Disarmament Part III: Centrism

One might think Father's day an odd day to create another post in my series that hasn't been commented on since last year.  I saw it as an opportune day as thinking about Father's Day made me realize how grateful I am for both my Step dad and Dad.  Not only that, it also made me think of my Mom and how thankful I am for parents in general.  That being said, my mind made a jump to connecting this to politics.  I was raised most of my life by my Step dad and Mom and while I love them both, they fulfilled very different roles in the parenting relationship.  

My Mom loved my sister and I so much that she often wanted to protect us from the world and anyone who would harm either of us whether physically, mentally, or emotionally.  Sometimes though, she fostered a dependence on her because of that desire to shield us from harm.  My Step dad also loved us so much that he punished us when we did wrong and would lecture us about why our actions were wrong and what the ramifications of those actions were.  Yes he would spank us, but never in an abusive manner and only to reinforce what he had already verbalized to us on multiple occasions previously.  He would give us multiple chances to not make the same mistake again before spanking us, but still let us make our mistakes as nothing reinforces why you should or shouldn't do something than experiencing the consequences of actions yourself.  As a result, he was sometimes perceived as being overly harsh or even uncaring.  In the political landscape of the United States, we have two parties vying for dominance.  The Democrats are looking to shield us from the dangers of the world and coddle us, while the Republicans are generally looking for us to make our own mistakes and learn from them.  While anyone reading this blog probably has a decent feel for my political leanings, they might be surprised to know that I see clearly why we need both parties.  And although I think we need more than two parties, I am glad that we at least have two vibrant parties to prevent the extremes on either side from pushing too extreme an agenda onto the populace.  So as the presidential race starts to heat up, I would caution people from taking the most extreme views and realize that this country ultimately needs at least these two parties to keep some semblance of balance.  Let's argue more about what's really important for the future of this country, not sound bytes and political yarns.