In the world of politics, people who describe themselves as moderate share in common a handful of fundamental beliefs. These people are united not around a party or organization but around a certain worldview. In this article I am going to tell you the most important things you need to know about what defines a moderate.

Oxford dictionary describes a moderate as an “individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical”. People often use centrist as a synonym with the term but it should not be used interchangeably. Moderates can be centrists, but they can also be classified either as center-left or center-right on the classic political spectrum. There is a significant degree of flexibility when it comes to party choice for these individuals as they have very pragmatic tendencies when it comes to voting.

There are, nevertheless, a select few beliefs and characteristics that ties every political moderate together. They are listed as follows:

Common Sense and Reason

A moderate’s thinking about political issues is founded on the premise that they think with their heads. Meaning, they try to not let their emotions get in the way of making decisions on often difficult and complex issues. They understand the various implications both positive and negative that could arise from taking one position or another on a given topic. Thus, moderates try to vote as rationally as they can. Moderates weigh the importance of one thing versus the other and decide which one is truly more crucial and will be more beneficial to the society in which they live. They also have a tendency to vote pragmatically or “strategically” when the occasion warrants such behavior. The moderate despises irrationality, which leads me to the next section.

Belief in Science

I strongly and personally believe that a belief in science is absolutely essential to the identity of a moderate. To discredit the basics of science is to exhibit an utter disregard for reason and rationality. In most western countries this is not an issue like it is in the United States of America. Statistics from polls that ask Americans about their beliefs in science and evolution are absolutely disheartening to the average person of sanity. After having a president for the last eight years that disrespected and misunderstood science, the numbers should not come as a shock. Regardless of whether one votes as a moderate conservative or moderate liberal, a belief in science is imperative to being able to justly hold the ‘m’ word in their title.

Middle-of-the-Road Politics

Moderates often describe themselves as “independents”, not affiliating themselves with any specific political party. However, they can favor one party over the other, hence the terms moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans. When moderates’ party of choice starts to move too far to the left or the right, they can become uneasy. Candidates who take far left or right ideological positions are not appealing to average moderate voters. When the media reports that independents decide elections in places like the United States and Canada, what they are really saying is that moderates decide those elections. In the U.S., the last two Democratic Presidents were moderates, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. George W. Bush campaigned as a moderate with the slogan “compassionate conservatism” but governed mostly as an ideologue. In Canada, the Liberal party of Canada defines itself as a centrist/moderate party and dominated Canadian politics for most of the last 100 years. These kinds of parties are most attractive to moderates.

I believe that these three aspects best describe what a moderate is and what he or she believes in. In the world of politics, moderates know how to work together and how to get things done.

The author, Tyler, closely follows Canadian politics and has reported on the long gun registry.

Author: T Nes
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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With an increase in the usage of blogs as a powerful tool of communication technology, economic blogs have proved to be an ideal platform for investors to keep abreast with the latest developments and happenings occurring in the financial world. It educates them about the actual workings of the market. Recent financial unrest occurring around the world has generated a lot of interest among people about how the economy works.

There are many economic blogs that are hugely popular among the visitors. These include the following:

*Blog by Greg Mankiw – Nicholas Gregory “Greg” Mankiw is an American macroeconomist, currently working as a professor in Harvard. His economic blog combines both resources for his students and various articles on financial matters, thus acting as an excellent source for anyone interested in economics.

*Conscience Of A Liberal: This economics blog is managed by the famous economist, Paul Krugman, who received Nobel Prize for Economics in the year 2008. This gives a person an in depth understanding of this subject from the view of both academics as well as the industry experts.

*Calculated Risk: This blog offers an insight into various diverse fiscal issues such as housing and security. The posts by different user groups also bring to the fore various financial issues, which affect the daily lives of common people.

*Economist’s View: This economic blog collects and presents information related to the financial matters from all the content floating on the Internet. It collects them and puts them all in one place.

*Freakonomics: Also having a book by the same name, this blog illustrates on various weird happenings taking place in the world of money. Although it is more suitable for people looking to be entertained rather than informed, the analysis done within the text acts as a helpful resource for “econoblogging”.

Features Of An Economic Blog

A good economic based blog has following features that define it:

*Regularly updated content.
*Properly organized sequence of contents.
*A possibility of interaction with blog writers along with having an option for the readers to post their comments.
*Rich quality.
*Contents syndicated through the usage of RSS feeds.

Misuse Or Demerits

Although these blogs are highly informative and create awareness among the people regarding the financial scenario, there are several demerits that can be associated with the same. These are as follows:

*Some of the so-called economics blogs are nothing but spam due to their irregular maintenance.
*Many blogs tend to provide inflated and exaggerated content to their users. This leads to incorrect information getting circulated in the market.
*The content of many blogs is many a times completely out dated. This may be due to the owners running out of quality topics to post.

