Politics!
To those of you who are Americans, Happy Independence Day. And now to discuss politics!
I seldom do this, because I am about to present the latest embarrassment to my future self. But I have to decide how to exercise my citizenship, as best I can.
I recall visiting "The American Adventure" (a show in the American pavilion of World Showcase in Epcot Center), and coming out feeling like I agreed with the sentiments expressed; only to realize, on later re-listening, that it could be interpreted to support either conservatives or progressives.
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and ideals." -Barack Obama
That sounds great. In the context of the speech, it means we can take different means to remain safe, that do not erode our ideals. But others hear this quote alone, and assume he means we are not really eroding our ideals if we proceed as we have.
I'll offer another demonstration in my own words.
On this Independence Day, I am proud of what our nation can accomplish together. See what I did there? "Accomplish together" really means "socialism". I learned that from conservatives in the insurance reform debate. I am an almost daily satisfied customer of the US Postal Service. I like driving our interstate highways. I like surfing the Internet invented by DARPA. I do not take Richard M. Stallman's position that I should be happy to sit in desolate squalor, in order to preserve the principle that everybody else must stay off my lawn. (Yes, this is a reference to using only free software.) I have decided that socialism is actually kind of awesome.
My goal, politically, has always been to maximize freedoms. But Libertarians and conservatives suck at it, while Democrats actually succeed. One is not simply for or against "all freedom". "Freedom" does not exist as an all-encompassing single thing that accommodates all "freedoms", plural. It does not. Each freedom which we grant to each other, means we lose the freedom to restrict that freedom. Instead think of which freedoms, plural, arrive at a minimum set of restrictions.
A free market is a competition to provide more value. In a state of nature, the free market does not exist. There, competition is not defined as "being better at providing more value". It's defined as "being better at hurting others and taking their stuff." Ironically, free markets exist only when regulated into existence.
Soon, cartels figure out a new way to game the free market competition so that the winner is no longer the one who provides the most value. Corporations are a form of government. They take part in governing us. I believe in checks and balances in government.
So there you go. Socialism is freedom, corporations are governments, and Democrats are free-market. I will look back on this post and laugh. I'm already laughing. But there it is.
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