(no subject)
If you ever want to depress yourself about the state of political debate in America, read:
http://www.livejournal.com/community/liberal/
-and-
http://www.livejournal.com/community/conservatism/
I'm too tired to reflect on why these two communities depress me so much, but I suspect it has to do with the lack of critical, reflexive thinking in both of them. They both are so caught up in their respective causes that they seem unable to step back and examine their own viewpoints. As a result, the conversatives honestly seem to believe that they will need to buy weapons to defend themselves against rioting liberals, while the liberals don't seem to believe much of anything except that Bush and all his fellow Republicans are evil evil evil. Personally, I wouldn't like to live in a country founded on the set of principles that either of them espouses.
As someone who identifies herself as a liberal, the current nature of liberal politics especially worries me. They are so permissive and morally weak, so devoid of any sense of personal responsibility or culpability, that I cannot see them as a set of guiding principles for society. To me, true liberalism is about thinking deconstructively; about realising that we have to be aware of everything we do and why we do it; about taking ultimate responsibility for our own choices and trying to make them as ethical as possible.
Oh well. I went on for longer than I intended there. I should have been in bed an hour ago and I'm falling asleep over the keyboard, so I probably didn't make much sense at all.
http://www.livejournal.com/community/liberal/
-and-
http://www.livejournal.com/community/conservatism/
I'm too tired to reflect on why these two communities depress me so much, but I suspect it has to do with the lack of critical, reflexive thinking in both of them. They both are so caught up in their respective causes that they seem unable to step back and examine their own viewpoints. As a result, the conversatives honestly seem to believe that they will need to buy weapons to defend themselves against rioting liberals, while the liberals don't seem to believe much of anything except that Bush and all his fellow Republicans are evil evil evil. Personally, I wouldn't like to live in a country founded on the set of principles that either of them espouses.
As someone who identifies herself as a liberal, the current nature of liberal politics especially worries me. They are so permissive and morally weak, so devoid of any sense of personal responsibility or culpability, that I cannot see them as a set of guiding principles for society. To me, true liberalism is about thinking deconstructively; about realising that we have to be aware of everything we do and why we do it; about taking ultimate responsibility for our own choices and trying to make them as ethical as possible.
Oh well. I went on for longer than I intended there. I should have been in bed an hour ago and I'm falling asleep over the keyboard, so I probably didn't make much sense at all.