Expert: Paul Edward Zukowski - 3/31/2004

Question
I am almost ashamed to ask this question but the only stupid question is...  So here it goes.

I'm a 29 year old white male from upper middle class suburban America with a college education, a functioning and capable intellect and am a member of MENSA.  One would assume that I should have a firm grip of the world around me.  But for the life of me I cannot claim affiliation to either political party.  Not because I am torn between the two of them (the two big ones) but because, and I say this with shame, I do not know the difference.  And what is worse is that I don't know where to find my answer.  I do not know what a democrat looks like.  What they think.  What they support.  What amount of the population they claim.  I don't even know what their economic ideals and differences are.  Nor can answer any of those questions about the Republican Party.  I'm almost thirty.  I come from a semi-privileged family and am a product of an exceptional educational system.  I am bilingual.  I know more about current events than most of my peers and read the news every day faithfully.  I have a yearning to know what is happening in this great big world around us and I do all that I can to read every single news wire and columnist every day to take in as many points of view and as much information as I can handle.  I can speak with authority about the problems Hungry faces while they attempt to enter the European Union.  I know why Estonia needs to learn a world language before they have any hopes of raising themselves to the heights of their potential.  I know many of these things and those that I do not I will learn.  But I do not know what side of the political fence I am on.  I do not know what a far left or far right conservative/liberal is or what the terms even mean.  I need the fundamentals.  I need the building blocks to help me determine why I do not like Bush.  It is 2004 and the age of information is here.  When someone asks me why I do not like President Bush and his party I need a better answer than "because".

So please, help a struggling intellectual who has a void in his political knowledge.  I want to learn.  I need to learn.  So help.  Or at least point me in the right direction.

Many thanks,

J.   Meyer

One warning; if you are kind enough to guide me through this political haze (a political haze which should have been cleared in college in my American Politics class) I may have some follow up questions.  If you feed this stray dog even once he may show up at your doorstep every night.


Answer
Well where do you stand on issues of the day?
Your own opinions will determine where you fit.

pro life               pro choose
hard on crime          soft on crime
pro war on terror      Perfer it treated as a crime
Nationalist            internationalist
Pro gun                anti gun
want small governemt   think govenment programs are good
lower taxes            high taxes
stong on defence       weak on defence
strong on intell       oppose the cia
school choose          public schools only
support patriot act    oppose it
conserative            liberal
Republican             Democrat