Growing up, I never thought much about politics. I has strong beliefs, but was not really interested or taught to be interested in those issues. In attitudes, I guess you could call me a true child of the flower era. I was against injustice, prejudice and in favor of peace, kindness and getting along. I am still pretty far left in my attitudes and thinking but not completely. In grade six, I was so appalled by a television program on capital punishment I wrote an essay opposing it. As an adult, I have changed my mind and am now very strongly in favor of it. As a child I was horrified to tears by images of the Vietnam war. As an adult I still feel the same sadness and horror but understand that war is not always a choice, sometimes it is a necessity and a duty in our world of global consciousness and concern. I also, as a child, never believed in God or felt being a Christian was anything except embarrassing. Now I do believe, choose to believe and am proud of my Christianity, spirituality. As a teen I partied and used drugs and did not worry about the legality of it. Now as a mother and recovered addict, I am strongly opposed to the idea of decriminalization of marijuana. I know the devastation drug use can create in one's life, and in our world. I do not want my children or our society to condone in any way the use and “okayness” of so called recreational drugs, which are marketed to our young and those living outside the margins. I also feel that while police brutality exists, is often targeted at minorities and women and needs to be investigated and dealt with seriously by the police, that not all reports of alleged police brutality are accurate and that police sometimes need to use force in the administrations of their duties. As with all people, it is just best to trust, respect and cooperate with them. While I feel it is okay and I support people right to protest, the police also have a right and duty to maintain order. Equal rights and I support them both. To those who are far left in their thinking, I know, it would be unthinkable to hold such views. To those in the far right my views on abortion, animal rights, human rights and the rights of minorities, women children and immigrants are also unthinkable. Which means I am like most people, an enemy to the far left and right, a moderate in my political views. To be honest, where I am today may not be where I have always been, but I have always been close to it and strive to be within it. I guess my political views, care and conviction means I have grown up and have joined a part of a larger and more significant world while still being able to hold my own unique life view. I can bring my attitudes and beliefs from the far left of life as well my understanding ,wisdom and awareness. I can also through what I have learnt through life's example, admire and respect the power and righteousness of so called traditional values, of upholding of the values of duty, responsibility, civil cooperation of the the moderate right. Moderate politics are what our western nations are founded upon. They are rooted in tradition, our holy books, the values and ideals of responsibility, cooperation, unity and peace, the better way for a new and better world. It is sad and scary today to hear of groups challenging those values and standards set by our forefathers as our whole western world has been successfully built and maintained by them. The threat is mainly from the right in these days of Ground Zero mosque Islam hatred but it is supported by the same from the far left. Neither is advocating any ideas or ideals that will advance or aid society and our humanity. What it does do is leads to a lot of unrest and in our age of shaky peace, it is sometimes more than we need or can handle.It is time for us to begin to take all this turmoil and uprising seriously and understand what it means for our world , what exactly is happening and being challenged and sometimes decried. As we watch the news and the Nazi-like hatred of those of Islamic/Muslim faith, hate crimes, racism and the rising of the far right, it is important to know where you stand and why. It is easy to be drawn out of anger, frustration or exhaustion to the fringes of the political spectrum but you really should be aware that doing so will impact our society, our children our world and in a quite extreme negative way. The far right advocates hate, selfishness and shame. The far left advocates sinfulness, apathy and irresponsibility. That is not what I feel, understand or know or want for my children and world. That is why I care, act and speak up against it. I believe that the truth, reason, progress, righteousness and responsibility lies within the moderate political spectrum. Life has proven this to us time and time again. These are important values. The best way to teach our children, our society to value them is to apply them to our attitudes and our actions. Who we vote for, support says a lot about us and teaches our children what is and is not acceptable in our society and world. Supporting those outside the moderate spectrum is supporting and advancing attitudes and platforms that advocate and support racism, xenophobia, drug use, animal and child abuse, misogyny, intolerance, selfishness, sinfulness, fear and shame. These are not values and feelings I want my children and my society to live and learn under. With the recent rising of the far right and establishment of the far left, we are in danger of repeating some very serious mistakes, ignoring the promise made by the world after World War Two of “Never Again”. Some of us are following either blindly or out of apathy the well trod and maintained footsteps towards Nazism and a world that once again will tolerate and allow the political and social power of hatred and ignorance. Others are clinging futilely to far left ideals and dogma out of habit, frustration or fear. It is frightening, stressful and can be overwhelming. We are a world clearly sailing forward but as well in jeopardy of ignoring some major and very real hurdles to our development as a world and people. We have made a lot of amazing and much needed progress over the past half decade. It is time not to allow the fear and frenzy of the far right and irresponsibility of the left to allow this progress to be jeopardized. We have alot to lose and it is more than just ourselves, it is our society, our humanity, our world that is at stake. Moderate Left Animal rights Human rights Woman, children rights Victims rights Pro abortion Eco awareness and consciousness Global consciousness Support medicare, socialized education Anti poverty Living and acting with all humans, species and our planet in mind Far Left Legalization of marijuana Legalization of prostitution Criminal Rights Anarchy Communism Anti police Pro pornography, obscenity Against censorship Anti war/ pro peace movement Anti the death penalty Support criminal activity and behaviour attitudes and ideals Moderate Right Support our troops Support traditional family values Against pornography, obscenity For responsible censorship Support tax system Support in the status quoi For responsible consumerism capitalism For charity Support our amendments, the Constitution Support the death penalty Far Right Anti abortion Anti animal rights Against woman's/child rights Support anti immigration Support illegal immigrant search laws Support islamophobia Support misogyny, obscenity, pornography Against the tax system Do not support green thinking or believe climate change is a real issue Support the idea that victims, woman and children are guilty unless proven innocent when they are victims of crime Support criminal activity and behaviour attitudes and ideals Support a police state as long as they are part of the political far right Anti health food and natural medicine Anti progress, change ** Barbara Rose is a Toronto, Canada-based animal rights activist, blogger and writer. BM
