This is a thread for those of us who are fed up with the one-dimensional ideological spectrum and identify neither as "liberal" nor "conservative." People of any nation who are tired of partisan sniping.

I am a US citizen so what I tend to hone in on is the constant knee-jerk partisanship between Democrats and Republicans. I see issues on both sides I agree with, and issues on both sides I disagree with. I also see a lot of things that I would like to happen but are ignored by BOTH parties. Actually this latter category is growing at an almost parabolic rate, so more and more people should be waking up and identifying with neither party.

The same kind of thing goes on in other nations too. Everything gets catergorized as "right" or "left." These are 19th-centrury concepts; it is time to move beyond them. Actually, by "crushing" all dissenting opinions into one category or the other, TPTB limit the range of thought and what is considered possible. They control the perceptions your ideas have among others, rather than letting YOU define your own nuanced philosophy. They exercise control by forcing people to "pick a team." And the truly frightening thing is that people go merrily right along with it.

Another problem with partisan politics is that everything is condensed into support for INDIVIDUALS. The president, prime minister, supreme leader -- whatever you happen to have -- is in most cases a SYMBOL. The real power is in SYSTEMS: media, financial, academic, military-industrial, and so on. By forcing everyone to argue "Bush this" or "Obama that," attention is directed away from the REAL power flows, which are SYSTEMIC in nature. That's why things keep getting worse and worse: nobody on "either side of the fence" considers things on a macro-level.

I am proud to be able to think for myself and to struggle a limiting ideological mental prison. Many mistakenly identify "taking a stand" on one side or the other as a form of courage. It is not courage -- it is bluster, and it is weakness. A great man once said, "There is something immoral about abandoning your own judgement." The true strength comes in having the will and ability to think things out for YOURSELF.

I invite others on ATS who may feel similar to post here and declare their non-partisanship. I feel this board is becomming too clogged with partisan garbage and its breaking my heart. Let's stand up, those of us who think for ourselves.

You can include me then, I think you described it perfectly.

I also don't think we will be alone somehow..

Guess we are, do I get some award for being the ultimate thread killer or something?!? Making me paranoid now

I judge myself as someone who just wanted to live his life, i do not care about being labeled left or right.

Nice thread.

Thanks to those of you who took the time to reply.

I was hoping to hear from more, but maybe they are just avoiding the political mudslinging fest this board seems to have generated into.

Here to toss in my support

We need many voices in government. It's almost impossible to find someone who represents me in this cookie cutter system. If you pass a litmus test for a specific party there's a good chance you don't represent anyone but that party.