I am a conservative person, but a deontological libertarian. Basically I suppose being a conservative libertarian means being a fiscally conservative socially conservative, but not seeing the need to lock people up for everything that happens to be a wrong. Being a deontological libertarian ties back to the concept that government shouldn't regulate things unless it is to protect individual life, liberty, or estate-without infringing on the same of other innocent citizens.
It used to be the republicans would champion civil rights, and just about every major piece of civil rights legislation since the civil war was passed by republicans. Many republicans for the last 50 years or so, despite saying how they hate big government, really seek to protect lesser big governments and their actors through sovereign and qualified immunity. And subsequently they have ceased protecting civil rights, unless it is the right to own guns, or the right to life....it used to be they were against government waste but they can't even repeal Obamacare when they have a majority-and want to penalize people who refuse to pay into it.
Conservative or libertarian speakers tend to dominate on platforms like youtube, or facebook, because they are having debates and full discussions-and they'll even take questions and answers. Liberal speakers mostly are limited to one liners and hashtags on twitter, and they enjoy shutting down libertarians and conservatives whether it is through the violence demonstrated by Antifa, advertiser boycotts, or trying to shut down political speech by yellow out "racist, sexist, xenophobic, transphobic, misogynist". In another words, most liberals don't want to hear anything except what their top brass is saying.
The other day on my facebook page I posted a news article and made a statement about human rights and included a natural law argument. I am sure we all get from time to time some [bot] coming to our facebook walls and posting a url. I keep a low profile in real life. Well this time, when I woke up the following day my post was flooded with comments-the first time I had seen this happen to a post on my wall. Traditionally liberals are the enemy of natural law. But it was conservatives who was calling me stupid,liberal, ignorant , jack#$%. Perhaps conservatives is the wrong word, they are statists just like all or virtually all democrats. Basically what the left does but with other terms. Apparently they didn't like the viewpoint I had expressed about the authority (ahem the police) they worshiped. They were violating Reagan's 11th commandment and didn't understand Reagan's 9 most terrifying words in the English language. They didn't exactly choose the best target. So i made a lengthy and informative posts. One unknown stranger continued to say I was dumb then blocked me, another reader said that the loudest is the most ignorant...it is my own wall which would have normally been quiet. The ones being loud were the conservative statists, and thus by her own books ignorant. Later in the day people who are traditionally left (I don't see this as a right left issue, but a human rights issue) and started speak also, and made their own arguments as to human rights. It is rare that libertarians and SJWs will join together for a common viewpoint. I hope my arguments shown them that there are conservatives left who will defend human rights, that both parties have abandoned the american people, and I hope that I gave the left more ammunition about how to appeal to the common Americans and to invoke the very history the elitist really don't want people to know. Maybe some will become deontological libertarians too. I have long suggested the libertarians reach out to them, but I am an auspie in the middle of no where.
But going back to the original title. American's aren't really learning about politics; they are being indoctrinated whether it be by our schools, or their peers in society. There is very little room for discourse anymore. In fact, even when those who have no arguments try, their arguments quickly fall apart. That isn't to say that the people speaking them can't make an coherent argument; There are elitist out there using historical revisionist in the media attacking our constitutional rights by omitting the actual reasons and cherry picking tertiary factors they claim to have found. See for example, http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/13890-the-second-amendment-was-ratified-to-preserve-slavery . Oh but he's a ny times best selling author and all the liberals will cling to that, and the general public probably doesn't know where to begin to do the research to challenge his false narrative. Obviously he can do research, so understand that these media elitist will intentionally lie to you as the left advocates that government controls what is a right or not-without guns your freedom of speech means nothing, and their agenda goes unchallenged. The elitist will take advantage of people so long as the government keeps people dumb. Our last post covered a little bit of the real reason why we have the second amendment, but the elitist who is easy to discredit continue unabated.
I blame this chiefly on our educational system. Although, I have many ideas for educational reform, I think we have let the liberal English majors (as well as biology teachers) waste too much educational time and resources on irrelevant junk. I think there is a lot of potential in reforming English as a subject, and use English instead to supplement history, civics, and law. I think instead that schools should be starting out teaching kids to read the republic, Montesquieu, the magna carta, Locke, Paine, Calvin & Hobbs, Thomas Aquinas, Rousseau, the federal papers, Howell state trials. as well as Brittish history-and to really understand these concepts a background in the bible helps. I bet you can hear the atheist gasping for air with that last one. The history giving the general overview of events in history, and the English provide an unabridged full argument. It isn't a bad foundation to have, it will provide them a strong backbone should they go on to read various left wing works too that often compares and contrast ideas.
This idea would be extremely poohpoohed by the socialist educational establishment, as they would say it would that the works of old dead white men thus disenfranchising minorities. That argument was never valid to begin with, it is the equivalence of saying that teaching math would disenfranchise minorities. But it is this refusal to teach this science to everyone that is responsible for our country falling further into the abyss as it reaches the event horizon of revolution, and depriving most everyone of the ability to be able to reach out to history for answers to avoid the mistakes of the past. The importance of studying law as a science is more important than our constitution. As Alexis d'Toqueville wrote in democracy in America, ("The Mexicans were desirous of establishing a federal system, and they took the Federal Constitution of their neighbors, the Anglo-Americans, as their model, and copied it with considerable accuracy. But although they had borrowed the letter of the law, they were unable to create or to introduce the spirit and the sense which give it life. They were involved in ceaseless embarrassments between the mechanism of their double government; the sovereignty of the States and that of the Union perpetually exceeded their respective privileges, and entered into collision; and to the present day Mexico is alternately the victim of anarchy and the slave of military despotism.") http://www.gutenberg.org/files/815/815-h/815-h.htm Today when it comes to politics and many things in life, People respond to their feelings and social pressures, not by facts or reason. How many Phds do you hear calling for gun bans? The title of a Phd makes them sound smart. Are they that ignorant of simple industrial processes, of the extremely easy (but dangerous) mechanics of how a gun works? Obviously it undermines their title. It is fine if the ordinary person doesn't understand how a gun works as we all try to get by the best we can in our lives, but these are Phds and often the people put in charge to educate your college age kid or to develop state or national policies. Scary. What people do these days is often adopt what others around them say as true as a substitute for learning for the convenience of fitting in with their peers. So if anyone says anything different, the opposition seems to be left with yelling out "stupid", "ignorant", liberal", "sexist", "racist", homophobe", etc with nothing more to offer. Various acts of ostracism to show a person isn't welcome so long as they hold certain views. Of course the American society has been privileged for so long-and I don't mean privileged in today's sense of the word-but privileged in a sense that people can fully function, and think they are educated, despite being a complete idiot simply because our economy has become for the most part marketing and service based. It is scary when ignorant people are put into power, who think that because they reached a place higher in the social sphere that they are more fit to control others. Often, in today's social based economy, they tend to be the biggest idiots who happened to know the right people. Innocent people all across the country are paying a heavy price for their incompetence.
Outside of STEM, and business, we aren't teaching students anything. Students are simply being indoctrinated and becoming delusional about being educated. Our citizens need a real education, and we need to start looking outside of a traditional education and incorporate that into our main education. I think it can start in high school by providing students a rich educational background in the sciences, and how to make things from nature. When the professors start trying to indoctrinate the students, the students can humiliate and frustrate the professors and begin the process of purging the academic frauds out of the academy when they can no longer push their agenda.
Am I an elitist? I am no one. Would I like a speaking Gig someday. Sure. But these .04-$1 rewards for posts doesn't show there is a large market for me to speak either. But at least I am getting ideas out there.
But if you like what i am saying, please feel free to upvote.