Much to the shock and dismay of most of my friends at home in the states and certainly to all of the socialist Frenchies here in France, this election I was a proud supporter of John McCain. And here's why.
I can't say that I necessarily loved him, but he, far more than Obama, represented for me the change that our country needs. Especially in light of the present financial crisis, I think it has become evident that the American people have become FAR too dependent on their government. It seems to me that they believe that the government is there to clean up after them and help them when not only when they fail, but always. I am of the belief that less government is more government, which, in a sense, makes me a liberal republican (with strong anarchistic tendencies). It also makes me very anti-socialist. I am against most social programs, as I think these things are the role of the people and not the role of the government. Obama seems to live for social programs, and I would even go so far as to call him a socialist. Which is why I decided that I needed to forget about my liberal side for this election.
Alexander Tytler (some really intelligent Scottish lawyer) once said "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury." It seems to me that, in this election, that is what has happened. Or is at least starting to happen.
I respect Barack Obama in so many ways, especially for his stance on animals.
http://cats.suite101.com/article.cfm/us_presidential_candidates_and_animal_rights
However, I believe that Barack Obama's policies, financial and otherwise, do nothing but create more and more dependence on the government while giving crap to people that have worked hard for themselves for their whole lives (instead taking away from them to give to people that don't necessarily need or deserve it). McCain on animals - not so much (see same link). However, I think that his proposed policies would have saved our economy and help to wean the people off of their dependence on the government. And, in my opinion, that, more than anything, is what we need.
I am living in France right now, and, if any country could be considered a socialist country, France is it. So I see first hand that IT DOES NOT WORK. The people may think they want it. They may even be proud of their system. But they are all miserable here. I have never in my life seen a country full of such rude and miserable people. They would never outwardly SAY that it is because of their government, instead claiming and believing that it is the best in the world. But when interrogated specific aspects of it, one can't help but come to realize that they are miserable the way they are in great part because they are living in a socialist society.
For those that are actually interested - THING I DON'T LIKE ABOUT OBAMA
(This is NOT what this post was about, so I am putting it at the end, simply because I gather that there are some people that were curious.) Oh, and now that I have written it, I feel that I should add that, for ALL of these issues, I prefer what McCain has to say, unless otherwise mentioned. I realize that I should have probably put why, but now it is written, and I am done.
To me, Obama's idea to "spread the wealth" basically means you work your butt off and then you use your savings to pay for someone else's life.
Health Care - Free low cost health care? Okay, so then I no longer have any say over my medical decisions and am paying for the health care of other people who can't afford it and who are suffering because of idiotic decisions that they have made in their life and that I have chosen not to make in my life. I have to say, I hate the cost of socialized health care (and have seen it failing in both Canada and France), but I wouldn't hate it so adamantly if I thought that the United States was promoting healthy lifestyles. Instead, you have the beef and dairy industries providing the only health education plans. Any surveys will show you that this basically means that CANCER itself is providing the health education plans. Very few schools are capable of providing health dietary choices for the children. Smoking is still legal, and in many states, it's still legal to smoke in bars and other public places. Etc, etc, etc. . . It's not MY fault if you eat at McDonald's every day or smoke a pack a day or drink your liver into submission. So why should I have to pay for it? Before we can have any sort of socialized health care, we need proper health care EDUCATION which the United States, for the time being, is too afraid to give. I think McCain's ideas are crap, but I prefer them to Obama's any day.
Social programs and taxes - The over a trillion dollars that Barack Obama has set aside on social spending would be much better spent elsewhere. Even better in the pockets of the people who will soon be paying it in what he calls fair taxes and I call unfair taxes. The national debt is already high enough as it is (and no, none of Obama's ridiculously high tax proposals are predicted to help decrease the national debt - and, um, bringing back the inheritance tax in full swing i.e. mega increasing it. I have never heard anything sadder). I gather that all of his social spending would do something like triple the antional debt. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but that would cause mega inflation which would cause the already plummeting stocks to plummet even further and then, goodbye the value of the dollar. Also, if we're going to be having the kind of social and welfare programs proposed by Obama, I think that people already on welfare or receiving unemployment money should not be allowed to vote. Leave it up to the people giving the money, not the people receiving it.
