for most of my life i've been a liberal; a left of center pinko commie liberal. i like my socialized medicine, farm subsidies and government owned utility companies.
never in my wildest dreams did i imagine sitting down with a republican senator and actually LIKING what they had to say. funny how things work though, because that is exactly what happened this morning when michael and i had breakfast with senator bob bennett (r-utah).
so why do i like him? while answering a question about the difference between the republican party and the democratic party senator bennett said simply:
the republicans are the party of free markets and the democrats are the party of big government.
until just a few months ago i would have said that government sponsored solutions are the best way to fix america's problems, but economics 101, milton friedman, and michael carey have convinced me otherwise. i think the free market is the answer and senator bennett thinks so too
(and for bonus points with me, he supports comprehensive immigration reform).
now i have been sitting here all evening wondering if supporting a republican makes me a republican and if i am comfortable with that label, and what i actually think about each party's position on the issues i personally care about. this is confusing stuff! i like obama. i hate a lot of republicans. where does that leave me? i'm probably getting carried away here. don't you think worrying about my political affiliation is putting the cart before the horse, i mean i can't even vote yet!
4 comments:
I imagine that you can find a spot in either party with equal comfort and discomfort. I switch back and forth - a luxury with Canadian politics. As you remember my putting out a liberal sign on the lawn and Dad and our neighbor moving it and then making firewood out of it. I try to stick to principles and sometimes personalities depending on the candidate. What do you think of education reform? What would you do to change schools? I am appalled at the grades some of the students are receiving with these field tests I am doing. Clearly not enough reading and analysis.
i love that our family's internal political struggles were played out on the front lawn...and included mr barrett.
i think personalities in politics are important too, which is part of the reason obama is so popular.
education is an interesting question...i support a voucher system i also read a research article about how the number of days children spend in school is directly related to how well they do on standardized tests. students at schools with long school years score the best. really what is the point of having two months off school? summer vacation is nice....but two months! i imagine it is pretty disruptive for a lot of families.
That rural tradition where the kids were needed on the farm just no longer applies but honestly when some Calgary schools decided to go year around, people were up in arms just like they were when they thought medicare was going to be altered. Really imagine a building not being used for two months! Today as I marked the field test scores, I realise that what we are doing in the classroom and how we do it is not translating into scholastic excellence. Few passed. They were so anxious to get back to their phones and their ipods. How do we engage them? How do we make their learning relevant and yet how do we prepare them for a work force? They will write their diplomas in less than 10 days. I need to talk to Moses Renert because he certainly had some ideas on education reform.
you should talk to moses. i remember him saying he had some ideas about online learning. i read the clayton christensen article you sent about education reform. i liked his idea about non traditional teacher certification. you should really read this chapter from milton friedman's book capitalism and freedom. i found a copy of the chapter online here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1173402/posts
Post a Comment