Comments on: Between Left and Right: The Contested Center http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/2012/01/between-left-and-right-the-contested-center/ Informed reflection on the events of the day Wed, 15 Jul 2015 17:00:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.23 By: Scott http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/2012/01/between-left-and-right-the-contested-center/comment-page-1/#comment-22709 Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:57:00 +0000 http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/?p=10814#comment-22709 I believe this post touches upon many of the problems currently inherent in American political discourse. The confirmation bias is a general problem, and people tend to find uncertainty intolerable. Tocqueville believed that people cannot do without dogma. I tend to believe he was correct. Furthermore, people are often prepared to defend their dogma with every ounce of denial they can muster. This unwillingness to deal with uncertainty, often derived from the complexities inherent in the problems we face, creates an unseemly distance between reality and ideology. Once-size-fits-all dogma is most often not sophisticated enough to provide sustainable solutions. (When an ideologue is right it is more often than not a case of even a stopped clock being right twice a day. This accident then becomes the basis of a politician’s or talking head’s legitimacy.)

I’m not sure what is meant by the concluding sentence: “The path from democracy to dictatorship is not only a danger in Hungary.” Yes, democracy is fragile, even in the United States. I would not go as far as saying that such pessimism is warranted, yet neither do I hold fast to the comforting thought that dictatorship could never happen here. I just think this potential is something which requires further analysis. And certainly there are enough dangers out there to begin the inquiry with, i.e. warrantless wiretapping, the militarization of the police, expansion of executive power, the influence of money in politics, the militarization of the police, etc. Yet the exact magnitude of these dangers is difficult to say. I believe that so long as people work tirelessly on exposing and confronting these pernicious developments, we will remain a democracy (or at least something approximating a democracy).

]]> By: Lisa http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/2012/01/between-left-and-right-the-contested-center/comment-page-1/#comment-22646 Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:37:00 +0000 http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/?p=10814#comment-22646 Interesting —- I like the dialogue or you addressing your responses (in this article) and that is really the key. I am starting to think that the most important political difference there is out there lies in the divide between those who want to— who are willing to discuss, argue and debate the real points of policy and the real issues that plague the nation (and I chose the word plague for its’ connotation of passion over reason) and those who are content to dismiss the other sids position entirely, without for a moment engaging in any real contestation of it— they just want to dismiss, vilify and demonize and their power lies in hate and bullying and some very intense moral sadism (think Santorum). And we do have our zealots on the left who want to throw away capitalism completely and I agree it cannot be done— not only has no other economic system come into being that can compete with it, we are— I would like to remind people who listen—- the seat of creativity. We manage to still be innovative. I am not sure, for example, that the Chinese can ever be that—- they simply repress too much. This is not to say that capitalism does not have a dark side (cancer clusters in China where apple products are made and the horrific conditions of workers there)— but, again, let’s talk, let’s debate the real issues. I really don’t like Romney. He has a need for control that turns me off (and guess what, I also disagree with him and I see him a dark horse of capitalism— a guy who made a lot of money by screwing people over)—– but (sigh) at least the curse on his head is that he is a moderate. Ok, I am rambling. I want more and more and more debate (real debate) and more aggression from Obama, so he can win—- both of these things will make for less hate. And if the hate does not win the Republicans the national election, maybe they will get busy rethinking who they are exactly.

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