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Politics, Precepts, and the Next President of the United States

JasonJason God EmperorArrakis Moderator
edited March 2008 in Buddhism Today
Being a socially active Buddhist can be difficult when it comes to making decisions that reflect Buddhist beliefs and practices in the real world. In ... Continue reading

Comments

  • SimonthepilgrimSimonthepilgrim Veteran
    edited March 2008
    Thank you, Jason, for your thoughtful piece.

    I do not believe that we shall be anywhere near voting with full awareness and according to our conscience until there is a box to tick marked "None Of The Above". If we feel (as do I) that voting is a civil duty not to be shirked, we are forced to vote for one rich liar or another.

    My prayers are with the people of the United States as they approach the election - what a frightful choice!
  • jj5jj5 Medford Lakes, N.J. U.S.A. Veteran
    edited March 2008
    Thank you Simon, we need it! I hope that after this election cycle, we can finally start to recover some of the things that we have lost over the past several years.
  • JasonJason God Emperor Arrakis Moderator
    edited March 2008
    Simon,
    Simonthepilgrim wrote: »
    I do not believe that we shall be anywhere near voting with full awareness and according to our conscience until there is a box to tick marked "None Of The Above". If we feel (as do I) that voting is a civil duty not to be shirked, we are forced to vote for one rich liar or another.

    I think the main problem is that not enough people are participating. In essence, people just need to get themselves motivated and become more politically active, e.g., more citizen groups need to be organized, more citizens should be running for public office (as opposed to career politicians), voters need to research their candidates more carefully, et cetera.

    We are not forced to vote for one rich liar or another in the United States, we simply tolerate such situations becauase we are either too busy, lazy, or apathetic to do anything about it. I am no exception. This is really the first year that I have both registered and voted in any kind of election. Bush, the wonderful president that he is, motivated me to give a damn.

    Jason
  • bushinokibushinoki Veteran
    edited March 2008
    Well, Jason, if he motivated you to get involved, then he wasn't a total waste.
  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited March 2008
    You're right, Jason. He wasn't a total waste - he was/is a complete and utter disaster for the US. He set a new low for compassionless, money-grubbing politicians who couldn't care less about either the American people or America's place in the world.

    Palzang
  • KnitwitchKnitwitch
    edited March 2008
    And he kept a great many British comedians and satire-writers in work during his terms of office!
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited March 2008
    Yes, I must say, the comedy well is bottomless.... it would be funnier, if it wasn't so tragic.... He does come out with some humdingers at times.
    His 'funniest jokes' are criminal, though.....
  • bushinokibushinoki Veteran
    edited March 2008
    The sad part is that both elections came down to a "lesser of two evils" situation. I can't imagine Al Gore in office on 9/11, and John Kerry was a wasted candidate, being that he had no true position on anything.
  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited March 2008
    I agree with you on that one, though I really doubt Al would have ignored the news for 20 minutes while listening to elementary school kids read!

    Palzang
  • bushinokibushinoki Veteran
    edited March 2008
    mixed feelings about that one. On the one hand, showing support to the future of our nation/world, on the other hand, a national emergency. Still, he wasn't in any immediate danger, and there was nothing he could do at the moment, it was all in the hands of the City/State the first day.

    As for Katrina, I do feel more of the blame does reside with the Mayor of NO and the Governor of LA. As far as I'm aware, the feds tried to mobilize the NG 3 days prior to landfall, and Gov. Blanco turned down the help. I am relieved we didn't have some of the options from 2000 and 2004 during some of these emergencies.
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