Are your political beliefs better than mine?

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Elvis

Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
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We're going to play a little game now.....
This is your chance to prove yourself.

In ONE reply, I'd like you to respond to the statements below.
DO NOT argue amongst yourselves, doing so will only prove that you're arrogant, intolerant, and/or ethnocentic. (OK, so that eliminates most people in this forum...)

Tell me why your political beliefs are better than mine.
One problem... you don't know what mine are. You must not compare, bash, slander, etc other political beliefs. Keep your reply strictly about your beliefs.
 
Elvis said:
Tell me why your political beliefs are better than mine.
One problem... you don't know what mine are. You must not compare, bash, slander, etc other political beliefs. Keep your reply strictly about your beliefs.


would it not be fair to say that you don't know what all of our individual political beliefs are as well? it is perfectly understandable to say no to slandering and bashing of political beliefs, everyone is, after all, entitled to their own opinion. however, would the ban on comparison of political beliefs negate the entire existence of both "free your mind" and "war?"
 
Elvis said:
Tell me why your political beliefs are better than mine.
One problem... you don't know what mine are. You must not compare, bash, slander, etc other political beliefs. Keep your reply strictly about your beliefs.

In one sentence? My beliefs probably aren't objectively better than anyone elses.

Of course I think my beliefs are the right ones because otherwise I'd have different opinions, but I can't know for sure that what I believe is any better than what you or any other person believes.

I base what I believe in on what I see happening in the world around me. For example, I believe the UK should at least attempt to give 0.7% of its GDP as international aid because I've read reports from groups such as Oxfam or the Red Cross which make me believe that money could be spent to help people who desperately need it. I believe the UK should have a national health service because I'm aware of the consequences both to individuals and society of denying people something as fundamental as medical care based on their ability to pay for it.

But I also have to recognise that someone else will look at that information and decide that the UK shouldn't give any international aid because there are still schools that don't have enough teachers and so the government should invest money in that first. Someone else will look at that and say that making people pay for healthcare is an incentive for people to work hard and afford insurance. Another person will say that the government shouldn't provide healthcare because in order to do that they have to charge taxes which are too high.

Of course I don't agree with them, but I can't usually prove that their beliefs are wrong and mine are right. In any case, I can often learn something from their arguments, even if I think the conclusion they reach is the wrong one. So all I can do is to listen to their arguments, discuss them, try to learn from them, try to explain why I have different opinions and maybe even have some fun into the bargain. :wink:

I have to admit the one time when I find it hard to accept that different political beliefs are equally valid is when I hear someone making comments that are racist, sexist or derogatory about a particular religion. I don't think there are any valid justifications for comments like those and I don't think that comments that bash people for who they are can add anything to political discussion.

And on that happy note, I'll stop rambling away and hope that I haven't bored anyone too badly. :p :)
 
Elvis said:
..... doing so will only prove that you're arrogant, intolerant, and/or ethnocentic. (OK, so that eliminates most people in this forum...)
.
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.
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Tell me why your political beliefs are better than mine.
One problem... you don't know what mine are. You must not compare, bash, slander, etc other political beliefs. Keep your reply strictly about your beliefs.


I do not believe mine are better than anyone else's but the above which I have underlined and put in italics sets some apart from others in this forum.

Argue me wrong Elvis.
!
 
My political beleifs are not better or worse the anyones elses. They are personal and based on what I value. When I vote I don't vote for any poltical part I vote my bleiefs and values and for the canidate that most explemplifies thats. I think basically my beliefs have centered around the fact that this world is bigger then me or anyone else and my responsbility to this " Love thy Neighbour" as a global citizen and as someone who is unviling to comprimise my morals and values . Does that make me seem arrogant maybe .. because I fill fight for what I truly belive in and am passionate about thats my right to do so, as it is everyone elses.

To paraphrase , I might not believe in what you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it.

Sometimes when we are passionate about something the words come out in the wrong , people get offended.. But I would much rather say somethng that not knowingly offends someone through my convictions ... then have passion for nothing at all.
 
Ummm...my political beliefs are better than yours because they work for *me* and are a part of the world that *I* want to live in?

How did that go?

LOL

Man, what a tough statement to rebut. :)
 
No, my political views are not better than yours or anyone else's. They're based on my experiences, which are different than those of other people. They're mine, and that's all I can say. I'll only complain about someone else's politics if they are in the Ku Klux Klan or some other hate outfit. We have to respect each others' differences if we are going to work together to solve the huge problems we're facing as a planet and as a people.
 
