tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2197051945822486684.post3658612587925833656..comments2024-03-28T09:26:25.931+11:00Comments on Thinking Out Aloud: The motivating questions of politicsLorenzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00305933404442191098noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2197051945822486684.post-90182718915950079002010-08-12T18:17:58.168+10:002010-08-12T18:17:58.168+10:00Peter: believing Marxism is true is a very good re...Peter: believing Marxism is true is a very good reason to believe it. I think it fairly clearly is not true, but I understand the motivation from a sense that we ought to, and it was possible to do, much better. But, of course, the experiment has been run, again and again, and we know command economics is a human disaster.<br /><br />On defining conservatism, social cohesion strikes me as an achievement. I agree that a sense that it is easy to do worse, that the achievements of the past are fragile, is part of conservatism. Being against change per se strikes me as silly unless one is worried it will make things worse.Lorenzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00305933404442191098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2197051945822486684.post-41514701572878320862010-08-07T17:23:51.022+10:002010-08-07T17:23:51.022+10:00Lorenzo
I differ a little from your definition of...Lorenzo<br /><br />I differ a little from your definition of 'conservatism.' If forced to, I nowadays identify as a 'liberal conservative.' <br /><br /><br />The 'conservative' part is merely a rebuttal presumption against drastic change. I am definitely prepared to support drastic change, but the onus of proof lies with the radical to convince me.<br /><br />Where our difference lies is not wanting the features of the past, but a deep phobia against disastrous social unrest. Thus my conservatism is purely a product of being an Australian. I know just how lucky we are to be so cohesive with such rock solid institutions, which have overwhelming public support. If I lived in some other polity (perhaps even the US), I would not be a conservative.<br /><br />Where the 'liberal ' part comes in - and it is secondary - is once I am content that the big picture is sound, THEN my liberal advocacy can kick in safe from ruining the social harmony and strength of our institutions.<br /><br />Thus, in 2010 I am a radical liberal, and feel we can be far more liberal and change-oriented than we currently are, including test-running new bombs at the first setting of the next parliament! :)Peter Pattonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2197051945822486684.post-54938986746111667852010-08-07T17:11:03.926+10:002010-08-07T17:11:03.926+10:00Lorenzo
Once upon a time I was a marxist. But unl...Lorenzo<br /><br />Once upon a time I was a marxist. But unlike many of my fellow travellers, it had nothing to do with presumptions of my virtue. In fact, a big influence in my move from leftist politics was the realization that most leftists are only instrumental leftists to the extent it allows them to flaunt their [presumed] moral superiority. Ultimately, their moral vanity made me violently react against them.<br /><br />Even their self-identification as "progressives" smacks of this vanity. "Progress" sounds like an advance, something better. "We are progressively fixing our new houses rising damp problem to make it habitable.<br /><br />My embrace of marxism was empirical. I thought marxist crisis theory was profound, and that a society caught in a boom-bust cycle was doomed. I also thought we could do away with poverty only by doing away with private property. My motivation for wanting poverty relieved was I was raised poor, and it personally pained me to think of all the shitiness my friends, community, and family had/did endure.<br /><br />I would encounter "privileged" kids who would say "even if we distributed all the world's wealth equally, by tomorrow we'd back to the same situation." I didn't jump on my high horse and scream "how dare you." I thought about it, and said "but what is private property and trading it were banned?"<br /><br />Nowadays that "progressives" and "leftists" have dumped material and class issues for race and gender, I have contempt for any person who describes themselves as a progressive.<br /><br />I don't give a shit about "patriarchy" or the White Australia policy.Peter Pattonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2197051945822486684.post-55401002417586964682010-08-05T07:28:59.901+10:002010-08-05T07:28:59.901+10:00Micha, thanks very much for the personal observati...Micha, thanks very much for the personal observations. <br /><i>but that attitude wasn't conscious, I think</i><br />Oh, I am sure it is not. Which is why they resent so bitterly any analysis in such terms.<br /><br />And yes, the automatic heroes-and-villains approach to social analysis is not sensible (said the former local union workplace delegate).Lorenzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00305933404442191098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2197051945822486684.post-79541209454146118312010-08-04T20:26:17.648+10:002010-08-04T20:26:17.648+10:00In the narrative of socialism the businessman is t...In the narrative of socialism the businessman is the villain and the union-leader, the elected public servant, the civil servant and the activist are the heroes. In the narrative of extreme capitalism, the reverse is true.<br /><br />It seems to me (as a non-expert) that all of them sometimes play the roles of heroes or villains, but that they are all necessary for society to function. The question is how to balance the different considerations.<br /><br />Take unions. In a way they serve a very capitalist purpose -- improving the ability of the employee to bargain with the employer based on the very system of capitalism. <br /><br />The activist can also be seen to be working in the same system of the free market of ideas.<br /><br />The role of government seems more complex but still essential in capitalist society to balance the problems of capitalism.Michanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2197051945822486684.post-64324005555174657992010-08-04T20:19:25.513+10:002010-08-04T20:19:25.513+10:00When I was part of the Israeli peace movement I wa...When I was part of the Israeli peace movement I was troubled by the feeling that I'm actually involved in religious rituals of personal purification rather than in a movement that was trying to accomplish anything. <br /><br />I was also troubled by how many in the movement were more interested in separating and purifying themselves from Israeli society rather than being part of it, warts and all, and thus influencing it. <br /><br />This attitude resulted in making that movement completely futile both for the Israelis or the Palestinians, but that attitude wasn't conscious, I think.Michanoreply@blogger.com