I suppose the biggest policy disagreement today centers on how to make the world a peaceful, free place in places where peace and political freedom are virtually unknown.
Conservatives generally support charging in, tearing down the old system, and putting Jeffersonian democracy in it's place.
Liberals support spreading democracy around the world, but via methods other than invasion. Most despotic countries have strong democratic movements which are supressed by the government, often with support and aid from the US government. Liberals would prefer to suspend aid to dictatorial regimes and let countries choose their own fate rather than impose a foreign ideology.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Monday, February 21, 2005
Politics on Campus
In recent days I've been bombarded by the notion that young conservatives are somehow repressed in their freedom of speech.
The hysterical right-wing press is especially obsessed with this idea. I remember one National Review article which declared college campuses 'places of dangerous unreality'. Their prime example? Most of the students they surveyed believed in evolution and global warming, but not that Iraq had WMDs. The horror.
Well, it isn't true. Not only are Republican clubs as well-funded as Democratic ones (the board of 'ultraliberal' Brandeis University just gave it's GOP group $7,000 for a single speaker) but the economics department of every university I've ever seen teaches nothing but pure free-market capitalism. My own econ textbook dismisses Socialism and Social Democracy in a single sentence.
Granted, colleges might be a bit more culturally sensitive than the outer world, but that's what happens when you have thousands of people of all races, classes, rleigions, and sexual orientations gathered in one place. I suppose reactionaries have a right to be close-minded, but that certainly doesn't make me respect them.
The hysterical right-wing press is especially obsessed with this idea. I remember one National Review article which declared college campuses 'places of dangerous unreality'. Their prime example? Most of the students they surveyed believed in evolution and global warming, but not that Iraq had WMDs. The horror.
Well, it isn't true. Not only are Republican clubs as well-funded as Democratic ones (the board of 'ultraliberal' Brandeis University just gave it's GOP group $7,000 for a single speaker) but the economics department of every university I've ever seen teaches nothing but pure free-market capitalism. My own econ textbook dismisses Socialism and Social Democracy in a single sentence.
Granted, colleges might be a bit more culturally sensitive than the outer world, but that's what happens when you have thousands of people of all races, classes, rleigions, and sexual orientations gathered in one place. I suppose reactionaries have a right to be close-minded, but that certainly doesn't make me respect them.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
The Terminator Lives
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4140446
The US government has authorized $127 billion (billion with a 'b') for fully automated 'robot' soldiers to fight in Iraq and elsewhere.
This has certain advantages, I admit. One loses fewer US troops, and it must inspire street rebels with a sense of frustration to fight robots all day.
But what worries me is, if we send cold automatons to fight real people, the public gets totally seperated from the realities of war. No triggers to pull, no grenades to throw, no buildings to dynamite. Let the machines do it. It's a form of numbing therapy, and it sounds very dangerous.
The US government has authorized $127 billion (billion with a 'b') for fully automated 'robot' soldiers to fight in Iraq and elsewhere.
This has certain advantages, I admit. One loses fewer US troops, and it must inspire street rebels with a sense of frustration to fight robots all day.
But what worries me is, if we send cold automatons to fight real people, the public gets totally seperated from the realities of war. No triggers to pull, no grenades to throw, no buildings to dynamite. Let the machines do it. It's a form of numbing therapy, and it sounds very dangerous.
Gunga Dean
So Howard Dean became DNC chair with little real opposition. Better him than that Republican-in-disguise Simon Rosenberg, or that creepy weirdo Bernie Fowler.
The right-wing press and bloggers have been glooating publicly and quaking privately. They know perfectly well that Dean can inspire the Democrats to action with his fiery spirit and help their grasroots effort with his organizational skills.
Don't believe the GOP when they say 'By choosing Dean, the Democrats have doomed themselves!!!" Remember when it looked like Dean would be the nominee, and all the Republicans said we'd lose if he was nominated? Well, guess what.
The right-wing press and bloggers have been glooating publicly and quaking privately. They know perfectly well that Dean can inspire the Democrats to action with his fiery spirit and help their grasroots effort with his organizational skills.
Don't believe the GOP when they say 'By choosing Dean, the Democrats have doomed themselves!!!" Remember when it looked like Dean would be the nominee, and all the Republicans said we'd lose if he was nominated? Well, guess what.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
NY Court Rules Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gaymarry5feb05,1,4213064.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true
"A New York judge struck down the state's ban on gay marriage as unconstitutional Friday, paving the way for five same-sex couples to wed and opening the door to a contentious battle over the issue in the Empire State."
Another blow to the malicious specter of homophobia. I've always maintained that 'activist judges' ought to be active if something is in violation of the US constitution.
I also want to attend the wedding of my cousin Bruce and his lover Frank, who currently live in Manhattan. They've been together for 25 years or so, which is longer than most marriages that have been blessed by the clergy.
Oh yeah; the State of the Union. Barely worth talking about. Fluff and vinegar, I say.
"A New York judge struck down the state's ban on gay marriage as unconstitutional Friday, paving the way for five same-sex couples to wed and opening the door to a contentious battle over the issue in the Empire State."
Another blow to the malicious specter of homophobia. I've always maintained that 'activist judges' ought to be active if something is in violation of the US constitution.
I also want to attend the wedding of my cousin Bruce and his lover Frank, who currently live in Manhattan. They've been together for 25 years or so, which is longer than most marriages that have been blessed by the clergy.
Oh yeah; the State of the Union. Barely worth talking about. Fluff and vinegar, I say.
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