Politics(sp?)

curby

So, because I'm of voting age now, I feel as though it is my duty to know politics well. I've been putting this off and trying to learn about everything else, but I think the time has come to learn this one particular thing. What should I know about politics? What can you tell me? What are the relevant topics that I should research, etc?

Anything else I should know? I want to make sure that when I vote, I'm not setting the country up for disaster.

At this point, my knowledge of plitics is as follows:

There are Deomcrats/Republicans that have Liberal/Conservative divisions, or something. USA is a federal constitutional republic that is run by George Bush, whom a lot of people hate, I think, becuause his IQ is really low (not sure if this is true) and because he sends troops to Iraq against the will of the majority. Canada is run by Stephen Harper, who is a conservative republican. He is not against war, and he used to have little regard for environmental issues, until recently.

That's all the information I have. I don't even know if any of it is true. Please help.

Thanks.

EDIT: Also, sources of news to keep me updated are welcome. I live in Canada, BTW, but other info about countries and world-wide issues are also welcome.

Marathon

My suggestion would be to watch the news from time to time (I would suggest against FOX news) and to try and get an idea of who the major players are and what they in particular stand for.

Don't vote for someone just because they are democrat/republican. The best you can do is to try and become as informed as you can and vote accordingly.

CangoFett

Bush is actually rather intelligent, but is just a horrible speaker. To my knowledge his grades in college were actually better than John Kerry's.

QuarterMaster

Like Marathon said: Don't vote along party lines. I don't know if you consider yourself one or the other, but a good place to start would be ditching any gung-ho left/right attitude now.

Seeing as you're from Canada, watching the news is a good suggestions as well. :P Al-Jazeera English I've found to be a pretty reliable source, along with Slate. CNN isn't half bad either, for a large news company. PBS, OPB and NPR are all great. Read some magazines. The Economist, Atlantic Monthly, Business Week, etc. I'm sure your local library has them somewhere.

The D&D forums here aren't bad either.

Raneados

CangoFett wrote:

Bush is actually rather intelligent, but is just a horrible speaker. To my knowledge his grades in college were actually better than John Kerry's.

truth

he's actually not a terrible, warmongering idiotic person

he's just a country boy that doesn't know how to be president, honestly

The Green Eyed Monster

Get drunk, go to your polling place, make a mark, and then go have hot dog.

Seriously, your vote doesn't matter, don't sweat it. That's what the attitude the majority of the country has, why should you be any different?

LewieP

celery77 wrote:

Get drunk, go to your polling place, make a mark, and then go have hot dog.

Seriously, your vote doesn't matter, don't sweat it. That's what the attitude the majority of the country has, why should you be any different?

don't listen to this. Please.

ege02

CangoFett wrote:

Bush is actually rather intelligent, but is just a horrible speaker. To my knowledge his grades in college were actually better than John Kerry's.

Yes, because college grades are a very good indication of a person's intelligence. Do I even need to use the roll-eyes emoticon here?

Anyways, I also recommend the D&D forum. There is a lot of intelligent conversation that goes on there.

I would recommend against mainstream news sources, except BBC and CSM. The former is publicly owned so corporate bias is almost non-existent, and the latter, I am told, is actually very neutral for everything but science and medicine-related topics.

If you're in college, you can try taking a political science course to get yourself familiarized with political debate and become somewhat resistant to rhetoric, and through that, propaganda.

But perhaps the most important thing you should do when it comes to poltics is: never believe anything you hear fully. Be skeptical, and always try to verify the information through multiple sources.

Corvus

American political parties are not really a good comparison to Canadian political parties Curby. In main because they only have two national parties, while in Canada we have Five major federal parties, the Greens, NDP, Liberals, Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois. Wikipedia should have entries that give you a good rundown on what each party believes.


I'd suggest the following for news services:

www.cbc.ca :The CBC is a quality news site, and while government owned, is largely independent of government influence.

If I think of more Canadian news sources online, I'll edit them in.

We used to have a Canadian Politics thread in D&D but it got axed under the purge of megathreads. I'd like to see it come back, so I'll ask a mod about it.

Sarcastro

Two words: Rick Mercer.

If you're in college, check with the Student Union. Most are run by a person who can't shut up about politics, and they will likely be glad to inform you at length about what issues are relevant to your age group.

Canada, quite unlike the US, is represented by many parties, consisting of members who were voted to be most popular in thier region. These Members of Parliment ally with each other to form the political parties, with each party being led by a leader chosen amongst themselves. This leader must win the vote in thier region (riding) just like every other member.

As for what to know about politics, well, that topic is pretty vast. Like four years of university just to get a grip vast. For joining in idle chatter, try reading a reputable newspaper. For becoming active politically, see above student union comment, and that should lead you to one of the billions of special interest groups that exist, one of which is hopefully supporting something you would like to.

It much easier to become interested in politics if you have something you would like to see the nation accomplish, like the legalization of marijuana for example. Then you can see which party holds which stance, and from there decide whether or not you would like to see them in power or out of power. If you would like to see the proposed changes by a particular party take place, then do your part as a citizen and vote for the member belonging to that party during the next election.

Only you can really decide which topics are relevant to you, because only you know what you feel is important. Is it traffic safety? Environmental issues? Public Transport? Car insurance? Every aspect of your life, from the movies you watch, the toothpaste you use, what you can see in videogames, how long a walk it is to the corner store, even what kind of clothes you wear involves some facet of the political process. Decide what things in your life are important to you, and go from there.

