Politics...

I need to get this one off my chest. Your thoughts and comments are welcome here, too.
I used to be very liberal from a "I am my brother's keeper" perspective. As I've grown, my views have moderated and I find myself in the middle of the road in many areas.
I find that there is very little difference in the average man's (or woman's) political views once you get past the labels. Here's a good example:
A popular saying goes something like "give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he'll feed himself for a lifetime".
The conservative view seems to focus on the idea that if you give a man a fish, he might start expecting one every day, and they're right in some cases. I have experienced people who are OK with taking advantage of the generosity of others.
On the other hand, the liberal view seems to be more like "it doesn't matter why the guy needs a fish, it is our responsibility to make sure he doesnt' go hungry". And they're right, usually.
The difference is in the accountability. I don't think anyone, no matter their political persuasion, wants to provide for someone who'd rather get a handout than a handup.
The conservative knows what it took to make it and the liberal remembers the hard times when he was thankful there was hand to grab. There's not much difference. In fact, you could switch the labels and the statement would hold.
In my view, if a man can't learn to fish through no fault of his own, I need to make sure he's fed. And if he is capable of learning to fish, I need to make sure there are good teachers to do the job whether it be me or hired help (and good ones should be paid well).
Do you agree?
JMHO, Les

Just got back from the Dominican Republic...

And it was fantastic! Helen, 6 good friends, my mother-in-law and I went to
Las Terrenas, a laid-back little area of Hispaniola. We laid on the beach, ate camerones, rode horses to El Limon waterfall, surfed (I'm the accidental surfer), ate pescado, rode quads on the beach and in the hills, ate langostino, rode motorcycles, scuba dived, ate langosta, swam in the warm crystal-blue water and laid on the beach some more. Oh yeah, and we ate lots and lots of seafood. You can check out the pics my Picasa site.