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September 19, 2005

That's what I want

Yeah, it's a Beatles tune. But it's also the appropriate title for this post.

Last week on comments to this post, Kender asked me what I want in a country. Within the general discourse of the comments and the post, the question was more along the lines of what I want in a government. Here's my answer:

I want a country with a strong, centralized government that protects and respects the rights of individuals first and foremost (as opposed to groups or the majority). I want a country that promotes liberty and justice for all people, including those that aren't our citizens. I want a country whose rule of law is based in the laws our founders determined best, that of English Common Law.

I want our government to provide a safety net for the poor and disadvantaged. I want that safety net to work toward getting people on their feet toward becoming self sufficient, productive members of our society.

I want our government to walk softy but carry a big stick, as Teddy Roosevelt embraced. I want our government to deal with other nations in a strong but humble, modest manner. I want our dealings with other nations to not only represent our best interest, but the best interest of nonUS citizens in the promotion of justice and liberty. I want our government to lead by example.

I want our government to protect individual consumers and the enviornment above the group or majority business interests. I believe the rights of individuals and the necessity to keep a long view of enviornmental health trump the needs of free market capitalism.

I want a country that stays out of the lives of individuals as much as possible. I don't want government to intervene unless and until such individuals interfere with the liberties and rights of others.

That's the most generalized and global way I can articulate my most basic wants. I can of course be more specific, but this response should yield a good general idea.

Spyder (someone I consider a liberal) posted his answer to the question and it was quite divergent from mine. It got me to thinking about how people often using the same labels to self identify quite likely have very different visions.

We get a very interesting ideological mix of readers here. I'd love to know what others envision our government to be. What is it that you want? Feel free to give an overall general view..or get specific if you like.

This isn't intended to be a debate thread..although it may turn out to be that way in the end. Mostly I'm just fascinated and curious about what you all want to see happen.

Posted by Carla at September 19, 2005 01:49 PM