Thus, there are various good and bad aspects of an economic blog that needs to be taken care while looking for credible information on net. However, the good outweighs the bad! They act as a perfect platform to diversify the investment options among various assets.

Economic blogs act as a reliable source for people to get information regarding various financial matters.

Author: Edna Love
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

We’ve all heard the old saying “Never discuss sex, money or politics”. Even conversation between good friends can end in an argument when discussing politics.

We have conservatives, liberals, democrats, republicans, independents, moderates… Everyone sees the world a certain way, and how we should go forth in improving our great nation. You would think it would be easy to talk about these things, discuss and come to agreements. Hardly! More often than not, these discussions turn into arguments, and at times get very heated.

For thousands of years there has been fighting over politics, many of which lead to wars. I we all agreed, it would obviously be a perfect world with no wars, but sometimes the political fighting gets fierce and things get ugly.

This is not only typical amongst our politicians but amongst every day people too. Seems less and less are willing to compromise when it comes to their political beliefs and the country is divided. We have world leaders arguing over politics, then we have the US politicians going at it, then state politics… you get the point, it all crumbles down, all the way to you and I.

The keys to staying cool when debating or discussing politics is to leave your emotions in check, leave room for compromise and/or discussion & realize that the other person believes in what they’re saying as well and remain respectful.

The best way to win a debate is to do so in a civil manner, presenting facts and explaining your point of view. Many times when points can’t get across, it quickly turns the debate into an argument. It’s best at that point to get back on topic, or try to move onto the next topic.

I have owned a few political on-line websites, been members & have moderated as well. Of all the forums I have participated on, the political scenery has to be the hardest for all of those involved. It’s a constant quagmire and the in-fighting never seems to cease. The best you can do is take the higher ground, remain impartial and apply rules equally.

Jim is owner of http://www.debatepolicy.com

Author: James Lutz
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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No matter where you live, politics probably plays a part in your day to day life. You might not immediately deal with political issues, but you can be sure that politics plays a part in what you do! Whether it is office politics deciding who gets that raise you’ve been hoping for; city politics determining where you are allowed to park downtown; county politics dictating your quarterly property tax or even nationwide politics deciding how your schools are funded, politics plays a part in your daily life.

It is important then that you understand what politics really is. Politics, at its core, is defined by Wikipedia as the process by which groups of people make decisions. At its core, politics sounds quite simple. What makes it complicated are the individuals involved in making the decisions. Because human beings are not perfect, the political system is never going to be perfect. This is something that most people don’t understand about politics. You can put all of the pomp and circumstance into politics that you want, in the end; it is more about human beings getting their way than about the process itself.

It has been said quite often that politics is a dirty business. In the United States Congress, for example, politics has taken on an air of hatred and manipulation. Many citizens of the United States feel that they are left out of the process of politics and that their elected representatives are more interested in scoring personal points than in working toward the betterment of their states and districts. In the last few decades special interest groups have taken on an entirely new role and lobbyists have become particularly vilified.

This disillusion toward politics is nothing new. Plato-the famous Greek philosopher-believed that all political systems were corrupt at their cores and that societies leaders should be chosen from an elite group of individuals who were began leadership training at birth. Aristotle argued that man is inherently political and that personal and political ethics are often the same thing.

One of the most famous political philosophers, Machiavelli advised that leaders of politics be brutal and manipulative and do whatever they could to retain their power. Machiavelli is studied today and his work is considered to be one of the leading authorities on how to behave in politics. Is it any wonder then, that the political systems of so many nations look corrupt?

The heart of politics is good: it is how laws are made and how individuals are judged by the societies that surround them. Without politics, nobody would know what was allowed and what was not allowed when they left the house. Unfortunately, many people view politics as a way to get ahead or to gain some sort of power over the people they live and work with. It is because of these “bad eggs” that politics has become regarded as an evil and ugly business.

For more information on politics, visit http://www.relatedarticles.net/bl-england_blog.cfm

Author: John Parks
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Tissot virtual reality

Well it seems to be the hot topic of the month on Internet forums, as many people go to political blogs to discuss the issues with Iraq and Iran in the Middle East. There are people from all over the world participating and some are even from the psyche war campaign of the President of Iran in his efforts to give the people of the United States of America and the politicians in the United States to not strike Iran’s is nuclear weapons manufacturing facilities.

Many in the Internet forums are talking about the progress in Iraq and a problematic issues with the insurgents. Some are trying to redefine who they are and what they want and why they are so difficult to remove. Here is a recent excerpt from an online think tank discussing this issue, as one international terrorists sympathizer anonymously states his views on what is going on in Iraq;

You state; “The foot soldiers who make up the Baathist part of the alliance have a military background.”

