nimble

thats hilarious!!! what irony. Put the edit function back. Who cares if you edit? Does it really make that big of a difference? I cant believe that on a forum that anyone would be afraid of someone editing their post. What is the worst that could happen? Maybe someone corrects a spelling error. Or someone edits their post to MAKE SENSE. I wouldnt want someones post to become more intelligent or anything. (that was sarcasm).

Actually, the Republicans at least began with an ideology, and I believe that they still do have an ideology today (although it is a very contradictory one). I think that to endorse Republicans is to endorse all that which the Republican party supports, which isnt a good thing.

i am a folk kinda guy myself.

First of all, I didnt dismiss any argument. I offered my OPINION, about the motives of those with that argument. Second, the same can be said about libertarians regarding ideology. I said that republicans were religious, they wanted constitutional bans on gay marriage, and some other things, and your reply was "not all of them." Which is a perfectly valid argument. You are correct, I stereotyped them, and collectively grouped them, into something that not every individual republican does. But same can be said about libertarians. Are all libertarians against any type of war? No, because I am a libertarian and I think that self-defense of our nation is the governments number one priority. I just cant see how voting Bush, is a good idea. All it will do is either get him into office, which i dont want. Then that will cause a huge hatred for the republican party, because people for some reason just like to hate that man. And it will most likely cause the next republican candidate to lose, simply because the democrats will have so much ammo against the republican party it wont even be a close race. So basically: vote bush=bad next 8 years.

i dont think anyone in this forum sees luck as some mystical force. I play poker all the time. In casinos, at home, in tournaments. I have won a decent amount of money too (i lose too, i guess its just LUCK). But luck as a concept is valid depending on your defintion. Cards are in a random order, which is beyond your possible knowledge. You can use probability, you can even come to certain conclusions some times. Like if you have 2 kings and two kings are in the community cards, then you know that no more kings will show up in the deck. But often hands come down to a certain amount of LUCK that just happens. Now of course the cards were shuffled, someone did put them in that order (although not intending to, since shuffling is random). Circumstances happen for specific cause, but because they are beyond one's capacity to know, it is considered luck. That would be how i explain it.

if only i were a girl then maybe i could be admired in that fashion too.

I saw that cartoon. And he is politically stuck from making action. He is taking political heat, from the left, and the right isnt firing back, instead they are appeasing. This makes it seems as if the left is right about the war in Iraq and any US intervention in foreign affairs. Basically, if Bush were to begin another attack or any kind of problem with another nation other than Iraq, then he most likely wouldnt win this upcoming election. And he probably wants to win, so he will lie low on declaring other nations enemies for a while (that was a bit of sarcasm if you caught it). If i wanted to win the election i would probably do the same in his position. He wont win me over, but he most likely will win enough votes to secure this up coming election.

yes, so who might that be this election? But i agree on your philosophy of voting though.

Nope Im from Michigan. I always wanted to go to New York though. Maybe I will travel there this summer on my time off from college.

when i first read your post Fred, I was scared. I thought you were saying that principles shouldnt be applied to all, but once I read your examples they clarified what you meant. I was just going to add, that logic is an all or nothing kinda thing. Lets look at math. If you declare "a=b, b=c, therefore a=c" this declaration to be logically true (like all other principles) must apply to ALL!! But your examples showed that thats not what you meant, which is good.

That seems almost intended to offend, unless you are asking him what his former occupation is. But i dont think that was your intention.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Thats an interesting place to put a book to take your picture. Very interesting.

Do you think that we should have pro choice? I do, but the republican party doesnt. Should there be a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT to stop gay marraige? No, the constitution is supposed to limit government, not individuals. The republican party thinks we should have one? Do you think the president is the only person involved in wars? What makes you think that we wouldnt act in self defense, just because a libertarian is in office? I beg to differ that political stress from republicans and democrats would force a military action regardless of who is in office. Plus, Congress declares wars not the president. I think the we would all be dead argument is just a reason to try and vote republican without feeling guilty. Go ahead and choose the "lesser of two evils" (to quote an earlier post). I do not find any of my beliefs except to have a strong military to be found within the Republican party.

Other than the fact that i was once christian (oh god i was the catholic type of christian too), I had basically had held very similar beliefs to Objectivism and Rand confirmed those beliefs and convictions and helped me rid myself of religion. I read Rand in 9th grade. And I loved it. It motivated me to study Econ. and Philosophy. It took me a while to "practice what i preach" but I think I am much better off now than i was as a catholic. That wasnt fun. In fact, in catholicism I think fun is the definition of sin.

Yea i am double majoring in Economics and Philosophy at Albion College. And I plan to transfer to U of M after my senior year so i can get a Phd in Economics. If you ever need any help with some classes I might have taken them. I took an honors econ program though, so we might have different courses.

yea i take college honors courses in Economics. And Keynes is a bunch of crap. But that isnt the topic of this thread so I wont rant.

I know everyone is opposed to libertarians because of some of their fundamental ideological differences, but I see it as the best way to vote in this day and age. If libertarians got in office. It would take decades to remove the government from all the aspects of life that it now controls. And it would be a step in the right direction, in comparison to what any other party would ever get accomplished. I find it much easier to elect a libertarian than to completely convert the "religious" republican party to Objectivism.

And you accused me of lacking a sense of humor? Gadzooks! no that line about "in a country as rich as ours" turned me off to the peice. I stopped reading there. And posted. Thats why i didnt get the joke. but after it was pointed out that it was a joke i read the rest and thought it was funny. I apologized. I didnt think a persons first post in this forum would be something of that nature.

I would move.

it allows errors to be corrected. However, if it were "perfect" there might not be mistakes to correct. I dont agree that that is a good amendment, but I still support the amendment proccess.

o cool. sorry about that. I must let my sarcasm gaurd down for a moment. I just looked at your amount of posts, and assumed you stopped in to propagate something. That makes it much funnier now that i know that.

simply put a democracy is where majority vote rules all. There are no rights, if the majority votes it okay to kill a person then thats what goes. Another fundamental difference is that a republic elects representatives for each state, which maintains a certain level of sovereignty from the nation as a whole. Basically, the concept that the united STATES uses. There are some mixes of the two like, a representative democracy. Which isnt a true democracy but much like alot of countries use. If a country were a true democracy there would be a massive vote on every political issue to decide the action to be taken. In our republic, states maintain sovereignty, and our constitution limits what actions a government can take and protects our rights.

I beleive the American system (not in its entirety) is very close to ideal. If we could just get rid of those campaign regulations, and a few other ugly parts, it would be great.

United States isnt a democracy! I assume that is the country you take your stance from. And as for the specific question. Democracy doesnt fit in with Objectivism. I believe a Constitutional Republic like america is much more towards the ideal i would shoot for.

That seriously isnt your logic behind state lead medicine is it? I think you came to the wrong site to advocate public health care.