Here's a poll to gauge our members' support of a variety of key issues. PLEASE VOTE!

Question:
Do you support Affirmative Action?

Choices:
Yes
No
Undecided

Question:
Do you support abortion rights?

Choices:
Yes
No
Undecided

Question:
Do you support the Iraq War?

Choices:
Yes
No
Undecided

Question:
Do you support No Child Left Behind/vouchers?

Choices:
Yes
No
Undecided

Question:
Do you support Gun Control?

Choices:
Yes
No
Undecided

Question:
Do you support the Death Penalty?

Choices:
Yes
No
Undecided

Question:
What political party do you most align yourself with:

Choices:
Democrats
Republicans
Other
Neither

 

I am inclined to support vouchers but I don't see what that has to do with No Child Left Behind. Implementation is everything. A great idea can be screwed up if badly implemented or sabotaged, a bad idea can work half way decently if well implemented. Real life social systems are more complicated than social theories.

Actually I believe in bullet control not gun control.

I voted no on death penalty not because I object to the concept but because I don't think our so called justice system can implement it worth a damn.

I am a Machiavellian Libertarian sometimes on some issues it looks like I come down on the side of the Democrats and sometimes Republicans but I don't give a damn about either party.

umbrarchist

Affirmative Action: Yes, I fervently support it. It is a countermeasure to White Privilege and should remain until White Privilege is eliminated and all it's damage rectified. I think AA should be reformed to help all Minorities instead of being a free pass for White women.

Abortion: Yes, a woman has the right to make decisions about her own body and anything growing and dependent upon her body functions. If you want to get technical, an unborn baby is physically little more than a parasite. It's our human minds and hearts which place an emotional value on unborn life (which isn't a bad thing).

War in Iraq: HELL NO I DON'T SUPPORT IT. Why would I support imperialism for the military-industry complex and multinational global business?

No Child Left Behind/Vouchers: More like No Billionaire Left Behind. School vouchers would do little more than ensure that the only way to get a quality education would be to go to private school, which most Americans can't afford. Not only that, religious schools would be able to override federal education standards and be indoctrination centers. It's almost as bad as Fundamentalist home schooling.

Gun Control: Yes, on the grounds that people who are mentally insane or have a history of violence shouldn't be allowed to own guns. Unfettered gun ownership is a major cause of domestic violence/death every year. But I oppose it on the grounds of taking guns away from mentally healthy, law-abiding competent citizens (especially Minorities). I don't like the idea of a State de-arming citizens.

Death Penalty: No, not usually. I find it rather barbaric and a carry-over from Dark Age morality. There are certain types of cases where I feel no sympathy for people executed (pedophile molestors, rapists, racist killers), but I generally oppose it because the Execution system is systemically racist.

Political Party: I don't belong to any party. I'm not really into party politics so much, I favor grassroots movements, direct action and union movements more. I'm a Black Liberationist, an Anarcho-Communist/Syndicalist, an Internationalist, and an Anti-Racist/Anti-Sexist.

Some of the questions are kinda vague. The gun control question, for example: I support citizens without a criminal record or history of violence to own guns, provided they also pass a mandatory gun safety class. yet I also support the government limiting the type of weapon a normal citizen can have; there's really no reason any civilian should have access to high powered weaponry used by military servicemen. So does this view count as "for" or "against" gun control?

The same for affirmative action: I support laws which examine the number of minorities and women within a filed or institution compared to their total number, I support laws which criminalizes racial/gender discrimination in hiring, I support efforts to pull in more underepresented groups into a field or institution, but I don't support quota systems. I've talked with people who see AA as the first, as quotas, as both, as different even: so are my views in support of or against AA?

Abortion right: I support abortions until the beginning of the third trimester of pregnancy, but believe that exceptions should be made for valid health reasons for the woman. So which would I fall under?

I voted 'yes', or 'no' on every issue except 'political party' where I voted 'other'.

I voted 'yes' on everything except the Iraq War where I voted 'no'.

PEACE

Jim Chester

quote:

there's really no reason any civilian should have access to high powered weaponry used by military servicemen.

I'm building a nuke in my basement.

If you don't like it too bad.

umbra

My vote:

AA-no
Abortion Rights-yes
Iraq War-Hell [F] No!!!
No Child left behind/Vouchers-No
Do you support gun control-No
Do you support the death penalty-No
What political party do you most align yourself with-neither

My responses even surprised -- me; My perspectives have obviously changed over the years (i.e. gun control, AA, and political party).

Great Post!



----------------

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Fine,

Affirmative Action - yes

Abortion rights - yes

Iraq War - no

No Child Left Behind/Vouchers - no

Gun Control - no

Death Penalty - no

Political party - Democrats


I'll be back with more details when I have more time.

Affirmative Action - yes

Abortion rights - yes

Iraq War - no

No Child Left Behind/Vouchers - No/Maybe

Gun Control - Yes, but only to a restriction requirement.