Gun control - let the people have their guns. People that are going to go crazy with them are going to find ways to have them no matter what, so we might as well at least be able to have our guns to protect ourselves. And guess what - it doesn't matter what KIND of gun it is. It's still going to SHOOT, and it can still kill. So if there are going to be questions about whether or not people should be able to own guns, should there really be questions about what KIND of guns they can own? Nothing more to say.
Affirmative action - it's okay, to an extent. McCain has voted AGAINST unnecessary affirmative action. Obama is all, YAY affirmative action, even if it is going to create problems, which it often does. What gives a poor kid who has dreamed his entire life of joining the electrician's union (and therefore will not NEED a college education but can still make tons of money) more of a right to go to college than someone who WANTS to go to college and is prepared to go to college - and whose family just so happens to have money? Give the opportunities to people that DESERVE them, not just people that can't afford them.
Acorn - I don't really think I even need to say anything here.
Education - I'm not going to talk about this, because while I hate what Barack Obama proposes (and really, I do NOT think that pre-school should be mandatory. I think at that point, kids are so young that they are almost better off at home, assuming they are living in healthy environments), I think McCain's proposals are also crap. And this isn't about me saying what I think should be done, so the end.
Energy - I'm totally okay with nuclear energy. The only thing scary about it is when nuclear plants explode or are bombed. Aside from that, they are completely clean and safe (even if they do waste a lot of energy). I don't think that we need to play with lots of energy sources and in the meantime create ethanol and waste energy resources. I do think that we should keep drilling off-shore. The wells are already there and working, and more and more environmental watches are being put on them. Let's keep this us. We are going to need this oil, especially if Obama gets his way with the troops coming out of Iraq (I don't know about you, but I don't want to pay $10 a gallon). So let's keep drilling, use nuclear energy, and keep researching better energy alternatives.
Anti-Americanism - This sort of goes with what's coming next: War. Barack Obama called the people that were sent over to Afghanistan by our country WAR CRIMINALS. He actually said that. And yeah, maybe they were doing some crappy things over there, but THE UNITED STATES sent them over there to do these things.
The War - Obama wants troops out of Iraq within the next 16 months. I think - we started something, we need to finish it! I am anti-war, and I was against the war in the first place. But the fact is - as much as I would like to believe that every conflict can be resolved in a non-violent way, it is NOT the case. And now we are over in Iraq. It's really hard for me to write about this, as I get all worked up, and I completely agree with my best friend, Cathryn, on this point, so I'm just going to post what she has said. She said it much better than I ever could have:
# Cathryn's opinion: I used to believe that conflict could always be resolved without violence. I used to think war was barbaric and unnecessary, and that Bush was amusing himself by playing GI Joe with the US military. I was idealistic, and my views were righteous, but they were naive. Because although I am skilled at conflict resolution, my training and experience has taught me that it can never be avoided 100% of the time. And in those situations where violence is imminent, you have to act quickly and decisively. Once you suspect someone is going to attack you, you HAVE to move. If you wait, for any reason, you lose. Hesitation will cause a fight to escalate.
# Obama: wants to hesitate. To have happy little tea parties with a country that wants to slaughter us and push our allies into the sea. Hesitation will cause a fight to escalate, which will result in more lives lost. One thing I learned from dealing with dogmatic people is that you cannot reason with those who believe they are right. It is a mistake that will cost lives. I believe that Obama is strong enough to realize that he needs to fight. The problem is that by the time he realizes what is happening, it will be too late.
Immigration - Obama's ideas, while not being horrible, are completely unrealistic. McCain's ideas, while being quite odd, are at least HIS OWN. What other candidate has ever been known to stand up for what he believes in while being naggered by his own party? CERTAINLY not Barack Obama!
Stem cells - my view on this is shocking, given that I am pro-choice and everything. I think, continue the research that is happening, but don't start anything new. Especially not with my tax money. Obama, of course, supports everything. McCain agrees with me. :-)
Death Penalty - Obama supports it. I don't. (For the record, so does McCain)
Gay Marriage - You know he supports gay marriage. At least he should. And he used to. But no, he just supports civil unions. Why? McCain also supports civil unions, and I respect him for it. Again, it's probably really how he feels. I can't respect Obama for it, though, when I know it is not his stance but because he is afraid of the voters he might have lost had he actually come out and supported gay marriage.
Okay, I am done. That was long, and I realize that most people won't read it. And it probably should have come BEFORE the elections. But so many people on facebook were shocked at my stance that I decided I should probably defend it.
There we go.