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When you really come down to it, isn't 'political belief' an oxymoron? Belief would mean having a truth to put your faith behind. Politics is all about the subjective.
 
BonoVoxSupastar said:
When you really come down to it, isn't 'political belief' an oxymoron? Belief would mean having a truth to put your faith behind. Politics is all about the subjective.

Well said, BonoVoxSupastar.

I have to believe mine are the best [at least for me] because if I held political views that I knew to be poor, then it would be pretty difficult to continue to follow them.
 
Last three comments have not told me why yours are better than mine. Obviously your own are good for you... thats why you have them.
 
Here is the foundation of my politics:

[Q]We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.[/Q]
 
Elvis, I *can't* say my political views are better than yours or those of Person X. They are simply my opinions, based on my experiences in life. Someone else's mileage is going to vary. That doesn't make them stupid, ignorant, crazy, lazy or anything else. They're just different. Life would be a drag if we were all the same.
 
Mine are better than yours FOR ME ONLY. Everything else is details.
 
Elvis said:

Tell me why your political beliefs are better than mine.
You must not compare

Please explain how it's possible to say something's better than something else without comparing the two. And assuming that's possible, explain how it's possible to make a blanket statement as to why one set of political beliefs are, en masse, better than another. I'd venture to say that each of my beliefs that is better than each of yours for a distinct reason. Do you want us to make an itemized list of each of our probably infinite politcal beliefs and then proceed to explain why each of them are better than the possibly infinite differing beliefs? I think the reason you're not getting any satisfactory answers is not because we're shrugging off the question but because the question, as you've phrased it, is impossible to answer.
 
Re: Re: Are your political beliefs better than mine?

Hallelujah Here She Comes said:


Please explain how it's possible to say something's better than something else without comparing the two. And assuming that's possible, explain how it's possible to make a blanket statement as to why one set of political beliefs are, en masse, better than another. I'd venture to say that each of my beliefs that is better than each of yours for a distinct reason. Do you want us to make an itemized list of each of our probably infinite politcal beliefs and then proceed to explain why each of them are better than the possibly infinite differing beliefs? I think the reason you're not getting any satisfactory answers is not because we're shrugging off the question but because the question, as you've phrased it, is impossible to answer.

Actually, there are some excellent answers here..... some very well thought out answers.

Truth of the matter... this thread has absolutely nothing to do with politics. You could replace the word 'political' with religious, sports, music, satanic, etc etc etc....
 
My political ideas are not better than yours. Your political ideas are not better than mine. The reason is because we both believe in the same basic ideas... the only ideas that are truely 100% correct. We both believe in the American idea... in Democracy... in the belief that every man, woman or child has the right to his or her own opinions. And while i may not agree with all those opinions, I will fight beside you for the right to speak your own opinions.
 
Mine are better only because I say so. Your beliefs are better than mine because you say so.

I think this is really what it comes down to, and there is no rational, scientific basis to any of this reasoning.

Melon
 
This thread sucks! :madspit: I was thinking of a good answer and my computer just shut off, lost all power, which really blows b/c it was halfway through printing an 8.5X11 hi-res photo on expensive paper and now I have to start it all over...... :banghead:

GAH

what melon said ^
 
sue4u2 said:
I had this long drawn out reason why mine are better than yours
but it just doesn't matter... too you. So it's a mute point ... therefore I deleted it.


The point of the thread is to answer the 'question', not to write a response and then delete it.
 
melon said:
I think this is really what it comes down to, and there is no rational, scientific basis to any of this reasoning

There doesn't necessarily have to be a diagnostic analysis in reason to comply with the mandate of this thread. Why are my political beliefs better than yours? Well, in the interest of destroying a perfectly disjoint thread, it all lies within the central... and endlessly faulted... question that you proposed. In fact, responding to this thread only affirms your resolve. The only answer is to dissect it the old boolean-school way, by contradicting the foundation of your query (which lilly already did admirably). Frankly, my approach to politics is one of compromise and diplomacy... although I did perpetuate the alotted one sentence, you yourself violated the stipulation with your own discourse preamble...

To summarize in one sentence?

My political beliefs are inherently better than yours because I would never demean a conversation by imparting value to respective political thought.

There in itself is a contradiction... but I'm content to take the walls down with me.

~End Game.
 
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Pinball Wizard said:

The only answer is to dissect it the old boolean-school way, by contradicting the foundation of your query (which lilly already did admirably).


actually, if you look, i never replied to this thread!!!


or did i and they were all taken out and put in a different thread...
 
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