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Reaffirmation of Liberal Principles

Reading conservative blogs gives me a very sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. But the truth is, I get that sick feeling when I read a lot of liberal blogs too. I’m tired of the state of politics in this country. People view each other as enemies, and not as opponents. Liberals demonize conservatives, and vice versa. No one talks about the real issues at stake; people are too busy arguing about who served in a war that took place 35 years ago and who used a dirty word. Politcians like McCain, who refuse to play the smear game, are in turn attacked by both sides. The truth is there are some fundamental differences in the way conservatives and liberals view the world, and those differences are what should really dictate who you vote for. All that other stuff is just noise.

Hopefully without this seeming too Charlie Kane, I’d like to lay down what I believe are the tenets of my liberal worldview. These are my personal beliefs.

• I believe that the ultimate goal of civilization should be to make every human being alive healthy, wealthy, educated and happy to the best extent we can.
• I believe that no human being has any inherent worth greater than another, regardless of race, nationality, creed, or sexual orientation.
• I believe that as a member of a privileged few and owing that position solely to the circumstances of my birth, it is my responsibility to contribute back to the society that has privileged me.
• I believe that it is the responsibilty of all governments to maintain an active and ongoing effort to rectify social and economic inequities in both their domestic societies and the global one, including racism, sexism, homophobia, and the uneven distribution of wealth.
• I believe that it should be the goal of the United States’ foreign policy to achieve a safe, just, equitable and sustainable global society in this new century. I furthermore believe that the best manner in which to do so is to work not toward maintaining US supremacy as the sole superpower, but rather to embrace globalization and the new information age and assist developing nations in becoming healthy, democratic, and envoironmentally friendly members of the global community. This includes our potential economic rivals of India, China, and the former Soviet republics.
• I believe that there is no empirical evidence to support the existence of a higher power, and that individual worth is therefore not innate but rather based solely on social interactions.
• I believe that there is no empirical evidence for a universal moral compass, and that the moral conduct that society dictates is therefore immensely important.
• I believe that society should dictate what conduct is good or bad based on what is most effective in advancing our civilization. The determination of these principals should be empirical, based on the scientific method, and constantly reevaluated.
• I believe religion should never dictate social principles, but rather serve to dissemenate those principles chosen as explained above.

One thing I don’t believe is that I am absolutely right. I have arrived at these beliefs during my short time on this planet. These issues are complex and a case can always be made for another viewpoint. Most importantly, I remember that someone who takes a different viewpoint than myself is most likely working towards the same goals I am; the establishment of an enlightened global society.

That said, I believe John Kerry is more in line with these beliefs than George Bush, and that’s why I’m voting for him.

Comments?

Tom Friedman

Tuesday, the pulitzer prize winning New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman (one of my personal heroes) came and spoke here on Yahoo! campus. Why? No idea. I got the impression that Jerry and Terry heard Friedman speak and were so impressed they wanted to bring him here. Friedman’s grasp of the causes of 9/11 and the problems plaguing the Arab world is simply astounding. What is also impressive is how simple he makes the issues seem. A few great quotes:

…It was pretty clear that these guys were gonna fight this war, whether I wrote 10 columns against it or a hundred columns against it… They came into office dedicated to fight this war. From a columnist’s point of view, I had two choices. One was to throw my body in the way of it… the other was to basically adopt the view, “these guys are clearly gonna do this”. Well if you’re gonna do this, at least fight the right war, for the right reasons, in the right way. That was how I chose to use my column. What was the right war? Well what I argued before the war was that we should march into Iraq not about WMD; we should declare that this war is being fought in the name of the Arab Human Development report. That we are going to Iraq for one purpose. To partner with the Iraqi people, to implement in one country, in the heart of the Arab world, the Arab Human Development Report.

Since 9/11 alot of people have come up to me and said “Wow, Islam; That’s a really angry religion.” I say I totally disagree. But what I do agree with is that there are a lot of Muslims who are angry. And there’s a very simple reason for that, in my view. It’s because as a faith community, they live in the most repressive societies… under the most repressive governments on this planet. The governments that are least friendly and respectful of women, the governments that are least tolerant of civil rights, and the governments that are doing the least to empower their young people to achieve their full potential.

To my liberal democratic friends and colleages, I have one simple message: some things are true even if George Bush believes them. … And to my conservative friends I have an equally blunt message: just because you have a hammer, not every problem is a nail. And that is how they’ve approached this war.

Unless we have a holistic policy, that connects all the dots: a serious Arab/Israeli policy, a serious developmental policy, a serious energy policy; not the one we have right now, which by any other name would be called ‘no mullah left behind’. That is the the Bush energy policy. Unless we connect all the dots, there’s no way we are going to win this war.

Unfortunately they only video archived the first half of the speech, but Friedman also discussed at length the topic of his upcoming book, which will deal with the progress of globalization and its effects on China, India, Russia, and the world economy in general. Also, if you have not read the Arab Human Development Report or at least a summary of the findings contained within I highly recommend you do so. It is shocking and very fascinating.

In some other news, I took Monday and Tuesday off from work. To quote Office Space: “Michael, I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, it was everything I thought it could be.” It was nice to have some much needed time to myself. Amid the cleaning and shopping and such, I finally watched The Last Samurai. Good stuff, even if it is a bit skewed, history-wise. Think Dances with Wolves except with katanas.

Lets see, what else is happening. Last night I went to see Minus the Bear; they were good as usual. I swear evertime I hear the hi-hat on Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse I have to change my shorts. If I had one complaint, it would be that they are sweaty music heads. Plus I finally picked up the new Muffs record; it is of course very awesome. They invade town Oct 5.

Ooh, and last night Trevor stumbled across the Gods of War’s LoD and they let us leech Trylle two levels. That means this weekend, it’s time for some serious pre-amatsu HP partying.

Quote of the day – Ms. Laura Kowalski: “You can never get enuff butt.”