Currents (BW)Photo by SB
Please read this article first about New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's attempts to regulate everything.
http://www.slate.com/id/2228722/
I found this paragraph very interesting:
"The underlying left-right divide is not about whether government has the right to promote private virtue but, rather, about what kind of virtue it should promote. Republicans demand paternalistic policies that uphold morality or social order. In Indiana, where I recently spent my vacation, you can pick up fireworks or a handgun anywhere, but good luck buying a six-pack on Sunday. Democrats, by contrast, deploy paternalism for health and safety reasons, yielding a different set of absurdities. In California, pot is on the verge of becoming more permissible than cigarettes. Both left and right take pleasure in mildly persecuting those who fail to meet their civic ideals."
That is pretty scary stuff. One side is ruining sex, the other side food. Both sides want to "protect" us, but for very different reasons.
The conservatives want to limit us from polluting their children and their ways of life with ours. They judge right and wrong based on Christian moral issues. The left judge right and wrong based on harm to others and the environment. (That is an over simplification of both sides, but I am not in the mood to write a thesis on it.)
I supported the banning of smoking in restaurants and bars. I also supported San Francisco's attempts to ban plastic grocery bags in all stores. Some of these liberal "protections" are going a bit far though. At what point do I become a baby that others have judged as incompetent to take care of my self?
The conservative limitations scare me more than the liberal ones. Their limitations hold back freedom of expression. I can express anything within their view of acceptable speech and be praised for it. If I create a "patriotic" video with imagery of flags, tanks, smart bombs, waves of grain, enemy bodies, ultimate fighting, NASCAR and put it to a Tim McGraw song, I am a patriot and anyone who speaks foul of it "hates America, gawdammit!" If I respectfully create and exhibit a photo of two guys kissing, I am "one with Satan's Legions." I was actually told that last week for supporting a lesbian friend's coming out to her ultra religiously conservative family, no shit.
I think this is just another part of the loss of civilization. We are losing our ability to trust people (within realistic realms) to do the right thing. We don't trust them to start using energy efficient light bulbs, and they don't trust me to keep my "smut" away from naive eyes. No wonder both sides are moving away from common ground with these "us vs. them" attitudes.
A few months ago I found this website. http://www.yourmorals.org/ They have a number of different tests there and it's a fun site to explore.
ReplyDeleteThey've found that among the five traits that determine morality Liberals rate Harm/Care and Fairness as being most important, while Conservatives rate Purity, Authority and Loyalty as being more important.
Josh.. that sounds like it matches what the article said. Thank you for the link. I will need to visit it.
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, I have no problem with legislation that saves our environment!!! If we don't legislate that, we will be sitting in the middle of a dying waste land. The polar bears are already struggling for life. What is wrong with civic responsibility?
ReplyDeleteWe cannot give in to anarchy. That's what the Tea Party group wants. Mass confusion, lies, fear tactics. What we need are facts and sensible solutions to the problems we all share. That is the key word. SHARE. We share the environment and the food sources. We DO NOT and SHOULD NOT share what happens in our bedrooms or have our religious beliefs or our treatment due to skin color legislated.
Does that make sense, SB? It does to me. I will not apologize for the Democrats' national health care protection proposals either. Call me a Socialist. Call me a Communist. That's nothing but name calling, ad hominem attacks not even allowed in classical debate. Guess why it isn't allowed. It doesn't get us anywhere.
Dr. L, I think you and I agree on most of these topics. I am for the environmental regulations and health care proposals you specify. I am for civic responsibility as well as civil responsibility.
ReplyDeleteI take issue when either side of the political spectrum tries to control things to the most minute level in our personal lives. I am worried that conservatives will dictate how I chose to enjoy my artistic and sexual life. That is far scarier than what the Dems are doing, but banning margarine (as Mayor Bloomberg did) is getting a bit deep into an issue I think is more about personal responsibility. It is no where as scary as PROP 8 in California, but it is too much of a stretch into becoming a controlling state. As mentioned, I find it interesting in how both sides view their mandate on legislating change. Morals vs. public good.
Defining what is under public control vs. personal control is a tender subject for me. There are times for both personal and public control to cede ground to the other.
I may have been a bit simplistic and glib in this post, but I feel the last paragraph summarizes what I was trying to say.
"I think this is just another part of the loss of civilization. We are losing our ability to trust people (within realistic realms) to do the right thing. We don't trust them to start using energy efficient light bulbs, and they don't trust me to keep my "smut" away from naive eyes. No wonder both sides are moving away from common ground with these "us vs. them" attitudes."
I agree with most of the Democratic agenda. I just see the liberal left (which I am on a fringe of) becoming too much of an "us vs. them" group. Bush's administration painted itself into the same mental corner and it brought their downfall. I don't want us to do the same thing by missing the big picture needs (global climate change, health care) for the minor things (regulating margarine) We need to prioritize our legislation and work on the big things first and get them right instead of spreading our resources too thinly trying to solve every issue, some of which are personal responsibility issues.
I am glad you challenged me on this. It teaches me the importance of being clear in message on important topics.
I am always only too glad to challenge everything and everybody (lol, I guess?). My birthday is coming up. I am a Libra, and I tend to see both sides of issues. Someone once told me Libra is the sign of Balance because we don't have any. Despite my passion for an argument, or perhaps because of it, I never say never regarding a position. And being forced to defend a position either changes your mind about it or reinforces your conviction, neither of which is thought to be a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteI just taught "Waiting for Godot," so it all looks a little bleak at the moment.