9. Reduce the influence of the Dept. of Education (perhaps eliminate it).
10. Make all abortions illegal and jail any doctor who performs one. Perhaps jail the mother too.
11. Make most birth control devices/meds illegal.
12. Ban stem cell research.
13. Deport as many illegal immigrants as possible and keep the remaining as illegals forever.
14. Roll back any relationship with Cuba.
15. Do not spend money on repairing the country’s infrastructure.
16. Require all Americans invest their Social Security payments into private investments. Perhaps do away with Social Security.
17. Weaken unions as much as possible. Perhaps eliminate all public unions (except Police unions of course).
18. Encourage the use of Christian dogma in government.
19. Eliminate all barriers to buying a firearm. Allow the sale of any fully automatic weapon.
20. Allow carrying a firearm anywhere.
21. Make same sex marriages illegal.
22. Expand prayer in schools.
23. End support for Planned Parenthood
24. End all support for “equal pay for women”

If all of the above came to pass in America, I would be horrified. I might take up arms or leave the country (and conservatives might say “good riddance” :)

So how far should close friends go discussing the differences between liberals and conservatives? Should we discuss them more? Or would that just lead to lost friendships and even less understanding between us?

What do you think?