Thanatos

The CBC, like Corvus said, is a good source for Canadian news.

Getting into politics is a lot like getting into a long-running comic book series: at first, you're lost in all the overarching storylines you're coming into the middle of. After awhile, though, you start getting things, and you watch as new storylines pop up, and old ones complete, and soon, you're keeping up with everything pretty easily.

EggyToast

It's generally better to consider a party's overall stance on an issue, rather than focus on what one politician is saying. Remember that when you vote, you're essentially voting for a party, not an individual. That individual could be ambivalent about, say, raising funding for science research, but the party as a whole supports it. When the votes for a bill come in, that party will usually show solid support if the party supports the measure.

Secondly, there's usually a distinct difference between national politics and local politics, and it's worthwhile to keep up on both. National may seem more slow moving and more "big things," which is usually the case, but local affects you more directly. Unless you're in a small town, you can usually find a few good local blogs, who should be able to keep you abreast of local politics, or read a local newspaper's political section (make sure it's actually local, and not just a syndicated national) online.

Andrew_Jay

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Circular

EDIT: I don't really have much useful to add. There's lots of good advice above.

supabeast

The best way to follow politics, and international news in general, is to read The Economist. You'll learn more about the world from just reading the editorials in the The Economist than you will from reading Time, Newsweek, and the New York Times.

an_alt

The best way to keep an eye on politics is to try to understand both ends of the spectrum on a lot of issues. Most people who are 99% behind a party line are idiots, IMHO. Try not to form rabid opinions, but well informed ones based on understanding an issue and balance ideals with results. Don't be afraid to check out the loony left and far right. There will be a lot of nutcases, but often an honest dissertation on a subject is better than one muted by politics. No matter who says what about a particular topic, apply critical thought to a position whether you agree or not. BTW, calling Stephen Harper a conservative republican is a bit of a stretch. The CPC is to the left of the Democratic party on many major issues.

As for news sources...

Many of my friends don't think the NDP is far enough to the left, but they agree that the CBC is the major network that best reflects their views. Izzy Asper was to the right of the Liberal party when a politician, a major federal Liberal supporter for most of his Canwest/Global days, and seems to have switched to the Conservatives as of the last election. CTV seems fairly straight up to me, but I lean towards the Conservatives so they might too. For international news, the BBC is usually a great source.

The whole key to being politically intelligent isn't just to learn. It's to learn then think. Don't be afraid to change your opinion and whatever you do, never fall into lockstep with any ideology.

Quick edit: if you're outside of Ontario, pick up the Globe and Mail and National Post from time to time. If you're in Ontario or Quebec, please remember that BC, AB, MB+SK, and the Maritimes are very different places, face very different issues, and have different, yet equally valid sensibilities than central Canada.

For issues, pay close attention to the economy (plus economics in general) and health care. Social programs and infastructure are important, but they have to be paid for somehow. Also, try to keep emotional responses minimal and focus on the practical.

an_alt

Also, I'd recommend that you read up on the different economic, social, and governmental systems and philosophies. It gives you a framework for what you'll learn later and really helps you to understand why people hold certain beliefs. Most people with strong political opinions are good people who want the best for their fellow man. They just disagree how to achieve that goal and sometimes exactly what that goal may be.

Placed in context, you should be able to understand why many people consider Bush Jr to not be a conservative or what to make of someone who's for gay marriage, small government, and lower taxes.

kaliyama

My advice to the OP is be careful when someone is trying to give you impartial advice on a political decision, because someone's opinion always reflects different assumptions about how the economy works, how the economy should work, how morality and ethics function, etc. They will very rarely state these opinions when they issue a higher-level one about politics.

The Economist is great, but is essentially neoliberal and loathes social spending even if they occasionally, begrudgingly admit its necessity. I subscribe and admire its prose style greatly. However, they use two tricks 1) having a very neutral-sounding writing tone, and 2) having no byline(saying which journalist wrote what piece), that gives what it says a sense of it coming from a wise and impartial observer. That really isn't true and it has its biases as much as any other magazine or paper.

The poster above, for example, is on the right and in his opinion portrays Stephen Harper as 'not very right', and the Liberals 'way to the left' of acceptable opinion in the States. This may or may not be true, but it's also what someone would say that thinks Stephen Harper is right - therefore reasonable - and thinks the left is wrong. No offense meant to the above poster, I just want the OP have examples of how to think critically.

gneGne

MOST IMPORTANT is that you THINK and CHOOSE for YOURSELF.

SkyGheNe

gneGne wrote:

MOST IMPORTANT is that you THINK and CHOOSE for YOURSELF.

And if someone says that "THIS IS THE TRUTH, THE ONE REALITY" question it and research whether it's true or not.

Everyone likes to think they're right. Just because someone says something, even if they are a good person, doesn't mean it's true.

The more I follow politics, the more I begin to realize that every argument has a scrap of truth to it and things aren't as black and white as people like to make them out to be.

Serphimera

Watch the news. Read cnn.com and bbc.com a few times a week to keep updated on world events.

Reckless

If you've got the money and the drive to teach yourself the basics of how the system works from a textbook, I recommend this guy right here.

We're using it for the American Politics part of my AP Gov/Pol class, and I have to say it's a very nice piece of book.