They also have background in wiping their butts with their left hand then using it to hold the gun stock of an automatic weapon, further advancing their e.Coli virus on the world and I will have none of that my friend. Indeed we should have led more of them out into the desert to kill in Gulf War II, as we advanced faster than we should have in the last 80 miles into Baghdad.

You state; “They are former members of Saddam’s army, where they served as low-ranking soldiers, or in the security and intelligence fields. They lost their jobs shortly after the war, when the coalition forces dissolved the army, security and intelligence apparatuses.”

Indeed and there previous job was a “dead end” one and they should be thankful they never caught a “cluster bomb drop.”

You state; “They were also brainwashed by ideas of Arab nationalism and anti-Americanism during the Saddam years.”

Irrelevant as the same thing is happening with this radical Islamic Fundamentalist President of Iran as he uses this tactic to rally his support by picking an enemy, namely the United States. Thus we need to remove him also so we do not get a repeat.

You state; “Being sacked from their jobs only reinforced the conspiracy theories they had been led to believe and it strengthened their anti-Americanism.”

So what is the point? This is obvious and Al Jazeera runs anti-American Stories every day to feed their customer base with BS. The Clerics run around behind the scenes and promote the same. Why would anyone expect anything thing different and surely you are not purporting any of this as news are you? Because it is not, it is no different than the liberals in our country using their primate politics tactics against our own presidential administration. It is guerilla warfare. But you can always destroy the forest if you cannot get your way right? And you approve of this tactic?

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

Author: Lance Winslow
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
iPhone/iPad apps

Have you ever been on an Internet Forum or Blog and some moron calls you a NAZI? It is truly incredible indeed. Usually someone who is acting as the self-proclaimed wannabe Security; PC Police will disagree with something you have said. Blow it all out of proportion, misrepresent what you said as they attempt to repeat it and then call you a NAZI? Isn’t it fascinating how some brain dead scoundrels attempt this?

Then if that doesn’t work they will condemn a miss-spelling or typo, or tell you “Obviously you cannot read” when it is they who cannot read or comprehend, because they cannot even repeat or even understand what you wrote anyway? Well isn’t this special indeed; and welcome to the world of the maniac depressant, Prozac induced world of Internet Forums, Online Chat and Blogs?

This recently happened to me and then the perpetrator told me I was an enemy of free speech, a NAZI and King George III? What ever, so I replied to this insanity, do not ask me why?

“Enemy of Free Speech Never; in fact I did not attack you or what you wrote, I mentioned that those who go too far over the line to condemn at a time of war and slander are not free speechers they are in fact abusing the privilege by attacking a man’s character without knowledge or proof, bound in hate, nothing more. I believe in Free Speech and Freedoms of the Press, I do not believe in making stuff up or purporting lies against the leadership of our nation, merely to call them “unfit to lead” in some bizarre rendition of primate guerilla politics, simply so their political party can take over and do the same thing they once condemned. Be real careful who you label you good for nothing SOB, I have given more to the common good than almost any man in my common acquaintance.”

No matter how you attempt to defend you personal character there is always some idiot out there to trash your good name. Imagine what it would be like to be a celebrity of any type? Consider all this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

Author: Lance Winslow
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Get my ex back

You know your government is bad shape when it starts comparing itself to fallen empires of the past. Unfortunately, that’s the case in modern America.

The Government Accountability Office, the independent agency charged with investigating the (in)efficiency of government programs, recently warned us that our “burning platform” of unsustainable public policies was so dire that the agency felt obliged to warn of the “striking similarities” between our government’s situation today and the fall of the Roman Empire.

In this panoramic landscape of abject government failure, political liability should spread across the generations. Intransigent leaders from the Silent Generation have delayed social and political progress. The apathy of voters from Generations X and Y has entrenched the power of reckless and incompetent politicians. But given their power, influence and rhetoric, the leaders hailing from the Baby Boomer generation have been the most disappointing in their contributions to our current mess.

Baby Boomers have occupied the White House since 1993 and have held a solid majority in the House of Representatives since 1998. In the U.S. Senate, which has a higher age requirement, Boomers have still held nearly half the votes since the turn of the century, even gaining a brief one-vote majority from 2003 to 2007. A whopping thirty-seven of our fifty states currently have Baby Boomer governors. One wonders, given this impressive hold on power for the past decade, what does this legendary generation have to show for itself politically? Or in other words, what have these 1960s idealists, now boasting decades of real-world experience, done to strengthen our democracy and lead us into the new millennium? (Answer: Not much.)

