Philosophy
Been to a couple of doctors this week and had the strangest thing happen. Both of them went off on Bush. Today, the doctor called our President "dangerous" for his disregard for science and told me to take 100 mg of doxicycline twice a day and go see Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth.
But the interesting thing was the other one. After explaining why the war was a mistake and how the administration's foreign policy is a matter of shame based upon ideological nonsense, he told me that he was a Republican, "not because I agree with them, but for the tax breaks." I replied that if he compared any tax advantage with the growth of his investments, since the market does significantly better under Democratic administrations, he would probably find that calculation does not turn out as he thinks. He shrugged.
What could I have said there? It is clear from his reasoning that appeals to justice or morality would be ineffective. How can one appeal to self-interest for someone who is on the fence?
- Privacy, Democracy, And Deliberation
This week marked the 40th anniversary of the release of the Pentagon Papers. Daniel Ellsberg leaked the classified, massive report outlining the full history of American involvement in Vietnam to the New York Times who ran portions of it. It was the act...
- Two Quoque: Tag Teaming A Discussion About Ad Hominem Attacks
Hanno sent me this: The "Tennessee Center for Policy Research," a self-described research organization for policy solutions through free markets, has put out a now famous press release attacking Al Gore's energy use. The press release is as follows:...
- A Horror Flick With Plenty Of Gore
Saw An Inconvenient Truth last night. Amazing film. One thing baffled me, though. Al Gore kept talking about climate change as a moral issue -- I thought morality just meant protecting marriage from gay people....
- Physician, Heal Myself
This week's Comedist meditation is on doctors. I've been to see physicians several times this week having been diagnosed with Lyme disease. I had all the usual symptoms, fever, chills, a bull's eye rash, and an uncontrollable urge to bathe...
- Bush The Democratic, Bush The Tyrannical
The discussion of the tyrannical man is the focus of Book IX of as Socrates and his young friends analyze how the son of a democratic man evolves into a tyrant. This situation is one that, like all other anecdotes and stories told by these philosophers,...
Philosophy
What Should I Have Said?
Been to a couple of doctors this week and had the strangest thing happen. Both of them went off on Bush. Today, the doctor called our President "dangerous" for his disregard for science and told me to take 100 mg of doxicycline twice a day and go see Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth.
But the interesting thing was the other one. After explaining why the war was a mistake and how the administration's foreign policy is a matter of shame based upon ideological nonsense, he told me that he was a Republican, "not because I agree with them, but for the tax breaks." I replied that if he compared any tax advantage with the growth of his investments, since the market does significantly better under Democratic administrations, he would probably find that calculation does not turn out as he thinks. He shrugged.
What could I have said there? It is clear from his reasoning that appeals to justice or morality would be ineffective. How can one appeal to self-interest for someone who is on the fence?
- Privacy, Democracy, And Deliberation
This week marked the 40th anniversary of the release of the Pentagon Papers. Daniel Ellsberg leaked the classified, massive report outlining the full history of American involvement in Vietnam to the New York Times who ran portions of it. It was the act...
- Two Quoque: Tag Teaming A Discussion About Ad Hominem Attacks
Hanno sent me this: The "Tennessee Center for Policy Research," a self-described research organization for policy solutions through free markets, has put out a now famous press release attacking Al Gore's energy use. The press release is as follows:...
- A Horror Flick With Plenty Of Gore
Saw An Inconvenient Truth last night. Amazing film. One thing baffled me, though. Al Gore kept talking about climate change as a moral issue -- I thought morality just meant protecting marriage from gay people....
- Physician, Heal Myself
This week's Comedist meditation is on doctors. I've been to see physicians several times this week having been diagnosed with Lyme disease. I had all the usual symptoms, fever, chills, a bull's eye rash, and an uncontrollable urge to bathe...
- Bush The Democratic, Bush The Tyrannical
The discussion of the tyrannical man is the focus of Book IX of as Socrates and his young friends analyze how the son of a democratic man evolves into a tyrant. This situation is one that, like all other anecdotes and stories told by these philosophers,...