THE LIBERAL THREAD #3- No Debate Please

[LakeAriel]

Oh come on! Stop beating around the Bush....

 

[chrisw127]

Oh come on! Stop beating around the Bush....

I've always wondered if his wife regrets marrying him, like does she look at him and think "And I could have married that nice proctologist, Steve So-and-So, and had a normal life."

 

[LakeAriel]

I've always wondered if his wife regrets marrying him, like does she look at him and think "And I could have married that nice proctologist, Steve So-and-So, and had a normal life."

I'm in bed, the TV is on sleeptimer, and I am glad I came back for one last chuckle..


What she did was quite similar... One examines them, one is...

 

[chris1gill]

I remember that! I was okay because I'd been in the military, but it hurt a lot of my friends. All of my friends came from middle class households, but none of their parents could really afford college without the loans.

Yet another reason why I think Reagan was the second world president ever.

I remember that as well. It's in great part why I worked full time through college, the minimum I ever worked was 30 hours a week, and for a great part of those four years I worked as an intern at a firm that had no idea I was still in class full time nights and weekends to keep my internship going and to not fall behind. The only semester I did not work was my final semester when I had TWENTY FOUR credit hours, and pulled a 3.6 even with that. I was determined to graduate with my class regardless of my circumstance. I had to take out loans that I had to pay the interest on while in college, I took the max. student federal loans, I came out with about forty grand, I paid it in less than 2 years. No thanks to what help I never received from anyone. I got every grant, every loan, everything remotely available. It made it nearly impossible, most people would have given up. At some points your loans are so high you have no hope but to continue on to get the degree because you know if you don't, you'll be bankrupt before the age of 22. That's a great reflection on our society. That's when I became a liberal. Not the years I didn't have healthcare, not the years people didn't care, but the problems related to my college days.

 

[IDoDis]

Sorry - been fighting a stomach virus - damn thing won't leave!

I become a democrat when Ronald Reagan took away my financial aid - deeming that my parents could afford to send me to college all on their own.....

Well - they weren't prepared for that - or any of us with a college fund. And they didn't make that much money - we were always living paycheck to paycheck with them........

I was going to type something very close to your reply, as well. Reagan was the nail in the coffin for me. My deceased father was a VA Vet and my mom was receiving money for each of us kids for that. It wasn't much, but I was going to use my share to pay for college tuition and books each semester and what that didn't cover, I was going to use for student loans. The carpet got pulled out from under me 3 months before I started college.

Even earlier than that, I have childhood memories of Watergate. I remember watching a lot of it on TV because that's all that was on in every house I went to. I didn't understand all of it, but I did understand enough to know that I did not want to be a Republican when I grew up!

I grew up in a poor housing project. The population there was very diverse -- In order to live there, one had to be a veteran or a family with children. I learned a lot about people, various cultures, acceptance, and community. I wouldn't trade my childhood for all the money in the world.

 

[pr surfer]

I seriously gave long thought to my reply about the why I'm a liberal question, typed it out and everything.

Then firefox gave me the finger.

So I'll paraphrase it:

I am willing to give of myself to make sure others have enough. I know I have more than enough for myself, and I am not greedy. If I have, and someone needs, I will give.

That is my philosophy in life, that is a philosophy I was raised with, that philosophy from others has helped me before when I've needed, and that is something I hope to share with others.

Help a person, and you help yourself. Tell a person they're wrong, and you're wrong.

 

[chrisw127]

Wow, really good answers on the liberal question. I think to an extent, we're all liberals for the same reason--because we believe in what's fair.

Oh, and by the way . . .

18 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[chrisw127]

In unrelated news, I just found this "Talk like Yoda" translator and have threatened my husband that I am going to talk like Yoda all day long.


Talk like Yoda today, I will. Yes. Hmmmm.

 

[Charade]

I seriously gave long thought to my reply about the why I'm a liberal question, typed it out and everything.

Then firefox gave me the finger.

So I'll paraphrase it:

I am willing to give of myself to make sure others have enough. I know I have more than enough for myself, and I am not greedy. If I have, and someone needs, I will give.

That is my philosophy in life, that is a philosophy I was raised with, that philosophy from others has helped me before when I've needed, and that is something I hope to share with others.

Help a person, and you help yourself. Tell a person they're wrong, and you're wrong.

define "illegal"...

 

[Carpenters]

I become a democrat when Ronald Reagan took away my financial aid - deeming that my parents could afford to send me to college all on their own.

Ronald Reagan almost killed my college career as well. I was fortunate enough to find a job with a research study on campus that let me quadruple the hours I'd been working and eke out my last couple of years to finish. Those years will always define scrounging for every dollar to me. I hate that anyone ever has to live that way. The words "trickle down" still make my blood pressure rise. Sorry I don't post more here, but I do enjoy reading the one thread that keeps me coming back to this board.

 

[chrisw127]

Those years will always define scrounging for every dollar to me.[/B] .

My girlfriends and I used to call it "dating for food."

 

[JARNJ3]

My girlfriends and I used to call it "dating for food."

That's funny!

My food budget senior year was $10 a week (less during a certain time of the month.....) I know TMI. Sorry.

My meal plan with the college was 10 meals a week - so I was on my own during the weekends, lunch, etc......

I sometimes "borrowed" some dry goods from my parents (Kraft Mac & Cheese, PB&J, Tuna, etc)......

 

[Laura]

When did you first call yourself a liberal?

