Reply #8: In my experience

[The Straight Story]

Some see the value of 'state' (if you will) but see the left as wanting everything major to be run on a national level and not local - to them this is bad (like a huge company running things instead or a group of smaller companies running things).

The more power we give the feds over our lives the more people like Bush will have control over things, whereas on a local level we can allow for more diversity and experimentation of ideas (and how those ideas handle local needs which differ by region).

The idea of 'communism/socialism/et al' is often lumped together by the right and seen as restrictive to the overall freedoms because they see the feds having more power as us having less power. One of the problems in that (with respect to some areas) is that there are common goals all areas share (like roads and defense) which can be managed well by a comprehensive system of pooled resources better (imho) than a loose fitting group of 50 states all with varied ideals and gaps in areas which could affect those most in need.

It is a tight rope walk in some ways - have a federal program which treats problems as a large group and which can often overlook the smaller regional issues or drop federal power of some issues (like health care) and push those to the states which have a better idea of waht works at their local level. Police, fire, and such are handled on a local level - the idea of nationalizing them and other services is considered by many to be 'communism' - but on a grand scale - which I think what many are opposed to. IE they think it is ok on a small scale but oppose it on a larger one (again, putting too much power into the national ruling class and sucking it away from the local lawmakers).

Why do I mention all this? I have spent a lot of time on many boards and this is the overall sense of things I have gotten. They see communism as the old russian system of things - over centralization and inefficient as well as bad for overall human rights. But many on the right side see things differently when discussing local issues and taxation and the betterment of the whole on a small level (again, pooling resources for police and road repair could be seen as a form of socialism which they tie to communism and old russia).

True diversity is not based on centralism of power by any group, but pooling resources of the broader group can be beneficial for the basic needs of the populace (like interstates and health care) and should not be shelved due to rhetoric from the right that such things are 'communist'. Defense? they love it. Roads? Love em. Health care for all? Well, worry about that on your own buddy. It shows their true colors IMHO.

The whole idea of national defense is that we want to protect the populace so that they can live free and long happy lives. Health care is just as important - adopting a national health care plan can save more lives, many more lives, and that fits in with a 'defense' plan to me.

Ok, WAY off track - sorry about that! Just needed to vent.