Dear loyal readers,
As most of you know, I'm a registered Republican strictly because I have to choose a party to vote in the primary elections here in Florida. Florida is a "closed primary state". In addition, as someone with great passion for the power and liberty of the individual, I feel the Republicans fit that concept better than the Democrats. So, I registered Republican but not enthusiastically. (I dislike the party system in general). The other choice, the Democrats, represent what I'm against- more government, more bureaucracy, more waste and less individual freedom in the name of "making things fair". I loathe red tape and waste. I hate that the government is so often involved in people's lives and our leaders hide behind the idea they are making things more "fair and equal" when what they're really doing is making the least of us more and more dependent on them. They don't "empower" they enable thoughts and lifestyles of defeat and low self esteem. The "nanny state" as conservatives call it, and rightfully so.
There is one major topic that I disagree with the Republicans; The environment. I consider myself a "Greeny Republican". Although, personal ideas and concepts of an effective government are that it be small and smart, not big and dumb as it is today there are cases where the power of the government is necessary. Military defense and road systems are two obvious cases, but I have to add the environment. I have always been concerned for the issue of global warming (aka climate change) and the pollution of our beautiful planet. I'm also a big advocate of protecting animals- endangered and domesticated that they may be kept safe and treated humanely. I think it is the government's job to protect our planet and the animals because they are totally at our mercy. We have to be good stewards of both. God demands it, IMHO. Nobody can protect the planet effectively unless the government is behind the effort. This does not mean I think the government "has the answers", but it does mean it can help secure a clean and healthy planet for all of us. My logic is that it requires the world's governments to coordinate efforts to come up with real solutions to combat pollution of the oceans and keeping our air clean. No private entity or corporation is capable of solving problems that involve the entire world- whatever that might be., so we do need government participation to protect the environment. Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican by the way, was the first politician to go aggressively after the dangers of not taking care of the environment with the establishment of the national parks system and laws containing the greed of large land owners and corporations.
Young people are moving towards the Democrats in droves because the Republicans are stuck on this "climate denial" insanity. I think the Republicans would be wise to stop fighting global warming as a reality and start coming up with solutions. Is Climate Change "absolutely certain" ? Not necessarily, but the odds are it is a problem and that's enough for me. Let's take a similar scenario as an example. Scientists have discovered a meteorite headed for our planet. In 50 years it will arrive in our solar system but there is only a 20% chance it will hit us. Would you say we should just "hope" for the best or would you say "we need to do all we can to make that zero %". I think most of us would agree to the later. We only have one planet. There are all kinds of "capitalist friendly" solutions to solving the issue of climate change. In fact, I think that private enterprise has a much better chance of solving the problem than any stupid government but we must have the government behind the effort with incentives and guidance and the international cooperation as mentioned above. So, Republicans stop being nihilistic and come up with some solutions to a problem that is most probably "real". Ideas from conservatives and private enterprise are almost always superior to anything the Democrats and bureaucracy could come up with. Come up with real solutions that we all can stand behind. I think it will pay significant dividends for your party and for our planet.
In My Humble Opinion......
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