As the obstacles to our nation’s progress have mounted, Baby Boomer political leaders have largely sought to deflect responsibility, avoid tough decisions, and instead focus their efforts on discrediting their political opponents. As the Boomers have grown in their influence, they have not only failed to solve problems, but in many ways, they have left American Democracy worse off.

Along with their manifold policy failures, Boomers have led American politics into what Andrew Sullivan has called “the debilitating, self-perpetuating family quarrel of the Baby Boom generation.” Nowhere is their childish bickering more apparent than the partisan mud-flinging that currently passes for political commentary. Best-selling conservative Boomer pundits such as Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity, et. al, pen a dizzying number of worthless screeds accusing their political opponents of treason, stupidity and hypocrisy, and their best-selling Left Boomer pundit counterparts, Michael Moore, Al Franken, et al, respond in kind with equally nauseating vitriol.

The Boomers’ failures are distributed uniformly from Right to Left. But given the liberal-leaning Boomers’ original rise from the 1960s counterculture, their weak-kneed absorption into the partisan political establishment is most ironic. The generation that fought for free speech and the right to question authority now enforces strict political correctness and quashes political dissent from their tenured posts in academia.

The proverbial light at the end of the proverbial tunnel

Perhaps the only hope for change lies with the younger generations – Generation X and my generation, the millennials – who will someday, inevitably, take over power.

Granted in many ways, relying on my generation is a risky bet. We’re known mostly for our political apathy and ignorance of current events. We don’t even care to vote, know who our representatives are, or really feel the need to have any sort of political identity whatsoever.

But as we know, things can change. If there’s anything that the Baby Boomers prove, it is that political activism in one’s youth fails to translate to effective political leadership in one’s better years. Seriously – why not us?

In many ways, our generation is best equipped to help lead America through the challenges of the 21st century. We’ve got lifetime experience with modern trends like computer technology and globalization, and thus are the most capable of transcending the fear, cultural division and xenophobia with which most of our elders face those new realities.

Our entrepreneurial streak – our peers have founded some of the most innovative new media companies in the world – makes us better understand the importance of fiscal responsibility, market competition and open trade.

Raised on rap music, lascivious music videos and violent video games, we are remarkably adept at making our own judgments of personal morality, whether or not our parents believe it. Our love of social networking leaves us appreciative both of individual expression and group association. Our advanced technical knowledge of computer networks can even help us better understand how terrorist networks operate. We have no working memory of the Cold War, and thus much less interested in the divisive ideological battling that afflicts the Boomers who cannot seemingly escape that period.

Will the late-coming millennials, currently wallowing in their self-absorbed world, put those brilliant social resources to work and actually change something? Here’s hoping.

The author of The American Evolution, Matt Harrison is the founder and executive director of The Prometheus Institute, Los Angeles, CA, a nonprofit public policy institute. He has authored more than 200 articles and has been a guest on several talk radio shows and a guest blogger for CNN.

Author: Matthew S. Harrison
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Part I – Current Trends

As we become more globalized, is it time that the citizens of the world created a worldwide political party? Such parties exist in Europe, for example, under the umbrella of the EU. There are loose associations between the European wide Christian Democratic parties, Socialist parties and Green Parties. But there is no real sense of a truly international party, it is more like an association of like minded parties, but the membership is definitely national.

The democracies of the world have been able to reach very high levels of prosperity, especially since the end of the Second World War, but unfortunately the prosperity of the non-democratic countries has lagged tremendously. The most blatant examples are in Latin America and Eastern Europe. Countries like Argentina, Mexico, Ukraine or even Russia, when one takes into consideration the amount of natural and human resources; the only explanation for the gap in development with other nations is political.

Many have wondered at the tremendous economic success of the United States. Students from the United States are certainly no where near the top of the any ranking of curriculum.

The Washington Post reported “The scores from the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment showed that U.S. 15-year-olds trailed their peers from many industrialized countries. The average science score of U.S. students lagged behind those in 16 of 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based group that represents the world’s richest countries. The U.S. students were further behind in math, trailing counterparts in 23 countries.”

Clearly people in the United States are not better prepared than there counterparts, nor more talented. The secret to the incredible and enduring prosperity of the United States is very simple but often overlooked. The key to American prosperity is the tremendously strong, almost sacred democratic institutions that have guaranteed the supremacy of constitutional rights of those of any person or party. The United Kingdom demonstrated the superiority of these institutions in the nineteenth century as the United States had done in the 20th. And as these two nations spread their ideals through Western Europe and Japan and Korea, prosperity has followed.

