Does it seem to you that the Wall Street protesters are different now than they were in the short few days since they started?

At first they said they were protesting corporate greed.  I know that sounds good, but I don’t know if they mean that businesses should not make a profit, or that personal greed is okay, or what.  They are also protesting social inequality, and I’m not sure if they are advocating redistribution of wealth or guaranteed equality of outcomes or what.

In any case, as their numbers have grown, they have been joined by union-backed organizations and such groups as the Strong Economy for All Coalition, the Working Families Party, and New York Communities for Change.  And some of the signs being carried are of an entirely different nature from the ones carried by the first small group.

I suspect this group has the same problem as the Tea Party.  Started by a small group of people, their purpose is so appealingly and vaguely stated that masses of frustrated people look at them and see what they want to see. They run to join them because they want so badly to believe that this new movement embodies their own favorite cause and has the cure for their feelings of impotence.

The result, of course, is that the movement quickly loses whatever focus it had, and is diluted to the point of being unrecognizable.

Posted by Sharon under Observations | No Comments »

I have come to the realization that I dislike politics.

That’s an astonishing epiphany for someone as actively involved in a political party as I am.  I think it came to me when it was suggested that I run for office, and I realized that there are few things that would make me less happy.

Understand, please, that I am passionate about civil rights.  There is little that is more important to me than personal freedom and the individual responsibility that comes along with it.  But those are concepts; it’s the implementation that’s a problem for me.

The animosity between competing factions scares me.  The machinations of plotting someone’s defeat make me feel slimy.  The requirement to paint the other party as incompetent or evil makes me sad.

Posted by Sharon under Libertarianism | No Comments »