“Neither Left nor Right,
I’m just staying home tonight,
Getting lost in that hopeless little screen”
~ Leonard Cohen
Democrary is Coming to the USA
Besides “rules,” I also don’t do political parties or political affiliations.
“A Pox on Both Your Houses!”
~ William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet
I’ve heard people say those who are in the middle [of the political playing field] are simply those who are unwilling to make a decision.
I say that those who join a party and then simply follow its “position” are afraid to make decisions. You only had to make one decision (and it probably wasn’t even your own decision, but your parents’, or your spouse’s or some such), and now you know what to do all the time without having to exert any effort of thought or access any of your own real feelings. A person “in the middle of the road” (i.e., “neither left nor right”) makes a decision on each issue independently as it comes up.
Independent of prejudice
Independent of party line
Independent of their understanding
Independent of what you’ve been told to do
Independent of Inflammatory “News” Reporting
Independently. Period.
A person in the middle of the road [“neither left nor right”] makes his own decisions on each issue, according to his own inner voice, inner wisdom, best judgment.
And today’s best judgment may not match yesterday’s; be willing to self-correct, to learn more, to better think it through. At least we may certainly hope that the Great Teacher known as Life will continue to lend you better and better wisdom as time goes by.
Your own wisdom. Not the party’s. Not the News Media’s. Your own.
As a responsible member of a democratic republic (technically, America is a Constitutional Republic, but that’s getting to be “was” now, rather than “is”) you owe it to your nation, your children, your collegues, your fellow citizens and to the next Seven Generations to act responsibly at all times, to find out the facts, to make your OWN decision, not the party’s decision.
Integrity, that’s called. No way around it.
America (that One that Was, and sometimes still pretends to be Here Now) is not free. It requires constantly looking inside yourself for your own understanding and your own wisdom. You owe it to … well, Everyone! The entire Species.
Get off it. If you aren’t willing to do the work, then you are to blame.
You protect the nation, from the inside, with your every action, every day. Or you don’t.
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