It is no surprise, that when the United States denied some groups within its borders the full value of these democratic rights, the economic prosperity of these groups lagged substantially behind the majority. In the Great Britain, the example of Ireland stands out. Where and when legal rights where denied, Ireland remained economically backward. Curiously, now that Republic of Ireland is a full member of the EU, and a strongly democratic country, its per capita GDP is actually significantly higher than that of the United Kingdom.

But there has never been the need or the desire to carry these values into the international arena. What was sacred at home was not considered crucial when dealing with foreign countries. In the case of the United States, suffice to look at our relationship with Iran, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Chile, Vietnam, Guatemala or Nicaragua to see how little it valued sound democratic principles when dealing abroad. The example of Iran is particularly interesting, as the United States continually disregarded the democratic movements in Iran. Imagine Iran today if the United States had supported the same values in Iran that it does at home?

The Israeli example is perhaps the most blatant. Palestinians are not considered worthy of the same rights as Jews or Americans, all in an effort to safeguard Israeli prosperity. It seems the lesson is never learned, the key to security is prosperity, and the key to prosperity is sound democratic institutions.

More than any other media, the internet has given citizens of the world the possibility to freely communicate with each others and share information, data and media. One of the major benefits of the emergence of the English language as the ‘de facto’ international language is that joined with the internet, we have now practically overcome almost all the political and economic barriers to people communicating with each other. Basic english skills and access to a PC and the internet, and you can communicate with the world. Isn’t it time that we began to use the internet to give the whole world, what until now, only the privileged few enjoyed.

The economics behind creating a world political party are miniscule. With a few thousand US Dollars, a robust website with an email and chat platform could be created. Leave the marketing to the buzz. If the message is the right, viral marketing will take the parties platform to all ends of the earth, and create a vital force to change the word, for practically nothing.

What do most of the people want in the world? The Financial Times will tell you they want mobile phones or BMW’s. But the truth is, most people want a safe, clean, comfortable place to live with running water, food, clothes, safe and accessible education for their children and healthcare. Imagine a world political party that said the number one priority for all the world is that everyone has these things. Before one more fighter plane is built, before one more Mercedes rolls off the assembly line, every human deserves a clean bed, food, clothes, medical care, and education for their children. Maybe in the past it was difficult to imagine the world as one family; the obstacles between countries and peoples were tremendous. But now we are truly one.

Can you imagine a family, living in a beautiful house, where some members sleep in the bushes, some on the floor in the kitchen while others sleep comfortably in the master bedroom under clean cotton sheets? We are finally realizing that we really all are part of the same family. And with the same intensity that we use to organize and support world athletic tournaments, it is time we began organizing a world political party.

Part II – Structure

Considering the ease at which a world political party could be created with the Internet and the widespread knowledge of English, an important question must be asked and resolved before even ideology is discussed and that is how the party should be structured and how it will intervene in national politics.

One absolutely critical point is that in the party constitution, which will cover the structure and actions of the party, as well as the ideology, it must be made absolutely clear that the party will always act within the laws of the country it is acting in. This could and will be a major point of contention, but it is not negotiable. The viability of the party is based on the fact that it will never support violence in the pursuit of political power and will always act within the legal boundaries of the country where it is operating.

The party will be virtual on the international level, but on the national level it will have a structure similar to other political parties in the nation in which it acts. The website will be the hub of international activity. Members will sign up, have a message board, forum, virtual conventions twice a year, as well as volunteer and paid positions. The key to the structure of the website and the party in general is transparency. All monies coming in as well as going out will be made public on the website. Monthly statements will be made public. Initially, there will be a 6 person representation from each country elected to a international physical conventions of the party, which will take place twice a year. Considering that there are more or less 200 countries in the world and that each would have 6 representatives, there would be roughly a 1200 person World Congress. This World Congress will elect a 12 person Executive Committee, with no more than one person eligible per country. The entire world membership will elect the Chairperson of the Executive Committee which will be one of the members of the Executive Committee.

Once this has been completed at the World Congress, work will begin on drafting a constitution that will be ratified at the following physical World Congress. This is potentially the most challenging moment for the party. The Constitution will not only serve as overriding rule of law for the party, it will also become the keystone for the world constitution that will govern the New World Government. The six month debate the will ensue must be of the highest order, and as widespread among members as possible.

Once this constitution is drawn up and ratified, work can begin on bringing the local parties to power. While the ideological basis for the party will be discussed in the next article, it is important nonetheless to discuss the overriding goal of the party, and that is to create a one world government, bound by its own law to protect all member states and citizens. The most likely framework is a governance body that begins with a limited number of members, and grows slowly outward. This must be considered when drafting the initial constitution. All language, attitudes and spirit must be inclusive of those nations not operating under the charter.

