@OSCrane I'm a Republican and I'm not your enemy either. There is a place for socialistic ideas in a healthy nation, it makes sense that we'd want good minds think about those ideas.

@Powerbeard It's been eight years, friend, if you can still say at this point that you 'are' a Republican, then there is something deeply flawed in your personal ideology.

@OSCrane That may be true. But I believe in Republican ideals. Not to the exclusion of others. And I don't define myself by the weak and angry people that have been coopted into the party by fear based right wing media or religious zeolots all so unpopular ideas can be forced. The Republican party is not Republicanism. Amy more than the pedophile Catholic priests anf those who covered for them were Catholicism.

@Powerbeard If you truly are a republican, then that is completely incompatible with being a Republican... The GOP/RNC/w/e party ideology is to the exclusion of others. Holding up conservative ideals is the entrenchment of a society which prioritized in groups and out groups. Rich/poor, black/white, gay/het, trans/cis, are all mechanisms of the conservative ideology to preserve the status quo. "Be thankful for what you have, because THEY have it worse." There is no such thing as social conservatism, there is either conservatism or progressivism. The arc of history curves ever toward progress, to deny this is to deny reality. The Republican policy is this denial, and every minute they as an institution exist is another day where our lives are in danger. If you are truly a republican, one who believes in a strong, free, resilient, and healthy republic, then you are progressive, because championing anything other than social welfare, equal rights, and labor reform, IS anti-republic.

@OSCrane also, unlike Democrats, I don't think we are born in obligation to each other. I do think that we should treat others with the same care and respect that we would want. I don't have a problem with taxes for social programs, because it is a small investment with huge dividends, a much more powerful use of that money than individuals could hope for. But right now most of purchase money goes to bankers. Not even American. But also, I was Republican before the party was stolen by fundies.

@Powerbeard @OSCrane Maybe you've crystallised the whole thing, and not just for the USA. I do feel responsible for others as well as myself, yes.