A Man Without A Party

I have been spending a fair amount of time taking the Democrats and Liberals to task lately, which I consider to be time well spent. The dizzying descent of the Left into hypocrisy and the same type of abuses they fervently accused the Right of displaying is worthy of note, criticism, and ridicule. Once they put their hands on the levers of power, they quickly degenerated into the same brand of authoritarianism they once decried. The fact that most of them aren't aware enough (or intellectually honest enough) to recognize it is disappointing but not shocking.

Still, the Left is not bereft of merit and makes valid points about some areas about which the Right seems willfully blind. One of these areas is resource depletion, although instead of calling it what it is and dealing with it, they are lumping it under the umbrella of climate change and addressing it from that perspective. The data on climate change is pretty clear, although I suspect that many of the doomsday scenarios being trumpeted by the Left are exaggerations (the planet has been hotter, and human life has existed in times when it's been significantly warmer than it is now; that's not to say that we aren't going to face big problems in the future we've conjured up). Investing in and researching renewable options are important, in my view, because we are running out of other options.

In addition to ignoring resource depletion, the Right is also ignoring pollution, which is not very smart or conducive to the survival of the species. It is stupid and naive to think that we can dump toxic chemicals into our water and air and not have negative results from the practice. It is also hypocritical in my view for a group who believes they have been assigned the role of caretakers of God's creation to abuse and destroy it the way most Christian right-wingers seem content to allow and facilitate.

All in all, I find both parties unsatisfying for a variety of reasons. At the moment, I have more sympathy for the populist Right than the other available options, but I have no illusions about the weaknesses and limitations of the Republican party. This is a frustrating position to be in and is a big part of the reason I am not committed to either political tribe, but instead prefer any party that advocates for keeping the government out of people's private lives as much as possible.