The parties operating in each nation must work on all levels, national, regional and local, to gain political power. Once that political power is acquired, it must be used for two purposes: first two pursue policies that promote the values and ideals of the World Constitution, and second to bring the host nation under the charter of the New World Government. This pursuit must always follow the laws of the host nation and never, under any circumstances, promote or support any violent act.

While this may seem far fetched to discuss before even a website is started, we must not underestimate the speed at which these types of endeavors can progress with modern dissemination methods. This will be the first truly worldwide movement. No matter who gains leadership or protagonism within the party, the key to the success of the party is that it never becomes associated with one particular country, area, organization or culture. All people in leadership levels must act in the interest of the whole. Language, actions, or policies that are exclusive must be avoided.

First and foremost we are human beings. Within the context of the party, we will want to avoid any behavior or policies that are exclusive of anyone due to their gender, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, the language the speak or don’t speak, financial position or any other reason. One of the fundamental reasons for the founding of the party is to stop those types of behaviors at least in as much as they hinder many humans from acquiring the very basic necessities of life.

A possible name for the party is the World People’s Party, or WPP. And the congress’s could be called the World People’s Congress and the new government could be called the New World Body. These are simply suggestions; all would have to be voted on at the first World Congress. But in order to act sometimes it is important to have name.

Finally, the call action. For this to get off the ground, one donor must be found to fund the building of the website (programming, design, creative pieces, email service, and initial ad campaign). Depending on the donor, this could range from $10,000 at a minimum, to $10,000,000 at a maximum. The difference in quantities will be reflected in the speed of the campaign and the assurance of success. A $10,000 start could fail before it ever got off the ground, with $10,000,000 success is assured. Anywhere in the middle ands speed and success of the campaign is more or less certain. Before anything can be started, an international organization would have to be founded, to administer monies, payments, charters etc.

So we have the goal, it is time to get started, and have one person initialize funding, create the organization, and get the website and message out there. The rest the people will handle.

Part III – Ideology and Platforms

Three major challenges confront the world today, poverty, corruption, and sustainable growth. The first two particularly pertain to the underdeveloped and developing world. Poverty and corruption today is primarily a circumstance of undemocratic and corrupt government. With current technological advances, a government that works for the people, in their best interest, will quickly be able to raise standards of living. Poverty and corruption work hand-in-hand. Prosperity means strong democratic institutions, institutions that will put the government at the service of the people, not at the service of self-serving politicians and oligarchs who only pursue personal wealth and power through government service.

Sustainable growth is something that is equally difficult for all, developing countries as well as developed countries. Coordinating our consumption of raw materials as well as manufactured goods is vital to sustainable prosperity. Only a universal plan, free of greed and corruption, will be able to administer the world’s resources in a responsible and sustainable way.

Many believe the environment will not be able to sustain a growing world population and economy. Clearly the earth’s resources are strained, but there is also another threat looming that could be a more imminent danger. The possibility that the world is reaching peak oil has been openly debated. It is not clear how close that point is, but when it is reached, the price increases that will occur on the downside of the graph as our oil reserves go from their high points towards depletion will be tremendous. Though we do not know when this will occur, there is a possibility that it could occur within the next 10 years, and it is very likely to occur with the next 50 years.

While the deterioration of the environment is obviously a tremendous danger to the continued progress of humanity, the problem of peak oil could actually be more dangerous in the short term. So much of our current prosperity is based on oil and the economic growth that oil offers, that once it becomes prohibitively expensive, the world may have difficulty supplying basic needs to a population that grew so rapidly from abundant cheap energy.

The entire current world infrastructure, as well as the financial system is based on cheap oil. Once we begin the downward slope from peak, not only could we face real problems to feed and house the world population, there is also the danger of war over the ever declining supplies of oil.

The people of the world must unite under a group of institutions that will be given power by the nations of the world to administer the resources of the world, insure the basic human rights of the world’s citizens, and be the arbiter of international relations.

Human rights are clearly the right to expression, basic private property, the right to work, the right to a clean safe home, the right to eat, the right to health care, and right that all children be given a complete education. Today this is possible. It may not have been possible even 25 years ago, but with advances in technology we can give every human these basic elements of life. It will not happen overnight, but with a concerted global effort, it is conceivable to achieve within ten years. How would this be paid for? Where would the resources come from?

All persons have the right to basic private property, which means a home, transportation, private belongings, investments, money, etc. But the ownerships of the world’s natural resources must be property of all citizens of the world. This may be extremely difficult to implement in the short term, but the consequences of not doing this could be fatal for human culture. Initially, all nation states should take control of basic natural resources, water, wood, oceans, oil, minerals etc. The shareholders of the entities that now own these resources would be compensated. Once these resources were under control of nation states, a 10% tax would be placed on the international commerce of these natural resources to pay for the infrastructure needed in developing countries, this tax plus their own revenue generated from the sale of these resources would pay for the building of homes, hospitals, infrastructure, schools, universities etc.

