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switching political beliefs as you grow up?

OregonAlex said:
Bob,

just curious.. what do you feel is a charitable cause which you WORK for. That is "give your time to".. vs give a donotion to give yourself a write off?
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Well lets see, this year I got together a small group of associates and arranged for something in excess of $100,000 for Katrina & Rita Hurricane relief. My personal part of the total donation was probably 20% of the total. Plus, I coordinated 100% of the effort from start to finish (still not done yet). It included coordinating job trainers to fly into New Orleans from places like Maine, Washington, Texas, Ohio, and several others in additon to sending several manager for a couple weeks from my own company (and I paid them double time while they were down there).

I send money to the NRA. Life/Benefactor Member.

I give money to the church and various Catholic charities.

I give money to local Democratic politicians. I give money to local, state & federal Republican politicians. I give money to Libertarian politicians (national elections)

I donated food for about 500 people for a police "night out against crime" and have done so every year for the past 6 years. Actually this year I expanded it and gave to 2 events, so I guess I donated hot dog dinners for about 1000 people? That included chips, candy, water, Arizona Ice Tea, Gatorade, etc.

I put together a DVD drive (2nd year in a row) and gathered up roughly 500 DVDs to send to our soldiers in Iraq. My personal donation, other than 100% of the organization of it, was paying for the administration of the sorting, cataloging, packing, shipping of the DVDs in addition to probalby buying 50 of them myself. At the same time that that was going on, with my company I shipped over 1 to 2 cases of candy, snacks, personal care items, tobacco, and anything else we could think of to a base just west of Bagdahd EVERY week, I did the same for a base just outside of Kabul, Afghanistan.

I work on several fund raisers at my church and at my daughter's school each year. Those efforts include doing simple tasks like working as a fry cook at the church picnic, washing dishes, or collecting gifts for aucitons, amongst other things. I also serve on some committees where I help organize events. We (my wife and I) host parties at our home to raise money or gather gifts for the school. Etc.

Shall I go on?

Oh, and by the way, I didn't 'turn in' any of the donations for the Katrina/Rita effort so I could 'write it off' nor did I turn in any of the receipts for any of the goods I shipped to our soldiers in Afghanistan or Iraq over the past 2+ years, heck I didn't even deduct the cost of shipping packages every week. I think my shipping costs averaged about $600 per month.
 
OregonAlex said:
Bob,

just curious.. what do you feel is a charitable cause which you WORK for. That is "give your time to".. vs give a donotion to give yourself a write off?
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I see that Bob just did beat me to this. I'd say that you rather "stepped in it" here. I would venture to say that Bob likely donates more than all the rest of us on this board combined; and that is in no way intended to say that others on this board are not charitable. I think Bob was rather reserved in his reply. I think he very well could have unloaded with both guns blazing at that comment. It's good to see that Bob is feeling the Christmas spirit today. ;)

Oh yes,

Merry Christmas to all!!
 
BA, no need to be impressed at all. It is what I feel I should do. I give and help a very diverse group of organizations from the Humane Society to several food pantries to the providing candy for the local 4th of July Parades. There are multiple awards on my walls for helping people with mental retardation to supporting the local police departments to fundraising for gun rights. Like I said, it is just what I do. I'm sure if I directed my efforts to my 'real job' I would be running a much larger company, but to be honest I don't want to run the company any differently than I do.

But the point of laying out some of this stuff is just to show that a true conservative is not a greedy bastard who can't get enough for himself. Sure, I do have many rewards from life, but at age 45 I feel like there is more to offer in terms of help than there is to accumulate for me. And I certainly could accumulate more, and I could live in a much larger home and at a much higher standard. People probably don't believe it but I live on a budget and don't look much like the country club type of person. I don't consider myself weathy, but I know I am fortunate. But I think that if people read a few books about millionaires, most will be very enlightened as to what goes on in the minds of the 'wealthy' or the 'rich' or whatever stereotype name they wish to apply to folks who have more money than they do. One book in particular: The Millionaire Next Door is worth the read. Another: Rich Dad, Poor Dad is also an enlightening read.
 
None the less...I'm still impressed.

I'll have to go visit the library for the books.
Sounds like something I could benefit from.
 
But to get back to the orignal topic, most of the folks who I have observed, have become more conservative as they have gotten older. Although it also seems like at people approach retirement they tend to 'liberal up' a bit. I think the concept of paying into 'the system' for an entire lifetime often has them thinking that they should be able to get some of it back in the form of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. Funny thing is I've seen folks complain about those 3 programs before they retire and then enjoy the benefits of them upon retirement. Not to say that any is well run or efficient.

But other than the slight left lean I observe as people near retirement, most folks who I see change, tend to change toward the conservative side of the spectrum. Those who stay left are often some of the most selfish "me" oriented people I've ever run across, and there are plenty of uneducated knee-jerk right wingers who are selfish "me" oriented folks too. But I see most people are actually well into the middle (not the middle of the political spectrum but in the middle of the generosity spectrum), most are good, most will help others, and most will eventually lean to the right even if only a small amount as they gain age, wisdom and experience in lift.

JMHO
 
B_Skurka said:
Shall I go on?
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You could have as I know of other things you've done as well.

Bob donated (heavily) to a charitible thing that was occurring in my town (which is several hundred miles away).
 
Bob,

Thanks for taking me up on my challenge and proving me wrong. I certainly have learned something new about you.

Happy Holidays
-Alex
 
Thanks Bob, especially for your cool-headed response (note, no insults with this, I held back). Maybe you could give me some advice on how to perform such responses, is it breathing exercises, some special elixer, or ingestion of one of those Indiana "magic plants"? What is your secret? :notworthy
Bonehead
 
The beauty of being a loudly dressed blunt jerk is that it often catches people off guard when I prove to be human. I use that to my advantage.
 
B_Skurka said:
I prove to be human.
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We will need a DNA sample to confirm that.
On a slightly different subject (and partly related to the topic of this thread), can you give all of us some backround on how you and Dargo met (you west to college together, right?) and how your political beliefs might have changed since then?
Bonehead
 
We never met that we know of! We went to college together, he is a 3 years behind me and broke my record in the 14 mile annual canoe race, which I established my freshman year and won again the next year. I think I have always been as consevative as I am, the college is very conservative with a very liberal teaching staff. Politics was a common topic, but then again I was a political science major who specialized in the study of terrorist organizations, I also studied economics and history. I think Dargo and I are the only 2 from our college who are not either lawyers or doctors.
 
Is there anyone on this forum that is actually registered as a [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Libertarian?[/FONT]
 
In Indiana we don't register our party affiliation. But I used to be a dues paying member of the Libertarian party. Now I just donate to who I see fit.
 
dyt4000 said:
Is there anyone on this forum that is actually registered as a [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Libertarian?[/FONT]
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Well.... My wife and kids have liberated me of my funds in my wallet for years . So yes ... I guess I am one !

No wait ! ...maybe I'm a Protestant because I really want to believe the government is on my side !

Oh Hell! I don't know ....:pat:
 
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