We Do Have issues

It's been a while since my last post and I promised to get back to some of our raging national concerns. For most of my life I've never thought much about social issues; I was just busy living my own life and trying to get along. However, since I retired in 2008, and since we finally got cable TV, I really began following the issues during the 2008 campaign season. With no incumbent running, both parties were flush with aspiring candidates; I found the campaign season fascinating and tried to follow what each candidate was actually saying. I started watching the news shows in the late evenings and that's when I discovered Fox News and MSNBC with their inevitable opposing views on everything. For a while it can be rather entertaining to listen to the views expressed by these networks. However, eventually one realizes that they are simply unofficial, or semi-official, mouthpieces for their respective parties and that they will never waver from their entrenched positions. Hence, you will not hear the "issues" actually discussed or debated there. Nevertheless, watching these evening political entertainment shows can be a starting point in understanding what the main issues are as well as the most extreme positions on each.

Don't confuse the idea of holding a position on any major issue with political party affiliation. There are, after all, 'Conservative Democrats' and 'Liberal Republicans' (at least there used to be.) There are also Christians in both parties. The major parties though often take opposite sides on issues simply to offer voters a choice. If you choose to affiliate with a political party, you do not need to agree with all their positions; and if your personal positions align somewhat with a party platform, it doesn't make you a democrat or a republican. It's your choice! That all being said, and before I even mention an issue, let me set the background from which I try to form my positions on the parade of issues we face. I am a Follower of Jesus (otherwise known as a Christian), male, college educated, married, 61 yrs old, retired yet working a 2nd career, father, lifelong Michigan resident and a born U.S. citizen and voter.

Well, I already shared a post here on gun control. I am for much more gun control than we will ever achieve for a host of reasons shared in the prior post.  I applaud the president for taking a stand in this matter and I believe that all the scary noise from gun rights advocates will eventually yield to the will of the people to get guns off our streets and out of our cities and schools.

Now on to the next issue -- Let's start by discussing so-called "Big Government," as this will lead into more specific issues that depend upon or are run by Big Gov.

I've shared before how our nation has matured from a collection of frontier colonies to the greatest nation on earth. Over the past two centuries the entire world has changed and much of this progress has been led by the USA.  It is simply inevitable that a strong nation requires a strong central government.  Many of the advantages and privileges we enjoy and often take for granted as Americans can only be provided efficiently by the federal government, such as good roads and highways, national defense and security, controlled immigration, support for advanced research and education, care for our least advantaged citizens, and more. 

Big government in itself is nothing to be feared; in fact it becomes a necessary component of a nation's progress. A strong government that usurps its power is another matter, and we must always keep a vigilant watch against it.  We already have strong mechanisms in place to prevent a takeover of power: regular elections, freedom of press and speech and religion, balanced representation in congress.  

So don't let those who rail against "Big Government" cause you to fear. Question the alternatives they offer; ask exactly what it is they don't like, and then test their claims for validity. As I said, there are certain services only a federal government can efficiently provide.  We need to ask ourselves whether, and how much, we want those services.

Thanks for reading my thoughts.