I can't get on with either side of the political fence. The anti-trade positions that have become de rigeur among Democrats simply disgust me. I happen to believe that advancing free trade is as important as eliminating terrorism, possibly more so, and seeing people who ought to know better (and probably do, if you ask them privately) pandering to the lowest level of ignorance does not please me at all. (The Republicans are not a great deal better, trying to avoid the issue instead of confronting it.) To the left pole, I'm a supporter of globalization and an apologist for the corporations, and thus an enemy.
Of course the right won't have me either. I don't think the government has any business telling people what they can or can't do, as long as the people in question don't intrude on the rights of others, and that belief (something I always thought fairly conservative) qualifies me as a moral degenerate. I have also failed to memorize even the refrain, let alone the verses, of Amerika uber alles, so I can't go to any of the neocon parties.
I guess I'll have to have a party all to myself, which is nothing terribly unusual.
The only thing of significance that I'm writing now is an essay for the Journal of Democracy, examining the causes behind the paralysis of Philippine democracy. I'm not actually writing it yet, just designing it; it will necessarily change a bit - though probably not much - after the election here. It won't be out until late in the year.
Should be fun. I'll be able to haul off on both the right and the left, and make myself some enemies... |