During political discussions in high school. I was in a wealthy suburb's public school system, where my fellow students didn't understand how lucky they were to have parents who were well-off and cared about their educations.

 

[chrisw127]

That's funny!

My food budget senior year was $10 a week (less during a certain time of the month.....) I know TMI. Sorry.

My meal plan with the college was 10 meals a week - so I was on my own during the weekends, lunch, etc......

I sometimes "borrowed" some dry goods from my parents (Kraft Mac & Cheese, PB&J, Tuna, etc)......

Me too. I still feel bad when I think about being that broke. One year I didn't get my ROTC money for the entire year due to a mess up with the system, which meant I also didn't get paid by the army reserves, since they were tied in. I finally got it two weeks before I graduated--and went to Europe for a month. But that was one very, very scary year. I certainly couldn't have saved that kind of money intentionally.

 

[LakeAriel]

I grew up in a poor housing project. The population there was very diverse -- In order to live there, one had to be a veteran or a family with children. I learned a lot about people, various cultures, acceptance, and community. I wouldn't trade my childhood for all the money in the world.

We moved from a tenement apartment on 66th St in NYC to our "middle income project" when I was three. I still remember the joy I felt the day we moved in. Though we used to play in Central Park this too had grass, and lots of it. (no not that kind!) and lots of trees. That's when I became a tree hugger.. This was home. It was new. There were lots of rules; a parent had to be working, couldn't make too much, and don't get caught not reporting income or you were out!

I agree 100% with what you bolded. We were black, white, Jew, Christian, atheist, Irish, Polish, German, Italian. We reflected NYC at that time all in one place. I wouldn't trade it for anything either!

 

[crazyforgoofy]

I'm a liberal because of Allen and Georgia, my parents. They lived through the depression and were Roosevelt Democrats. They understood the innate value of every human life and taught me to do unto others - always. They were farm union organizers in the 50s and very early 60s. I grew up knowing that I was no better or worse than any other human being but that I had an obligation to help others. I grew up listening to Leadbelly and the Weavers, how could I be anything other than a lib?

 

[chris1gill]

I seriously gave long thought to my reply about the why I'm a liberal question, typed it out and everything.

Then firefox gave me the finger.

So I'll paraphrase it:

I am willing to give of myself to make sure others have enough. I know I have more than enough for myself, and I am not greedy. If I have, and someone needs, I will give.

That is my philosophy in life, that is a philosophy I was raised with, that philosophy from others has helped me before when I've needed, and that is something I hope to share with others.

Help a person, and you help yourself. Tell a person they're wrong, and you're wrong.

I'm sorry firefox gave you the finger! However, our philosophy's are quite the same. I think through my life I've learned that there is something larger than just me out there. The entire world is out there, and if I cannot contribute to it in some way, to make it a better place, then I have failed at the purpose for which I am here.

As you said PR, "help a person, and you help yourself. Tell a person they're wrong, and you're wrong." It's not my business to judge, only help when I can when needed....

 

[LakeAriel]

When I opened my eyes and saw what was going on, I became a liberal.

I was a teenager and very idealistic. If the US said we needed to be in Vietnam we must need to be in Vietnam right? Then I grew up. The body bags started coming home. More then 50,000 of them. Not to mention the millions, yes millions, of Vietnamese. I had friends in those body bags. I wondered why the dead were from the Bronx, NY and not Bronxville, NY. Money. Doctors notes. Flat feet. Punctured eardrums. Unfit to serve.

On and on. Kent State. Jim Crow laws. Martin Luther King. Civil rights. Bobby Kennedy.

 

[IDoDis]

Ronald Reagan almost killed my college career as well. I was fortunate enough to find a job with a research study on campus that let me quadruple the hours I'd been working and eke out my last couple of years to finish. Those years will always define scrounging for every dollar to me. I hate that anyone ever has to live that way. The words "trickle down" still make my blood pressure rise. Sorry I don't post more here, but I do enjoy reading the one thread that keeps me coming back to this board.

Well, maybe that could be one of your new year's resolutions! We'd love to see more of you on this thread!

 

[IDoDis]

When I opened my eyes and saw what was going on, I became a liberal.

I was a teenager and very idealistic. If the US said we needed to be in Vietnam we must need to be in Vietnam right? Then I grew up. The body bags started coming home. More then 50,000 of them. Not to mention the millions, yes millions, of Vietnamese. I had friends in those body bags. I wondered why the dead were from the Bronx, NY and not Bronxville, NY. Money. Doctors notes. Flat feet. Punctured eardrums. Unfit to serve.

My dad was in one of those body bags. How dare that certain lurkers pass judgment on how some of us paid for our college tuition. At the time my dad died, my mother was a stay-at-home mom raising three children. She was able to get a job working for the post office graveyard shift and went to school during the day so she could have a career. We would not have survived had we not had those additional VA and SS benefits. The VA benefits were promised to us (kids) if we went to college. Then along came Reagan and -- poof! Bye-bye! (right as I was graduating from HS)

BTW, there was never any doubt that I wouldn't work while going to college. The benefits were going to go towards tuition and books, and would have given me a greater opportunity to attend a better school.

No one knows when life is going to leave you with a bowl of lemons. We took those lemons and made them into lemonade. It would have been nice though if the government had made good on it's promises to the families of war veterans. That's one huge reason while I could never be a conservative! I just don't agree with their philosophy of me, myself, and I. Never have and never will.