Name Calling?

This political season is nuts. Here are some of my observations:
I keep hearing or reading religious Republicans ask me to "Pray for McCain/Palin" and for God's Will to be done. I wrote one individual back and said "We should also pray for Obama and Biden, both of them professed Christians (Obama has been very vocal about his faith). She responded "I am not convinced they are true followers of Christ."
Well...In John 13:35 Jesus says: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Watching the overtly racist McCain/Palin rallies, I wonder who has love?
I was also called "far-left" for supporting Obama. Really? What does that mean? I support lower taxes (Obama will cut taxes for 95% of individuals), I support smart foreign policy and defense (Obama has a better policy than McCain, in my estimation), and I support individual liberty (McCain's party, the GOP, has done more to limit individual liberty in the past 8 years than any other administration) and I am pro-life (Obama is pro-choice on abortion but would work to limit the number of abortions...a smart position) and anti-torture (So is McCain but Palin and most Christianists are not). I am appalled at the glib reactions I get when I explain my opposition to torture. I feel like I'm in an alternate universe! Christians IN SUPPORT of torture? Am I taking crazy pills? AMERICANS who are supporting torture? Where am I?
So basically the GOP has become the anti-abortion, pro-torture, Christianist, fiscally irresponsible party. Being pro-life is apparently the only qualification needed to be Vice President. If you look remotely un-white...you may be Arab, a terrorist, a muslim, or a socialist. This is what the GOP has become. How can anyone support this?

Endorsements

I've already decided who I'm voting for, and why, in the 2008 Election. I honestly think we need lots and LOTS of change. In fact, I sincerely doubt that ANYONE running for office is really tackling the issues that need to be addressed. However, I do support one candidate over another for many reasons. I used to be a Republican, and supported many Republican candidates over the years. I voted for George W. Bush for TX Governor in 1998 and for President in 2000. In 2004 I was living in North Carolina and voted for Michael Badnarik (Libertarian) for President. I felt at the time that Bush had squandered his political capital and was turning into a disaster. Kerry was not a viable option, although at this point I think he would have done a decent job. This year the choice between McCain and Obama represent such contrasts. Obama is a liberal, and I am by nature a small-c conservative. McCain is no conservative, but a "National Greatness" Republican that believes in American exceptionalism and a constant state of war. But Obama is a first-rate intellect with a first-rate temperment who's first reaction is to THINK rather than ACT. After eight years of Bush doing a lot of ACTING, I think Obama is the change we need. Obama also represents a New America. In my parent's America, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation were all things that divided us. In my New America, those things are secondary to character and merit. McCain isn't just a generation older, he's TWO generations older, belonging to my Grandparent's generation. This older generation was a Great Generation, who did great things...but their mistakes and the mistakes of the Boomer generation plague us today. When the McCain campaign is still prosecuting the 1960s, most of the under-40 crowd don't even REMEMBER the 60s. The culture wars are over...and trying to renew them only turns off my generation. Oddly, conservatives won several of the culture wars. My generation is by nature less likely to have an abortion, favoring realistic sex-education. This generation believes in marriage, they just want every adult who is in a loving relationship to have access to this right. This generation believes ultimately in privacy and personal responsibility. Score one for conservatives! Yet this generation rejects the boomer politics that McCain represents. Also troubling is the rise of the Christianists in power in the GOP. I write this knowing full well what Christianists are and what they represent. I believe my father, my sisters are all Christianists who believe that our Consitution (a secular legal document) should adhere to The Bible, and should change it if necessary to reflect this. Christianists are not Christians in the sense of the word "Christian" meaning "Follower of Christ." Fundamentally Christ supported a distinct separation from "The World" for his followers. He told his followers to "render to Caeser the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." If that's not a resounding endorsement of the Separation of Church and State, I don't know what is! McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his V.P. nominee is a cynical attempt at pandering to the Christianists that control his Party. McCain is no favorite for the Christianists, and Palin was the remedy. She's highly unqualified and represents the height of irrational judgement on the part of McCain.

New Community

The current economic (and political) global crisis has been dominating the headlines the past few weeks. Some saw this coming years ago, and many have felt the coming change. This is no surprise to us. Instead of throwing more "money" in the form of government bailouts, I am arguing for what I call "new community." I don't know if anyone has ever coined this phrase, but parts of this idea are definitely out there on the web. The idea comes from a renewed interest in people, relationships, community as opposed to an emphasis on commercialism, materialism, money and debt. Capitalism, as we are starting to see, is a flawed system. I am not arguing for a socialist economy, but rather a lifestyle and cultural shift where we focus on community rather than commercialism.
A global shift toward "new community" is a grassroots idea...but there are some things our current system can do to begin this shift. First of all, I think the Federal government should not simply pay trillions of dollars to bail out corporations. The corporations in danger are based on a flawed system of debt and more debt. If the government wants to get out of this mess, build out rather than bail out is what I suggest. As Richard Register argues, this nation got out of a Great Depression by doing two things...building things (dams, roads, weapons) and going to war. War has been the constant since the 1930's. Why not try something new? Build up sustainable communities with the 700 billion, and enrich the lives of what Palin likes to call "Joe Six-Pack," while at the same time enriching the culture and lifestyle of our communities. Suburbia is a dying form, unsustainable, and really the cause of many of our economic and cultural problems. Why not build up new urbanist communities that encourage eco-friendliness, social relationships, art and beauty?
The New Community of the future is something that must have support at the individual level. We live beyond our means acquiring things we don't need paying with money we don't have to impress people we don't know or like! How silly! Why not put the focus on a sustainable, happy, simple lifestyle that emphasizes people over things, relationships over money, and friendship over business.
I know, I know...sounds awfully hippie and new-age. It may even sound like I'm advocating communism or socialism. Let me be clear: Communism, like capitalism, enriched the oligarchy that ruled over the masses. Both are unsustainable. A new community-based social economy may be the answer on a micro-level. Gift-based and relationship-based transactions for goods and services are not a bad thing! Consider this...If i babysit for a friend, but do not get paid, our current system says that our economy has not grown. I must charge for this service, and enrich myself in order for this to help. Cooking for a friend doesn't help the economy but paying for a restaurant to feed me does! This all seems silly when you start to break it down.
Here's some highlights of my idea for New Community:
Medium and High-density urban living
Ecological sustainability
Emphasis on individual health and wholeness
De-emphasis on material wealth
Renewed interest in Arts and Beauty
Community cultural events that are locally based and free
Self-organizing communities that take care of their citizens
End of our debt-lifestyle
Focus on building our communities from within

Got any ideas for New Community? Email me at adamdcrowley@gmail.com!

New Blog

I've written blogs before (my last blog was deleted), and this is my latest attempt to write down some of my thoughts. Hope you enjoy what you read here!