According to a recent poll, 1 in 4 American Muslims think suicide bombings are acceptable in the defense of religion. Also, another poll shows 35% of Democrats think President Bush knew in advance about 9/11
I hate polls. I refuse to be alarmed by this. What is on my mind is whether people who hold views such as the above should be allowed to vote.
I mean, truth be told, if you think that the government only exists to spy on you and kill you and the only defense is suicide bombing at points, you’re nuts. We have a clear example of a government that does want to spy on its citizens and kill them if someone in that gov’t can get $5 out of it all.
I blame the way we’ve been educated for this. If people were forced to reconcile their private opinions with something oriented to the common good, something genuinely public, there would probably be a lot less conspiracy theory.
Somebody today was attempting to argue with me for saying we don’t have any way of educating people how to conduct themselves publicly. They were half-right to do this, because it seems like I’m saying that a crowd shouting racist things is OK because we don’t educate properly.
But the half in which they’re wrong is critical: they just can’t conceive what a truly public education could be. The only values that matter are private values, and all government exists to do is allow us to fight about our private concerns. If that’s the case, then strictly speaking, there is no such thing as government or rule of law.
When we expect people to treat us the same way we treat them – with respect and dignity – we’re imposing a higher notion of equality on a baser notion that all of us use to defend ourselves. That baser notion is that we’re all human, so we’re all equal. The higher notion is that we’re human, so maybe we should act like human beings. A truly public education enables one to reconcile these spheres: if you know how to truly conduct yourself in public, you have a way of reconciling your privately held-values with the realities of public life, i.e. getting shouted down by the lowest common denominator, etc.
Ironically enough, the beauty queen shouted down in Mexico has this sort of education, because being a beauty contestant means knowing how to deal with crowds and large scale politicking. We don’t, and this is becoming an increasing problem as the “center” of politics becomes blander, since that’s the only conception of “acceptable to all” we have. Once, Lincoln and Churchill were public men. Now they would be fringe candidates.
Powered by ScribeFire.
Filed under: american politics, anti-americanism, Double Standards, Free Speech, liberal agenda, Terrorist
Well, were having theme issues once again. I ask that you please be patient while we work throught this. There is a new design and upgrade in the works. We are just not any where near the release of that new and improved setup just yet. So in the mean time, just kick back, drink your favorite beverage and relax a bit. Enjoy the new and temporary view.
