It’s not the hypocrisy of (anti/pro) war (Republican/Democratic) party hacks that I mind. For at least that means they are on the right side 50% of the time, which is better than being on the wrong side 100% of the time. No, what I hate is when this hypocrisy goes unnoticed, unexposed, and unchallenged. During Obama’s first term, the hypocrisy was that of the suddenly pro-war Democrats. And for his second term, it is that of the suddenly anti-war Republicans. How hard is it to simply have a standard? One that does not depend on the context of what letter happens to be next to the name of the puppet pretending to wield power for a period of 4 to 8 years. I am personally grateful for the amount of people on both sides of the aisle who don’t think it necessary or just to waltz (whether to bombard or to occupy) into Syria on a moment’s notice. But watch most of these anti-anything-Obama-does Republicans turn on a dime when it’s Iran’s turn to face our wrath. Then watch the Democrats squirm as they try to figure out their own position.
What are your thoughts? Would it be better if people just stuck to their position, even if it was awful, or if they waffled and on occasion did something right? Both in general and as it relates to the two parties and military intervention.
Good questions, Hank.
I don’t think politicians have positions. Public choice theory, one of libertarianism’s theoretical branches, argues that politicians have just as much self-interest as the everybody else when it comes to their “job.”
This is why statesmen like Ron Paul are so rare. It’s also why collectivists of all stripes hate him so much: he could never be bought.
That’s the same point reader jsong0524 made on my blog,
And I’ve got the same response for both of you,
A great response. I would argue that most people don’t have political positions either.
It pays to be ignorant, and is often much less stressful to boot. This is why advocating principles, as we do on this blog, is so important.
Actually, I guess it would be false to argue that it “pays to be ignorant.” Rather, people instinctively believe that it pays to be ignorant, even though more education correlates with higher income levels. Again, this is why I think blogging about principles is so important.
Haha. It’s kinda like the idea that it takes more work to get out of doing work than it does to actually just get the work done.