If we stop posting will they stop drawing cartoons about this subject?
Lame, dumb, and unimportant – unless you’re sitting in a Toyota that’s wrapped around a telephone pole – if you are the person tapping on your window is a lawyer.
There is nothing wrong with Toyota.The fable of faulty cars and the few pitiful people crying for the cameras have been created by US automakers in an attempt to smear a competitor.
The smear campaign is working very well. Even more interesting is the “non-recall” at Chrysler and the fact that American cars get recalled every year.
I read H. A. Hayek in a course taught by Robert Nozick, and I read Leo Strauss with William Galston. I think I have some experience reading smart conservatives. And you?
^I have tried hard not to call names, and I encourage you to make the same effort. And if you are serious in your conservatism you should try to read serious conservatives. There have been some very interesting conservative thinkers. I do not believe that all conservatives are idiots. I’m not the person to give you a book list – I don’t keep up with conservative thinkers, partly because I don’t have time to read widely in political thought these days, since (evidently unlike most liberals) I work for a living, but also because I found other thinkers more congenial. But Hayek is a major figure, as is Leo Strauss. (William Galston is a liberal Straussian.) Nozick is more complex – his book “Anarchy, the State, and Utopia” is a defense of minimal government, but he himself wasn’t really a conservative, at least as I knew him. Alisdair MacIntyre’s “After Virtue” is also very good. And of course, Plato, if you want to go back to the source. Take yourself seriously and do your homework.
^I certainly agree that self-government is not a political science project. I believe that political action is necessary in order to work towards a society which will allow people to develop themselves as much as they can in the way they see fit (so long as they don’t interfere with the similar efforts of others).
I’ve spent many hours of my life trying to bring about political change in various ways, and I honor those who came before me and fought to make a better world.
But I also believe that there is a value in trying to think about political problems. Sometimes the right course of action is not clear. Sometimes there are competing goods, and it can be hard to make judgments about how to balance these. Sometimes there are matters of fact which have to be determined.
Moreover, it’s good to try to solve disputes not at the point of a sword or at the barrel of a gun, but through persuasion.
Thought and action should work together. There have been some very smart people of various political stances; why not take advantage of what they have written to help us think? I have benefited from reading political thinkers on the right and the left.
If you are serious about your politics, then you should take the time to read the best arguments in favor of your position. Then read the best arguments against your position and see if you can refute them. Make the opposing arguments as good as possible – and if you believe you can refute them, then perhaps you will be able to persuade others.
kennethcwarren64 about 14 years ago
If we stop posting will they stop drawing cartoons about this subject?
Lame, dumb, and unimportant – unless you’re sitting in a Toyota that’s wrapped around a telephone pole – if you are the person tapping on your window is a lawyer.
HARVIN about 14 years ago
There is nothing wrong with Toyota.The fable of faulty cars and the few pitiful people crying for the cameras have been created by US automakers in an attempt to smear a competitor.
twieliczka about 14 years ago
And she won’t even have to TRY to go fast.
lindz.coop Premium Member about 14 years ago
The smear campaign is working very well. Even more interesting is the “non-recall” at Chrysler and the fact that American cars get recalled every year.
NoFearPup about 14 years ago
Oh, please Mr. Congressman, make our automobiles run better. (bleeeeahhhhh….)
riley05 about 14 years ago
Alert to everyone:
To all: Puppy is now posting under the following IDs:
modusMajestic SmellChecker Ow..wow..whatever …and several others.
lonecat about 14 years ago
Used to be there were serious conservative thinkers. Now we’ve got Ann Coulter?
lonecat about 14 years ago
I read H. A. Hayek in a course taught by Robert Nozick, and I read Leo Strauss with William Galston. I think I have some experience reading smart conservatives. And you?
lonecat about 14 years ago
^I have tried hard not to call names, and I encourage you to make the same effort. And if you are serious in your conservatism you should try to read serious conservatives. There have been some very interesting conservative thinkers. I do not believe that all conservatives are idiots. I’m not the person to give you a book list – I don’t keep up with conservative thinkers, partly because I don’t have time to read widely in political thought these days, since (evidently unlike most liberals) I work for a living, but also because I found other thinkers more congenial. But Hayek is a major figure, as is Leo Strauss. (William Galston is a liberal Straussian.) Nozick is more complex – his book “Anarchy, the State, and Utopia” is a defense of minimal government, but he himself wasn’t really a conservative, at least as I knew him. Alisdair MacIntyre’s “After Virtue” is also very good. And of course, Plato, if you want to go back to the source. Take yourself seriously and do your homework.
lonecat about 14 years ago
^I certainly agree that self-government is not a political science project. I believe that political action is necessary in order to work towards a society which will allow people to develop themselves as much as they can in the way they see fit (so long as they don’t interfere with the similar efforts of others).
I’ve spent many hours of my life trying to bring about political change in various ways, and I honor those who came before me and fought to make a better world.
But I also believe that there is a value in trying to think about political problems. Sometimes the right course of action is not clear. Sometimes there are competing goods, and it can be hard to make judgments about how to balance these. Sometimes there are matters of fact which have to be determined.
Moreover, it’s good to try to solve disputes not at the point of a sword or at the barrel of a gun, but through persuasion.
Thought and action should work together. There have been some very smart people of various political stances; why not take advantage of what they have written to help us think? I have benefited from reading political thinkers on the right and the left.
If you are serious about your politics, then you should take the time to read the best arguments in favor of your position. Then read the best arguments against your position and see if you can refute them. Make the opposing arguments as good as possible – and if you believe you can refute them, then perhaps you will be able to persuade others.