The second source of revenue for the international governing body would be a membership tax on all nations that enter the international organization. This tax would be a 50% tax on military spending. This would generate revenue and drastically reduce the amount of world military spending. These would be the only sources of revenue for the world governing body. Any military operations would be carried out by the militaries of member nations. As the party begins to win control of nations, these nations would enter the world governing body by parliamentary vote or referendum, much the same as has occurred with the EU.

Another source of revenue to fund the development of infrastructure across the world would be the creation of a new world currency. This new currency will be backed by the world’s natural resources. All national debts would be dissolved and reimbursed by the new currency. The freed tax revenue would be dedicated achieving the basic rights of men; food, housing, work, health care and education in the developing world, as well as creating a new, clean energy source and infrastructure in the developed world that can be quickly transferred to developing nations. New communities and energy sources will be created under a clean, sustainable, peaceful model.

The world governing body and world constitution will detail the legislative procedures to enact and realize the core values of the world constitution. War, corruption, oppression, and the unsustainable dissipation of the world’s natural resources will not be tolerated in member nations. In exchange for the immense resources that the world governing body will allocate, completely transparent democratic institutions must rule all member nations, above all person or party.

The world governing body will leave the vast majority of culture governance to national and regional governments. World holidays will be created, as well as educational databases, exhibitions and international budgets for the promotion of the great world traditions. There will be a complete and total separation of the world governing body from any religious affiliation whatsoever.

To summarize the ideological foundation of the world governing body, life, freedom, peace, democracy and sustainability. Once these have been reasonably assured for all humans, a new age of peace, harmony and sanity will prevail.

Robert Bonomo is a journalist, blogger and internet marketer. He has recently published a novel, Cactus Land, available on Amazon. PURCHASE CACTUS LAND ON AMAZON.

He also has a blog, Cactus Land, and works as an internet marketing consultant. See Professional Services Link on his blog for details. Read Robert’s blog CACTUS LAND BLOG.

Author: Robert Bonomo
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Changing Sources of Power: American Politics in the 1970′s

Frederick G. Dutton,

McGraw-Hill Books, July, 1971 269 pages

Few would argue that political and social change unfolds in a vacuum. Social unrest, discontent and the eventual showdown of political ideologies erupt with sudden convulsion, catching bench sitters by surprise.

The cultural and political transformation that took place in the 1970′s was more than just a temporary or fleeting disaffection of the status quo.

While a few books have been written regarding the irreversible decade of cultural, social and education forces that changed our perspective and our national directions ever since, Frederick Dutton’s still stands out as the most insightful and comprehensive source to date.

Dutton, a Washington D.C., lawyer and political strategist, depicts the many elements necessary — beyond the political–that created the showdown between the majority of entrenched traditional conservative carriers of continuity and the agents of change.

Dutton brought his keen observations of American politics to the book having served as Secretary of the Cabinet for President John Kennedy, Assistant U.S. secretary of State for Congressional Relations and a Regent of the University of California.

It was Dutton’s belief, without a doubt, that the sixties illuminated a divided government that steadily evolved from rhetoric to dissatisfaction and eventually to the struggle for power from a new generation.

Throughout the book, Dutton offers examples of how and why the 1970′s would bring in the massive shift of power. He wrote that “…widespread social and political turmoil of the last half-dozen years and more has generally been considered in terms of the Vietnam war, the unrest of the young, black militancy and the responding backlash.”

To an extent, but more so these erratic breakdowns in law and order, the shifting of economic opportunities from the urban centers out to the suburbs (The Industrial Revolution was becoming suburbanized) and strong dissatisfaction with leadership lead to what Dutton described as the opportunity that created national regeneration that shaped the political landscape for decades that followed. No one predicted that a “George Wallace,” effect: a new Southern leader that appealed to a population that felt left out of the new educational opportunities, sophistication and activist new and younger elements.

Thirty years later, “The Changing Sources of Power” still holds the preeminent position as the most comprehensive and perceptive study written about the political shift of the 1970′s.

In comparison, Boston University history professor, Bruce Schulman, author of “The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics, Da Capo Press, focused more on the cultural elements of Village People and disco than the deep underpinnings of the political affects that were coming apart during the decade of ambiguity.

David Frum, a conservative pundit and author of How We Got Here: The 70′s, The Decade That Brought You Modern Life For Better Or Worse, Basic Books, offered a keen understanding of the impact of political upheaval Dutton predicted would happen if politicians would face urgent problems head on.