Death Penalty - no

Political party - Registered Independant, but see the Democrats as the lesser of the two evils. But I have voted for a Republican ... Grant Woods for Arizona Attorney General. He is a huge supporter of civil rights and actually tripled the budget for civil rights enforcement.

Affirmative Action - Yes

Abortion rights - Yes

Iraq War - No

No Child Left Behind/Vouchers - Yes- But more changes are needed for it to work, learning has to be well above the standards the No Child Left Behind tests have. Good teachers can do that but with teacher pay so low and class rooms with so many it maybe unfair to give an exit exam that No Child Left Behind requires. I do think it is better than what we had before. Many European and Asian countries use some type of Voucher system and their students test way above ours in the states, yet we spend, 2,3,4 times as much per student.

Gun Control - No

Death Penalty - No

Political party - Registered Independent

Affirmative action: without it, black kids with 4.0 GPAs don't get to go to the schools of their choice.

Abortion rights: even the Bible supports abortion (Numbers 5:11-31)

Vouchers: If it's such a good idea, how come white school districts aren't adopting them?

Eye-Rack War: So we go fix Eye-rack even when we don't fix home yet?

Gun Control: D.C.'s Dodge City even WITH gun control.

Death Penalty: Napolean Beazeley and Todd Rasco. Nuff said.

Political party: I know it's easy to declare yourself an independent, but that would give the Strom Thurmonds in Washington too much power. So I hold my nose and vote Democrat.

We're at 41 responses. I'd really love to get 50. Have you voted yet?

I voted. Mine reads like the typical anti-Bush leftie. All the responses you might stereotypically expect.

Interesting - as it is now - more people support abortion rights (34 - 83%) than affirmative action (33 - 80%).

There, I just voted...

Grey Viking: "What is a Black man? A man of African descent with (a)... Will of Iron, Nerves of Steel, Heart of Gold, Balls of Brass." - Me
...and...
Gray Viking: "Don't sing it... Bring it!" - Me
================================
Hey Black Viking (isn't that name an oxymoron?), You quote other people. Not yourself. Get over yourself.

quote:

Originally posted by umbrarchist:
I am inclined to support vouchers but I don't see what that has to do with No Child Left Behind.
umbrarchist

Vouchers are the "Tool" that is used to Implement the "No Child Left Behind Program", but don't fret, the Program, in reality is designed to resegregate the school system, and eventually all Races will have their own Voucher School System, the System will revert back to pre 1954 conditions, it's just that Blacks haven't figured it out yet, and when they do, Blacks will be trying to figure out how they can fund their Voucher Schools from a Low Urban Tax Base that can't support the failing existing School System.

Keep one thing in mind, Just because you have a voucher, it don't mean you can go to any school of your choice. You will have to have the GPA, additional Funds for Transportation, and other Fees that the Voucher will not cover. Many Voucher Students in some States have already returned to their original Schools. If you live in the middle of the Hood, where all the Schools are pretty much the same, you'll have to go a long ways to get to a good school, and they still might not accept you, or have enough room for additional students.

leart

quote:

Originally posted by leart:

quote:

Originally posted by umbrarchist:
I am inclined to support vouchers but I don't see what that has to do with No Child Left Behind.
umbrarchist

Vouchers are the "Tool" that is used to Implement the "No Child Left Behind Program", but don't fret, the Program, in reality is designed to resegregate the school system, and eventually all Races will have their own Voucher School System, the System will revert back to pre 1954 conditions, it's just that Blacks haven't figured it out yet, and when they do, Blacks will be trying to figure out how they can fund their Voucher Schools from a Low Urban Tax Base that can't support the failing existing School System.

Keep one thing in mind, Just because you have a voucher, it don't mean you can go to any school of your choice. You will have to have the GPA, additional Funds for Transportation, and other Fees that the Voucher will not cover. Many Voucher Students in some States have already returned to their original Schools. If you live in the middle of the Hood, where all the Schools are pretty much the same, you'll have to go a long ways to get to a good school, and they still might not accept you, or have enough room for additional students.

leart

And not only that, we might complain about the quality of public education ... but that neglects the frontal assault that the right has been waging against the public schools since Brown v. Board of Education.

There are a few uppidy Blacks who have been sold the idea of the "no child left behind program" as if it's the panecea of quality education for the Black Community, but in reality it's only designed to help one or two Blacks Student, at most, while not doing anything for the remaining masses.

leart

quote:

Originally posted by leart:

There are a few uppidy Blacks who have been sold the idea of the "no child left behind program" as if it's the panecea of quality education for the Black Community, but in reality it's only designed to help one or two Blacks Student, at most, while not doing anything for the remaining masses.

leart

I agree with your assessment of NCLB 100%, but in my experience, it is the parents of kids in those struggling communities who support the program when thinking about trying to get their own kids into a better school - as opposed to thinking about the broader good for all kids. Those of us who support it end up saying "screw the rest of the kids in my community, I'm getting my kid out".

While I can't say that I wouldn't feel the same way, I think we all have to stay focused on what we can do to improve public schools - and ALL of our children - generally.