1) gay Marriage - I don't care, but it ought to be equalized. I don't think the government should be in the business of saying who CAN and who CAN'T be married, either way. I don't think the government has any business at all either authorizing some or denying others. Marriage licenses should not be a matter of government issue or interference at all. At the same time, I don't think government should be conferring any benefits on the married simply by virtue of marriage. That is discriminatory against the unmarried and marriage-challenged.
2) Abortion - I don't care, but it should be equalized. If a woman takes it upon herself to kill off her offspring, then it's none of my business. Her contribution to the gene pool is obviously flawed anyhow. It's not a good survival strategy for a species to eat their own young unless those young are somehow flawed. At the same time, it takes two parents to create a child, and so the father should have some say in their disposal as well as the mother. If he's not given that say, and she kills them off any way, I support his right to cancel HER birth certificate, assuming that the initial conception was in compliance with applicable law to begin with.
As a corollary to the equalization, if some psycho kills off his pregnant wife, it should not be legal to charge him with murder in the case of the child unless the woman in question would have been charged for murder in the course of obtaining an abortion of the same child.
3) Drug legalization - I don't care. It's none of my business how someone else chooses to destroy their own world. This stance applies across the board, for ALL illicit substances, not just fluffy green ones. The only caveat is that in such cases, they should not be allowed to drag children down with them. If they insist on riding to doom, the kids should be removed and re-homed with people who AREN'T trying to destroy their own private world. Otherwise, eat, drink, smoke and sniff what you want. it's none of my business.
4) Stay the hell off of my lawn.
5) Economy - needs a re-boot, without centralization. Barter needs to be reinitialized as well, as a parallel system in case of the primary failure of the monetary system. Money to be backed by precious metals and jewels and the like, durable items of value, rather than thin air and ill wishes.
6) Foreign Policy - stay the hell out of other countries' business. Be friends, until they start trying to borrow money, or kill you, or in the more entertaining cases, both.
7) Military expenditures - I believe in a strong military. I am also a "hands-on" kind of guy, and so I am perfectly willing to fold the paper airplanes for the ATS Air Force (remember that Godzilla picture!) with my own hands.
This is a start, and not intended to be all-inclusive. It will build as it rolls downhill, like a snowball.
And good luck! 
Originally posted by nenothtu
Announcing the formation of the ATS Curmudgeon's Party
Due to recent political events at ATS, some new political parties are forming here to vie for the office of ATS Regent. To that end, and as the candidate for the ATS Curmudgeon Party (Provisional), I hereby announce the formation of said political party.
The name of the party is provisional, the varying choices being "The Curmudgeon Party". "The Write-In Party", and "The Party of One". The names "The Bachelor Party" and "The Birthday Party" are not under consideration, due to the fact that the voter base for such parties would be more limited, especially depending on what day it is. The final name is to be settled upon by the membership. EDIT TO ADD: "The Birthday Party" has been claimed by an opponent, PurpleChiten, but as I said, it was never under serious consideration here, any how.
The purpose of this thread is that announcement, and the development of the platform for the party in greater detail. All parties have a set of aims and goals, a basic structure that appeals to the adherents. While it is expected that the party members will flesh out the basic skeleton of the platform, a framework needs to be in place as a starting point. I have posted such a framework here, which is as follows:
1) gay Marriage - I don't care, but it ought to be equalized. I don't think the government should be in the business of saying who CAN and who CAN'T be married, either way. I don't think the government has any business at all either authorizing some or denying others. Marriage licenses should not be a matter of government issue or interference at all. At the same time, I don't think government should be conferring any benefits on the married simply by virtue of marriage. That is discriminatory against the unmarried and marriage-challenged.
2) Abortion - I don't care, but it should be equalized. If a woman takes it upon herself to kill off her offspring, then it's none of my business. Her contribution to the gene pool is obviously flawed anyhow. It's not a good survival strategy for a species to eat their own young unless those young are somehow flawed. At the same time, it takes two parents to create a child, and so the father should have some say in their disposal as well as the mother. If he's not given that say, and she kills them off any way, I support his right to cancel HER birth certificate, assuming that the initial conception was in compliance with applicable law to begin with.
As a corollary to the equalization, if some psycho kills off his pregnant wife, it should not be legal to charge him with murder in the case of the child unless the woman in question would have been charged for murder in the course of obtaining an abortion of the same child.
3) Drug legalization - I don't care. It's none of my business how someone else chooses to destroy their own world. This stance applies across the board, for ALL illicit substances, not just fluffy green ones. The only caveat is that in such cases, they should not be allowed to drag children down with them. If they insist on riding to doom, the kids should be removed and re-homed with people who AREN'T trying to destroy their own private world. Otherwise, eat, drink, smoke and sniff what you want. it's none of my business.
4) Stay the hell off of my lawn.
5) Economy - needs a re-boot, without centralization. Barter needs to be reinitialized as well, as a parallel system in case of the primary failure of the monetary system. Money to be backed by precious metals and jewels and the like, durable items of value, rather than thin air and ill wishes.
6) Foreign Policy - stay the hell out of other countries' business. Be friends, until they start trying to borrow money, or kill you, or in the more entertaining cases, both.
7) Military expenditures - I believe in a strong military. I am also a "hands-on" kind of guy, and so I am perfectly willing to fold the paper airplanes for the ATS Air Force (remember that Godzilla picture!) with my own hands.
This is a start, and not intended to be all-inclusive. It will build as it rolls downhill, like a snowball.
There you have it, the basic starting point for the ATS Curmudgeon Party (Provisional). Fleshing it out is up to you.
Have at it.
edit on 2012/6/18 by nenothtu because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by Flavian
reply to post by nenothtu
Good luck to you but i am formally throwing my lot in with Boymonkey and the Monster Raving Loonies. Im afraid your manifesto just can't complete with concreting over the Atlantic for easier access to the USA or raincoats for ducks.
Sorry but good luck anyway!
Originally posted by nenothtu
Originally posted by Flavian
reply to post by nenothtu
Good luck to you but i am formally throwing my lot in with Boymonkey and the Monster Raving Loonies. Im afraid your manifesto just can't complete with concreting over the Atlantic for easier access to the USA or raincoats for ducks.
Sorry but good luck anyway!
One must vote their conscience, and i commend you for that!
Ask yourself, however, does he mean to concrete the ENTIRE Atlantic, or just a driving strip across it? What provision does he suggest for not disrupting the Gulf Stream, thus plunging the Earth into a Snowball Earth type of Ice Age?
And the raincoats for ducks... is that ALL ducks? Just domesticated ducks? it it potentially limited only to mallards? Dig more deeply into the policy, to see if it isn't discriminatory! What will they do with the raincoats that the ducks at Peking restaurants were wearing? Will they recycle them responsibly? Or will they just toss them into the ocean to build a pacific bridge, too?
These are deep questions that beg answers!
a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas
Originally posted by woodwardjnr
The name of your party does not fill me with much hope.
Curmudgeon
a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas
www.thefreedictionary.com...
I'm gonna need more convincing.
Originally posted by woodwardjnr
The name of your party does not fill me with much hope.
Curmudgeon
a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas
www.thefreedictionary.com...
I'm gonna need more convincing.
Originally posted by Flavian
Originally posted by woodwardjnr
The name of your party does not fill me with much hope.
Curmudgeon
a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas
www.thefreedictionary.com...
I'm gonna need more convincing.
See, the name is the main thing that keeps drawing me back from the Loonies.........kind of like the idea of a party for grumpy old gits!
