October 09, 2006

Thanks be given

Well i had a fun thanksgiving weekend. The two brothers were up, one was my brother the other my girlfriend's younger brother.

It was interesting to see the two of them meet actually, not much was said between them but it was interesting nonetheless.

I cooked a whole chicken for the first time and I have to say it turned out pretty well. Now that that's over I guess it's time to get back to work. Not looking forward to it, the day after long weekends are always busy at the bank, and we're short one person and we'll be short 2 people later in the week, this will guarentee a busy week for me.

I must have read Ayn rand's book Atlas Shrugged about 4 or 5 times. Now I find it interesting that i enjoy her books so much because I am deeply opposed to her views on almost anything. I do however find that the sense that her characters are outsiders misunderstood by the world does appeal to my sense of self and some of my own struggles in my childhood.

I find however through reading her writing as well as starting to follow more conservatives blogs and just through changes in my own thinking I am becoming more conservative over time. Though I would consider myself a moderate in almost eveyr way, I find that the conservatives (in general and the political party) are becoming more appealing.

It also helps that i find a lot of the progressives that i know and a lot that i have read are barking up the wrong tree and are just as vitriolic and stupid as the religious right in the US. On many many issues I find myself disagreeing in fundamental ways with the NDP and many on the left.

Now this does not mean that I am going to embrace the religion of the right, ie 'the free market will solve everything' nor will I ever believe that cutting taxes is the solution to every problem, btu I do find my political stances moderating.

Now I have always been a moderate in most ways, I think in terms of economics I was on the radical side of things, if you finished my post on intellectual property rights, I have moved from the position of abolishing them, to trying to find some sort of accomodation of property rights within a more humane and just system. In the end though I may end up being in favour of abolishing them. (Some radicals call the enforcement of these rights tantamount to criminalizing sharing)

ANyways thats my two cents for the moment.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I read with great delight that the Conservatives are beginning to appeal to you. I also am delighted that you find yourself disagreeing, "in fundamental ways" with the NDP. One can only name a number of issues in which the NDP show their ignorance, whether its the idea that the federal government can introduce and legislate, on their own, a national child care system (a provincial responsibility), deal directly with the municipalities and give them money for public transit or other funding (a provincial responsibility) or all of a sudden erase tuition fees for university students (do I need to say it again). I've never believed that the NDP's policies are 1) correct or 2) feasible options to society's problems; I only need to look at Canada during the 1970's to understand why: high interest rates, high unemployment, high inflation, excessive government spending and increasing levels of government debt; Shall I go on?

Anyway, I enjoy reading your two cents; it's certainy more entertaining then writing my one cent!