Category: Social and Political Philosophy
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Why Conservatives Should Vote for Trump, II
James Cambell, a professor of political science, writes, Thinking Republicans should NOT SUPPORT Donald Trump, but they should reluctantly VOTE for him. On what matters most, and that is public policy, Trump is not nearly as bad as Clinton. Shout that Donald Trump is an idiot from the roof tops and into any microphone thrown…
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Political Action and the Principle of Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien
Attributed to Voltaire. "The best is the enemy of the good." The idea is that one should not allow the pursuit of an unattainable perfection to impede progress toward an attainable goal which, while not perfect, is better than the outcome that is likely to result if one seeks the unattainable. Here is another formulation,…
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Not to Vote for Trump is to Aid Hillary
James N. Anderson has a post entitled A Non-Vote is not a Vote: One of the reasons put forward by some conservatives for voting for the controversial Republican nominee is that not voting for him would be “a vote for Hillary”. It’s important to understand why this is a really bad argument. I agree that…
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Government and Individual and Guns
This from an Irish reader: To paint a massive brushstroke, I assume the difference between Europe and America is that in the former the government is seen as a facilitator and provider of peace and security, whereas in the US it seems the individual and the government are at loggerheads, hence the right to bear…
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Limited Government
Being a conservative, I advocate limited government. Big government leads to big trouble as we fight endlessly, acrimoniously, and fruitlessly over all sorts of issues that we really ought not be fighting over. As one of my slogans has it, "The bigger the government, the more to fight over." The final clause of the First Amendment…
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The Political and the Religious
I stated that the reason for carefully vetting Muslims who aim to immigrate into the USA is political rather than religious. I had several points in mind, one of them being that it is the theocratic character of Islam that renders it incompatible with Western values, but not its specifically religious character. Theocracy is a…
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Depoliticize and Humanize
Reading Notebooks 1951-1959 of Albert Camus, I cannot help but love and sympathize with this sensitive, self-doubting, and tortured soul. Stages of healing. Letting volition sleep. Enough of 'you must.' Completely depoliticize the mind in order to humanize it. Write the claustrophobic — and comedies. Deal with death, which is to say, accept it. Accept…
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Private Property
Albert Camus, Notebooks 1951-1959, tr. Ryan Bloom, Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2010, p. 177: The Revolution is good. But why? One must have an idea of the civilization one wishes to create. The abolition of property is not an end. It is a means. This is foolish. Private property is the foundation of individual liberty.…
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Moral Narcissism
As defined by Roger L. Simon1: Briefly stated, moral narcissism is this: What you say you believe or claim you believe — not how you actually behave — defines who you are and makes you “virtuous” in your own eyes and the eyes of others. Almost always, this is without regard to the consequences of…
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The Problem of Dirty Hands
I am trying to understand the structure of the problem of dirty hands. A clear example of a dirty hands situation is one in which a political leader authorizes the intentional slaughter of innocent non-combatants to demoralize the enemy and bring about the end of a war which, if it continues, could be reasonably expected…
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Socialism for the Uninformed
For the superannuated Sanders, a lesson too late for the learning. But it may be of use to some of the pied piper's foolish followers.
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Political Argumentation: The Cogency of the ‘Hillary is Worse’ Defense
The Trump phenomenon provides excellent fodder for the study of political reasoning. Herewith, some thoughts on the cogency of the 'Hillary is Worse' defense for voting for Trump. I'll start with some assumptions. A1. We are conservatives. A2. It is Trump versus Hillary in the general: Sanders will not get the Democrat Party nod, nor…
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Can We Live Together in Peace Despite Deep Differences?
A large part of the appeal of Donald Trump even to those of us who oppose much of his style and substance is that he and he alone appears prepared to fight the Left and fight to win, which of course means using all their dirty tactics against them. He alone seems to grasp that…
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Is There a Duty to Stay Politically Informed?
Seldom Seen Slim offers: I see you're paying attention to current affairs. Very hard on the nerves. I can't do it. I tried to watch one Rep "debate": the most vulgar public display I've ever seen. Do you remember the saying "he who slings mud loses ground"? I think the "contestants" dug themselves mineshaft-deep holes that…
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James V. Schall on the Ides of March
The piece ends thusly: We have neo-barbarians at the gate. [In truth, they are already within the gates.] We have little will to deal with them. We are mocked because we have the finest equipment, but no will to fight. The heart of our civilization has disappeared in a relativism that cannot distinguish friend and…