Originally Posted by keithnordstrom
sam, i think my basic point is that *people* are not liberal or conservative, their approach to a given issue is. imho, anybody whose opinions are all liberal or all conservative is not thinking at all - they are spewing the prepackaged views of some political machine.
well, i get what you're saying --- but i have to make a minor technical disagreement: when you say that "that *people* are not liberal or conservative" i infer that you're referring to the "Party Line" of Liberal/Conservative. One can be quite consistent as well as use one's own judgement and LOTS of thought if one has a consistent PHILOSOPHY that is either liberal or conservative -- actually it makes more sense to be philosophically consistent -- i am a Liberal by the real definition and i tend to back the more liberal parties more often but not always (as politics is an imperfect thing and full of compromises and corruption). anyway, hope you understand the difference and sorry to be nitpicking.
Originally Posted by keithnordstrom
incidentally, for the record, the smear tactics don't work either. i hardly ever drink and neither do any of my friends. i *have* drunk in the past, though, in high school and college mostly, and there were probably two occasions then in which i drove when i shouldn't have. this makes me the rule rather than the exception. i would believe a higher incidence of exceptions on this board, but the vast majority of people with a drivers license have driven with a bac that is too high at least once in their lives if they are honest about it. so if too many more people post and say they've never done it, i'm gonna hafta call bull**** lol.
i agree. i drove once when i was probably over the limit. i was 16 and i was out at a teenage party in rural Texas on a farm and drove like 10 miles on deserted country roads back to my grandmother's house just after midnight. i probably wasn't much over the limit, but at the time i believed taking the risk was worth not having to call my parents for a ride home or explaining why my mom's car wasn't there in the morning if i had gotten a ride home (wrong i didn't yet know my parents were cool and understanding and would rather have had me do the "right" thing). I have never driven drunk since and barring unusual circumstances never will again. the worst thing with teenagers and drunk driving in the US is that they learn to drive BEFORE they learn about alcohol - bad idea!
Originally Posted by keithnordstrom
it is very easy to get a driver's license in the us. any idiot can get one when they are 16 [...]
i think the driver's license exam should be difficult. it should be much more expensive, but there should be finiancial assistance available for those with demonstrable income below a certain level. it should not be handed out like candy to any teenager who can sort of parallel park.
i agree 100%. this has been discussed on the board a lot. driver's licenses should be EARNED and require training and re-training and be revoked if someone does not keep up his skills/knowledge or abuses the RIGHT to drive. in the US this is not the case, but as mentioned, Europe is much better (education, actual tests that require a little knowledge, retesting AND revocation upon incidents: accidents or tickets) ----
driving is not a right, but a priviledge!