"Thank you, and God bless America."

http://youtu.be/6KfYEQ48sPQ

Liberals and Conservatives

Living in a house that is on the conservative side of the political world, I am constantly exposed to a lot of anti-liberal and anti-Obama propaganda.  Most of the conversations that I have with family end up going to "I hate Obama so much" at some point.  This isn't to say that I think that he's done a fine job with our the position that he was elected into, but I don't hate the guy.  He's well educated, and apparently he can sing an Al Green song like nobody's business.  I'm sure he's a great guy to have at a party, even though he can't really run a government; but hey, at least he's not FDR.

Conservatives say that liberals only want big government and that they believe in crushing the liberties and freedoms that they claim to protect.  Liberals say the same thing about conservatives.  It's a vicious circle that people have been engaged in ever since the formation of the party system in the United States, much to the chagrin of George Washington.

The truth is, both liberals and conservatives want government involvement.  They just want it in different places.  This was basically all that I learned this year in my government class first semester, but it's a valuable lesson.

Liberals want government involvement in things like entitlement programs, welfare, social security, civil rights issues, healthcare, and for regulation of business and the private sector.  Conservatives want government involvement in things like prisons, law enforcement, moral issues, gun control, religious issues and things of that nature.

When I was a kid, I asked my Dad what the difference was between the Democrats and the Republicans.  He answered by saying that Democrats believed that the citizens of the United States should give up their money to the government to use because they thought we were too stupid to do the right thing with it, and Republicans thought that if you earn it, you should keep it.  Coming from a conservative perspective, that sounds about right.  However, the Republican party does end up taxing the wealthy again (whether they promised it in their campaign or not) in the end because they realize that government cannot function without taxing something.  If there is no money in the federal government, then they literally are powerless and we would live in an anarchist society.

Taxation, while not the most fun and exciting thing in the world, is necessary to having a nation that functions correctly, can defend itself, can provide basic services, and can help out those who really need it.  Those on both sides of the political arena realize this and tax accordingly.

So there you have it, a brief analysis on the differences and similarities of liberals and conservatives in the United States.

Since this is my first real post, please comment and give me some feedback on what could be done better, should have been said, overall quality, etc.

Thanks for reading
CB

Background - Corben Barnett

Hello, my name is Corben Barnett.  Before I say anything, I should probably state my political affiliation.

For the longest time, I considered myself to be a conservative, and I followed everything that my family had told me when it came to how I perceived the world of politics, and then I started to find out that you are supposed to challenge the beliefs that exist in your immediate circle.  My parents (and their parents) have all been right wing conservatives since they were born, and have voted Republican in every election that they were allowed to vote in.

When I started to hear some of the things that conservatives were saying on (where else?) Fox News, I began to think about what I really wanted to affiliate myself with.  I didn't want to align myself with guys like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck because of their radical and narrow minded thinking.

Then some things happened in my life, and they started to really shape the way that I viewed the world and the people in it.  I started to think differently about a lot of different topics.  Today, I consider myself to be....(drum roll).....a libertarian.  I have realized that government intervention almost always makes something more cumbersome and prone to failure.  That doesn't mean that I'm going to go Ron Paul on your ass and say that the Federal Reserve should be abolished, but it means that from a conservative viewpoint, I believe that the national government should be as small as possible and should stay out of the lives of the people that it is governing.

Life, liberty, and property should be protected.  John Locke said that.  Jefferson loved Locke.  When he wrote the Constitution along with the others at the Convention, a lot of his language and wordings came from Locke.  Jefferson was one of the first leaders of the Anti-Federalist party, which would one day become the Republican Party that we know today.  I believe that Jefferson was right in saying that the government should stay out of the lives of the people whenever possible.

So now that you know who I will vote for (or do you?), I'll give you some background on my life.

I was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1993 and lived there for the first 2 years of my life.  I then made rapid fire moves to Atlanta, Georgia; Round Rock, Texas; Allen, Texas; and then Carlsbad, California, where I spent the next 9 years of my life.  In 2009, we moved to Pleasanton, California.  In 2011, we moved to Plano, Texas.  And now, in about four weeks after writing this, I will be in Manchester, New Hampshire studying Politics with a minor (hopefully) in International Relations at Saint Anselm College.  Sound like a politician in the making?

Some of my hobbies include lacrosse, collecting music, and pretending to play the guitar.  I have a Twitter account (@iamthorben), but don't follow me if you think that people who tweet too much are annoying because I tweet A LOT.  Some people say that I look like Thor.

I have lived in basically every area of the country and have experienced almost every type of political atmosphere at one time or another.  I believe that I will be able to give you a well rounded and straightforward report of political happenings, as well as stating my opinion.  The rest is up to you.

Thanks for reading.

CB

Welcome.

Welcome to the wonderful world of political blogging.  This blog will be run by two individuals: Simon Sherman and Corben Barnett.  We will post a variety of different materials relating to current events and happenings in the political world, and will analyze and break down the situation to give you a good idea of how it is going to affect your daily life, if at all.

We would like to ask all visitors to please refrain from using any vulgar, obscene, sexist, or racist language or imagery.  If you have a problem with the blog, have ideas about discussion topics, polls, etc., or wish to report an issue, please contact us at barnettshermanpolitics@gmail.com.

Thank you for your support!