Frum cleverly observed that we “left behind a country that was more dynamic, more competitive, more tolerant; less deferential, less self-confident, less united; more socially equal, less economically equal; more expressive, more risk-averse, more sexual; less literate, less polite and less reticent.” However, in Frum’s account he never explains why the 70′s sustained its influence far into the 80′s while other political movements dissolved. There is never a main point about the decade except to say movement leaders tried to change social and economic programs of earlier decades.

A small but telling contrast ignored by both Schulman and Frum include the significant pieces that led up the political melee is Dutton’s observation. Dutton points out that the Free Speech movement of 1964 could never have occurred anywhere in the country except in California and at UC Berkeley. This is a simple sentence, but a major point about the cultural differences that participated in the move east of unrest “New Left.”

Dutton wrote: “Generational politics exploded in California not just on the periphery but in the political mainstream well before, and more several than, they have erupted in the rest of the country.”

Changing Sources of Power, written in 1972, ends with a profound and still relevant observation that reinforces the brilliance of this book lacking in the others. He wrote: “We will not easily move on during this decade. But what could be blowing in the wind with the newer elements is a national reinvigoration that will occupy American society for much of the rest of this century.”

One wonders what Dutton would say today?

Geri Spieler is the author of, “Taking Aim At The President: The Remarkable Story of the Woman Who Shot at Gerald Ford,” Palgrave Macmillan.

She is a former investigative reporter and has written for the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle. She was a research director for Gartner and is an award winning public speaker and past president of the San Francisco/Peninsula California Writers Club.

Author: Geri Spieler
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

The first real political cartoons were drawn back in the early 1500′s in Germany during Martin Luther’s campaign against the excesses of the all-powerful Catholic Church. During this time of upheaval, Martin was looking for a way to use the new printing press to get his message out to the masses. Unfortunately, the “masses” were largely illiterate peasants who had previously relied entirely on Catholic Clergy for all access to the written word. Since the message Luther sought to distribute was inherently against the Church, he knew he needed a different way to reach the common people. The political cartoon was born.

Looking less like our modern cartoons and more like detailed illustrations, these early cartoons made use of familiar characters and stories to appeal to the peasants in a way that they could easily understand. One of these early cartoons shows the scene where Jesus throws the peddlers and hawkers out of the temple, a Bible story that all onlookers would easily recognize. Opposite the Bible scene is another which shows the Pope writing out and selling indulgences to the people. The comparison of the Pope to the hawkers is unmistakable. In this way, Martin could expose people of all classes to his radical and complex ideas in a way that was both simple and entertaining.

The first real use of political cartooning by an American was Benjamin Franklin’s 1754 cartoon “Join, or Die.” Its image of a snake cut into eight pieces, each of which was marked as one of the eight colonies, was a direct call to all of the British colonies to unite in common cause against the French and Indians and their plans to take over land west of the Appalachians. Later, in 1765, Franklin would again use the cartoon to try to persuade the colonies to unite in order to fight the British for independence. In both cases, the image of the snake became a stark and easily recognizable symbol around which the unity movement could coalesce.

Franklin’s famous cartoon is an example of how political cartoons have, historically, been a way for opposition groups to voice their opinions. The cartoon medium works well as a way for a new idea to gain a foothold in the public consciousness because of the brief and simple message it conveys. Since many cartoons couch their dissenting ideas in humor or satire, the artist can get away with making a radical idea seem more socially acceptable and less dangerous to the powers that be.

Cartoons continued to have huge importance in American politics during some of the more turbulent times in our nation’s history, like the government corruption of the late 1800′s, when Thomas Nast drew his famous “Boss” Tweed character to skewer thieving politicians. It was during this time that America’s first humor magazine, “Puck,” was started, creating a new, larger forum for political cartoons. This bargain priced publication pushed the cartoon even further onto the political stage, and the power and influence of cartoons on the public consciousness continued to grow over the years.

During the early 1950s, the term “McCarthyism” was coined by the cartoons of Herblock, one of the first people to publicly question Senator McCarthy’s communist witch hunt. Today, political cartoons still entertain and inflame readers of print publications, but perhaps a more modern incarnation of their ability to educate through humor and depictions of the absurd exists in television shows like “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.” Using real news facts within satirical and sometimes ridiculous interviews, skits, and reports, these shows expose their audience to new ideas while entertaining them and making them laugh, just like political cartoons always have. These shows wouldn’t exist today as the pop-culture phenomenon they are without the groundbreaking legacy of political cartoons.

For further examination of this subject, historical political cartoons, pics and illustrations are available at various educational websites across the web.

Beth Schelle is an educational video consultant for the historical film company Quality Information Publishers, who maintain a library of historic film and video collections at http://www.qualityinformationpublishers.com .

Author: Beth Schelle
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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