I have strong political opinions, but I won't get into them here. It's almost a certainty that this thread will degenerate into name-calling. (I have to admit it may be me who does it.) There's just something about an impersonal forum like this that leads to misunderstandings of peoples' intentions. Don't get me wrong, I realize we have to discuss the issues. This is just not the best place to do it, IMHO.
I have to admit the threat of censorship that hangs over threads like these kind of bugs me. On the other hand, there are lots of unmoderated forums set up specifically for discussing politics and religion, where you can say anything you darn well please, and you can always go and hang out there if you need to get something off your chest.
I suppose it's an interesting question whether reef-keepers are more convervative or liberal than the general population, or are more or less "green", or whatever. I like jlehigh's point, that it's difficult to figure that out ahead of time. There may in fact be no correlation at all. Unlike other groups where members have common interests, like the NRA, or the Sierra Club.
Why do we want to know the political opinions of our fellow reef-lovers, anyway? If it does turn out that reefers as a group are more politically conservation than you are, or more liberal, will you still want to keep reefs? We share the love of this hobby. Isn't that enough?
I seem to have verbal diarrhea lately. Somebody please stop me.
Larry